“Rebellious disciple! Rebellious disciple! Rebellious disciple!”
“Without spiritual roots, how will you ever cultivate in the future!”
Forest Sword Hall.
Cloud-patterned tiger paintings adorned the walls, with wisps of blue smoke drifting through the air, and ancient trees towering above.
Li Wanshou's face was dark with anger, as he shouted at Xu Xi for the first time, his usual kind demeanor replaced by a fierce scolding. It was clear that he was truly furious this time.
“It’s simple, Teacher. I won’t cultivate anymore,” Xu Xi replied with a calm smile. Perhaps because this simulation was nearing its end, he felt no fear in the face of Li Wanshou’s rage.
He paused for a moment, then added in a more subdued tone, “After all, I don’t have many years left to live anyway. Cultivating or not doesn’t matter much.”
Hearing this, Li Wanshou’s expression froze, his anger slowly fading into a complex mix of emotions as he gazed at his beloved disciple who had lost all his cultivation.
“Tell me, from the beginning to the end, what exactly have you done?”
“Yes, Teacher.”
There was no need to hide, nor any reason to do so.
Xu Xi recounted in detail how he had researched external spiritual roots and how he had burned himself to create them, leaving no detail untold for Li Wanshou to fully understand.
“Ah,” Li Wanshou’s eyes widened in shock, even accidentally pulling out a white whisker.
“How could this be? I only mentioned it casually, yet you actually created external spiritual roots!”
“A genius, truly a genius!”
Li Wanshou was first overjoyed, then shook his head in regret. “Alas, you’ve destroyed your own spiritual roots, my child. Otherwise, ascending to become an immortal would have been within your reach.”
The old man fell silent, shaking his head and sighing repeatedly as he paced back and forth in the hall.
Finally, he stomped his foot in frustration and glared at Xu Xi.
“Rebellious disciple, why were you so hasty? Do you even know what you’ve done? Why didn’t you discuss this with me beforehand?!”
Bearing the brunt of the old man’s scolding, Xu Xi shook his head slightly. “If I had told you beforehand, you would have stopped me, wouldn’t you?”
“I understand your intentions, Teacher. You wanted me to take things slower, more carefully, and without harming myself, in order to save Moli’s life.”
“But, I couldn’t do that.”
“I couldn’t stand by and watch my own family member die.”
The old man was silent.
His lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to scold any further.
His eyes softened, filled with both understanding and a touch of pride, as if witnessing a child grow into adulthood.
“I understand,” Li Wanshou said.
“Since this was your decision, as your teacher, there’s nothing more I can say.”
All his anger subsided as he continued, “I’ll take care of the matter with the sect. I still have some sway there.”
“But Moli…”
Li Wanshou hesitated, unsure of how to proceed.
He knew how deeply the bond between the siblings ran. If Xu Moli were to find out that her brother had sacrificed himself to save her, she would likely be driven to the brink of despair.
A gentle breeze swept through the hall, rustling the leaves of the ancient trees outside, creating a wave-like shadow of the foliage.
In the distance, the faint chime of an ancient bell echoed.
Xu Xi’s gaze darkened. “I don’t plan to tell her the truth. After some time, I’ll leave the Heavenly Sword Sect.”
“Moli will be left in your care, Teacher.”
Sacrificing her brother’s life to survive was a cruel reality.
Even someone who had weathered countless storms would feel guilt and remorse.
Let alone…
A girl who had always looked up to Xu Xi as her pillar of support, never separated from him for a moment.
…
After discussing everything with his master, Xu Xi, carrying a simple wooden sword, slowly left the Forest Sword Hall. The sword had been forcefully given to him by the old man.
Specifically:
“Get out, rebellious disciple!”
“Take this sword with you so you don’t get beaten to death by mortals and embarrass me!”
The old man scolded and waved him off, eventually kicking Xu Xi out of the ancient hall with a loud slam of the door.
It seemed he never wanted to see Xu Xi again.
Standing outside the hall, Xu Xi looked down the winding path paved with green stone slabs. He reached back and gripped the wooden sword’s hilt, feeling the surge of powerful spiritual energy within.
With the original owner’s permission,
Even a mortal could wield it freely.
“Understood, disciple.”
…
Returning to his cave dwelling, Xu Xi stayed by the bedside for two days until the external spiritual roots fully merged with Xu Moli’s body. The original heavenly curse dissipated without a trace.
In contrast, Xu Moli’s Qi sensation had mysteriously advanced.
She hadn’t even started cultivating yet,
But she had already taken her first step into the realm of the extraordinary, thanks to her innate talent.
“Brother…”
Xu Moli’s voice was hoarse, weak from her recent recovery, but she soon noticed that her body no longer hurt, feeling an inexplicable sense of lightness.
“That’s great.”
As if guessing something, she smiled sweetly from her sickbed, “Brother, you’ve done what you promised me.”
