It was impossible to tell how much time had passed.
The intense sensation of weightlessness finally faded, yet there was still no solid ground beneath their feet—they hadn’t landed on earth.
Li Mo regained consciousness at last.
He suddenly realized that behind them was a swirling mass of clouds shimmering with seven-colored radiance. It was this strange, luminous mist that had shielded them from even the slightest harm.
And these rays of light were all seeping out from the narrow gap of a stone gate not far away.
"Thank you. You can let go now."
A cool, composed voice sounded beside his ear.
"Ah..."
Li Mo was momentarily dazed.
That flawlessly beautiful face was so close to his that he could even feel the warmth of her breath.
Because he had held her so tightly, even through their clothes, he could sense the steady pulse of her icy-cold heart.
As everyone knows,
When people fall into water or plummet from great heights, they instinctively cling to anything within reach.
Young Li Mo felt a little awkward.
It seemed he had worried unnecessarily and done something superfluous.
Clearing his throat, Li Mo released her and stood up, pretending to survey their surroundings.
"Where is this? I’ve never heard of a place like this beneath the Qing Abyss."
"You asked me to come to Moonview Cliff—was it to bring me here?"
"Mn."
Ying Bing nodded, offering no further explanation.
"How did you know about this place?"
Li Mo asked casually.
When people feel awkward, they tend to ramble.
Ying Bing lowered her eyes and replied indifferently, "I’ve been here in my dreams."
If she considered the events of her past life as nothing more than a dream, then this statement wasn’t entirely wrong.
After her rebirth, many things had changed.
But fortunately, the call of this place had never faded for her.
Others could leap from Moonview Cliff a hundred times and still never reach this hidden inheritance within the Qing Abyss.
Even if they did, they would never make it past the entrance, doomed to perish trapped within the radiant mist.
"Let’s go."
Ying Bing instinctively reached for her waist but found nothing there.
"Use mine."
As soon as the words left her lips,
A plain, unremarkable steel sword appeared in her hand, its blade nicked here and there with tiny, rice-sized chips.
So, his journey to Moonview Cliff hadn’t been as effortless as he’d claimed?
Suppressing her thoughts, Ying Bing gave a slight nod and strode forward, sword in hand.
Li Mo followed closely beside her, vigilant of their surroundings.
If this was an inheritance site...
Then perhaps... there were still trials lying in wait?
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than—
Whooo—
A bone-chilling wind swept past, stirring a deep, primal dread in the depths of their souls.
"Come down... join me..."
"Why are you still alive?!"
"Opportunity... a peerless opportunity... take me in with you..."
Layer upon layer of murmurs and whispers drifted through the wind.
"Be careful."
"Don’t stray too far from me."
Ying Bing’s clear, cold voice reached him.
"What are these things?"
Li Mo used the glow of the radiant bridge to scan their surroundings.
Dark, swirling mists coiled around them, occasionally revealing glimpses of twisted, agonized faces.
In the past, Ying Bing would have dismissed the question outright.
But today, she actually took the time to explain:
"Once a martial artist reaches the Observation Divine Realm, they can temper their spirit by observing mountains, rivers, the sun and moon, rare flora and fauna, and even the wonders of the world. By the time they reach the peak of this realm, their spirit can even leave their body to manipulate objects."
"Thus, if a martial artist of the Observation Divine Realm or higher dies with lingering regrets, a wisp of their spirit may persist, transforming into a shadow wraith."
"Shadow wraiths cannot endure sunlight, which is why so many have gathered here."
Li Mo understood now.
It stood to reason that many had been tempted to explore the depths of the Qing Abyss—and many had tried.
Some of them had surely been formidable experts.
Yet clearly, they had all failed.
Their lingering regrets remained here forever, watching over the inheritance of the Nine-Colored Phoenix, which they could never enter again.
"Shadow wraiths..."
The icy wind carried the wraiths toward them from all directions. Just then, Ying Bing struck.
Clang—
This was the first time Li Mo had seen Ying Bing fight in earnest.
Sword light erupted, blossoming into a hundred dazzling arcs.
Each stroke landed precisely on a shadow wraith, sending them reeling back.
Perfected Blossom-Seeking Sword Art!
And yet—
Despite being a technique that could force even an Inner Breath Realm expert to retreat, the attacks barely fazed the wraiths.
They were merely knocked back into the mist, only to regroup and return moments later.
"Move faster. Shadow wraiths are impervious to ordinary weapons..."
Before Ying Bing could finish,
A sudden warmth radiated from behind her.
From the pouch at Li Mo’s chest, a feather-shaped glow emerged.
Fire Sparrow plume.
Pure yang energy—the natural bane of all yin-corrupted entities.
Li Mo threw a casual punch.
His fist was sheathed in a faint, fiery aura.
"Keh heh heh..."
The shadow wraith before him clearly lacked full sentience.
And thus, it had no idea what was coming.
Ssss—
Like snow meeting boiling oil,
The wraith’s inky form began dissolving almost instantly.
It instinctively tried to retreat—
But Li Mo’s fist pierced straight through it.
Poof—
The wraith vanished.
"That pouch carries a trace of phoenix energy."
"It must be from a bird with true phoenix lineage?"
Ying Bing’s tense posture relaxed slightly.
With this, she wouldn’t need to worry about protecting him.
But...
Why had Li Mo suddenly frozen in place?
Young Li Mo was stunned.
Because just then, his system had delivered a notification.
[Congratulations, Host. Successful investment: assisting ‘Xia Rong’ in resolving their regrets and finding peace.]
[Investment reward: One year of martial insight.]
Li Mo: "!"
Killing shadow wraiths counted as an investment return?
No wonder it was said that guiding lost souls to rest was a virtuous deed...
With that realization,
Li Mo turned his gaze toward the seething shadows in the mist, his eyes alight with anticipation.
Even scraps were still meat.
Rewards were rewards, after all.
Just as he prepared to continue, he noticed Ying Bing frowning at him.
"Ahem."
"Many of these shadow wraiths were once seniors of the Qingyuan Sect."
"If it’s within my power to help them find peace, I should do so."
Young Li Mo spoke earnestly.
Ying Bing pressed her lips together, her eyes flickering with something unreadable.
In the end, she said nothing, quietly standing by as she waited.
When a wraith lunged at her, she even deliberately herded it toward Li Mo.
This is amazing.
Li Mo inwardly cheered.
Teamwork really did make the work easier.
In less than the time it took two incense sticks to burn,
The shadow wraiths had been almost entirely cleansed, and the air no longer felt so oppressive.
In return, he received a cascade of investment rewards.
Rough estimates put his total martial insight at eighty-six years—nearly two hundred, counting what he already had.
There were also miscellaneous items:
Broken weapons, assorted elixirs with varying effects, gold and silver, even a few land deeds (though whether they were still valid was anyone’s guess).
"Thank you."
Li Mo smiled sincerely and clasped his hands toward Ying Bing.
"Mn."
Ying Bing sheathed her sword, an inexplicable feeling stirring in her chest.
She often couldn’t understand why Li Mo insisted on doing things that seemed to offer no benefit and only wasted time.
But the feeling afterward...
Wasn’t entirely unpleasant?
Shaking her head, she stepped forward, finally reaching the entrance to the inheritance site—a stone gate overgrown with moss.
She pressed a pale hand against it.
Humm—
A strange vibration rippled through the air.
Dust scattered down as the stone gate slowly creaked open.
A peach-blossom glow radiated outward, saturating the surrounding space.
The light flared abruptly, forcing Li Mo to raise a hand in reflex, peering through his fingers into the doorway beyond.
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)
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
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.
] [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!"
