When Xia Lun watched Hardwick come out of the room, the latter looked as if he had aged ten years.
Although ten years to him was but a fleeting moment.
The old Demon King hobbled away, his back looking somewhat desolate.
Xia Lun raised an eyebrow and pushed the door open to enter.
He had just felt a powerful fluctuation of magic power inside the room.
Right now, the room was calm and tranquil, but the table had suffered a bit. Expensive tea was generously spilled all over the floor, and the cups were scattered about in a mess.
Xia Lun's gaze landed accurately on the culprit.
"Hehe." Aina flashed a smile at him. That smile was as sweet as a newly bloomed rose, innocent and pure; the girl's brightness almost overflowed.
Xia Lun's expression turned weird. "You guys sparred?"
"After all, the old man wouldn't give up. He was still hoping I would change my mind," Aina shrugged, her tone as light as if she were discussing the weather. "But since I showed that I was stronger than him, he was too embarrassed to say anything more."
So Aina and Hardwick had just secretly competed against each other in the room for a while.
It was evident that the result had dealt a huge blow to the old Demon King.
Xia Lun could also understand. After all, having cultivated diligently for so long, being suddenly outdone by a junior would definitely make anyone feel terrible, even him.
And this was under the circumstance that Aina was respectfully acting along with him... If the other party knew Aina's true strength, he might be even more desperate.
That person naturally still had to continue shining in the position of the Demon King.
Xia Lun sighed inwardly. Even with such formidable strength, there were still times when one had no control over themselves.
"It seems one of your subordinates' positions has opened up?" Xia Lun remembered another thing.
Originally, there were four Vampire Dukes directly serving Aina... Now that one had been dealt with by Xia Lun, a position had become vacant.
"Will it have any impact?"
"The family behind him might come knocking, I suppose." Aina stretched lazily on the sofa.
"Then what should we do?" Although he said that, Xia Lun's face didn't show much worry.
"Just tell the truth. If they don't know what's good for them, annihilate them." Aina also spoke nonchalantly.
It could be seen that Aina didn't have much favoritism toward her own race either.
"Then do you need to recruit a new subordinate?"
"Hmm... Fina and Niya can handle the affairs on the vampire side. When that Xie Lun was alive, he didn't seem to have made much contribution anyway." Aina shrugged her shoulders. Xia Lun walked behind her, his slender fingers resting on her delicate shoulders and neck, kneading with moderate pressure.
"As for the remaining position... let's just leave it for Luo Lun," Aina said, narrowing her eyes in enjoyment.
"You value her a lot?"
Xia Lun had found it a bit strange before; Aina seemed to hold excessive expectations for Luo Lun.
"Hmm... that guy is Moke's descendant after all, I have to look after her a bit." Aina responded vaguely and absentmindedly, her attention clearly focused more on her shoulders and neck, enjoying Xia Lun's perfectly measured kneading.
Xia Lun was a bit surprised. During their adventures, Aina seemed to appreciate Moke quite a bit, but he didn't expect Aina to be so nostalgic about him... Even though Wolund was the descendant between the two of them, she didn't care much about him.
Fina and Niya walked in and began to nimbly clean up the mess on the table.
Xia Lun withdrew his hands from Aina's shoulders. The lazy and relaxed look on Aina's face receded like the tide, and her expression instantly became serious, assuming the majesty a Progenitor should have.
"Um... Lady Aina, you don't need to be so restrained in front of us." Fina couldn't help but chuckle softly while swiftly wiping the table. "After all, Niya and I both know about the relationship between you and Mr. Xia Lun."
"Glib tongue! Asking for a beating, aren't you?" Aina feigned anger and glared, causing Fina to immediately dodge away with a giggle.
It was clear that Aina's relationship with them was quite good, not just purely that of a master and subordinates.
Xia Lun noticed that Niya's gaze was constantly sweeping back and forth between him and Aina like a little radar.
"Is there something the matter, Miss Niya?"
"No." Niya denied it verbally, but her eyes remained firmly locked on the two of them. Even the toy bear in her arms, with eyes made of some unknown gemstone, flashed a weird light.
She was shipping them again, feeling the powerful force of pure love.
Aina had no reaction; she was clearly used to this.
What a strange child. Xia Lun muttered in his heart.
Seeing that Aina couldn't let go, Fina hurriedly finished cleaning and soon dragged Niya away.
As soon as the door closed, Aina's stern little face slowly melted again.
"Xia Lun!" Aina turned around and opened her arms to the man behind the sofa, her voice carrying undisguised childish charm and attachment. "Come here quickly, let me hug you!"
"Sorry, Lady Aina, I left something behind..." Niya's voice entered as she pushed the door open without warning.
What greeted her eyes was exactly the posture of Aina with her arms stretched out, her eyes full of desire for a hug.
"I didn't see anything." Niya didn't take anything and decisively backed out again, shutting the door tightly without a sound.
Aina froze in place, like a statue that had been hit by a petrification spell.
Xia Lun watched Aina's cheeks turn red at a visible speed, from the roots of her ears down to her neck. Even her cute little earlobes turned an adorable pink. He couldn't resist reaching out a finger to poke her soft cheek.
"Xia Lun, it's all your fault!" Aina said in ashamed anger.
"What... what does this have to do with me?" Xia Lun spread his hands innocently.
"I say it's your fault, so it's your fault! It's all because you seduced me that I didn't notice that girl Niya suddenly approaching." Aina started to be unreasonable, like a cat with its fur standing on end.
"Alright, then blame me." Xia Lun decisively admitted his mistake and began to reflect deeply. "I will be careful next time."
"Careful about what?"
"Careful not to be behind you, because you don't like it." Xia Lun walked from behind the sofa to the front.
"What is this?" Aina furrowed her beautiful brows, then realized she might have been teased by Xia Lun.
"I do like it." But Aina wasn't shy; instead, she corrected him seriously, "We'll do it like this tonight."
Xia Lun stumbled, his left foot tripping over his right, and fell toward Aina's embrace.
But Aina stood straight up, and Xia Lun's head crashed into the spot where Aina had just been sitting, still able to feel a faint warmth.
"Where are you going?"
"To pack up and go back." Aina snorted softly. "Back to the academy. You should get ready too."
"So rushed?" Xia Lun was a bit surprised. "Aren't you going to say goodbye to your two subordinates?"
"I'm leaving precisely because I don't want to see them for the time being... In a few hundred years, they'll probably forget what just happened." Aina sighed again.
"Then do we have anything to pack?" Xia Lun remembered that they seemed to have come empty-handed.
"Yeah, I'm going to bring that bed along."
Xia Lun: ...
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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!
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.”
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
