"Ah!"
The icy sensation of liquid enveloping her head suddenly receded like a tide, and Ning Xuan jolted awake from her dream.
She found herself in a dim, underground space, surrounded by utter silence. She was completely alone.
Raising her prosthetic arm, a faint light began to emanate from it, casting a dim glow in the darkness.
She was in a hidden tunnel.
While on her mission to destroy the altars, she had accidentally stumbled upon traces of the zombie horde led by Chen Xing. They were moving underground on a massive scale.
There was no need to guess their target—it was undoubtedly Ning Yu.
So, she had been tracking the horde for a long time, ready to warn Ning Yu at any moment.
But after just half an hour of rest, she had unexpectedly fallen into a dream—something rare for her since becoming a cyborg. She no longer had a strong need for sleep, let alone dreams.
Yet, every time she did dream, it was always the same strange scene: a dark red-lit laboratory filled with countless replicas of her own head.
She shook her head, pushing the chaotic thoughts aside. Half an hour had passed, and she needed to resume tracking Chen Xing and the zombie horde.
As she stood up, the pocket watch she carried slipped from her body and fell to the ground.
Ning Xuan picked it up casually and opened it. Inside was a childhood photo of her and Ning Yu.
"I should take a new photo with my sister and put it in here," she thought, feeling a faint sense of anticipation.
But just as she was about to close the watch, she noticed something strange.
"Huh? Why has my watch stopped?"
The ticking sound, which was usually faint, had completely ceased. In the silence of the underground, the absence of the sound was glaringly obvious.
"That's weird. I just wound it up recently."
Without giving it further thought, she tucked the watch back into her pocket.
As she approached the hidden tunnel exit, ready to leave, her entire body tensed up.
A strong sense of danger surged through her.
"Clang!"
In an instant, her hands transformed into metallic blades, their faint blue glow illuminating her silver hair and the walls of the tunnel.
At the end of the tunnel, two Gluttons emerged, blocking her path.
Damn it, she'd been discovered!
Ning Xuan cursed inwardly, realizing she had been careless. Resting in such a place and even falling into a dream was a mistake.
Staying here any longer would likely trap her. The space was too confined for her to fight effectively, so she had to make a quick escape.
Without hesitation, the mechanical wings on her back began to extend, and her prosthetic devices ignited with bright flames.
The two Gluttons crawled into the tunnel from either side, only to be met with Ning Xuan charging at them at full speed. The impact sent them flying backward.
As they tumbled through the air, they flailed their claws, trying to attack Ning Xuan, but she swiftly pinned them against the tunnel walls with her blades.
Two long streaks of blood were left on the walls as she dragged them along.
By the time she reached the end of the tunnel, the two Gluttons were already disoriented. With two clean strikes, Ning Xuan decapitated them.
She didn't linger. The Gluttons would begin regenerating soon.
She burst out of the tunnel and into a more open area below, where a previously destroyed altar lay.
"Found you."
The area around the altar was now swarming with zombies and mutated zombies.
At their center stood Leviathan, his grayish-white hair cropped short, one eye covered by an eyepatch, and the other gleaming with a mocking light as he looked at Ning Xuan.
"It was you who's been causing trouble for Lady Pride. How dare you betray the master?"
He pulled out his Love-Hate Scythe from his back, its eye locking onto Ning Xuan, making her skin crawl.
"Don't act so righteous. Aren't you doing the same?"
Ning Xuan retorted coldly, but before her words could fully settle, Leviathan was already closing in with his scythe.
The zombies around them scattered, sealing off all possible exits, as if preparing to trap her like a rat in a cage.
"Clang! Clang!"
Sparks flew as her metallic blades clashed with Leviathan's scythe. However, Leviathan's strength seemed far superior, forcing her to retreat step by step.
"What's wrong, Miss Ning Xuan? Show me your true power!"
Leviathan sneered, his movements growing faster and more aggressive.
"Or... is this all you've got?"
Suddenly, a second Leviathan materialized beside him—a summoned clone.
With the clone joining the fight, Ning Xuan's situation worsened. Her mechanical wings glowed brighter, and her speed increased, but she seemed unwilling to engage in a prolonged battle.
Dodging the attacks from both Leviathan and his clone, she began summoning swirling black energy around her.
"Your life is mine!"
A third Leviathan clone suddenly appeared behind Ning Xuan, and all three closed in on her, cutting off any escape route.
But his attack missed entirely. A sudden black hole enveloped Ning Xuan's body as she activated a spatial jump.
Her priority wasn't to fight Chen Xing's forces to the death. She needed to destroy more altars and contact Ning Yu as soon as possible to inform her of Chen Xing's movements.
"Zzz... Zzz..."
The sound of space tearing echoed as Ning Xuan landed next to an unfamiliar altar—one that hadn't yet been corrupted by Chen Xing.
She pulled out the communication device Lacy had given her, intending to contact Ning Yu. By now, Ning Yu should have met with Lacy, so the device would be useful.
"Oh? You're here?"
A cold female voice echoed through the air, causing Ning Xuan's eyes to widen in shock.
Before she could even activate the device, she slowly turned her head.
On a blood-red throne, a gray-haired girl with a crown floated in the air. Her pale fingers rested gently on her cheek, her fingertip touching a teardrop-shaped mark.
She looked at Ning Xuan with an expression that seemed to say, "What a coincidence."
"Chen Xing!"
Ning Xuan realized her luck had run out. She had just teleported here, still in a weakened state, and now she was face-to-face with the mastermind herself.
"Tell me, why are you destroying the altars?"
"I know you're trying to kill my sister."
As soon as Chen Xing finished speaking, Ning Xuan fired back without hesitation.
"It seems you still don't understand your current situation. How dare you address me so casually, you mongrel!"
Chen Xing suddenly stood up, towering over Ning Xuan, who was still slumped on the ground. Her eyes radiated danger as she raised her hand.
In an instant, glowing barriers surrounded Ning Xuan, sealing her off completely.
[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?"
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
mance] After transmigrating for eighteen years, Lin Qi lived as an utterly ordinary herbalist in the countryside. One day, he kindly brought home a sickly, beautiful girl covered in blood. They married in a flash and began their blissful, intimate life together. Right then, his long-delayed system finally activated. [Warning! Host detected in contact with the "Crimson Calamity," the world-ending witch!] Lin Qi looked at the adorable wife currently curled in his arms, who couldn't even open a jar lid and trembled at the sight of a mouse. Lin Qi: "System, are you insane? This is clearly just a weak and delicate sickly girl!" Thus, Lin Qi treated the system as a "Contrast System," where taking care of his wife made him stronger. Combing his wife's hair rewarded him with [Free Attribute Points]. Taking his wife out for sunshine rewarded him with [Forbidden Spell: Arcane Explosion]. Lin Qi: "This soft life tastes so good!" ... Yet, in the eyes of outsiders: The strongest Beastkin Assassin: "That man dissected a Beast King with a common skinning knife! That was a show of force towards the powerful!" The Holy Son of the Radiant Church: "I infiltrated his home as a tutor, but he had me babysit the children... He must have seen through my disguise!" The World-Ending Witch, Felucia: "I hid all the way in the countryside. How is it that the husband I married on a whim is stronger than I was at my peak?"
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)
