Su Ji naturally couldn’t admit his own shortcomings. "It’s a bit difficult," he said.
Su Jiu grabbed Su Ji’s arm, narrowly avoiding a massive boulder crashing down from above.
Steadying herself, her clear fox-like eyes were filled with confusion.
"Why?" Her voice carried a hint of urgency.
"Last time, when you slew that Nascent Soul remnant soul, your spiritual energy was completely drained."
"But this time, after killing that enchantress, you still had more than half your spiritual energy left."
"With the remaining energy and my immobilization technique, slaying this damned beast should’ve been more than enough!"
Su Jiu spoke rapidly.
She refused to believe Su Ji would hold back at such a life-or-death moment.
There had to be a reason she didn’t know.
Listening to his junior sister’s sharp analysis, Su Ji inwardly marveled at her intelligence.
This little fox wasn’t just beautiful—her mind worked frighteningly fast. She wasn’t easy to fool.
He let out a heavy sigh, his face twisting with an indescribable struggle.
"Junior Sister, you don’t understand…"
"This sword technique of mine…"
He paused, as if carefully choosing his words—or perhaps unwilling to revisit the past.
"It’s a forbidden secret of my clan, with extremely strict limitations."
Su Jiu didn’t press him, simply watching in silence.
The fire wyrm lashed its tail again, shattering a stone pillar beside them. Debris flew, one piece grazing Su Jiu’s cheek with a scorching gust.
Finally, Su Ji seemed to make up his mind, lowering his voice.
"This is the Heartless Sword Path."
Heartless Sword Path?
Su Jiu frowned.
The Heartless Path’s reputation was far from obscure.
Su Ji’s expression grew graver as he stared at the increasingly frenzied wyrm in the distance.
"This sword… is meant to slay only those female cultivators who try to seduce me with their charms and disrupt my Dao heart."
"So…"
He turned to meet Su Jiu’s stunned gaze, enunciating each word clearly.
"It can’t be used against that beast."
Su Jiu’s mind reeled.
So that was it?
Now that she thought about it, it made sense.
The last time, that Nascent Soul remnant soul had indeed offered to possess her body and "let Su Ji try some new tricks."
Then Su Ji had cut it down with a single stroke.
And earlier, that enchantress, disheveled and using seduction arts to control him, had met the same fate.
"ROAR—!!!"
The fire wyrm clearly had no intention of giving them time to reminisce or discuss sword philosophy.
Enraged that these insignificant humans dared to chat so casually in its presence—an outright insult to its future as a True Dragon—it opened its maw wide.
A massive, condensed ball of molten lava gathered in its throat, far larger and more concentrated than any before.
The aura of annihilation pressed down on them.
"Go!"
Snapping out of her thoughts, Su Jiu stopped dwelling on the absurd sword path and dragged Su Ji toward the only passage in the molten cavern not yet submerged in lava.
As Su Jiu pulled him along, Su Ji still found time to flip the wyrm off and shout,
"Eat shit, dumbass! I’m outta here!"
"Senior Brother, why provoke it?!"
Su Ji didn’t look back, sprinting faster than a hare.
"It doesn’t understand anyway!"
"That bastard chased me for ten days!"
"Ten. Whole. Days!"
"If it weren’t for the maze-like tunnels letting me loop around, I’d probably be a pile of dung in its stomach by now!"
His voice dripped with deep-seated resentment.
"If I don’t vent this anger, I’ll develop inner demons and ruin my Dao path!"
"This is called ‘resolving grievances’!"
Su Jiu: "…"
She didn’t even know where to begin refuting that.
Somehow, his nonsense almost sounded logical.
Whatever.
She stopped arguing.
Their figures darted like phantoms through the cavern.
Meanwhile, Su Jiu formed hand seals with her free hand.
Several illusory clones of themselves materialized, sprinting in different directions.
ROAR—!
The wyrm’s intelligence wasn’t fully developed, making it easy to deceive with illusions for a short time.
It spewed molten fire at one of the clones, melting a gaping hole in the cavern wall.
Seizing the chance, Su Jiu and Su Ji slipped into a narrow crevice.
