Lin Mo put away his phone, his gaze returning to the jadeite rough stone on the table, now completely stripped of its outer rock layer.
The stripped stone was about the size of half a watermelon, its entire body displaying a profound "emperor's green" hue. Its texture was fine, its translucency excellent, and under the sunlight, it glowed with a warm, soft, treasure-like radiance.
This piece of material, if placed on the market, would be enough to drive any jeweler wild.
But in Lin Mo's eyes, its greatest value lay in the natural property within it—a property capable of containing spiritual power.
From this single rough stone, he could make many things.
His fingertips lightly traced the surface of the stone, carefully sensing its internal grain and flaws.
A moment later, spiritual power flowed from his fingertips, sharp as the finest blade, making light cuts at several points with minor cracks or slightly inferior quality.
An irregular piece of jadeite silently separated from the main body of the rough.
He then divided it into five pieces.
These five jadeite pieces, each smaller than a finger segment, could store some of Lin Mo's spiritual power. Given to Liu Zheng and the others, they could at least save their lives in specific situations.
After all, considering the physical resilience of those guys,
a submachine gun could turn them into Swiss cheese.
Lin Mo casually infused these jadeite pieces with spiritual power, drew a talisman in the air, and pressed it into the jade.
The jadeite trembled slightly, its internal color becoming even more profound and warm, as if it had gained life.
A faint, almost imperceptible fluctuation of spiritual power was perfectly sealed within.
Using jade to bear talismans was far more effective than using yellow paper and cinnabar. Not only could it store more spiritual power, but it could also be activated repeatedly. It was a new method Lin Mo had recently figured out.
This was indeed a method Lin Mo had recently thought of.
After all, in this vast world, he was the only cultivator. There wasn't much experience to draw from; he had to rely entirely on his own exploration and trial and error.
The system often went off to play around too, sigh, giving this old host endless worries.
After preparing all five jadeite pieces, Lin Mo casually put them in his pocket.
In the kitchen, a rich, buttery sweetness practically spilled out the doorway.
Chu Miaomiao, wearing a cartoon apron, was meticulously frying eggs and bacon at the stove, her expression as focused as if she were conducting a precise experiment.
Lin Mo leaned lazily against the kitchen doorframe, hands in his pockets, watching with great interest.
He didn't offer to help, and Chu Miaomiao didn't ask him to intervene. There was an unspoken tacit understanding between them.
After she plated the golden fried eggs and sizzling bacon, she took out the beef patties she had marinated earlier.
In May, the summer heat in Yangcheng was already quite oppressive.
The central air conditioning struggled to push cool air into the kitchen, but upon meeting the heat waves from the stove, it was utterly defeated.
Before long, a layer of fine sweat beaded on Chu Miaomiao's smooth forehead, a few strands of hair damp with sweat clinging to her full temples.
Lin Mo took a tissue from the dining table, walked over, and very naturally wiped her sweat for her.
The warmth of his fingertips through the tissue touching her skin made Chu Miaomiao freeze abruptly.
She seemed completely unprepared for this gesture from Lin Mo. A wave of heat rushed from her neck to her cheeks, turning even her earlobes pink.
"I... I can do it myself."
"Don't move, or the beef patty will burn." Lin Mo gestured towards the frying pan with his chin, but his hand didn't stop. "Don't surgeons on the operating table have nurses wipe their sweat?"
"This is just frying some beef, it's nothing like surgery," Chu Miaomiao retorted softly, but her eyes never left the patty in the pan, afraid she might accidentally ruin this top-quality ingredient.
Ever since Lin Mo cooked a meal for her at home last time, she had decided to expand her skills beyond just baking, even asking her mom to teach her how to cook.
She was determined to win over Lin Mo through his stomach.
The simplest place to start was with frying.
After all, their kitchenware was the best—the best non-stick pans, the best ingredients.
Ding!
The built-in oven emitted a crisp chime.
Lin Mo took the opportunity to let go, turned, and walked over, pulling open the oven door.
An even more domineering aroma of butter instantly swept through the entire kitchen.
"These croissants look good."
Looking at the golden, flaky pastries on the baking tray, Lin Mo's appetite was whetted.
"Mhm, they're ready! The oven mitts are hanging right there, be careful, it's hot!" Chu Miaomiao hurriedly reminded him.
Lin Mo glanced at the thick mitts, then, as if he hadn't heard, directly reached in and pulled out the scorching hot baking tray with his bare hands.
The metal tray landed steadily on a nearby heat-resistant pad with a soft thud.
Chu Miaomiao turned her head and saw Lin Mo had actually handled the tray with his bare hands.
The spatula in her hand clattered back into the pan. She rushed over, grabbing Lin Mo's wrist.
"Are your hands okay?!" Her voice held a tremor she didn't even notice herself.
Lin Mo's hand was perfectly fine, without even a hint of redness.
He turned his hand over, grasping the girl's soft little hand, and with his other hand, ruffled her hair.
"Did you forget? I'm different from other people."
His tone was as casual as if he were commenting on the nice weather.
"This temperature can't burn me."
As he spoke, Lin Mo pointed towards the stove.
"Go check on your beef."
Chu Miaomiao let out an "ah," as if waking from a dream, quickly breaking free from Lin Mo's grasp and rushing back to the stove.
Flustered, she flipped the beef patty. Thankfully, it didn't seem overcooked.
She turned off the heat and let out a long sigh of relief. But when she looked back, she saw Lin Mo nonchalantly pick up a croissant, gently blow on it, and take a bite.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on his calm profile.
Chu Miaomiao stood there dumbfounded, spatula in hand.
Croissants and regular crescent rolls are very similar in shape, but a failed croissant is just a crescent roll, and a failed crescent roll is simply garbage.
Croissants have a heavier butter flavor and a more fragrant, flaky texture.
Freshly baked croissants are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Because they're homemade, unlike those made commercially by machine, they don't stay crispy for very long.
Simply put, you eat them while they're hot.
Chu Miaomiao knew Lin Mo liked things with a richer butter flavor, so these croissants leaned towards the savory side. With one bite, Lin Mo thought they tasted better than the only croissant he had eaten in his previous life.
Chu Miaomiao set the fried beef patty aside and asked Lin Mo, watching him, "Is it good?"
"It's delicious."
Hearing this, Chu Miaomiao's face blossomed into a smile. "I have another way to eat them, you know?"
As she spoke, she opened the refrigerator and took some durian from the freezer.
May was the peak season for durian.
Chu Miaomiao sliced the croissants open horizontally, stuffed a piece of durian flesh inside, made three of them, then placed the filled croissants back on the baking tray. Just as she was about to pick up the tray, Lin Mo grabbed her hand.
"Hey, don't. This tray is still very hot."
Chu Miaomiao was startled, but she felt a little happy about this physical contact.
The tray hadn't completely cooled down yet.
Lin Mo placed the tray back into the oven. "For how many minutes?"
"Five minutes at medium heat will do."
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
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.
