Wait. Stay calm. I have to stay calm.
I write novels. I know these tropes better than anyone.
The more dire the situation, the more dazzling the cheat should be when it makes its grand entrance.
This is called “setting up the fall before the rise.” This is called “finding hope in the darkest hour.” This is what the hell you call the protagonist’s halo!
So… where’s my cheat? Where is it? Come on, show yourself already!
His butt was firmly welded to the Skeleton Throne. He was praying frantically in his heart, yet his body remained utterly motionless. His face still wore that indifferent expression that seemed to say, “I’m number one under heaven.”
It wasn’t that he wanted to act cool. He was just afraid that if he moved even slightly, his legs would turn to noodles and the two vicious men before him would send him straight to the grave with a single slash.
He was a failed novelist who had worked himself to death, only to transmigrate after death into the body of an old demon lord whose subordinates had rebelled against him. Standing before him were two peak Nascent Soul killers.
Under these circumstances, not having weak knees would’ve been the truly supernatural thing!
But precisely because he was a novelist, he understood better than anyone that panic was useless when your life was on the line.
The more you panicked, the faster you died.
The only way was to hold steady and put on an air of absolute confidence. That might plant a seed of doubt in his enemies’ minds, buy him some time, and allow a chance for a reversal to appear.
Even if he really did end up dying, at least he could use this opportunity to take a few more breaths before meeting his end.
That was why he didn’t move. That was why his expression didn’t change. That was why he simply sat there, perfectly still.
He carried himself as though he were invincible and his opponents could do whatever they pleased. With only a pair of murky old eyes, he calmly regarded the two formidable men standing below the steps.
Sure enough, his reaction made Liu Qing and Shen Hao exchange a glance. A hint of imperceptible hesitation flashed through their eyes.
Ever since that battle three hundred years ago, everyone knew that the Hall Master had suffered an irreversible injury.
Yet the wariness they had cultivated over several thousand years made them suspect that the old bastard was merely pretending to be weak while waiting to ambush them. Thus, neither of them dared to act rashly.
They had waited painstakingly for three whole centuries, all to determine the old man’s true condition—to confirm whether he had truly reached the end of his strength.
After years of meticulous investigation, they had determined that the Hall Master of the Tianxu Sacred Hall, once a mighty peak Deity Transformation expert, had now fallen to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.
His lifespan had at most three years remaining. Any peak Foundation Establishment cultivator could crush him with ease.
As for why they hadn’t simply waited three more years, that was naturally because they wanted to seize all the divine arts, techniques, and magical treasures on Yin Tianjue while he still had his final breath left.
But his current reaction…
Something was terribly wrong!
A dying man facing two people who intended to kill him shouldn’t be reacting like this.
He was far too calm—so calm that it seemed he had everything under control, as though he still held some astonishing trump card in his hand.
“Old bastard, stop pretending!”
Liu Qing was the first to lose his patience. He thrust the demonic-headed saber in his hand forward another few inches.
“We’ve already investigated your cultivation. You’re only at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment—not even comparable to a Golden Core cultivator. What could you possibly use to fight us?”
“Exactly. If you were still the same person you were three hundred years ago, we naturally wouldn’t dare act recklessly. But now…”
Shen Hao gave a sinister chuckle and lightly shook the long sword in his hand. Thunder crackled explosively along the blade.
“Hall Master, this is the last time I’ll call you that. I’ve never believed that you were the strongest under heaven. Today, I’ll personally cut you down with my sword!”
Yin Tianjue took one look at the situation and understood that continuing to pretend to be profound and buying time was meaningless.
At last, he slowly spoke.
“Two Guardians, judging by the looks of things, you’re determined to devour me today?”
Liu Qing sneered coldly.
“Good. You understand. As long as we quietly kill you, the Tianxu Sacred Hall will rightfully fall into our hands.”
“And all the divine arts and techniques you’ve accumulated over the past several thousand years, along with those heaven-defying treasures, will belong to the two of us as well!”
Shen Hao picked up the conversation. He raised the long sword in his hand and pointed it directly at the throne above.
Yet, contrary to expectations, Yin Tianjue not only failed to show any despair. Instead, he suddenly threw his head back and laughed loudly.
“Hahahaha! At the height of my power, I could’ve crushed you two nobodies with a single slap! What a pity. I’m now at the end of my strength, and indeed no longer have the energy to fight you.”
“However… there’s only one position of Hall Master of the Tianxu Sacred Hall. How do you two intend to rule it together in the future? And how could either of you possibly be willing to share power?”
