“Wuu wuu wuu~~ Father, please stop hitting me. Little Black really doesn’t know where he went wrong.”
“Hmph! Today, I’ll teach you one more truth: the bigger the fist, the greatest the truth.”
“I’m telling you, you’re wrong—you’re just wrong!”
……
“I hate you for picking me up and not letting me starve to death there! I hate you for forcing me to train until my bones broke, making me a pillar of the righteous path! I hate that after sucking my blood each time, you still curse that man’s name while beating me!!”
“It’s my fault.”
……
“Wanna bet?”
“Bet.”
……
Emerging from the Celestial Communion state, an endless buzzing chaos assaulted Su Bai’s ears, vexing his mind.
He circulated the Long Life Clear Heart Mantra to suppress all distracting thoughts before slowly opening his eyes.
Before him stood a colossal bronze cauldron, its body forged from bronze with three legs and two handles.
Ancient patterns of mountains, rivers, geography, sun, moon, and stars were clearly etched upon it, as if recounting the vicissitudes of time.
Inside the cauldron sat a girl with crimson hair and blood-red eyes, her face bearing a striking ninety-percent resemblance to Su Bai’s own.
Her eyes drooped slightly, eyelashes quivering gently, as if countless streams of light shimmered within them.
Seeing the girl’s appearance, Su Bai couldn’t help but clap his hands and laugh heartily: “Excellent! Truly worthy of being the blood avatar I forged using the combined inheritance of the Myriad Transformations True Lord and the Blood Avatar technique.”
It was now the simulated year forty-six.
During these five years, Su Bai had cleverly cleansed part of his cultivation, successfully joined the Sect Leader faction, and prepared for an “accidental breakthrough” following the demise of the old Golden Core cultivator—thus justifiably “tearfully inheriting” the sect’s leadership.
He had also spent years refining this avatar, providing an alibi for his future actions.
“Come, step out and take a few steps.”
No sooner had Su Bai spoken than the crimson-haired girl lightly leapt, landing steadily outside the cauldron’s mouth.
Barefoot, she stood outside the bronze cauldron, the surrounding environment reflecting her delicate figure like a water mirror.
She looked toward Su Bai with hollow, expressionless eyes—numb and blank, utterly devoid of emotion.
“As expected, the intellect and emotional control of an avatar puppet have been a difficult problem since ancient times,” Su Bai murmured.
She extended her right hand; a faint crimson glow flickered at her fingertip as a droplet of vital blood carrying a shard of soul shot forth, entering the girl’s forehead.
In an instant, as if the soul had been infused, the vacant numbness in her eyes vanished, replaced by a calm expression.
“This feeling…” The crimson-haired, blood-eyed girl glanced at Su Bai, then at her slender fingers, unable to help but complain.
“Originally, there were two perspectives, now there are three. It’s really strange. Feels like one person clumsily controlling three characters at once. Good thing I have the Myriad Transformations True Lord’s inheritance technique ‘One Thought Creates Ten Thousand’—otherwise, my micro-control skills would definitely collapse.”
Seeing that his forged “blood body” had such a sarcastic talent, Su Bai felt slightly embarrassed.
He reached into the void, pulling out a white robe and tossing it to her, saying succinctly, “From now on, you handle all the social affairs. I’ll act according to plan.”
“Understood. I’m you, and you’re me,” the crimson-haired girl said, putting on the white robe.
Instantly, her crimson hair transformed into three thousand strands of jet-black silk, and her stunning blood-red eyes turned into ordinary black ones.
Her aura surged vigorously—obviously cultivation at the peak Foundation Establishment stage.
“Leave those scheming fools who play political games to me. I guarantee they won’t stir up any trouble.”
Su Bai nodded, stepping back a few paces and disappearing into the shadows.
……
“Kill!”
The spear’s tip whistled through the air with a “puff” as it pierced straight through the body of a black-robed demonic cultivator.
With a “bang,” the cultivator was pinned hard against the wall, blood flowing down the spear.
