Under the radiant glow of the Haoyue moon.
Two figures clad in white robes stood at the pinnacle of the heavens.
Their auras were mysterious, their expressions haughty.
One of them stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze disdainfully sweeping over the city below. He let out a scoffing laugh: "Jiang City?"
"This is somewhat interesting."
"Who would have thought that what was once just a tiny village under our Bright Moon Sect has now grown into such a place."
"Hmm..."
He closed his eyes slightly, gently inhaling the spiritual energy that had returned to the world after its resurgence.
"It's a pity. Despite the high concentration of spiritual energy, the people of this city are as weak as ants."
The man chuckled softly: "Indeed, ants will always be ants. What does it matter if they've developed for tens of thousands of years?"
"In the end, they are nothing more than insects to be crushed beneath our feet."
"Don't you agree, Senior Brother Wen Mo?"
The man beside him held a sword in his arms.
True to his name, his expressionless face carried a natural arrogance.
He was like an emperor surveying his domain.
He spoke indifferently: "There are countless opportunities in this world, yet why is it that only we are the ones striving for supremacy?"
"It is because from the moment a person is born, the heavens have already decided the path they must walk."
"These mortals, even after tens of thousands of years of evolution, will always remain just that—mortals."
"He San."
Wen Mo glanced at his junior brother and spoke calmly: "Tomorrow morning, we will open the Celestial Ladder to recruit disciples."
"I believe these ants will scramble over each other to climb up."
In ancient times, the fate of mortals was not in their own hands.
It was actually the so-called "immortals," the powerful beings like them, who controlled their destinies.
For a sect to grow strong and establish its roots in this land,
what it needed was influence!
Regular recruitment of disciples was something every major sect did every year.
Even though times had changed and the world had transformed,
since their sect's location was here, the cities in this region naturally fell under their sphere of influence.
From then on, all ancient ruins and opportunities that appeared in this area would belong to the Bright Moon Sect!
Hearing this, He San curled his lips into a smile and asked, "Oh?"
"Recruiting people on the Alliance's turf?"
"Senior Brother, have you forgotten that this is so-called Jiang City?"
"This place has an Alliance branch director, you know."
As he said this, He San couldn't help but laugh.
How ridiculous.
After the changes of the era, the overlord of this world was now just an "Alliance."
And most of the members within the Alliance were weak and pitiful.
How could they possibly respect such so-called allies?
Wen Mo listened, glanced down at the bustling city below, and then calmly retracted his gaze. "Back then, Patriarch Tai Xuan once said that the 'Great Cold' was a precursor to the changing of eras, and it was irreversible."
"And indeed, everyone from our era fell into a deep slumber."
"Before we slept, Patriarch Tai Xuan also warned us..."
"When we awaken in this new era, we must not provoke the people of this time."
"Moreover, we must form alliances with them."
He San nodded: "Patriarch Tai Xuan glimpsed the heavens, and on the very day he finished his divination, he passed away. So... should we heed his warning?"
"Of course not."
Wen Mo refuted without hesitation, his tone calm. "In the era of cultivation, strength reigns supreme. All I see is the weakness of modern martial artists."
"Even the Alliance... in my eyes, they are nothing more than..."
"Pathetically weak."
"However..."
He paused for a moment, then slowly continued: "Since the other sects haven't openly broken ties with the modern Alliance, they must be considering Patriarch Tai Xuan's final warning."
"If no one wants to be the first to act, we don't need to rush to take the lead either."
"What does Senior Brother mean?"
"If the Alliance tries to stop us from recruiting disciples tomorrow, don't kill them. Just cripple them."
"Senior Brother is truly magnanimous!"
For members of ancient sects like them, not killing but merely crippling was already the greatest mercy!
As they spoke,
the two figures rose higher and higher into the sky, disappearing into the clouds.
Beneath the moonlight,
a magnificent scene unfolded high above.
Beyond the clouds,
a grand sect was built atop the towering layers of mist, surrounded by a sea of white clouds. It was like a dazzling pearl, shimmering with iridescent light against the deep blue sky.
The Bright Moon Sect!
It had been hidden in the clouds above Jiang City all along!
...
...
Early the next morning,
Qin Luo received a message.
It was that...
the ancient forces had begun to move!
Looking at the images and information sent by Ouyang Xuan,
wasn't this...
Jiang City?
