Wait a minute.
Chu Yu covered her face, her eyes filled with confusion.
A black-qi-wreathed "Su Bailian" had jumped out, claiming to be the inheritor of the Soul-Devouring Demonic Art.
Her aura and everything she did afterward seemed no different from a true inheritor of the demonic art.
Chu Yu and the masked man had joined forces to drive her away, but when they rushed out of the stone chamber, she saw Su Bailian again.
Instinctively, she chased after her all the way here.
And now...
Someone else had appeared, claiming they too had been attacked by the inheritor of the Soul-Devouring Demonic Art.
This person, with frostbitten scars on his face, introduced himself as Ye Qun.
That alone wouldn’t be too strange.
But...
The masked man then said that inside the stone chamber, he had found Ye Qun’s fluorescent stone and two pools of blackened blood.
So, it was confirmed...
Ye Qun was dead?
Then who was the person who had just claimed to be Ye Qun?
A case of identical names?
That couldn’t just be a coincidence, could it?
Seeing Chu Yu’s bewildered expression, Wang Yan sighed. "Chu Yu, the person you saw... might not have been Su Bailian."
Not... Su Bailian?
Then... who was it?
Most importantly...
By now, others had also started noticing something was off.
"Hey..."
"Have you guys realized something?"
A martial artist gulped nervously as he looked around the plaza, where stone pillars carved with cryptic symbols stood everywhere.
And whether it was just his imagination or not...
Even though they had been separated by the black mist and forced into a series of bizarre encounters and battles...
In the end, everyone seemed to have gathered in this very plaza.
It was almost as if...
Someone was herding them here.
The Yu Xu Sword Immortal and Qingyuan Zen Master had already noticed this.
The former spoke gravely, "Do you remember?"
"The first two who entered."
The first two?
The crowd thought for a moment before their expressions shifted.
"Su Muwan... and her loyal lapdog?"
Hey!
Those two are a couple, okay?!
Su Bailian, who had been sniffling while secretly dragging over a cow’s tail, nearly choked.
"Woof!"
Boqi poked his head out of the backpack, drooling at the sight of the cow’s tail.
The Yu Xu Sword Immortal’s expression darkened. "Su Muwan is incredibly powerful, and though we’ve never seen her companion Qin Luo fight, he must be no ordinary man."
"Yet, from the moment we entered these ruins, the skies darkened, and every trial we faced seemed tailor-made for us."
"First the black mist, then the demonic creatures, and now the inheritor of the Soul-Devouring Demonic Art."
"And Su Muwan and Qin Luo are nowhere to be seen."
"So I suspect..."
He scanned the crowd, his voice heavy. "The mastermind behind all this... could it be...?"
"Su Muwan and Qin Luo?!"
The moment those words left his mouth—
Thud!!
The entire plaza fell into stunned silence.
Especially Su Bailian.
Her hands, still clutching the cow’s tail, froze mid-motion.
No way!
Dude, did you read the script?!
How did you figure it out?!
Oh no, oh no!
Su Bailian’s face stiffened, cold sweat dripping down her back.
Am I about to be exposed?!
But surely not...
These idiots couldn’t possibly think—
"That’s right! I also suspect that among us..."
"There’s a spy planted by Su Muwan and Qin Luo!!"
Su Bailian: "......!!!!"
HELP ME (ΩДΩ)!!!
I’M GONNA GET KILLED!!
The crowd immediately grew wary, their eyes darting around in suspicion.
But the next second—
Whoosh!!
A gust of black wind, carrying bone-chilling cold and an eerie, cackling laughter, swept down from above.
Everyone looked up in horror.
There, hovering mid-air, was a figure shrouded in billowing black qi—["Su Muwan"], like a demon god descending upon the world.
Beside her stood ["Qin Luo"], his expression sinister, hands clasped behind his back as he gazed down at them with disdain.
"Kehahahahaha!!!"
"You’re absolutely right! Everything was my doing!"
["Su Muwan"] laughed maniacally, her voice echoing across the plaza.
"As for why I herded you all here? Simple—to devour your spiritual energy and unlock the Taigu Xuan Sect’s grand formation!"
The crowd: !!!
She just admitted everything outright?!
Su Bailian’s pupils trembled at the sight of "Su Muwan" and "Qin Luo."
Wait!
Why are you two just casually showing up like this?!
But then—
Huh?
My love radar isn’t even pinging!
What’s going on?!
"So it really is you."
The Yu Xu Sword Immortal’s grip on his sword tightened, his knuckles turning white.
"Su Muwan, your actions are utterly despicable!"
"The legacy of the Taigu Xuan Sect is not something a demon like you can covet!"
["Su Muwan"] scoffed. "Despicable? In this world, strength is everything."
"The Taigu Xuan Sect’s formation requires vast amounts of spiritual energy to activate—and you all are the perfect fuel."
["Qin Luo"] added coldly, "Surrender now, and we might let you die intact."
The Qingyuan Zen Master clasped his hands together.
"Amitabha. Su Muwan, your sins will be repaid today."
Golden Buddhist light erupted around him as he launched an attack.
Wherever the light touched, the black qi dissipated.
But ["Su Muwan"] merely smirked, forming a hand seal.
A dark barrier materialized, not just blocking—but absorbing—the sacred light.
"Pathetic. You think your meager Buddhist arts can stop me?"
The crowd gasped.
"She’s absorbing spiritual energy... She really is the inheritor of the Soul-Devouring Demonic Art!"
Su Muwan?!
