The wild winds howled furiously, dark clouds blanketed the skies, the sun and the moon shone no light, the colors of heaven and earth were lost!
On the battlefield, war horses neighed in fright, soldiers drew their swords...
In an extremely short period of time, Wuyi City inside and out had gone from a place of spring's revival to a hell where gloomy winds blew.
Dust storms swirled up by the raging winds, Qin Ran stood in the wind and looked up at the skies.
In the skies, black clouds roiled. With his attainments in the field of formations, he recognized at a glance that this was a formation at play - this was the root cause of all these abnormal events!
Someone in this corner of heaven and earth had set up a formation, one massive enough to blot out the sun and cover the land.
This was no ordinary formation. It encompassed the entire Wuyi City behind him as well as the Xuanqin Military Camp ahead.
With his Eye Technique Illusory Realm, Qin Ran could also see that amidst the churning cloud layer were resentful, evil, demonic and other eerie auroras. From this, he vaguely guessed that this could very possibly be the infamous Myriad Ghosts Life-Reaping Formation.
The black-robed man from the Xuanqin camp had previously wanted to take away the entire Wuyi City to fuel his formation...but Zhao Li had rejected him citing it would be too damaging.
And Qin Ran had always assumed the worst of others' intentions - even though Zhao Li did not adopt the black-robed man's formation, he still kept reminding Li Shiwen to keep an eye on the perimeter of Wuyi City. If any odd formations appeared, notify him immediately to prevent the black-robed man from secretly setting up the Myriad Ghosts Life-Reaping Formation.
He had been careful enough already, but it was difficult for him to anticipate that after being rejected by Zhao Li, the black-robed man would include the Xuanqin Military Camp as well. The scale of this formation exceeded his expectations - not only was Wuyi City encompassed, but the Xuanqin camp was also trapped within.
However, thinking back now - while the identity of the black-robed man remained unknown, as well as his ties to the Xuanqin camp, he was undoubtedly a cultivator, and one from an unorthodox demonic path at that, completely devoid of moral principles and human nature. So the current unexpected situation wasn't too much of a surprise.
It remained to be seen whether the Xuanqin Emperor was aware of this.
The thousand elite soldiers outside the city were veterans, so although the war horses were startled, the men managed to steady themselves.
But Li Shiwen thought it was an ambush by Zhao Yaqing, while Zhao Yaqing believed it to be a deceitful trick by Qin Ran. Both sides steadied their battalions and were about to charge out in slaughter.
Qin Ran was conveniently located between both armies. If he did not act quickly, he was afraid he would be trampled into meat paste by the horses’ hooves.
He immediately yelled loudly in the direction of Xuanqin’s five hundred elite cavalry: “Miss Zhao, are you familiar with this formation?”
“Formation?” Zhao Yaqing was startled, looked up and vaguely discerned what was going on, realizing some formations had been activated. While she did not have much knowledge about formations herself, she had at least witnessed the black-robed man’s “Myriad Ghosts Life-Reaping Formation” before.
“Halt!” She hurriedly ordered for the Xuanqin cavalry to stop, peering up at the sky with bewilderment and anger. “How dare he....he even means to harm me!”
The dense clouds obscured the skies, the lands were drained of color. Winds raged violently on the grounds and screams of ghosts and spirits echoed from amidst the clouds and winds. As if they were trapped in limitless purgatory hell.
The wailing and screams were so terrifying, it could shake one’s heart and soul. People trapped within the formation were slowly losing their senses...
Outside Wuyi City, the war armors clattered noisily and the scraping of blades against metal rang out. The thousand elite soldiers confronting each other were preparing to wage a battle to the death.
Li Shiyin flew out from within Wuyi City, arriving by Qin Ran’s side. She asked her teacher, “Master, what’s happening?”
“Someone’s set up a formation,” Qin Ran replied casually.
By then, he had already left the confrontation happening between both armies and found himself a flat area to sit down cross-legged, with pen and paper on his knees, scribbling and drawing something.
“Set up a formation?” Li Shiyin looked back towards the Xuanqin camp then back at Wuyi City in disbelief. “Who set up such a massive formation?”
“An Yuanbing stage cultivator from the Xuanqin camp, he had the intention of using Wuyi City for sacrificial offerings in his formation from the very start...but was rejected by Zhao Li,” Qin Ran replied while still writing. “This is likely an innate formation from some artifact. Even though he spent over two months laying it out, that’s why it’s so huge.”
Innate formations referred to those carved onto and originating from artifacts.
“Sacrificial offerings?” Li Shiyin exclaimed. “He wants to massacre everyone in Wuyi City?”
Qin Ran glanced at his silly disciple and said, “Not Wuyi City. The people of Wuyi City and the Xuanqin Military Camp.”
“That’s too cruel!”
