The Blood God turned his head to look at Mo Tianxiao, his expression shifting to one of interest. "And you, brat—I never imagined you'd manage to reach a place like this on your own. I assumed you were long dead."
This was the man under a bounty of ten sacred artifacts—of course he was familiar.
"Still, killing you now is no trouble. The Blood God Palace abides by its rules: once a reward is taken, the task is fulfilled—even if the target is an Emperor-level powerhouse.
Boy, I was thinking of keeping you as my attendant, but now it seems you’ll have to die instead."
The Blood God’s attitude didn’t waver even with Yue Liuli’s appearance.
Having not set foot outside in over a thousand years, he’d heard Yue Liuli’s name but held little regard for her. She was merely a newly ascended Quasi-Emperor, and only a spiritual projection at that—nothing significant enough to make him cautious.
"Master, look at him—"
Mo Tianxiao ignored the Blood God, instead turning his gaze to Yue Liuli.
Yue Liuli casually extended her hand, and Mo Tianxiao immediately produced the Nine Calamities Sacred Sword, placing it obediently in her grasp. "Master, please take it."
As she gripped the sacred sword, it began to tremble faintly, as if trying to escape her palm.
"Eight seals unlocked and already some sentience returned?"
With a gentle squeeze of her hand, the sacred sword instantly calmed, lying motionless.
Her slender fingers casually swung the blade. A flash of sword light burst from the weapon, engulfing the entire space in an intense sword intent that pressed against everyone’s throats, sending chills down their spines.
"So you've mastered the Way of the Sword? Let's see if your Sword Law is stronger than my Killing Law!"
Just as the Blood God raised his dagger, a dazzling beam of sword light illuminated the entire underground chamber.
BOOM!!
A thunderous roar echoed from the void, blinding everyone with its brilliance and drowning out all sound under the piercing ring of the sword.
Meanwhile, in the far west, in the Black Desert region, a man furrowed his brow as he sensed something, muttering to himself, "Blood God, if anything happens to my daughter, I will destroy your entire Blood God Palace!"
This man was the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty and Zhou Muxi’s father—a Quasi-Emperor.
Upon receiving the message, he had set out immediately, arriving at the location of the signal, and had since been tracking the Imperial Seal to locate Zhou Muxi and the others.
Now, just as he stepped into the Black Desert region and was about to intensify his search for his daughter, a sudden, intense sense of danger surged in his heart.
"Hmm?"
WHOOOM!
A powerful warrior’s instincts never faltered. In a flash, he retreated dozens of miles away.
In the next instant, the ground erupted in violent tremors as a massive sword beam burst from beneath the earth, slicing through the clouds and carving a fissure that stretched across the horizon toward the heavens.
"What the hell?! Another expert?!"
The Emperor widened his eyes, letting out an involuntary curse.
A chill ran down his spine. Sensing the power of that sword light, he felt a wave of relief for dodging in time—if it had so much as grazed him, he’d have been crippled at best, killed at worst. What level of being was this? Could it be an Emperor-level powerhouse?
Impossible.
Below ground, everyone squinted as the sword light faded. A waterfall of light poured through the long opening above, illuminating their stunned faces.
Looking up, they could see the chasm that now scarred the sky beyond the gap through the earth.
As for the Blood God and his incarnations—they had vanished without a trace, as if they’d never existed. Even the Blood Moon that had hung above them was gone.
"Gulp."
Standing behind Yue Liuli, Mo Tianxiao, who had witnessed everything, swallowed hard, his mouth hanging open and his eyes glassy with shock.
What just happened? Was he dreaming?
Where was the Blood God?!
He had thought that while his master was only a spiritual projection, she might still be stronger than an average Quasi-Emperor—enough to hold the Blood God off while they sought an escape. Instead, his master had annihilated him in a single strike? Body, soul—nothing remained...
This shattered his understanding once again. Was this the caliber of a reincarnated immortal? And what existence were true immortals, then?
Yue Liuli turned, spinning the sword in a casual flourish, her eyes calm and voice crisp. "Fine, that annoying pest is taken care of. Now, Little Mo, let’s get back to your issue."
"Whatever Master wants to know, this disciple will speak without reservation, fully and truthfully!"
Mo Tianxiao’s eyes were resolute—no trace of anything but pure reverence.
The others stood frozen, watching Mo Tianxiao trail behind Yue Liuli with a bobbing head, sometimes smiling bitterly, sometimes scratching his head, sometimes brimming with awe.
Ao Dalong’s eyes sparkled. "So this is the big brother’s master? Damn, now that’s impressive—way more badass than that old codger Guixu. This is how a true strong one carries themselves!"
"Husband’s master? She’s so beautiful..." Huang Xiaoyao gazed at the two in the distance, curious about what they were discussing.
As for Yun Sangyi, words failed her. A literal Quasi-Emperor, moments away from forging them into puppets and boasting he wouldn’t fear even another Quasi-Emperor, had vanished without a trace.
How absurd was that?
No wonder the guy by her side was such a freak—his master was even worse!
Where could one even find a master like that?
"No wonder I always sensed something off about him—it was all a facade. I knew something didn’t add up."
Zhou Muxi’s expression twisted with complexity. That guy was the very disciple of the demon sect under a ten-sacred-artifact bounty, and this woman was none other than Yue Liuli, the first genius of the Xuanhuang Realm—a meteoric figure who had risen to the pinnacle of the martial world in just a few centuries.
Thinking back to how Mo Tianxiao had wormed information from her, she felt deeply unsettled. As a leader of righteous sects, she should have kept such matters confidential, but she’d practically confessed straight to his face. She wasn’t exactly a model cultivator of virtue.
Still, at their level, the lines between righteous and demonic were just jests—window dressing, nothing more.
"So Lord Yue was the one who found them first. On behalf of my daughter, I am grateful for the rescue!"
A middle-aged man descended through the rift above, startled at the sight of Yue Liuli’s projection. He bowed hastily in greeting.
Yue Liuli glanced at him briefly and nodded faintly before turning back to hear Mo Tianxiao’s excuses.
Zhou Muxi’s father was momentarily awkward but didn’t take offense. In the presence of such a figure, he couldn’t afford to be presumptuous. He bypassed the two to reach Zhou Muxi and the others.
"Daughter, are you alright? I was late—turns out this Black Desert blocks spiritual perception. Took me forever to find you."
Zhou Muxi shook her head lightly. "Nothing serious—just some backlash. A few days of recovery will fix it."
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?!
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
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!
