Thick black smoke began to spread and engulf the sky. The once fierce battlefield had turned into a blood-drenched hellscape in the blink of an eye… and all of it was caused by a single young man, who had moved only slightly yet in that moment, nearly 150 Great Emperors of the Wu Clan had been slain.
Han Ming stood within the void, his gaze expressionless. He hadn't suffered even the slightest injury not from enemies, nor from allies. The Blade of Light still floated quietly in his hand. There were no words, no laughter. Only his eyes remained… cold as a bottomless abyss, its depths unfathomable. Then, the black smoke from the explosions consumed his figure entirely.
Within the thick haze that still blanketed the battlefield, Han Ming stood amidst the corpses and fragmented energy of the fallen Emperors. His form had become indistinguishable from the void itself so intangible even the heavens could no longer perceive him. It was as if he had become something untouchable, concealed by the system.
In his hand, he gripped the throat of a Wu Clan Great Emperor, holding it firmly. The man's eyes were wide in terror, limbs twitching as he struggled desperately like a drowning man, his face twisted in agony.
Though Han Ming's face was obscured by the black smoke, it couldn't hide the chilling smile that crept across his lips. It wasn't the smile of victory… but the smile of someone testing a new toy.
As the Emperor writhed, eyes bulging from the suffocating grip, the system that had been silently observing said nothing. It merely watched as data flickered across its interface, recording one thing the man's luck was dropping rapidly.
It saw… the Emperor's luck slowly draining from his body. The red aura that once surrounded him gradually dimmed, as if being siphoned away piece by piece… until, in an instant, it turned pitch black.
It didn't know what Han Ming was doing with all that luck. It didn't know what kind of process he was carrying out right before its eyes.
But it understood one thing clearly… Han Ming was no longer at the level of a Great Emperor.
Yesterday, the system had received a command to shut off its awareness of Han Ming for a certain period. That moment occurred when Han Ming did something to Wu Zhao's villain system, and it… obeyed, severing its perception of him temporarily. It had no right to defy Han Ming's order.
After that moment… when the system reactivated, Han Ming's cultivation had already surpassed the realm of Great Emperor. The system had no idea what he had done to Wu Zhao's system during those several hours, and likely no one else would ever know—except Han Ming himself. But it didn't care. After all, it knew that it was far stronger than Wu Zhao's system.
Now, Han Ming released the body of the Great Emperor whose luck had been completely drained, letting it fall to the ground like discarded trash. Then he turned toward the remaining enemies. His gaze was calm, but something deep within him began to stir… before it surged forth and mercilessly slaughtered all in its path. As he killed, he absorbed their luck and implanted something within the fragments of their souls.
He stepped forward slowly, and the system's voice echoed once more.
[Host, a disciple who meets all the criteria for Level 10 has been detected. Potential, comprehension, and golden or black luck all present. Status: severely weakened.]
Han Ming listened with interest, pausing midair. He closed his eyes for a moment, then crushed the neck of another Great Emperor before the corner of his mouth curved into a smile.
"Lead the way."
With those words, his body turned as he prepared to leave the battlefield still thick with the stench of blood. There was nothing more for him to do here. Of the more than 200 Great Emperors of the Wu Clan, only 22 remained and they were no longer a problem for the Immortal River Holy Land.
But before he teleported away, he sent a message directly to Bai Jingxian.
"Old man, I'll leave the rest to you. I'm going to find that disciple first. I'll be back soon."
Han Ming's voice was soft, yet clear. Upon hearing it, Bai Jingxian instantly exploded in frustration.
"Is this really the time, you damn brat?! When I asked you to find a disciple, you came up with every excuse under the heavens, and now, when it's time to fight, you're running off to look for one?! Seriously, do you just need to be scolded every day to fall asleep or something?!"
Han Ming chuckled softly, though his voice carried a distinct note of boredom.
"This kind of clown show doesn't need that many characters. You old folks can go ahead and act it out. I'm still young. I've got a future to worry about. I'll show up later to play the background extra for the final scene."
"Eight pills of Ascension Elixir… no questions asked…"
Bai Jingxian sent a sound transmission to Han Ming. Han Ming merely shrugged, turned back with a grin, and replied.
"You got it, big bro."
The two of them exchanged smiles, and then… Han Ming vanished into the air, leaving behind only the faint sound of laughter.
On the other side of the battlefield, far from the Immortal River Holy Land, on a barren plain shrouded in the aura of death and ash, a thousand-strong army clad in white armor floated in perfect formation across the sky like an iron wall ready to crush everything beneath it.
All eyes were fixed on a lone man walking silently below. A young man with long, silver, disheveled hair and a cold expression, his body covered in wounds. On his back, he carried an unconscious young woman with violet hair. Both of his arms were severed at the wrists—only the stumps remained, long since healed over, suggesting his hands had been gone for quite some time.
The man continued forward in silence, unshaken by the crushing pressure from above. He didn't even glance upward.
