At the summit of the Sword Tower.
The peak of the Sword Tower still bore the mystical scenery formed by the peculiar stones, seemingly unchanged at first glance. Yet upon closer inspection, subtle differences could be detected—a few more fish swimming in the clear spring, the trees slightly more lush...
Li Mo had just finished his third attempt at sketching the strange stone, each time falling just short of perfection.
So he stood atop the Sword Tower, gazing into the distance, his mind adrift.
"That over there is the Sword Pool..."
The moment his eyes landed on the vast circular plaza, an image flashed in his mind—Ying Bing standing on the high platform, pointing with a ruler, her demeanor icy yet exuding an air of absolute authority.
She always carried an aura as if she held the ultimate truth.
Li Mo could even vividly imagine her lecture—where she would pause to demonstrate, the look in her eyes when encountering a dull-witted disciple...
"Wait, why are last night’s memories surfacing too?"
"No, why does she keep popping up in my thoughts?"
Li Mo couldn’t help but mutter to himself. He should be focusing entirely on replicating the essence of the stone...
"What are you looking at?"
The voice belonged to Wei Zhaoliu.
She still wore those round spectacles crafted from North Sea crystal, her face partially obscured. Her hair was noticeably shorter than before, and judging by her aura, she must have just returned from studying the strange stone.
"Looking at the Frost Fairy," Li Mo replied, his gaze still fixed on the Sword Pool.
"Huh? You can see her from here?" Wei Zhaoliu’s eyes widened in astonishment, thinking to herself that this young master Li’s vision was truly terrifying. Then she nodded in realization.
"Oh, you mean Ying Bing. I attended her lecture—it was truly awe-inspiring. How laughable that I once dared to compare myself to her..."
Li Mo asked, "Why is your hair so much shorter?"
"Well... every time I listen to her lectures, I feel like my swordsmanship improves. So afterward, I try to erase the hammer marks."
"And then?"
"I fail every time. So to remind myself of the lesson, I cut off a finger’s length of hair as a pledge."
"...You do seem a bit stronger now."
A pang of guilt suddenly struck Li Mo.
But Ying Bing deserved half the blame—if not for her, Wei Zhaoliu wouldn’t keep thinking she had improved.
He needed to finish replicating the stone as soon as possible.
That way, he wouldn’t have to witness the day Wei Zhaoliu went bald.
"Why does he keep drawing that stone?" Wei Zhaoliu wondered. Was this some new cultivation method?
Creating divine observation diagrams?
Some Sword City elders had entertained the idea before, but it always fizzled out—because the stone itself didn’t seem suitable for direct study. The sword marks on it, however, could be contemplated... though few were qualified to bear their divine intent.
Li Mo sat down before the stone on his own.
He laid out his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. The ink had been ground by Ying Bing earlier that morning while she sipped tea.
His once-plentiful stock of Cyan Vein Jade Paper was now down to five sheets.
Li Mo steeled himself. Sword City had granted him permission to study the stone, but he couldn’t take it with him.
Before leaving Yunzhou, he had to complete the sketch...
"This stone... it can’t just be a stone."
Li Mo murmured to himself.
---
At the Sword Pool.
In the past, visiting sword masters in Yunzhou never took breaks during their lectures. But after Ying Bing arrived, that rule changed.
Her teachings, though profound in their simplicity, required time for comprehension.
Otherwise, listeners might lose track halfway through.
The breaks lasted about half an hour—neither too long nor too short.
Ying Bing stood on the high platform of the Sword Pool, holding Tianfrost, and decided to brew a pot of tea to rest her mind.
But the moment she closed her eyes, her thoughts drifted back to last night—the dim moonlight, the flickering candlelight in the private room... The sensation lingered, stubbornly vivid, impossible to shake.
Even the warmth of his palm seemed to remain...
Below, the sharper disciples noticed her expression and exchanged glances.
"Has Lady Ying gained another insight?"
"Tsk... she masters peerless sword techniques in the blink of an eye! It’s entirely possible!"
"I wonder what profound swordsmanship she’s contemplating now..."
