Nangong Xiyun carried Su Luo to a nearby tree hollow, spreading soft cloth on the ground before gently laying him down.
Su Luo still showed no signs of waking.
Nangong Xiyun sat beside him, watching quietly. The longer she gazed at his face, the more pleasing she found it—she could have looked forever.
But once Su Luo awoke, she would have to leave.
It was better to simply depart without explanation. Justifying why she had spared him would be difficult, so it was wiser to say nothing and let Su Luo speculate on his own.
However, before long, Nangong Xiyun sensed something and stepped out of the tree hollow.
"You’re still here?"
Before her stood Jiang Ningshu.
"Yes."
Jiang Ningshu slowly approached. Initially, she had intended to rescue Su Luo the moment he collapsed.
But upon realizing Nangong Xiyun had no intention of killing him, she decided to observe what the other woman would do.
Though nothing suspicious had happened, Jiang Ningshu still couldn’t trust Su Luo in Nangong Xiyun’s care.
So, she resolved to take him by force.
Nangong Xiyun remarked, "Su Luo said you would obey him today. Won’t he be disappointed by this?"
"He won’t see it, so he won’t know. But you—why did you hold back?"
"What I do is none of your concern."
"Fair enough. Then, will you hand Su Luo over to me?"
Jiang Ningshu drew the Heavenly Demon Sword. Whether Nangong Xiyun agreed or not made no difference—she had already decided to take him.
"You’re the Demon Lord, but I’m not afraid."
Nangong Xiyun knew Jiang Ningshu wasn’t at full strength. Even though her earlier battle with Su Luo had drained much of her energy, she wouldn’t be easily defeated.
Clang!
Their blades collided in an instant.
Jiang Ningshu poured all her remaining power into her strikes, aiming to end the fight swiftly.
Yet Nangong Xiyun, despite her injuries, moved with grace, dodging while countering with precision.
For a time, neither could gain the upper hand.
"You feel familiar. Have we met before?" Jiang Ningshu asked.
"I’ve been quite active lately, slaying members of your Heavenly Demon Sect."
"Not recently. Never mind, it doesn’t matter." Jiang Ningshu dismissed the thought—enemies were enemies, regardless.
She drove her sword into the ground, and darkness spread outward in a circle from its tip.
"Endless Dark Prison."
Blades of shadow surged from the blackened earth, lashing toward Nangong Xiyun.
She parried, but even when shattered, the fragments merged with others, forming larger swords that renewed their assault.
"Something similar? I can do that too."
Nangong Xiyun leaped into the air, evading the dark blades. Her sword traced a circle in the sky, expanding rapidly.
With a downward sweep, a colossal sword emerged from the ring and crashed down.
One blade against countless.
Nangong Xiyun’s giant sword shattered piece by piece, flickering faintly before dispersing.
Jiang Ningshu’s dark blades met the same fate—vanishing the moment they clashed with the descending sword.
Boom!
The exchange ended in a stalemate.
Nangong Xiyun was surprised by Jiang Ningshu’s strength. Hadn’t Su Luo written in his journal that she had only completed the first stage of her power? This didn’t match that description at all.
"Demon Lord, your strength is remarkable. Does Su Luo know?" Nangong Xiyun hinted.
If Su Luo and Jiang Ningshu joined forces, Nangong Xiyun wasn’t certain she could win.
Two top-tier experts collaborating would only amplify their might.
"What do you mean? What do you know?" Jiang Ningshu couldn’t hide her astonishment.
"I only know Su Luo isn’t aware of your current strength."
"So what? He never asked. But you—how much do you know? Does Su Luo know that?" Jiang Ningshu’s instincts told her Su Luo was unaware of Nangong Xiyun’s knowledge.
Otherwise, their earlier battle wouldn’t have been so intense.
They clashed again, now silent. Each sensed the other held secrets—ones Su Luo likely didn’t know.
Jiang Ningshu wasn’t worried. Her chances of victory were high, thanks in part to Su Luo’s earlier fight.
Nangong Xiyun refused to concede, confident she could still win despite her injuries.
Their battle grew fiercer.
Then—
A sudden, ragged cough from Su Luo broke the tension.
Both women halted instantly, rushing back to the tree hollow to check on him.
Su Luo remained unconscious, but his face twisted in pain, as if trapped in a nightmare.
No serious harm, though.
"You seem unusually concerned for Su Luo. Why?" Jiang Ningshu asked first. Fighting here was out of the question—what if they hurt him?
"Aren’t you the same?" Nangong Xiyun had no intention of fighting here either.
"I’m the Demon Lord. He’s a member of the Heavenly Demon Sect."
"Hmph. The sect has countless members. You don’t fuss over all of them," Nangong Xiyun retorted sarcastically.
"You’ve slaughtered so many of our sect, yet spared Su Luo. You must have ulterior motives."
"What I do is none of your business."
They tensed again, on the verge of resuming their fight—until a glance at Su Luo stopped them.
"Let’s take this elsewhere," Jiang Ningshu suggested.
"Forget it." Nangong Xiyun sheathed her sword. "I won’t fight. I’ll leave once Su Luo wakes."
"Fine." Jiang Ningshu accepted the decision. Her goal was achieved; prolonging the battle served no purpose.
"In that case, how about a pact?"
"Speak." Jiang Ningshu wouldn’t refuse outright. She was past acting on impulse.
"I won’t tell Su Luo about your secrets, and you won’t reveal mine. When the time is right, I’ll tell him myself."
Jiang Ningshu considered this. Her own secrets wouldn’t matter much if Su Luo learned them, but Nangong Xiyun seemed deeply concerned.
"What if I refuse?"
"Then so be it. You don’t know much anyway. On the other hand, if you accuse me of having ulterior motives toward Su Luo, he might pay more attention to me. That wouldn’t be so bad."
As long as her identity as "A’Yun" remained hidden—something the Demon Lord likely didn’t know—Nangong Xiyun almost found the idea appealing.
Hearing this, Jiang Ningshu agreed immediately.
"Very well. I accept."
"Then it’s settled."
No need for distrust. Though their interactions had been brief, instinct told them both would honor the agreement.
They tended to Su Luo in silence, careful not to reveal too much. Yet in caring for him, they were equally meticulous—dressing his wounds and even changing his clothes.
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!
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!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
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?!
