The battle was becoming increasingly difficult. An Changqing dodged an attack and retreated to Su Yuehe’s side. “If we keep this up, we’re too passive.”
He looked ahead. “This maze is looping.”
Su Yuehe had noticed it too and nodded. “The marker I left is gone. The space is shifting.”
“We need to find a way to break the loop.”
An Changqing thought for a second.
“Since we can’t force our way through, let’s follow its logic.”
Su Yuehe asked, “What is its logic?”
An Changqing pointed at the endless stream of villagers surging toward them. “Creating chaos.”
...
Chen Guan stood at the far end of the passage, watching the moving structures without rushing to act.
He noticed subtle changes in the murals.
The surrounding noise was fading.
The sounds of battle between An Changqing and Su Yuehe grew distant. Long Ao’s thunderous destruction of stone pillars was also shrinking.
The frequency of the space had shifted. A chill crept into the air.
In Chen Guan’s vision, a scroll slowly unfurled, cutting off all external clamor.
“Brother Xuanwu.”
A young girl’s voice rang in Chen Guan’s mind.
Her tone was playful.
“We meet again.”
Her sudden appearance didn’t surprise Chen Guan—he had already anticipated something like this. He asked, “Why are you here?”
Santai let out a soft laugh. “Because everything here is somewhat connected to me. I came to reclaim my own power, but it seems I won’t need to lift a finger.”
“Or do you need big sister to give you a hand?”
Her voice was teasing.
“No need.”
Chen Guan’s reply was flat. So the murals were indeed related to Santai. The unknown was the only thing truly terrifying. Now that he knew whose power this was, he had nothing to fear.
But one question still nagged at him: Was this connected only to Santai, or to the entire Guiyuan group?
He wouldn’t get an answer for now, and there was no need to rush.
“Alright, then. I won’t disturb your enjoyment.”
Santai’s voice faded.
Silence returned.
Chen Guan knew she was still somewhere in this space, watching from a corner. He hadn’t expected her to share Baal’s fondness for spying.
“Is there no end to this?!”
At the other end of the maze made of stone pillars, Long Ao’s roar shook the entire space.
He shattered the monster’s head with a single punch.
The scattered black mist coalesced again nearby.
“Disappear for good!”
Long Ao took a deep breath, muscles swelling, veins bulging beneath his exposed skin. A terrifying force gathered within him.
“Infinite Combat: Hundredfold Force.”
The ground beneath him cracked and crumbled as he launched himself like a cannonball, driving a straight punch forward.
The air compressed around his fist.
A sharp shriek pierced the air.
The black mist monster didn’t even have time to react—it was devoured entirely by the force of the punch.
There was no sound of bones breaking, no splatter of blood. The monster simply evaporated mid-air, with not even a wisp of black mist escaping.
Yet Long Ao felt no relief.
The shattered monsters splattered black blood, and where it hit the metal floor, it hissed and corroded the alloy, sending up layers of black smoke.
“Damn it. This blood is weird.”
Long Ao retreated, looking at the mess around him, his expression grim.
On the other side.
An Changqing and Su Yuehe stood back to back, dozens of villagers with vacant eyes cornering them.
“Yuehe, we can’t drag this out any longer,” An Changqing said urgently, using his scabbard to deflect a swinging iron rod.
“These people are being controlled, but their life force is being drained continuously.”
Su Yuehe looked at the numb faces. She didn’t let compassion linger this time.
“I understand,” she replied softly.
Her usually gentle aura turned cold.
An Changqing wanted to say something, but Su Yuehe had already pressed two fingers to her forehead like a blade, a strand of eerie blood-red light swirling at her fingertips.
“By my name,” she intoned.
“Souls return. Slumber.”
An invisible pulse rippled outward from her. All the charging villagers trembled, a flicker of struggle passing through their hollow eyes, then they collapsed in unison, sinking into deep sleep.
Su Yuehe swayed, her complexion worsening.
An Changqing steadied her, letting out a silent sigh. Another forbidden technique.
She had thrown caution to the wind; techniques she had never once revealed before were now being unleashed one after another.
“I’m fine.” Su Yuehe pushed his hand away, her voice weak but her gaze resolute.
“First, find that bastard.”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The crisp sound of applause came from deep within the temple, amplified through speakers to every corner.
“Magnificent.”
“Truly magnificent.”
A refined male voice rang out. At the far end of the temple, on the highest altar, a figure materialized.
He held a tattered black parchment scroll in his hands, a smile of admiration like one appreciating a work of art on his face.
“As expected of the son of President An and the daughter of the Council Chair,” Yue Teng said, looking down from above, his eyes brimming with morbid zeal.
“Your resistance has added the perfect flourish to this grand ceremony.”
He gave an elegant bow, as if taking a curtain call.
“Allow me to reintroduce myself.”
“Yue Teng.”
“Descendant of the first-generation Devotee under the Sovereign.”
He caressed the scroll in his hands, his tone prideful.
“My family has lurked beneath this land for centuries, waiting for this day.”
“Descendant of the Devotee?” An Changqing’s voice was ice-cold. He stared up at Yue Teng on the high platform, not a trace of fear in his eyes.
“You’re nothing but rats hiding in the sewers.”
“Surviving by sucking the life out of innocent people.”
“Reviving a god?”
An Changqing’s lips curled into a sneer.
“Don’t give your disgusting slaughter a grand excuse.”
Yue Teng laughed.
“Slaughter?”
“Master An, you’re wrong.”
He wagged a finger, his tone feigning pity.
“Greatness always demands sacrifice.”
“Their lives will become the steps for the Sovereign’s return to this world. This is their honor.”
As he finished, he pressed a mechanism at the edge of the altar.
Hiss.
In Long Ao’s area, thick green mist erupted from cracks in the stone walls.
“Hold your breath!” An Changqing shouted, his voice piercing through the barriers and reaching Long Ao’s ears.
Long Ao cursed, spun around, and punched the stone wall behind him.
Boom.
He was thrown back by an even stronger force. The wall’s surface shimmered with layers of densely packed spirit inscriptions.
“This wall has counter-force inscriptions,” he growled.
The toxic fog swallowed him.
“Long Ao, listen to me.”
“Aim for the third brick on your left. Hit it with your strongest strike,” An Changqing’s voice was calm.
“Got it.”
Long Ao gathered all his power into his right fist.
An Changqing thrust his sword into the space before him.
“Shift the stars and move the constellations.”
Before the tip of the sword, space rippled like water, and a twisted gateway of light took shape.
“Now.”
Long Ao threw a heavy punch through several stone walls.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
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.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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!
