"Brother Li, if you don’t want it, just give it to me. Throwing it away is such a waste."
Murong Xiao quickly bent down to pick up the illustrated book, dusting it off carefully. When he looked up, he was met with Li Mo’s suspicious gaze.
"Brother Murong, you’ve become a stranger to me."
"So, you came here specifically to buy this thing from the start?"
Murong Xiao chuckled awkwardly.
"I’ve been studying Buddhist martial arts recently."
"And then?"
Li Mo was confused.
The Golden Bell Shield was indeed a Buddhist martial art, requiring the study of Buddhist principles to master.
But is that why you came to buy this... adult material?
Murong Xiao straightened his expression and explained solemnly:
"The Buddhist scriptures say, 'Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.' With a pure heart, even a beauty is but a withered skeleton."
"How can one resist temptation without first facing it? If I don’t descend into hell, who will?"
"Therefore, I’ve decided to challenge my weaknesses head-on!"
"......"
Li Mo fell into deep thought.
Is that how "form is emptiness" is supposed to be interpreted?
Is this how one purifies the six senses?
Yet, it somehow made sense, and he couldn’t find a rebuttal.
Unable to argue further, Li Mo nodded.
"Fine. Just remember to return it after you’re done."
"Got it! Farewell, Brother Li."
Murong Xiao happily tucked the book away.
Just as he was about to leave and "challenge his weaknesses," Li Mo called out again:
"Oh, and Brother Murong, your interpretation of Buddhist teachings… keep it to yourself. Don’t go spreading it around."
"Huh? Why?"
"I’m afraid if word reaches the Buddhist monks, they might challenge you—on the subject of breaking the precept against killing."
......
Main Peak Ancestral Hall.
The ancestral hall stood at the heart of the mountain, heavily guarded. Ying Bing followed a few elders, traversing a long path before finally arriving.
Along the way, she sensed several waves of spiritual perception sweeping over her.
The Qingyuan Sect’s strength was far greater than just its visible elders.
Soon, they reached a massive gate, where an elderly man sat dozing.
"Martial Uncle."
Shangguan Wencang bowed respectfully.
"Oh, Wenyuan! It’s been so long. Finally come to visit this old man, have you?"
The elder blinked awake, his cloudy eyes flickering.
"Martial Uncle, I’m Wencang."
Shangguan Wencang smiled wryly.
"Ah, Wencang… my memory isn’t what it used to be."
The elder patted the back of his head.
"And you’re here for…?"
"To bring our true disciple, Ying Bing, to pay respects to our ancestors."
Shangguan Wencang produced the sect leader’s token.
"True disciple…"
The elder’s gaze swept past the elders, landing on Ying Bing, who stood quietly. A glimmer of light flashed in his aged eyes.
"Good… very good…"
He praised repeatedly before accepting the token, fitting it together with his own.
The combined tokens were inserted into the center of the gate. With a deep rumble, the ancient door—adorned with mystical bird patterns—slowly creaked open.
Ying Bing’s eyes narrowed as she looked inside.
Even in her past life, she had never set foot here.
Before her, bronze pillars supported a domed ceiling, its design eerily similar to what she had seen in the Blood Phoenix Secret Realm. Enshrined within were avian statues, each exuding an aura of ancient grandeur.
They all perched upon a shattered bronze divine tree.
So lifelike were they that, for a moment, it seemed as if they might take flight at any second.
Whoosh—
Candles ignited spontaneously, illuminating the divine tree.
"This is the Great Shang’s Heavenly Fate Artifact…"
"Or rather, a fragment of it."
Shangguan Wencang clasped his hands behind his back, gazing at the radiant bronze tree.
"You are destined to inherit my position one day. It’s time you learned the truth."
"These avian forms are the martial intents left behind by the Great Shang’s imperial experts—their wills imprinted upon the tree."
"You must be wondering why this relic is here."
Shangguan Wencang’s eyes gleamed.
After a pause, he continued:
"Our Qingyuan Sect’s founder was both a meritorious subject of the Great Yu’s Martial Emperor… and the last surviving royalty of the Great Shang."
"After aiding the Martial Emperor in unifying the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, she refused all rewards and returned to the Purple Sun Prefecture—the former capital of the Great Shang—to guard the ancestral spirits."
"Beneath the Qingyuan Sect lies…"
"The Great Shang Imperial Mausoleum."
As Shangguan Wencang spoke, Ying Bing’s brows furrowed slightly.
Many of the Qingyuan Sect’s nine peaks were descendants of the Great Shang’s fallen nobility.
Her gaze returned to the divine tree.
It was a paradox—decay and splendor, ruin and perfection—all coexisting in one artifact.
She noticed an empty space at the top of the tree, where a hundred birds should have gathered in reverence.
Shangguan Wencang anticipated her question.
"That was meant for our founder’s imprint. But she left for the imperial city and never returned."
"Thus, the Golden Crow’s form remains absent."
"These imprints are profound and esoteric. Your path is long, but take your time to comprehend them."
In his entire life, Shangguan Wencang had only mastered one—the Mangque Devours the Dragon form.
To gather the forms of a hundred avians and condense the Phoenix Divinity—this was the founder’s path.
He had once thought it an impossible dream.
Until Ying Bing appeared.
After paying respects to the divine tree, Ying Bing stepped forward alone.
"Little Bing, the tree’s majesty is overwhelming. You shouldn’t approach it directly—"
Xue Jing’s warning was cut short by Shangguan Wencang’s sharp glance.
"Sect Leader, these imprints bear the wills of the Great Shang’s imperial experts. Their pride is unyielding!"
Xue Jing fretted.
Each will belonged to a supreme expert, their arrogance untouchable.
If Ying Bing approached so recklessly, she might suffer backlash—
"Wait and observe."
Shangguan Wencang remained composed.
Ying Bing stood before the tree, her black hair and robes fluttering like a snow lotus in the wind.
Yet her cold, unwavering gaze seemed to tower above the divine tree itself.
Thump—thump—
A heartbeat-like resonance pulsed from the shattered tree.
A cyan luan perched atop the branches suddenly stirred.
With a graceful sweep of its wings, it descended, leaving an arc of profound mystery in its wake—as if transcending time itself.
It landed before Ying Bing and bowed.
"The Cyan Luan…"
Ying Bing immersed herself in comprehension, refining her martial intent.
One by one, the avian imprints awakened, descending to pay homage.
Hum—
An overwhelming aura enveloped her, as if she were a true phoenix receiving tribute.
Ethereal melodies echoed, lingering like an immortal’s chant.
Xue Jing’s eyes widened in disbelief.
The other elders wore similar expressions.
They were… stunned.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
