Fang Qi stumbled around, searching.
The soles of his feet had long been worn out, and the inside of his straw sandals was sticky, unable to distinguish whether it was sweat or blood.
From the rocky beach to the wild sandy beach, from the wild sandy beach to that abandoned fishing village.
He pushed open every door that could be pushed, and peeked into every corner that could hide a person.
Dilapidated water vats, empty stoves, half-collapsed bed boards, cellars piled with sundries...
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
Nothing... at all!!!
"Liguang—!!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs.
His voice was already hoarse, like a broken gong, squeezed out of his throat.
The sound of the waves swallowed more than half of it, and the rest was blown away by the wind.
No response.
Still no response.
Fang Qi leaned weakly against the reef, the sun making him dizzy, his vision darkening in waves.
He licked his cracked lips, tasting a hint of salty, rusty blood on the tip of his tongue.
The water bottle... had long been empty.
The dry rations were also finished.
He was now...
Just a walking corpse hanging by a breath.
But... he couldn't stop.
Because—
She was still waiting for him.
The old man was no longer by his side at this time.
He went to gather the villagers to help Fang Qi search separately.
Fang Qi supported himself against the rock and barely stood up.
His legs went soft and he almost knelt down. He steadied himself against the rock wall and continued forward.
Crazy woman...
Where exactly are you...
As he walked... his footsteps gradually slowed down.
He stopped in place, his gaze slightly vacant.
Does she... still have power now?
He had calculated it.
He was unconscious for a day and a night, searched all day yesterday, and searched again today... half a day?
No, the sun had already begun to set in the west.
Now, it was already afternoon.
Added up—
It had been almost three days.
And this didn't even count the time he drifted after falling asleep on the raft!
Liguang had said before that she could last four or five days.
But that might...
Just be her most optimistic estimate to reassure him!
The night she drifted on the sea, she was still acting as a hand warmer for him, still using her body to shield him from the rain.
After drifting... what else did she experience?
He didn't know.
With her battery level, she might... not last until today.
Maybe... three days was the limit.
Maybe...
Fang Qi's legs went soft again.
He stumbled and steadied himself.
Staring at the pale sandy beach in front of him, an image uncontrollably floated into his mind.
In a dark crevice of the reef...
The silver-haired girl was curled up in a ball.
She hugged her knees, shrinking her body to the smallest, shrinking into... a corner no one could see.
That only remaining amber left eye was looking at the ray of light shining in from outside the crevice.
She was waiting.
Waiting for her master to come find her.
Waiting for one day, two days, three days...
The light outside the crevice brightened and darkened, darkened and brightened.
But the person she was waiting for...
Never came.
Her eye began to dim.
Slowly, little by little... losing its luster.
Fading from bright amber to pale yellow, to grayish-white, and finally...
Completely extinguishing.
But even at the last moment... she was still looking outside.
Her lips moved slightly, silently murmuring something.
"Master..."
"Don't abandon Liguang..."
"Liguang... is very good..."
"Liguang... will always wait for Master..."
And then... that eye completely went dark.
Becoming an empty glass bead.
She just curled up in an unknown corner, hugging herself, forever...
No, no, no...
No, no, no!
...Stop thinking about it.
Stop thinking about it!
So what if she's out of power!
She's just out of power!
Being out of power isn't being destroyed!
As long as he found her, as long as he charged her, she could open her eyes!
That amber eye could light up again!
It could still curve into a crescent moon, softly calling him "Master"!
What was this!
Being out of power meant Liguang couldn't move, which made her easier to find!
This was... this was a good thing!
Fang Qi pushed himself up from the reef, took a deep breath...
And continued forward!
Even if she was out of power, it didn't matter.
Even if she became a sleeping doll, it didn't matter!
He just had to... find her!
Find her, then take her back, charge her, and watch her wake up.
So—
Wait a little longer.
Crazy woman, wait for me a little longer.
