The sky gradually darkened, and as the last glimmer of daylight faded, night fell.
The banquet held in honor of Xia Lun and his companions that evening was lavish. A long table stretching over ten meters was adorned with exquisite candles and laden with delicious delicacies. Liyana finally got her wish—she managed to tag along for the feast.
Several guards from the earlier battle also attended the banquet. During the daytime skirmish, they had fearlessly faced a terrifying enemy, earning Lanxia’s admiration.
After Elesha’s father passed away, few were willing to remain and continue protecting the Norman Family. Most, upon learning of the family’s dire situation, chose to leave, fearing they’d be dragged into trouble.
The assault by the Blood Pact assassins had claimed many guards, but those who survived received simple healing from Liyana. At the banquet, she quickly bonded with them.
Over the past thousand years, Liyana’s archery skills hadn’t improved much—after all, she had already reached the pinnacle. But her healing magic had seen significant progress.
However, the banquet wasn’t without its tensions.
"Why?! Kane died in battle today, and yet you all can celebrate like this?!"
A young guard suddenly slammed his wine glass onto the table, his eyes bloodshot.
"If… if you had acted sooner, Kane might still be alive!" The young guard, Morgan, pointed accusingly at Xia Lun.
Ordinary people stood little chance against magic.
His companions quickly pulled him back, apologizing profusely to Xia Lun.
Xia Lun sipped his wine, his expression unchanged.
"How dare you, Morgan! How can you speak like this? Xia Lun saved all our lives!" The elderly Lanxia stood up, her face flushed with anger as she berated the young guard. "You’re fired! Get out of here at once! The Norman Family has no use for an ungrateful wretch like you!"
Xia Lun slowly rose from his seat and walked over to Morgan.
Morgan’s gaze was filled with confusion and despair.
"Xia Lun, I…" Morgan tried to speak, but Xia Lun cut him off gently.
"I arrived too late. I couldn’t save Kane. He was someone important to you, wasn’t he?" Xia Lun’s voice was soft. Despite the earlier outburst, there was no trace of anger or blame in his expression—only compassion and concern.
Morgan’s nose stung. Kane had been his closest companion. They had left their village together, sworn to make something of themselves… They trained side by side, honing their combat skills, and became guards here together…
In the battle, Kane had thrown himself in front of the carriage when he realized the enemy was targeting Elesha.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down Morgan’s face, and soon, he broke down sobbing in front of everyone.
"Go. You shouldn’t be here right now. Find a quiet place." Xia Lun patted Morgan’s shoulder.
His companions led him away.
Elesha approached Xia Lun, her eyes shimmering with an unusual light.
"I apologize for my subordinate’s rudeness, Xia Lun." Elesha gave a graceful bow. "You’re truly a kind person."
"It’s nothing. I understand Morgan’s feelings. He’s a man of loyalty and passion—he was just overwhelmed by emotion." Xia Lun glanced at Lanxia. "I hope you’ll reconsider your decision."
"Of course. Morgan is an excellent guard. We won’t abandon him so easily."
Lanxia looked at Elesha with approval, as if pleased she had grasped her intentions.
Xia Lun returned to his seat and, under the table, quietly slipped his hand into Aina’s.
"Don’t worry, I’m not petty enough to harm that guard, Morgan," Aina said with a sigh. "Do you really think I’m the type to kill indiscriminately? I know you’d scold me if I did."
Xia Lun: "I didn’t say anything. I just wanted to hold your hand."
Aina narrowed her eyes, looking pleased. "Sly man…"
As the banquet neared its end, guests began to leave.
"Aina!"
Liyana suddenly pounced over, with Mo Lini trailing behind her.
"Let’s go bathe together! That old woman mentioned there’s an open-air bath in the manor!"
Then, she turned to Xia Lun. "And you—no peeking!"
Xia Lun pointed at himself incredulously.
As if he needed to peek? He knew every inch of Aina’s body by heart.
"Honestly, I think you’re the bigger problem here," Xia Lun said, eyeing the elven woman suspiciously.
"I won’t lay a finger on Aina or Mo Lini!" Liyana huffed, steam practically shooting from her nostrils. "Don’t you trust my integrity?"
"Then Aina should bathe with me," Xia Lun said flatly.
"Too bad, Xia Lun. The baths here are separated by gender." Liyana wagged a finger. "Besides, if you and Aina bathed together, you’d definitely… Hmph, I know you two. Aina would end up dirtier than when she went in."
Xia Lun coughed awkwardly. Though embarrassed, he couldn’t refute it.
"Xia Lun’s… isn’t dirty," Aina frowned. "And I’d take it all properly. I wouldn’t let it get on me."
Liyana’s face turned bright red.
"What are you talking about?" Mo Lini tilted her head, completely lost.
"Good girls don’t need to know!" Liyana covered Mo Lini’s ears, stammering. "A-anyway… Mo Lini, let’s go first… Hahaha…"
"I’ll go too. See you later, Xia Lun." Before leaving, Aina kissed Xia Lun’s forehead.
Though their bodies no longer produced sweat or oils, some rituals were worth keeping.
Xia Lun decided to take a bath as well—might as well, since he had nothing else to do.
The bathhouse was indeed well-designed. As soon as Xia Lun stepped inside, the humid steam, laced with the smoky scent of burning pine, enveloped him. The water was perfectly heated, emitting a comforting warmth.
Beside the pool, two fully nude cherub statues held up jars, from which hot water continuously poured into the bath.
The jars were engraved with fire-attribute magic arrays, glowing faintly red like heated iron.
Using magic to regulate water temperature… now that was luxury.
Xia Lun was the only one in the bathhouse.
After undressing, he sank into the pool, letting out a long sigh of contentment.
Yet, just then, the door swung open again—at the most inopportune moment.
Elesha stepped in, wrapped in a white towel, her voice trembling with nervousness.
"Xia Lun… would you like someone to scrub your back?"
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.
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
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.”