Su Xiaohei stepped forward.
He gripped the black spear tightly and pulled it out with force, a spray of blood accompanying it.
His expression cold and stern, he formed a hand seal and unleashed a spell.
Instantly, the demonic cultivator turned into a pile of meat paste, blood and flesh splattering everywhere.
“Brother Su is mighty! Killing a late Qi Refining stage demon cultivator is like killing a chicken—one spear solves it,” a junior disciple ran forward, flattering him.
As the team leader for this descent, Su Xiaohei ignored the flattery and instead looked at the young disciples whose faces were still smeared with blood.
He coldly ordered, “Gather the corpses and burn them to prevent corpse reanimation. Then send a few disciples to erase the demon cultivators’ residual souls to stop their grudges from turning into vengeful ghosts.”
The disciples responded in unison.
“Brother Su is truly cautious—I’m ashamed to compare myself to you,” the junior disciple tried again to curry favor.
Su Xiaohei shook his head and looked toward the distance, suddenly speaking up.
“Don’t underestimate anyone. The world is full of heroes.”
As he spoke, he suddenly paused.
Those words… sounded so familiar.
Night had fallen, the bright moon hung high.
In the central spirit tent among all the spirit tents, lit brightly by candlelight, Su Xiaohei gazed intently at the Wordless Book in his arms, softly whispering.
“Book Spirit, I’ve mastered that spear technique. What should we train next?”
To others, Su Xiaohei probably looked mad, talking to a book with no words.
Yet, in his eyes, the moment he finished speaking—
A faint, translucent soul silhouette drifted from the book.
Dressed in a white robe embroidered with golden patterns, slender in form, hair bound behind the head by a jade crown.
A bronze mask covered most of the face, revealing only a pair of narrow eyes, cold and indifferent as ice.
Su Xiaohei remained expressionless upon seeing the Book Spirit.
This Wordless Book had been purchased from an elderly street vendor.
Originally, it was meant to be a diary, but unexpectedly, it housed a Book Spirit calling itself “Xuan.”
The Book Spirit claimed to be the artifact spirit of the Wordless Book, knowledgeable in astronomy and geography, capable of guiding cultivation.
However, with the passage of time, the treasure was damaged, and the spirit struggled to sustain itself, requiring a cultivator’s spiritual power supply.
By coincidence, it ended up in Su Xiaohei’s hands, becoming his mentor in cultivation, in exchange for a monthly spiritual energy offering.
At first, Su Xiaohei suspected it might be a demonic cultivator and even considered reporting it to the sect.
After all, demonic cultivators were notorious for body-snatching by strange means—one careless moment could spell doom.
But two phrases from the Book Spirit won him over.
The first: “You’re just a Qi Refining stage kid. What could I possibly want from you?”
The second struck Su Xiaohei’s weak spot: “Don’t you hate your master? I can help you defeat her, tooth for tooth.”
Defeat his master? Defeat his mother?
Tooth for tooth?
For Su Xiaohei now, this was… incredibly tempting!!
“Next, I will teach you the Great Freedom, Only Me, Wishful Heart Technique,” said the golden-robed Book Spirit, then began explaining an extremely profound spirit refinement technique.
Ignoring the strange familiarity stirring in his heart, Su Xiaohei listened, entranced, gradually sinking into the depths of the teachings.
……
【As a noble second-run player, you decisively found your place in this sect conflict. Unlike the previous run, this time you have a faction and openly stand with them. Being at the peak Foundation Establishment stage, you were not sacrificed as a scapegoat.】
【You spent three days rushing to the Ten Thousand Souls Dark City, keeping a close eye on the sect’s internal currents, prepared to “accidentally break through” and rise to power immediately upon the old Golden Core cultivator’s death.】
【Looking down at the gathered Foundation Establishment cultivators and countless ghosts below, you silently drew out the smoking-purple Emperor’s Banner.】
【Now is the romance that belongs exclusively to second-run players.】