In a small cabin.
The sages of the Blue Sky Sword Sea mostly wore puzzled expressions as they looked at the figure in blue robes before them, not understanding.
"Hey, did you grow up?" Li Yue asked with a blink.
Chen Xia shrugged helplessly and replied, "The main body had some business before, but now that it's back, I've returned to my original form."
"It really is your original form," Li Yang nodded. "You look exactly the same as you did in the Blue Sky Sword Sea. So many years have passed, and you haven't changed a bit, only your cultivation and battle power have increased. I'm truly envious."
Chen Xia stretched lazily and said with resignation, "There's nothing to envy about that. Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's discuss the matter of returning to the Blue Sky Sword Sea."
"Are you ready to start the return?" Qiu Li asked in a deep voice.
Chen Xia nodded in response.
"Yes, it's about time. Now that Heaven's Way Great Reckoning has descended, we probably can't avoid this great battle. So we need to quickly integrate the Star Region and improve our battle strength to try and survive this war."
Qiu Li fell silent. He had seen the battlefield of Heaven's Reckoning and knew how fierce it was. If they had to fight against such a thing, it would indeed be a matter of life and death.
Chen Xia clasped his hands behind his back and continued, "Let's set the time for half a year from now. You all prepare, and when the time comes, I'll start the return. You just need to stand by and add some fortune."
"Alright."
"I'll wear a beautiful outfit and stand right in the middle!" Li Yue said cheerfully, not at all considering that she wasn't actually a cultivator of the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
"Then I'll go into seclusion to prepare."
"..."
Everyone responded in turn and then went off to do their own things.
Emperor Capital remained in the small cabin. In order to tame the White Emperor, this unruly beast, he had gone to great lengths. He tied him to the door of the cabin, sealed all his divine abilities and spiritual energy, and even directly made the White Emperor fall to the level of a sage, the same as his own level.
Emperor Capital's daily taming method was simple: slapping. No matter what the White Emperor said, he would just slap him, with a simple reason:
"My hand itches, I feel like slapping."
In just a few short months of taming, the White Emperor was tortured beyond recognition. Even the Dark Invasion had almost been erased from him. It was truly ridiculous.
Now he couldn't be called the White Emperor anymore, he should be called Little White.
Emperor Capital had found his amusement, and for this half year, he "took care" of the White Emperor meticulously, taming him into complete submission.
Half a year is not a long time, and it passed quickly.
On this day at dawn, it was still early. The sky was barely light, with no sign of rosy clouds.
In the small cabin, Chen Xia stood at the door early, waiting for Chi Yu and Emperor Capital.
Emperor Capital had specially dressed up today, wearing a golden imperial robe with silk embroidery, his head adorned with the Dragon Horn Star-Subduing Crown, and his hand holding the Dragon-Binding Chain that tethered the White Emperor. When silent, he exuded an air of majesty.
Chi Yu had also rarely changed his attire, wearing a large red robe that covered his body like fire, with the Three Thousand Flames Crown suspended above his head. He too had dressed formally.
Only Chen Xia still wore his plain blue robe, simple to the extreme.
But it didn't matter, he was handsome.
After all, Emperor Capital and Chi Yu didn't look much like humans, their faces as misshapen as oddly shaped gourds. They had to make up for it with their attire.
"Let's go," Chen Xia said with a light laugh. A small reddish sword hovered beside him. He flicked the sword tip forward, and it let out a soft chime, as if commanding.
Hum! Hum! Hum!
Countless sword hums suddenly rose. Three million flying swords spread out, forming a great path of flying swords, with the River of Time as its foundation below.
The scene was grand and magnificent.
But grandeur was exactly what Chen Xia wanted. He took a step forward, his blue robe fluttering, and stepped onto the first flying sword. With each step on a flying sword, he ascended to the heavens.
Emperor Capital and Chi Yu followed behind him. Four great sages led the way, with two sages following behind.
The area where the ancestor star was located was just on one side of the Star Region, while the Blue Sky Sword Sea was on the other side. They had to cross from one side to the other.
They would have to traverse nearly half of the Star Region, passing by countless stars.
But there was no rush, because this was meant to be seen by those stars.
After traveling millions of miles, the void shimmered, and another figure appeared on the great path of flying swords. It was Qiu Li, dressed in an ancient black and gold dragon robe. He walked side by side with Emperor Capital, wearing a slight smile as he said in a low voice:
"You've actually dressed up to look quite human today."
Emperor Capital cast a disdainful glance and said, "I consider myself the most dashing in the world. Except for Brother Chen, I've never feared anyone in terms of handsomeness."
"Come on, you look like a wild beast baring its fangs and claws. I really don't know where your confidence comes from."
"..."
As the two bantered, Chi Yu stood quietly to the side with his arms crossed. He couldn't help but interject:
"Emperor Capital looks alright, at least better than me."
Emperor Capital brightened and quickly said, "See? Brother Chi Yu speaks fairly."
"Of course he's fair. He originally looks like a bird, so you looking better than him just means you look slightly better than a bird!"
Qiu Li's words were actually quite truthful, without any intention to belittle.
The great path of flying swords continued to flow.
Li Yang and Li Yue were already waiting at the outskirts of the Li Family's star river. Li Yang wore a dazzling golden robe, shining like the great sun, while Li Yue wore a pale, luminous white robe, resembling the moon in the sky.
"They're here, they're here!" Li Yue said excitedly.
As the three million flying swords approached, their figures flickered, and they both stepped onto the great path of flying swords, continuing forward.
Further back, Jia Bai and Huang Can waited on a star, and they too boarded the path of flying swords.
Hu Linye brought along the elders of the Blue Sky Sword Sea to board the swords.
The elders all wore festive red robes, following at the very end of the great path of flying swords.
With this, everyone had gathered.
A total of nine sages.
Eight sages walked in the middle, all wearing smiles, their eyes dancing with excitement and spirits high.
The figure in blue robes walked at the very front, leading the way for everyone. Treading on these three million sword intents, riding the River of Time, under the gaze of all the great powers in the Star Region, they headed towards the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
The other sages wore serious expressions, vaguely sensing Chen Xia's intentions, and said in deep voices:
"He wants to return to the Blue Sky Sword Sea again!"
"Can he succeed? This time the spectacle is so grand, it seems he doesn't just want to return, but to restore the Blue Sky Sword Sea to its dominant position from the previous great era!"
"Looking at it this way, Chen Xia's ambitions are immense, his appetite almost unimaginable."
"..."
The sages were speculating.
Chen Xia was already standing before the shattered Blue Sky Sword Sea, his gaze surveying the interior. He saw the Old Fisherman holding half of an Immortal Sword.
The Old Fisherman now had little life force left, and even the Dark Invasion on his body was sparse. It was estimated that he would perish in at most a few thousand years.
Chen Xia stood at the forefront, his eyes slightly lowered, his thoughts stretching far as he pondered many things.
He was the ender of the old era and the guide of the new era.
The universe was dark, and the dead sea of swords vaguely retained some traces of the past.
Chen Xia gave a light laugh. He still remembered being imprisoned beneath this sea of swords for five hundred years; he could be considered an old acquaintance of this sword sea.
No one behind him spoke; all were observing closely.
The blue robe rippled.
Chen Xia turned his head, his eyes containing the gray-white River of Time, slowly flowing. He smiled lightly at everyone and asked:
"Do you all miss it?"
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.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
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)
] [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!"
