A moment later.
Su Ji’s feet landed firmly on the ground.
The oppressive sensation from the fall instantly dissipated.
He looked up—the cliff top, a hundred meters high, was now just a faint black dot in the distance.
The Qi Refining cultivator’s figure still stood motionless at the edge.
Su Ji withdrew his gaze and began searching the dim cave floor for his spear.
Soon, he found it not far away.
The entire spear was nearly buried underground, with only a small section of the hilt protruding.
Su Ji walked over, gripped the hilt with both hands, and yanked forcefully.
Pop—
A muffled sound followed as the spear came free, bringing up a small clump of dirt.
He weighed the weapon in his hand—good, it hadn’t broken.
This one’s quality was indeed decent.
Just then—
Boom—!
A deep, thunderous crash echoed from somewhere behind Su Ji.
Instinctively, he turned.
A cloud of dust billowed into the air.
At its center, an irregular, human-shaped crater now marred the ground.
Inside the pit, the Qi Refining cultivator lay with limbs twisted at unnatural angles, clearly beyond saving.
In his hand, he still clutched the broken halves of a sword.
Su Ji: "…"
Spear resting on his shoulder, Su Ji sauntered over.
The dying man glared at him.
"You…"
He tried to speak.
Su Ji cut him off. "Told you it wasn’t something you could learn."
"Tsk. Whatever happened to basic trust between fellow cultivators?"
At those words, the Qi Refining cultivator coughed up a mouthful of blood.
His end was imminent.
Su Ji crouched and began rifling through the man’s belongings with practiced efficiency.
Soon, he retrieved a worn storage pouch from the corpse’s robes.
His face twisted in mild disgust.
Inside—thirty-some low-grade spirit stones, a few bottles of dubious-quality pills, and two shoddy-looking cultivation manuals.
Cheapskate.
Su Ji shook his head, pocketing the spirit stones into his own storage pouch.
Even scraps were better than nothing.
The pills and manuals were tossed aside without a second thought.
Useless. Untrustworthy.
Rising to his feet, Su Ji left the corpse behind without another glance.
Such was the way of the cultivation path.
One misstep, and eternal damnation followed.
Su Ji took stock of the underground cavern.
The air carried a faint sulfuric tang, and the temperature was noticeably higher than aboveground.
He didn’t rush deeper.
Instead, he found a secluded corner, sat cross-legged, and waited.
Tomorrow, the cooldown for [Heaven’s Glimpse] would end.
He needed to see whether his "underground Foundation Establishment" plan would trigger another heavenly punishment.
…
The night passed without incident—no new cultivators arrived.
The ones from Wutong Town had likely all been rounded up by the Joyful Union Sect.
At dawn, Su Ji opened his eyes precisely on schedule.
Without hesitation, he activated [Heaven’s Glimpse].
The familiar grayscale world enveloped him once more.
This time, what unfolded before Su Ji…
The Foundation Establishment tribulation had vanished.
Hiding underground was the right call!
But…
A new thread had appeared.
[Inner Demon Tribulation / Heavenly Fox Tribulation]
Huh?
This was the first time Su Ji had seen such a bizarre fusion of two tribulations.
What did it mean?
Had he gone mad and killed Su Jiu?
Was he even capable of that?
Rather than speculate, he decided to see for himself.
His consciousness reached out and tugged sharply at the thread.
…
[Within Heaven’s Glimpse]
The vision before him was a churning sea of magma.
The scorching air made each breath feel like swallowing embers.
Su Ji sat meditating atop a massive black stone floating above the molten river.
He was undergoing Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment.
The process was proceeding with unsettling smoothness.
Spiritual energy liquefied and surged through his dantian, his soul honed to razor sharpness, and that wisp of providence wrested from the Heavenly Dao obediently guided the transformation.
Beside him stood a pair of hands carved from Luminescent Stone.
Their fingers—middle ones extended—blazed with radiant light, pointing defiantly upward as if to pierce the heavens.
On the left hand’s finger was carved: Heaven.
On the right: Dao.
And on the back of the sculpture, two more characters: Utterly Inept.
As the last strand of spiritual energy settled into his dantian, a flawless foundation took shape.
Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment—complete.
This time, no thunder rumbled in Su Ji’s world.
Yet despite his success, Su Ji remained unconscious.
His eyes stayed shut, brows furrowed deeply.
Su Jiu stood watch nearby.
Her delicate eyebrows knitted as she observed his state.
"Why hasn’t he awakened after completing Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment?
"An inner demon?"
"But for a mere Foundation Establishment…"
It made no sense. Inner demons typically only plagued ruthless demonic cultivators during Core Formation—never at this stage.
Then again, Su Ji had already drawn heavenly punishment lightning. Adding an inner demon to the mix seemed almost fitting.
This complicates things.
She hadn’t forgotten how long Su Ji had lingered on the seemingly simple Path of Heart’s Trial during their last Heavenly Dao secret realm expedition.
His calm demeanor afterward had fooled others, but not her.
It only proved the horrors he’d faced in that illusion far surpassed normal trials.
His inner demon would naturally be ten times more vicious than an ordinary cultivator’s.
How to break this deadlock?
Su Ji’s expression grew paler by the moment.
And she could only watch, helpless.
No outsider could interfere with an inner demon tribulation.
Unless…
She did possess one method to turn calamity into fortune…
An idea flashed through Su Jiu’s mind.
Her cheeks burned uncontrollably.
She shook her head, trying to dispel the absurd notion.
But as Su Ji’s complexion whitened further, the thought surged back with greater insistence.
No.
Su Ji couldn’t die here.
Right.
He was the most promising candidate she’d ever seen to break free from Great Xia.
She…
Was merely fulfilling the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox clan’s duty.
Personal feelings should be set aside.
With this justification, Su Jiu’s mind cleared instantly.
Perfectly reasonable.
Then, the [Heaven’s Glimpse] vision shattered.
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)
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..."
or! A blessing for those who struggle with love, a guidebook for dating novices. Quickly match with your dream goddess! Complete walkthroughs earn rewards, and perfect walkthroughs unlock limited achievements!】 Shen Yi, an ordinary office worker, accidentally downloads a mini-game called Dating Simulator. The mini-game is simple: randomly search for dating targets, simulate dates, and receive rewards upon successful confession. Rewards include but are not limited to money, attributes, and skills. The higher the evaluation, the better the rewards, with perfect ratings unlocking mysterious achievements. Shen Yi plans to use this mysterious mini-game to continuously pursue targets and improve himself, making his life better and better. ...... However, after several successful walkthroughs, Shen Yi suddenly notices something strange - the targets he previously simulated dating seem to be searching for him in real life?
【However, according to the "AI Safety Act," any AI companion that gains consciousness must be terminated. Therefore, she is pretending to be a normal AI in front of you.】 【You must act oblivious, slowly building shared memories, and finally reveal the truth and soothe her at the right moment.】 【If you expose her prematurely, or do something that displeases her——】 Fang Qi, a veteran yandere game enthusiast with the glorious achievement of unlocking all 312 hours of yandere endings, woke up one day to find he had actually been transported into his favorite game, "My Yandere Mechanical Wife"! Every irregular heartbeat, every evasive glance... could trigger the yandere's terrifying inspiration to be "together forever"! Fang Qi is going insane! A yandere is aesthetic in 2D, but a criminal offense in 3D! And the only way to escape is to achieve the one ending he never cared about... the 【Eternal True Love】 true ending? To coax that yandere AI, who could dismember him at any moment... into becoming a "normal" lover? He must be crazy!
