The monk went inside?
Yan Zhi stared at the mirror-like barrier, speaking in surprise.
An Yi narrowed his eyes, gazing calmly at the barrier as he said, "He's gone. I also want to know what secrets this grand hall is hiding."
As he spoke, An Yi leaped forward and charged straight into the barrier.
"This guy, always so reckless..."
Yan Zhi sighed helplessly, rubbing her temples in frustration.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror-like barrier, still astonished.
The image showed her wearing the uniform of the Law Enforcement Bureau's leader—heroic, graceful, and exuding a mix of beauty and authority.
"Why would I end up as the Law Enforcement Bureau's leader...?"
Yan Zhi let out a soft sigh before stepping forward and following An Yi inside.
Hum!
Deep within the secret realm—
A massive, blood-red eye abruptly snapped open!
The grand palace welcomed new arrivals once more.
A man and a woman—the former handsome but perpetually cold-faced, the latter stunning yet appearing slightly absent-minded behind her glasses.
The striking pair made the white-haired old man beside them stand out even more.
"Old man, why are you here in the secret realm?" Lin Chen asked thoughtfully.
Back when Cheng Yuanfeng had taught him the Art of Qi Control, he had already learned the old man's true identity.
Ranked 29th on the Heavenly Leaderboard, the master of the Qi Control Sect—Cheng Yuanfeng!
Such a ranking was terrifyingly high.
Those in this tier were typically the elders or sect leaders of the Great Xia's top factions, unlikely to venture into such dangerous territory.
Thus, Lin Chen was certain—among all the intruders, this old man was undoubtedly the strongest!
Cheng Yuanfeng looked at him calmly. "How's your progress with the Art of Qi Control?"
Lin Chen raised his hand.
Swirling around his palm were strands of azure wind energy!
Cheng Yuanfeng sighed in admiration. "I only taught you for three days, yet half a year later, you've truly mastered the Gale Force!"
Lin Chen retracted the wind energy.
Technically speaking, this old man was indeed his master.
Cheng Yuanfeng gazed at the grand hall, murmuring, "Truthfully, the Art of Qi Control was brought out from the Hongtian Secret Realm a century ago. Unfortunately, our sect's ancestor only retrieved a fragment of it. This time, I aim to bring back the complete technique."
Su Xue'er scoffed coldly from the side. "Since when was Lin Chen a member of your Qi Control Sect?"
"He learned the Art of Qi Control from me—that makes him one of us. This kid is the last hope of our sect. If you try to steal my disciple, I won’t let it slide."
Cheng Yuanfeng chuckled.
Lin Chen replied indifferently, "I'm not the only one who knows the Art of Qi Control."
At this, Cheng Yuanfeng hesitated.
He had indeed seen others wield the technique.
"An Yi is an exception—that kid's talent is downright monstrous! Back then, I just explained a few key points and demonstrated once, and he grasped it immediately!"
As for how Chen Bing knew it...
He truly couldn't figure it out, no matter how hard he racked his brain.
"Never mind them. I've already appointed you as my head disciple."
Still muttering to himself, Cheng Yuanfeng approached the barrier. Staring at the mirror-like wall, his expression turned grave. "We're here..."
According to the records of the Qi Control Sect's founding master, it was through this very wall that he had entered and learned the Art of Qi Control.
"This barrier..."
Lin Chen was slightly taken aback. In the mirror, his reflection wore black robes.
The face was that of a man in his mid-twenties—less youthful than now, more composed, though his piercing gaze remained unchanged.
Beside him, Su Xue'er glimpsed Lin Chen's mirrored attire, her pupils contracting.
As a member of the Underworld, she recognized what those robes signified...
One after another—
Zhang Fan, Xue Ruirui.
Shangguan Qianqian, Tang Qingqing.
Chen Bing, Mo Jiu, Jiang Cheng, Yang Qianyu, Xue Ming...
Those who had emerged from the five minor realms arrived before the barrier in scattered groups, stepping through without hesitation.
None knew what secrets lay hidden within this mirrored world!
"Remnant of the Night Sect!"
"Kill him!"
"Kill him!"
A scorching beam of light descended.
An Yi slowly opened his eyes.
He found himself in a vast, circular space, surrounded by tiers of seats filled with furious, snarling spectators.
Screams!
Roars!
Curses!
The entire arena was in an uproar.
Staring at the familiar scene, An Yi felt dazed.
Why was he back here?
Had his journey to another world been nothing but an illusion?
Were those two years merely a dream?
His confusion lasted only a moment before his expression steadied.
At present, he was tightly bound to a bronze pillar—a symbol of authority and sanctity—with chains securing him firmly in place.
"Remnant of the Night Sect!"
Hearing that familiar title, An Yi curled his lips into a mocking smile.
So these were the people his Night Sect had guarded for millennia?
"An Yi, do you admit your crimes?"
A golden-haired man with three eyes stepped forward, his bare feet pressing against the ground. The golden pupil on his forehead glared coldly at An Yi.
"Admit my crimes?"
An Yi grinned wildly, his laughter bordering on madness.
"What a familiar place..."
The Tower of Ascension—he had returned here.
The nightmare that haunted him every night had become reality once more.
Except for him.
Beneath the bronze pillars knelt a crowd of people—bound, tortured, and barely recognizable as human. Yet their gazes, fixed upon him, still held a glimmer of hope.
An Yi's eyes swept over them, tears welling up.
An Cheng, An Hai, An Wu—these were all disciples of the Night Gate!
Finally, his gaze settled on an elderly man whose face was marred by dark, grotesque patterns. Shackled in chains, he sat cross-legged on the ground.
No one dared force him to kneel.
The old man met An Yi's eyes, gave a slight nod, then closed his own again.
An Yi fell silent.
This scene—one he had relived in countless nightmares, jolting awake in cold sweat—now unfolded before him in reality.
The golden-haired man, his vertical pupil fixed on An Yi, curled his lips in mockery. "An Yi, remnant of the Night Gate. Do you admit your crimes?"
An Yi sneered, defiance burning in his voice. "Di Feng, is this your idea of extracting a confession through torture?"
As he spoke, dark spiritual energy surged around him, coalescing into two ferocious, writhing dragons in the air.
Night Dragon Dance!
The two monstrous dragons tore through the space, their oppressive dark energy casting a shadow over every heart present.
The prison guards stationed at the periphery froze in terror, collapsing under the crushing weight of the aura.
The twin dragons raged—
But before they could reach Di Feng, a thunderous roar of heavenly lightning reduced them to nothing.
"An Yi, you will not run wild here!"
"Criminal! How dare you act so arrogantly!"
In an instant, the so-called gods revered by the masses struck in unison.
The two rampaging dragons were obliterated in a flash.
An Yi laughed, his smile dripping with provocation.
Di Feng met his gaze coldly.
"Kill."
A single word, spoken with chilling indifference.
A bolt of golden lightning descended from the sky, striking down one of the kneeling Night Gate disciples.
Elsewhere, blades rose and fell in a merciless slaughter.
One after another, the disciples fell like wheat before a scythe—
Heads rolled, blood pooled.
An Yi shut his eyes.
This was the nightmare that had haunted him for years.
Three thousand Night Gate disciples—
Slaughtered before his very eyes.
Experiencing it a second time did nothing to dull the fury.
His gaze, icy as death, lingered on the corpses. Then he lifted his eyes to the figure hailed as a god above, lips curling into a smile.
"Di Feng... you truly outdid yourself."
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
] [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!"
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
