The news of Li Moran’s battle with Isshin Ashina spread through the cultivators like wildfire.
Because it was a performance by a remnant spirit of the Heavenly Dao itself, the pressure it exerted was immense, even though Isshin Ashina at this stage was far from his prime.
The pressure was so overwhelming that, despite merely watching from the sidelines, the cultivators could still feel the razor-sharp killing intent behind every move.
There were no fluctuations of spiritual energy whatsoever. Yet the killing techniques born purely from the limits of the physical body alone felt as oppressive as Mount Tai crashing down from above.
No wonder even a prodigy like Li Moran had been sweating buckets from start to finish.
…
Zhou Yue’s illusionary world.
At this moment, Zhou Yue was standing before an old man wearing a red tengu mask, in an excellent mood.
Ever since defeating the Headless, his mastery of deflecting and sword techniques had risen another level. From the Hirata Estate three years ago, he had fought his way all the way back to Ashina Castle without encountering any real resistance.
Even Lady Butterfly, who had tormented Zhong Yi for an entire night, had been defeated with ease.
He was feeling a little too pleased with himself now. He even had the impression that he had already become one of the top sword cultivators in the world of Sekiro.
“I’ve brought you the rats. Here you go!”
Zhou Yue approached the mysterious old man with a grin to turn in the quest.
After defeating Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa, Wolf would inevitably trigger the quest in which the Tengu-masked old man asked him to hunt down some rats along the road ahead.
The so-called rats were members of hostile forces who had infiltrated Ashina Castle.
Zhou Yue quickly finished racking up the required kills and returned to turn in the quest. The reward from the Tengu-masked old man was quite generous: he simply tossed over a martial manual.
[Quest complete!]
[Reward obtained: Ashina-Style Swordsmanship]
“What the hell!? Ashina-Style Swordsmanship?? That’s incredible!!!”
Looking at the new skill branch that had appeared in his skill window, Zhou Yue’s eyes widened with excitement.
This city was called Ashina Castle, and Isshin Ashina was known as the strongest Sword Saint. Even the young Genichiro Ashina was capable of slaughtering Wolf with ease.
There was no need to explain how much Ashina-Style was worth.
“Hahaha~ The early wolf gets the rat~~”
Zhou Yue hummed a smug little tune. Then, on a rare whim, he glanced at the barrage of comments. His face immediately darkened.
“Bah! It’s ‘the early wolf gets the rat,’ not ‘the early wolf gets the crap’!!”
After cursing at the comments for a while, Zhou Yue suddenly spotted several messages that made his eyes light up.
“What?? This masked old man is Isshin Ashina?!”
“What do you mean he’s a boss you can fight? And that he’s insanely powerful?!”
“What do you mean Junior Sister Li was completely crushed by Isshin Ashina?!”
Upon hearing this news, Zhou Yue immediately perked up.
As an expert, he had never passed up an opportunity to spar with a powerful opponent.
“Old sir, wait a—huh?”
Zhou Yue abruptly turned around, only to discover that Isshin Ashina, who had been wearing the Tengu mask, had vanished at some point.
“What a shame!! I didn’t get the chance to spar with the Sword Saint!!!”
Zhou Yue could not help sighing. Then a sudden flash of inspiration struck him.
“Wait. If attacking him triggers a battle, then…”
A very bold hypothesis suddenly emerged in his mind.
Perhaps everyone in this world could be fought. He had simply been treating every character without a red name as an ally.
Aside from Isshin Ashina, another powerful figure’s name quickly surfaced in Zhou Yue’s mind:
The Sculptor.
The former wielder of the Shinobi Prosthetic, a mysterious old man who radiated the aura of a reclusive expert!
The moment he thought of this, Zhou Yue immediately teleported back to the Sculptor’s Idol at the Dilapidated Temple. He hurried cheerfully toward the inner room.
“Old man! How about a little sparring match?!”
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.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
nce】【Lighthearted Comedy】【Ultimate Gentleman's Novel】【Viewer Discretion Advised for Under 16】 The mightiest human hero, Sharen Morian, is resurrected after a thousand years by his wife—the Demon King. This is not your typical hero-vs-demon-king tale.
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."
