"Who am I? Where am I?"
It felt like an eternity had passed, yet perhaps only an instant.
Outside the window, the same cold moon hung in the sky, casting its pale light over the frozen stream.
Inside the chamber, Li Mo opened his eyes in confusion.
The vast, primordial visions from before still lingered in his mind, refusing to fade, nearly overwhelming his senses.
Now, only one sensation dominated his awareness:
Hunger.
Not the hunger of the stomach, but a deep, soul-deep craving.
Instinctively, he retrieved a vial of Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Vein Spirit Milk and gulped it down in one go.
The essence of the earth veins surged into his dantian, absorbed by his thirty-six primary meridians before converging into his core, bringing a sensation akin to parched land finally blessed with rain.
"Ah..."
Wiping his lips, Li Mo finally regained his composure and recalled what had just happened.
He had used the Heavenly Scripture Seal to refine a martial technique.
He had elevated a divine martial art, transforming it into a single petal of a lotus.
"That technique... I’m not even sure if it can still be called a martial art anymore."
The feeling was strange.
Li Mo understood its essence, yet he found no way to articulate it.
Words failed him.
Every method he knew for conveying knowledge seemed utterly inadequate to describe what the technique embodied.
Then, he noticed something unusual.
Quickly, he focused his attention inward, toward his dantian.
There,
a faint wisp of energy hovered, almost tangible.
Pale red in hue, like an eternal flame that had burned since time immemorial, never extinguishing.
Inner Breath!?
This time, his Inner Breath hadn’t vanished!
"A whole vial of Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Vein Spirit Milk, and all I got was this tiny strand?"
Li Mo couldn’t help but laugh wryly.
Now he finally understood the purpose of those thirty-six meridians.
Without them working in unison to refine the earth vein essence, even this single wisp of Inner Breath would have been impossible to condense.
Raising a finger,
the strand of Inner Breath manifested at his fingertip.
It held no heat, no discernible aura.
With a flick,
the wisp shot out the window, landing on the frozen stream.
Miraculously, it began to burn.
The ice was ignited.
Yet, it didn’t melt into water.
The flickering flames reflected in Li Mo’s widened eyes, mirroring his astonishment.
"If I don’t recall it, it’ll keep burning like this."
"Until the entire stream is consumed..."
"This Inner Breath doesn’t just burn ice—it can even consume other ‘flames’..."
A realization dawned upon him.
No other martial artist’s Inner Breath could boast such an outrageous property.
At best, theirs might be tougher or more lethal.
But his? It could incinerate all things—only a matter of time.
"So... how exactly did this Inner Breath fit inside my body?"
Li Mo had stumbled upon the critical question.
Well.
This could only be attributed to the wonders of his Profound Yin Immortal Physique.
"Regardless, I’ve finally reached the Inner Breath realm."
A weight lifted from Li Mo’s heart.
He still had twelve vials of Earth Vein Spirit Milk left.
Setting aside three—two for his parents, one for emergencies—he decided to dedicate the remaining nine to cultivation.
Enough talk. Time to charge ahead!
......
Upstairs.
The room was suffused with a snowy hue, every surface coated in frost.
The finely crafted bed had cracked under the extreme cold.
Ying Bing’s delicate brows furrowed slightly.
A faint ripple of Inner Breath pulsed around her.
Even now, she was harnessing the restless Lunar Qi to cultivate.
The process was agonizing, but the rewards were immense.
The Lunar Essence—supremely cold, supremely gentle.
While it withered all things, it also concealed the seeds of rebirth.
This was why her physique far surpassed others of her realm.
"The time... should be about right."
Ying Bing lifted her gaze to the bright moon hanging high in the sky.
Midnight.
Right on schedule, the system chimed with a notification:
[Scanning the Eastern Wasteland Domain to compile a list of all prodigies...]
[Conducting combat power comparisons for the host...]
The system performed both tasks simultaneously.
In truth, the list alone sufficed.
If her name topped it, nothing else needed to be said.
"Haah..."
A breath laced with ice crystals escaped her lips as a trace of focus settled on her jade-like features.
Not out of concern for her position, but curiosity.
Aside from Li Mo,
would anyone else in this life defy her expectations?
And where would that youth, so different from his past incarnation, rank?
In the bone-chilling cold, time seemed to lose all meaning.
[Ding—]
[Initial ranking results announced.]
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 50th Place: Lin Jiang.]
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 49th Place: Zhao Qin.]
...
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 30th Place: Murong Xiao.]
...
As the system’s words materialized line by line, Ying Bing’s expression returned to its usual serenity.
The rankings did deviate slightly from her memories.
Lin Jiang, Murong Xiao...
Coincidentally, both seemed acquainted with Li Mo?
His name hadn’t appeared yet.
Not surprising.
Li Mo’s swordsmanship had been learned from her, after all.
And today’s clash had even revealed something she hadn’t anticipated.
His rank would surely land within the top twenty.
The system’s announcements continued.
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 20th Place: Xiao Qin.]
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 19th Place: Mei Ziguang.]
...
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 14th Place: Luo Yu.]
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 13th Place: Zuo Qiuyang.]
...
Gradually, some names began to stir recognition in Ying Bing’s mind.
Some had risen to prominence in the Eastern Wasteland Domain in her past life, while others had ventured to the Central Divine Land, leaving their mark on the grand stage of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
Luo Yu, for instance, had led the Blazing Jade Valley to supremacy in Purple Sun Prefecture after the decline of the Qingyuan Sect.
Zuo Qiuyang had claimed victory in the Abyssal Trials, later becoming a dreaded assassin under the banner of the Misty Rain Pavilion.
All were figures of extraordinary talent.
As for the top ten? They were true dragons among men.
A thought flickered through Ying Bing’s mind.
Li Mo’s absence meant only one thing.
He had broken into the top ten.
No—even higher.
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 5th Place: Zhong Zhenyue.]
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 4th Place: Han Zhen.]
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 3rd Place: Shang Li.]
At this, a rare trace of bewilderment flashed in Ying Bing’s serene eyes.
These individuals had all carved their names into the annals of history, rising as titans amidst the tides of fate.
Shang Li, the last crown prince of the Great Shang Dynasty, had wielded the remnants of his fallen kingdom’s fortune to stage a dramatic resurgence.
Han Zhen was an enigma—his meteoric ascent and martial arts, seemingly out of sync with the current era, hinted at an inheritance from an ancient lineage.
For Li Mo to surpass them, placing only beneath her?
The thought had barely formed when—
Ying Bing’s mind froze.
Her tranquil eyes widened in shock.
[Eastern Wasteland Domain's Heavenly Pride Ranking, Second Place: Ying Bing.]
She saw herself.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
tions: attribute allocation, analysis, proficiency, and simulation. Specializing in mechanical alchemy, from crafting sorcerous battle armor to handcrafting mechanical maidens, his mechanical legion conquers endless realms... Relying on his wits, he begins with a student-teacher romance, wins over a female director, enslaves a female assassin and a underworld queen, becoming the husband of a Grand Duchess... He enslaves the Goddess of Magic from the divine realm, developing his power simultaneously in both the Wizard World and the Realm of Gods...
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
