Alfir

122 Welcome Back, Dave

I had to admit. Shenyuan was one sneaky bastard.

Always had a backup plan. Always one step ahead. Always wriggling out of death like some smug, undead cockroach.

I scanned him with my Divine Sense, piercing through the layers of eldritch corruption that tangled around his form like barbed wire made of thought. And just as I feared, there it was. A faint, frayed tether that connected him to Dave.

“Of course,” I muttered, brow furrowing. “Unfortunately for you, pal,...

121 Dream Walking

121 Dream Walking

After the final stroke of my brush, I let the tip linger, trembling ever so slightly as if the painting itself didn’t want to end.

Nongmin and Xin Yune stood together beneath the bodhi tree, still and eternal on the silk scroll I’d stretched across the wooden frame. The mother’s smile, the son’s weary eyes, the way her hand curled around his sleeve like she was holding him back from fading… I’d captured it all, or so I hoped. Art...

120 Tea in the Mist

The hill was cloaked in mist, as though the world itself wished to veil what occurred atop its lonely crown. A stone arch, half-cracked by time and weather, stood solemn at its peak, an ancient relic forgotten by all but a few. Beneath it, silent as the mountain wind, stood an old man.

Shouquan.

Robes of silver white, muted gold, and stormy blue fell in ripples about his aged frame. His white hair was tied in a knot, bound by a pin shaped like a crescent moon. Though time had...

119 Beneath the Storm’s Veil

The air cracked.

A flash of blue lightning seared through the canopy, and a spear thrust forward like a god’s fury. Opposite it, a flicker of black shadow split the earth, and a sword arced upward in silence.

Boom. Crack.

The two figures clashed again and again in blurs of motion. The forest trembled from the aftershocks. Trees swayed, leaves spiraled down in flurries, and bark split from trunks as if the entire grove were recoiling in fear.

Tao L...

118 The Painting

The night had long fallen over the Imperial Capital, draping the palace in moonlight and velvet stillness. The kind of quiet that only came when all the servants were dismissed and the world itself agreed to pause.

Xin Yune gently closed the lacquered door to the inner chamber, the soft click echoing like a whisper. Da Wei had excused himself with a grin and a respectful nod, saying something about “not wanting to interrupt the bedtime ritual of royalty.”

She knew what he mean...

117 A Bittersweet Skewer

If there was one thing the Heavenly Eye lacked, it was imagination.

Had it possessed even a shred of it, Nongmin would have foreseen this moment, this humiliation, lightyears in advance. But no. There were rules, limitations, and principles of divine sight that even he could not override.

First, the Heavenly Eye was limited by actionable facts and plausibility difference. It could not show him what defied logic, only what could possibly happen within the realm of reason.

116 Have a Heart

By the time dusk arrived, we found ourselves on a lake, drifting in a canoe. An old man, hunched yet steady, paddled with a bamboo stick, pushing us gently across the shimmering water. The sun, half-submerged on the horizon, painted the sky in streaks of orange and violet, its reflection stretching across the rippling surface like molten gold.

Xin Yune sat across from me, wrapped in a thick shawl, her once-pristine skin now wrinkled and paper-thin. Her frame, once full of life and energ...

115 Unforeseen Date

"Walk with me," Xin Yune said.

I obliged.

Like a gentleman, I offered her my hand. She took it without hesitation, linking her arm with mine as we stepped out onto the quiet streets.

It was dawn. The sky was painted in soft hues of orange and lavender, the air still crisp with the lingering chill of night. The streets were mostly empty, save for a few early risers preparing for the day—vendors setting up stalls, street sweepers brushing away the remnants of the night befor...

114 Every Second

Fifteen minutes later, I was still completely sober. Xin Yune, on the other hand, was hammered.

Her cheeks were flushed a deep crimson, her eyes hazy with drunken amusement. She swayed slightly in her seat, grinning at me like I was some grand joke the heavens had played on her. Every time she laughed—somewhere between a chuckle and an undignified snort—it was followed by her slapping the table hard enough to shake the plates.

“You…” She pointed at me, her finger wobblin...

113 To Bad Ideas?

"Let's go see the Emperor," I said.

Xin Yune nodded and pulled out a talisman. A moment later, space twisted around us, and we warped out of the facility.

The world snapped back into place.

We were back at the abandoned warehouse.

"So, to the Emperor it is," Xin Yune remarked. Then, with a casual shrug, she added, "Please don't kill His Majesty. A lot of people are gonna suffer if you do."

I glanced at her, frowning.

What?

Was she takin...

112 Where’s My Armor?

"So, where to now?" I asked, glancing at Xin Yune.

