"Maybe it's all an act."
Jiang Ningshu felt that some resolutions were fleeting—who knew if Chen Xing'an would continue heading north after gaining power?
"If it's an act, I'll accept it," Su Luo replied indifferently.
Little Yu chimed in, "Aren’t you afraid they’ll lose themselves in that power?"
She thought that obtaining overwhelming strength too quickly might not be a good thing.
Reaching the Nascent Soul level in an instant would surely inflate anyone’s ego.
And once inflated, they might recklessly expend the spiritual energy stored in the spirit stone before even reaching the north.
Then they’d be stuck in a dilemma.
Su Luo nodded. "That’s possible. But how they use it is up to them. I’ve already given it away. If you’re so concerned, why not follow them and see how they fare?"
"Fine."
Su Luo and the others began stealthily trailing Chen Xing'an and his group.
......
Chen Xing'an walked behind Li Yu, letting out a sinister chuckle.
"Keh keh keh, hand over that special spirit stone, and I might spare your life."
"Sure, sure."
Li Yu rolled his eyes and tossed the stone to Chen Xing'an.
Holding it, Chen Xing'an sighed. "You didn’t even hesitate."
He had only been joking.
"We grew up together. I know you."
"Even brothers might turn on each other over something like this."
"Then consider me a poor judge of character," Li Yu said dismissively.
Chen Xing'an shook his head. "That’s exactly why I told you to guard it carefully. Don’t just hand such a treasure to anyone."
He wasn’t the type to betray Li Yu over something like this—no scheming or fighting between them.
He’d only wanted to give Li Yu a taste of the ruthlessness of the cultivation world.
But it seemed the lesson hadn’t stuck.
Li Yu asked, "So, what’s the plan now?"
Truthfully, he wasn’t as eager as Chen Xing'an to head north—he’d only come along for companionship.
Now that they had this extraordinary spirit stone, staying put seemed wiser.
Keeping it as a life-saving treasure would ensure their safety while cultivating in the future.
They might miss the demon beast invasion, but they’d likely survive and grow stronger.
Chen Xing'an understood Li Yu’s thoughts.
They were just ordinary people with no powerful backing. Having such a trump card and wasting it on a journey north seemed foolish.
After a long pause, Chen Xing'an finally shook his head. "I can feel it—there’s an elder’s expectations imbued in this stone. I’ll go north. I won’t betray their trust."
Had Su Luo been there, he’d have said, "Do what you want. It’s your choice."
"Fine, I’ll go with you."
"Let’s move."
Chen Xing'an activated the spirit stone, surging forward with incredible speed, covering vast distances in an instant.
His heart raced with excitement.
When would he ever wield such power himself?
Li Yu hurried after him. "Hey, hey! You’re wasting it just on travel?"
Chen Xing'an blinked. "What else?"
"If we’re going, let’s do something meaningful. Save the energy—we might need it to fight the demon beasts in the north."
"You serious? We could die."
Originally, Chen Xing'an had only planned to observe from afar.
"Don’t kid yourself. We left home prepared to die."
"I just don’t want you to die. So, what’s the plan?"
Li Yu had an idea. "Before, we lacked the strength to join others heading north. Now we have it. We can hitch a ride with another group and save our energy for the battle."
"Brilliant."
Agreeing to Li Yu’s plan, Chen Xing'an stopped using the stone’s power and resumed traveling under his own strength.
They’d wait to encounter another group.
From a distance, Su Luo observed them. "Why’d they slow down?"
Jiang Ningshu said, "Maybe they’re having second thoughts."
Su Luo chuckled. "Makes sense. But looks like we won’t get to see them turn on each other."
Jiang Ningshu gave him a look. "You actually wanted that?"
"It could’ve happened. People are like that."
"But why the slowdown?"
"Maybe they’re not used to it yet."
Though they’d keep an eye on Chen Xing'an and Li Yu, they wouldn’t obsess over them.
Su Luo and the others had their own business to attend to, only checking in occasionally.
Truthfully, this trip north wasn’t particularly eventful.
They’d already visited all the famous sights along the way.
Now, they were just bored.
......
With many still journeying north, Chen Xing'an and Li Yu soon managed to strike up a conversation with a group from the Misty Cloud Sect.
Li Yu spun a tale, claiming they were on a family-assigned trial—reaching the north would complete it, where someone would receive them.
He then discreetly activated the spirit stone to display their "strength," hiding the stone itself.
Whether the sect could see through the ruse was another matter.
But realistically, the Misty Cloud Sect wouldn’t resort to murder and theft.
As Li Yu predicted, the sect members were friendly.
Seeing the duo’s apparent capability, they tentatively believed the story.
However, a Nascent Soul elder from the sect remarked, "Riding with us hardly counts as a trial, does it?"
Li Yu explained, "It’s fine. They said any method of reaching the north is acceptable."
Chen Xing'an stayed quiet, figuring he’d only trip himself up if he spoke. Better to let Li Yu handle it.
In the end, the elder relented, allowing them to hitch a ride.
Su Luo and the others were baffled. "They hitched a ride? Learned to value their resources?"
Su Luo had assumed Chen Xing'an would charge ahead recklessly.
Jiang Ningshu asked, "Should we follow?"
At this pace, Su Luo’s leisurely stroll wouldn’t keep up.
"Let’s not. We’re in no hurry."
After a moment’s thought, Su Luo dismissed the idea. He wasn’t one to dance to others’ rhythms.
He’d hoped observing them would be entertaining, but they’d chosen this approach instead.
Su Luo and the others stopped paying attention.
Yet while they weren’t watching, others were.
During a demon beast attack, the Misty Cloud elder noticed something odd about Chen Xing'an and Li Yu.
The power they wielded wasn’t their own.
While it was normal for disciples on a trial to have life-saving treasures, theirs seemed excessively potent.
So, one night, the elder summoned them, demanding to see the treasure.
Under pressure, Chen Xing'an and Li Yu had no choice. Clever as they were, their youth and inexperience left them outmatched.
Still, they played it smart—only revealing Chen Xing'an’s spirit stone.
The elder examined it closely, growing more astonished the longer he studied it.
This thing… was far too valuable.
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!
] [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!"
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
