In the depths of the East Sea, the Dragon Palace at the bottom of the abyss was already unrecognizable.
The crystal dome was overgrown with crimson tumors, and humanoid creatures still twitched within the egg sacs clinging to the pillars.
The colossal mass of flesh on the central throne had swollen even larger than two days prior, its surface covered with hundreds of distorted human faces screaming in agony. Purple veins writhed beneath its skin, emitting a suffocating stench.
"Tap… tap… tap…"
Footsteps echoed through the empty hall.
Lan Ming dragged Chu Yu inside.
His trident dripped with black blood, its tendrils quivering slightly, as if eagerly scenting the air.
He carelessly tossed Chu Yu onto the jade steps before the throne. Her cyan robes were torn, her long hair disheveled, her face as pale as paper. Her eyes were hollow, devoid of any light, as though her soul had been drained.
"Father."
Lan Ming knelt on one knee, his voice hoarse. "I have brought the most delectable Chosen One. The scent of chaos on her is thick—precisely the offering you require."
A face resembling the Dragon King of the East Sea slowly opened its eyes on the surface of the flesh mass. Its crimson pupils fixed on Chu Yu as its lips curled into a greedy smile.
"Good… very good…"
Its voice was a dissonant overlay of countless whispers, low and grating. "Her scent… hiss…"
A thick tentacle, covered in suckers and tiny barbs, slithered from the mass and pressed against Chu Yu’s face.
Her body trembled faintly, but she did not resist.
She tilted her head back, her empty eyes like bottomless voids, devoid of even a flicker of life.
"Hiss—"
The suckers latched onto her skin, and crimson tumors surged along the tentacle, piercing her flesh like living parasites.
Chu Yu’s lips twitched, a low whimper escaping her throat, yet her gaze remained numb—as if she had long surrendered to her fate.
It was over.
Her cultivation was shattered.
When the sea clans attacked, she had been powerless to resist.
The hundreds of faces on the flesh mass roared in unison, their voices thick with excitement. "The collapse of fate… the distortion of destiny… what a delectable flavor!"
Black mist seeped from the tentacle, spreading through Chu Yu’s meridians. Her skin began to darken with eerie violet veins, like polluted rivers coursing beneath her flesh.
"Heh heh heh!"
Lan Ming stood, his eyes burning with fervor. "Father, she will become your puppet—our weapon to conquer the land!"
The flesh mass did not respond, continuing its corruption of Chu Yu.
Her fingers trembled slightly, a faint spark of lightning flickering at her fingertips—but it was quickly devoured by the black mist, replaced by a twisted, dark-purple energy.
Her hair gradually darkened to blood-red, and two crimson flames ignited in her pupils.
"Boom—"
A violent aura erupted from Chu Yu’s body, cracking the jade steps beneath her.
She rose slowly, her form wreathed in dark-purple spiritual energy.
The lightning that once crackled around her was no longer golden and pure, but tainted with blood and rot.
"Chosen One…"
The flesh mass murmured. "No. You are no longer the Chosen One."
"You are now… the Corrupted One. The Harbinger of Doom."
Harbinger of Doom…
Chu Yu looked down at her hands. It was a strange sensation.
Her meridians were broken, her cultivation lost.
And yet… why?
Why did she feel an endless surge of power rising within her?
Moreover… this strength was greater than anything she had ever wielded before—the power of rules?
As she stared, the corners of her lips curled into a cold smile.
No rage, no sorrow—only boundless indifference and killing intent.
Nothing mattered anymore.
With this power…
Her voice was hoarse and low. "Su… Bailian… Su… Muwan… and all your loved ones… friends…"
"All of you will die."
She lifted her head, her crimson gaze sweeping over Lan Ming. He instinctively stepped back, an inexplicable chill creeping into his heart.
But the flesh mass laughed in satisfaction. "Go, my daughter. In three days, the land shall be your hunting ground."
Chu Yu did not answer. Silently, she turned and walked deeper into the hall.
This life had deviated too far from the last.
But so what?
This time… she would slaughter every last one of those who betrayed her.
---
Two days later.
The skies above Tianhai City were dark as spilled ink.
A foul, salty wind carried the stench of the sea, the air thick with the tension of impending war.
Ever since Lan Ming, the Second Prince of the sea clans, had abducted Chu Yu during the sect tournament and declared war on the land, the martial world of the Eastern Kingdom had erupted into chaos.
Not just the Eastern Kingdom—the Western Kingdom had also mobilized its forces.
The two nations swiftly formed an alliance, preparing to face the tide of monsters tainted by corruption.
Online, livestream platforms and martial forums were flooded with comments, the chat scrolling endlessly:
[Two days in, and those fishy freaks still think they can invade?]
[Eastern and Western Kingdoms united—this battle’s already won!]
[Did you see Lady Su’s ice dragon move? Instant wallpaper material!]
[If they really attack, I’m signing up. Time to crush those bastards!]
[Yeah? I’m running the second they show up. Did you see the end of that video? Even Lady Su couldn’t fight back. Humanity’s done for.]
[???]
Meanwhile.
At the headquarters of the Martial Arts Alliance in Kecheng City.
The grand conference room was packed, the long table flanked by high-ranking officials from the Eastern Kingdom and delegates from the Western Kingdom.
A massive screen on the wall displayed live surveillance footage of the coastal cities—the sea churning with an ominous crimson hue.
Drone images revealed glimpses of sea clan soldiers gathering beneath the waves.
The Western Kingdom’s representative, a tall, middle-aged man named Rein, sat with his golden hair impeccably groomed, his expression laced with arrogance.
Clad in a dark-red battle robe adorned with the Western Kingdom’s emblem, his gaze swept the room before settling on the Eastern Kingdom’s leaders.
"Who is in charge of the Eastern Kingdom’s Martial Arts Alliance?"
Rein’s voice was deep, his Western accent pronounced, his tone probing. "This invasion is no trivial matter. The Western Kingdom wishes to speak directly with your strongest decision-maker."
A brief silence fell over the room.
All eyes turned to the two figures seated beside the head of the table—Qin Luo and Su Muwan.
Su Muwan lounged lazily in her chair, a silver-fox fur cloak draped over her shoulders, twirling an ice-crystal hairpin between her fingers.
Her stunningly cold face bore its usual look of disinterest, as if the entire meeting were beneath her.
Beside her, Qin Luo sipped tea with a faint smile, his handsome features the picture of calm amusement.
At the head of the table, Ouyang Xuan cleared his throat and rose to his feet.
He is currently the minister of the Eastern Kingdom's Martial Arts Alliance... Well, though the actual leader is someone else.
Clad in a black robe, his figure stood tall and imposing, exuding an air of steady authority.
Just as he was about to begin introductions, the corner of his eye caught the slight upward curve of Qin Luo's lips, and a sudden sense of foreboding crept into his heart.
"Ahem, esteemed members of the Western Alliance, these two are the core figures of our Eastern Kingdom's Martial Arts Alliance—"
Before Ouyang Xuan could finish, Qin Luo gently set down his teacup and rose to his feet.
"Let’s skip the formalities."
His voice was clear and resonant, carrying an undeniable magnetism that compelled attention.
"Now, if you would all..."
A faint smile played on his lips as a glint of something unfathomable flickered in his eyes.
————Simultaneously activating four effects: [Charm Gaze], [Wordspell], [Natural Affinity], and [Noble Grace].
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?"
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!
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?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