Chu Yu stood frozen below, staring blankly at the sudden appearance of "Su Muwan."
In her past life, she had been killed by Su Muwan.
She was certain she could never mistake her.
But...
This person’s aura... doesn’t feel like Su Muwan at all...
Meanwhile, the Yu Xu Sword Immortal had also noticed something amiss.
Seizing an opening, he unleashed a sword technique—his blade blazing like lightning as it shot toward ["Su Muwan"].
["Su Muwan"] barely dodged in time, but the spiritual energy grazed her arm, leaving a bloody gash.
Hovering unsteadily, she grimaced.
"As expected of the Yu Xu Sword Immortal. Your swordsmanship is impressive."
The Sword Immortal’s eyes narrowed.
He exchanged a glance with the Zen Master.
"You felt it too?"
"Yes..."
The Zen Master murmured, puzzled. "Outside the ruins, Su Muwan subdued Venerable Chiyan with a single move."
"But now... why is she so weak?"
The Sword Immortal frowned, unable to make sense of it.
Above them, ["Su Muwan"] had clearly lost patience.
She smirked down at the crowd.
"Sorry, everyone, but our time’s up. No more games."
With that, a flash of crimson light flickered in her eyes as she shouted, "Devouring Spirit Array!! Activate!!!"
The next second.
Boom!
At Su Muwan's command, the sky was instantly shrouded in a dense, dark-red glow, as if a massive blood-colored curtain had enveloped the entire plaza.
On the ground, eerie black runes spread rapidly like vines, intertwining and coiling until they formed a vast, intricate array in the blink of an eye.
The runes pulsed with an abyssal glow, seemingly connected to an endless void of darkness, exuding a sinister aura that sent a wave of dread through everyone present.
From within the array, a terrifying suction force erupted, like countless invisible hands violently dragging at the bodies and spiritual energy of the crowd.
The cultivators felt their spiritual power surging uncontrollably toward the center of the array, as if a dam had burst. Their bodies were pulled off balance, many even lifted off the ground and flung toward the array’s core, their faces twisted in terror and despair.
"Damn it! She’s trying to drain us of all our spiritual energy!"
The Yu Xu Sword Immortal’s expression darkened. Without time to question why this version of Su Muwan seemed so bizarre, he shouted, trying to warn the others.
He mustered every ounce of his strength, circulating his spiritual energy to resist the overwhelming pull.
Yet, as the array’s power intensified, even he began to falter, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
Qingyuan Zen Master was similarly struggling. Eyes shut tight, he chanted under his breath, his body wreathed in radiant Buddhist light.
The holy glow clashed against the dark suction, emitting a sizzling sound. But under the array’s relentless force, even the light began to dim.
"Amitabha… Such malevolent power… To think it could be this overwhelming…"
The Zen Master murmured, his voice laced with exhaustion and resignation.
Everyone fought to gather their strength against the devouring force.
Yet, their faces grew paler by the second, their spiritual energy draining at an alarming rate, leaving them weak and vulnerable.
Could it be…
That this was where they would meet their end?
Chu Yu gritted her teeth, collapsing weakly to the ground. She lifted her head, staring at the figure of Su Muwan hovering in the sky.
No… Something’s wrong…
This person… isn’t Su Muwan at all!
Su Bailian trembled as she clung to Boqi, her mind screaming—Wait, why am I being targeted too?!
Clang!
The Yu Xu Sword Immortal’s blade slipped from his grasp and clattered to the ground. The stronger one was, the more severely they were affected.
On his knees, he glared up at the two figures in the sky, his eyes burning with unwillingness.
Though he sensed something off about them compared to before they entered the ruins…
Right now, there was no room for thought.
Was this…
Truly the end?
Above them, the [Su Muwan] imposter laughed wildly. "Give up! The Devouring Spirit Array is invincible within these ruins!"
"You shall all become nourishment for the—"
Before she could finish…
Just as everyone believed their lives were about to be extinguished…
A bone-chilling voice abruptly echoed in their ears.
"Finally decided to show yourselves."
"Vermin."
The voice was icy, as if emerging from the depths of the underworld, sending a shiver down their very souls.
Then, a brilliant streak of blue light shot across the sky like a meteor, instantly illuminating the plaza swallowed by darkness.
The crowd looked up to see a woman hovering midair, her aura terrifying.
Her robes fluttered as an overwhelming frost energy radiated from her, freezing the air with its intensity.
It was…
"Su Muwan?!"
Everyone was stunned.
Another one?!
Whoosh!
"Tsk tsk, just as we predicted, Young Miss."
"The inheritor of the Devouring Spirit Demonic Art… was indeed here."
Qin Luo teleported beside Su Muwan in an instant, his lips curling into a smirk as he glanced down at the crowd below.
Heh.
The real plan…
Had now begun.
The crowd was stunned once more.
Why was there another Qin Luo too?!
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
spital. Good news: I've bound a system. Bad news: I'm still a baby. "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, do not bully the middle-aged for being poor — Divorce Comeback System." "Your marriage may have failed, but your luck in love has never run dry. Your childhood sweetheart, out of contact for twenty years, reappears. Her beauty remains, yet her eyes are brimming with tears." [Listen to the childhood sweetheart's sorrowful story.] Chen Zhi looked down at the diaper he was wearing, then at the little childhood sweetheart crying her heart out beside him, and fell into deep thought. Can anyone relate? I'm having a midlife crisis at an age where even rolling over is a struggle.
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)
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
