Chen Xia has become the most dazzling presence in the Logistics Department.
He's renowned throughout the department for three things: his reputation, chess skills, and alchemy, making him quite the celebrity.
Nearly every cultivator in the Logistics Department has played chess with Chen Xia and won against him, though their victories somehow felt hollow.
True, they won, but their horse piece did die at the beginning.
Fortunately, it was just a small joke, so no cultivator took it too seriously - they could always capture someone else's horse piece instead.
After all, smiles would eventually find their way to their faces.
"If I'm afraid to capture Chen Xia's horse, can't I just capture someone else's?"
This became known as the classic horse-trading mentality.
The cultivators got along well with Chen Xia, mainly because he wasn't pretentious and could chat with anyone.
Moreover, his status was significant, and there were many benefits to being on good terms with him.
Chen Xia is now the alchemy master of the entire Logistics Department, with even Alchemy Saints having to follow in his footsteps to learn.
These days, alchemists often carry around a set of woks and spatulas, occasionally stir-frying herbs when idle, claiming they're studying the Chen-style Alchemy Dao.
Of course, they couldn't truly master it, but they did improve - at least their cooking got much better. They could even publish a book now, titled "Alchemy: From Beginner to Master Chef."
This wasn't Chen Xia's fault though; it was their own issue. Chen Xia had become almost mythical in the eyes of many alchemists.
But this was due to his own abilities - he could create superior-grade elixirs with ease, just casually stir-frying with his spatula, and out would come the perfect medicine.
Even Great Emperors personally came to ask Chen Xia to refine medicine for them.
Chen Xia's approach was straightforward - he'd make medicine if you provided the materials and spirit stones. His prices were reasonable, so the Great Emperors were happy to seek his services.
Tian Sen the Great Emperor had even visited three times, each time requesting different medicines.
Chen Xia agreed each time, completing the refinement in just two steps, leaving Tian Sen the Great Emperor stunned. After a long while, he asked Chen Xia curiously:
"Are you really not a Five-Path cultivator?"
Implying that Chen Xia must have an additional path in alchemy.
"It's just a hobby," Chen Xia casually waved off.
This "hobby" made him an honored guest of most Great Emperors. Not just ordinary ones - even Three-Path Great Emperors would greet him with smiles, respectfully addressing him as "Master Chen."
His prestige couldn't be higher.
Chen Xia's fame grew even greater when he brought back the ninth Great Emperor's head from the left battlefront wall - that was his real merit!
The second battle at the frontline erupted thirty years later.
Chen Xia returned to the battlefield, this time not waiting for anyone. He raised his celestial sword projection and charged to the very front, showing no intention of retreat, spilling the blood of countless Dark Remnants.
His sword light remained brilliant in the sky, a gleaming line that refused to fade.
This battle stretched on for an extremely long time, with Chen Xia fighting at the forefront alone for seventeen years.
When he first returned to the city walls, his blue robe had lost all its original color, covered in blood and reeking of death.
He had lost count of how many Saints he'd killed and how many Great Emperors he'd crossed swords with. While the hand holding his celestial sword remained steady, his other hand trembled.
He had spent the longest time fighting on this battlefield and had killed the most enemies.
When he returned, his killing intent was so strong it surprised even the Great Emperors, who gave him extremely high praise:
"As fierce as he is reckless!"
Though Chen Xia had returned, it didn't mean the battle was over.
It continued endlessly, with no end in sight.
Perhaps this was what war truly was - a war between cultivators.
Chen Xia thought this as he changed his clothes and cleaned off the bloody smell, planning to rest for a few days to recover his blood essence and spiritual energy.
So he began wandering along the city walls.
He spoke most often with the half-dead Saints and Heaven Mending Realm cultivators, most barely clinging to life with shattered souls. Even if sent back to the Logistics Department, they couldn't be saved, so they just lay on the walls waiting for death.
Some of these dying cultivators stared blankly, as if using their final moments to reflect on their lives.
Others wept quietly, saying they didn't want to die, wanted to continue cultivating, wanted to reach higher realms, that they still had tens of thousands of years to live.
"That's a bit too negative," Chen Xia would comment, appearing heartless, yet as he turned away, he would let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
"Ah."
Among these dying cultivators, there was a special type - those who smiled carefreely, knowing they would die but still asking for a cup of celestial wine to drink, declaring they wanted to fight more, full of heroic spirit.
These were the hundred faces of dying cultivators. Chen Xia was powerless to help - even superior medicines couldn't heal a Saint's shattered soul, not even Imperial medicines could.
He stood on the city wall, gazing around casually.
Emperor Tianhe walked to his side, hands covered in blood, and spoke plainly:
"This is what battle is like. Nothing can be done about it. Don't watch too much, it'll affect your Dao heart."
"My heart is hard, I like watching these things," Chen Xia replied casually, arms crossed.
"You're just putting on a tough act," Emperor Tianhe shook his head.
"By the way, what's your relationship with Tian Sen the Great Emperor? Why do you both have 'Tian' in your names?" Chen Xia asked curiously.
"No relationship, just a coincidence," Emperor Tianhe denied, then continued:
"You should rest well. We don't know how long this battle will last. The Dark Remnants seem determined to push this battle line back, so..."
Emperor Tianhe didn't finish speaking, believing Chen Xia would understand, then turned to return to battle.
Ten days later.
A blue-robed figure stood atop the city wall, his celestial sword projection gleaming.
He had fought for seventeen years and rested for merely seventeen days before returning to the frontlines at a speed no one expected, continuing to fight at the forefront.
This was war, this was the frontline.
When the Heavenly Dao falters, someone must step forward.
Chen Xia never expected he would become such a person.
He often asked himself:
Had he done well enough?
The gloomy world.
No answer came.
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!"
spital. Good news: I've bound a system. Bad news: I'm still a baby. "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, do not bully the middle-aged for being poor — Divorce Comeback System." "Your marriage may have failed, but your luck in love has never run dry. Your childhood sweetheart, out of contact for twenty years, reappears. Her beauty remains, yet her eyes are brimming with tears." [Listen to the childhood sweetheart's sorrowful story.] Chen Zhi looked down at the diaper he was wearing, then at the little childhood sweetheart crying her heart out beside him, and fell into deep thought. Can anyone relate? I'm having a midlife crisis at an age where even rolling over is a struggle.
saw a female celebrity tied up and stuffed in the trunk! Little did he know, countless cameras were aimed at him at this moment - this was a new type of reality show. The first randomly selected passerby was caught in less than an hour. But when Xu Moru was selected, things started to take an unexpected turn. "Damn, this isn't how the script goes. This Xu Moru is too bold, he's not following the rules at all." "Crap, is this guy taking it seriously?" "The female celebrity has been scared to tears!"
