The moon hung bright in the sky.
The owner of this room was someone with a keen sense of aesthetics, having poured considerable effort into its furnishings.
Yet, they likely never dreamed in their wildest fantasies that this very room would one day be cleaned by the hands of the Phoenix Heavenly Empress (from her past life)!
At this moment.
Ying Bing held a broom, sweeping the floor with meticulous care.
Even the pair of well-polished walnuts in the box on the table—having been rubbed smooth over many years—were wiped spotless by her cloth, infused with true essence.
"This feeling is..."
"Actions guided by the heart, thoughts flowing unimpeded?"
Sensing the circulation of runic energy within the miniature figure in her dantian, her second aperture gradually filled.
Ying Bing set aside the broom and cloth, opening the window.
A cool breeze carried the moonlight, and the courtyard lay silent.
Gazing at the moon, her eyes reflected its glow like a tranquil spring under the night sky.
Observing the divine was a means to temper the spirit and refine the soul, yet the true foundation of spiritual strength lay in the power of one’s state of mind.
Now, she could face all things with serene composure.
Just as she prepared to cultivate—
The System chimed with a notification:
[Ding!]
[Countdown to the next ranking comparison: Eight days.]
"Eight days..."
Ying Bing’s eyes lowered slightly.
To go with the flow was one thing.
But the desire to claim the top rank was also a deeply rooted aspiration within her.
Yet, no matter the outcome, she could now accept it with equanimity.
[Alert!]
[The penalty for the next loss is: Requesting the victor to caress you (covering at least 80% of your body).]
Ying Bing’s eyelid twitched imperceptibly.
......
In another room.
Li Mo tossed and turned in bed, utterly unable to sleep. Recalling the ice block’s behavior today, he realized it screamed one word:
"Weird!"
Or rather, three words:
"Something’s off!"
Since when did the ice block care about others?
Heck, she even initiated dual cultivation!
Gaining enlightenment in swordsmanship shouldn’t have suddenly changed her personality like this...
Unless... it was some kind of deathbed kindness!
Was something about to happen to him?
After racking his brain to no avail, Li Mo decided to distract himself by opening some rewards.
Just to be safe.
First, he pulled up his own information.
[Name: Li Mo]
[Age: 16]
[Constitution: Xuanpin Immortal Body.]
[Realm: First Aperture of Divine Observation (on the verge of breakthrough).]
[Fate: ???]
[Evaluation: Possessing an immortal physique, his destiny is shrouded in chaos, rendering the future unknowable.]
[Recent Events: At Hengyun Sword City, comprehended the ‘Immortal Spirit Stone,’ mastering a complete divine hammer technique and earning the title of Cloudrealm Sword Immortal (I dare call you Sword Immortal—do you dare answer?).]
"..."
Ignoring the System’s inexplicable cheekiness, Li Mo sighed softly.
It was a pity he still couldn’t discern his own fate.
His recent events log also didn’t mention anything about imminent happenings.
[You have multiple unclaimed investment returns. Claim now?]
"Claim."
Li Mo murmured inwardly.
[Congratulations, Host. Your investment in Dong Chang'an spared him from harm during the Rain Pavilion’s ambush.]
[Reward: 3,000 taels of gold.]
[Congratulations, Host. Your investment in Lu Mo spared him from harm during the Rain Pavilion’s ambush.]
[Reward: Three-Revolving Vitality Grass.]
......
A flood of rewards followed.
This batch was far more extensive—and dazzling—than the last.
After all, his previous efforts had only involved guiding others, whereas this time, he’d saved lives.
Thus, as long as the recipients didn’t possess white-tier fate, the rewards were all decent.
Li Mo sorted them out as usual.
Sigh.
Counting gold and stacking it into piles was such a tedious chore.
And those rare treasures and heavenly materials—why were there so many? Some he didn’t even recognize, and reading their descriptions alone was exhausting.
A rough estimate put the value of the Treasure Pavilion at about one one-hundred-and-fiftieth of a "Li."
And that wasn’t all!
"The juiciest reward—the ice block’s—is still unopened!"
Young Li stared at the unclaimed reward, falling into deep thought.
Could her odd behavior be related to this pending investment return?
They’d only dual cultivated once...
Getting rewards for dual cultivation made sense, but her suddenly gaining enlightenment mid-session was downright baffling.
"Claim."
Shaking his head, Li Mo decided to claim it first.
[Investment Return: 《Supreme Clarity Golden Elixir Scripture》]
[《Supreme Clarity Golden Elixir Scripture》]: "A treatise on external alchemy and metallurgical arts, encompassing breath control and unity with the Dao. Profound and abstruse, it embodies the fundamental principles of external elixir refinement."
"Alchemy?"
From the name alone, Li Mo had assumed it would be similar to the 《Zhou Heavenly Starry Sky Mystic Elixir Scripture》...
Well.
It wasn’t purely an alchemy manual, though that was part of it.
Beyond refining external elixirs, it also detailed methods to control them.
"One Mystic Elixir Scripture, one Divine Elixir Scripture."
"Could these two synergize somehow...?"
Li Mo recalled the divine technique he’d acquired earlier that day.
《Heaven-Overturning, Earth-Upending Mortal-Slaying Hammer》 comprised three forms.
The first form required at least seven mystic elixirs within the body, arranged like the Big Dipper, to summon the power of falling stars.
Including his sword pellet, he was still four elixirs short.
Cultivating them himself would take who knew how long.
This was the drawback of the 《Zhou Heavenly Starry Sky Mystic Elixir Scripture》—it demanded an excessive amount of time.
"But what if I refine external elixirs?"
The young genius’s mind whirred into action.
He remembered Elder Xue had attempted something similar. Though the experiment had met setbacks, it ultimately...
...succeeded on him and Senior Brother Xiaobao.
Was it possible...
...the issue lay in the elixirs themselves?
If he used the 《Supreme Clarity Golden Elixir Scripture》 to refine elixirs, could they mimic Senior Brother Xiaobao’s condition, allowing him to replicate Elder Xue’s theory?
Li Mo’s thoughts spiraled outward, conjuring countless possibilities.
Yet, in the end, he shook his head slightly.
"A shame Elder Xue isn’t in Cloudrealm."
"Otherwise, I could’ve asked him directly..."
Having a divine technique but being unable to wield it was frustrating.
Li Mo preferred to integrate it into his arsenal as quickly as possible, making it his trump card.
After some preliminary study—
Well.
This external alchemy art was also directly imprinted into his mind.
Just pondering it for a while left him dizzy, his spirit strained to the limit.
"Almost midnight."
Li Mo glanced at the moon hanging high outside his window.
Stepping out of his room, he approached the ice block’s door.
Just as he raised his hand to knock—
Snap.
The door swung open.
Their eyes met.
......
P.S.: Noted the guest appearances in the comments, folks! Will pick a few to include later, though no promises on how serious their roles will be...
Moving tomorrow, dear readers—gotta wake up early to write. Mwah!
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
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.
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
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)
