Su Ji still wanted to ask more, but Su Jiu had already stood up. "Let's go. We should check on that Fire Drake first and see what state it's in now."
"If it's still rampaging, we'll have to find another path deeper into the molten caves."
Su Jiu frowned. "But these caves are a labyrinth. It won't be easy to navigate."
Su Ji grinned and pulled out a crumpled map from his robe, waving it in front of her.
Su Jiu snorted, snatched the map, and strode ahead without another word.
Su Ji followed cheerfully, watching his junior sister's slender figure with quiet admiration.
Truly, having her around was a blessing.
Not only was she beautiful and kind-hearted, but she was also full of... well, let's just say resourcefulness.
The two moved silently through the winding tunnels of the molten caves.
Su Ji couldn't help but reflect that convincing Su Jiu to become his "Root Protector" was the best decision he'd made since transmigrating into this world.
Soon, the faint sound of thunderous snoring echoed from ahead, accompanied by an increasingly oppressive heat.
Su Jiu halted and raised a finger to her lips, signaling silence.
Crouching low, they peeked around a corner into a vast cavern.
At its center, the colossal beast lay coiled, its massive head resting beside a [Dragon’s Saliva Stone]. Its eyes were closed, its chest rising and falling rhythmically in slumber.
The two bloody wounds on its hindquarters remained, though the demonic blood had long since congealed.
Su Ji made a strange gesture at Su Jiu—forming a circle with his thumb and forefinger while raising the other three fingers.
See? Incredible.
Even with a fake map, she could deduce the correct path to the Fire Drake.
Su Ji certainly didn’t have that talent.
Su Jiu didn’t understand the gesture but could guess his meaning.
They crept into the cavern, slipping into an inconspicuous corner far from the beast.
Su Jiu immediately retrieved two storage pouches from her spatial ring.
With a casual wave, she set up a simple illusion array, concealing their presence and scent.
Only then did she relax and turn to Su Ji.
"Senior Brother, all the materials are here."
She handed him the pouches, containing the fruits of her labor over the past days.
Su Ji took them and scanned the contents with his divine sense, warmth blooming in his chest.
The treasures inside were dazzling—rare elemental essences, sacred waters from the four directions, each priceless beyond measure.
For once, he spoke earnestly. "Junior Sister, you’ve worked hard."
"Hmph. Empty words as usual."
Su Jiu abruptly turned her head away, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear—hiding the faint flush on her earlobes.
"Hurry up and cultivate to the peak of Qi Refinement. I’ll stand guard."
Su Ji silently committed her words to memory.
Without another word, he sat cross-legged, scattering a handful of premium spirit stones around him.
Then, he closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness into his dantian as he fully activated the [Fallen Dragon’s Desolation Art].
Within his dantian’s sea of qi, the liquefied spiritual energy began to churn.
The rotation accelerated rapidly, forming a tiny vortex that voraciously devoured everything around it.
Su Ji’s mind plunged into perfect clarity.
Beside him, Su Jiu held her breath, focusing entirely on vigilance—especially toward the slumbering Fire Drake and any potential disturbances.
Time trickled by.
An eerie silence settled over the cavern.
Yet Su Ji’s aura surged at a terrifying pace, climbing higher with each passing moment.
The spiritual energy from the premium stones swirled around him like a dense fog, his figure blurring within the mist.
One day.
Mid-stage Qi Refinement, ninth layer!
Two days.
Late-stage Qi Refinement, ninth layer!
Three days!
Peak Qi Refinement!
Only one final step remained to shatter the bottleneck and ascend to a whole new realm!
Then, Su Ji stopped.
Under Su Jiu’s puzzled gaze, he grinned. "Let’s rest for two days. My condition isn’t optimal for a breakthrough."
Su Jiu nodded slightly.
The request wasn’t unreasonable. Some cultivators waited for their essence, qi, and spirit to reach their zenith before attempting a breakthrough—some even consulted auspicious dates.
Time flowed.
Another two and a half days passed.
The cooldown for [Fate’s Glimpse] reset.
Su Ji activated it.
The world turned monochrome.