They whispered among themselves, careful not to disturb her "enlightenment."
Ying Bing: "..."
No, she couldn’t keep thinking about this.
She reached for her tea set, hoping to distract herself, but her movements paused.
Was this even her tea table?
The set before her had been a gift from Li Mo—simple in appearance but made of rare, exquisite material. The only downside was that there was just one cup.
And earlier that morning, he had casually taken it to drink from.
The tea leaves were ones he had casually handed her. The table had been hammered together by him. Even the snacks were his handiwork.
And then...
Gurgle—she poured the rinse water over the chubby little figurine beside her.
Well...
Since this spatial artifact was sturdy, it had become her tea pet.
Even the tea pet was a chibi version of Li Mo’s big-headed likeness!
"When did everything around her start carrying traces of him?"
"Really..."
Ying Bing pressed her lips together and lightly flicked the figurine’s forehead, making it wobble.
Then, with a faint glint in her eyes, she picked up a tea leaf and stuck it on the chibi Li Mo’s philtrum.
Last time, she had pasted a slip of paper there, and he hadn’t seemed too pleased...
"Lady Ying..."
"Lady Ying?"
Only when Elder Zeng called her twice did she snap back to attention.
"It’s almost time to resume the lecture."
Elder Zeng glanced at the doll and raised an eyebrow, leaning back slightly.
"Alright..."
Ying Bing stood and began packing up her tea set.
She had never noticed before how short these breaks felt...
"What were you looking at just now?"
"Looking at..."
Ying Bing adjusted the doll’s head and lowered her gaze in thought.
"A prosperity-bringing battle spirit?"
"??"
---
"Just drawing isn’t enough."
"I need to experience it firsthand..."
After ruining another sheet of Cyan Vein Jade Paper, Li Mo stood up.
He approached the stone and slowly reached out to touch it.
Strangely enough, the moment his hand made contact, the seven Mystic Pills within his body flickered faintly.
Rotating in their celestial cycle, their speed increased rapidly, trembling slightly before the vibrations grew stronger.
Boom—
Li Mo suddenly sensed something.
This inexplicable connection wasn’t due to the pills themselves but because they were stars within the seed of his inner world.
Like called to like—they seemed to recognize a kindred presence.
"Haah..."
Li Mo realized he could now peer beyond the stone’s surface, glimpsing its true mystery.
This was something he had never achieved before, even after studying its martial secrets.
"What’s happening to him?"
From Wei Zhaoliu’s perspective, however, Li Mo was simply standing there, motionless.
Nothing unusual seemed to be occurring. But what astonished her was that the stone wasn’t something one could touch so casually—those unworthy would instantly drown in its boundless profundity...
The next moment.
The Cyan Vein Jade Paper floated into the air.
Li Mo lifted his brush, wielding it with bold, sweeping strokes—no longer cautious, but with an effortless grace that flowed like a dragon in flight.
agon king storylines. At the start, I obtained the "Ultimate Lackey System" - the more I act as a lackey, the stronger I become. What else could I do? I chose to become the personal henchman of the ultimate villain, Su Muwan. I provoke all sorts of chosen ones, snatch away their opportunities, and commit every evil deed imaginable. You ask who's behind me? Hmph! You're not worthy of knowing my lady's name! ...... ....... I am Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Since childhood, I've possessed extraordinary talent in martial arts, which led to my arrogant and domineering personality in my past life. I was even foolish enough to repeatedly challenge those favored by heaven, ultimately resulting in a tragic death. In this life, I must behave and absolutely cannot walk the same path again!! However... SLAP!! "So you're the Dragon King, huh?!" When I saw my little lackey swagger over and viciously slap the Dragon King who was hiding his identity, I felt my heart sink. Su Muwan's suspended heart finally died as she watched Qin Luo, her utterly loyal lackey, standing before her. She fainted on the spot from shock. Heaven is determined to destroy me!! (Pure love 1v1, light-hearted, no angst, single female lead, villain, reincarnation, lackey)
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)
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
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.
