At nine o'clock in the evening, the streets of downtown Haicheng were brightly lit, bustling with traffic, the shimmering lights resembling a flowing golden ribbon. It was the liveliest time of the day in the city.
Su Yang drove with two companions to Haicheng’s most famous hotspot—Shangyuan Road.
This street was packed with countless trendy restaurants, bars, and entertainment spots, all stylishly decorated, making it a popular gathering place for fashionable young men and women.
After searching for a while, Su Yang finally found a parking spot and pulled in.
The trio then strolled leisurely into the crowd.
With their striking looks and charm, Su Yang and his two companions quickly drew the attention of passersby.
"Look over there, there’s a hottie!" a girl in a white miniskirt turned to whisper to her friend.
"Wow, he really is kinda handsome."
"I wanna go ask for his WeChat."
"Go for it! What’s the big deal?"
"But he’s with two girls—one of them might be his girlfriend."
"So what? They’re all out having fun. If he’s already with two girls, what’s one more?"
"That… actually makes sense. Should I go?"
"Go! Just try your luck."
"Alright!" The girl in the miniskirt mustered her courage and jogged toward Su Yang.
At that moment, Su Yang, Zhao Mengrou, and Gu Xiaoman were scanning the area for a bar when he suddenly felt a tap on his arm.
Turning, he saw a cute girl—about 165 cm tall, with twin ponytails, wearing a black cropped top and a white miniskirt—standing beside him.
Su Yang blinked in surprise. "Uh, yes?"
"Hey, can we… get to know each other?" the girl asked shyly.
Hearing this, Zhao Mengrou and Gu Xiaoman both turned to look at her.
Their expressions were amused, clearly waiting to see how Su Yang would handle the situation.
Su Yang smiled faintly and immediately called out in his mind:
—System, scan! Just tell me her rating.
[79]
—Got it.
After receiving the answer, Su Yang cleared his throat and politely declined, "Sorry, my girlfriend’s pretty strict—she doesn’t let me add random people on WeChat."
"Oh… okay." The girl’s face flushed, and she quickly turned and scurried away.
"Not bad, Su Yang. You actually resisted adding such a cute girl?" Zhao Mengrou teased with a smirk.
"I told you, I’m a simple, honest guy."
"Pfft, yeah right. If we weren’t here, I bet you’d have caved."
"Whether you’re here or not, I wouldn’t add her. I’m not that kind of guy."
The first part was true—after all, a 79 didn’t meet the system’s binding requirements. The second part, however, was pure nonsense.
Soon, the three settled on a craft beer bar called Hidden Nest.
Inside, the lighting was dim, the decor vintage, and a long-haired, artsy-looking guy sat on the central stage strumming a guitar and singing in a slow, mellow voice.
The combination of music and the hazy, intoxicating atmosphere of the bar enveloped everyone present.
The place was already filled with customers, all young and stylish, their long legs making Su Yang’s head spin.
A server guided them to a round table, where they took their seats.
Su Yang handed the menu to the girls. "You two order first. See what you’d like."
Gu Xiaoman took the menu and skimmed through it with practiced ease—clearly a bar regular.
"We’ll start with a pitcher of your signature IPA and some snacks to go with it."
"Got it. Just a moment." The server took the menu and left.
"Just one pitcher?" Su Yang thought it wouldn’t be enough.
Gu Xiaoman chuckled. "We can always order more. This pitcher’s huge—three liters."
"Alright, we’ll see."
Just then, Gu Xiaoman pulled a pack of slim cigarettes from her Chanel bag.
Su Yang raised an eyebrow. "You smoke?"
"Not often. Just when I’m drinking. Otherwise, I don’t touch them."
"Well, in that case, I’ll join you."
Soon, the beer and snacks arrived.
Su Yang poured drinks for the girls, then raised his glass with a grin. "Cheers! Thanks for celebrating with me tonight."
"Hold on," Zhao Mengrou interjected playfully. "This is your first time buying a place—shouldn’t you drink a solo toast first?"
"Fine, fine. First, a toast to you two." He downed his glass in one go.
"Not bad. This beer’s actually pretty smooth."
After refilling, the three clinked glasses, and Zhao Mengrou and Gu Xiaoman smiled. "Congrats on checking off a major life milestone."
"Thanks, ladies." Su Yang grinned back.
They all drained their glasses.
"Su Yang, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask," Gu Xiaoman said as she refilled her drink.
"Go ahead."
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
Su Yang smirked. "Nope. Only had one relationship in college, and it didn’t last long."
"And you never dated again? With your looks, that’s hard to believe. Girls were literally stopping you on the street for your WeChat. You expect me to buy that you’ve only had one girlfriend?"
‘Lady, I was broke back then! Never dressed up, just worked overtime every day. Who’d date me?’
Su Yang sighed and explained, "I swear! Just one. It’s not like I didn’t want to—love’s gotta be mutual, right?"
"So you never met anyone you liked since then?"
"Not yet." Su Yang shook his head.
After another drink, he turned the tables. "What about you two? Any boyfriends?"
"What do you think?" Zhao Mengrou rolled her eyes. "If we had boyfriends, would we be out drinking with you?"
"Heh, fair point."
"Are we just gonna drink like this?" Gu Xiaoman suddenly asked.
"Want to grab some cards or dice and make it a drinking game?"
"That’s exactly what I was thinking."
"Alright, dice it is." Su Yang turned and called to a server, "Hey, can we get three dice cups?"
"Coming right up!"
Soon, the cups arrived, and the trio launched into a classic drinking game.
"Four threes," Su Yang called first.
"Five threes," Gu Xiaoman countered.
Zhao Mengrou checked her dice and declared, "Five sixes."
"Open!" Su Yang flipped his cup without hesitation. "I’ve got none."
Gu Xiaoman revealed hers with a grin. "Just one here."
Zhao Mengrou only had three, making the total four sixes.
She pouted. "Ugh, fine. One drink, right?"
"Yep. One per round—no cheating."
"Please. Just watch how much I can handle." Zhao Mengrou downed her glass in one go.
“Now that's what I call refreshing!” Su Yang clapped his hands in approval.
Time flew by as they played the game, and so did the alcohol. Before they knew it, the trio had ordered two more rounds of craft beer.
By now, Zhao Mengrou and Gu Xiaoman's eyes were glazed over, especially Zhao Mengrou—her face was flushed red, and she swayed slightly in her seat.
Su Yang had played this dice game often with his roommates back in college, so his skills were decent. He’d only had about ten glasses so far.
Still, after not drinking for a while, even his head was starting to feel heavy.
He checked the time—12:30 AM.
"Ladies, you sure you want to keep going? You both look like you're about to tap out. Maybe we call it a night?"
"No way! Keep drinking!" Zhao Mengrou waved her hand dramatically.
"Seriously, you're wasted."
"Who says I'm wasted? Xiaoman, are you wasted?" Zhao Mengrou turned sluggishly toward Gu Xiaoman.
"I'm not! Su Yang's the one who's wasted!"
Su Yang rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure you two are the drunk ones here. Let’s stop before you pass out—how am I supposed to get you home then?"
"Home? What home?"
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.”
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...
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