In the face of his current predicament, this attempt to sow discord was the only plan he could come up with.
If the two idiots fell for it and turned on each other—preferably breaking into a full-scale battle—he could use the last bit of cultivation in his body to escape.
If luck was on his side, he might even manage to keep his life.
Unfortunately, this little scheme was completely useless against two cunning old foxes who had lived for several thousand years.
“Old bastard, don’t waste your effort. Your scheme won’t work on us!”
“Hall Master, have a good journey!”
The two men stopped wasting words. Their peak Nascent Soul cultivation erupted without restraint, and they charged toward the throne in unison.
In an instant, saber light and sword radiance swept through the hall in a violent frenzy, carrying a terrifying force of slaughter and annihilation as they shot straight toward Yin Tianjue’s crown.
Perhaps they were wary that he was only pretending to be weak. Or perhaps they simply wanted to kill him with absolute certainty. Either way, neither Liu Qing nor Shen Hao held back in the slightest when unleashing their killing moves.
A grand formation that sealed all aura enveloped the Sacred Hall. No matter how great the commotion inside became, not the slightest trace of it could be sensed from outside.
Seeing this, Yin Tianjue finally panicked.
If these peerless killing moves landed squarely on his body, there would be only one outcome: certain death. He wouldn’t even be left as dust.
At this critical moment, the mechanical voice he had been praying and waiting for finally exploded inside his mind:
[Ding! A life-or-death crisis has been detected. The Invincible Across the Myriad Realms System has officially activated!]
[Current host status: on the verge of death. Less than one-tenth of cultivation remaining. Lifespan nearing exhaustion. Situation: extremely critical!]
[Ding! Congratulations, host. You have obtained the Supreme Beginner’s Gift Pack. Would you like to open it?]
[Opening condition: Accept the system’s main quest.]
The system? The Supreme Beginner’s Gift Pack?
I’ve finally waited for you, damn it!
One second later and I would’ve been completely dead!
Open it! Right now! Immediately!
Open it all the way! Crank it up to the maximum!
[Ding! Host has successfully accepted the main quest: Develop the Tianxu Sacred Hall into the most badass force in the myriad realms!]
[Ding! Supreme Beginner’s Gift Pack successfully opened. You have obtained the ultimate heaven-shattering cheat: ten thousand years of refined cultivation every second! No cultivation required. Automatically operational. Everlasting and inexhaustible. Ten thousand years in one second, never running dry!]
[Ten thousand years of cultivation per second is being infused. Beginning—]
[Cultivation +10,000]
[Cultivation +10,000]
[Cultivation +10,000]
[Cultivation +10,000]
…
Wait! Ten thousand years of cultivation every second? What kind of divine system is this? Even I wouldn’t dare write something this outrageous in a novel!
At that moment, Yin Tianjue had no time to care about the system’s main quest.
Before he could even react, a vast torrent of energy beyond all description suddenly poured into his dantian without warning, then exploded with a thunderous roar!
Boom—!
A trace of terrifying aura blossomed forth, and the space-time of the entire world instantly froze.
Right after that, an astonishing scene that nearly caused Yin Tianjue’s brain to crash appeared—
The peak of Foundation Establishment!
The peak of the Golden Core Realm!
The peak of the Nascent Soul Realm!
The peak of Divine Transformation!
The peak of Void Refinement!
The peak of Body Integration!
…
In the blink of an eye, his cultivation realm shot upward like it had been strapped to a super rocket, and his aura surged wildly.
As for the bottlenecks that cultivators were supposedly destined to face? They didn’t exist!
After just a few breaths, his cultivation and strength had skyrocketed to a level so terrifying that even he had no idea how powerful he had become!
What was more, that incomparably vast cultivation was still pouring into him endlessly, with no end in sight!
With just a wisp of divine sense, he instantly enveloped the entire Cangyuan Realm.
Feeling the earth-shattering changes within his body and the explosive rise in his cultivation, Yin Tianjue was immediately filled with wild joy.
Ten thousand years of cultivation every second? Then that’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and a whole day would be… Forget it. I’m terrible at math—I can’t calculate it!
Anyway, I’m already invincible. Do whatever you want!
Wait. Don’t get carried away. Don’t get carried away.
This is my first time being a peerless powerhouse, so I still can’t get too impatient.
Stay calm. Stay composed. Keep it cool. Look badass.
Now, it’s time to teach those two idiots who nearly killed me with a single move how to behave!
Get ready to tremble, you ants!