At the same time.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The commotion from the battle had drawn the attention of the Elders from the Taichu Holy Land, who now flew over from afar.
Qin Luo sensed something and seemed to recall an idea in his mind.
"Young Mistress."
"Hmm?"
"I’ve figured out a way to return."
Su Muwan froze for a second—then—
Whoosh!
The Elders of the Taichu Holy Land descended.
"What happened here?"
"Gasp! That demoness beside the Holy Son! Doesn’t she look exactly like the Frostfiend?!"
"Impossible! The Sect Master is supposed to be suppressing that fiend!"
"Could it be...?"
"The fiend has broken free!"
"Demoness! Release our Holy Son at once!"
A barrage of accusations flew their way.
Su Muwan rolled her eyes so hard she might’ve strained them.
These people were beyond hopeless.
Instead of responding, Qin Luo simply wrapped an arm around Su Muwan’s shoulder in full view of everyone.
Then—
BOOM!!!
A surge of shadowy energy erupted from his body, causing everyone’s pupils to shrink in shock.
This—! Such overwhelming demonic energy!!
Qin Luo, still holding Su Muwan, slowly levitated into the air. His gaze swept over the crowd as he spoke calmly, "Since you’ve all discovered the truth, I’ll drop the act."
"Su Muwan, the so-called ‘demoness’ in your eyes..."
"...is my Dao Companion."
BOOM—!!
In an instant, everyone’s minds went blank.
Mu Xueyi collapsed to her knees with a thud.
Her lips trembled, her face pale, as she stared in disbelief at Qin Luo holding Su Muwan mid-air.
How... could this be?!
"Demoness!! You’ve bewitched our Holy Son!!"
"Disaster! The demoness has corrupted our sect’s treasure!!"
"Qin Luo, the Holy Son, has fallen to the demoness’ corruption!!"
Su Muwan: ??? What kind of nonsense are they spouting?
The next moment—
As if some condition for their return had been triggered—
A radiant white light enveloped Qin Luo and Su Muwan.
In the blink of an eye, the two vanished into the sky.
The demoness had taken Qin Luo and fled!
Mu Xueyi finally snapped. Clenching her fists—
BANG!
She smashed them into the ground, tears streaming as she sobbed, "Waaah!!"
"What’s the use of all this cultivation power?!"
"My senior brother has become another’s plaything!"
"And I—I couldn’t do anything to stop it!"
"Pure love? What good is pure love?!"
"If I’d confessed sooner, if I hadn’t clung to my pride, he never would’ve been seduced by that demoness!"
"This is all my fault... for letting her take him away."
"That’s right..."
Before the Elders, Mu Xueyi picked up the Demon-Slaying Sword from the ground and pressed it against her throat, declaring with finality:
"Su Muwan! I hate you!!"
"If I can’t defeat you... I’ll make sure to disgust you to death!!"
"If there’s a next life... I’ll become that ‘Su Bailian’ you always talked about!!"
"I’ll steal everything you hold dear!!"
Splat!!
Mu Xueyi reincarnated.
That day, the Taichu Holy Land lost two of its greatest treasures.
Oh, and the Sect Master was gone too.
......
......
9:00 AM.
"Mmm..."
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting a soft glow over the bed.
Su Muwan slowly opened her eyes, greeted by the achingly familiar ceiling above her.
Tears welled up instantly, spilling down her cheeks as she choked out, "Finally... we’re back."
Uwaaaah!!
Can you believe it, folks?!
Finally back from that godforsaken ancient era with no phones, no internet, and no potato chips!!
Hallelujah! Time to indulge in all the entertainment I’ve missed for nearly a month!
"Young Mistress, you’re awake?"
Qin Luo’s voice came from beside her, laced with amusement.
Su Muwan turned her head to see Qin Luo sitting by the bed, holding out a glass of water with a gentle smile. His expression was as calm and warm as ever.
She nodded, accepting the glass while rubbing her eyes and sitting up. After blinking a few times to confirm she was truly back in the real world, she let out a long sigh of relief.
"Luo Luo, how did we get back?" she murmured, puzzled. "How did you figure out the return condition?"
"Simple," Qin Luo replied with a chuckle, brushing a stray lock of hair from her forehead. "Remember the first two times we entered the dream?"
"Once, when you were a child and Jiang Xueqi tried to steal your doll—we fulfilled the return condition after I protected it for you."
"The other time, you became a calamity in the Profound Heaven Realm—we returned after wiping out the pursuers."
"Both instances had one thing in common."
He pinched Su Muwan’s clueless, chubby cheek playfully.
"We advanced the plot."
"This time, by openly declaring our relationship, we triggered the next phase of the story."
"So we returned."
Su Muwan nodded slowly. "Oh! Got it."
"Wait, how much time passed in the real world? Did people notice we were gone?"
Qin Luo raised an eyebrow. "Oh, just one night."
"???"
Su Muwan’s eyes widened. "What?! One night?! That’s impossible! We were there for days!"
"Young Mistress, you still don’t fully grasp the mechanics of this crossing," Qin Luo said, amused.
"Ten years in the Fate Dream Cauldron equals one day in reality."
"Different timeflow rates are a pretty common trope, you know."
"Hey! Don’t say it so casually like it’s no big deal!" Su Muwan grumbled.
"Then how should I say it, Young Mistress... Here, wipe your face."
"Hmph, figure it out yourself... Mmmph—!"
......
......
Meanwhile.
Taichu Holy Land.
Beast Spirit Mountain, back hills.
Su Bailian stared blankly at the ice-blue sword embedded in the rock before her.
[After ten thousand years, Mu Xueyi, I’ve finally found your reincarnation... Draw me forth, and inherit the memories and cultivation of your past life... Hey! Where are you going?!]
"Tch! Who has time for fighting? Sounds like a hassle. Right, Boqi?"
"Woof!"
Su Bailian rolled her eyes and walked off without a second glance.
Just taking Boqi for a post-meal stroll, and she runs into this nonsense?
Expecting her to fight?
Please, did they think she was some battle junkie like Su Muwan?
[Hey! HEY!]
The Demon-Slaying Sword was utterly baffled.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
ave】 Shen Qingling was a man with peerless looks, a cunning mind, and the ability to play both the aloof noble and the innocent sweetheart—a master of seduction who could outplay any player. But after an untimely death, he found himself bound to a system and transmigrated into the tragic "true young master" of a melodramatic novel. In the original story, his childhood sweetheart treated him as a backup plan, his fiancée swore to break off their engagement for the sake of the "fake young master," and his own sister saw him as the family's disgrace. He was nothing more than a rat everyone wanted to stomp on. System 077: "Your mission is to change the original fate and conquer the goddesses." Shen Qingling: "Thanks for the invite. If seduction had tiers, I’d be max level." His childhood sweetheart knelt, begging for forgiveness: "Qingling, I was wrong. Please give me another chance." His ex-fiancée refused to marry anyone else: "Shen Qingling, I was blind before. In this life, I’ll marry no one but you." A yandere CEO went mad for love: "Shen Qingling, you can only like me. I’ll stop at nothing to make you mine!" His green-tea sister clung to him daily: "Brother, look at me, won’t you? I’m more obedient than them—I love you the most~" At first, they scorned and trampled on him. Later, they burned themselves like moths to a flame, all for his sake. His looks were his weapon, his sweet words the bait—heroines obsessed over him, villains turned to madness for him. Shen Qingling became a true male siren, igniting battlefield after battlefield of women fighting for his affection. Years later, when System 077—now one of the elites—was asked how to become as outstanding as it, it lazily exhaled a smoke ring and replied: "Just know how to cheer ‘666’ at the right time."
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
