Volume One, Chapter 45: Who Is Shen Chaowu, Really?

Shen Chaowu raised her eyebrow, the clear contrast in her eyes tinged with a mocking smile, as sharp as a blade ruthlessly tearing apart the disguise beneath Jiang Yao’s pale exterior. Jiang Yao was selfish, foolish, and vain. In truth, these were not necessarily bad qualities. Yet Jiang Yao had climbed to her position by draining Shen Chaowu’s blood, stepping over her to rise, and showed not a shred of gratitude—instead, she repeatedly tested Shen Chaowu’s limits. That was truly reprehensible.

Jiang Yao’s mind buzzed with confusion as she tried to defend herself, “Breakfast… of course it was bought for me by Brother Jin Yao.” Her pale, delicate face looked pitiable, especially as crystalline tears slid down her cheeks; everyone but Shen Chaowu felt a pang of sympathy watching her. The colleagues in the department pitied Jiang Yao, and at the same time…

If the Divine King were present, he would surely be stunned; if the Fairy were here, it’s hard to say, but most likely Lu Li would be sent flying by her kick. After all, his relationship with Xiao Jingyan was such that suspicion and vigilance from the other side were entirely normal. Regarding that night, neither he nor Liu Qingfeng could say much, so if his mother pressed further, the secret would inevitably be exposed.

Randall planted his double-handed longsword upright into the ground, gripping the hilt with both hands, his gaze wary as he faced off against the demon wolf Astok. “Excuse me, brother, where can one buy a gun like this?” Copper Hammer asked Murphy with a broad smile, hoping to glean some information from him.

“Celestial King, could this all be a trap from beginning to end?” The Four Great Star Lords sent a secret message to Li Jing. Suddenly, tremors erupted both above and below, as almost simultaneously, the other four demon kings began constructing another massive cross-shaped symbol.

Simon hesitated, as if lost in thought, but he held back and nodded sharply. Stone Tiger roared, struggling with all his might, but he was singled out for special treatment—tightly bound with thick ox sinew ropes, so securely he could not escape.

Chu Ziyan knew this was the prelude to Qin Mohan’s anger; he was about to stand up and drag Mo Xie away, intending to laugh it off and let the matter pass. Lan Qianya saw the despair on Xia Yuqing’s face and was about to comfort her, but before she could utter a word, Xia Yuqing fainted right in front of her.

On the swordsmanship arena, Yan Zhen held a sword in hand; he hadn’t even used the Sword Source, merely ordinary techniques, yet easily defeated all the others. Back when his other brothers didn’t have titles, Yang Longyan was already the hereditary Prince of Hailing; now the others had received titles, but theirs were downgradeable and not hereditary.

Yuan Dadi unleashed another palm strike, easily shattering the Star Demon Web that had seemed so formidable to Yan Zhen; in his hands, that once impregnable web was like ragged cloth. The demoralized Fuzhou army, after hastily setting up camp, began to rest in place, while generals Zhang Zhi and Liu Kan started discussing their plans.

“No, you have friends here, don’t you?” Xuan Xuan gave a sweet smile; at least from her face, there was no trace of discomfort. “Is it that Li Si’an who either wins or loses spectacularly in battle?” Yang Wo laughed at the mention.

He felt a twinge of regret—he had hoped to win her love tonight, but judging by the current circumstances, whether he ever would remained uncertain. Under Ma Yin’s command, those former defeated soldiers prospered day by day: first conquering all seven prefectures of Hunan, then advancing north to destroy the Wuzhen Circuit under Lei Yanwei, south to defeat the Jingjiang Army under Liu Shizheng, and east to compete with Huainan. They won successive victories and ultimately established the state of Chu.

“…Is it beautiful?” Ye Qianmo’s lips curled into a joyful smile, tinged with weak pride, as if she had accomplished something worthy of celebration. “What’s wrong with the Birth Gate?” I had no idea what was happening, but I felt I ought to respond anyway.

On Mars, a slender young man, about one meter eighty tall, walked forward and stood in the plaza. He carried no weapons, his expression somewhat lethargic, as if protesting his inability to sleep. “I understand, I understand!” For some reason, I simply couldn’t get angry with her; how could I admit I didn’t understand? She lit a stick of incense for me, then took the hands of my Fourth Grandfather in both hers and closed her eyes.

His tone was full of righteous indignation, yet the way he spoke was laced with schadenfreude. Originally, the four—Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning—and Flying General led their troops here, but due to the constraints of Cangtong Town, Xu Nian arrived first with one hundred thousand soldiers, while Mofeng and others spread their forces in nearby cities.

As for the male lead in the scandal, Lu Cheng wore an innocent face, as if he had no idea what was happening, munching on chips as he stood by the door, looking at Ye Qianmo with genuine innocence.

Luo Tian knew he had to become stronger, for only by raising his cultivation could he help Xing Ze Yuan and avenge Mo’s death! Now, a good opportunity lay before him, and his grip tightened around it.

Sanmao let out a furious roar, rudely throwing out words that crashed down like a storm out of nowhere. Meanwhile, Yaomei had been drugged and no one knew if it would affect her health. “With the money and land you have, consider this a bargain,” Chen Jinlian said.

Southern Overlord laughed heartily: “Chief Xiao, your strategy is brilliant. When the time comes, we’ll drag the demons into the human world and enjoy the worship of the human race together.” The entire wooden cabin was shrouded in darkness inside and out, with only the faintest hint of light to see by.

This was simply because An Lan had not been reborn long, while Wang Zhiqiu’s cultivation had accumulated over countless years. Had An Lan been allowed a few hundred more years, he would surely have entered the Law Depository stage, perhaps even reached the Supreme Realm.

“If you want to go, I’ll take you next time and let you ride,” Atis softly whispered the last words into Ji Zhixi’s ear. “Who told you that? I did feel strange after drinking, but the tests came back fine,” Atis said.

Meanwhile, the Golden Snake Staff refused to obey, dragging Su Xun through the sky and exploding with layers upon layers of sparks. He poured a drop of ‘Sword Transformation Elixir’ from the spirit jug into his mouth and sealed the jug again.

A vast, mirror-like barrier appeared, stretching as far as the eye could see, seemingly spanning the entire sea. The barrier emitted a terrifying black light, and the black surface rippled with subtle waves.

Its purpose was to kill or bind D-class personnel, rescue the researchers, and then wait for dead players to revive as Nine-Tailed Fox agents, before venturing deeper into the site to contain the escaped anomalies.

Chen Tianyu followed closely behind Hong Tianming as they burst out of the room. While rolling on the ground, he drew his handgun from the thigh holster and, in a perfect kneeling stance, aimed the sights at the exposed throat of the heavily armored soldier.