Countless threads of karma intertwined before him—yet not a single one could be tugged.
Perfect!
Asking Su Jiu to handle the Heart Demon Tribulation was the right call!
......
"Junior Sister."
"Let’s begin."
"I’m ready!"
Su Jiu, who had been meditating against the cavern wall, opened her eyes.
One by one, she arranged the items from the storage pouch into an intricate formation on the ground before Su Ji.
Meanwhile, Su Ji sat at its center.
......
At the same time.
Above the cloudless skies of Phoenix Roost Gorge—
Without warning, dark clouds gathered from all directions, blotting out the sun in an instant.
Daylight turned to night.
Within the roiling storm, countless lightning serpents writhed, their thunderous growls shaking the earth. A destructive aura—one that would terrify even Golden Core cultivators—blanketed the land for miles.
Yet the terrifying thunderclouds merely circled overhead, their power swelling but never descending.
Like hounds that had lost their prey, they prowled restlessly, unable to locate their target.
Deep within the Dragon Shackle Abyss, an ancient true dragon—slumbering for untold ages—slowly opened its eyes.
It was displeased.
It hadn’t been disturbed this frequently in centuries.
First, those bothersome humans.
Now, this accursed heavenly tribulation.
Hm?
Its brow furrowed slightly.
Wait.
What?
Heavenly tribulation?
This aura...
What was it searching for?
In the Dragon Shackle Abyss, only it could provoke a tribulation of this magnitude.
Was this meant for it?
The dragon’s ancient, timeworn eyes flickered with human-like confusion.
Had the Heavenly Dao finally discovered its hiding place?
Heh.
Naïve.
Did it truly think it could find it?
The dragon coiled tighter, its aura vanishing completely—merging perfectly with the world itself.
Let’s see the Heavenly Dao solve that.
It waited for the storm to dissipate.
Yet the moment its presence disappeared—
The thunderclouds above froze.
Then, as if finally finding release, a monstrous violet bolt—thicker than a mountain—screamed down from the heavens, tearing through the sky as it struck toward the underground caverns!
......
Inside the cavern.
Su Jiu, wholly focused on Su Ji, suddenly felt a primal dread surge through her.
Her head snapped up.
That sensation—
It wasn’t from the Fire Drake.
Nor was it from Su Ji.
It came from... above!
BOOM—!
The entire cavern quaked violently.
This time, it wasn’t the tremors caused by the enraged Fire Drake, but a crushing force emanating from a higher realm!
Above the dome, the solid rock cracked like fragile tofu, crumbling into countless fragments as dust and debris rained down.
Molten lava erupted from the depths!
In the distance, the slumbering Fire Drake was jolted awake by the sudden upheaval. It let out a terrified roar, its massive body pinned to the ground by the overwhelming pressure, unable to move. For the first time, pure fear flickered in its savage draconic eyes.
No!
Su Jiu’s face turned deathly pale in an instant.
Her clear fox-like eyes were filled with disbelief.
Heavenly Retribution… had still come!
Had Su Ji miscalculated?
Indeed…
Fate should never be fully divined, for the heavens are ever unpredictable.
Repeatedly peering into destiny would eventually invite its backlash…
But now, it was too late to interrupt Su Ji.
His eyes remained tightly shut, completely unaware of the chaos unfolding around him, immersed in the most critical moment of his breakthrough.
He absolutely could not be disturbed!
At best, his foundation would be damaged; at worst, his body would explode on the spot!
And then…
Something strange happened.
In that brief moment of earth-shaking tremors and surging underground flames…
Afterward, there seemed to be no further disturbances?
Could it be…
Had the heavenly tribulation truly been blocked by a hundred zhang of earth?
Why was there no record of such a simple yet brutal method of overcoming tribulation in her clan’s archives?
…
Meanwhile.
Within the [Dragon Binding Abyss].
“Heavenly Tribulation?”
“Do not push this dragon too far!”
Three thousand underground flames surged.
A fiery dragon roared as it soared into the sky, charging toward the thunderclouds.
“Is this all you’ve got? You think this puny scale can annihilate me?”
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
