Su Ji's figure was swallowed by an endless tide of monsters; everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but hideous, snarling visages.
Squelch!
The azure blade effortlessly pierced the chest of a beast.
Without even pausing to withdraw his sword, he delivered a backhanded elbow strike. The majestic force of his Qi exploded the head of another monster behind him.
Fetid brain matter and bone fragments scattered through the air.
Beneath Su Ji's feet, the mountain composed of severed limbs and broken bodies grew a few inches higher.
The speed at which these monsters dissolved into black ichor could no longer keep up with the efficiency of Su Ji's slaughter.
Their individual strength was not particularly high, but their inexhaustible numbers were enough to drive anyone to absolute despair.
He would cut down ten, only for a hundred to surge forward.
He would kill a hundred, and in the blink of an eye, a thousand would fill the gap.
It felt as though the entire heaven and earth were constructed of these monstrosities.
Haa... Haa...
Su Ji panted violently. With every breath, a searing pain, like fire, burned through his chest.
His right hand, gripping "Chanting Wind," had long since gone numb from the shock of impact. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger had burst open, sending fresh blood sliding down the hilt of his sword.
He felt his vision beginning to blur into double images. Every swing of his sword tore at his screaming, aching muscles.
Yet, looking out, the black tide showed no sign of ending. Roaring and howling, it swept toward him once again.
Just then.
A voice rang out in his mind without warning.
It was the voice of the remnant soul from the dead city of Anyang.
"Do you regret this?"
"You had the opportunity to leave."
Su Ji's movements stagnated for a split second. A wolf-like monstrosity seized the chance to pounce, its bloody maw gaping wide as it aimed for his neck from behind.
Without looking back, he reversed his grip and thrust his sword backward, piercing the wolf from its lower jaw straight through its skull.
Su Ji wiped a smear of blood and filth from his face and grinned, revealing teeth dyed red with blood.
"Noisy."
The voice fell silent for a moment, seemingly surprised by his answer.
"How much longer can your spiritual power last? How many more times can your body swing that sword?"
"You... how long can you persist?"
"In the end, you will be torn to shreds by them."
Su Ji acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. He looked down at his body, covered in wounds, then looked up at the boundless army of monsters.
He took a proactive step forward. The mountain of corpses beneath his feet let out a tooth-aching crunch.
His aura suddenly surged, rising to a new level.
Late-stage Golden Core Realm!
"Kill!"
With a thunderous shout, he actually charged into that black ocean of his own accord!
The azure sword light carved one dazzling trajectory after another in the dim world.
Abandoning all defense, he poured every ounce of his spiritual power into "Chanting Wind," trading injuries for lives, gambling his life against theirs!
Thwack!
A monster's sharp claws tore three deep gashes into his back, exposing the bone.
He didn't even furrow his brow. Spinning around with a sweep of his sword, he bisected the ambushing monster along with a dozen of its kin behind it!
Blood and minced flesh flew in unison.
Wherever Su Ji passed, a trail of severed limbs remained.
His consciousness began to fade.
He could no longer even feel the pain in his body.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
He knelt on one knee amidst the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood, supporting himself with his sword, gasping for air in great, ragged heaves.
Immediately following that.
BOOM—
The entire world before Su Ji's eyes, that dark red sky, collapsed with a deafening crash!
...
Gasp!
Su Ji violently broke free from that suffocating state, panting heavily.
A familiar woody fragrance rushed into his nose. Before his eyes, there was no mountain of corpses or sea of blood, only the familiar furnishings of the private room in the Spring Breeze Pavilion.
In front of him, the dancer was looking at him with a face full of worry.
Everything had happened in the snap of a finger.
"Young Master, you... what happened to you?"
Seeing his pale face, the dancer asked with concern.
Su Ji did not reply. He looked at the dancer before him, but his eyes lacked focus.
Seeing him remain silent for a long time, the dancer's voice grew more urgent.
"Today is the Anyang Music Festival..."
"The City Lord personally appointed the dancers of the Spring Breeze Pavilion to perform, and I am one of them."
"I... I originally planned to bid farewell to this place that gave me life and raised me after dancing this final piece."
"If Young Master wishes to leave, you can have your female companion disguise herself as me. Young Master can then dress as a servant and leave this place using the City Lord's warrant, under the pretense of going out to purchase costumes for the festival."
"Young Master... this is no longer a matter of face. Being alive is more important than anything."
Her words were full of sincerity, even carrying a hint of pleading.
Su Ji remained silent.
In his mind, he was rapidly sorting through everything.
The reappearance of that remnant soul...
It had reminded him.
This place might be a land of extreme peril, but fundamentally, it was also an inheritance trial.
Since it was a trial...
What exactly was being tested?
Was it his Dao Heart?
Was it his strength?
Or was it something else?
As the saying goes, the bystander sees clearly.
Su Ji analyzed the situation from a detached, god-like perspective.
It was easy to spot the crux of the problem.
That question, "Do you regret this?", was like a needle piercing through all the fog.
What that remnant soul was looking for was someone who would never regret their choices, even when trapped in a desperate situation...
Having figured this out, Su Ji's mind suddenly cleared.
The only remaining doubt was his cultivation base, which had inexplicably surged to the mid-stage Golden Core realm, and then surged again to the late-stage Golden Core realm during the vision.
But that wasn't the critical point.
Su Ji felt it was worth a gamble.
[Causal Fate: Wind of Death]
[Fate Grade: Orange]
[Passive Effect: Your posturing will possess a unique, stylistic charm.]
[Special Effect: Passively triggers when suffering a fatal blow. Removes this Fate and replaces it with the Fate 'The Wind Dies, The Will Lives On!']
...
[Derived Fate: The Wind Dies, The Will Lives On!]
[Fate Grade: Red]
[Special Effect: Ignores death and deploys the Heavenly Phenomenon 'Nether Wind.' The Heavenly Phenomenon will rapidly decay over time. If the source of the fatal blow is killed before the Heavenly Phenomenon shatters, you will break free from this death, entering a state of extreme weakness, blood loss, exhaustion, and spiritual depletion. This Fate will then be removed.]
Using a pseudo-Red grade Fate to gamble for an ancient inheritance...
Furthermore...
[Shattered Fate: Burdened with Heavy Responsibility (1/10)]
[Fate Grade: Red]
[Description: This Fate is shattered from the Multi-Colored Fate 'Ten Perfections, Ten Victories, All As I Desire.']
[Passive Effect 1: Makes you appear more trustworthy and responsible.]
[Passive Effect 2: You are more likely to draw shattered fragments of 'Ten Perfections, Ten Victories, All As I Desire.']
[Special Effect: The heavier the mission you shoulder, the stronger the luck upon you.]
The theory exists.
The practice begins.
Su Ji came back to his senses.
"I appreciate your kindness."
Su Ji's voice was very calm, betraying no emotion.
The dancer froze for a moment, looking up at him, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Young Master..."
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
