A gray mist suddenly enveloped Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue.
Outside the mist, the attacks from Chen Xing's greatsword and the blood-red sun in the sky were blocked by the fog.
Chen Xing's face was expressionless, but she did not stop her assault. The blood-red sun continued to pour down spheres of destruction onto the ground.
But inside the gray mist...
Despite knowing that "one must not gaze directly at a divine being," Shen Yiyue inexplicably felt the urge to look into Ning Yu's eyes, those eyes filled with divinity.
Those eyes belonged to the person she loved, and now they were filled with profound tenderness.
That tenderness enveloped her like warm, clear water.
Just by glancing at Ning Yu's eyes, Shen Yiyue felt countless images flash through her mind.
The fleeting memories of Ning Yu's past, encompassing all senses—sight, touch, taste, and hearing—gave Shen Yiyue a strange, ethereal sensation.
At that moment, it felt as though she had sunk to the bottom of a lake, a place where the origin and essence of all life were nurtured. She could almost hear the joyful sounds of all living things coming into existence.
This wondrous feeling intoxicated Shen Yiyue, and for a brief moment, all her worries and sorrows seemed to vanish.
She felt as though she had returned to her infancy.
From Ning Yu's perspective, Shen Yiyue gently closed her eyes.
The key formed from gray mist in her hand was the result of activating the [Mysterious Feminine Gate].
"Something existed in chaos, born before heaven and earth. Silent and formless, it stands alone and unchanging, moving in cycles without end..."
Ning Yu softly recited the words from the skill description.
It described something that existed even before heaven and earth, before everything was born.
It had never been altered by any will and continued to operate endlessly.
Was it the origin?
Ning Yu had no answer in her heart. She vaguely understood that she could never fully comprehend such an existence through language alone—it was a limitation of language as a tool.
But precisely because she was a finite being, she could feel happiness.
So if it couldn't be understood, perhaps it was better not to try.
Suddenly, a lock appeared on Shen Yiyue's chest, composed of black and white colors, each occupying half of the lock.
The black and white were not evenly divided but intertwined in a harmonious blend.
Her hands cradled the lock in midair, as if protecting something of great importance.
The keyhole in the center of the lock matched the gray mist key in Ning Yu's hand.
It felt like fate. Ning Yu already knew what to do. She inserted the key into the keyhole near Shen Yiyue's chest.
*Click.*
With a gentle twist, the circular lock opened.
A burst of gray mist erupted from Shen Yiyue's chest, seemingly creating a brand-new space filled with dazzling, star-like points of light.
Through the mist, Ning Yu saw a silver orb spinning within, like a small planet orbiting in the universe that was Shen Yiyue.
Ning Yu understood that this represented Shen Yiyue's origin—[Time].
This power did not belong to Shen Yiyue but was channeled through her, combined with Ning Yu's own abilities, allowing Ning Yu to find it in this mystical way.
Ning Yu reached into the gray mist at Shen Yiyue's chest, her hand sinking in as if merging with her body. Within the mist, she grasped the silver orb representing [Time].
The moment Ning Yu took hold of the orb, Shen Yiyue's brow furrowed slightly, as if she felt a pang of pain.
This was the burden placed on her body by something that did not originally belong to this world, now directly and starkly manifesting in reality.
Perhaps this was the cost mentioned in the skill description—the significant degradation of the user's abilities.
When Ning Yu removed the orb from Shen Yiyue's body, the silver orb instantly transformed into an hourglass floating in Ning Yu's hand.
It seemed that a tangible concept was necessary to contain it, as it did not belong to any classification of things in this world.
Ning Yu, of course, could not use the hourglass to strike down Chen Xing, so under her conscious control, the hourglass began to change shape.
Shen Yiyue had already lost consciousness, lying limply in Ning Yu's arms, her black hair spilling over Ning Yu's arm.
Ning Yu cradled Shen Yiyue with one hand while the hourglass in her other hand transformed into a slender silver sword.
On the hilt of the sword was engraved an intricate clock, and the air around it rippled with waves, as if time itself was speeding up, slowing down, stopping, and resuming.
[Host has acquired: Chrono Blade - Kronos]
A system notification echoed in Ning Yu's mind, revealing the name of the weapon.
But this was not its original form; it was merely the shape it took to manifest in this world.
The gray mist around them began to thin, and Ning Yu's golden eyes slowly became visible. Shen Yiyue, still unconscious, remained in her arms.
The mist did not completely dissipate. Ning Yu gently laid Shen Yiyue within the mist, as if placing her on a bed of clouds.
Holding Kronos, Ning Yu stepped forward, once again facing the blood-red "sun."
The weapon came with no instructions or system-based skills.
Instead, it granted Ning Yu unprecedented knowledge—something indescribable in words, a profound understanding of time itself.
With this knowledge, Ning Yu now understood time better than all the wisdom in the world combined.
She needed no techniques or skills; she simply had to feel the changes this knowledge could bring.
The blood-red halo above Chen Xing's head had soaked her hooded robe completely crimson, and the blood dripping onto the ground steamed with intense heat.
The moment Chen Xing saw Ning Yu, her blood-red greatsword and the "sun" above seemed to find a more suitable target.
But Ning Yu stood still, her golden eyes fixed on Chen Xing, whose face remained hidden beneath her hood.
Chen Xing, unable to speak, seemed to feel a soul-deep fear. She trembled for a moment before suppressing it.
The attacks from her greatsword and the blood-red sun struck Ning Yu, but they passed through her like special effects, leaving her unharmed.
"I exist in the present, the past, and the future. They are all on the sand table, and I can draw them as I please," Ning Yu murmured words that Chen Xing could not understand.
But from Chen Xing's perspective, under the blood-red sky and on the desolate, decaying land, countless versions of Ning Yu suddenly appeared.
Each held a slender silver sword, silently watching Chen Xing.

