Leading the Formation.
These two characters refer to the relationship between cultivators in which one side takes the lead while the other provides support. The leading side doesn't need to be overly powerful, but it should at least not be weaker than the cultivators being supported.
Xu Zhen glanced at Ma Xiaohong and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"
Since entering the Great Saint Ruins, Ma Xiaohong had been trembling, possibly due to epilepsy.
Ma Xiaohong swallowed and shook her head, replying, "I'm fine. I'm just a bit nervous. You don't have to worry about me. I can assist you."
"Good." Xu Zhen nodded and fell silent for a moment before speaking earnestly.
"Let's make it clear between us. Although you're using Xia Ge's flying sword to lead the formation for me, I owe you a genuine debt of gratitude. Whenever you need it, I will repay this debt to you."
"No, there's no need." Ma Xiaohong quickly shook her head. This time, she didn't stutter. With a serious and nervous expression, she emphasized once again, "No need."
"We will." Xu Zhen retorted.
"No." Ma Xiaohong said earnestly.
...
After some back and forth, neither of them convinced the other, so they fell silent, waiting for the appearance of the great opportunity in the Great Saint Ruins.
Xu Zhen stood with her hands behind her back, looking around idly. There wasn't much tension in her expression. Over the years, she had become more open-minded.
Obtaining a great opportunity in the form of the Great Saint Ruins would certainly be good, but not obtaining it didn't mean she couldn't survive, right?
Certainly not.
Even without obtaining it, she would still live on, continue cultivating, and possibly achieve the level of quasi-saint. There were great emperors in the history of various realms and dimensions who didn't obtain a great opportunity like the Great Saint Ruins at all. Some great emperors even started from humble beginnings and matured late, becoming emperors in their old age, invincible for tens of thousands of years.
The great opportunity of the Great Saint Ruins only allowed one to progress faster on the path of cultivation; it didn't guarantee becoming an emperor.
After all, not everyone was Chen Xia.
Chen Xia obtained the Universal Celestial Dragon Opportunity, which was a true opportunity to become a great emperor. It occupied the last seat of the Universal Celestial Dragon, which had been vacant for several eras.
It wasn't a certainty that he would become an emperor since there were too many unexpected events on the path of cultivation, and he might meet an untimely demise.
However, as long as he didn't die, Chen Xia would definitely become an emperor using the seat of the Universal Celestial Dragon. This was the legacy.
For Chen Xia, the great opportunity of the Universal Celestial Dragon was already comparable to a great emperor's opportunity.
Of course, this was only true for Chen Xia. For anyone else, it was just an ordinary great opportunity of being a quasi-saint.
This was also a two-way journey between the Universal Celestial Dragon's great opportunity and Chen Xia.
Xu Zhen exhaled deeply, and her hands behind her back moved forward, rubbing them slightly. She felt a chill between heaven and earth.
Thinking about it, it seemed that the daylight had decreased in recent days compared to before. Sometimes, there wouldn't even be sunlight shining down.
Did this mean that the Great Death Realm was about to be completely abandoned by the heavens?
Xu Zhen didn't quite understand, but she speculated that it might be the case.
If that were so, then not long after, the second opening of the Great Death Realm would occur, the appearance of the Great Emperor Ruins, and the arrival of quasi-saints and above.
The specific time should be after the opening of the eighth Great Saint Ruins.
Xu Zhen took another breath, and a faint cold air floated out in front of her, lingering in the air.
This time's Great Saint Ruins was only calculated by its name.
Extreme Yin Ruins.
Unlike the previous extremely yin and icy ruins, this is simply an extreme yin ruin, which should be related to the concept of extreme yin in the yin and yang virtual reality.
Xu Zhen was waiting.
Ma Xiaohong cheered herself on the side, constantly encouraging herself and silently chanting in her heart.
"Draw the sword, draw the sword, draw the sword..."
She held a sword in her arms.
She must strike out.
