"Sir, did we win…?"
"Yes, we won."
The setting sun burned like fire, resembling a deep crimson bloodstain.
It calmly illuminated the earth.
Its light revealed the desolation of a tragic elegy and the numerous weapons thrust into the snow-covered ground.
Corpses paved the way forward, allowing the living to continue their march, to seize the tower, gather the remnants of the army, and capture the pass.
Thus, the battle came to an end.
"This is so good…" The dragon-patterned spear pierced the earth, its roots resembling those of a tenacious plant, firmly embedded in the blood-soaked battlefield.
Wu Yingxue sat there, leaning against the spear, utterly exhausted.
Her face was smeared with blood, and a wound on her forehead bled continuously, staining the hair in front of her forehead and her pale lips.
She lowered her head and smiled, but more blood spilled from her mouth, drop by drop, soaking her clothes.
It hurt.
She was weak.
The girl was a newly advanced Xiantian cultivator.
Lacking experience and skill, she had relied solely on the quality of her Azure Dragon Aura to barely suppress her opponent and claim victory.
This was already remarkable, considering her opponent was a seasoned Xiantian warrior.
For this, she had truly expended every ounce of her strength.
So much so that now, with the battle over,
she could only sit helplessly, watching the sun set and the night fall, unable to move an inch.
"Thud—"
"Thud—"
Footsteps approached, crunching through the snow and dirt. Wu Yingxue forced her eyes open and offered the newcomer a strained smile.
"Sir, I won," she said.
"I saw it, Yingxue. You did well," Xu Xi replied gently.
He crouched down,
wiped the blood and grime from the girl's face with his hand, and then helped her up, supporting her so she could stand again.
"Wait, wait!"
The girl suddenly widened her eyes.
Even now, she wanted to be stubborn.
"Sir, you don't need to help me. I can stand up on my own!"
Wu Yingxue's voice was full of conviction.
She pushed Xu Xi's hand away and took a step forward, only to—
"Thud, thud."
"Thud, thud."
Her fiery figure collapsed, legs giving way, and she tumbled several times in the snow before finally coming to a stop.
Huh…
Her delicate face was filled with confusion.
Her red-and-white martial robe, already dirty from the battlefield, was now even more soiled after rolling in the snow.
Snowflakes scattered.
Drifting down from the sky, one landed precisely on the tip of her nose.
"Ouch."
Lying sprawled in the snow, the girl finally uttered this single word, her expression now much more subdued.
Xu Xi sighed helplessly and reached out to her again. But this time, instead of helping her up, he simply hoisted her onto his back.
"Hold on tight. Don't move around," he instructed.
"Yes, sir," Wu Yingxue replied meekly.
With the girl on his back, Xu Xi pulled the dragon-patterned spear from the ground and began walking toward the interior of the pass.
Behind him, a crowd of refugees and starving people followed, entering the pass and stepping into a future where they could survive.
The sunset was shattered.
Shattered by the countless pairs of cloth shoes caked in mud and dirt.
The cold wind was scattered.
Scattered by the tattered figures of the refugees.
The setting sun poured molten gold onto the earth, swiftly extinguishing its last rays and transforming into countless stars that twinkled high in the night sky.
"Sir."
As Xu Xi walked, the girl's voice came from his back.
She lay quietly, her arms wrapped around his neck, securing herself in place.
"Today, what grade did I earn?" she asked curiously.
Xu Xi pondered for a moment before answering, "Grade B."
"Grade B? That's better than last time," Wu Yingxue chuckled softly.
She seemed pleased.
But her body was truly weak, and soon her laughter turned into a fit of coughing. She quickly fell silent, burying her head in Xu Xi's shoulder.
It feels so reassuring…
The thought crossed Wu Yingxue's mind.
She obeyed Xu Xi without question.
She never thought of defying him.
She lay obediently on his back, careful not to disturb his walking.
But that didn't mean the girl couldn't do other things.
"…" She narrowed her eyes into a thin line, staring at Xu Xi's neck with an adorable expression.
Then she shifted her curious gaze to his ears.
Watching as the cold wind tousled his black hair,
she playfully blew a gentle puff of air at his hair, giggling as it swayed.
"The stars tonight are so beautiful…"
As she laughed, Wu Yingxue, still on Xu Xi's back, suddenly noticed how exceptionally bright the night sky was.
No heavy snowfall obscured the view.
No dark clouds shrouded the heavens.
The vast Milky Way shimmered in the girl's eyes, so bright, so vivid.
Much brighter than the night they folded paper flowers.
Delicate, like a calm river flowing across the night sky.
Twinkling, like countless little suns glowing.
"Sir, I remember you said there are thousands upon thousands of stars in the sky?"
"Yes, I did. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing."
The girl, carried on Xu Xi's back, giggled. "I just wanted to try counting them all, to see if there really are that many."
Counting the stars was an impossible task.
The stars were infinite, and the human eye was bound to make mistakes.
Yet, for some reason, the young princess, who had lost everything, wanted to try.
And so,
she begged Xu Xi to help her keep track.
Foolishly, she began counting the stars.
"One, two, three, four."
"Oops, no."
"One, two, three, four, five…"
The starry sky was dazzling, the Milky Way pouring endless radiance, and the dark world was illuminated by the light of countless stars.
Xu Xi carried the girl into the pass, heading deeper into the Thirteen Prefectures of Great Qian.
The sound of her counting the stars
grew softer with time,
more gentle, more weary, until it finally turned into light snores.
Wu Yingxue had fallen asleep while counting the stars.
Xu Xi paused briefly, then continued with even lighter steps, murmuring a number under his breath: "One thousand three hundred and thirty-five."
That was the number the girl had reached before falling asleep.
To be honest,
there was no point in remembering this number.
By the next night, the girl wouldn't recall which stars she had already counted. She would have to start over.
But since she had begged him, Xu Xi decided to keep track.
"Strange, is it just my imagination?"
"It feels like two stars are particularly bright tonight."
Xu Xi looked up.
In the vast expanse of the night sky, two stars shone brightly, close to each other, illuminating the path ahead that should have been shrouded in darkness.
...
[The battle is over]
[You have achieved victory]
[This is an incredible feat, a victory that shattered everyone's expectations]
[You led a group of peasants, people who knew nothing and could do nothing, and successfully broke through one of Great Qian's passes, advancing into its heart]
[As you marched, the stars shone brightly]
[Lighting the thorny path ahead]
[You thought to yourself, perhaps this was the luck brought by the silly girl counting the stars]
[Though, if only she were a bit lighter, you sighed deeply after carrying her all night]
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
