"Divine Envoy, why the sudden release of divine intent?"
The peddler's face showed wariness—those in his line of work were always cautious.
Had the other party not been a fellow member of the Demon-Summoning Sect and placed such a large order, he would never have taken them to the hideout.
"Hmph, it's all because your Blood Refining Hall is too well-hidden. I had to go through Lu Zhuang just to get some Divine Power Powder, and now that he's dead, I've wasted so much time."
"My master grew impatient with the delay and used a secret technique to urge me. If this delays our grand plans, see how you'll explain yourselves to the main altar!"
Little Divine Envoy Li snorted coldly, turning the blame back on the peddler.
The peddler shuddered, clearly intimidated. Hesitantly, he asked, "Might I ask... why the sudden need for so much Divine Power Powder?"
"Keh keh..."
Before Li Mo could laugh, Murong Xiao behind him let out a sinister chuckle.
"..."
No one asked you—why the hell are you laughing?
Li Mo had more to say, but the words died in his throat.
Fortunately, the peddler shuddered again, as if recalling something terrible, his face turning pale.
"I won't ask anymore, I won't ask..."
With that, he dragged Lu Zhuang's corpse forward, leading the way.
At the same time, the shadowy aura of the Lunar Wraith behind Li Mo slowly dissipated.
Before long, a dilapidated temple came into view.
"Though Heavenly Venerable-brand instant noodles are everywhere, our Divine Power Powder production is handled with extreme caution. Even the Blood Refining Hall's hideout is located in the middle of nowhere."
"None of our clients even know where our base is."
"This temple used to have decent incense offerings. We slaughtered all the bald donkeys inside, hollowed out the underground, and built our hideout there."
The peddler pointed at the ruined temple ahead.
The temple had clearly been abandoned long ago, its incense offerings long dried up. Sunlight streamed in, illuminating a solemn and dignified Buddha statue.
Creak creak—
"Hm?" The peddler turned back curiously, eyeing Murong Xiao with confusion.
This lord... seemed furious?
"Keh keh keh!" Murong Xiao let out a heavy, eerie laugh.
"He's from the Hundred Beasts Hall—craving some Divine Power Powder."
Li Mo explained smoothly, without a change in expression.
The peddler thought to himself, Just as the rumors say, the Hundred Beasts Hall disciples are a bit unhinged.
"Our Divine Power Powder, infused with Heavenly Venerable sauce, has a very pure taste. Please rest assured, my lord."
As he spoke, the peddler twisted a candlestick on the altar. A rumbling sound followed.
The Buddha statue's sunlit face turned shadowy, its expression now slightly sinister.
Below it, a passageway wide enough for two people to walk side by side appeared.
"After you."
"Mm..."
Li Mo acknowledged, glancing subtly at Zhao Jing, who gave an imperceptible nod.
With Xiao Qin and Huang Donglai in the group, how could this team not be steady?
They had agreed beforehand—once the location was confirmed, Zhao Jing would immediately send word to her master. All they had to do was wait for the arrival of the Divine Constable, and everything would be settled.
Soon, the group descended into the passageway, quickly reaching an expansive underground space.
Dim candlelight illuminated piles of miscellaneous medicinal ingredients, including unsealed Heavenly Venerable-brand instant noodles.
At the center of the space stood several large cauldrons, steaming with a pungent odor as Blood Refining Hall disciples busied themselves around them.
The scene reminded Li Mo of...
A shady, unlicensed workshop?
"Please wait a moment, honored guests. I'll need to refine the Divine Power Powder again."
The peddler carried Lu Zhuang's corpse toward the cauldrons.
Li Mo: "?"
He had been wondering why the peddler had been dragging Lu Zhuang's corpse all this way.
At first, he thought it was for burial—but now, it seemed otherwise...
Lu Zhuang might have once been strong.
But now, in death, he was emaciated. Who could tell that he had once possessed an exceptional martial physique? Though he never made the Hidden Dragon Ranking, he had been a prodigy in body refinement.
Lu Zhuang's corpse was tossed into the cauldron.
This craftsman, unwilling to be outdone and ultimately choosing the crooked path, vanished into the dark crimson flames.
His resentment, his talent—all devoured by the fire.
In the end, only a pile of dark red powder remained, mixed into sauce by the Blood Refining Hall disciples and sealed into Heavenly Venerable-brand instant noodles.
These special noodles would enter the market through certain channels.
Had Lu Zhuang ever imagined, when he first took Divine Power Powder, that one day he would become the very powder he once cherished—packaged into a noodle bag?
Li Mo's temple twitched, his hair practically standing on end.
"..."
Huang Donglai gripped his wrist, silently shaking his head.
A sect branch like this wouldn’t just have third-realm members—there had to be fourth-realm experts, maybe even fifth-realm.
Acting now would be reckless.
"Here you are."
The peddler handed them a bag of Divine Power Powder with a smile.
"The Hundred Beasts Hall's Hundred Beasts Blood Refinement requires Divine Power Powder for cultivation. Please, have a taste."
"Freshly made."
...
] [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.
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
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)