They dared to cause trouble in my and Su Muwan's territory??
How could we tolerate this?
By the time he arrived at the center of Jiang City, the place was already bustling with noise.
"Su Muwan is here!"
"Su Muwan is here!"
"Mr. Qin!"
"Master Qin!"
The crowd immediately surrounded Su Muwan and Qin Luo with eager eyes as they stepped out of the car.
Having absorbed Qin Luo's energy yesterday, Su Muwan was full of vigor today.
While maintaining her persona, she wriggled over to Qin Luo and poked him. "Hey, Qin Luo, what's going on here?"
As she spoke, Su Muwan glanced around.
It wasn’t until she spotted several men in white robes standing high in the air that she froze.
Who were these arrogant-looking people?
Hearing her, Qin Luo raised his head and squinted at the uniformly dressed men in the sky. His tone was peculiar as he said, "Miss, we might have some work to do later."
"But don’t worry, I’ll make the first move. You follow up after me."
Su Muwan: "??"
He San stood high in the air.
His eyes looked down at the crowd below with disdain.
How ugly, how noisy.
Even after all these years, these ants were still the same fools.
Hmm... There was something strange about one person’s aura.
He San noticed Su Muwan in the crowd, as she was the only one shrouded in dark energy.
Never mind, it didn’t matter.
Suppressing the odd feeling in his heart, he pointed to the sky and shouted, "Descend, Heavenly Ladder!!"
As soon as his voice fell—
Boom!
Under the curious gazes of everyone, a golden ladder extended down from above Jiang City.
The ladder reached the ground, and waves of spiritual and immortal energy spread out from it.
Click, click!!
Camera flashes went off.
People pulled out their phones in astonishment, posting about it on their social media.
Ants will always be ants.
They’ve never even seen a Heavenly Ladder before.
But what were those little boxes in their hands?
He San’s expression was arrogant. Suppressing his confusion, he spoke in a tone that seemed like he was bestowing a favor upon the crowd. "Today, the Bright Moon Sect is recruiting new disciples! Anyone with ambition, a burning heart, and a desire to pursue the pinnacle of cultivation may come forward and join our esteemed sect!"
"The Bright Moon Sect has only one requirement for entry."
In ancient times, the Bright Moon Sect was a top-tier sect. Whenever they recruited disciples, it would always cause a stir.
Tens of thousands of people would clamor to climb into the clouds and join the sect.
Unfortunately, very few ever succeeded.
Although these ants were even weaker than those from ancient times...
No one could resist the temptation of becoming an immortal.
And besides He San, the other disciples of the Bright Moon Sect thought the same.
They looked down at the crowd with arrogance, chuckling softly.
"Even after all these years, watching them climb the ladder is still the most entertaining."
"Exactly, Senior Brother He San, how about we bet on how many people will make it up this time?"
"Haha, do we even need to think about it? I’ll bet fewer than ten."
"Ten? Aren’t you underestimating these new-era cultivators?"
Listening to his junior brothers’ banter, He San couldn’t help but shake his head disdainfully.
He had already understood his senior brother’s intentions.
While they claimed to be recruiting disciples, the real purpose...
Was to put the people of this alliance in their place.
After all, if not a single new-era cultivator could pass the Heavenly Ladder test, what kind of alliance could they even talk about?
As he thought this, he spoke with arrogance, "If you mortals wish to seek immortality and the Dao, then climb these 9,999 steps of the Heavenly Ladder to the clouds..."
Slap—!
Before he could finish, a crisp slap interrupted He San’s speech.
The entire area fell silent in an instant.
Qin Luo’s figure had suddenly appeared in front of He San. He rotated his wrist, his eyes brimming with even greater arrogance as he looked at the members of the Bright Moon Sect. "What audacity!"
"Who do you think you are, daring to come to my lady’s territory to poach people?"
"This slap is to wake up your brain!"
Su Muwan was stunned. Why did he act so quickly??
As soon as Qin Luo finished speaking—
Buzz—!
He San’s mind went blank. He clutched his face, which was burning with pain.
His expression stiffened, clearly not processing what had just happened.
When he turned his head and saw Qin Luo, it finally dawned on him.
Sss—!
In an instant, his eyes turned bloodshot, his features twisted, and his entire body trembled violently!
An overwhelming sense of humiliation flooded his heart.
What...
I... was slapped?
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...
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
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?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
