"What's wrong with the stele?"
"Am I seeing things? It looks like... there are cracks?"
"Cracks? Are you kidding me? This is a testing stele, how could it—wait, there really are cracks?"
"Holy shit, so the testing stele was broken?"
"I’ve never seen this happen before. Maybe it’s because it’s old and worn out?"
"Bullshit! This is a testing stele. It doesn’t just break from age."
"Then explain what’s happening right now."
"Well..."
Everyone stared at the testing stele in utter confusion, completely baffled by the situation.
Chen Chang'an was equally dumbfounded. But as they watched, the cracks on the stele multiplied until, right before their eyes—it shattered!
"You all saw that, right? I didn’t break it."
"I just touched it. I didn’t even use any force."
"You have to vouch for me—I don’t have the money to pay for this!"
Chen Chang'an's words made everyone sweatdrop. Pay for it? Was that even the issue here?
Without another word, Chen Chang'an turned and walked away. No way was he sticking around. Who knew how many immortal spirit stones this thing was worth? He wasn’t about to waste his money on it.
Absolutely not paying!
"Why did Master leave so quickly?" Qingluan asked, puzzled.
"Not just Master—Da Huang’s gone too," Xiao Yao said helplessly.
"Wait, Da Huang’s gone too?"
Xiao Yao and Qingluan didn’t fully understand, but Shen Yunfei knew these two all too well. When trouble came, they were always the first to vanish.
How many times had they left him to clean up their messes?
"Stop talking. Let’s go."
"They ran because they don’t want to pay. Do you two have any immortal spirit stones?"
"If not, run now, or they’ll make you two foot the bill."
Shen Yunfei didn’t waste another second—he bolted. Xiao Yao and Qingluan froze for a moment before scrambling after him. Even if they had the money, they weren’t about to pay!
By the time the testing hall staff arrived, Chen Chang'an and his group were long gone.
"What happened here?"
"Why is the testing stele shattered?" the staff member asked, frowning.
"Uh..."
"Someone came to take the test. They put their hand on it, and after a while... it just broke."
"Hey, how does a testing stele even break?"
"Yeah, why would that happen?"
The staff member’s expression shifted. A test causing the stele to shatter?
"There’s only one reason a testing stele breaks—if its limit is exceeded and it can’t withstand the power."
"Even though ours is just a basic-level stele, this... shouldn’t be possible."
Basic-level?
The staff’s words made the crowd realize—testing steles had tiers!
"Then, what’s the limit for a basic-level stele?"
"If this person exceeded it, does that mean their strength is far beyond normal?"
"His cultivation looked like it was only at the True Immortal Realm’s first layer, but now it seems he was hiding his true power."
True Immortal Realm, first layer? Shattering the stele’s limit?
The murmurs around them made the staff member pause. Could he really have been concealing his strength?
"The basic testing stele’s limit is the peak of the Heavenly Immortal Realm."
"If someone’s power reaches or surpasses that, the stele will break."
The staff’s explanation left everyone stunned.
Peak Heavenly Immortal Realm?!
"You’ve got to be kidding me. A peak Heavenly Immortal coming here to mess around?"
"If he’s at least that strong, how old must he be?"
"No wonder he’s Yun Qingluan’s master. Damn, could he be one of the Yun family’s top experts?"
"Wait, no—the Yun family only has one peak Heavenly Immortal, and it can’t be him. Remember, Yun Zhilan was here before leaving. If it were their expert, Yun Zhilan wouldn’t have ignored him."
"Then... a rogue cultivator? Some low-key powerhouse?"
"Holy shit, I actually mocked him earlier. Thank the heavens he’s got a decent temper, or we’d all be dead."
The staff member didn’t respond to the chatter. He simply turned and left—but he knew one thing for certain.
The person who took the test couldn’t be older than thirty thousand years.
If someone over that age placed their hand on the stele, it wouldn’t react at all. That restriction was built into the stele’s design.
A peak Heavenly Immortal under thirty thousand years old?
This news was too shocking. The staff member hurried to report it to the testing hall’s overseer.
"What did you say? The testing stele shattered?"
"Our Profound Heaven Domain shouldn’t have a genius like that."
"Could he be from another region?"
"Where is he now?" the overseer asked, frowning.
"Gone. By the time I got there, he’d already left."
"Find out more about him. If he came to the Skypride City and took the test, he’s probably here for the Skypride Rankings. He’ll definitely head to the Skypride Tower."
"At this rate, the Profound Heaven Domain’s Skypride Tower records might be broken," the overseer said with a smile.
"Yes, sir."
After his subordinate left, the overseer couldn’t hide his excitement. If such a prodigy emerged under his jurisdiction, it might mean a promotion for him.
Leaving the Profound Heaven Domain for a higher-tier Skypride City had always been his dream.
Meanwhile, when Shen Yunfei and the other two returned to the Skypride Inn, they found Chen Chang'an and Da Huang lounging on rocking chairs, leisurely snacking on fruit.
"You’re back?"
"Where’d you go?" Chen Chang'an asked, feigning confusion.
Huh?
What was this?
Qingluan and Xiao Yao exchanged bewildered looks. Had he forgotten? Unlikely.
"Don’t play dumb. You’re the one who broke the testing stele. Don’t try to act innocent," Shen Yunfei snapped.
"What?"
"You broke the testing stele?"
"How do you cause trouble the second you step out?"
"Honestly... what am I going to do with you?"
"Such a handful." Chen Chang'an sighed dramatically.
"See, Boss? I’m the good one. I stayed right here with you. They’re the troublemakers."
"And they even broke the testing stele. That’s gonna cost a fortune, right?" Da Huang chimed in.
"Exactly."
"I don’t have the money."
"Me neither."
"What about you two?"
Chen Chang'an glanced at Qingluan and Xiao Yao. After a brief pause, they caught on.
"We don’t have any either," they said in unison.
"Good. Then Shen Yunfei can take responsibility. It’s his mess."
"Right, right—all his fault."
At this moment, Qingluan and Xiao Yao seemed to understand why Shen Yunfei had said that Chen Chang'an had screwed him over countless times.
"Chen Chang'an, have you made a damn habit out of screwing me over?"
"Does it itch your hands if you don’t mess with me?"
"If I really have to compensate, where the hell am I supposed to get that many spirit stones?" Shen Yunfei fumed.
"You could sell yourself!"
"Don’t worry, right now... you’re in high demand. Someone will be willing to pay for you."
"I believe in you!"
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
