Divine light radiated in all directions, transforming the sky of the Five Elements Realm into a vast canvas, where countless bygone eras seemed to overlap. Within it, the silhouettes of races long vanished in the river of time surged forth.
Every demon who witnessed this scene was momentarily struck speechless.
As if bound by an unseen bloodline, a call resonated from the depths of their souls.
Li Mo couldn’t help but raise his head.
The divine essence he had engraved within the Seventy-Two Transformations burned fiercely, as though awakening from slumber.
Is this... the Jade Phoenix Divinity?
For a moment, he even recalled the sensation of traversing time and space with his immortal body.
"What’s happening to the Celestial Jade?"
"The elders who fought for the jade never witnessed such an anomaly before."
"I’ve read in ancient texts—those are the Sky Fox Clan, the Winged Race... and so many others I’ve never seen."
The gathered demons whispered among themselves, their eyes wide, their minds frozen in awe.
Among them were many who had once held the Celestial Jade within their clans or had heard or read records of it.
Yet the current situation seemed to far exceed all expectations.
Previously, the Celestial Jade appeared once every sixty years.
Could it be... that this time, its ownership would be decided permanently?
Outside.
A biting wind from nowhere swept through the courtyard, sending fallen leaves scattering in all directions.
Amid the silence, the same thought flickered in the hearts of the demons.
Just seven years had been enough for a single clan to rise from obscurity to dominance.
If one clan were to hold the jade permanently, wouldn’t they become the uncrowned kings of the Southern Border?
The implications were staggering.
Should it fall into the hands of a bloodthirsty race, not just the Southern Border but all Nine Heavens and Ten Lands would be plunged into eternal chaos...
The demons couldn’t help but turn their gazes toward Divine Monk Huaikong on the platform.
Would the Hanging Temple allow such a thing to happen?
Divine Monk Huaikong clasped his hands together.
"All things in this world follow their destined path. Let fate take its course."
"This was left behind by the ancient ancestors of our demon race."
The speaker was a demon king of the Roc Clan, whose feathers had turned pure gold during their seven-year stewardship of the Celestial Jade.
"Entrusting the jade to a bunch of youngsters—isn’t that treating the future of all demonkind as a joke?"
What nonsense is this bird spouting?
Shang Qinqing frowned and dug at her ear.
Before the other clans who had once held the jade could speak, the forgetful Divine Monk Huaikong suddenly fixed his gaze, a halo of wisdom manifesting behind his head as radiant light surged.
The demons looked up to see the serene visage of a Bodhisattva towering between heaven and earth, gazing down upon all creation, a "Purple-Gold Alms Bowl" cradled in its hand.
This bowl was none other than the Hanging Temple itself—proof that they had never truly left Huaikong’s Buddha Realm.
The divine apparition vanished as swiftly as a dream.
"Where’s Zhi Duoshan?"
The demons snapped out of their daze.
The Roc demon king who had spoken earlier was gone, vanished without a trace.
The demon kings and elders swallowed hard.
Under their collective gaze, the kindly Divine Monk Huaikong chuckled.
"This old monk’s memory is poor. Even if I knew, I’d have forgotten."
"..."
Truly, Divine Monk Huaikong possessed great wisdom.
Silence fell over the scene.
They had no choice but to follow Huaikong’s decree—who dared defy fate? Those imprisoned in his Buddha Realm might never escape if he simply forgot about them.
The only question now was which demon clan the jade would choose... or rather, whether it would go to the Roaring Serpent Clan or the Qingluan Clan.
At that moment.
A strange resonance echoed from the Celestial Jade within the radiant display.
To everyone’s shock, before the young demons could even ascend the solitary peak, the jade’s true form rose into the air of its own accord.
A beam of light descended.
And its target was none other than the lone figure standing apart from the rest—the Qingluan Goddess.
"Has the Celestial Jade chosen the Qingluan Goddess after all?"
Every demon, whether present or watching from afar, held their breath.
Some tried to approach stealthily, only to be instantly repelled by an invisible force.
Ying Bing’s eyes flickered as she sensed the pulling force. She offered no resistance, yet suddenly turned her head.
There stood Li Mo, the Heavenly Serpent, a smile in his eyes, though his lips twisted slightly.
His resignation came from the thought that this... probably didn’t count as his investment.
His joy stemmed from the fact that the "ice block" had obtained what was rightfully hers.
Hah!
I even gave her my silk stockings...
At this thought, Li Mo felt this trip to the Southern Border had been more than worth it.
Ying Bing quietly observed his smirk before lifting her gaze to the Jade Phoenix Divinity she had pursued across thousands of miles, now within arm’s reach.
That day, the two of them had witnessed its descent together...
Just as she prepared to act.
Another beam of light descended from the jade.
This time, it enveloped none other than their peerless Heavenly Serpent.
Li Mo: "??"
What the hell is happening?
Before he could react, the pulling force intensified.
The Jade Phoenix Divinity trembled slightly, drawing both of them upward, bringing them closer to the myriad visions before them.
Their figures gradually blurred into the illusions, becoming indistinct.
Soon, even seeing each other clearly became difficult.
"This isn’t the same as the Jade Phoenix Divinity from before."
What she had once understood was now shrouded in mystery. Ying Bing’s heart rippled with uncertainty, yet warmth suddenly filled her palm.
Gazing at Li Mo’s profile, she felt an unprecedented calm, as though the world around her had slowed.
Then—flashing lights, a topsy-turvy world.
A violent sense of weightlessness made everything unreal.
Yet the warmth in her hand never wavered.
The gathered demons: "???"
"How can the jade choose two at once?" Guo Jing muttered in confusion.
Wu Dameng exhaled in relief. "At least Brother Mo was chosen too. Two is better than none."
This meant their Roaring Serpent Clan’s Heavenly Serpent still had a chance!
Could it be that the jade feared a battle between the two would harm bystanders?
The more they thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
"But now we can’t see what’s happening to them."
"Right, we were already unnecessary. Now we can’t even spectate—aren’t we even more redundant?"
"Should we leave?"
"The exit of the Five Elements Realm is too far. Might as well wait here."
"If they fight alone, how brutal will it be? Could someone die?"
Amid the buzzing chatter.
Zhi Duoluo’s lips slowly curled upward, his smile returning.
Fight. The fiercer, the better.
Who could resist such a divine treasure? Who wouldn’t fight tooth and nail for it?
If he succeeded in claiming the jade...
He would undoubtedly become the foremost Divine Son of their sect!
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)
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.
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
] [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!"