“Cruel?” Qin Ran murmured the word softly. How should he put this? Things like this were probably just everyday occurrences in the cultivator world.
He looked towards Zhao Yaqing’s side. Aunt Mei from the Cloud Heaven Sect had already brought some disciples over and they were also asking Zhao Yaqing about the situation.
“They were helpers brought by Xuanqin....I wonder if they know that man’s background or not,” he sighed.
Li Shiyin was already like this. The circumstances of other cultivators would not be much better.
“So the people brought by Xuanqin betrayed Xuanqin?” Li Shiyin clarified. “Not only do they want to kill the people of Wuyi City, but the people of Xuanqin as well?”
As she spoke, she suddenly reacted, “Is the formation master also at the Yuanbaby stage? Doesn’t the Xuanqin Military Camp have several Yuanbaby stage cultivators? Where have they gone? Why aren’t they breaking the formation?”
“Who said Yuanbaby stage cultivators will know how to break formations?” Qin Ran rolled his eyes at her and retorted, “Try slicing out some sword qi.”
Li Shiyin obeyed and drew her sword, sending out a streak of sword qi towards the sky. The sword qi easily sliced apart the dark clouds, but quickly vanished amidst them. The black clouds swiftly reformed, as if the sword qi had never been there at all.
“Your abilities aren't weak. The combined battle power of the Sword Sect’s two Yuanbaby stage cultivators is much stronger than you, but the outcome wouldn’t be too different. As for the Cloud Heaven Sect’s Yuanbaby cultivator, from what you told me he seems to cherish his life more than anything - his battle prowess is even weaker than yours...” Qin Ran analyzed. “So while you are totally clueless about this formation, they aren’t much better off than you.
“Forget about Yuanbaby stage. Unless one understands formations, even a Soul Transformation stage cultivator would be useless here.”
The saying goes that those in separate trades appear as strangers to one another. While Li Shiyin was an absolute genius in the dao of the sword, having far surpassed many peers, her attainments in formations were...
And Li Shiyin was already like this. Other cultivators would not be better off.
“Then what about Master...” She retracted her gaze back to Qin Ran who was lecturing her while still scribbling away. “What are you doing? Breaking the formation?”
She knew her senior martial brother Changyou spent his days drawing formations in the back mountain cave abode, trying to learn about formations.
“Mm...” Qin Ran nodded. “I’m completely unfamiliar with this formation, so I have to deduce what kind of composite formation it is based on the effects it’s displaying, then trace back to infer the underlying base formations and formation runes.
“Only by discerning the base formation runes can I then construct a new corresponding formation to counter it based on the restraining relationships between formations, thereby achieving the effect of breaking it.
...After all, I’m not a grandmaster of formations. I can’t simulate formations using spiritual power so I have to rely on pen and paper instead.”
Li Shiyin knew her Master was formidable so she was at ease leaving formation breaking to him.
She barely understood half of what her teacher said, simply nodding in acknowledgment. Clutching her sword, she sat down cross-legged beside her teacher to stand guard for him while he broke the formation.
Yet not long after watching her teacher calculate formations, she suddenly sensed something amiss around them...
The sounds of clashing blades rang loudly!
She looked up to see the five hundred Xuanqin elites and five hundred Northern Chu elites fighting among themselves.
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
ave】 Shen Qingling was a man with peerless looks, a cunning mind, and the ability to play both the aloof noble and the innocent sweetheart—a master of seduction who could outplay any player. But after an untimely death, he found himself bound to a system and transmigrated into the tragic "true young master" of a melodramatic novel. In the original story, his childhood sweetheart treated him as a backup plan, his fiancée swore to break off their engagement for the sake of the "fake young master," and his own sister saw him as the family's disgrace. He was nothing more than a rat everyone wanted to stomp on. System 077: "Your mission is to change the original fate and conquer the goddesses." Shen Qingling: "Thanks for the invite. If seduction had tiers, I’d be max level." His childhood sweetheart knelt, begging for forgiveness: "Qingling, I was wrong. Please give me another chance." His ex-fiancée refused to marry anyone else: "Shen Qingling, I was blind before. In this life, I’ll marry no one but you." A yandere CEO went mad for love: "Shen Qingling, you can only like me. I’ll stop at nothing to make you mine!" His green-tea sister clung to him daily: "Brother, look at me, won’t you? I’m more obedient than them—I love you the most~" At first, they scorned and trampled on him. Later, they burned themselves like moths to a flame, all for his sake. His looks were his weapon, his sweet words the bait—heroines obsessed over him, villains turned to madness for him. Shen Qingling became a true male siren, igniting battlefield after battlefield of women fighting for his affection. Years later, when System 077—now one of the elites—was asked how to become as outstanding as it, it lazily exhaled a smoke ring and replied: "Just know how to cheer ‘666’ at the right time."