I'll be there soon...
"Hey—!!"
A shout suddenly came from afar.
Fang Qi's footsteps paused, and then he suddenly turned his head!
At the end of the dirt road, a hunched figure was running towards him.
It was the old man.
He ran very urgently, his footsteps stumbling, the bamboo basket bouncing on his back.
He looked... a little excited?
Fang Qi's heart immediately began to pound!
He turned and ran towards the old man, sprinting to stand in front of him!
"What's wrong?!"
He grabbed the old man's arm, his voice hoarse and excited!
"Is there... any news?!"
The old man panted heavily, bent over and held his knees, taking a long time to look up.
That dark face actually carried a trace of a smile.
"Good... good news..."
He said intermittently:
"I just... ran into Old Man Wang from the neighboring village... he said..."
"What did he say?!"
Fang Qi's voice was trembling.
The old man wanted to explain something, but seemed to not know where to start.
Finally, he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to him.
"Look at this, Old Man Wang found it."
Fang Qi looked down.
In the old man's rough palm lay a...
Shell?
A very beautiful shell.
The size of a palm, the surface of the shell shimmering with a pearl-like luster, refracting a rainbow halo in the sunlight.
Beautiful enough for whoever found it to keep it for a lifetime.
"This is..."
"Old Man Wang picked it up on the beach this morning."
The old man's face carried a trace of a smile:
"Hidden in a crevice of the rocks, hidden really deep. He saw it shining, thought it was some treasure, and dug it out."
"Open it and take a look."
Fang Qi stared blankly at the shell.
A shell?
Not finding Liguang?
Just a shell?
A... shell hidden in a crevice of the rocks, hidden really deep?
...What did that mean?
He reached out and took the shell, his fingers trembling slightly.
The shell was very light, its surface smooth and cold.
He took a deep breath...
And opened it.
Then, his eyes widened slightly.
Inside the shell...
Lay a clump of silver hair.
Very fine, very soft, shimmering with a gentle glow in the sunlight.
Like velvet woven from moonlight.
Just like...
The strand currently pressed against his chest.
A flash of pleasant surprise instantly appeared on Fang Qi's face!
...This shell was hidden by Liguang!
Sure enough, she was still... !
But the next moment...
The smile on his face froze.
Because he saw that in the middle of this clump of silver hair...
Was wrapped a... small plastic star.
A cheap, faded little star with slightly crooked edges.
That star he had won back from the amusement park and casually tossed to her.
That star she had turned into an earring, wore constantly, and carefully placed in a glass container when she slept.
Her... most cherished little star.
At this moment...
It lay quietly in the shell.
Lying amidst her silver hair.
...Huh?
...Why?
He held the shell in his hands, his hands trembling slightly.
His mind... was completely blank.
Why was this little star...
here?
Liguang... she cherished this star so much.
She had said that this was the first gift her master gave her, her most important treasure!
There was even a time... when she turned dark because of this little star!
But now, this most important treasure...
Was wrapped in silver hair, protected by the shell...
Hidden in a secret crevice of the rocks.
It was as if...
It was as if someone, at the very last moment... desperately tried to hide it well.
Wanted to leave it for someone.
Then...
What about her?
Where was she?
Fang Qi's lips began to tremble.
He gripped the shell tightly.
Staring at the bundle of silver hair inside, and that... little star that Liguang cherished the most.
The sunlight shone on the star, reflecting a faint light.
Fang Qi's Adam's apple bobbed.
He looked up at the old man.
His voice was so dry he could barely make a sound:
"Take... take me to..."
"Take me to the place where you found the shell."
The old man looked at him, and seeing that his expression was far from joyful... the smile on his lips faded.
He was silent for a second, then nodded.
"Let's go."
He turned around and walked back the way he came.
Fang Qi immediately followed.
Stumbling.
His heart... was a tangled mess.
Crazy woman...
Where... are you exactly?
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."
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
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.
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
