Mo Lini had gradually grown accustomed to life on the road.
It was hard not to…
Good food, good drinks, and the scenery of their travels every day. Whenever they arrived in a new city, Liyana would drag her out to buy piles of things, and they’d sleep in the finest inns on the softest beds.
No need to worry about being hunted down, no struggles to make ends meet—she didn’t have to do anything at all. As the team’s mascot, all she had to do was be cute and adorable… This was the most carefree period of her life.
Mo Lini felt like she could never go back now… Even if she were asked to return to Olifando to work as a music teacher, she wouldn’t be willing.
Teaching would mean exhausting herself trying to educate those students.
Now, Mo Lini exhausted herself thinking about what to eat next.
After several months on the road, she hadn’t lost weight—instead, she’d gained a little.
Mo Lini pinched the soft flesh of her belly beneath her clothes, where a bit of extra padding had appeared.
Her face tightened with determination. This couldn’t go on.
If she got fat and lost her charm, the one thing that gave her value would be gone.
Being a mascot… Mo Lini took it seriously.
Inside the carriage, Mo Lini carefully removed her boots, checking that they didn’t smell before stepping onto one of the seats. She hovered in the middle, tightening her core while bracing her hands against the cushioned seat opposite.
"Mo Lini… What are you doing?" Liyana asked, curious about her sudden strange movements.
"P-plank…" Mo Lini panted lightly, answering earnestly.
Liyana: "Why are you suddenly doing planks in the carriage? If the carriage stops abruptly, you’ll fall—heh, don’t worry, I’ll catch you."
"I think I’ve gained a little weight recently. I want to exercise more to slim back down." Mo Lini seemed to only hear the first half of Liyana’s words.
"Oh~" Liyana let out a long, meaningful hum.
Mo Lini: "Wh-what?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking… if you overdo it, you might end up looking like Musen." Liyana shrugged.
Mo Lini froze for a moment, as if picturing herself covered in muscles. Her face fell.
"Liyana, don’t scare Mo Lini… Normal exercise won’t turn you into something like me." Musen’s voice drifted out from the pages of a book, making the carriage feel a little more cramped.
"When I train, I absorb magic like a warrior—through my muscles," Musen explained.
Liyana blinked. "Then what’s the difference between you and a warrior?"
"Seems like there isn’t much… but my profession is a priest." Musen’s voice rumbled.
Liyana opened her mouth but didn’t say anything, clearly deciding not to argue further about his occupation.
Thud—
Mo Lini collapsed onto the soft leather seat, unable to hold on any longer.
"So… so tired." She wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead.
The carriage was still a bit stuffy, with not enough ventilation.
"Mo Lini… you only held it for a minute!" Liyana pointed out.
"Really? A whole minute? I’m amazing."
Mo Lini’s response took Liyana by surprise.
She was… impressively weak.
Mo Lini pinched her belly again, but it didn’t feel much different from before. She couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
"Mo Lini… you don’t need to obsess over your figure. A little extra weight can still be cute," Liyana suggested. "You’re still plenty slim."
Mo Lini suddenly reached out and lifted Liyana’s shirt.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" Liyana yelped in surprise.
Liyana’s fair stomach had not a trace of excess fat, her toned abs perfectly defined—a slender yet powerful figure, nothing short of flawless.
A faint scar from an old injury added a touch of wild beauty.
Higher up, a strip of white cloth tightly bound her chest, pressing it into a breathtaking curve… As an archer, she needed to stay agile, and in battle, certain things could get in the way.
Mo Lini swallowed hard, envious.
"I… didn’t expect you to be so bold." Liyana’s cheeks flushed slightly as she slowly adjusted her clothes back into place.
Though she often teased Mo Lini, that didn’t mean she was the type to act recklessly.
In the last few decades, she’d only ever been with Delyan.
"Liyana!"
Mo Lini suddenly leaned in, staring intently into Liyana’s eyes.
If this had been the usual Liyana, she might have been thrilled. But today, Mo Lini’s sudden assertiveness left her feeling oddly flustered.
"Wh-what?"
"Tell me… how do I get a figure like yours?" Mo Lini pressed closer.
"Some… things are just genetics. You can’t force it." Liyana averted her gaze.
"But you never exercise, eat even more than I do, and still have abs!" Mo Lini pressed further, though she knew some things couldn’t be changed.
"Who said that?! I’m an adventurer! I just slacked off after meeting Xia Lun… Back then, I trained like hell!" Liyana retorted indignantly. "In the Libian Forest, I went through brutal training every single day!"
"What kind of training?" Mo Lini asked. "I want to try!"
Liyana smirked and leaned in to whisper into Mo Lini’s ear.
Mutter mutter, mutter mutter.
Mo Lini’s face gradually paled, and when she looked back at Liyana, there was a new flicker of admiration in her eyes.
Back then, the elves frequently clashed with the demon tribes—nothing like the relative peace now.
Liyana had endured the harshest training the elves could offer, the kind that few could survive.
Liyana grinned. "Still wanna try?"
Mo Lini shook her head like a rattle drum.
That wasn’t training—it was torture. Just hearing about it was enough to make Mo Lini spill every secret she knew.
For now… maybe she’d just forget about losing weight. She wasn’t that heavy anyway. She could just watch what she ate.
Starting tomorrow, no more hot milk for breakfast…
No, milk helped her grow taller. Better to skip a slice of bread instead.
And no sugar cubes in her milk when Liyana made it.
She shouldn’t just sit in the carriage all day either—she should walk around more. Maybe she could ask Liyana to teach her how to drive the carriage. That earth dragon seemed pretty docile; it’d probably listen to her.
And just like that, her weight-loss plan was perfectly settled!
Mo Lini finally relaxed.
Hmm… I wonder what’s for dinner tonight.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
