Illusory Star City, Martial Arts Alliance branch.
"BANG!!"
Inside the director's office, a heavy slam echoed as a palm struck the desk with violent force.
The branch director, Mu He, raised his head and frowned at the towering man standing before him. "Chen Hu, are you insane?"
Chen Hu was a massive figure, standing at nearly six and a half feet tall, his bulging muscles straining against the black uniform he wore. His thick brows were furrowed, his eyes wide like bronze bells, burning with fury. Veins throbbed on his forehead like twisted earthworms.
"Why is Su Muwan here? Who leaked the news?" Chen Hu roared, his voice thundering through the room.
After his outburst, he paced back and forth, his heavy, frantic steps threatening to punch holes through the floor.
"Damn it," he growled under his breath. "Of all times for her to show up."
"The headquarters must have found out about our plans!"
"That's why they sent Su Muwan—we're finished!"
Fear flickered in Chen Hu's pupils.
If the headquarters discovered the experiments they were conducting... every last one of them would be executed.
Mu He chuckled, unbothered. "Is this really the mindset a Peak Realm late-stage expert should have?"
He glanced at Chen Hu with a faint smirk. "Are the four great families really so terrified of just one Su Muwan?"
Chen Hu's expression darkened. He gritted his teeth and glared at Mu He. "Damn it, Mu He, do you even watch the news?"
"Did you miss the reports about how Su Muwan crushed all opposition at the last ancient ruins expedition?"
"If she's here on Alliance business, none of us are making it out alive!"
"And what about the thing you're keeping in the forest—"
Before he could finish, a surge of murderous intent washed over him.
Chen Hu swallowed hard and fell silent.
Mu He sneered. "How do you know Su Muwan is here to cause trouble?"
"Couldn't she just be visiting as a tourist? Illusory Star City is a famous destination, after all."
"A... tourist?"
Chen Hu's face stiffened. He took a deep breath, doubt creeping into his eyes as he studied Mu He. "Are you serious?"
"Of course."
Mu He picked up his coffee and took a slow sip. "She only brought her little lapdog with her."
"If this were an official mission, why would she come alone?"
"Besides..."
He paused, a strange glint flashing in his eyes. "Illusory Star City is... a very special place."
"Even if Su Muwan is strong, she can't possibly take on the entire city by herself."
"You of all people should know that, Patriarch Chen."
At these words, Chen Hu seemed to recall the city's greatest secret.
He exhaled in relief.
Right.
He was overthinking things.
How could he assume the headquarters had discovered their secret and sent Su Muwan to suppress them?
But now that Mu He mentioned it—who in their right mind would walk into the lion's den with just one follower?
"Fine then."
Chen Hu snorted. "I'll go inform the other families to keep an eye on Su Muwan's movements."
"If anything happens, we'll be ready."
CRACK!
The door slammed shut behind him.
Mu He's smile faded, replaced by a cold, calculating expression. His naturally pale face twisted with a hint of malice.
Adjusting his glasses, he leaned back in his chair.
As the director of the Illusory Star City branch, Mu He had his own methods.
Otherwise, he would never have climbed to this position.
But in the end, all his scheming—his alliance with local powers, his ruthless ambition—had one purpose.
To bring someone back.
Qing'er...
Mu He's gaze hardened.
No matter why Su Muwan was here, he wouldn't let her interfere with his plans.
Just then—
[Delicious food... I want to eat... Xiao He... keep him for me...]
[Disgusting existence... kill...]
A strange voice echoed in Mu He's mind.
Qing'er?
Listening to the whispers from the depths of his soul, Mu He closed his eyes.
So that lapdog had caught Qing'er's attention.
Very well.
Qin Luo, was it?
You'll have to stay.
As for Su Muwan...
Mu He's eyes snapped open, sharp and decisive.
Whether she lived or died would depend on the situation.
After all, her strength was no joke.
I'm sorry, Qing'er. Bear with it a little longer.
I promise, Qin Luo will be the final ingredient for your resurrection...
Before he could finish the thought, Qing'er's voice rang out again—panicked.
[Xiao He... I think I've been discovered...]
"What?"
Mu He shot to his feet, whirling toward the window.
Illusory Star City's nights came early, so the sky outside should have been pitch black.
But this...
What was happening?
"This... what is this...?"
Mu He's eyes widened in disbelief.
The night sky, which should have been dark, was now as bright as day.
That was...
"Ice?"
Mu He murmured.
The clouds above had frozen solid.
The crystalline glow shimmered like countless stars, illuminating the entire city.
And it wasn't over.
WHOOSH—!!!
A torrent of icy rain poured from the heavens.
Each drop was a sharp, gleaming spike, carrying a bone-chilling cold as it hurtled toward the ground.
People in the streets screamed and fled in terror.
Where the rain struck, thick layers of ice formed instantly, encasing the city in a frozen shell.
Those pierced by the ice spikes burst apart—only to transform into towering, monstrous trees.
Mu He's body trembled.
Suppressing his fear, he looked up at the figure hovering high above—a woman with long, crystalline hair, her expression indifferent.
That was...
"Su Muwan?"
What kind of monstrous power was this?
GURGLE—
A grotesque sound bubbled up behind him.
"Director Mu."
A calm, almost amused voice spoke.
"You seem to have violated Alliance regulations."
"Care to explain?"
"How did the citizens of this city turn into these... tree demons?"
Mu He spun around.
There stood Qin Luo, clad in a black trench coat, his fingers clamped around Chen Hu's face like a vice.
Chen Hu dangled helplessly in the air, legs kicking wildly, hands clawing at Qin Luo's grip in vain. His face was twisted in terror, only incoherent whimpers escaping his throat.
Qin Luo tilted his head slightly, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
His gaze, however, was darkly amused—as if watching an entertaining farce.
"Then again," he mused, "I suppose I already know the answer."
"Qing'er..."
He deliberately drew out his words, his tone laced with a hint of mockery: "The little girlfriend you want to bring back to life?"
"Right?"
[Detected T0 protagonist "Mu He" from For You, I’d Rather Fall into the Demonic Path!]
[Master, please act as his lackey!]
[Reward: 10 attribute points.]
Thud!!!!
Mu He’s face instantly turned as pale as paper.
I was wrong...
What arrived were... two monsters.
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?!
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.”
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!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
