Behind was the primordial spirit battlefield, with flying swords and mystic arts flying about, physical bodies and supernatural powers clashing.
Stirring up the winds and clouds, the sky was falling and the earth splitting - these were no longer mere figures of speech.
Tushan Youyou held Qin Ran in one hand and dragged Li Shiyin in the other as she fled this primordial spirit battlefield without daring to look back even once.
After flying for who knows how long and for who knows how far, she suddenly heard Li Shiyin crying, "Master? Master?"
Then calling to her again, "Stop, my master can't go on!"
Only then did Tushan Youyou stop. She looked to Qin Ran and saw that the countless wounds split open on his body could no longer be stopped, madly splitting wider. It was horrifying to behold, as if at any moment Qin Ran would shatter into countless pieces.
She was covered in Qin Ran's blood, but paid it no heed. Looking around below, she found a barren mountain to fly to. On a large flat rock she placed Qin Ran down.
"Master..." Li Shiyin cried as she knelt at Qin Ran's side.
But she only looked at Qin Ran, not daring to reach out and touch him, because right now Qin Ran seemed as if he would crumble at the slightest touch.
To withstand a supreme art of primordial spirit splitting with a golden core body and last until now, Qin Ran should feel proud of himself.
He now only had one last breath left. He clearly felt himself nearing death.
Death was an extremely dark, deep and cold abyss, but within that abyss were endless temptations, beckoning one to sink into oblivion...
The abyss of death was comfortable.
"So this is death?" Qin Ran thought. "It seems I'm going to hell."
He slowly looked towards Li Shiyin, who had cried herself into a tearful mess. He wanted to smile, but couldn't manage it.
"Don't...cry." He said in a weak voice.
Hearing him speak, Li Shiyin hurriedly held back her tears, only letting them flow as she raised her head to look at him.
"You are...Female...Swords...Immortal!" Qin Ran's voice was feeble, but he pronounced each word clearly. "You are...Li...Shi...Yin!"
He thought back on his twenty dull and uneventful years of life, and on the two thrilling and dangerous months.
"Apprentice...I don't...regret...accepting you..." He said his last words. "But you must...find your brother...and return home together. Don't seek vengeance...don't step foot in the cultivation world again.
"Go back to Northern Chu...you will be a female general."
Qin Ran's words flowed more smoothly the more he spoke, but his voice grew ever fainter. The cracks on his body grew larger, but less and less blood flowed out.
"Shi...Yin..." He wanted to say something. "I...I..." But in the end he didn't say it. He closed his mouth, only looking at Li Shiyin with a pair of bright, gentle eyes.
"Master..." Li Shiyin looked into those eyes, her heart stirred. She knew what Qin Ran wanted to say.
She kept softly calling out to Qin Ran, calling out repeatedly, hoping this moment would not arrive...hoping it would come later.
Suddenly she started singing, because her master had said she sang beautifully:
"My will is pliant as a reed; my ambition remains unfulfilled; My heart seems close yet distant; As if I will go, only to return again; Please let me serve; I wish to give my all; Cherishing chastity and purity; We are destined to be at odds; Kind words and fragrant breath..."
Still the Songs of Chu. Her singing was still clear and melodious, extremely pleasing to the ear, completely unlike her rough and crude image.
"To die listening to my silly apprentice's singing, that is also a kind of blessing." Qin Ran thought. The trace of a smile clearly appeared on his face before he weakly closed his eyes.
Li Shiyin felt Qin Ran stop breathing. She choked up as well, sitting on her knees as she covered her face and wept.
She didn't know how much time passed when someone suddenly tugged at her clothes. She raised her head towards the person.
Chasing the Wind had somehow caught up without her noticing. He crouched beside her, looking sadly at Qin Ran with tears in his eyes. Long Qiqi stood next to Chasing the Wind, her expression complex as she looked at Qin Ran. Tushan Youyou was still here. And there was one more person who had appeared from somewhere - Bai Ruoxi!
It was Bai Ruoxi who had tugged her clothes.
"Move aside." Bai Ruoxi said to her.