She smirked, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Follow me."

Without another word, she strode forward, weaving her way into the depths of the city's backstreets. It didn’t take long before I found myself trailing behind her through a maze of hidden alleys. The paths twisted and turned in ways that would have normally confused me, but with my Divine Sense combined with my Will Reinforcement cultivation, I quickly understood th...

111 Skull’s Temptations

Lu Gao opened his eyes.

Sand. Everywhere.

The golden dunes stretched endlessly before him, the wind sweeping grains into the air like a fine mist. Heat radiated from the ground beneath him, and his skin burned under the merciless sun. His last memory flickered like a cruel dream... pain, searing pain. Blue flames licked at his flesh. A woman with pink hair. Another with blonde. And then...

That monster.

Twin moons, each with grotesque, unblinking eyes. Arms sprouting f...

110 Expectations

None of the items I had in my possession worked.

Phoenix Feather. Nothing. Not even a flicker of life.

Resurrection Stone. Dissolved into useless dust.

Elixir of Resurrection. A mere golden droplet sizzling away like water on hot iron.

Liquid of Revival. No reaction.

Starussertion. The rarest, most expensive revival catalyst I had ever owned… and still, nothing.

I refused to panic. I had one last measure... one that shouldn’t fa...

109 Little Goldie’s Wish

Ren Jingyi woke up in a daze. Her thoughts felt sluggish, like wading through a dream she hadn’t quite escaped. The bed beneath her was soft—too soft. The sheets, embroidered with silver lotuses, were too luxurious. The air smelled of incense, calming yet unfamiliar.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw a ceiling of polished wood, adorned with intricate carvings of celestial beasts. This wasn’t where she had last been. This wasn’t the battlefield.

Her fingers twitched, the...

108 End of Book 2 - The Emperor’s Summons

I woke up feeling like I’d been tossed into a mountainside, rolled down a cliff, and then stomped on for good measure. No... actually, if that really happened, I probably wouldn’t feel as bad as I do right now.

This wasn’t just physical pain.

This was "I fought back-to-back against a world boss-level monster, then had to deal with some PvP troll immediately after, only to be thrown into a solo raid of Hell’s Gate with no party members" kind of pain.

That ki...

107 Heavenly Eye

The imperial throne room was a vast chamber of solemn majesty, its floor a seamless expanse of polished jade that reflected the golden light cast by towering braziers. Pillars of verdant nephrite, each carved with the writhing forms of celestial dragons, stretched high into the vaulted ceiling, where a mural of the heavens was depicted in exquisite detail—stars of crushed gemstone glittering against a lacquered night sky. At the end of the hall, raised upon a dais of radiant gold, stood the...

106 God of War

I remained aloft in the air, watching the two gargantuan demons in front of me. Their massive, twisted forms loomed over the battlefield, their skin like molten rock, their eyes burning pits of malice. One of them was still regenerating its arm, the limb that had been obliterated earlier. The other let out a guttural roar, the force of it shaking the island beneath us. More demons spilled forth from the incomplete Hell’s Gate behind them, their forms twisting and writhing as they emerged. 2025-03-26 17:22:28 +0000 UTC View Post

105 Hell’s Gate

Tao Long was a streak of lightning across the sky, his serpentine form twisting and coiling through the heavens as if he were a living conduit of divine power. The wind howled around him, but he paid it no mind. His focus was singular—his target, the one from Shouquan’s prophecy. But the world was vast, and even a dragon of his stature could not bend space to his will.

Continents were never meant to be crossed in an instant. Even for him, a Divine Flood Dragon, the sheer distance wa...

104 One True Death

The night darkened.

The stars, once twinkling, faded as a shroud fell over the battlefield.

Shenyuan, the self-proclaimed Abyss, the One True Death, the Eternal Heir, found himself held.

An arm wrapped around his body.

Firm. Unyielding.

Like a hunter’s grip on its prey.

And then—

A voice, calm and conversational, whispered right beside his ear.

“Let me reintroduce myself.”

The tone was light. Casual.

Far t...

103 Run, Little Hamster

A few moments ago...

Dawn painted the desert in hues of gold and crimson.

The first thing I noticed was the silence. No whispers of the Black Forest. No rustling leaves. No gnawing abominations lurking in the dark. Only the endless dunes of sand stretching in every direction.

The skull strapped to Alice’s waist stirred, its voice dry and amused.

“This is no longer the Black Forest.”

I turned, surveying the land. It was right.

Where ...

