"Today marks the commencement of the Holy Son Ceremony of our Xiaoyao Holy Land! We welcome young talents from all over the human realm to join this grand event!"
Yunshu Island, the primary island of the Xiaoyao Holy Land archipelago, was where the main gate of the Holy Land was located.
On the island stood a massive peak, also named Yunshu.
At the summit of the peak, the Grand Priest of the Xiaoyao Holy Land, named Dongfang Shuo, stood suspended in mid-air, presiding over the ceremony's proceedings.
Young heroes from all over, along with their family elders, gathered around this peak.
A sea of people was surrounded by rosy clouds and mist, looking like a gathering of descended immortals.
You bought a small boat on another minor island and sailed alone to Yunshu Island.
You had already used the "Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger" technique to adjust your cultivation aura to the Soul Tempering Realm.
Considering your bone aptitude and age, you felt the Soul Tempering Realm was a fitting disguise.
"Fellow outstanding talents, there is only one threshold to participate in this ceremony: you must not be over thirty years old!"
The threshold seemed very low.
In reality, not many people actually participated.
Those who came were all heavily nurtured genius descendants from various martial arts families across the human realm.
Those with poor aptitude had already been eliminated at the family selection stage.
You even saw people from the Shen family.
Judging by their attire, they should be from the Star branch.
The Shen family had three branches: Sun, Moon, and Star. Though called a family, it was actually a massively populated nation.
The Star branch received limited resources, so they probably came to try their luck.
"Next, please step forward one by one to present yourselves, register your names, and participate in the selection!"
"I'll go first!!"
Before Dongfang Shuo even finished speaking, a person at the foot of the mountain let out a loud shout, stepped on auspicious clouds, and ascended to the summit.
"I am Long Yang! From the Long family of the Shanhai Holy Land. Heaven-tier bone aptitude, Heavenly Dipper Spirit Body, twenty-six years old, Eighth Stage of the Spirit Sea Realm!!"
The man was handsome and suave, with long flowing hair and cyan robes fluttering in the wind, drawing a round of cheers from the crowd.
"Good heavens, the first one up is already this strong?"
"When I was twenty-six, I was still worrying about how to break through to the Soul Tempering Realm, and he's already at the Eighth Stage of the Spirit Sea Realm! What a monster!"
"The Long family is absolutely determined to win the position of the next Holy Son of the Xiaoyao Holy Land this time!"
"Setting the bar so high right from the start, if the male disciples who follow aren't as good as him, they probably won't even need to show their faces."
The three great Holy Lands all had a Holy Son system. Though called Holy Son, there were actually two positions: a male Holy Son and a female Holy Maiden.
The Holy Son and Holy Maiden held exalted status in the Holy Land and enjoyed immense authority.
But in truth, they were not chosen to be the next generation's successors of the Holy Land—though, of course, they could participate in the competition for it.
The true significance of the Holy Son and Holy Maiden lay in facilitating communication and cooperation between the Holy Land and the martial arts families.
Much like royal relatives by marriage.
As the Holy Sons and Holy Maidens were replaced generation after generation, the relationships between the various martial arts factions and the Holy Land would become increasingly tight and intricately intertwined, forming a community of shared interests.
"Screech—"
An eagle's cry echoed throughout the venue as a young man arrived riding an eagle, ascending to the summit and standing beside Long Yang.
"Listen up, everyone! My name is Baili Su! From the Baili family of the Central Plains of the Five Regions. Heaven-tier bone aptitude, Life Spring Tyrant Body, seventeen years old, Twelfth Layer of the Spirit Gathering Realm! Hmph, if the family elders hadn't forced me to solidify my foundation and open my eight extraordinary meridians, I would have reached the Golden Body Realm long ago! By the time I'm twenty-six, I'll definitely be a hundred times stronger than this Long Yang!"
The young man was exceedingly arrogant.
However, this did not draw any mockery; instead, it only elicited admiration and envy.
A genius ought to have the temper of a genius!
Even Long Yang, who had been openly provoked to his face, just maintained the friendly expression of an older brother, as if seeing his past self.
Geniuses from all sides took the stage one by one.
Each of them had their own unique method to ascend directly from the foot of the mountain to the summit, truly like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their own divine prowess.
Not everyone who followed had Heaven-tier bone aptitude or special physiques.
But even the worst bone aptitude among them was at the Earth-tier.
In fact, their personal aptitude was secondary.
The key was the martial arts families backing them, each possessing extraordinary foundations.
Taking the Five Regions as an example, the overall strength and scale of a first-rate martial arts family could not compare to a first-rate sect.
However, considering the difference in their sizes.
A family had far fewer people to nurture compared to a sect.
Thus, martial arts families could concentrate their resources on their genius descendants, allowing these individuals to receive even more resources within their families than they would in a sect.
"The Xiaoyao Holy Land's Holy Son Ceremony is really bustling this time. It feels like every family has sent over their hidden trump-card geniuses."
"It truly is an era of great contention. The Shen family directly sent over three geniuses!"
"It really proves the saying: the world never lacks geniuses!"
The crowd waited for a long time, realizing that the next contestant to present themselves had not appeared.
Dongfang Shuo stood at the summit and called out loudly toward the foot of the mountain.
"Currently, ninety-nine outstanding talents have presented themselves. Are there any more brilliant youths wishing to participate in the ceremony?"
"Yes!!"
A vigorous shout rang out from halfway up the mountain.
The crowd turned their gazes over.
They discovered you slowly climbing up, step by step, along the mountain's stone stairs.
"No way? Is he going to walk up?"
"Haha! This is hilarious! Didn't all the previous ones show off their divine abilities and leap up in one go? He's actually going to walk up?"
"The Holy Land asks us to use our own abilities to reach the summit from the foot of the mountain, symbolizing a meteoric rise. Him walking up like this is truly an ugly sight."
The surrounding discussions reached your ears.
You remained calm and unhurried, ascending the steps, even taking out a gourd to start drinking water.
Fly?
How could you fly?
You were currently a Soul Tempering Realm martial artist.
You couldn't expose your pile of treasures.
And you had no family elders to lift you up.
What else could you do but walk up?
The entire crowd waited for you for a full half-hour.
Many people grew impatient, telling you to roll back home and stop embarrassing yourself here.
Fortunately, the Xiaoyao Holy Land was very decent and did not speak out to drive you away, only stating that they hoped everyone would give you a little time.
The final stretch of the path to the summit was almost at a ninety-degree vertical angle, and you forcefully climbed your way up.
Compared to the elegant postures of the other contestants, your appearance was indeed somewhat pathetic.
"Smack..."
One of your hands grabbed onto the cliff edge, and with a forceful pull, you hoisted yourself up and finally reached the summit.
Dongfang Shuo gestured with his hand for you to stand in line with the other contestants and introduce yourself.
"I am Chen Dong! High-tier bone aptitude, no special physique, twenty-seven years old, Third Tempering of the Soul Tempering Realm, an independent trainee!"
The entire venue fell silent.
Then, it erupted into uproarious laughter.
"Hahaha! Independent trainee? Isn't that just a rogue cultivator? Why call yourself an independent trainee!"
"The Xiaoyao Holy Land has really lost face this time. Even a rogue cultivator came to participate in their ceremony. This is showing zero respect for the Xiaoyao Holy Land."
"What kind of garbage is a High-tier bone aptitude? Does he even deserve to stand in the same line as us geniuses?"
["The Grand Ceremony may not have a set threshold, but that does not mean there truly isn't one. This threshold is called 'knowing your own limits'!"]
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
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?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
