A distant voice suddenly echoed over Anyang City without warning.
It seemed to descend from the highest heavens, yet also rise from the deepest abyss.
Carrying the weight of countless ages, it pierced clearly into the depths of every soul present.
"Righteous at heart?"
"Noble and orthodox?"
The disciples of the Blood Fiend Sect exchanged bewildered glances.
Were the situation not so grave, they might have burst into mocking laughter—"You? Righteous?"
"You’re the righteous one!"
"No, you are!"
"Your whole family is!"
The Joyful Union Sect’s pallid faces flushed with an unnatural redness—not from excitement, but from stifled laughter...
Li Xi of the Puppet Heaven Holy Land froze in place.
Her head snapped up, serpentine pupils scanning the empty surroundings as disbelief flickered across her expression for the first time.
Even the expressionless man beside her furrowed his brow, the massive wooden case on his back emitting faint mechanical clicks as it shifted into full alert.
Only Su Ji stood tall, chest out, and declared without hesitation, "This senior truly sees with divine clarity!"
The voice ignored their shock.
After a pause, it resumed.
[I have drawn you here... for the sake of a legacy.]
[This wisp of my fading soul nears its end. I had intended to let my knowledge be buried with me.]
[Yet in these final moments... I sense it.]
[Someone is tampering with the Heavenly Secrets...]
[Someone dares deceive life and death itself...]
[How could I resist... one last charge toward that pinnacle?]
[Inherit my arts! Slash your way back to the Nine Heavens!]
[Shall the blood of Yan and Huang ever bow to such wretched vermin!?]
As the words faded, the entire city of Anyang began to tremble.
An indescribable, overwhelming aura stirred from deep beneath the earth.
A slumbering remnant soul, dormant for a hundred thousand years, opened its eyes.
The surviving rogue cultivators outside the city, along with disciples of the Blood Fiend Sect and Joyful Union Sect, trembled with fervor.
Could it be true—that virtue was rewarded after all?
Whether Anyang City survived or perished no longer mattered.
Didn’t an ancient powerhouse need sustenance upon awakening?
So what if it consumed a few lives?
The only thing that mattered now... was the legacy!
Most present were Golden Core cultivators...
Yet before that voice...
They felt nothing but insignificance.
The only explanation...
A legacy from a realm beyond the Golden Core!
First, a cultivator had slain a Nascent Soul—a feat unseen for millennia—earning the heavens’ blessing.
Then, an elder of a great sect had staked everything to breach the Nascent Soul barrier.
And now, a mysterious powerhouse had confirmed it with their own words: a glorious, radiant era was dawning!
Great Xia...
This land, silent for a hundred thousand years, would finally reclaim the splendor of antiquity.
For a moment, all were intoxicated by this sudden, heaven-defying opportunity, their eyes burning with greed.
Only Su Jiu wore a conflicted expression as she stared at the not-so-imposing figure before her.
This was a "future" even the clan elders had never foreseen.
In the future she knew, Great Xia would plunge into endless darkness within a century, reduced to ruins. Where was this golden age?
There was only one explanation...
Su Ji.
Because the clan elders, despite exhausting their lifeforce, could never glimpse Su Ji’s existence.
He was a variable that appeared out of nowhere—shattering fate’s predetermined path beyond recognition.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so disheveled, forced by Su Ji to protect his spiritual roots…
This man would surely leave Great Xia behind.
The mysteries surrounding him were too many, and his future achievements were beyond anything she could imagine.
So, even if he often made bizarre, blush-inducing demands, she could only… grit her teeth and bear it.
After all, only by staying close to him could she hope to alter the fate of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox clan—and perhaps even all of Great Xia.
Su Jiu took a deep breath, the confusion in her eyes gradually fading, replaced by an unprecedented clarity.
Her actions and words were no longer about herself. She would sacrifice the lesser for the greater, with no regrets.
The ancient voice echoed once more, resonating in the minds of all present.
["Do any of you object?"]
Object?
Who would dare?
This was a legacy left by a powerhouse beyond the Golden Core realm. To be chosen was already a heaven-sent opportunity, something to be grateful for.
