“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.
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)
ress Kneels to Admit Wrong] [Dealing with Love-Struck Fools] [Forced to the Throne] Ren Tianye transmigrated into a female-oriented novel world, only to find everyone in it was utterly insane. He risked his life to save a young girl from barbarians, but was accused of arriving too late and branded the real murderer. He held a knife to a military officer's neck, demanding the troop tally, but the officer only cared about questioning his wife: "Do you not love me anymore? All these years of affection and time together, they were all a mistake, a mistake!" After seizing Yunji City, the original defending general, to save face with the Empress, knelt on the ground: "You must give Yunji City back to me, or I'll hang myself at the city gate and let everyone know you're a villain!" The young lord of the Duke's mansion, to please a woman, directly ordered a merchant: "The menstrual pads you buy for her must be studded with diamonds. Loving her means giving her the best." Having become a great general, he was about to marry a merchant's daughter, who set a pre-nuptial rule: "I can divorce you anytime. When that happens, you must give me half of your troops and soldiers!" Even the Empress was a severe love-struck fool, who ordered the execution of 70,000 elite troops simply because they stood in the way of her romance. Ren Tianye was speechless. He was done. Let it all burn! This deranged female-oriented novel world! ...
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!"
Explosive Plot Song Gua crossed over into another world, bringing along a whole crew of his doppelgangers—all of them mischief-makers. This was a world where everyone could choose a class. Song Gua became a "Bondweaver," capable of borrowing power, while his doppelgangers took on a wide variety of classes, covering just about everything. The number of doppelgangers grew day by day, each one a talented individual with a charming way of speaking. Under Song Gua's brilliant leadership, they would "greet" each other daily and engage in friendly "sparring," pulling off one major scheme after another on Earth. Sometimes they were bandits—stealing bosses, plundering mines, snatching resources. Sometimes they were saviors—descending like divine warriors to face world bosses threatening to massacre cities. Sometimes they even went undercover, infiltrating various major factions to stir up trouble from within, keeping their enemies constantly on edge. To prevent their doppelganger abilities from being exposed, Song Gua made them wear masks with mahjong tile patterns and don Taoist robes in various colors. "Remember, in front of outsiders, call me 'The Dice.'" "Got it! Boss!" "Not 'Boss'—it's 'The Dice.' Think about the vibe, pay attention to the vibe." "Yes! Boss!" "For crying out loud..." From then on, whenever they appeared, they would have their own theme song playing: ~Hey~ paying respects at the mountain stronghold at night~ whose arm is draped over whose shoulder~ gather your courage and follow along...
