The night was as dark as ink, quietly seeping across the sky. The last rays of the setting sun were swallowed by the distant mountains, and the wilderness sank into profound silence. Only the rustling of unknown insects in the grass broke the stillness.
The earth dragon came to a halt in the twilight, white breath puffing from its nostrils. They were already far from Calais City. The uneven ground was strewn with rubble, while the damp air carried the scent of rotting leaves and marshland. Deep within the forest, nocturnal monsters let out ominous growls.
Any adventurer with even a little experience would rather travel farther than make camp here.
Mosquitoes, monsters, treacherous terrain... With all these factors, getting any proper rest was practically impossible.
But Xia Lun clearly didn’t see it that way.
They were already here, after all.
Aina said nothing. She merely raised a hand slightly. Mana surged through the air, and an invisible ripple spread outward from her.
In an instant, the surrounding shrubs, brambles, and even several trees as thick as bowls were pressed into the earth as though by an enormous hand, vanishing beneath the ground with a series of muffled booms.
Luo Lun’s figure had disappeared without anyone noticing. He had naturally gone to gather firewood, while Xia Lun began setting up the tents. Xia Yi scampered over to help.
“Help” was a generous way of putting it. Xia Yi couldn’t actually do much. He simply followed behind Xia Lun, watching as his father took a tent out of his spatial ring. Once mana was infused into it, the tent’s supports began to transform and expand on their own, like an inflating structure.
Then Xia Yi moved from Xia Lun’s left side to his right, watching his father work and trying to look as though he were busy too.
“Heave-ho!”
At last, Xia Yi imitated his father and gave the fully erected tent a hearty slap. He nodded in satisfaction.
“It’s up!”
If Liyana had been there, she probably would have been quite proud. Xia Yi had clearly mastered the essence of slacking off that she had passed down.
With Little Lan’s help, Mo Lini set up the cooking pot. Before long, Luo Lun returned, and Liyana began preparing dinner as well. Humming an unfamiliar elven tune, she took various ingredients out of her ring. Her knife flashed, and the ingredients fell neatly into the pot one after another. Before long, the aroma of meat stew drifted throughout the camp.
Xia Yi smacked his lips. He hadn’t been especially hungry to begin with, but after smelling that, he felt he could eat quite a bit more.
“Give it a taste.”
Liyana ladled out a spoonful of steaming-hot broth and, without blowing on it, stuffed it straight into Little Lan’s mouth.
“Mmm... It probably needs a little more salt, along with some other spices.”
As a slime, Little Lan didn’t find the broth too hot. The heat quickly dispersed throughout her body.
Besides, Little Lan’s sense of taste was different from that of ordinary humans. Still, by analyzing the components in the food, she could determine its general flavor.
“Who would have thought that the creature best suited to becoming a chef in this world might be a slime like Little Lan?” Mo Lini couldn’t help but sigh at the sight.
Little Lan’s abilities were perfectly suited for tasting and preparing food. She could even precisely control the proportions of various ingredients. Though, when most people thought of such an application, they would probably think of alchemy rather than cooking.
If those witches skilled in concocting potions learned that a creature like Little Lan existed, they would probably fight tooth and nail to get their hands on her.
“No!”
Liyana suddenly let out a shout, startling both Mo Lini and Little Lan.
“What is it?”
“That little one can never become a true chef!” Liyana declared with utmost seriousness. “Food made solely by calculating its components cannot be called cuisine! True cooking is infused with the chef’s heartfelt desire for others to taste it! It is the hope of seeing smiles bloom on the diners’ faces! It is a love for the ingredients and for the cooking process itself! That is where the soul of cuisine lies!”
“Uh...” Mo Lini looked rather baffled.
It wasn’t the first time Liyana had suddenly gone off on an incomprehensible tangent.
After all, she had lived for so long that it was understandable if something was a little off in her head.
Few people in the group could follow Liyana’s train of thought.
But there were a few who could.
“Oh!”
Xia Yi let out a cry of surprise, as though he had suddenly understood something. He clenched his little fists, his face flushing red with excitement.
“Aunt Liyana! I want to learn how to cook!”
Liyana froze for a moment, then threw her head back and burst into hearty laughter.
“Good! Looks like you really understand me, kid! Hahaha! From now on, you’ll learn how to cook with me!”
Xia Yi imitated Liyana, placing his hands on his hips and throwing his head back in laughter.
“Hahaha!”
“Hahaha!”...
Their ceaseless laughter echoed across the open clearing.
“But aren’t you still using Little Lan’s abilities to cook?” Luo Lun remarked out of nowhere.
Liyana and Xia Yi instantly fell silent.
Xia Lun moved closer to Aina and whispered, “Is it really okay to let the boy keep hanging around with Liyana?”
“Let him be. He looks quite happy right now.” Aina narrowed her eyes as she watched the two of them in the distance.
“That’s true...” Xia Lun’s gaze remained somewhat worried. “I’m just afraid Liyana will turn him into an idiot.”
“It’s fine. He’s cute when he’s a little silly.” The corners of Aina’s lips curved upward. “Just like you, Xia Lun.”
“Aina, what did you say?” Xia Lun couldn’t help pointing at his own cheek. “Am I silly?”
Aina stuck out her little tongue.
“I feel like you’re not always the brightest.”
“I can’t pretend I didn’t hear that,” Xia Lun said with an exasperated laugh.
Aina shook her head in feigned regret.
“See? You say that, and then you refuse to admit it.”
“Then do you think you’re smarter than me?”
“Of course.” Aina proudly puffed out her small chest. “Can you understand those complicated magic circles and spell circuits?”
“No...” Xia Lun admitted without hesitation.
“See? That proves I’m smarter than you.”
“But magic isn’t everything.” Xia Lun argued back, somewhat unwillingly. “Aina, you don’t understand how to interact with people or build relationships, either...”
“With my abilities, do I need to?” Aina sat upright with perfect composure, smiling lightly at Xia Lun.
“Uh... no, you don’t.”
Aina continued, “Then do you want me to lower myself to the level of those mediocre people and build relationships with them?”
“No...”
Aina was his treasure, belonging exclusively to him. She should never have to become tainted by the dust of the world.
“Exactly.” Aina’s tone rose slightly. “Xia Lun, I thought all of this through long ago... You’re simply not as smart as I am.”
“All right...” Xia Lun realized he had no way to win the argument.
“But don’t worry, Xia Lun.” Aina stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, resting her forehead against his chest. “Even if you’re clumsy and a little silly, I’ll never dislike you.”
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.
+ Slow Paced + Main Character Thrives Together with His Disciples】 Transmigrated into a cultivation world, Chu Xingchen awakens a discipleship system that reveals the tags of his disciples! Starting from scratch, he builds the strongest sect. Disciple One: Li Yingling 【Gold Tag: Genius Cultivator】【Purple Tag: Extremely Lucky】【Blue Tag: Bewitchingly Beautiful】 Disciple Two: Li Hangtian 【Gold Tag: Reincarnated】【Purple Tag: Ruthless and Decisive】【Blue Tag: Loyal and Noble】 Disciple Three: ??? 【Orange Tag: Alluring Demoness】【???】【???】 Thus, in the cultivation world, an unremarkable little sect appears out of nowhere, but little do others know that each member of this sect is a powerhouse in their own right. The book is also known as: Cultivation? It's Exactly Like This!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