The disciples of the Blood Fiend Sect and the Joyful Union Sect could barely contain their fervor.
Even the ever-expressionless pair from the Puppet Heaven Holy Land showed the faintest hint of disturbed breathing.
Everyone held their breath, awaiting the immense fortune about to be bestowed…
Yet.
Amid the near-palpable silence, a voice cut through like a sudden boulder crashing into a still lake.
"I object."
The words were soft, but their impact was seismic.
Every head turned, including that of Li Xi from the Puppet Heaven Holy Land, her face a mask of disbelief.
Su Ji stood with arms crossed, his lips curled in disdain.
"What kind of garbage legacy is this? Not worth my time."
"And you—you’re not even fit to leave one behind."
The crowd erupted.
Madness!
This Foundation Establishment brat had lost his mind!
Did he even know who he was addressing?
Su Jiu’s heart leaped into her throat. She grabbed Su Ji’s sleeve, her face pale with panic.
Li Xi’s expression darkened, her fury barely contained.
An insignificant ant, daring to defy the dignity of an ancient powerhouse?
This was suicide!
But someone moved faster.
The male cultivator from the Puppet Heaven Holy Land roared, "You reckless fool!"
"How dare you disrespect our senior?"
The metallic black frog perched on his shoulder suddenly glowed, its ruby-red eyes blazing.
"Ribbit!"
A shrill cry pierced the air as the frog’s mouth gaped wide.
A fireball the size of a human head, wreathed in raging flames, shot toward Su Ji with a trailing inferno.
The very air warped under its heat—a strike capable of vaporizing any Foundation Establishment cultivator instantly.
Su Jiu paled, ready to intervene—
But the ancient voice spoke first, laced with amusement.
["Oh?"]
The moment the syllable fell, the terrifying fireball dissipated into nothingness, vanishing mere feet above Su Ji’s head.
As if it had never existed.
The Puppet Heaven Holy Land cultivator’s pupils contracted, his face twisting in shock.
He stared at his puppet frog, then at Su Ji—unharmed.
The voice’s owner had shielded this insolent brat?
["Explain yourself."]
The voice spoke again, this time directly addressing Su Ji.
Su Ji did not answer immediately.
He merely cast a glance at the man from the Puppet Heaven Holy Land.
"First arrogant, then groveling—utterly laughable."
Then, without another thought for the man’s livid expression,
Su Ji raised his head, his gaze piercing through the void as if locking onto the distant remnant soul.
"You slaughtered an entire city of living beings, just to lure so-called 'righteous cultivators' like us here, all to pick a suitable heir?"
"And then you tortured and killed those rogue cultivators who entered your shop for petty gains, calling it 'eradicating the greedy.'"
Su Ji scoffed, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Look at what you’ve done, then listen to the sanctimonious words you just spouted—full of lofty morals on the surface, but rotten to the core."
"How are you any different from those greedy wretches you killed?"
"And yet—"
"You don’t seek the Dao. You’re just struggling to escape your own wretched fate."
Su Jiu tugged desperately at Su Ji’s sleeve, her eyes pleading.
She couldn’t understand why Su Ji would provoke an ancient powerhouse of unfathomable strength.
This wasn’t defiance—it was suicide.
But Su Ji seemed utterly unshaken. He patted her hand gently, reassuring her.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, the azure spirit sword, Whispering Wind, materialized in his grasp.
He angled the blade toward the ground, and a razor-sharp aura surged skyward.
"In this life, I, Su Ji, believe neither in heaven nor fate—only in myself."
"What I seek is a path walked with integrity, a conscience free of regret!"
"No illusion has ever dulled my blade!"
"When a flood dragon barred my way, I severed its head!"
"I walk my own path. I forge my own Dao!"
"Have I ever feared? Have I ever retreated?"
"My name will either be carved on a tombstone or written into history!"
"A cowardly fiend like you, who massacres the weak to flaunt your power—do you even deserve to leave a legacy?"
"Who needs your inheritance? I, Su Ji, will still stand unrivaled in this world!"
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
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.