Li Shiyin was startled, then overjoyed. She asked: "Can you save my master?"
"Let me try..." Bai Ruoxi said. "He can't die yet. Only he knows what happened with my martial uncle."
Li Shiyin immediately stood up and gave way to Bai Ruoxi. Seeing Chasing the Wind sitting there taking up space, she gave him a kick and told him to move aside as well.
Bai Ruoxi went to stand by Qin Ran's side and beckoned to Tushan Youyou.
"What is it?" Tushan Youyou asked in puzzlement.
"A Dao Fruit." Bai Ruoxi said.
"I don't have any!" Tushan Youyou replied.
"None?" Bai Ruoxi asked.
"None..." Tushan Youyou shook her head.
"Nevermind then." Bai Ruoxi sighed. She turned to leave. "I thought you had a Dao Fruit. I'm sure you've tried ordinary pills and elixirs, given he's an alchemist himself. But they were useless, right?
"Only a Dao Fruit can save him now... The power of a Dao Fruit can get rid of Elder Ning's primordial spirit splitting force and reconstruct his physical body. It can save his life if his soul hasn't dispersed yet."
Tushan Youyou hesitated. "You can use a Dao Fruit?"
Although she had obtained many Dao Fruits, to be honest she didn't know how to utilize them.
"Naturally." Bai Ruoxi replied. "We came for the Dao Fruits. If we got Dao Fruits but couldn't use them, wouldn't we be a laughing stock?"
That was reasonable. Tushan Youyou thought for a moment, then squeezed out one more Dao Fruit from her bosom.
Clutching the Dao Fruit, she handed it to Bai Ruoxi, extremely pained as she said: "This is my last Dao Fruit!"
"Mm..." Bai Ruoxi nodded perfunctorily.
She accepted the Dao Fruit and discerned it was real before using her mystic arts to make the Dao Fruit float above Qin Ran. She further utilized her mystic arts to form several incantation seals that she projected onto the Dao Fruit.
Suddenly the Dao Fruit shone with light, forcing the others to look away. When the radiance faded, they saw that the outer glass-like shell of the Dao Fruit had vanished, leaving only the interior willow fluff.
Below the willow fluff, the primordial spirit splitting force on Qin Ran's physical body had also disappeared.
Bai Ruoxi cast another mystic art, causing the white willow fluff to drift down into Qin Ran's body until it faded away inside him.
Qin Ran's physical body then visibly started healing at a rapid pace.
In a short while, the cracks on Qin Ran's body were completely mended. Only the bloodstains remained to indicate his previous injuries. But he still hadn't woken up.
"Is it done?" Li Shiyin anxiously asked when she saw Qin Ran's wounds healed.
"Awoo... Awoo..." Chasing the Wind also howled at Bai Ruoxi twice.
"He really did die earlier. His soul was just strong enough not to have dispersed yet." Bai Ruoxi said. "His body is restored but his soul still needs time to awaken."
"How long will it take?"
"I don't know." Bai Ruoxi shook her head.
Tushan Youyou was still calm. She said to Bai Ruoxi: "Speak plainly with me. Is he dead or not? Can he still wake up?"
"Not dead, just not alive yet." Bai Ruoxi replied. "I'll keep watch over him too. I still want to know what really happened with my martial uncle."
Li Shiyin squatted by Qin Ran's side and picked up his hand, silently praying.
This place was originally part of the primal forest, but after the willow fluff of the World-Devouring Demonic Willow passed by, it became desolate. Only now were a few sprouts growing after the life-giving wind blew through.
This group did not linger long on the barren mountain before discussing plans to go to Dao Sword Sect's Danfeng.
Yet while flying towards Dao Sword Sect, they suddenly sensed a disturbance deep within the Hengduan Mountains. They all looked back to see countless wooden spikes waving in the air high above, with swarms of colorful butterflies fluttering among them...
"Blood dragon bone?" Bai Ruoxi recognized the wooden spikes and couldn't help frowning, wondering what changes were occurring over there.
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)
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
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.
