The Tower of Salvation.
The plaza platform.
Dozens of people sat scattered about.
Their faces were blank, silent, like puppets whose souls had been drained, trembling as they choked back sobs.
Gradually.
Those choked sounds turned into clear weeping.
"Thank the lord for saving you, Awejin, my child."
A one-armed knight clutched his child tightly with his only remaining hand, his resolute face twisted into an ugly, tearful expression.
A gaunt, haggard woman cradled an infant, her cheeks streaked with tears.
Farewells, separations, the divide between life and death.
Words that once felt distant now descended upon everyone with crushing weight.
Loved ones gone.
Dear friends fallen.
Most of those who survived had lost their closest kin and companions.
Even those who lived were left in wretched states.
In the end.
That overwhelming despair and the hollowness in their hearts all dissolved into grief, dripping steadily into the steaming broth before them.
They had survived.
By the grace of that lord, they had lived through this calamity.
Sorrow mingled with gratitude, turning the warmth of the soup into glistening tears at the corners of their eyes.
"Lord Wizard, do you not plan to go down?"
Atop the tower.
Xu Xi and Servia stood at the heights, watching the people they had just saved weep and give thanks.
The sight was deeply moving.
A flower of tears blooming in despair.
"...If I go down, things will only get more chaotic."
"More chaotic?"
"Yes. It’d probably turn into a crowd of people bowing and crying before me."
Xu Xi shook his head. He disliked such scenes.
Before rescuing them.
He had used a spell of benevolent detection to briefly assess their character, ensuring he wouldn’t save ungrateful wretches.
It was a good method.
But as a result, those with virtuous natures held Xu Xi’s kindness in especially high regard, which he found slightly bothersome.
"Passing through seven kingdoms, fifty-three towns, and countless villages."
"Yet only forty-eight were saved."
"And among them, many were young children."
Xu Xi’s gaze lifted to the darkened sky, where a black sun hung high, filling him with complex emotions.
...
[You saved some people.]
[You don’t consider yourself noble—you merely extended a sliver of kindness within your means.]
[And you have other plans for those you saved.]
[The Tower of Salvation is vast. Tasks like observing and cultivating magical plants, breeding magical beasts, and maintaining the tower’s structure are time-consuming.]
[You and Servia need to grow stronger.]
[Such chores require extra hands.]
[The rescued have become part of the Tower of Salvation, holding you in reverence. You often hear echoes of "that lord" within the wizard tower.]
...
[Simulation Year 18, Age 35.]
[As the Tower of Salvation traveled, you saved a few more. With more hands, your wizard tower began operating smoothly.]
[Thanks to this, your soulfire harvesting also sped up.]
[The people grew even more respectful.]
[Servia, kind-hearted and cloaked in her half-cape, also bonded with them.]
[She often helped them settle into life in the tower, and each time she did, she felt genuine joy.]
[You were pleased to see this.]
[Simulation Year 20, Age 37.]
[The massive floating fortress plowed forward through a world now utterly silent. Encounters with living souls grew rare, even among wizards.]
[Though not yet truly dead, the world of wizards showed no signs of life.]
"Servia, this world is terrible, isn’t it?"
"...I will protect you, Lord Wizard."
The silver-armored warrior spoke firmly.
Her heavy blade gleamed.
Following the flicker of emerald at her fingertips.
It cleaved through the thick darkness, severing the skeletal form of a fallen wyvern.
The world’s ruin was irreversible, but at the very least, Servia would guard the light before her.
She refused—she could not bear—to sink back into the darkness of the past.
...
[Simulation Year 22, Age 39.]
[The tower’s population grew further, nearing a hundred.]
[Most were ordinary folk, but a few were wizard apprentices, easing your research burdens.]
[The warrior remained your most trusted knight.]
[She feared the dark, feared thunder.]
[Yet for your safety, she endured her terror, mastering her unease.]
[The only cost was the rapid depletion of the enchanted tome you once gifted her—its light and soundproofing spells nearly exhausted.]
[You replenished it with a new one.]
The cold night wind.
Made the soulfire flicker.
Above, the black sun and crimson moon still loomed, but the Tower of Salvation’s specialized wards perfectly shielded against their eerie presence.
Recreating the stars, the moon, the peaceful skies of old.
"Lord Wizard, I feel like I’ve troubled you again..."
At the tower’s peak.
Xu Xi and Servia conversed.
Handed the new tome, the warrior flushed slightly, ashamed of burdening Xu Xi—unworthy of her role as his guardian knight.
But Xu Xi only smiled.
Softly: "If it’s you, Servia, it’s no trouble at all."
"!!!!!"
Warrior Servia’s eyes widened.
Warrior Servia’s mind short-circuited.
Warrior Servia took the tome and fled in disarray.
...
[Simulation Year 23, Age 40.]
[Time’s passage and death’s erosion left your appearance untouched.]
[You remained youthful, though your every movement now carried deeper spiritual resonance, pressing upon the tower’s inhabitants like an unseen weight.]
[Your soul had reached its limit.]
[You were ready to advance to a Fourth-Circle Wizard.]
"So slow..."
"Compared to cultivation, magic, or martial arts, wizardry’s progress is sluggish."
"But that’s to be expected."
"Few paths explore the truths of the world as early as wizardry does."
The Tower of Salvation halted.
To ensure a smooth breakthrough.
Xu Xi secluded himself, adjusting his state.
Servia stood guard outside the meditation chamber, her greatsword steady, her senses sharpened by detection spells, alert to any disturbance.
"Now, then."
"Spiritual convergence, soul amplification, perception enhancement, the Sight of Observation."
"Life-tree leaves, water of eternity."
"Every preparation for ascension has been made."
"All that remains is the final step—for me to begin, to shift from observing the world to shaping it."
Within the chamber.
Silence reigned.
The darkness was so absolute it seemed to erase space and time.
At forty, Xu Xi sat alone, summoning his staff.
Crack—
Crack—
An invisible, surging force of soul energy erupted from within, a terrifying tide unseen.
The darkness twisted—and shattered.
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!" "......"
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
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!
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.