And then, a thunderous voice erupted from within the army of white armor, so powerful it shattered the very air.
"You wretched stray! Hand over the bloodline of that traitorous clan this instant! The filthy blood of the Original Gods has no right to exist! She must die… to atone for the sins of those ancient deities!"
The silver-haired young man continued walking without paying heed to anything. He gave no reply, did not pause, and simply kept carrying the unconscious girl on his back.
High above in the distant sky, Han Ming hovered silently in midair. His gaze drifted downward with calm focus, eyes fixed upon the young man and the girl below. In that moment, a data screen from the system appeared before him.
[Name: Guan Zixuan]
[Age: 17]
[Identity: Villain of Destiny, ???]
[Cultivation Level: (Collapsed)]
[Special Constitution: Body of Melody (Rank: ???)]
[Potential: 10 Stars]
[Comprehension: 10 Stars]
[Fortune: Black]
[Loyalty: 0]
.....
[Name: Ye Liyin]
[Age: 17]
[Identity: Protagonist of Destiny, ???]
[Cultivation Level: (Collapsed)]
[Special Constitution: Body of Chaos (Rank: ???)]
[Potential: 10 Stars]
[Comprehension: 10 Stars]
[Fortune: ???]
[Loyalty: 0]
Han Ming furrowed his brows slightly. He found himself quite intrigued by the two. That silver-haired boy was the so-called Villain of Fate. And the violet-haired girl he carried—she was the Protagonist of Fate. But why… was the villain carrying the protagonist on his back like that? Shouldn't they be trying to kill each other?
Han Ming remained silent for a moment before posing a question inwardly to the system.
"System… what's the difference between a Protagonist of Fate, a Child of Fate, and a Daughter of Fate?"
The system responded by displaying an explanation in text form:
[The Protagonist of Destiny is one who is truly supported by the Heavenly Dao of all worlds. The Heavenly Dao will protect the protagonist with everything it has and will continuously convert calamity into opportunity for them, no matter which world they are in.]
[A Child or Daughter of Destiny, on the other hand, is merely supported by the Heavenly Dao of their own world. They will be blessed with fortune and opportunity only within the world they belong to. Whether they retain that title in other worlds depends entirely on the Heavenly Dao of that respective world.]
Suddenly, another voice thundered from the ranks of the white-armored army in the sky.
"You wretched brat! Do you still think you're the divine heir of the Guan Clan?! Wake up from your delusions! Right now, you're nothing more than trash that failed on the path of cultivation!"
Yet Guan Zixuan continued walking forward in silence, unfazed by the words hurled at him. His expression remained stoic, and the back that carried the unconscious girl did not falter in the slightest, even as each insult struck directly at his heart.
Above in the heavens, Han Ming remained suspended in midair, his gaze fixed on the scene unfolding below. His eyes shimmered, as if deep in thought. Then, suddenly, he posed a question to the system within his mind.
"System… if someone from the upper realm far stronger than me were to come hunting me down, could you help me survive it?"
The system's response came brimming with confidence.
[Bring it on, Host. I'll handle it. No need to worry.]
Han Ming let out a soft chuckle.
"That's a cool line… but how exactly would you manage that?"
The system went quiet for a moment before muttering under its breath.[…He's too damn cautious… Wait, don't tell me my words sounded unreliable just now?!]
And then, a rift in space opened before Han Ming. What appeared beyond it was a layered void an interweaving of pure emptiness. It was silent within, yet so deep and immeasurable it seemed impossible to grasp.
[I can place the host and the disciple into a special dimension within the system. Only you and I have the authority to determine entry and exit. No one else, regardless of their level of existence, can detect it. However, since I'm currently in a weakened state, the time inside would be limited to one month, after which you'll need to remain outside for at least five days.]
Han Ming gazed silently into that dimension. His eyes gradually turned cold, and then he smiled. It was a smile that sent shivers down the spine for reasons one could not quite explain.
"Very well… Thank you, system."
Hearing Han Ming's words of gratitude, the system flinched slightly. Some unfamiliar emotion surged within it, something strange it hadn't experienced before—a feeling called joy. And that feeling began to overflow uncontrollably.
[(⁄ ⁄>⁄ - ⁄<⁄ ⁄)]
In that very moment, behind Han Ming, the unseen void slowly creaked open in utter silence.
Boom…
An overwhelming spiritual pressure swept outward as the forms of countless Supreme-tier Emperor-class puppet soldiers surged out of the dimension behind him like a flood. Each of them wielded a weapon of Emperor-level grade, pouring forth like an unstoppable torrent.
The puppets had no breath, no soul, yet they emanated an aura of destruction no different from that of Emperors who had fought through countless millennia of war. They moved in perfect unison, like a force drilled together since the moment of creation.
The system, still basking in joy a moment ago, could only shake its head slightly upon witnessing the scene. Yesterday and today, it had once again lost ground to Han Ming, and this time, it could see no path to counter his new method of "investment."