In Li Mo's brief silence, countless possibilities and solutions had already flashed through his mind.
Was there anything in the System's investments that could turn the tide?
Did he still have any hidden trump cards left to reverse the situation?
One idea after another surfaced, only to be dismissed.
No.
This was truly a hopeless predicament.
The only option was to shatter his minor world to generate primordial chaos energy, using countless calamities to push the Dharma Manifestation to an extreme he had never reached before.
At this moment,
the minor world, which had barely been stabilized from collapse, began disintegrating once more—silently crumbling, reduced to the purest essence of clear and turbid energies.
The final Dharma Manifestation became the vessel bearing this process.
In this instant, it seemed he finally understood what his inner landscape was, and an endless surge of divine intent poured forth from his soul.
A gentle radiance slowly emerged—the only existence within the minor world untouched by destruction.
From within the moon's reflection came a faint sigh.
A figure stepped out, one who had transcended mortality and reversed the sun and moon.
"You're not the ice block after all."
A realization dawned in Li Mo's heart.
Though her appearance was equally breathtaking—ethereal, cold, and noble, bathed in moonlight that cast a silver glow upon her—
her gaze brimmed with divinity, the moon itself revolving within her eyes.
This peerless beauty was unmatched in the world.
Yet he also knew: this was not her.
"I am her, but she is not me." The serene, mysteriously regal voice provided the answer.
"Transcending mortality..." Li Mo murmured.
Why was Ying Bing her, yet she was not the ice block?
After all, this divine form had been born from a painting of the ice block, upgraded and transformed through the Seal of Creation.
And this lunar divine intent had never truly belonged to him.
Because he couldn't even fathom its origin—it only ever proved useful when he was with the ice block...
"Can an inner landscape develop its own consciousness...?"
"I am not your inner landscape."
The figure in the moon spoke calmly. "Because you now have your own inner landscape, I must depart."
"My own inner landscape?"
Li Mo froze, then nodded in understanding.
Yes.
But his inner landscape was likely a one-time affair.
"If you had hidden in your own world from the beginning, perhaps it wouldn't have come to this. Do you regret it?"
Li Mo stared at her for a long moment before smiling. "I know who you are now."
"Oh?"
"You're the ice block who never met me—or rather... the resurrected Ying Huang of the future."
So after all this, Ying Huang hadn't been with the ice block, but within his lunar essence.
Li Mo was a genius, after all.
And since she made no effort to conceal it, the answer was obvious.
He didn't belong to the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths—he existed beyond the Five Elements and outside the Three Realms. His space was likely the safest place in existence.
Moreover, his lunar essence and Ying Bing's were connected. From here, she could still watch over the ice block.
"......"
"Go. Go to the ice block."
"Aren't you afraid I'll influence her, make her a stranger to you, turn her into someone else?"
"I trust her."
Li Mo wore the ice block's signature solemn expression in his heart.
"......"
After a long silence, the moonlit figure suddenly smiled—a sight that could topple nations.
"No wonder she made the same choice as you."
Her final words echoed in Li Mo's mind as the moon in his minor world faded away.
Li Mo's consciousness plunged back into his body, agonizing pain tearing at his nerves. Everything that had just transpired felt like a dream.
Clang—
Only now did the Compliant Golden-Hooped Staff slam heavily into the Celestial City's domain.
Instantly, its divine might halted the convergence of heaven and earth.
At the same time, boundless power surged from his body...
......
"Was Young Hero Li Mo speaking to someone just now?"
"The Celestial City's domain is about to collapse—is anyone going to do something?!"
"With such a catastrophe unfolding, why haven't the imperial experts intervened?"
"Wait—if the Celestial City's domain vanishes, can those who died inside return?"
"......"
In the imperial capital, the crowd watching the Rivers and Mountains Scroll erupted into a storm of gasps and questions.
But Emperor Jingtai, on whom their hopes rested, sat beneath the imperial canopy, suddenly aged and despondent.
"Even in such dire straits... is there still no hope?"
Among all trial participants, Ying Bing and Li Mo stood peerless—unmatched in the past and unlikely to be surpassed in the future.
Emperor Jingtai could still grasp some of Ying Bing's methods.
But Li Mo had completely upended his understanding of martial artists. Compared to his own and Su Jun's prowess in their youth, Li Mo was on an entirely different level—unprecedented, and likely never to be rivaled.
He had anticipated imperial intervention, but never expected Chu Ge himself to enter the Heavenly Phoenix Domain.
Old Granny Yantian, however, never took her eyes off the Rivers and Mountains Scroll, staring devoutly at the ever-brightening moon as if beholding her faith incarnate.
Then, abruptly, her gaze shifted to the celestial city, her expression stunned.
......
"I think from now on, Brother Li shouldn't be called the Sword Hero of Liqun—he deserves the title Sword God!"
"His deeds truly warrant such honor. Next time the Sword Manor selects its champions, I nominate Young Hero Li."
"Ah, but only if he emerges intact..."
Amid the chatter, Xie Xuan urgently sought out Xie Yiding.
His Ten Thousand Springs Pavilion was thriving—he couldn't just stand by.
Yet Xie Xuan had no other options.
To help Brother Li, he had to resort to his ultimate move.
"Father!"
"What is it? No need for hysterics!" Xie Yiding adjusted the square scarf atop his head.
Xie Xuan blurted, "We should ask the Sword Tomb's—"
"Already done. He told us to rest easy."
"Huh?"
"He's already made his move?"
"No. He doesn't need to."
"What?"
Xie Xuan gaped, then looked up at the Rivers and Mountains Scroll—before collapsing onto his rear in shock.
At high noon, the sun draped the imperial capital in golden haze. Yet even its radiance paled beside the figure now dominating the Rivers and Mountains Scroll.
The crimson-gold hue had faded; even his indestructible body had been worn down, reduced to golden smoke.
The towering crimson giant—whether inner landscape, true form, or a fusion of both—stood defiant between heaven and earth, shining as bright as the sun and moon.
A single gilded staff anchored the earth.
Limitless power upheld the sky.
Crack—
The sound came from the grand hall at the palace's heart.
The majestic, golden hall bore a plaque inscribed by the Martial Emperor himself, gleaming with the words:
"Ten Thousand Years, A Thousand Autumns."
Now, that massive plaque crashed to the ground, its thunderous impact reverberating through the palace.
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)
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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.
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
