Xu Mu followed her up into the cave and found it was just like the one he had entered earlier.
Bones were scattered all around, the only difference being a round stone platform up ahead.
Standing atop it was a skeleton holding a longsword—judging by its posture, it had died standing.
Sheng Qiu walked over, bowed to the standing skeleton, then removed the two rings from its fingers.
She didn't bother checking what was inside the rings, simply stashed them away and immediately moved on to the next cave entrance.
This area was much smaller, similar to where Xu Mu had gone before.
Sheng Qiu collected all the rings here as well, then leaped out of the cave.
Xu Mu followed behind her, and together they returned to the spot where the stone statue stood.
"Haven't you two got an old man with you? Where is he? Nothing's happened to him, has it?"
Xu Mu asked curiously.
"No, even if something happened to the two of us, he'd be fine. After entering this place, someone has to stay inside a certain formation up ahead while activating it at the same time for the formation to shut down."
Sheng Qiu said, then looked over at the phantom figure. "Senior, activate the formation. We're ready to head back and report."
"Alright, do come by often."
The phantom figure turned back into black mist and merged into the stone statue.
HUM!
The statue glowed, and a black circular formation gathered around it before surging high into the air.
Xu Mu looked up to watch, then asked, "That man earlier—what form does he exist in?"
"You can think of it as a soul. It's something our clan created—it allows those on the verge of death to exist forever through a formation."
Sheng Qiu said calmly. "I don't know the exact details myself."
HUM!
A strange force filled the space around Xu Mu, making his skin tingle.
It lasted about ten seconds, then the space around them began to warp and finally vanished completely.
Xu Mu and the others stood atop a rocky mountain peak, surrounded by trees and grassland, much like the mountains outside.
"Alright, let's get out of here quickly."
Sheng Qiu pulled the hood of her black robe back on and was about to leave.
Xu Mu activated his perception and sensed that Chen Xuan and the others were nearby.
He used telepathy to notify Chen Xuan first, then headed in their direction.
Chen Xuan, Yang Lielan, and An Linghui all hurried over to meet him.
Xu Mu greeted them with a smile. "Old Chen, what happened with Ye Chen?"
Chen Xuan explained, "That member of the Holy Light Clan said she's already killed him."
"Impossible! Ye Chen would never—"
Xu Mu checked with his perception, and his face suddenly changed. "Not good!"
His eyes locked onto the distant sky.
"Divine Judgment! Holy Light Verdict!"
High in the far distance, a massive golden hammer appeared above Hathaway's head.
The strike zone of the hammer covered a diameter of nearly a hundred meters.
In an instant, the hammer appeared directly above Xu Mu and the others, with countless strands of white vapor condensing around it.
"Damn! This is the Holy Light Clan's divine artifact! I didn't think that woman would be chosen by a divine artifact!"
Sheng Qiu's voice trembled when she saw this.
"We need to run!"
Gezi grabbed Sheng Qiu by the shoulder and said urgently.
But Sheng Qiu flew straight up into the sky, black power surging from within her.
The black power turned into countless symbols that covered her body.
Finally, she transformed into a massive black sphere and collided with the hammer.
"Get out of here!"
Sheng Qiu's voice came from high above.
Chen Xuan, Yang Lielan, and An Linghui moved quickly, scattering in all directions.
But Xu Mu stood frozen on the spot, staring up at the black sphere.
"Brother Mu!"
Chen Xuan shouted from afar.
Xu Mu ignored him. He first controlled the gu worms to drain all of Hathaway's qi, then flew toward the sky.
This time, he had indeed miscalculated. Someone with Hathaway's temperament shouldn't have been let go in the first place.
In the distance, Hathaway's eyes were full of madness. "Xu Mu! Who knew you were such a sentimental man? A mere mortal trying to save a transcendent—fine, I'll grant your wish!"
RUMBLE!
The hammer didn't fall. Instead, it exploded in the sky.
A blinding golden light, like the sun, instantly devoured everything around it.
The rocky mountain melted away in the radiance, plants were completely vaporized, and a terrifying storm swept through every corner of the inner realm.
