Immediately following, more and more raindrops were frozen and fell to the ground, as if a hailstone shower was underway.
Ning Yu watched this somewhat incredible scene, feeling the temperature around her rapidly dropping as well.
The moisture on her wet body began to condense into frost, with more icy mist gathering around her.
She felt her movements becoming increasingly sluggish, her eyebrows frosting over with white frost, and the ice layer on her body growing thicker until she was completely frozen.
She seemed to have turned into an ice sculpture, standing there motionless with Blood Kite in hand.
Emerging slowly from the icy mist was a man in a white robe, with a mature slicked-back hairstyle and a combat goggle covering his right eye.
He gazed at Ning Yu, who was now frozen solid, and waved his hand forward.
Behind him, two squads of soldiers, armed with firearms and dressed in neat combat uniforms, spread out and surrounded Ning Yu.
"Take Miss Ning Yu home."
The man issued the order, and the goggle on his right eye seemed to have frosted over. He took out a towel from his pocket and gently wiped it.
"Crack."
Just as the soldiers were about to act, metal ropes for binding already in hand, a crisp sound was heard.
Following that, the ice that had completely encased Ning Yu began to crack, spreading fissures until it shattered into ice shards and scattered across the ground.
Ning Yu's slightly red eyes reappeared amidst the icy mist.
"That feels much better."
She shook her silver hair from side to side, the pure white strands cascading like a waterfall, shimmering with the remaining ice crystals that fell.
Now, with Ning Yu breaking free from the ice, most of her body felt dry and refreshed, the moisture that had soaked her now transformed into ice shards on the ground.
She stood proudly amidst the icy mist, like a princess who had walked out of the kingdom of winter.
The soldiers were momentarily at a loss, as the battle they thought was over seemed about to begin anew.
The man watched Ning Yu in disbelief, never expecting her to be completely unaffected.
"Miss Ning Yu, come home with us. Your parents are waiting for you."
The man's gaze was calm and steady, locking onto Ning Yu, who suddenly felt the air around her drop in temperature again.
It was then that Ning Yu finally realized that the man in front of her was an Awakened.
She watched the raindrops falling into the icy mist around her, turning into ice cubes and then dissipating into fog.
Ning Yu smirked contemptuously and raised Blood Kite, pointing it at the man.
"No need for more words."
The man also sighed softly and then whispered:
"Capture her."
Now enveloped in the icy mist, the soldiers, due to their combat suits, seemed unaffected by the cold.
The man who created the icy mist was dressed lightly but clearly wasn't affected by his own ability.
Only Ning Yu felt her movements slowing down, her joints stiffening, though under her formidable physical strength, these debuffs were negligible.
Upon receiving the man's command, the soldiers raised their guns and aimed at Ning Yu, moving closer but not yet firing.
"We don't wish to harm you; please cooperate."
The man's words continued to persuade Ning Yu, as thick cold air began to concentrate around her, attempting to further impede her movements.
"Ah!!"
His words were answered by a soldier's scream. Ning Yu had somehow already moved behind him, and Blood Kite had pierced through his chest.
All the blood in his body was drawn out, flowing into Blood Kite and making the blade even redder.
When she withdrew the blade, the soldier was already dead, his shriveled body unable to even support the combat suit.
Blood Kite, nourished by human blood, emitted an eerie glow, and Ning Yu's eyes grew even redder.
Her predatory appearance was like that of a demon, and Ning Yu smiled at the others who hadn't yet reacted.
"But I want your lives."
Ning Yu's aura had now turned violent, an unnamed fury burning within her.
It was these annoying intruders who had disrupted her peaceful life, forcing her to leave Shen Yiyue temporarily.
And now, Shen Yiyue would be worried about her safety.
So, she now just wanted to deal with these unfortunate pests who had come knocking.
"Stand back!"
The soldiers, who had been hesitating, suddenly received the man's order and retreated.
They clearly needed to capture Ning Yu alive, so they dared not shoot directly, but the death of their comrade filled them with fear.
They even felt a sense that even if they fired, they couldn't kill this woman.
The man manipulated the icy mist, trying to gather it around Ning Yu. He hadn't expected that Ning Yu, a young lady, would so casually start killing.
Seeing her decisive and ruthless killing, he knew things were bad.
He couldn't hold back any longer; even if it caused some harm to Ning Yu, he had to use his full ability.
Ning Yu noticed the flashing electronic lights on his arm, as if there were some kind of circuit buried in his combat suit.
She immediately understood that this man, like Yan Xing, was an artificial Awakened created through cybernetic augmentation.
Ning Yu's dress was once again covered in frost; even a breath might freeze her lungs.
Suddenly, countless fine ice needles materialized around her, and as soon as they formed, they shot toward Ning Yu in a dense barrage.
Ning Yu narrowed her eyes to blur her vision and activated Future Reading.
She swung Blood Kite as if cutting through the icy wilderness, slicing through most of the ice needles, with a few deftly dodged.
Feeling her exposed skin gradually numbing, Ning Yu knew that continuing like this would lead to severe frostbite.
Before the man could make another move with the icy mist, she swung Blood Kite.
In the blink of an eye, she had reached the man's side, and his eyes finally revealed panic.
Seeing Blood Kite stabbing toward him, he hurriedly condensed thick frost into a shield, trying to block the attack.
"Pfft!"
Unfortunately, he had completely underestimated Blood Kite's sharpness; his ice shield was as fragile as paper, pierced through without resistance, and Blood Kite plunged directly into his chest.
At this close distance, he finally saw Ning Yu's crimson eyes, devoid of any emotion, only cold indifference to life.
This is bad!
The man was terrified, but instead of feeling his blood being drawn away, Ning Yu simply kicked out with a powerful blow to his head.
He felt a dizzying spin before being slammed into the ground, and then he passed out completely.
All the icy mist disappeared instantly.
"Splash!"
The rain began to fall again, unimpeded, soaking Ning Yu once more.
This time, Ning Yu felt even colder, the annoying wet feeling returning.
The soldiers behind the man were now completely panicked; one of them, not sure who, suddenly shouted:
"Fire!!"
Immediately, the sound of gunfire drowned out the rain.
All the gunfire was directed at Ning Yu.
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!"
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
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.