Behind them, the wyrm’s roars and the crumbling of rock gradually faded.
…
Inside a relatively safe stone chamber, the two finally stopped.
Su Jiu released Su Ji’s wrist, scanning their surroundings to confirm they were safe before turning to him.
The frustration she’d suppressed the whole way finally spilled over.
"Senior Brother, why did you come here?"
"Didn’t I tell you to stay put in the sect and behave?"
Her voice held worry, but more than that—an unconscious dread she hadn’t even realized she felt.
This was a Golden Core beast!
And with Su Ji’s sword technique useless against it, they stood no chance.
Su Ji didn’t answer immediately.
First, he leaned against the wall, panting dramatically like a man who’d narrowly escaped death.
Then, slowly, he lifted his head.
The mocking, shameless look he’d given the wyrm was gone, replaced by a mix of guilt and something almost like… grievance.
After fumbling in his robes for a moment, he pulled out a palm-sized, translucent stone radiating pure spiritual energy.
The [Dragon’s Saliva Stone] he’d pocketed earlier.
"Junior Sister… you’ve been running around outside, gathering materials for my Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment."
His voice was low, slightly hoarse.
"If I just sat there, waiting without lifting a finger… I couldn’t live with myself."
He held the stone out to her, his gaze utterly sincere.
"I heard there might be treasures here… thought maybe it could help you forge a Ninth-Grade Golden Core… so I came to try my luck."
Su Jiu froze.
She stared at the [Dragon’s Saliva Stone] in his hand.
Then at his face, plastered with "I did it all for you."
Her mind buzzed.
Every emotion she’d been ready to unleash was instantly stifled by that tiny stone.
He’d risked being crushed into paste by a Golden Core beast.
Ventured into this death trap.
All… to find something that might help her?
Just because he "couldn’t live with himself"?
A warmth she couldn’t describe surged from her chest, washing away all her anxiety and irritation in an instant.
Her nose stung, her eyes growing suspiciously hot.
Snatching the stone from his hand, she clenched it tightly—if only to hide how flustered she was.
"You… you think I’m an idiot?"
Her voice trembled, but she forced it to sound stern.
"Was this worthless thing worth risking your life for?"
Su Ji grinned. "Ah, so you saw through me?"
"Well… there was one other thing."
Su Jiu: ???
Wait—
What?
[Dao Companion Rental System]. By renting himself out as a temporary dao companion to daughters of destiny, Qin Hao could obtain generous rewards. His service philosophy was simple: play the role of the devoted lover, resolve their troubles, depart without a trace once the matter was settled, and absolutely avoid entangling karma. However, those daughters of destiny didn't see it that way. That night, all the major powers across the Three Realms and Nine Heavens jointly besieged the Qin Clan, plunging it into an unprecedented crisis. "It's Su Qingyue! The peerless sword immortal who attained the Dao and became an Immortal Emperor in a thousand years, the one who severed the River of Time with a single sword strike! When... when did our Qin Clan make an enemy of her?" Qin Hao stepped forward, clearing his throat lightly: "Ahem, Ancestors, don't panic. She's here for me. To be honest... she's my ex-girlfriend." From another direction, the newly ascended Empress of the Demon Realm arrived with ten thousand demons pressing on the border: "Qin Hao! Today, the entire Qin Clan shall be buried with you!" Hearing this, the Qin Clan ancestors all turned their eyes sharply towards Qin Hao. Qin Hao scratched his head somewhat sheepishly: "The Demon Empress... she's also my ex-girlfriend." Before the Qin ancestors could process this, an aloof figure traversed the River of Time: "The Qin Clan deserves annihilation!" Recognizing the newcomer, the Qin ancestors paled in terror: "It's her! Liu Ruyan, the Extinction Empress who ventured alone into the alien realm and suppressed it for an entire epoch! Didn't she vanish into the River of Time long ago? Why would she cross it just to target our clan?" Qin Hao scratched his head again, looking even more embarrassed: "My fault, my fault. She's an ex-girlfriend too." Watching countless celestial maidens descend, the Qin Clan ancestors were utterly astounded: "You scoundrel! Just... just how many women have you gotten involved with over the years?"
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!"
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..."
