Even in the southernmost city of S, as the year's end approaches, the air carries a hint of chill.
It wasn't bitterly cold, but it was enough that a single layer wouldn't suffice. The people living there had all tacitly added a few extra pieces of clothing.
Under the bright streetlights, Lu Ming walked with his hands in his pockets, his mind wandering. His gaze would occasionally drift, stealing furtive glances at the girl beside him, with whom he had just recently started a relationship.
Tian Youyou was wearing a very pretty red lolita dress today. The dress was fluffy, with a soft, billowy skirt, paired with a red shawl and some exquisite accessories that immediately brought the New Year to mind.
She looked incredibly cute.
To match the lolita dress, she had also tied her hair into two little buns on either side of her head with red ribbons, making her look like a maiden from ancient times in a comic book.
She was unbearably adorable.
Lu Ming felt too shy to stare openly. He would sneak a look, then avert his eyes.
His heart was pounding with nervousness, mixed with happiness.
He was happy that Tian Youyou had accepted his confession and agreed to be his girlfriend.
Lu Ming and Tian Youyou had known each other since they were very young. They had grown up together, gone to school together, shared joys and sorrows, and experienced so many things together.
At some point, Lu Ming suddenly began to see Tian Youyou as different.
She seemed to have become prettier almost overnight, always inexplicably drawing his gaze. The light in her eyes, her round face, her adorable little canine teeth—every single part of her was beautiful!
Especially when she smiled; those sweet dimples seemed carved right into his heart.
A few days earlier, right after winter break started, as they were walking home together, perhaps because his suppressed feelings finally erupted, or maybe because his brain short-circuited looking at Tian Youyou's cute face...
Lu Ming's mind went completely blank, and he confessed.
Under Tian Youyou's surprised gaze, Lu Ming endured what felt like the longest few seconds of his life, his heart clenched tight with tension.
When Tian Youyou nodded, lowered her head, and with a blushing face said she liked him too, Lu Ming felt like the happiest person in the world.
They often hung out together.
From childhood until now, the times were more numerous than the leaves on a willow tree.
This was their fourth date since confirming their relationship, and Lu Ming was as nervous as if he had just met her.
His gaze drifted down to Tian Youyou's small, pale hand that looked so soft and pinchable. Lu Ming took a deep breath, silently psyching himself up.
The first three dates, he hadn't done anything.
This time, you should at least hold her hand!
Don't be nervous, don't be nervous.
It's just holding hands. You even slept in the same bed when you were kids. It's just holding hands now.
Don't be nervous, don't be nervous...
Just as Lu Ming was trying to adjust his state, the girl beside him noticed something was off and asked in her soft voice:
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not nervous!"
In his extreme nervousness, the words slipped out before Lu Ming could think, blurting out exactly what was on his mind.
Tian Youyou was amused by his silly demeanor, covering her mouth as she laughed. Her eyes curved into bright crescents, mesmerizing Lu Ming for a moment and making the awkward situation suddenly feel less embarrassing.
But after this little blunder, he felt even less courageous to take Tian Youyou's hand.
Even though it was just holding hands, Lu Ming felt it should be done carefully, needing to find the right moment. You can't just grab it, right?
And he couldn't bear to do anything she wasn't willing to do.
Even though he didn't get to hold her hand, making her laugh and seeing her happy was good enough!
Lu Ming thought to himself, feeling quite satisfied.
The two wandered aimlessly along the street. On the straight lampposts hung strings of bright red lanterns. The strong festive atmosphere filled the streets and alleys; the entire city was welcoming the New Year.
After strolling like this for a while, just as Lu Ming was wondering what to do with Tian Youyou next, he felt a gentle tug on his sleeve from a small hand.
Lu Ming turned to see Tian Youyou looking up at him, her big, bright eyes sparkling with curiosity about the unknown and a hint of nervousness.
"Lu Ming, have you ever been to a bar?"
Tian Youyou asked in her thin, soft voice.
"No, I haven't."
Lu Ming shook his head. He was a model good kid; he hadn't even been to internet cafes much, let alone bars.
"What, do you want to go?"
Lu Ming caught her implication and asked instinctively.
Tian Youyou lightly pursed her pink, moist lips, nodding a bit sheepishly.
"Yeah."
"My classmates go to bars often, but I've never been."
"I've always wanted to see what it's like, but I'm scared to go alone. Will you go with me to take a look?"
Meeting Tian Youyou's pleading, pitiable gaze, a surge of boldness instantly rose in Lu Ming's chest.
What's a bar?
I'd go through fire and water for you!
Without hesitation, Lu Ming nodded in agreement.
Seeing her request accepted, Tian Youyou smiled happily.
Looking at her crescent-moon eyes, Lu Ming felt immensely happy himself.
Entering a nearby well-known bar, the two who had been good kids for nearly twenty years were immediately stunned.
The pounding music, the frenzied atmosphere, the hot dancers with fiery figures and revealing clothes on stage—everything was assaulting their pure worldview.
Especially the thumping music, which felt like it was about to deafen them.
Lu Ming instinctively stopped, his eyes questioning as he looked at Tian Youyou, as if asking if she still wanted to go in and look around.
Tian Youyou frowned, clearly also very unaccustomed to the super noisy environment of the bar.
But before she could answer, a group of people seemed to intentionally or unintentionally squeeze towards them.
Lu Ming noticed this somewhat odd group. In the critical moment, he instinctively grabbed Tian Youyou's hand, pulling her behind him, and stared warily at the crowd.
Perhaps because their intention was seen through, or perhaps they hadn't planned to do anything in the first place, the group brushed past the two. Aside from a few of them giving Tian Youyou extra glances, the two parties had no further interaction.
With the crisis averted, Lu Ming only then realized that today's goal had been achieved without him even noticing.
Shifting his gaze from their tightly clasped hands, Lu Ming looked at Tian Youyou.
Their eyes met. In Tian Youyou's eyes, there was no displeasure; instead, they shimmered with a mix of delight, touched emotion, and shyness.
"...."
"Huh?"
The bar was simply too loud; Lu Ming couldn't hear a word Tian Youyou said.
Tian Youyou helplessly stood on her tiptoes, leaning close to Lu Ming's ear and speaking loudly:
"I'm going to the restroom, then let's get out of here!"
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.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