------------
Within the boundary.
First, there were small houses in the lower layer.
An elderly man sat on a small stool in front of the door, constantly exchanging greetings with passing cultivators. He had lived here for thousands of years and was very familiar with his "neighbors."
"Old Zhang, sunbathing again?" A light-hearted greeting came.
"Yes, yes." The old man squinted, deep wrinkles gathered on his face, radiating a joyful smile.
"But it's cloudy today." The greeting teased again, without any ill intentions, just the habitual banter among neighbors.
"Oh, really? I forgot." The old man touched his sparse hair and laughed again.
"Haha, that's hard to forget." The greeting ended with a laugh and quickly walked away.
Old Zhang sat alone on the stool, still pondering, "No sun, huh? Can't really tell."
He muttered to himself a couple of times, then suddenly reached out and tremblingly took out two pills from his pocket and swallowed them with difficulty.
One pill was effective for two hundred years and couldn't be repeated.
How many more years could he live?
It was hard to calculate. His mind was already dull, and his consciousness was blurred.
He was very old.
At this moment, he was still sitting on the small stool, with empty houses behind him.
Not to mention loneliness, it just felt a bit empty.
------------
"Xiaohong, draw your sword!" Xu Zhen shouted.
Buzz!
With a resounding sword cry, half of an immortal sword swiftly pulled Ma Xiaohong along and slashed forward, protecting Xu Zhen in the process. They complemented each other, one in front and one behind.
This was their first cooperation in over a thousand years.
Perhaps it wasn't perfect, as Ma Xiaohong sometimes lagged behind when drawing her sword, needing Xu Zhen to give the cue.
But it couldn't be blamed on Ma Xiaohong. After all, how could the consciousness of a Sea Inversing Realm keep up with a group of Heaven Mending Realms present?
Fortunately, their collaboration was still good. Their combat prowess was impressive during the fight, earning praise from other outstanding individuals. That's how they were evaluated.
Xu Zhen remained a top-notch talent in the Immortal Realm, and this flying sword and its sword slave were no exception!
As for who the sword slave was, it's not necessary to go into details. Those who understand, understand.
In any case, their fight within the Great Saint Ruins gained some reputation, which was considered useful. Ma Xiaohong did her best to support Xu Zhen, sometimes even blocking attacks for her, and then using her own physique and divine abilities to recover.
This was undoubtedly a great breakthrough for Ma Xiaohong.
Conversations between Xu Zhen and her became more frequent, and she often called Ma Xiaohong's name.
Ma Xiaohong would also respond softly, appearing somewhat nervous, mainly because that was her nature.
The two of them made some achievements, and Xu Zhen also gained some opportunities. Although they couldn't compare to the great opportunities of the Great Saint, it was still considered good and beneficial to her cultivation.
At this point, we have to mention one of Ma Xiaohong's great qualities.
She really never competed or fought for anything. Despite going through life and death situations for so many opportunities alongside Xu Zhen, she never asked Xu Zhen to share them with her. She truly didn't want them.
Ma Xiaohong had only one wish.
And that was to stay alive.
Xu Zhen was certain that Ma Xiaohong wasn't someone who sought cheap gains, so she divided the opportunity into two equal parts and made a fair agreement with Ma Xiaohong.
"We'll split it evenly. You can refuse if you want, but I must give it to you. It's a matter of principle."
"But it's useless to me," Ma Xiaohong expressed her confusion.
"Then you can sell it later and exchange it for spiritual stones. They should be useful to you," Xu Zhen's words were resolute.
"Alright," Ma Xiaohong nodded.
Their collaboration seemed to be on the right track, preparing for the next step.
But they were ambushed.
Led by the Little Sovereign, they were surrounded by figures from the Divine Realm, the Divine Child of the Immortal Realm, the True Transmission of the Twilight Realm, and the Lord of a Thousand Stars from the Dusk Domain.
It was a deadly situation!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