“Yes,” Xu Xi gently held her warm, pale hand, which had regained its warmth.
It was like holding a fleeting flower,
Or catching the wind of summer.
His tired voice was filled with gentleness, “I promised you, Moli. I would bring you back, no matter what.”
The girl smiled even more joyfully, but soon, her eyes reddened uncontrollably, and she kept wiping them with the back of her hand.
“I’m sorry, Brother. I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel like crying.”
“It’s as if something very sad has happened.”
“It’s strange. I should be happy right now.”
For some reason,
Without knowing why,
Xu Moli clutched her chest, her fingers turning white from the force, as if something incredibly important was slipping away—something that absolutely must not be lost.
Something more important than her own life, more precious than all her convictions.
Like the roots of a tree, the wings of a bird, the fangs of a beast.
If that thing were gone, she would not be able to survive, suffocating from the loss.
“It’s okay,” Xu Xi’s soothing voice came from beside her, his hand gently stroking her hair. Only at this moment did the emptiness of losing that precious thing feel temporarily filled.
“I think it’s just because little Moli slept too long, and your body isn’t quite used to it yet.”
“It’ll get better after a while, don’t worry.”
Is that so…
The 17-year-old girl felt something was off, but thinking about it, Xu Xi had no reason to lie to her. Maybe it was just because she had been sick for too long that she couldn’t help but cry.
With that thought, her emotions gradually calmed down.
There was nothing to be afraid of anymore.
No matter what hardships came their way, her brother would always be by her side. As long as her brother was there, there was nothing to fear.
Yes, as long as her brother was there.
Xu Moli tightly grasped Xu Xi’s hand, holding on with all her strength, unwilling to let go.
“Brother, will you leave me?”
“…No, I won’t.”
This was a lie.
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
[Dao Companion Rental System]. By renting himself out as a temporary dao companion to daughters of destiny, Qin Hao could obtain generous rewards. His service philosophy was simple: play the role of the devoted lover, resolve their troubles, depart without a trace once the matter was settled, and absolutely avoid entangling karma. However, those daughters of destiny didn't see it that way. That night, all the major powers across the Three Realms and Nine Heavens jointly besieged the Qin Clan, plunging it into an unprecedented crisis. "It's Su Qingyue! The peerless sword immortal who attained the Dao and became an Immortal Emperor in a thousand years, the one who severed the River of Time with a single sword strike! When... when did our Qin Clan make an enemy of her?" Qin Hao stepped forward, clearing his throat lightly: "Ahem, Ancestors, don't panic. She's here for me. To be honest... she's my ex-girlfriend." From another direction, the newly ascended Empress of the Demon Realm arrived with ten thousand demons pressing on the border: "Qin Hao! Today, the entire Qin Clan shall be buried with you!" Hearing this, the Qin Clan ancestors all turned their eyes sharply towards Qin Hao. Qin Hao scratched his head somewhat sheepishly: "The Demon Empress... she's also my ex-girlfriend." Before the Qin ancestors could process this, an aloof figure traversed the River of Time: "The Qin Clan deserves annihilation!" Recognizing the newcomer, the Qin ancestors paled in terror: "It's her! Liu Ruyan, the Extinction Empress who ventured alone into the alien realm and suppressed it for an entire epoch! Didn't she vanish into the River of Time long ago? Why would she cross it just to target our clan?" Qin Hao scratched his head again, looking even more embarrassed: "My fault, my fault. She's an ex-girlfriend too." Watching countless celestial maidens descend, the Qin Clan ancestors were utterly astounded: "You scoundrel! Just... just how many women have you gotten involved with over the years?"
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)
invincible power, Gu Changge transmigrates into a fantasy world, bound to a sign-in system that grants him cultivation rewards and various peerless treasures daily. While others struggle desperately to break through their cultivation realms, he has long since reached the pinnacle of the Great Dao, becoming a reclusive Emperor whose true strength even he himself cannot fathom. Originally planning to lie low and retire peacefully on Purple Bamboo Peak, the system suddenly issues a new task — take on disciples. With no other choice, Gu Changge casually picks up a few disciples: The eldest disciple, born with a War God Constitution, is thrown a copy of "War God Stratagems" by him, and ends up conquering the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, becoming a peerless War God who sweeps across the cosmos. The second disciple, possessing a Chaos Sword Body, can break all techniques with a single sword, his swordsmanship unmatched throughout history. He points his sword at the heavens: "My master said, the sword and the man stand together. If the sword perishes... my master will give me another one." The third disciple, a reborn Empress who returns to her throne, her elegance and grace overshadowing all beings. And without anyone noticing, his own sect, the Qingxuan Sect, has become the number one sect on the continent. Looking at these unbelievably formidable disciples, Gu Changge, holding the "Primordial Purple Qi" he just signed in for, falls into deep thought: — Wasn't this supposed to be a peaceful retirement? How did I become the ultimate master?!