villain is the number one simp for the book's leading female protagonist, Shen Wan'er. As expected, he later becomes a tool for the main character to show off and slap faces, ultimately meeting a tragic end with his family ruined and his life in shambles. Fortunately, he awakens the [Universal Pure Love System], which allows him to earn points by performing acts of pure love. To change his fate, Gu Yan makes a decisive choice to seek warmth and companionship with the book's biggest villain—Cold Qingqiu. ........... My name is Leng Qingqiu. To find the murderer who killed my parents years ago, I deliberately blinded myself so that everyone would lower their guard around me. Just as I was secretly accumulating power and capital according to my initial plan, a man walked into my world. "Lengleng, Qingqing, Qiuqiu, which nickname do you prefer?" I don't like any of them. You'd better leave quickly! "Why aren't you saying anything? How about I call you my baby wife?" Leng Qingqiu thinks to herself, this man is truly annoying! (Stubborn pure love warrior + single female lead + true pure love + 1v1)

d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!

esick Sect? Well, at least it's considered a respectable orthodox sect. Wait a minute— What kind of vibe are you all giving off? Shouldn’t this be a love-struck, romance-obsessed sect? Why does everyone here sound more like demonic cultivators? "Master, today he’s getting married. This disciple wishes to descend the mountain and crash the wedding, then toy with him to death right in front of his wife..." "Elder, I only got into your sect through connections, so why won’t you teach me anything?" "Because I also became an elder through connections." Thankfully, Su Ji was just an outer sect labor disciple. Surely, nothing too crazy would— "Junior Brother, you’ve broken through to Qi Refining. Once you sever your useless spiritual root, you can officially become an outer sect disciple." "The Great Dao is merciless. Don’t let a worthless spiritual root waste your essence and spirit, hindering your cultivation." Is this really the Lovesick Sect? ... Three years later, Su Ji sat in the seat of the Lovesick Sect’s sect master, sighing with emotion. His rise to this position all started when his junior sister adamantly insisted on preserving his "spiritual root." "Mmm... Senior Brother, what’s our relationship now?" "Stop talking. Keep going." "By the way, that newly promoted top-tier sect—didn’t they come to buy our Love Beans?" "One top-grade spirit stone per Love Bean—is that really so expensive?" "I suspect they’ve eaten too many Love Beans." "Now they’re lovesick." Well, this really is the Lovesick Sect after all.

+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!