Both sides entered a state of gathering energy, their invisible clash growing increasingly intense.
Neither was in a hurry to strike, waiting instead for the right moment.
Their expressions were deadly serious, eyes locked onto each other as if nothing else in the world existed.
A towering tree collapsed—and that was the signal.
They moved simultaneously.
Nangong Xiyun: "Seven Stars Descend."
The normally composed Nangong Xiyun became ferocious the instant she swung her sword.
The arc of her blade carved out a stretch of starry sky.
The power imbued in the strike felt as though it carried the weight of seven blazing stars.
An exaggeration, perhaps, but it didn’t change the fact that, in Su Luo’s eyes, this was an overwhelmingly powerful attack.
Su Luo acted—not by drawing his sword, but by raising a small shield with his right hand.
The devastating strike met the shield, yet nothing happened.
Nangong Xiyun’s attack was effortlessly neutralized.
This was largely thanks to the perfection of her technique—none of the force scattered, all of it concentrated along the blade’s edge.
The tiny shield was just enough to cover the entire attack range.
But there was no time to celebrate.
Su Luo withdrew the shield and gripped his sword with both hands again.
"Now, it’s my turn."
From the start, Su Luo had no intention of confronting Nangong Xiyun head-on. Winning was all that mattered—whether it was dishonorable didn’t concern him.
He knew full well that, as he was now, he couldn’t match her in a direct clash.
Without hesitation, Su Luo brought his sword down.
"Sky-Piercing Slash."
In contrast to Nangong Xiyun’s technique, the fierce aura surrounding Su Luo’s sword, Xia Ying, faded as he swung, leaving behind only a simple, unadorned strike.
Plain, yet clean, precise, and graceful.
Nangong Xiyun was momentarily stunned—she hadn’t expected Su Luo to possess such a formidable shield—but she quickly twisted away, putting distance between them before countering with a sweeping slash.
Su Luo clicked his tongue in frustration. "Even now, she can still retaliate?"
In his initial plan, Nangong Xiyun would, at best, barely manage to block in such a short time. But here she was, striking back.
At this point, Su Luo couldn’t stop either.
BOOM!
Their blades collided, unleashing a deafening explosion.
This was their most violent clash yet. Beneath their feet, a massive crater formed, spreading wider by the second.
Nangong Xiyun hadn’t charged this strike—but her skill was monstrous.
Even in that split second, she could deliver a force strong enough to firmly halt Su Luo’s attack.
And so, it became a battle of attrition.
Once this state was reached, whoever faltered first would lose.
Su Luo had no retreat now. Trying to escape would only leave him riddled with openings.
He had no choice but to pour everything into his assault—yet he still couldn’t overpower Nangong Xiyun.
He could absorb her energy, but not all of it. Even if he won, his body wouldn’t survive.
That outcome was meaningless to Su Luo. He wanted to defeat Nangong Xiyun—and live to see it.
The stalemate continued.
"Su Luo, I had no idea you were this strong." Today, Nangong Xiyun finally grasped the extent of Su Luo’s power.
Truthfully, she was astonished.
Yet her expression remained as calm as ever, prompting Su Luo to remark:
"If you’re shocked, you could at least look a little more exaggerated. Sound more surprised. That’d make it more entertaining."
"I am shocked."
"Yeah, no one can tell."
Su Luo was too exhausted to even sigh. If only he could see Nangong Xiyun react like those background characters witnessing a protagonist’s grand moment—that would’ve been satisfying.
It would’ve been the ultimate acknowledgment of his strength.
Before this, Su Luo had never once earned Nangong Xiyun’s genuine attention.
(And no, he didn’t mean that in the literal sense.)
Time passed, and Su Luo finally drained the last of his spiritual energy. Even then, victory remained beyond his grasp.
His grip failed, and Xia Ying clattered to the ground.
Su Luo let out a bitter laugh.
He had abandoned all notions of honor, used every trick at his disposal—and still lost.
Maybe, deep down, he had believed he could win. That was why he hadn’t fled.
Only in the heat of battle had he realized—he wasn’t strong enough yet.
The power granted by the diary had made him overconfident.
"I lose." Su Luo gave up resisting—or rather, he no longer had the strength to resist.
At that moment, Nangong Xiyun also stopped. Her sword fell, and she staggered back a few steps before steadying herself.
Su Luo: "......"
"You held back. Why?"
He had lost the contest of force. What awaited him should’ve been her finishing strike—yet she had withdrawn.
There was no way Nangong Xiyun had exhausted herself in that exchange. Su Luo wasn’t so delusional as to believe that.
Caught, Nangong Xiyun didn’t hesitate. "You were never my target."
"Same difference. I’m from the Heavenly Demon Sect. If I lose, I should die—"
Su Luo swayed, his strength spent, and collapsed.
Nangong Xiyun stepped forward, shrinking the distance between them in an instant, and caught him before he hit the ground.
Su Luo murmured weakly, "If you could... just make it quick... I’d be grateful."
Instead of answering, Nangong Xiyun’s voice softened. "You’ve done well."
"No need to console me."
"There is."
"...Why?"
"Because I’ve taken a liking to you."
Su Luo’s head rested against Nangong Xiyun’s shoulder, so he couldn’t see her face—nor could he imagine what expression she might be wearing while saying such a thing.
The thought alone nearly made him laugh.
Though when he tried, even his laughter was faint.
"Hah... That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard..."
Every word dripped with disbelief.
Then, darkness took him.
In the end... he had still lost.
That was Su Luo’s final thought before slipping into unconsciousness.
Nangong Xiyun sighed. Of course Su Luo wouldn’t believe her—especially given her identity and how little time they’d spent together.
But she could no longer deny it. She did have feelings for him.
If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have lingered by his side for so long.
Yet this raised a problem—what if her true identity was exposed?
Would Su Luo despise her for deceiving him? How would he see her then?
For the first time, Nangong Xiyun felt that maintaining a disguise wasn’t entirely a good thing.
Well... she’d delay the truth for as long as possible.
She wasn’t ready to lay everything bare yet.
Gazing at the unconscious Su Luo, she gently ran her fingers through his hair, smoothing it down.
Then, she cupped his face, softly easing the tension from his furrowed brow.
"Losing once doesn’t mean you should be so disheartened. In time, even I might not be your match."
With that, Nangong Xiyun lifted Su Luo into her arms and carried him away.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
