Above the arena, two sword shadows—one silver-white, the other dark gold—clashed continuously at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Even through the illusion, everyone on the viewing platform could still sense the boundless divine might contained within the flashing blades.
Since Sword Severing the Stars was themed around “swordplay,” its [Arena] mode naturally included a few special design features.
Whenever the two participants were of different realms, the one with the higher cultivation would automatically suppress their realm to match their opponent’s.
Thus, at this moment, Chen Yuan was sparring with Li Moran at the early-stage Void Refinement Realm.
The dark-gold sword qi grew fiercer and fiercer, while the silver-white sword qi retreated step by step.
For a time, cheers rose and fell from the viewing platform.
“As expected of Elder Chen! The moment he makes a move, he firmly suppresses True Disciple Li!”
“Even after suppressing his cultivation, Elder Chen still has True Disciple Li Moran beat by a clear margin… Looks like the rumors claiming that the elders of the Limitless Sword Sect are inferior to the true disciples of the Skysoar Sect were nothing more than gossip!”
“At the same Void Refinement Realm, their foundations are simply too far apart…”
“Is it just me, or does True Disciple Li seem to be gradually holding off Elder Chen’s attacks?”
…
Within the illusion of Sword Severing the Stars, several icy sword qi sliced across Chen Yuan’s cheeks in succession. The bone-chilling cold filled his eyes with shock.
What a terrifying offensive!
Chen Yuan was horrified. Red numbers reading [-1] continued to pop up over the wounds on his cheeks.
In terms of gameplay, Sword Severing the Stars offered no true innovation. Its only unique feature was that it incorporated the Lu Clan’s illusion techniques into the traditional illusion of testing one’s true combat ability.
In other words, it quantified the cultivators’ battles through health, defense, power, and other attributes.
At this moment, Chen Yuan had lost only a quarter of his health, while Li Moran had already lost half.
On the surface, Chen Yuan held an overwhelming advantage.
But in reality, that was not the case.
Chen Yuan knew very well that Li Moran was already close to seeing through his sword techniques…
If the battle continued, he would undoubtedly lose!
‘How is this possible?!’
Chen Yuan used all his strength to knock aside one fierce, icy sword qi after another, disbelief written all over his face.
In his expectations, the battle between them should never have unfolded this way.
That was because he had obtained a little privilege from the Illusion Alliance.
Once combat was quantified, cheating naturally became much easier.
He had merely increased some of his visible attributes by a tiny amount—damage, defense, speed, and so on.
Within the illusion, those slight adjustments became an insurmountable chasm.
Originally, Chen Yuan had believed this would be an overwhelming victory.
After all, on the surface, his cultivation realm was identical to Li Moran’s.
In reality, with the help of those subtly adjusted attributes, his realm was effectively one level higher than hers. Thanks to his superior stats, victory should have been effortless.
However, while numbers could be altered, techniques and comprehension could not.
Li Moran had actually begun finding the flaws in his sword techniques…
Such terrifying ability was something he had never even dared to imagine!
Only after standing directly before Li Moran did Chen Yuan understand the true meaning of the words “heavenly prodigy.”
He had once been a peerless prodigy who dominated the cultivation world a century ago, yet before Li Moran, he was as mediocre as an ordinary mortal!
If the battle continued, he would certainly lose!
With that thought, Chen Yuan decisively threw away the sword in his hand. He deliberately put on a magnanimous expression, clasped his hands behind his back, and chose [Abandon Battle].
“As expected of True Disciple Li of the Skysoar Sect. To think that someone so young could withstand so many of this old man’s attacks… You have won.”
Chen Yuan put on the airs of a great master and began praising her with exaggerated solemnity.
“?”
Li Moran’s snow-white blade passed through Chen Yuan’s body. Since he had already withdrawn from the battle, it struck nothing at all, leaving a look of confusion on her face.
His action drew a wave of cheers from the spectators.
“As expected of Elder Chen! What truly magnanimous bearing!”
“True Disciple Li really is as strong as the rumors claim! She actually fought Elder Chen to a standstill!”
“The rumors were clearly exaggerated… To say that no one in the Limitless Sword Sect could defeat True Disciple Li was nothing but a joke…”
…
Just then—
A bolt of red lightning suddenly descended from the sky of the illusion, striking Chen Yuan directly.
Strands of golden mist swirled around him.
At the same time, a faint blue halo appeared around Li Moran.
The sight instantly sent everyone on the viewing platform into another uproar.
They had already witnessed this kind of phenomenon more than once over the past few days!
“An opportunity! A heavenly opportunity!”
“My heavens! Is Sword Severing the Stars really under the attention of the Heavenly Dao? Opportunities keep appearing!”
“A red opportunity? What kind of reward could that possibly be…”
“It must be Elder Chen’s magnanimous heart that attracted the Heavenly Dao’s notice!”
“Did True Disciple Li receive an opportunity too?”
“A blue opportunity, and the faintest kind at that… It probably isn’t anything valuable.”
…
At the very center of the Limitless Sword Domain, a jade slip engraved with secret runes appeared beside Chen Yuan.
“An ancient sword technique… the Three Tribulations Sword Art! I, Chen, thank the Heavenly Dao for its favor!”
Chen Yuan raised the jade slip high, his voice booming as he bowed repeatedly toward the horizon.
The surrounding cultivators, as well as the spectators looking down from above, gazed at him with incomparable envy.
“My heavens! As expected of a red opportunity—it’s actually a treasure of the Three Tribulations Sword Art’s caliber…”
“If Elder Chen manages to cultivate it to mastery one day, the strength of the Limitless Sword Sect will surely rise to another level!”
“What about True Disciple Li? What opportunity did True Disciple Li receive?”
“I saw it! A… common, bargain-bin sword technique appeared beside True Disciple Li?”
“How strange… In this precious illusion, every cultivator has received an opportunity that is anything but ordinary. Why did True Disciple Li comprehend only something like that?”
“Could it be that everyone overestimated True Disciple Li’s fortune and comprehension?”
…
Seated quietly in a corner, Li Moran’s eyes were gently closed.
Her mind was still replaying every moment of her exchange with Chen Yuan.
There had seemed to be something strange about Chen Yuan’s sword.
Its power and speed had exceeded her predictions.
She had originally adapted to that level of strength and was about to find a way to break through it, but her opponent had surrendered first. She could not help feeling a little regretful.
As for the ridicule and mockery of those around her, they passed lightly over her ears, as though they did not exist.
She had never cared about what others thought.
Li Moran opened her eyes and looked at the crumpled Basic Sword Manual beside her.
After learning that it was not a true heavenly opportunity, she no longer dwelled on it.
Whether it was a Basic Sword Manual or a Heaven-Tier Sword Art, to her, both were nothing more than scraps of paper.
Just then, a familiar hand appeared before her and picked up the crumpled Basic Sword Manual before she could.
“I praised you last time for seeming more like a person than before…”
The voice carried a hint of youthful spirit, and Li Moran’s eyes immediately brightened.
“For something like this…”
“You should at least get angry at me!”
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."
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.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
