Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar ID, Zhou Yue's breath nearly stopped.
Suddenly, he was reminded of a time long ago—
So long ago that he was still a mortal plagued by misfortune, on the brink of death when he first met his master, Lin Qingxuan.
A faint glimmer of light quietly bloomed in the endless darkness.
Just like this very moment.
"Brother Bai!!!"
Zhou Yue's voice was hoarse with excitement.
He didn’t understand why a mere illusionary realm could ignite such a fierce competitive spirit in him.
After just two months of fighting side by side, this team called the Lingxiao Sect had come to represent more than just himself or the sect.
There was the money-grubbing little sister, the honest Junior Brother Mu, the prodigious Junior Sister Li, the talkative Old Zhong…
And now, Bai Mu, who seemed like a savior.
As long as these people were here, even if they weren’t called the Lingxiao Sect team, even if they weren’t fighting for the sect’s honor…
Even if there were no rewards of ancient treasures to be won…
He still wanted—
To keep fighting alongside them, no matter what.
To keep winning together!
To claim the glory they deserved!!
"Brother Bai…"
"I… want to win!!!"
Hearing Zhou Yue—who was usually reserved and accustomed to silently bearing everything—utter those three words, "I want to win," Lu Ze raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Then, the corners of his lips curled into a faint smile:
"With me here, we won’t lose."
Those six words were spoken lightly.
Yet they carried more reassurance than any spell in this world.
……
……
At this very moment.
The instant "Bai Mu" appeared in the Immortal-Demon Canyon, the live broadcast of the tournament erupted in chaos.
The barrage of comments flooded the screen at a speed impossible to follow with the naked eye—only magic could decipher them.
[Big Brother Bai Mu!!]
[Why is he here? No, how is he even allowed to join the match??]
[No matter the reason, you have to win this round!]
[Save the Lingxiao Sect… no, save the righteous path! This damn sense of duty!]
[The light of righteousness!!!]
[Go for it, happy wind cultivator big bro!]
[You have to win, you absolutely must!!!]
[Even I, someone who doesn’t play illusionary realms, am getting hyped watching this…]
[But… can they really turn this around?]
[Hope… just hope…]
……
"It’s Brother Bai! Brother Bai is… actually entering the match!!!"
Zhong Yi was so excited he could barely speak, his voice hoarse from shouting.
"Yes, just as everyone hoped… the substitute for the Lingxiao Sect team is none other than Bai Mu, the absolute king of the Celestial Ladder!"
"The [Immortal-Slaying Path] team is pressing forward with overwhelming force… With such a massive gap in strength, can Brother Bai hold them off…?"
"All the inhibitor turrets have fallen. All Brother Bai can do is stake his life to block the enemy and buy time until his teammates respawn!"
"This is the Lingxiao Sect’s last desperate stand!"
"We all know how difficult this is—an almost impossible task!"
"But… we have no choice but to believe in Brother Bai!!"
……
……
On the side of the [Immortal-Slaying Path] team.
"Bai Mu? Didn’t Little Liu say this guy would never log in? Why is he here?"
Guo Tianyin froze at the sight of Bai Mu’s figure.
At this moment, Liu Mo was right beside them.
Earlier, during the match, Liu Mo had activated the illusionary realm’s projection function, allowing the others to clearly track the Lingxiao Sect team’s movements.
Convinced of the Lingxiao Sect’s inevitable defeat, the kid had confidently exited the game—only for Bai Mu to suddenly connect.
"We’ve got five of us grouped up, plus all these minions. Are we really supposed to be afraid of him?"
The team’s jungler scoffed disdainfully.
The others nodded in agreement.
With five against one and superior equipment, how could they possibly lose to a guy whose base turrets were already gone?
"Fair point…"
Guo Tianyin nodded, a sinister smirk curling his lips.
He suddenly remembered all those times he had sent messages to this Bai Mu character, only to be met with silence.
"In that case… let’s make sure we take our time humiliating him… Teach him the consequences of ignoring us…"
……
……
At the Lingxiao Sect’s fountain.
"Not bad, not bad… Just enough gold to work with."
Lu Ze muttered to himself as he checked his equipment.
There was no denying Liu Mo’s cunning.
Every time, he would push the lane before intentionally feeding, making sure Zhou Yue couldn’t get any experience or gold.
On top of that, he would frequently steal jungle camps…
So despite his many deaths, his items and level weren’t actually that far behind.
A standard Infinity Edge, Statikk Shiv, and Berserker’s Greaves—with this setup, Yasuo wouldn’t lack damage.
Lu Ze added a Vampiric Scepter for sustain before stepping out of the fountain.
The minion waves from all three lanes slowly converged.
It felt like a lone general standing guard in an empty city, besieged by an overwhelming force.
"Brother Bai, we’ve got thirty seconds left… Can you hold out until we respawn?"
Zhou Yue glanced nervously at his respawn timer.
"Whether I can hold out or not… depends on them, doesn’t it?"
Lu Ze chuckled faintly.
"Right…"
Zhou Yue forced a bitter smile and shook his head.
"If they’re not trying hard enough and die too fast, there’s nothing I can do."
Lu Ze waved a hand dismissively.
Zhou Yue: "……"
Lu Ze stopped at the base entrance, slightly crouching as he drew the iconic rusted sword from his waist.
The endless tide of enemy minions surged toward him like a black flood.
Lu Ze smiled.
In any other champion’s hands, even he might have struggled with this situation.
But…
He was playing Yasuo.
The more minions there were, the stronger Yasuo became!
His gaze swept across the enemy team.
Four of them—top, mid, jungle, and support—were pushing forward, while the marksman was nowhere in sight, likely taking a buff in the jungle.
Lu Ze grinned.
Against players of this caliber, his skill level could only be described in four words:
"A higher dimension."
Even if he knew that his opponents weren’t just individuals—but demonic cultivators who had pooled the abilities of multiple Celestial Ladder experts through some forbidden art—
The gap between them and him…
Was as vast as the distance between an average Challenger and the peak-era Demon King.
Not to mention, he possessed knowledge of the Hero Spirits far ahead of this era.
Lu Ze exhaled softly, unsheathing his blade as he unleashed two Swift Strikes.
A gentle azure wind began swirling around him.
At the same time—
The phantom of the Unforgiven appeared behind him without warning.
That deep, resonant voice echoed across the canyon:
"Death is like the wind."
"Always…"
"By my side."
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?"
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 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."
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!
