The entire scene fell into silence.
What just happened?
Everyone widened their eyes, staring at the four figures high in the sky.
Two Su Muwans? Two Qin Luos?
Huh?
Is this some kind of copy-paste trick?
What in the world... is going on?
Most importantly—
What did the second Qin Luo just say?
"The inheritor of the Soul-Devouring Demonic Art... is really here?"
So who is it, then?
Everyone was utterly bewildered.
What on earth is happening?
Su Bailian blinked in confusion.
Wait a second.
My love radar is tingling!
Which means...
The pair that arrived later are the real ones?
Oh, then it's fine.
Su Bailian relaxed.
This must all be some scheme orchestrated by Qin Luo and Su Muwan.
Everyone turned their gazes to the four figures in the sky, unsure of what would happen next.
And just as the tension reached its peak—
Su Muwan's icy voice cut through the air: "Insects from the Shadows, how dare you impersonate me and Qin Luo?"
With that, she raised a finger, pointing at the two figures shrouded in dark energy, and commanded coldly, "Perish!"
Hum!
In an instant, a surge of pure and overwhelming frost energy erupted from her fingertip, crashing toward the fake Su Muwan and fake Qin Luo like a tidal wave.
The crowd watched as an azure-blue wave of ice, shimmering with razor-sharp crystals, engulfed the sky.
Wherever the wave passed, the air froze instantly, crackling with brittle snaps.
The fake Su Muwan and fake Qin Luo paled, their eyes widening in terror.
They frantically summoned their spiritual energy, trying to resist the devastating attack.
The fake Su Muwan conjured a thick, writhing black mist in front of her, attempting to devour the icy wave.
The fake Qin Luo swiftly formed hand seals, layering dark spiritual shields before him.
Yet, their efforts were pitifully insignificant against such power.
The icy wave tore through the mist and shields effortlessly, swallowing them whole in a single strike.
"ARGH—"
Their agonized screams were abruptly silenced as the wave consumed them.
When the ice finally dissipated, the crowd saw the two figures encased in thick layers of frost, suspended mid-air like frozen statues.
Their faces were frozen in expressions of horror and despair, their bodies twisted unnaturally within the ice.
A deathly silence fell over the scene.
Everyone stood dumbfounded, mouths agape, unable to utter a single word.
This... this is insane.
They were... defeated in an instant?
"Is it over...?" the Sword Immortal muttered under his breath.
But the problem wasn't resolved yet.
The Soul-Devouring Array was still active, and many questions remained unanswered.
As if to address their confusion—
Su Muwan's expression remained stern as she frowned and barked toward a certain direction, "Show yourself!"
The moment she spoke—
A sinister cackle echoed through the air.
"Kehahahaha~!"
"As expected of the strongest in this era, Miss Su. These two fools were no match for you."
The crowd gasped, turning toward the source of the voice.
There, emerging from a swirling vortex of shadows, was a figure entirely cloaked in thick, viscous darkness, its features indiscernible.
Behind it stood two more figures.
They were...
"The Sword Immortal and the Zen Master?!"
The real Sword Immortal below was stunned.
Why am I up there?!
Qin Luo flew to Su Muwan's side, his gaze locked onto the shadowy figure as if identifying its identity—
Or perhaps explaining to the bewildered spectators below.
His voice was heavy as he spoke: "The Shadow Organization's [Thousand Faces]."
"Miss Su, I never thought our investigation into the inheritor of the Soul-Devouring Demonic Art would lead us to this one."
Su Muwan nodded coolly. "Thousand Faces of the Shadows—ever-changing, capable of flawlessly mimicking anyone. Combined with the power of shadows, they can create endless puppets in any form."
Upon hearing this, Thousand Faces let out another eerie laugh and waved a hand.
The Sword Immortal-like puppet behind him melted back into a faceless doll.
He sneered, "The news of this ancient ruin... I suppose your Alliance leaked it, didn't you?"
"What was the goal? Luring us out?"
Qin Luo chuckled. "The Alliance went through quite some trouble to make you show yourselves."
"Now... we've finally caught you in the act."
While the explanation unfolded above—
The crowd below was in shock.
The Shadow Organization?!
Thousand Faces?!
And what? The Alliance leaked the ruins' location just to draw them out?
Huh?!
Chu Yu lay sprawled on the ground, his mind blank.
What... what kind of nonsense is this?
What Shadow Organization?
What Thousand Faces?
And since when is Su Muwan part of the Alliance?!
What the hell is going on?!
In my past life, this ruin wasn't this chaotic!
Is... is this all because of the butterfly effect from my rebirth?!
Aside from Chu Yu—
The others quickly pieced things together.
"So... the so-called inheritor of the Soul-Devouring Demonic Art..."
"Isn't Su Bailian or Ye Qun at all!"
"And the mastermind isn't Qin Luo or his group!"
"The real mastermind is..."
Their eyes turned upward, toward the ominous figure wreathed in black mist standing before the seemingly more menacing Su Muwan.
The real mastermind is this so-called Shadow Organization?!
Wait, why does Miss Su seem even more terrifying than them...?
Who's the actual villain here?!
Thousand Faces cackled at Qin Luo's words. "Kehahaha~!"
"Caught me?"
"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Let me clarify—the me standing before you is just a puppet my true self crafted."
"Besides..."
He pointed at the spinning Soul-Devouring Array above, grinning maliciously.
"You should be worrying about yourselves."
"Walking right into this array without a care in the world..."
"Su Muwan, even you won't be able to escape!"
"And as for these people—"
"They'll all become nourishment to activate the Taigu Xuan Sect's—"
Before he could finish—
CRACK!!
Su Muwan flicked her finger, instantly freezing the puppet Thousand Faces into a block of ice.
SWOOSH!!
It then shattered into countless icy fragments, vanishing without a trace.
At the same time—
The Soul-Devouring Array's absorption rate skyrocketed.
As if to sell the act further—
Su Muwan clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Cunning bastards."
Qin Luo smirked. "Still, we got something out of this."
"At least we've finally encountered a core member of the Shadow Organization."
"True enough."
Just then—
"Hey! HEY!"
"Can you two focus on the giant array above us first?!"
Below, the Sword Immortal and Zen Master shouted, their faces pale.
Can you two stop chatting and DO SOMETHING?!
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
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.
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?!
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
