"Why bother with all the finesse when dealing with this lump of iron?"
He walked over to the metal manhole cover, his chest heaving, the muscles in his arms swelling to an exaggerated extent once again, veins crisscrossing beneath his skin.
"Let me open a door for it."
He bent down, both hands gripping the barely existent gap at the edge of the cover, channeling all his strength into his arms.
"Lift... now!"
With a low growl, the blood vessels on his arms bulged as if they were about to burst.
A harsh screech of metal twisting rang out, followed by a loud cracking sound.
That massive alloy manhole cover, weighing several tons and fused seamlessly with the ground, was ripped away from the surface by brute force and sent flying, crashing against a wall far away with a deafening thunder, leaving behind a deep dent.
A pitch-black, bottomless passage appeared at everyone's feet.
A cold, rancid smell of decayed earth surged upward from the dark tunnel.
The four exchanged glances. An Changqing was the first to nod, then they descended one by one along the stone steps inside the passage.
The spiral stairs went on endlessly downward. No one knew how much time had passed before the space suddenly opened up before them.
The sight ahead stopped everyone in their tracks.
The underground area beneath the slaughterhouse had been hollowed out completely, and what lay before them was a magnificent, breath-taking subterranean temple.
Countless massive stone pillars, carved with strange and eerie reliefs, supported the towering dome. An ancient and malevolent aura permeated the entire space.
"What a grand undertaking."
Long Ao couldn't help but admire: "To think such a creepy place is hidden under North City."
"This doesn't look like it was dug out recently," Su Yuehe said, looking around with a furrowed brow. "Look at the level of weathering on these pillars and the architectural style. This feels more like an ancient ruin that was already here, just discovered and exploited by Yue Teng."
Chen Guan said nothing. His gaze was fixed on the enormous murals on the walls on both sides of the temple.
The moment he saw the style of those murals, that familiar chill in Chen Guan's heart rose again.
[Here we go, the exclusive art gallery of the Lord of Nothingness.]
[The style is all squiggly and creepy.]
[Brother Coffin is coming home again.]
Just then, An Changqing's attention was drawn to the largest mural right in front of them.
That mural depicted a curled-up, sleeping beast. Its body was also entwined with countless eerie black lines.
Under his gaze, the beast's closed eyelids on the mural twitched slightly.
An Changqing stopped in his tracks.
The sword in his hand trembled lightly in its sheath.
"Did you see that?"
An Changqing turned his head to ask his teammates.
Long Ao tilted his head and leaned closer to the mural.
"See what?"
"These paintings came alive again."
Su Yuehe shook her head. "No, it's just static stone carving."
An Changqing pulled his gaze back. "It opened its eyes just now."
His finger pointed to the pupil area of the beast.
The lines there were indeed unusual—what had been a closed eyelid seam now had a fine crack running through it.
Chen Guan stood at the very back, looking at the mural. The black lines were slowly contracting.
A living painting?
Chen Guan hadn't seen such a painting before for the first time. A few months ago, someone had given him a living painting.
Could it be related to her?
Chen Guan made a mental note. Unfortunately, he didn’t have contact information for Santai, and his only closer connection in the organization was that troublesome superior, White Tiger.
Oh, right, if we're being thorough, he'd have to count Vermilion Bird too, though she didn't know it herself.
Su Yuehe pointed toward the giant mural, and An Changqing walked up to it.
He kept his distance, not reaching out to touch it.
"Back in the corridor, it definitely moved," An Changqing confirmed. "But as I look at it now, it's returned to its original state."
Long Ao stared at the stone carving. "You guys must be seeing things."
He pointed at the rough stone surface. "This is just ordinary rock."
With that, Long Ao threw a punch at the mural. The wind whistled as his fist struck the stone wall.
But unexpectedly, there was no impact sound.
Not even a speck of dust fell.
The moment Long Ao's fist made contact with the stone wall, it was absorbed by some force.
The black carved lines trembled slightly. They had blocked the attack and absorbed its strength.
"What the hell?"
Long Ao withdrew his hand, looking stunned. He gathered his spirit energy again and threw another punch.
This time with even more force.
But the result didn’t change.
The painting hadn't changed at all.
Yue Teng's laughter echoed around them.
The sound was somewhat grating.
"Dear guests, don't waste your effort," Yue Teng's voice reverberated from above the building. "These works can't be destroyed with fists."
"They are gifts from the great Sovereign."
Long Ao shouted toward the source of the voice.
"You cowardly bastard hiding away, stop using a speaker and come out if you've got the guts!"
Yue Teng didn't respond to the provocation. The stone pillars began to creak, objects scraped against the floor, and tremors shook the entire underground space.
"The pillars are moving," An Changqing noticed. He observed the patterns on the ground. "They're building a maze."
He said to the people behind him, "Everyone, stay close."
The pillars moved with great speed, cutting through their midst. Colossal shadows loomed over them from above.
The group was separated by the pillars. Long Ao watched the pillar blocking his path; just as he tried to punch through the obstacle, the black lines on the murals detached from the walls. Black mist spread outward.
Three tall monsters stepped out from the painting. They radiated a putrid stench. The creatures raised their deformed arms and lunged at Long Ao.
Long Ao had no choice but to turn and fight. He smashed a monster's chest with a single punch; the black mist scattered but then gathered again in the air.
"Unkillable junk again," Long Ao cursed. Still, he had to keep attacking, because unlike Chen Guan, he couldn't sever the black mist controlling those monsters.
An Changqing was cut off in another open space, with Su Yuehe at his side.
Before them appeared several villagers. Their eyes were vacant. They shuffled toward An Changqing, brandishing rusty tools.
An Changqing gripped his sword hilt but didn't draw the blade.
These people were living beings, not like the black mist monsters Long Ao faced; they were essentially just innocent civilians.
"Don't hurt them," An Changqing said to Su Yuehe. "They're being controlled."
Su Yuehe nodded and extended her right hand. "I can slow their movements."
An Changqing dodged the villagers' attacks, using his sheath to deflect one person's arm.
"We need to find the source of the control," An Changqing said in a low voice. "Yue Teng's voice came from above us just now."
"This underground space is huge. We have to break through these defenses."
Su Yuehe used her power of order to create a deceleration zone. The controlled villagers slowed down, but they still kept pressing forward.
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.
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)
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!
] [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!"
