Yin Chen walked in the middle of the group, the top of the short staff in his hand continuously emitting a pale blue light.
A spherical spiritual energy barrier enveloped the team, barely keeping the most piercing, bone-chilling wind blades at bay.
"Hong Yuan, please put away that clumsy axe of yours, and don't let its edge keep scraping against the edge of my shield."
Yin Chen's voice carried over through the wind and snow, his tone laced with his usual disgust. "Maintaining the barrier in this environment has already caused my energy consumption to exceed the limit. If you slice it open, we are all going to taste what it's like to be polar ice sculptures right here."
Carrying her double-edged axe on her shoulder and walking on the flank of the group, Hong Yuan naturally felt that Yin Chen was just picking a fight after hearing this.
She turned her head and responded loudly, "Why are you so delicate? My axe has just been sharpened. Putting it into the storage space will affect its process of adapting to spiritual energy. Besides, if you can't even block this little bit of wind and snow, aren't you, a Tier 5 Mage, a bit too watered down?"
"This isn't a matter of being watered down, it's a matter of spiritual energy suppression."
Yin Chen sighed. "The magnetic field here is rejecting the power within our bodies. As an enhancement-type creature, you naturally can't comprehend the torture that elemental types are undergoing."
Long Ao walked not far from Hong Yuan, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his winter coat.
With the wind and snow battering his hair, he curled his lips and said in a stiff tone, "Can you two save some energy for the journey? Chen Guan just said there's thirty kilometers to go. At this snail's pace, we won't even cover half the distance by the time it gets completely dark."
"Long Ao, stop with your sarcastic remarks." Hong Yuan retorted without holding back. "If you're so capable, why don't you go to the front and lead the way?"
An Changqing looked at the noisy group and rubbed his forehead, wondering if bringing everyone along was truly the right decision.
At the very front of the group, Chen Guan had his hands shoved in his pockets, trudging through the thick snow, turning a deaf ear to the commotion behind him.
The environment here was harsh, but he walked more easily than anyone else. The gray energy inside his body seemed to have caught the scent of some kind of summons and was in a highly active state.
That aura of a shared origin pierced through the sky full of wind and snow, guiding his footsteps.
He probably couldn't empathize with the situation Yin Chen was talking about.
The black panther walked beside Chen Guan, its agile limbs treading lightly on the snow.
As a local panther, it wasn't afraid of the cold, just like its master.
On Chen Guan's retinas, a barrage of comments was scrolling.
[This is just absurd. Everyone else is walking like they're being tortured, while Chen Guan looks like he's strolling through his own backyard.]
[Long Ao and Hong Yuan, these two redheads, have started bickering again. I bet fifty cents that these two are going to fight in a bit.]
[Then I bet fifty cents that Hong Yuan will win.]
[How does Brother Ao have so little clout? You guys are so fickle.]
[Su is too persistent, but this is exactly the attitude needed to pursue the truth. Looking at how much An Changqing worries, he really is like a mother hen.]
Chen Guan looked at these floating words without much reaction.
His perception spread out into the surroundings. Although the magnetic field here was indeed chaotic, it didn't have much impact on an existence like him, who didn't entirely rely on the spiritual energy system.
The wind and snow wouldn't affect his gray energy in the slightest.
After walking for about two hours, the sky around them turned completely dark.
The intensity of the blizzard showed no signs of weakening; instead, it blew even more fiercely.
Yin Chen's face had lost its initial leisure. The knuckles of the hand gripping his short staff were taut, and the light of the spiritual energy shield looked somewhat dim in the wind.
"Chen Guan," An Changqing called out from behind. "How much further is it to the source of the interference? Yin Chen's spiritual energy consumption is too high. We need to find a place to shelter from the wind and let everyone take turns using recovery potions."
Chen Guan stopped in his tracks, and the black panther also stopped, its ears pricking up alertly.
"No need to look," Chen Guan turned his head and looked at the group.
"What do you mean?" Hong Yuan immediately took down the axe resting on her shoulder and gripped the long handle with both hands. "Are we there? Are there demonic beasts?"
Chen Guan turned around and pointed toward a patch of darkness to the front right. "The thing we are looking for, its edge is already right here."
Everyone stepped forward in the direction he pointed.
Yin Chen shrank the range of the shield, concentrating it around the group to increase the brightness of the illumination.
Under the reflection of the pale blue light, a massive black rock stood prominently in the snowy ground ahead.
The vast majority of the rock was buried by ice and snow, but the exposed part showed obvious signs of artificial carving.
Hong Yuan stepped forward and reached out to touch the surface of the rock. "It's so cold. This material doesn't seem like ordinary stone. Chen Guan, is this the place you were talking about?"
"To be exact, this is just a boundary marker," Chen Guan replied calmly. Knowledge never fails those who study diligently; even without Encyclopedia Su, he could identify it.
Su Yuehe pushed away An Changqing's supporting hand and walked quickly to the rock.
Her breathing quickened as she pressed her fingers against the cold surface of the rock, carefully examining the patterns eroded by the wind and snow.
"This is real."
Su Yuehe's voice trembled slightly as she turned to look at An Changqing. "The engravings on this belong to the same writing system as the ancient demonic text that appeared on the back of the Profound Tortoise. The interference here radiates inward starting from this marker."
"A boundary marker?" Long Ao leaned in, sizing up this unremarkable stone. "A broken stone can release such strong magnetic storm interference? What must the real altar look like then?"
Yin Chen looked at the boundary marker and said, stunned, "This means we have already entered the absolute domain of the ruins. Hong Yuan, your axe will soon have a chance for a real combat test."
This boundary marker... why did it look so familiar?
Yin Chen didn't voice the doubt in his heart.
"That would be for the best," Hong Yuan chuckled. "We haven't even seen a rabbit along the way. The demonic beasts in the Northern Territory really have no presence."
What Hong Yuan didn't know was that, knowing Su Yuehe was coming, most of the demonic beasts here had already been cleared out with a single sweep.
"Don't let your guard down."
An Changqing took out recovery potions and distributed them to everyone. "Since this stone is a boundary marker, it means what lies ahead is not just a test of the natural environment. Everyone, adjust your condition to the best. Chen Guan, are there any living creatures nearby?"
"Not at the moment."
Chen Guan's perception covered the surrounding area. "The magnetic field emitted by this marker is very bizarre. It not only rejects spiritual energy but also seems to be driving away the native demonic beasts in this area. It's very clean around here."
"A place that even the native demonic beasts born and raised here don't dare to approach is not good news for us."
Yin Chen took the potion An Changqing handed him and drank it with his head tilted back, replenishing his depleted spiritual energy to some extent.
Su Yuehe stood before the boundary marker, closed her eyes, and tried to use her mental energy to touch the internal structure of the marker.
"Yuehe, don't push yourself," An Changqing hurriedly warned her.
Su Yuehe opened her eyes and withdrew her hand. "I know my limits. The information on this marker has been severely damaged, but the direction it points to is very clear. If we continue forward for ten kilometers, we will reach the center of the altar."
She was in a good mood. This boundary stone alone had helped her learn a few more characters.
"Ten kilometers," Long Ao said, rolling his neck. "That doesn't sound too far. Let's push through and get there in one go. In this damned weather, staying out here for even another minute is pure torture."
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
] [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!"
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
