By the time Xia Lun walked out of the room, Liana and the others had just finished breakfast and were clearing the table.
"Did Aina get a toe cramp again?" Liana looked behind Xia Lun but didn't see Aina anywhere.
Xia Lun nodded awkwardly; Aina still needed a bit more time to recover before she could come out.
"Here, we saved some for you." Liana gestured with her chin toward a plate on the table that was piled high with food.
"Thanks for the trouble."
"Sigh, I'm used to it." Liana waved her hand indifferently, causing Xia Lun to blush once again.
Lena took the initiative to take over the dishwashing duties, and Mo Lini, feeling bad about doing nothing, started to help her.
"Does Mr. Xia Lun get up this late every day?" Lena whispered to Mo Lini.
"No, Xia Lun actually gets up very early every day to practice swordplay... but after he gets tired from practicing, he goes back to the room to rest for a while, so that's why he gets up late," Mo Lini explained in a hushed voice.
"I see, Mr. Xia Lun is so diligent." Lena nodded.
Although they had tried very hard to lower their voices, Xia Lun and Liana could actually hear them perfectly well.
Liana's expression gradually turned odd and suggestive as she raised her eyebrows at Xia Lun, but he didn't respond.
"And Mr. Xia Lun is really handsome, too... It's a pity he already has a wife." Lena sighed softly.
Mo Lini immediately grew nervous. "Lena... you absolutely must not get any ideas about Xia Lun... Even though he saved you, you should try not to get too close to him."
"Really?"
"Yes! Otherwise, Aina will get jealous, and that is a very dangerous thing," Mo Lini warned seriously.
In her eyes, Lena was her junior, and she had an obligation to tell Lena about the rules of being around Xia Lun and Aina.
"You also can't just go into their room casually, regardless of whether anyone is inside or not... because Aina has set up magic arrays to guard against enemies. It's very dangerous."
Lena tilted her head. "Are there enemies?"
"Um... yes, there are!" Mo Lini recalled the incident when their residence at the academy was attacked by the Twilight Apostles. "Because we are adventurers, there will be enemies..."
Lena listened, feeling completely bewildered.
"However, Xia Lun and Aina are still very friendly. You just have to know your place and not make them worry... Although Aina doesn't talk much to other people, she is also very gentle, as long as you maintain a proper distance from Xia Lun."
Lena committed every word of Senior Mo Lini's advice to memory.
Liana glanced at Xia Lun. The guy had no reaction whatsoever, as if he hadn't heard anything, or as if the person Mo Lini and Lena were discussing wasn't him at all.
To be able to hold back from making a retort—he truly lived up to the title of Hero to possess such self-control.
Aina, suffering from the toe cramp, walked out trembling while holding onto the wall. She then leaned on Xia Lun's shoulder, using him as a support.
The two little creatures washing dishes paused slightly in their movements; they clearly knew that talking about people behind their backs wasn't good.
"Xia Lun! What did we come to the Elf Forest for in the first place?" Liana, sprawled on the sofa, suddenly looked up and asked Xia Lun.
Xia Lun was somewhat speechless. "Didn't you say you wanted to come?"
"Ah, did I? I've mostly forgotten." Liana yawned. "So, we have nothing to do? Should we go back?"
"Don't you want to stay at home a little longer?" Xia Lun was a bit surprised.
"I am a free adventurer; where in this house can I find a thrilling and exciting expedition?" Liana asked in return.
Oh, there are plenty of places... Aina poked Xia Lun's back gently, her face flushed red.
"Anyway, I can't stay in this house for another moment!" Liana suddenly jumped up from the sofa.
Xia Lun and Aina had plenty of entertainment between the two of them, and Mo Lini and Lena got along well, so she was incredibly bored all by herself.
"I'm going out on an adventure!" Liana raised her hands high.
"Ah, is that so?" Xia Lun didn't have any special reaction. "Go ahead, just don't cause any trouble."
"Hey, Xia Lun, shouldn't you be telling me to stay safe?" Liana said with some dissatisfaction.
Xia Lun waved his hand. "Then stay safe."
"Tch, so perfunctory." Liana grabbed a longbow hanging on the wall and jumped directly out of the open window on the second floor.
The Libya Forest contained quite a few secret realms and dungeons. However, the Elven race didn't have adventurers; it was the Elven Guard who cleared out the monsters within the dungeons.
This should be enough for Liana to vent her excess energy.
If the dungeons weren't cleared regularly, the monsters inside might riot and escape to the outside world.
According to Aina, dungeons were sandbox-like creatures created by the Goddess... but a dungeon wasn't a normal life form; it was more like a tool with the ability to act on its own. It would only follow its instincts, simulating the appearance of other worlds based on information transmitted from the Spirit World. However, it lacked a comprehensive safety system, and it wouldn't stop its work even if it burst from being overfilled.
But if a dungeon were modified into an independent life form capable of autonomous thought... the threat to other races would be too great. If a dungeon were to riot because of certain events, or be utilized by people with ulterior motives, the harm caused would be terrifying.
That was why the Goddess placed treasure chests inside the dungeons, making adventurers take on the task of regularly clearing them out.
"Did Liana go out alone?"
Mo Lini finished her work and sat somewhat reservedly on the sofa with Lena. The two of them were like well-behaved children who wouldn't dare act presumptuously in front of adults.
"Let's go out too." Xia Lun knew that if he and Aina were there, the two little ones wouldn't be able to relax.
"If you want to go out and play, remember to take Musen with you," Xia Lun instructed Mo Lini.
It was like parents telling a child left home alone that the food was already prepared and to remember to heat it up before eating.
Mo Lini nodded obediently.
"And Little Lan," Aina added.
Little Lan, perched on Mo Lini's head, bounced once, seemingly reporting to Aina that it had accepted the mission.
Then, Aina took Xia Lun's arm, and they gradually disappeared from the pair's view.
"Phew—" Lena let out a long sigh of relief, her whole body relaxing significantly.
Mo Lini stretched her body in a long, lazy motion. "What shall we do next?"
The surroundings became quiet.
In front of Liana's house was a fairly large clearing where Joli was swinging his sword... beyond that lay a large expanse of fields where Yorid was busy working the furrows.
"I plan to go help," Lena whispered. "Since I'll be living here as a maid from now on, it's best to build a good relationship with Mr. Yorid."
Mo Lini replied, "Farming? That feels interesting! I'll join you then..."
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
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.
