Xu Xi's voice was calm as he recounted the facts, but his words were difficult for the injured girl on the bed to accept.
"I..."
"How could this..."
Wu Yingxue's eyes were filled with confusion.
From a high and mighty princess to a fugitive.
The sudden change in status and the abrupt turn of fate left her at a loss, even making her forget about her own injuries.
"This can't be right. I was the one who was attacked, yet I'm the one being hunted..."
"This doesn't make sense. It really doesn't."
Her robe still carried a faint scent of blood. Wu Yingxue murmured to herself, her right hand clutching her head, her brows tightly furrowed, unable to accept the reality before her.
A warrior's eyes should be bright and resolute.
But now, the girl's gaze was hollow, filled with confusion and a faint tremor of fear.
"The officials are searching for you, which means your attackers were from the Great Qian court," Xu Xi continued. "Perhaps they were targeting you alone, but more likely, they were targeting the person behind you."
Wu Yingxue had a powerful background.
Her father.
The Dingyuan King of Great Qian.
Xu Xi had heard of the man's reputation—a third-level innate realm powerhouse, with his acupoints clear and his spirit settled, just half a step away from the realm of human immortals.
If something had happened to the Dingyuan King, then the girl's attack would make sense.
After all, as his direct descendant, she could hardly escape the fallout.
"I..."
Her eyes dimmed, her lips slightly parted, but Wu Yingxue couldn't form a complete sentence for a long time, until she fell completely silent.
The news of becoming a fugitive was too bizarre.
It hinted at many terrible possibilities.
The most terrifying of which was that the Great Qian Emperor could no longer tolerate the Dingyuan King and had begun to purge everyone in the royal mansion.
Just thinking about it was enough to overwhelm the girl. She sat on the bed, head lowered, staring blankly at her hands.
At her pale nails.
At the lines on her palms.
Lost in a daze.
"She's just a young tree that hasn't weathered any storms," Xu Xi sighed inwardly.
The girl seemed composed and decisive, acting with caution and vigilance. When she first woke up, she had even been wary of Xu Xi, appearing mature and steady in every way.
But in reality, how mature could a sixteen-year-old girl truly be?
Some people are born precocious.
From a very young age, they are more confident and better at communication than others.
But this is an illusion. A life of limited experiences and shallow past events had not given the girl the capacity to handle sudden, shocking incidents.
And so.
The girl shut down.
Was she fragile? Xu Xi didn't think so.
What had happened to her was indeed too shocking and bizarre, enough to even startle Xu Xi.
...
"The books in Qingniu Town, though some are inaccurate, are mostly reliable."
"According to the records, the royal bloodline of the Great Qian court practices a unified cultivation technique. Upon reaching the innate realm, they gain the royal family's exclusive Azure Dragon Aura."
"This is why the nobility reveres the dragon motif."
"It's almost certain."
"This child is indeed from a noble family."
Leaving the inner room, Xu Xi gave Wu Yingxue some space.
He grasped the long spear leaning against the door and, with a slight exertion, lifted the heavy weapon. It gleamed in the sunlight.
A ray of light, like a gentle whisper, pierced through the silent spear, casting a faint dragon motif on the floor tiles.
This exquisite craftsmanship and the royal dragon motif were enough to confirm the girl's identity.
Xu Xi shook his head. He couldn't imagine what could have happened to cause the Dingyuan King to fall, leading to the girl being ambushed.
"Is she really going to be okay?"
Xu Xi pondered.
Just then, the sound of a wooden door opening came from behind. Wu Yingxue, her armor stained with blood, stepped out of the room.
The sixteen-year-old girl had a resilient spirit. After a brief period of confusion, she had regained her determination.
She decided that once her injuries healed, she would return to the capital to uncover the truth.
But before that—
"Can I stay here?"
Wu Yingxue's eyes were filled with determination as she earnestly requested Xu Xi: "I need time to recover. Please rest assured, I will pay for my stay."