Even Chen Xuan and the others couldn't stop the storm despite unleashing their qi energy.
Even Hathaway herself, far away, was sent flying by the force.
Ye Chen, hidden in the distance, swiftly spread her golden wings and grabbed Hathaway by the shoulders from behind.
"Hahaha! Worthy of the Holy Light Clan's divine artifact—so powerful!"
Ye Chen felt the overwhelming force and joy filled her face. Finally, that annoying pest was gone.
Hathaway clutched the one-foot-long golden hammer, panting heavily.
"This artifact can forcibly drain my power and unleash it all at once."
Hathaway clenched the hammer tightly and said coldly, "Forget an ordinary mortal—even if Xu Mu were rank three or four, he'd be reduced to ashes!"
Thinking about how that bastard had drawn a little pig on her Thunder Monarch form, and even used the fire date as the pig's protruding snout, she wanted nothing more than to devour Xu Mu alive.
And he wanted her to control herself, coming to him every month for the antidote?
She'd rather throw her life away—what did he have to fight her with?
Suddenly, Hathaway's body trembled violently. Blood poured endlessly from her mouth and nose.
She deflated like a punctured balloon, collapsing to the ground.
Her face was pale as paper, disbelief flooding her eyes. "This is... the backlash of the Demon's Guardian... Xu Mu didn't die?"
In the distance.
The light faded. Although the explosion had occurred in the sky, a massive crater had formed in the earth below.
It was as if a meteorite had slammed into the ground.
The clothes on Xu Mu's back had completely evaporated, leaving his back bloody and raw.
And he held Sheng Qiu in his arms, shielding her with his own body.
But Xu Mu's protection couldn't be absolute. Sheng Qiu, cradled in his embrace, was also covered in blood, gravely wounded and on the verge of death.
"You... why did you save me?"
Sheng Qiu asked, her eyes wide open.
She couldn't believe that despite such a tremendous impact, Xu Mu's body remained intact.
"Because you were saving me?" Xu Mu grinned.
[Affection +10]
Sheng Qiu still couldn't comprehend it. She had saved Xu Mu for a reason, but why did he save her?
Xu Mu looked at Sheng Qiu, whose face was streaked with blood, and asked, "Now it's my turn to ask you. Why did you save me? Are we that close?"
"Because... my master said she really likes you..."
Whoosh!
The moment Sheng Qiu finished speaking, she was snatched away by a figure in black robes. That same figure tucked the distant Gezi under his arm and vanished from the spot in the blink of an eye.
"Seriously! We were just hitting the emotional peak, and you couldn't let me finish my questions before leaving?"
Xu Mu wiped the blood from his face with his hand and turned around.
"Brother Mu!"
Chen Xuan teleported to Xu Mu's side via the transfer formation, grabbing his shoulders, his eyes slightly red. "You're not dead?"
In the distance, Yang Lielan and An Linghui were both stunned beyond words.
Given the terrifying power of that blast, even they at their level should have been reduced to fragments—yet Xu Mu was still alive!
Hathaway was also dumbfounded, looking at him like she'd seen a ghost.
Was Xu Mu not made of flesh and blood?
Damn it, how was he still alive after that?!
Ye Chen's face twisted in fury as well. Leaving aside whether he was dead or not, the guy was still standing.
At least lie down, damn it!
"Dead my ass! But the pain is real."
Xu Mu clenched his fists a few times.
In that instant just now, he had used his last spark, expending nearly all the qi in his body and releasing it.
His goal was to use his own power to counter the impact of the attack.
After that, he had consecutively drawn three Golden Shields, used the Spirit-Devouring Sacred Gu to absorb the strikes, and finally employed the Demon's Guardian, along with the Burning Heaven Sword Qi to protect his body.
But he hadn't expected even all those layers of defense to be blown through.
"Hathaway! Ye Chen!"
Xu Mu suddenly turned his gaze to the distance.
Ye Chen heard Xu Mu's voice and felt his body instinctively tremble.
Then he punched himself, disgusted—he was actually afraid!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
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?!
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!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
