"It is best to learn fewer mystic arts and instead ensure high proficiency in those you have already learned. This way, you can cast them smoothly when needed, avoiding embarrassing situations where spells fizzle."
Dong Zhongyuan pointed his fan at one of the little girls and admonished, "Especially you, Jiang Qin. You're always trying to learn new spells without having fully mastered previous ones..."
"Senior brother!" the girl he pointed out said helplessly, "I'm Jiang Ran!"
"I'm talking about you, Jiang Ran..." Dong Zhongyuan was not embarrassed at all. He continued pointing at Jiang Ran,
"I've told you already - when shape shifting, you need to cycle the qi through the Lung Meridian of Hand Taiyin, make the Orchid Mudra, and emit from Chi Canal, Lieque, and Shaoshang. Why do you always emit from Tianquan and Zhongchong?"
"But I have been emitting from the Lung Meridian, haven't I?" Jiang Ran made an orchid finger mudra, puzzled.
Dong Zhongyuan lightly tapped her forehead with his fan, shaking his head. "Completely wrong. You make the same mistake every time!"
Just then...
"Elder Brother Dong!" a girl called out to him from the side.
Dong Zhongyuan looked over to the voice and his eyes lit up. It was a cute girl wielding a sword, followed by a white tiger. He ignored the male tiger.
But he recognized the girl and quickly returned the courtesy. "Junior Sister Li!"
"Elder brother recognizes me?" Li Shiyin frowned. She did not recall any interactions with this Dong Zhongyuan.
What beautiful girl from the sect - no, what beautiful female doesn't he recognize?
Dong Zhongyuan smiled gently. "Junior Sister Li's reputation for talent is well known to me."
She didn't realize she had such fame!
Li Shiyin was secretly happy and raised her brows. "Since you know my name, then why am I not on the list of the ten greatest Dao Sword Sect geniuses?"
"The ten greatest geniuses?" Hearing this, Dong Zhongyuan laughed strangely. Li Shiyin had come all this way for that? Still smiling, he replied,
"Junior Sister Li has exceptional innate gifts and cultivation. Everyone knows this. However, I do have strict criteria for the top ten..." Smiling, he continued,
"Although you didn't make ten greatest geniuses, you are one of the five great beauties! Your beauty itself is a supreme asset beyond all else."
Li Shiyin was clever and not fooled by Dong Zhongyuan's placating words. She ignored the latter part of what he said and simply asked, "You claim your criteria is strict, so tell me what exactly makes it so strict?
"Why doesn't Dan Peak have a single person on the list...Are you looking down on us?!"
"Grr..." Chasing the Wind beside Li Shiyin growled lowly at Dong Zhongyuan, adding momentum for her.
"Dan Peak?" Seeing Chasing the Wind, Dong Zhongyuan remained smiling and replied, "The ranking isn't about having quota spots for each peak. It looks at the Dao Sword Sect as a whole."
"Then how is it ranked?"
"First, innate gifts are considered, then cultivation level, and finally, strength." Dong Zhongyuan gave the selection criteria.
"Then what were the innate gifts, cultivation level, and strength of the tenth-ranked person?" Li Shiyin asked. She figured that since Huang Feiyu was at mid Golden Core realm and ranked fifth, the tenth-ranked must not even be at Golden Core realm yet...
Dong Zhongyuan was always patient with beauties. He carefully answered, "The tenth is my junior brother from Qi Peak, Song Ze. He has the Myriad Origin Spiritual Body, top-grade innate gifts, and amplifies all techniques. He is also at mid Golden Core realm with his primordal soul initial manifestation, making his combat ability extremely terrifying."
Li Shiyin didn't catch what he said about myriad origins spiritual bodies, but she heard top-grade innate gifts and mid Golden Core realm...Heavens! Even the tenth spot was mid Golden Core realm? Her heart thumped wildly.
Wait. If Huang Feiyu was the same cultivation level yet ranked fifth, how incredible was he?
