Li Mo slowly regained consciousness, only to realize he hadn’t truly woken up.
Before his eyes—
A sky choked with dark clouds, a simple bamboo hut that seemed to sprout from the blackened earth, and an ostentatiously lavish sacrificial altar.
Villagers gathered around the altar, their faces numb and bewildered. The drugged children—chosen as offerings—wailed as the effects wore off. A grotesque, bloated fish floated belly-up in the river, its corpse staining the water.
Everything was rendered in monochrome—even the blood of the slain ‘River God,’ which had spread across the lake.
"Am I... dreaming?"
Li Mo remembered this day vividly.
He had arrived at this riverside village just in time to witness the ritual.
Those who live by the mountain eat from the mountain; those who live by the water eat from the water.
The entire village depended on this river for survival. But fate was cruel—this river’s temper was more erratic than the heavens themselves.
Storms would rise without warning, making fishing impossible. Worse, the waters often claimed lives.
When floods swallowed the village, the people knew: The River God is angry.
So the priest would lead them in sacrifice. This year’s flood was especially severe—only a grand offering would suffice.
Here, families chosen to give up a child—a boy or a girl—were considered blessed. Their child would "live in bliss with the River God."
The parents would drug their children with ‘Soul-Severing Elixir,’ dress them in finery, and send them off on a lotus platform...
But Li Mo saw the truth.
The so-called River God was just a hideous catfish!
Without hesitation, he plunged into the water, fought the beast in the depths, and forced it to spit out the children before it floated lifelessly to the surface.
He had killed the River God.
When he climbed ashore, the villagers surrounded him, dropping to their knees in unison, trembling like frightened quails.
"Our village has a new River God!" they cried.
"Don’t kneel!" Li Mo’s voice rang out, firm and clear.
"There is no River God! I’m just a man, like you!"
But what followed wasn’t enlightenment—nor gratitude.
Instead—
"If you won’t accept our offerings, why did you kill the River God?"
"When the river floods, we know it’s his anger. Without him, how will we understand the cause?"
"Who will we worship when people drown?"
Their fury, confusion, and fear threatened to drown him.
In that moment, even Li Mo questioned himself:
"Did I... do something wrong?"
He turned, hoping to find her—but there was no one. Only himself, alone in the surging crowd.
Huh?
"Why are you sweating so much?"
Ying Bing gazed at the young man resting on her lap, her delicate fingers brushing over his furrowed brow, unable to smooth the tension there.
Then she heard him murmur in his sleep:
"Ice Block..."
Her lashes fluttered, moonlight-pale features briefly stunned.
Was he dreaming of her?
Or searching for her in his dreams?
Likely the latter. Rarely had she seen him—usually so bright and carefree—wear such a deeply troubled expression, his face shadowed with uncertainty.
He’d never been like this before.
Her gaze softened. She took his hand and whispered:
"I’m right here."
Perhaps he heard her.
His brow relaxed. The sweat stopped. His breathing steadied.
If those two little figures—one black, one white—popped up again now, the black-clad one (the one who called him little brother) would probably win.
Ying Bing held his hand, quietly amused by the thought.
Time passed.
The sun climbed high.
Li Mo finally stirred, yawning as he woke, feeling oddly refreshed.
What was this pillow? Cool, soft, yet springy—he’d have to use it from now on...
Hm?
A familiar fragrance tickled his nose. He looked up.
True beauty had no bad angles—even from below, her face was breathtaking.
Her expression was serene, distant eyes fixed on the horizon.
"Snore..."
Li Mo quickly shut his eyes, feigning sleep—or at least trying to.
But then—
Slender fingers pinched his nose shut.
"Still asleep?" Ying Bing didn’t let up.
"Snore..."
"Seems he really hasn’t woken."
"Snork—ACHOO!"
Just as Li Mo resolved to tough it out, his nose tingled.
He opened his eyes to find the fingers that had tormented him now twirling a lock of her silken hair.
Ice Block had tickled him with her hair!
"Awake?" Her lips curled faintly.
"Yeah, just woke up. What happened?"
"A bug crawled over your nose. I shooed it away."
"...Thanks."
Wiping drool, Li Mo sat up—then paused. His eyes caught the damp stain on Ying Bing’s skirt, trailing slightly down her thigh.
The Mingjiao Clan excelled at gathering moisture. He never used to drool in his sleep—this was a serpent side-effect...
He wiped her knee absently. "Next stop’s Qingmu City, right?"
"Should be."
"Let’s go, then."
"One thing first."
Ying Bing gave him a long look, tying up her hair and securing it with a jade pin.
"Two more sixth-grade calamity beasts."
"This time, we fight together."
......
Yantian Sect.
Atop a tower so high it seemed to scrape the stars—
The Old Woman cradled a jade plate, its glow faintly reminiscent of the strange stone from Hengyun Sword City. Her fingers traced its surface, her expression unreadable.
Soon, this tool might become obsolete.
Tap—
Light footsteps approached. A barefoot woman stopped behind her.
"Master, the latest Hidden Dragon Ranking updates are here."
Tian Miao placed the scrolls before her. The Old Woman hummed in acknowledgment, and the pages glowed, projecting their contents into the air.
Her eyes skimmed the lists, halting at the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
[Hidden Dragon Ranking, 10th Place: Ying Bing.]
[Hidden Dragon Ranking, 11th Place: Li Mo.]
Their skills remained largely unchanged from before.
But their achievements—now listed—were staggering, and nearly identical.
[Notable Feats: Entered the Southern Border, assumed the form of the Qingluan Goddess (Heavenly Serpent of the Mingjiao Clan), stirred upheaval across the region. Jointly slew four sixth-grade calamity beasts at Sanghu Mountain—Xiangliu, Feiyi, Dafeng, and Fanjiang’e... among others.]
[When Hidden Dragon and Phoenix unite, the world trembles.]
Tian Miao hesitated. "Should we publish everything as is?"
"Truthfully."
"Understood."
......
(Seeking support—pass the charging bowl~ Mwah!)
. 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!"
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
