This dagger, huh?
An Yi twirled the Soulless Dagger in his hand with a light chuckle. "Someone gave it to me. I kept refusing, but they insisted."
Yan Zhi asked curiously, "Is this dagger something special?"
Yan Zhi rolled her eyes, silently lamenting his absurd luck.
The Soulless Dagger was, without a doubt, a legendary weapon.
A century ago, it was the blade of Wei Nanfeng, the King of Assassins.
At his peak, Wei Nanfeng ranked second on the Heavenly Leaderboard.
For a thousand years, the top spot on the Heavenly Leaderboard had always been monopolized by the successive lords of the Divine Hall. No one else even had a chance to challenge it.
Second place was already an unparalleled achievement!
It was said that even Master Yuanyi, the current second-ranked on the Heavenly Leaderboard, had once been defeated by Wei Nanfeng.
And back then, Wei Nanfeng was only in his thirties!
His talent could only be described as earth-shattering. Throughout the history of martial artists in Great Xia, he stood as a peerless genius.
Unfortunately, he met an untimely end a hundred years ago in the Hongtian Secret Realm, never to emerge again.
Yan Zhi stared at the dagger in An Yi’s hand with reverence.
The Soulless Dagger had slain the Black Demon Sect’s patriarch, the Sacred Knight Commander of Eagle Nation, and the strongest generation of curse masters.
This was a true bloodthirsty divine weapon, stained with the souls of countless renowned figures!
An Yi lifted the Soulless Dagger and used its tip to scrape a pebble stuck in his shoe before gripping it again.
As the flaming revenant approached step by step, he asked calmly, "How do we fight this thing? Any weaknesses?"
Watching An Yi treat the legendary dagger so carelessly, Yan Zhi suppressed the urge to roll her eyes again. "No idea. I didn’t even get a chance to strike—I was blasted away by its shockwave."
"Seriously? That weak?" An Yi blurted out.
A vein throbbed on Yan Zhi’s forehead.
If not for the dire situation, she would’ve smacked that smug mouth of his.
Sssshhhhk!
A powerful surge of energy erupted.
An Yi’s eyes narrowed as his body was forced backward uncontrollably.
"Watch out!" Yan Zhi’s warning rang out.
An Yi barely had time to react. Instinctively, he drew the Dragon Fang Demon Sword and raised it in defense.
Clang!
Dagger met sword.
An Yi staggered back two or three steps before steadying himself, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"Damn, that force… No wonder Yan Zhi couldn’t handle it!"
The humanoid revenant wielded two rusted, broken daggers wreathed in flames, yet they clashed evenly against An Yi’s Dragon Fang Demon Sword.
Then, the revenant twisted its body, slashing one of its jagged blades toward An Yi’s neck.
An Yi leaped back.
The revenant was too close—he could feel the searing heat radiating from its fiery body.
At this range, his longsword was cumbersome and ineffective.
Without hesitation, An Yi willed the Dragon Fang Demon Sword to shrink into a dagger, parrying the revenant’s strike.
But the revenant wasn’t done. Its other dagger reversed grip and thrust sideways!
Clang!
At the last moment, An Yi drew the Soulless Dagger and blocked.
Both combatants were forced back two steps.
An Yi’s back was drenched in cold sweat, his soul practically floating out of his body.
"That was way too close!"
What the hell was this thing?!
Gritting his teeth, An Yi tightened his grip on both daggers, his gaze sharpening.
No opponent had ever pressured him like this. The revenant’s flawless dagger techniques made him feel like a child being schooled.
Ding! System upgrade complete!
A soft chime echoed in his mind.
An Yi’s face lit up with excitement.
His previously frozen system had finally rebooted.
A smirk curled his lips. "Upgrade Dagger Mastery to Lv. 4!"
Ding! [Dagger Mastery] has reached Lv. 4!
Ding! Skill unlocked—[Death’s Kiss]!
[Death’s Kiss (Passive Skill)]
Effect: Striking a vital point grants a 50% instant-kill chance!
An Yi’s eyes gleamed.
Now this was a skill!
For ordinary people, a stab through the heart, throat, or skull was fatal. But powerful martial artists could cling to life if treated promptly.
A 50% instant-kill chance meant they wouldn’t even get that opportunity.
The flaming revenant lunged again, its jagged daggers blazing with terrifying intensity.
With his upgraded Dagger Mastery, An Yi now fought more fluidly—yet he was still being suppressed.
"Tch. Never faced someone this relentless!"
The revenant’s attacks were a relentless storm, leaving no room to breathe.
A single slip, and those jagged edges would carve into his neck.
Nearby, Yan Zhi watched the battle, gripping her silver whip with tense focus but not daring to interfere.
The two were too close, their positions shifting unpredictably.
Then—the revenant seized an opening mid-fight. It dashed forward, dagger aimed straight for An Yi’s exposed chest!
Yan Zhi’s eyes widened. "No—!"
Splurt!
Blood sprayed.
A crimson gash bloomed across An Yi’s chest as the revenant flashed past him.
Yan Zhi’s face paled in realization.
"No mistake… That was the Dragon’s Return Slash!"
Wei Nanfeng’s signature technique!
Could this revenant be…
"Stay back!"
An Yi raised a hand to stop Yan Zhi from rushing over, his eyes burning with lethal intent.
He pressed a few acupoints to stem the bleeding, then turned, his gaze icy as it locked onto the revenant.
In his grip, the Soulless Dagger hummed faintly, as if excited.
"Interesting. I want to face him properly."
An Yi’s voice dripped with arrogance.
Like lightning, he charged forward, leading with a reverse-grip slash!
Clang!
The revenant blocked.
The two clashed once more, blades dancing in a deadly exchange.
From the sidelines, Yan Zhi’s shock only grew.
An Yi, who had been at a disadvantage, was gradually turning the tide!
But the more she watched, the more unnerved she became—until her eyes widened in disbelief.
An Yi’s movements, once basic, now mirrored the revenant’s—swift, ruthless, and precise.
He was copying its techniques!
Seizing an opening, An Yi pivoted behind the revenant.
Swish!
His speed spiked as he slashed at the revenant’s arm.
Yet, his blade passed harmlessly through the flames.
"Tch!"
An Yi’s expression darkened.
If he couldn’t damage it, how could he possibly win?
His opponent was an intangible, unkillable monster!
What now?
Suddenly, the revenant stopped.
It gripped its own arm—the one An Yi had "cut"—and clenched.
Whoosh!
The flames dissipated.
The broken dagger it held clattered to the ground, no longer wreathed in fire.
The revenant had extinguished its own arm!
An Yi’s breath hitched.
This thing… didn’t want an unfair advantage.
Now one-armed, the revenant raised its remaining dagger and gestured for An Yi to continue.
Though it had no face, no expression…
An Yi could sense its unyielding pride.
A flicker of respect crossed his face.
Just what kind of man had this been in life?
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...
] [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!"
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!
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...
