Chaos Era, Year 1813.
Aina frowned deeply as she stared at the man before her.
Something was off. Very off.
She had already joined the hero’s party and embarked on adventures with them. Alongside Liyana, the three of them had successfully conquered an underground labyrinth.
But… she still couldn’t gauge this man’s true strength.
No matter what kind of monster they faced, without exception, he would slay them all with a single strike.
Of course, those monsters weren’t particularly high-tier—Aina could also dispatch them in an instant. But this meant she had no way to test Xia Lun’s limits.
As a result, she remained cautious around him, never daring to truly act against him.
She would have to keep biding her time…
Inside the tavern.
"Cheers!" Liyana raised her mug, trying to clink it against Xia Lun’s and Aina’s.
Xia Lun obliged, tapping his cup against hers, while Aina remained silent, taking a sip of her juice without reciprocating.
Liyana didn’t push it. After spending these past days together, she had already learned that Aina was the aloof type.
"Should we venture into more dangerous dungeons?" Aina proposed bluntly. "Given our strength, the monsters we’ve been facing are hardly worth our time…"
She said this, of course, in hopes of quickly uncovering Xia Lun’s true power so she could formulate a plan to deal with him.
But Xia Lun merely shook his head lightly. "Rushing headlong into danger isn’t wise, Aina. If you’re eager to hunt stronger monsters and gain renown, you could always join a more powerful adventurer party. They certainly wouldn’t refuse a mage of your caliber."
Aina’s voice turned icy. "Are you telling me to leave?"
Xia Lun met her gaze earnestly. "Of course not. I truly hope you’ll stay. Your strength is indispensable to me—you can accomplish things I cannot. I need you, Miss Aina."
He paused briefly before continuing, "But if our goals diverge, I have no right to keep you by my side."
If he wanted her to stay, why say such things?
What a strange man, Aina thought to herself.
She took another sip of juice. "As you wish. You’re the leader."
After all, her objective wasn’t yet fulfilled… If she were truly driven out of the party, things would only become more troublesome.
"You’re willing to stay? That’s wonderful." A hint of joy flickered visibly across Xia Lun’s face.
Liyana downed her mug of craft beer in one go. "Phew— Don’t mind him, Aina. Xia Lun’s just being honest. He really is thinking of your best interests, not trying to push you away."
"It’s fine." Aina’s replies to others remained as curt as ever.
Liyana then blurted out again, "Xia Lun, you know what? You act like you’re totally smitten with Aina."
"Do I?" Xia Lun mused before glancing at Aina. "Strong, elegant, beautiful… Miss Aina is indeed captivating. If I had to choose someone to court, she would undoubtedly be my first choice."
This guy… How could he say such shameless things so casually?
Aina’s cheeks flushed slightly, but she didn’t respond, continuing to sip her juice, her lips never leaving the rim as tiny bubbles formed on the surface.
"Hey! Xia Lun, what about me?" Liyana pointed at herself, puffing out her chest proudly. "I’m not any worse than Aina, am I?"
Aina’s eyes flickered briefly downward at her own figure.
"Ahem…" Xia Lun coughed as if choking. "Liyana… You’ll always be my best bro."
"Ugh— How boring." Liyana pouted. "Not that I’m interested in you like that, but if you begged me, I might grit my teeth and let you have some fun—"
"Disgusting." Aina, seated across from them, scoffed coldly.
"Hah, Xia Lun and I grew up together." Liyana slung an arm around Xia Lun’s shoulder, shooting Aina a challenging look. "Not like some random newcomer who just joined out of nowhere."
Thud!
Aina slammed her glass onto the table and stood up without another word, striding away.
"Ugh, what a rotten attitude." Liyana grumbled as she poured herself another beer. "Xia Lun, don’t spoil her. That arrogant look of hers… If she weren’t so strong, who’d want her as a teammate? We don’t have to act like her servants—"
Xia Lun sighed. "Liyana… You’re drunk."
"I’m not!" Liyana shouted. "Seriously, what’s her problem? The way she talks is so infuriating… And we don’t even know her background. I bet she’s up to no good—"
"Liyana." Xia Lun’s voice was calm and gentle, yet brooked no argument. "Calm down."
"Fine…" Liyana slumped onto the table, muttering like a scolded child.
"We haven’t known Aina for long. We can’t judge her based on first impressions. It’s natural for her to be wary of us." Xia Lun spoke softly. "She may be a bit solitary, but I don’t think she’s a bad person."
"Alright, I get it, it’s my fault. Stop lecturing me." Liyana waved a hand. "I shouldn’t have provoked her… It’s just the way you side with her that pisses me off. Feels like she’s stealing you away from me. Even if I’m your bro, I’m still a woman. I don’t want to lose to her…"
Xia Lun looked remorseful. "Sorry, I didn’t consider your feelings."
After a moment of thought, he added, "While I can’t see you as a romantic partner… I’m sure any other man would find you quite charming—"
"Whatever. I don’t need men drooling over me." Liyana pushed herself up from the table. "Alright, I’ll go apologize to our esteemed mage princess… I’m good at sweet-talking girls."
Unnoticed by any of them, a blood bat hanging from the tavern’s rafters silently flapped its wings and flew away.
Back at the inn, Liyana knocked gently on Aina’s door.
Xia Lun stood behind her.
The door opened slowly, revealing Aina no longer in her usual robes but a dark, form-fitting dress that accentuated her graceful figure.
"Yes?" Her expression remained as placid as an undisturbed lake.
"Uh… Sorry about earlier. I had a bit too much to drink and acted out of line." Liyana scratched her head. "Ahem, Xia Lun and I were just joking around. There’s no way I’d actually… you know, even if he begged."
"It’s fine." Aina gave a slight nod. "See you tomorrow."
"Uh… Yeah. See you tomorrow."
Aina closed the door softly behind her.
Liyana turned to Xia Lun. "Does that mean she forgave me?"
Xia Lun also seemed uncertain: "Probably."
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
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!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
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.”