Hmm... Hearing that the tenth spot was also mid Golden Core realm, Li Shiyin got cold feet. Even if it had been early Golden Core realm, she would've still wanted to give it a try. But she didn't expect this...
"It's actually very simple to earn a spot on the ranking..." Seeing Li Shiyin's discouraged expression, Dong Zhongyuan smiled more roguishly and deliberately said, "Choose whichever spot you want and challenge that disciple. If they accept, you can engage in open combat on the Debate Platform. As long as you win, you can take their place."
"Oh..." Li Shiyin nodded, wanting to slip away. "I see!"
Dong Zhongyuan asked, "Won't Junior Sister give it a try? Even challenging Brother Song would be fine."
"No...no..." Just as Li Shiyin was about to refuse, she suddenly noticed the meaningful look on Dong Zhongyuan's face.
Hey! Wait a minute. What's the meaning here? Is he mocking this sword immortal?
Li Shiyin's expression abruptly became resolute. She recalled that she had come because Dan Peak lacked any great geniuses. Now the main culprit was before her, yet she wanted to give up just because her opponent was much stronger? And allow others to mock her?
No! She, Li Shiyin, would defend the glory of Dan Peak! So what if it's mid Golden Core realm? She'll take care of him! With one sword strike, whatever special constitution would be useless!
"I do intend to challenge..." She told Dong Zhongyuan. "Just not right now."
She wasn't a fool. At her current Foundation Establishment realm, she knew she was no match for mid Golden Core realm. At least...
She had to reach mid Foundation Establishment realm too!
"Oh?" Dong Zhongyuan's spirit stirred. For this Foundation Establishment junior sister to actually want to challenge a Golden Core genius? Seeing that Li Shiyin didn't seem to be joking, he quickly asked, "When then?"
After a quick calculation in her mind, Li Shiyin answered, "Give me one month's time. I will challenge Song Ze on next month's night of the full moon!"
"One month from now?" Dong Zhongyuan carefully sized up Li Shiyin, pondering to himself, "One of the five great beauties challenging one of the ten great geniuses. Weak versus strong. Beauty versus talent. Hits all the elements for a sensational story!"
Feeling a bit excited, he said, "Very well, junior sister can go prepare. A small matter like arranging the duel with Brother Song can be handled by me."
"Hey! Are you serious about this?" Chasing the Wind blinked his large eyes and whispered to Li Shiyin.
"As personal disciple to the Peak Lord of Dan Peak, I must safeguard its glory!" Li Shiyin stated. "Naturally, I'm serious."
"Mid Golden Core realm..." Chasing the Wind reminded.
Li Shiyin grabbed Chasing the Wind by the ear and dragged him off toward Dan Peak. "Then, you're accompanying me for special training right now!"
Watching Li Shiyin's disappearing back, Dong Zhongyuan clicked his tongue in admiration. "Incredible! Just incredible!"
"What is her cultivation level?" Jiang Qin asked. "To be so arrogant."
"Early Foundation Establishment realm," Dong Zhongyuan laughed.
"What?!" Jiang Ran exclaimed in shock. "She has a death wish?"
"No..." Dong Zhongyuan shook his head. "What I saw in her eyes was thick confidence!"
"She must be an idiot or something..." Jiang Qin remarked.
Li Shiyin's conversation with Dong Zhongyuan occurred at noon, but the sun had yet to set. Soon, the entire Dao Sword Sect, except for Dan Peak, came to know of this matter:
Dan Peak's personal disciple, Li Shiyin, intended to challenge Qi Peak's personal disciple, Song Ze, one month from now on the night of the full moon.
Moreover, Li Shiyin was one of the five great beauties while Song Ze was one of the ten great geniuses.
To preserve suspense, Dong Zhongyuan intentionally did not reveal Li Shiyin's cultivation level.
As a result, the entire Dao Sword Sect seethed that very night!
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
