The young lady came running.
As she ran, sunlight pierced through her delicate hair, sparkling in the air.
Her footsteps echoed along the corridor.
The sound was urgent and excited.
"Sir! Sir!" The princess stopped in front of Xu Xi, excitedly waving papers in her hand, some torn from ancient texts, others freshly copied.
"Sir, everything you asked for is here."
"I asked everyone I could."
"This is all there is!"
Wu Yingxue handed the thick stack of papers to Xu Xi.
Her red and white fitted martial attire and delicate but sturdy light armor accentuated her fiery liveliness.
"Thank you for your hard work, Yingxue."
"Hehe, I'm just glad I could help, sir."
Xu Xi walked to the back of the room, laying the papers on the table one by one, while the young lady stood curiously beside him, watching as he performed operations she couldn't understand.
The lighting in the room was perfect.
Neither too bright to affect observation,
Nor too dim to make things unclear.
As Xu Xi spread out the papers, they revealed pages recording the history and mythological stories of the Great Qin.
Following Xu Xi's instructions,
They were all personally collected by Wu Yingxue.
Some came from various state academies, others transcribed from local folk tales.
The content was chaotic, varied, with little apparent connection between pieces.
Wu Yingxue couldn't understand any of it, nor did she grasp the significance of Xu Xi's actions.
But she believed
That following sir's words would never be wrong.
Sir had never deceived her.
So whatever sir said, she would do.
"Sir, what exactly are you planning to do with these?" Wu Yingxue asked curiously, peering over as Xu Xi's finger traced across the pages.
"I'm looking for the truth," Xu Xi didn't hide his intentions.
The oddities about Great Qin, about the emperor, and about the mysterious Ten Thousand Mountains,
Reminded him of the previous magic world.
In the magic world, the gods fabricated false histories to harvest human faith. By the same logic, Great Qin might be concealing something as well.
That hidden truth behind everything
Might be the key to unveiling it all.
While it might not change the course of war, it could help Xu Xi understand where to go next.
Xu Xi patiently explained to the young princess why this mattered and the irregularities about Great Qin.
"Yingxue, have you ever seen the Emperor of Great Qin?"
"Not really any impression..."
Wu Yingxue pursed her lips, frowning in thought: "Throughout my life, I've rarely seen that dog of an emperor, though my royal father often went to the palace. Beyond that, I don't know much."
The girl's tone was harsh, gritting her teeth.
As if she wanted to grab her spear
And stab the Great Qin Emperor a thousand times.
"Is that so," Xu Xi pondered thoughtfully as he continued examining the pages.
Sunlight gently fell through the window lattice, casting a glow on the indoor walls, illuminating tiny dust particles floating in the air. Amid the dappled light and shadow, Xu Xi sat down.
He sat in the wooden chair, holding papers with his left hand and a brush with his right.
While reading the contents on the papers,
He used the brush to note down key elements.
Xu Xi had long known that Great Qin's history was watered down, and he knew that folk mythology passed down orally often deviated from facts.
However,
No matter how false, no matter how far from reality, the core of stories remains unchanged.
For instance, in the widely known tale of humans enduring long periods of demon invasions before establishing Great Qin, there was a key element:
The demon invasions came first, then Great Qin was established.
Remove Great Qin's self-glorifying embellishments,
What remains
Is the truth Xu Xi needs.
"The history of demons dates back very far... Compared to the demons I've seen, those in local mythology are clearly more diverse and powerful."
"In contrast, Great Qin's history is too brief."
"As a supernatural dynasty, as the first human dynasty in history, Great Qin's establishment is less than a thousand years old."
Speaking to himself,
Quickly recording,
Thanks to his previous experience handling government affairs, Xu Xi wrote quickly, soon extracting many key elements.
But these elements were mixed with truth and falsehood, requiring further verification.
"Yingxue, help me."
"Yes!"
...
[You begin to investigate the truth of the martial world]
[The emperor's strange reactions make you suspicious of Great Qin's nature and the nature of the Ten Thousand Mountains]
[You are ninety percent certain that the Great Qin Emperor is either a traitor collaborating with demons, or perhaps a demon himself wearing human skin to rule over humanity]
[After silent consideration, you decide to seek the world's truth]
[You have the girl collect historical records from various places, as well as oral folk tales of ancient myths from village residents]
[You hope to use these as breakthrough points to find humanity's true history, as Great Qin, being less than a thousand years old, couldn't possibly have created such an intricate martial arts system based on blood energy]
[You persist in searching...]
[You persist in investigating...]
[You gain some understanding of history]
[You keenly notice that in myths passed down across various regions, different kinds of information appear frequently, whether about vast boundless worlds or godlike beings with mountain-moving strength]
[In these myths, humans weren't demon fodder, but protagonists of the world, with demons being just one of many opponents]
[Compared to the cruel reality, compared to the current reality of being surrounded by the Ten Thousand Mountains]
[These myths seem as beautiful as fiction, like beautiful fantasies created by suffering people on the brink of death]
"These records... can't be fully trusted."
"They differ too much from reality, with no corresponding points."
"Perhaps they really are just fantasies, rather than accounts based on fact."
[You distrust the history fabricated by Great Qin, but also dare not trust these outlandish myths, fearing misleading information]
[You continue browsing pages, constantly comparing and searching]
[In other myths, you see familiar terms, about azure dragons swooping down to devour people, swallowing thousands in one gulp]
[This is a myth from Jiangdao Prefecture, recording that in ancient times an azure dragon descended, devouring humans with brutal bloodthirst, feared by all]
[Surprised, you examine this paper about the azure dragon repeatedly]
[You discover a key point: in this myth, there is no mention of the Great Qin dynasty, nor any of its territories]
[Similar to other myths you've read before]
[This myth about the man-eating azure dragon describes an entirely new great world, far larger than the thirteen prefectures]
[Previously, you dismissed this as imagination, but this time the azure dragon described is one you've actually seen in reality, albeit not in its true form]
] [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!"
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)
spital. Good news: I've bound a system. Bad news: I'm still a baby. "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, do not bully the middle-aged for being poor — Divorce Comeback System." "Your marriage may have failed, but your luck in love has never run dry. Your childhood sweetheart, out of contact for twenty years, reappears. Her beauty remains, yet her eyes are brimming with tears." [Listen to the childhood sweetheart's sorrowful story.] Chen Zhi looked down at the diaper he was wearing, then at the little childhood sweetheart crying her heart out beside him, and fell into deep thought. Can anyone relate? I'm having a midlife crisis at an age where even rolling over is a struggle.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
