The gloomy prison was filled with a oppressive atmosphere.
Chen Xia, however, stood calmly within, looking up and examining the formation, completely at odds with the surroundings.
The two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators guarding the door naturally couldn't understand this, nor did they try to. They were, however, somewhat curious about Chen Xia.
This was because Chen Xia showed no fluctuations of spiritual energy, and they couldn't sense any level of cultivation.
At first, the two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators thought Chen Xia was using some great technique to conceal his cultivation, but after observing for days, it seemed Chen Xia truly had no cultivation.
This was strange.
Someone without cultivation who entered this celestial prison should have been instantly crushed by the Grand Formation, or at the very least, tortured to unbearable agony.
Yet Chen Xia showed not the slightest sign of suffering.
Could it be an act?
The two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators were baffled. The second strangest thing to them was Chen Xia's youthful appearance.
It was rare to see cultivators with such a youthful appearance, as youth represented the early stages of cultivation when one's nature and path were immature, reducing heavenly opportunities.
Unless a cultivator practiced some special mystical arts, almost no cultivators maintained a youthful appearance.
Unless they were truly young.
This person was clearly not young, as the Elder Princess had said she knew him hundreds of years ago.
It could only be explained as bizarre.
Chen Xia was still studying the formation in the celestial prison, slowly analyzing it. Using the Time Dao from past to present, he had come to understand a little.
It was an extremely complex formation, comparable to asking Chen Xia to make the next move in chess after the opening and the knight's move had been played.
It was utterly bewildering.
Chen Xia decided to try deciphering the formation hands-on.
As soon as he touched it, it triggered.
The Grand Formation gathered an immense pressure, its energy instantly surging out, shaking the entire celestial prison as if a peak Heaven Mending Realm cultivator had struck with full force!
The two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators sensed something was wrong and hurriedly fled, not daring to withstand the formation's pressure.
Boom!
As this strike fell, the ground of the celestial prison cracked and spread for dozens of miles!
The two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators hid to one side, looking at the prison cell with shocked expressions.
The cell holding Chen Xia was filled with lingering pressure that refused to dissipate. Even a trace of this pressure could easily annihilate a Sea Inversing Realm cultivator.
This was the terror of the peak Heaven Mending Realm!
The two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators felt their hearts palpitate, thinking to themselves that Chen Xia was truly seeking death. They estimated his soul must have been obliterated, and they would need to inform the Elder Princess later.
They waited for the pressure to mostly dissipate before daring to slowly approach. When they got close, their eyes suddenly widened as if they had seen something terrifying.
In the prison cell,
Chen Xia still stood calmly, without even a tear in his clothes. He waved at them and asked with concern,
"Are you alright?"
The one who should have been obliterated was instead concerned for those who had fled. It could only be said that Chen Xia was indeed very kind.
The two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators swallowed hard, retracting their shocked expressions. Their backs felt a bit cold, and they didn't know how to respond. After a long pause, they stammered,
"We should be... be fine."
"Mm." Chen Xia nodded and took two steps forward.
The two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators hurriedly retreated, now extremely wary of Chen Xia.
"I'm going out for some fresh air. I'll be back later. Don't tell anyone else," Chen Xia said.
Before the two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators could come to their senses,
Chen Xia took another step. The river of time in his eyes flickered slightly, and with this step, his figure instantly vanished.
Only the two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators were left, staring blankly at the empty celestial prison.
Could one really come and go as they pleased from the most secure and terrifying depths of the Great Zhou Dynasty's celestial prison?
What kind of terrifying being was this?!
Above the starry sky,
Chen Xia stood on a cloud, hands behind his back, looking at the sun and moon. He felt the environment was indeed much better than inside the celestial prison, and it wasn't bad to come out for some fresh air occasionally.
The clouds in the sky didn't move, and neither did he.
Just listening to the faint sound of the wind made him feel carefree and relaxed.
For cultivators to comprehend the Dao, it truly depended on time and place.
In water to comprehend the water Dao, on mountains to comprehend the mountain Dao.
In the toilet...
I'd rather not say.
Chen Xia stood on the cloud for several hours. After taking in all the scenery, he waved to the sun and moon in the universe.
The sun and moon flickered slightly, as if responding to this lord from another realm.
Chen Xia chuckled softly, then took another step, and his body returned to the celestial prison.
The two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators who had been waiting for a long time hurriedly came forward and respectfully said,
"You've returned. Just now, some investigating cultivators came and asked what happened in the celestial prison, why the Grand Formation was triggered. We made up an excuse to brush them off. In the future, if you want to go out, please feel free to do so."
"It's nothing, just went out for some fresh air occasionally," Chen Xia replied, sitting back down in the prison cell.
"By the way, the Zhou Emperor specifically asked us to tell you that the medicine refining will begin in three months. Is that alright with you?" the Heaven Mending Realm cultivator asked respectfully, rubbing his hands.
"Fine," Chen Xia answered simply.
Although it had been a long time since he had refined medicine, Chen Xia never felt rusty about it.
Because he wasn't skilled to begin with, it all depended on his luck.
Now he had even more luck than in the Blue Sky Sword Sea, so he estimated that refining medicine would be even easier.
Time passed quickly.
During this period, Zhou Jia came specifically once, only to see the two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators bowing and scraping to Chen Xia. Her face froze, unable to accept this scene for a moment.
Fortunately, the two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators quickly returned to normal, standing guard seriously on the side.
Only then did Zhou Jia step forward, greeting them with an odd expression before turning to Chen Xia with concern,
"The medicine refining is about to begin. Are you really confident?"
"I'll definitely show you a thing or two, Senior Sister," Chen Xia replied, then frowned slightly and asked,
"Senior Sister, can you prepare some things for me? Otherwise, I won't be... comfortable refining."
Zhou Jia nodded, naturally knowing that alchemists all had their own refining habits and needed special items.
Chen Xia then listed the items he needed.
Zhou Jia frowned, feeling it was a bit strange, but still agreed.
Three months later, on the day of medicine refining,
The two Heaven Mending Realm cultivators respectfully escorted Chen Xia out and sent him to the refining platform.
The weather was perfect today, with great fortune.
They had chosen a day of extremely good fortune, what alchemists often called a "pill-forming day."
Many cultivators gathered on both sides of the viewing platform, all nobles and aristocrats of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Chen Xia walked out slowly, ascending the refining platform amidst a wave of discussion. However, he didn't use an alchemy furnace, but instead took out from the storage treasure Zhou Jia had given him...
A wok.
A spatula.
Whoa, time to stir-fry!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
] [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!"
villain is the number one simp for the book's leading female protagonist, Shen Wan'er. As expected, he later becomes a tool for the main character to show off and slap faces, ultimately meeting a tragic end with his family ruined and his life in shambles. Fortunately, he awakens the [Universal Pure Love System], which allows him to earn points by performing acts of pure love. To change his fate, Gu Yan makes a decisive choice to seek warmth and companionship with the book's biggest villain—Cold Qingqiu. ........... My name is Leng Qingqiu. To find the murderer who killed my parents years ago, I deliberately blinded myself so that everyone would lower their guard around me. Just as I was secretly accumulating power and capital according to my initial plan, a man walked into my world. "Lengleng, Qingqing, Qiuqiu, which nickname do you prefer?" I don't like any of them. You'd better leave quickly! "Why aren't you saying anything? How about I call you my baby wife?" Leng Qingqiu thinks to herself, this man is truly annoying! (Stubborn pure love warrior + single female lead + true pure love + 1v1)
