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].
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
