【The Phantom Bloom】
This was the soul of the Phantom Forest, yet now it had become the incarnation of Mu He's young lover.
It took root deep beneath Illusory Star City.
Its roots stretched like colossal veins, densely sprawling beneath the entire city.
The petals of this flower were enormous, each one shimmering with a dreamlike fluorescence, their colors shifting endlessly—from deep blue to pale violet, then to emerald green—as if blending every fantastical hue in existence.
The stamen resembled a massive vortex, ceaselessly spinning and emitting eerie waves of spiritual energy.
And when the Phantom Bloom fused with its chosen one—Mu He—its power would be fully unleashed.
Zixuan hovered in mid-air, gazing down at Illusory Star City.
What she saw was this:
Monsters burst forth from the ground, their twisted bodies covered in jagged spikes dripping with foul-smelling slime.
Their rough, scaly skin was as hard as armor.
Their eyes burned crimson like flames, radiating bloodlust, and their gaping maws were lined with dagger-sized fangs capable of shredding steel with a single bite.
But that wasn’t all—the entire city was undergoing a monstrous transformation.
Cars twisted and deformed, their wheels turning into massive claws, their bodies elongating and sprouting countless tentacles covered in suction cups oozing vile fluids.
Buildings were no longer recognizable—walls grew enormous eyes, windows morphed into snarling mouths spewing black smoke.
Street lamps toppled over, transforming into giant serpents with gleaming scales, their forked tongues flickering as they hissed.
Illusory Star City had become a gargantuan nest of monsters.
Zixuan observed all this calmly.
The era of spiritual resurgence had given birth to countless ancient ruins and sects.
Yet Illusory Star City was an exception.
Long before its birth, it had been absorbed as nourishment by the Phantom Forest.
In the Profound Heaven Realm of old, this city would have been a demonic stronghold—one that would unite both righteous and demonic factions to eradicate it.
This was not something two people alone could handle.
But before that...
Zixuan frowned slightly as she looked at the golden thread resting peacefully in her palm.
Strange.
Mu He’s thread of fate had already reverted to its original state.
So why hadn’t the system marked her mission as complete?
Why?
Lost in thought, she traced Su Muwan and Qin Luo with her gaze—only to furrow her brows again.
Huh?
In her vision, only Su Muwan stood alone.
An aura of terrifying cold erupted from her, freezing the air into visible ice crystals that swirled violently around her.
Zixuan was puzzled—where had her companion gone?
And why was she charging in alone—
Bzzzt!!
Suddenly, Zixuan’s expression twisted in alarm.
Mu He’s thread of fate was trembling violently.
How?! Was fate changing again?!
She immediately turned her attention back to Su Muwan.
What she saw next left her stunned.
Facing the tidal wave of monsters, Su Muwan merely raised a delicate hand and whispered, "Perish."
Boom!
A colossal wave of ice surged forth like an enraged white dragon, crashing into the horde with overwhelming force.
Wherever the ice passed, temperatures plummeted, freezing the air solid.
The monsters shrieked in terror, their cries sharp and desperate, but none could withstand this devastating power.
The larger ones had their armored shells instantly shattered by the frost, cracking apart before being swallowed by the icy torrent, left as towering frozen statues.
The smaller, swifter creatures didn’t even have time to react—they were flash-frozen mid-air, like figures trapped in a paused scene.
[Wha... What?!]
Qing'er’s voice trembled with panic.
She clearly hadn’t expected her monstrous army to be defeated so effortlessly.
No way!
How was this happening so fast?!
Zixuan stared at Su Muwan, her face pale with shock.
In her palm, Mu He’s thread of fate had once again become tangled beyond recognition.
All of this...
Just because Su Muwan made a move?
Why hadn’t the protection of the Heavenly Dao manifested now?
There was no time to dwell on it.
Zixuan swiftly raised both hands, her fingers dancing through the air as if weaving an invisible net.
The golden threads in her palm flared brilliantly, twisting and intertwining like living tendrils.
In moments, under her control, the threads transformed into beams of golden light, shooting straight toward the Phantom Bloom.
Meanwhile, the ice wave showed no signs of stopping—it continued its relentless charge toward the flower, intent on shattering Qing'er’s incarnation.
The Phantom Bloom sensed unprecedented danger. From its stamen, Qing'er’s panicked voice rang out:
[No! Stay away!]
The entire flower trembled violently, its petals flailing wildly in a futile attempt to repel the ice.
But Su Muwan gave it no quarter.
Riding the crest of the ice wave, she shot forward like a white bolt of lightning, closing in on the Phantom Bloom in an instant.
At the last moment, she leaped high, conjuring an icy spear above her head with a flick of her wrist.
Her gaze was frigid as she stared at the flower and uttered a single word:
"Annoying."
With that, she hurled the spear downward with all her might.
BOOM!
The impact was cataclysmic—the spear exploded against the Phantom Bloom, blasting its petals into countless shards that scattered like a storm of glass.
The flower let out a piercing wail, its stem writhing grotesquely as the entire structure swayed precariously.
Yet...
Contrary to expectations, the Phantom Bloom did not collapse.
[Qing... Qing'er...]
[Little... Little He...]
???
Su Muwan narrowed her eyes, a flicker of exasperation crossing her face.
Seriously? Another power-up?
Just as the thought crossed her mind—
[We... will be together FOREVER!!]
KRAKOOOM!
A deafening roar erupted from within the Phantom Bloom.
Before Su Muwan’s eyes, the flower’s colors darkened—turning pitch black in an instant.
The ground cracked.
Monsters collapsed.
Buildings crumbled.
Every ounce of energy in the vicinity was being devoured by the Phantom Bloom.
Within moments...
[We... we did it, Qing'er... We actually succeeded!]
Mu He’s voice was filled with exhilaration.
[Little He... Now we’ll never be apart.]
On the other side...
"Phew..."
Zixuan exhaled in relief as she confirmed that the threads of fate had been successfully rewritten.
Her eyes lingered warily on Su Muwan, still floating mid-air.
That was too close.
Then she turned her gaze to the blackened Phantom Bloom.
The [Flower of Ruin]—an entity capable of consuming all—had been born, just as the altered fate had decreed.
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
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?!
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!
