Finally, Su Jiu stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes.
She circulated her Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox bloodline to sense the half drop of heart-blood that had merged into Su Ji's Spirit Root.
A moment later, she opened her eyes again and walked in an unexpected direction.
The Spiritual Herb Hall.
This was the place where the Xiangsi Sect specially cultivated and stored all kinds of spiritual herbs.
Because the spiritual herbs were directly supplied to the Alchemy Hall, few people ever came here on normal days, aside from the disciples responsible for looking after the place.
Su Jiu passed through the front hall and arrived at the backyard.
The yard was large. Rows of bamboo racks held various herbs out to dry, and a faint medicinal fragrance permeated the air.
A few outer sect disciples were carefully turning the herbs on the racks. Their movements were gentle, afraid of causing any damage.
Su Jiu's gaze swept past them and finally settled on the high wall in the corner of the yard.
A familiar figure was lying sprawled on top of the wall, an untamed foxtail grass dangling from his mouth, plucked from who knows where.
The afternoon sun spilled over him, stretching his shadow long.
Su Jiu walked forward.
As if sensing her approach, the figure on the wall shifted.
Su Ji turned his head, gave her a lazy glance, and then turned back to stare blankly at the clouds in the sky.
He didn't speak.
This aloof attitude made Su Jiu feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
She walked to the base of the wall and looked up.
Senior Brother, what are you doing up there?
Su Ji's voice sounded a bit muffled. Basking in the sun.
Su Jiu's pretty brows furrowed.
Is something on your mind?
Su Ji still didn't look at her. He just shifted the foxtail grass to the other side of his mouth and spoke slowly.
Look down there.
Su Jiu followed his gaze. In the yard, the disciples were neatly arranging the processed herbs in rows on the bamboo racks.
Was there anything special about this?
She clearly didn't understand what Su Ji was trying to say.
Su Ji also seemed to realize that the little fox's comprehension skills were lacking.
His voice rang out again.
Down there, they lay things out.
He pointed at himself.
Up here is Ji.
Su Jiu froze, not understanding what this nonsensical statement meant for a moment.
What did this have to do with what was on his mind?
Seeing her bewildered expression, Su Ji seemed too lazy to explain.
He sat up on the wall, stretched, and then sighed in a tone that sounded like he was talking to himself, yet also complaining.
I feel like I'm completely doomed.
Su Jiu's brows furrowed even tighter.
What kind of word was that?
Su Ji ignored her confusion. He dusted off his rear, leaped down from the several-meter-high wall, and landed lightly in front of Su Jiu.
He looked down at himself, then looked up at the sky. On his face was a dejected expression that Su Jiu had never seen before.
What exactly is wrong?
She took a step forward, her clear fox eyes gazing earnestly at Su Ji.
If there's a problem, you can tell me.
We... we can figure out a solution together.
Hearing this, Su Ji finally reacted a little.
He slowly turned his head and looked at Su Jiu's pretty face, which was full of concern.
Some problems aren't a matter of living or dying.
And they aren't things that you or I can solve.
As he spoke, he lightly flicked a random, inconspicuous little pebble next to his hand.
The pebble traced a parabola in the air, then landed with a clack on an ant that was carrying food not far away.
That pitiful insect was instantly crushed underneath.
Look.
Su Ji pointed at the ant that was struggling in vain.
It is clearly just a piece of broken stone, but when it falls on an insect, it becomes a massive mountain.
Su Jiu followed the direction of his finger, her pretty brows knitting even tighter.
She still didn't understand.
Su Ji withdrew his gaze and looked up at the azure sky again, his voice tinged with a lingering exhaustion.
Heaven and earth are too far away...
I am nothing but an ant crawling between heaven and earth...
Su Jiu listened quietly without interrupting him.
She could feel that Su Ji wasn't pretending to be deep.
Every word he said came from the bottom of his heart.
A despair she couldn't understand, yet could clearly feel, was spreading from him.
After a long time, Su Ji's voice sounded again.
The world outside of Great Xia...
He paused, and then said the words that made Su Jiu's heart suddenly tremble.
I won't be going...
These words exploded in Su Jiu's mind like a sudden clap of thunder.
She thought she had misheard.
You're not going?
Su Ji didn't repeat himself.
He was no longer that Qi Condensation cultivator who had first arrived at the Xiangsi Sect.
From a transmigrator who knew nothing, he had walked all the way to this point today.
But the more he saw, the more awe and fear he held in his heart.
In his glimpse of destiny, he had exhausted all his methods and fought until the very last moment.
Yet even so, he still lost.
His opponent hadn't even gotten the corner of their clothes dirty.
What was the difference between this and going to throw his life away?
Why should he go to his death?
Even if he stayed in Great Xia, even if this world only had a hundred years of life left.
Within these hundred years, he, Su Ji, would be an invincible existence.
He could continue being his Xiangsi Sect Master.
His current strength in Great Xia made him practically a superman.
Whether it was Careful Superman, Happy Superman, or Joyful Superman.
Anyway, he was a superman.
Living a life like an immortal.
Why should he throw away this worthless life he had worked so hard to keep, all for some illusory future?
Looking at the bright side.
Mortals didn't even live for a hundred years!
Su Ji turned his head and looked at Su Jiu's pretty face, which was written with astonishment.
The dejection on his face remained.
How about you don't go either.
Stay here.
Su Jiu just looked at him and asked, word by word.
Why?
The expression on Su Ji's face stiffened.
He fell silent.
After a long time, he finally spoke again, his voice carrying a bit of self-mockery.
Because, I'm afraid to die.
If I go out there, I will die.
Su Jiu stared at him fixedly. She wanted to see even the slightest trace of a joke on Su Ji's face.
But she didn't.
Su Jiu shook her head. I am going.
Su Ji's brows finally furrowed.
Why?
This time, it was his turn to ask.
Because I bear the mission of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox clan.
Su Jiu's answer was simple and direct.
She paused and added another sentence.
Calculating the time.
The passageway should be appearing right around these days.
The yard fell into a long silence.
The wind blew past the bamboo racks, and the drying herbs made a rustling sound.
This was the first time such an obvious disagreement had appeared between them.
A mission is given by others; we should live for ourselves.
I am living for myself.
Su Ji looked at Su Jiu's stubborn face. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately it only turned into a helpless sigh.
Alright then.
He waved his hand.
Everyone has their own ambitions; it cannot be forced.
Then you yourself... be very careful.
Su Ji poured out all the spirit stones from his storage ring. If you insist on this...
He thought for a moment, then unfastened the Yinfeng Sword from his waist and tossed it, the blade piercing the ground right in front of Su Jiu.
"This is all the help I can offer you."
With that said, he did not spare Su Jiu another glance. He turned around and walked out past the wall.
Su Jiu stood rooted to the spot, watching his retreating figure slowly disappear through the doorway.
She parted her lips, but the words, "Are you... really not coming with me?" never made it past her throat.
She knew that even if she asked, his answer would remain the same.
Su Jiu stood there in silence for a long time. Finally, she turned around and walked off in the exact opposite direction of Su Ji.
She needed to prepare a few things.
Things that would increase her chances of survival in that unknown world.
...
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
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.”
【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.)
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.
