Su Luo took the initiative this time, swinging his sword down with tremendous force, the sheer pressure of the blade rushing straight toward Lin Xuan.
He couldn’t afford to hold back.
Lin Xuan’s eyes narrowed as he stomped his right foot into the ground, his own sword flashing upward in a swift arc to meet Su Luo’s strike head-on.
Yet, Su Luo proved superior. Sensing the disadvantage, Lin Xuan hastily retreated, minimizing the damage.
Su Luo pressed his advantage, while Lin Xuan defended cautiously.
But in Su Luo’s eyes, his defenses were full of openings.
For the first time, Lin Xuan felt utterly powerless—as if nothing he did mattered, like sinking deeper into a swamp the more he struggled.
But how could he just surrender?
He plunged his sword into the ground, his entire body enveloped in spiritual energy, his fists blazing like roaring flames.
Charging at Su Luo, he unleashed a relentless barrage of punches.
Yet Su Luo effortlessly parried every strike with a single-handed grip on his sword. Even though Lin Xuan’s fists were far more refined than his swordsmanship, it made no difference.
Su Luo always stayed one step ahead.
"Gale Pride Dragon Fist!"
A sudden whirlwind erupted behind Lin Xuan, propelling him forward at blinding speed. Clenching his fists together, a phantom dragon’s roar erupted from them, crashing toward Su Luo.
Su Luo merely took a deep breath—then let out a deafening shout. The shockwave obliterated the dragon’s spectral form mid-flight.
But Lin Xuan’s assault wasn’t over. Before he realized it, he had closed the distance, launching an uppercut.
Got him!
Yet his fist met no resistance.
"How disappointing."
Su Luo’s blade sliced into Lin Xuan once more before he leaped back, putting distance between them. "It’s about time we ended this."
Gathering his spiritual energy, Su Luo winced as his wounds flared up, coughing twice. But when he raised his head again, his entire aura had transformed.
Lin Xuan’s right hand trembled violently. His left hand clamped down on it, forcing himself to steady.
Stay calm. Focus.
"Eyes of Insight."
He concentrated all his attention into his vision. When Su Luo attacked, he would react.
True enough, Su Luo’s movements became clearer, allowing Lin Xuan to enter a state of hyper-awareness. If he could see it, he could counter.
And Su Luo was injured—even if his attacks were fiercer now, Lin Xuan could barely hold on.
I can do this. Just hold out. At least land one hit before I go down.
But then—Su Luo’s sword vanished from his sight. The next moment, the blade was already piercing through his chest.
Lin Xuan couldn’t comprehend it. Why couldn’t I see it?
"Feel the fear. This is the reality of your weakness."
Su Luo yanked the sword free and kicked Lin Xuan away, then slowly dragged his blade toward him.
He wanted Lin Xuan to savor the terror.
With each deliberate step, Su Luo intensified his killing intent to its peak.
Lin Xuan couldn’t even breathe.
I’m going to die. Die. Die. DIE—
The thought consumed him entirely.
Su Luo’s acting was flawless—Lin Xuan truly believed he would kill him.
And then, Su Luo struck.
"Goodbye."
The threat of death hurled Lin Xuan into a flashback—a moment of invincibility, where time stood still.
When the memories faded, an explosive power erupted from his body.
"I can still... fight!"
At the brink of death, Lin Xuan had broken through.
BOOM!
A shockwave blasted outward, but Su Luo had already retreated, unharmed.
Lin Xuan slowly rose, savoring the overwhelming strength of his newfound breakthrough.
This time, victory wasn’t impossible.
His eyes hardened with confidence as he strategized, calculating how to defeat Su Luo.
But Su Luo wasn’t interested. His goal achieved, he rolled back, feigning fury and frustration.
"Damn you, Lin Xuan! Next time, I’ll kill you for sure!"
With that, Su Luo fled—swift, decisive, leaving no room for Lin Xuan to even speak.
Now, all that remained was Lin Xuan, arm outstretched, staring at empty air where Su Luo had vanished.
A cold wind blew past.
Lin Xuan’s mind short-circuited.
Wait—I just got beaten half to death, finally powered up, and now you’re leaving?
That stab was for nothing? That beating was just free damage?
He stood there, utterly lost in the wind.
---
Emperor Heaven Sect.
"The Heavenly Demon Sect… how bold."
Di Haoran surveyed the damage to his sect. Had he arrived any later, the losses would’ve been far worse.
The Left Envoy hadn’t expected Di Haoran’s sudden return, but he maintained his composure. "Sect Leader Di, long time no see. We brought you a gift."
"Then stay. Permanently."
Di Haoran struck without hesitation.
The Left Envoy met him head-on—but within mere exchanges, Di Haoran’s blade cleaved him in two.
Yet Di Haoran showed no satisfaction. "A clone…"
Indeed, this was merely the Left Envoy’s doppelgänger.
With the mission concluded, the Left Envoy issued the retreat order. The Heavenly Demon Sect’s forces scattered, each escaping on their own.
Di Haoran intercepted the North End Demon Lord, communicating via encrypted speech. "Why wasn’t there any intel this time?"
"The Left Envoy only announced the mission last minute. He’s grown suspicious of me—it’s been hard to operate lately."
"What else do you know?"
"Nothing concrete. The Left Envoy plans on the fly. But… the Heavenly Demon Sect will soon attack…"
The North End Demon Lord rattled off a few random locations—fabricated. If he later sent men to raid those places, they’d become "verified" intelligence.
Di Haoran had asked, after all. Might as well prove his worth.
But Di Haoran was unimpressed. The intel was clearly useless.
You call yourself one of the Four Great Heavenly Demons? Even ordinary spies bring better information.
Still, he couldn’t scold him. The man had sacrificed much for this infiltration.
Discreetly, Di Haoran passed him a storage ring before they exchanged a few more blows for appearances. The North End Demon Lord then fled smoothly.
The Heavenly Demon Sect had come fast and left faster.
Yet Di Haoran wasn’t letting them off so easily. He pursued, intent on crippling them.
The recapture of the Northern Sky Gate was imminent—he couldn’t afford their interference now.
But the Heavenly Demon Sect wasn’t to be underestimated.
Despite his strength, the Left Envoy and Right Envoy intercepted him at a critical moment, buying time for the others to escape before vanishing themselves.
In the end, Di Haoran had only managed to wound the Heavenly Demon Sect—not crush it.
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
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!
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?!
