When he opened his eyes again, there was not a trace of hesitation in Yin Tianzheng’s clouded old eyes.
"Let alone one grandson," he said.
"Even if it costs me my entire Yin family, this seal cannot be touched."
"A-Chen’s life is the price he must pay as a descendant of the Yin clan."
The courtyard fell deathly silent. The old man’s face looked exceptionally cold.
Hong Yuan’s breathing grew heavy. The blade of her axe clinked against the stone slab, brewing with suppressed anger.
Long Ao stepped forward but was stopped by An Changqing’s outstretched arm.
An Changqing looked Yin Tianzheng straight in the eye, his voice loud and unwavering:
"Elder Yin, we will not abandon our friend."
"Moreover, you must be aware—if Guan Jinyue dares to offer this condition, it means she has the power to destroy Magic City."
"If you don’t go, she will not let this rest."
Yin Tianzheng’s gaze turned frigid.
An oppressive weight, heavy enough to choke the air from one’s lungs, poured out of him. The lanterns around the courtyard shattered simultaneously, paper scraps scattering in all directions through the shockwave.
Cracks spiderwebbed from beneath his feet across the bluestone slabs.
Long Ao and Hong Yuan both dropped into a half-crouch, straining against the pressure, veins bulging on their foreheads.
Su Yuehe was shielded behind An Changqing, who bore the brunt of the pressure.
"Destroy Magic City?" Yin Tianzheng’s voice rang out through the oppressive force, cold as ice.
"She isn’t capable of that."
"But if you dare to interfere, don’t blame this old bones for subduing you young ones first."
The pressure crushed down from Yin Tianzheng—formless yet so heavy it made their knees tremble.
"Old Master, scaring us won’t work," Chen Guan spoke up. Only then did Yin Tianzheng notice that this young man’s expression was calm, as if he felt nothing at all.
"Yin Chen is my friend. I won’t just watch him die."
"If you have time to threaten us youngsters, you’d be better off bringing your grandson back."
The pressure suddenly withdrew.
Everyone lurched forward. Hong Yuan nearly stumbled; Long Ao caught her arm, repaying the favor from their time in the Northern Borderlands when she had steadied him.
Yin Tianzheng turned his back to them.
The courtyard was silent for a long time.
When he spoke again, all the sharpness in his voice was gone:
"You don’t understand."
His tone was heavy with anguish:
"That thing has no reason. Once released, it will devour the soul at the array’s center instantly, then spiral completely out of control."
"That girl’s soul has been trapped there for three years."
Yin Tianzheng looked up at the sky, as if speaking to someone unseen:
"Do you know why I used a living person as the array’s core back then?"
An Changqing did not answer.
"That thing is the remnant of an ancient fallen god—no consciousness, but it has instinct. Its instinct is to awaken and destroy."
The old man clasped his hands behind his back, his fingers trembling slightly.
"I tried seventy-three sealing methods. All failed. That thing’s power is too immense; no dead object could suppress it."
"In the end, that girl came to me herself."
He paused.
"She said her soul was pure enough to trick the remnant into believing it was still asleep."
"I refused her three times."
Yin Tianzheng’s voice dropped.
"On the fourth time, she cried in front of me. She said that if I didn’t agree, and the thing awoke, the whole of Magic City would be doomed."
"She said trading one life for a city was worth it."
No one in the courtyard spoke.
Long Ao’s fists clenched and unclenched, again and again.
It was impossible to judge right or wrong in a situation like this.
Hong Yuan kept her head down, muttering, "So now what? We just let Yin Chen be sacrificed too?"
"You think my heart doesn’t ache?"
Yin Tianzheng turned his head back. "A-Chen was raised by my own hands. I was by his side when he first awakened his powers."
The old man’s voice cracked with emotion.
"But have you thought about this? The moment I break the seal, the instant the remnant awakens, the girl in the array will have her soul devoured."
"By then, Guan Jinyue won’t be able to save anything. She’ll go completely mad and unleash thousands of demon beasts."
"Right now, she still has hope. Once that hope is destroyed, everything will become terrifying."
"And the mindless god remnant will go berserk in the heart of Magic City."
"At that point, it won’t be one person dying—it will be hundreds of thousands."
An Changqing finally understood.
Every word the old man said led to the same conclusion.
This was an unsolvable dilemma.
Save Yin Chen—break the seal, let the soul at the array’s center be devoured by the god remnant, Guan Jinyue’s sister perishes completely, the remnant awakens, and Magic City falls.
Don’t save Yin Chen—Guan Jinyue will gamble with her hostages and the entire city. The outcome is equally unpredictable, but at least Guan Jinyue still has a shred of conscience, making the consequences relatively lighter.
"Then let’s just charge in and grab Yin Chen back!"
Long Ao finally exploded, his voice rising to a roar.
"Sitting here waiting to die is useless! That woman Guan is at the top of the tower, right? Let’s go together, take her down, and be done with it!"
Yin Tianzheng shook his head.
"Her spatial ability is too insurmountable. Rushing in would only mean death. Even I can’t do it, because she has the backing of the legendary god Baal—a god who fiercely protects his own."
The old man’s tone was terrifyingly calm. As someone who had lived long, he knew the horror of that god.
"And it would only enrage her completely. A-Chen would die instantly."
Long Ao opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Hong Yuan slammed her axe into the ground, her voice muffled: "So we do nothing? Just wait like this?"
Yin Tianzheng gave no answer.
Su Yuehe peeked out from behind An Changqing, her voice soft but clear:
"Elder Yin, Guan Jinyue only gave us an hour. We’ve already used up twenty minutes."
Those words stabbed into everyone’s hearts.
An Changqing lowered his sword hand slowly: "Elder Yin, is there any way to not fully break the seal—just open a crack, let that girl’s soul come out?"
Yin Tianzheng gave a bitter laugh.
"The seal and the array’s core are one. Once the soul is withdrawn, the seal collapses. There is no middle ground."
Everyone fell silent.
The air was suffocating. Shredded lantern paper littered the courtyard, with no wind to sweep it away.
Chen Guan, who had been standing at the very back, finally spoke.
"There’s one way."
All eyes turned to him.
Yin Tianzheng also turned around, hope flickering in his gaze.
He knew this boy—the champion of this year’s Northern Borderlands, praised endlessly by his old subordinate Li Ce.
"Speak," he said.
Chen Guan stepped forward, looked Yin Tianzheng straight in the eye, and said each word clearly:
"The reason the seal is loosening is because of me."
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
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!
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.
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?!
