That was an ancient hall. Its exterior was simple—no eaves or protruding ridges, only several colossal stone pillars supporting the roof, their surfaces carved with patterns of stars.
The hall's door was open, and a faint blue light seeped out from within.
Xing Huang entered first, followed closely by Gu Changyuan.
Inside, the hall was far larger than it appeared from the outside.
At its center stood a massive stone table, circular in shape and several yards in diameter. Carved into its surface was a star map—a living, flowing star map.
Around the table were seven stone seats.
The seven seats were identical in material, size, and height, but the backs of each bore different carvings.
Xing Huang walked to the sixth seat and sat down.
Xing Pojun took the fourth seat.
Xing Wuyi settled into the third.
Xing Weiyang sat in the seventh seat, then promptly lay her head down on the table.
Xing Huang gestured for Gu Changyuan to sit in the first seat.
He walked over and sat down.
The moment he did, the star-track patterns on the backrest of his seat blazed to life.
Light spread from the backrest to the seat, from the seat to the armrests, from the armrests to the floor, and then along the starstone floor in all directions, illuminating the entire hall.
Across the entire Star Clan secret realm, everyone felt that ripple.
The Ancestral Star shone a little brighter. The Star Bridge turned a little faster. The orbits of the Star Fragments adjusted by a fraction.
Every Star Clan member, no matter where they were, sensed it: someone had claimed the Seat of the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Stars.
The light lasted for several breaths, then slowly dimmed.
Gu Changyuan sat upright in the stone seat, his back straight, his hands resting naturally on the armrests. His gaze swept calmly over the assembled patriarchs.
Seeing that everyone was seated, Xing Huang leaned forward slightly, her golden eyes fixed on Gu Changyuan.
“By the way, Changyuan—may I call you that?”
“Of course,” Gu Changyuan replied, his tone natural.
Xing Huang nodded, the light in her golden eyes growing serious.
“May we ask where Zixu’s remains are? If possible, we would like to bring him back.”
Gu Changyuan let out a soft sigh.
The sigh was faint, but in the silent hall, it was unmistakable.
“In the Abyss of Chaos,” he said, his voice calm.
“He and I met there.”
The words “Abyss of Chaos” fell, and the atmosphere in the hall shifted.
That name was something they had only seen in ancient texts, which described it as the gap between all realms—a chaotic realm where all laws ceased to exist.
To enter it was to face certain death. Even Immortal Emperors dared not tread there, for the entrance was undetectable, and the exit was likewise.
Seeing their expressions, Gu Changyuan unfolded the dusty tale of those years.
He spoke of how, in the Nine Heavens Realm, a sudden spatial rift had swallowed him, hurling him into that chaotic void where there was no up or down, no left or right, no passage of time.
He described the Abyss of Chaos itself—a place with no spiritual energy, no immortal essence, no energy of any kind for cultivators to absorb.
Only endless disorder, endless slaughter, and endless despair.
Every creature there was both hunter and prey. There were no allies, no trust, no rules.
Only survival—or death.
Then Gu Changyuan spoke of Xing Zixu.
He told of their meeting, their battle, and at last, their fall to a King of Stellar Beasts.
He did not mention the System. That was his hidden card, his final trump card.
He would play it only at the most opportune moment.
But not now. Not here. Not before these people he had just met.
A complex emotion surfaced in Xing Huang’s eyes—not fear, not surprise, but a sort of “so that’s how it was” understanding.
Xing Zixu had been missing for so many years. The Star Clan had exhausted every method to find him, all to no avail.
Not because his aura was concealed, or his karmic threads severed, but because he was not in any realm. He was in the Abyss of Chaos.
After hearing this, the sorrow in Xing Huang’s eyes deepened.
“So… so that’s where you found him?”
They had guessed many possibilities, but none had imagined the Abyss of Chaos.
Because entering there was as good as death.
Who would have thought that Zixu would be so resolute?
Gu Changyuan saw the grief etched on their faces and felt a stir in his heart.
He did not know what history lay between Xing Zixu and these patriarchs, but he could see the marks that history had left on them.
Xing Pojun’s eyes flashed with a hint of ferocity before he quickly regained composure.
Xing Wuyi’s silence was not that of one with nothing to say—it was the helplessness of one who could calculate all under the heavens yet could not foresee the fate of an old friend.
As for Xing Weiyang—she was sleeping, but Gu Changyuan noticed she had shifted her position. Earlier, she had been relaxed, careless, as comfortable as possible; now, she was curled up, tight, as if trying to hold something.
Gu Changyuan did not press. These people had been close friends for over ten thousand years. He was not there to open old wounds.
Xing Huang took a deep breath, the golden light in her eyes reigniting.
“Thank you for telling us this.”
Her voice regained its warmth, but Gu Changyuan could hear something else in it now—a nuance that sparked his curiosity.
With that, the heavy atmosphere in the hall slowly dissipated.
Over the following hours, they set aside their sorrow and conversed freely.
They spoke at length, explaining to Gu Changyuan the origins and heritage of the Star Firmament Clan, its accumulated power, and its Dao of the Stars.
They also listened patiently as Gu Changyuan recounted the Celestial Court he had founded and his plans.
Then Gu Changyuan bluntly proposed that the Star Clan join the Celestial Court.
In an instant, the once warm and harmonious atmosphere in the hall froze solid.
The air felt as if it had been instantly frozen, a faint pressure spreading silently in all directions.
“Hmph.”
A light snort.
It was not a laugh, not anger, not mockery, not disdain.
It was a complex sound, a mix of many emotions, forced from the depths of a throat.
Xing Pojun abruptly stood. Seven dark red Star Fragments expanded at his command, swelling from fist-sized to several yards in diameter, hovering above the Star Clan secret realm.
They formed an irregular formation, shrouding the entire star sea.
Dark red light cascaded down, dyeing the once azure star sea crimson.
Xing Pojun’s figure vanished, reappearing high above. His voice rang down, echoing through the star sea.
“You want the Star Clan to join the Celestial Court?”
He paused.
“Fine.”
“But first—prove that you can truly sit in his place.”
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!
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