102 Who are you?

Hei Mao’s breath hitched as time seemed to rewind within his mind, forcing him to relive the last few seconds with dreadful clarity. The battle began within the Umbral Scripture Hall. Hei Mao could barely process the chaos as he and the others fought with everything they had. Scrolls burned, shelves toppled, ink spilled onto the stone floor, yet none of it mattered.

Their struggle carried them outside.

The Puppet Armor was relentless. An unfeeling executioner, cutting through th...

101 The Fool’s Delusion

Hei Yuan’s voice rang with desperation, his cry cutting through the chaos of battle.

“What’s the meaning of this?! Shadow Patriarch Hei Ben...”

The man in Dave’s grasp let out a deep, mirthful chuckle, tilting his head as if amused by the accusation.

“Ah… yes, I was called that once, wasn’t I?” His voice dripped with nostalgia, but there was no warmth in it, only amusement at Hei Yuan’s disbelief. “But names are shackles, and that one is no longer ...

100 Everlasting Feast

The Black Forest groaned around us, its trees shuddering like creatures in agony. A chill ran down my spine as I gazed at the sky—or what should have been the sky. Instead, it was occupied by a grotesque visage, a twisted mockery of a face so vast that it seemed to stretch across the heavens. Its eyes, if they could be called that, were unfocused, unseeing, yet I felt its presence pressing down on us. From the storm-choked clouds above, writhing tentacles descended, their slick forms gliste...

099 Shadow of The Past

Hei Mao felt anxious.

The distant echoes of battle rumbled beyond the halls, and though he tried to steady his breath, his fingers twitched at his sides. He wasn’t confident—wasn’t even sure how skilled he really was. Strong? Weak? Competent? Incompetent? He didn’t know.

Elder Yuan had taken a strange liking to him and taught him some stealth techniques, whispering cryptic advice about patience and precision. “Move with intent. See without being seen.” But stealth alon...

098 Black Forest

"So, do either of you have a plan to leave this accursed place?" I asked, sweeping my gaze over Alice and Joan. “Or we just hanging out?”

They stood among the gnarled trees of the Black Forest, their figures barely visible under the sickly light filtering through the twisted canopy. The air hung heavy with damp earth and a faint metallic tang—blood, perhaps. Shadows slithered unnaturally along the roots, and the deeper one peered into the gloom, the more the space seemed to fold u...

097 Holy Spirit

What was a Holy Spirit?

What was his purpose in life?

Dave didn’t have an answer to that.

At least, not one that felt profound. Not one that could be inscribed in scripture or spoken of in legend. He just knew he wanted to stay by His Lordship. To do good. To keep moving forward, no matter what.

Just like they always had.

“Perish!”

Divine Smite connected.

A searing, radiant arc of holy light cleaved through Hei Mu’s body.

For a...

096 The Stumbling Block

Hei Mu’s voice echoed across the battlefield, her song weaving a melody of despair and triumph. The Shadow Clan’s suffering was not a sight she relished, but it was necessary.

For too long, they had been nothing but remnants of a bygone era—forgotten, weak, hidden in the dark corners of the world.

No more. She would see them rise once again.

She remembered the cold nights spent huddled beside Hei Ma, their stomachs empty, their robes thin. The Shadow Clan was a mi...

095 Shadow Song

Hei Yuan hovered in the air, his Essence Gathering cultivation allowing him to defy gravity with ease. Beside him, Hei Mu and Hei Ma stood atop their swords, the blades shimmering with the faint glow of their qi. From their vantage point above the Shadow Clan’s hidden island, the scene below was dire.

Thick, unnatural fog had long shrouded the land, but now it writhed as something darker devoured it. A black miasma, corrosive and writhing like living tendrils, seeped through the mist,...

094 Reunion

I hung suspended in the sky, staring down at the vast blackened forest stretching endlessly below.

A thick stillness filled the air.

I tried using Egress again—nothing.

A deep frown settled on my face.

“Anything wrong?” Lu Gao’s voice rang in the back of my mind, tinged with concern.

I exhaled. “We’ll be fine.”

At least, that was what I told him.

I opened Voice Chat, trying to call Dave—again, nothing.

This was bad...

093 Invading the Shadow

The Shadow Clan’s headquarters was steeped in a suffocating atmosphere.

Inside Hei Yuan’s office, Ren Xun and Dave sat across from the Clan Elder, their expressions unreadable. The tension in the air had reached its peak, but Ren Xun, ever the sharp-tongued one, leaned back in his chair and smirked.

“I told you so.”

Hei Yuan exhaled slowly, his fingers tapping against the dark wood of his desk. “I thought you were exaggerating.”

Dave and Ren Xun e...