Hah, an ignorant brat who doesn't know his own limits.
The crimson longsword in Long Aoyun's hand gleamed with a chilling light, white radiance swirling at its tip.
Light spiritual power flickered along the blade.
Chen Bing pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, "I'd like to see for myself where the legendary strength of the Great Xia's thousand-year-old legend truly lies."
Hearing this, Long Aoyun, who had been nonchalant, turned serious, his eyes growing solemn as he said in a deep voice, "You know about that?"
"The number one on the Great Xia's Celestial Ranking, the master of the Divine Hall... it's been the same person for a thousand years. If this got out, I'm afraid many would find it hard to believe."
Chen Bing raised his hand, the lenses of his glasses reflecting a white light.
Transparent threads faintly floated in the dim moonlight.
The entire island was enveloped by countless threads!
Long Aoyun's eyes finally showed a look of genuine focus. "I'd like to see where you get the guts to challenge me!"
As he spoke, the crimson longsword moved!
A flash of white light erupted!
Chen Bing's gaze was sharp as he stated calmly, "I... have also lived for a thousand years!"
While speaking, Chen Bing manipulated the threads.
The entire island began to move under Chen Bing's control. Lines sharp as blades, like cutting edges, spread out, forming a blockade.
Long Aoyun's crimson sword struck the threads, sending a shower of dazzling sparks flying.
An invisible thread sliced down!
Long Aoyun raised his hand, caught it, and snapped it with a sharp tug. His domineering figure shot towards Chen Bing.
A single slash came down!
It was steadily blocked by four threads held between Chen Bing's fingertips!
"You're strong!"
Long Aoyun said slowly, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
It had been a long time since he'd gotten serious.
Chen Bing's eyes were icy.
In that looping July, he had challenged Long Aoyun no less than a thousand times!
He understood the terror of this man.
Even now, facing Long Aoyun again, he could still feel the timidity welling up from deep within.
This was his closest attempt to success. He absolutely had to win!
Behind his glasses, Chen Bing's gaze grew increasingly intense!
He stomped on the ground! Yellow spiritual power surged forth!
The earth suddenly cracked, waves of soil churned, and threads shot forth like arrows!
Long Aoyun's figure weaved through the air, his trench coat fluttering as he moved like a ghost, evading all attacks, and delivered a slash.
His timing and control of the blade were simply perfect!
Chen Bing suddenly made his move. Yellow spiritual power vibrated, forming a spiritual shield. An earthen wall surged up, steadily blocking Long Aoyun's attack.
With that one slash, the earthen wall shattered!
"I'm starting to believe what you said a little."
Long Aoyun said lightly, holding his longsword.
This kid... he's at the peak of Spirit Gathering!
Moreover, his control over the details of that earthen wall technique was extremely precise.
For someone in his early twenties to master this... it was hard to believe.
Chen Bing pushed up his black-framed glasses and said calmly, "There's more to come."
"I'll be watching."
Long Aoyun said with a light laugh.
In the blink of an eye, Chen Bing unleashed a dazzling array of attacks.
But Long Aoyun's responses were simple.
He merely relied on the force of his swings, not even using spiritual power!
"That's about enough."
Chen Bing gasped for breath, his eyes suddenly turning sharp once more.
The entire ground shook, and thousands of threads enveloped the area!
"So the killing move was here all along."
Long Aoyun looked at the crisscrossing threads that completely sealed off the island and tightened his grip on the crimson longsword.
Chen Bing's lips moved slightly: "Dragon Binding Restraint!"
Abruptly, the countless threads in the world contracted inward, enveloping Long Aoyun.
At that moment, a brilliant white light erupted...
Boom!
Chen Bing, covered in sword wounds, fell to the ground, gasping heavily.
Defeated!
He was still defeated!
On the other side, Long Aoyun was also somewhat disheveled, but showed no signs of injury.
He glanced at Chen Bing, slowly sheathed his sword, and prepared to leave.
"Why did you spare me?"
Chen Bing asked through gritted teeth, his voice low.
In his thousand-year cycle, he had challenged the world's strongest man over a thousand times.
But without exception, he would ultimately be killed by Long Aoyun.
The sensation of that longsword cutting his throat... he had experienced it countless times.
"You seem to have the wrong person."
Long Aoyun turned back, staring at him thoughtfully. "I don't know what's going on. Or perhaps, your so-called 'thousand years'... isn't real."
Isn't real...
Those words struck Chen Bing's ears like a morning bell and evening drum, exploding in his mind!
Chen Bing's pupils contracted sharply.
"Goodbye."
Long Aoyun said flatly, then turned and drifted away.
A cold glint appeared in his eyes.
Some bastard set up this whole situation, actually making me the final boss!
Jiangbei City.
A small rented room.
"This... this is exactly the same as before!"
Shen Muxuan looked around the room in amazement, her beautiful eyes sparkling with excitement.
The old TV, the outdated sofa, the slightly rusty windowsill, and that security door that occasionally locked her inside... everything was just as she remembered it when she left.
"Well, do you like it?"
An Yi watched Shen Muxuan's joyful, leaping figure and couldn't help but smile.
Restoring all this was much more complicated than rebuilding from scratch.
How complicated exactly, An Yi wasn't sure.
All he knew was it cost him a pretty penny!
Shen Muxuan eagerly turned on the TV.
After being away for over half a year, aside from missing An Yi and Aunt Zhou, what she missed most was this television.
Familiar static snow appeared on the screen, flickering intermittently. Then, with a crackle, smoke started rising from the TV.
"An Yi..."
Shen Muxuan looked at An Yi with a pitiful, aggrieved expression.
An Yi rubbed his temples. "Let's go to the villa. The TV there is at least five times bigger!"
When restoring the place, to preserve the original feel, the TV was practically on its last legs anyway.
"An Yi..."
Shen Muxuan wrapped her arms around An Yi's neck, her bright, watery eyes gazing directly into his.
"What do you want now?" An Yi asked helplessly.
"A kiss!"
Shen Muxuan said in a sweet, coquettish voice, acting cute.
An Yi smiled, looked at her exquisitely beautiful face, and leaned down for a light, dragonfly skimming the water peck. But he lost control, and it turned into a wolfish kiss.
At the same time, Shen Muxuan's jade-like arms tightening around his neck.
This girl is getting better and better at this...
An Yi opened his eyes slightly, looking at the utterly adorable Shen Muxuan, feeling as if he were falling deeper and deeper, like being poisoned.
Then, his large hand reached for Shen Muxuan's ancient-style clothing...
Clang!
The security door made a noise.
An Yi and Shen Muxuan jolted awake, both startled.
"That An Yi kid is such a fool. I knew he had a screw loose when I saved him. Why spend so much money fixing up this dump? Now I have to come back and clean it. It's so old and in such a remote location, no one will rent it..."
Aunt Zhou's voice sounded.
Then, with another clang, the security door opened.
Seeing the young couple inside, Aunt Zhou's eyes lit up.
"Aunt Zhou, long time no see!"
Shen Muxuan said happily, her charmingly naive face blinking at her.
"Oh, my dear girl, you're finally back! I've missed you so much!"
Aunt Zhou hurried over, took Shen Muxuan's hands, her eyes reddening. "I told you long ago, going back to your hometown isn't as good as staying here. Look at An Yi—tall, handsome, rich, and clever to boot."
An Yi: "..."
That's not what you were saying a moment ago.
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
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.
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!"