Xu Xi was about to refuse.
But two bottles of pills were forcefully pressed into his hand.
They were Earth Blood Pills, something only innate realm warriors had the privilege to access.
...
[Simulation Year 7, Age 22]
[Seven years had passed, and your strength had advanced by leaps and bounds. In Qingniu Town, where warriors were few, you were the envy of many, a young genius.]
[Merchants flattered you, thugs respected you, and you were hailed as the Qingniu Blade Hero.]
[Qingniu Town was your home, and the blade was your weapon of choice.]
[Every year, during the spring and winter seasons, you fearlessly charged into the frontlines of the demon tide, honing yourself through battle. But in the eyes of others, this was seen as your selfless act of protecting the people.]
[The entire town was deeply grateful.]
[That same year, you unexpectedly found a young girl. She claimed to be the Dingyuan King's legitimate daughter, a sixteen-year-old blood-transformation realm warrior with exceptional talent and comprehension.]
[You had no intention of getting involved, but the girl offered too much.]
[You went out.]
[You confirmed the intensity of the officials' search.]
[You realized that the Great Qian court didn't pay much attention to Qingniu Town. The so-called search was merely a perfunctory inquiry. You accepted Wu Yingxue's pills and allowed her to stay at your home to recover.]
[Most of the time, the girl would sit alone in her room, silently contemplating her future.]
[Occasionally, she would struggle to her feet, despite the pain, and make her way to the main hall to watch you train day after day.]
[Your unwavering, relentless routine.]
[Deeply impressed the young girl.]
[She had never seen anyone like you, someone who could persist in such ordinary punches every single day. She even began to wonder if you were a little crazy for doing so.]
Fingers clenched into a fist.
He drew back and punched forward.
At the moment of impact, a crisp whistling sound echoed.
It was the wind stirred by the force of his punch, striking a falling leaf dead-on. The energy followed, and his fist collided with a massive piece of bluestone.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The stone first shook violently, then quickly began to tremble.
Fast, then slow.
Tense, then relaxed.
"Haa—" Xu Xi stood still, slowly retracting his punching stance. Hot air escaped with his breath, and his eyes shone with a sharp, focused energy.
"Finally, with the help of the Earth Blood Pills, I've successfully completed the marrow cleansing and blood transformation."
Xu Xi's expression was relaxed.
But then, the girl emerged from the side room.
Her brows were furrowed, clearly displeased with Xu Xi's training method: "Xu Xi, your way of training is useless. I have a family technique..."
She spoke up, intending to teach him a secret martial art from her family as a way to repay his kindness.
However.
Just as Wu Yingxue's hand instinctively touched the rough surface of the bluestone.
"..."
The massive stone crumbled into dust, blown away by a light breeze.
"?"
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.
agon king storylines. At the start, I obtained the "Ultimate Lackey System" - the more I act as a lackey, the stronger I become. What else could I do? I chose to become the personal henchman of the ultimate villain, Su Muwan. I provoke all sorts of chosen ones, snatch away their opportunities, and commit every evil deed imaginable. You ask who's behind me? Hmph! You're not worthy of knowing my lady's name! ...... ....... I am Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Since childhood, I've possessed extraordinary talent in martial arts, which led to my arrogant and domineering personality in my past life. I was even foolish enough to repeatedly challenge those favored by heaven, ultimately resulting in a tragic death. In this life, I must behave and absolutely cannot walk the same path again!! However... SLAP!! "So you're the Dragon King, huh?!" When I saw my little lackey swagger over and viciously slap the Dragon King who was hiding his identity, I felt my heart sink. Su Muwan's suspended heart finally died as she watched Qin Luo, her utterly loyal lackey, standing before her. She fainted on the spot from shock. Heaven is determined to destroy me!! (Pure love 1v1, light-hearted, no angst, single female lead, villain, reincarnation, lackey)
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!" "......"
