Wang Jianqiang had just left his residence when he spotted two familiar figures approaching.
Chen Jiaojiao and Niu Shouren?
He raised an eyebrow.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Chen Jiaojiao for over two months.
As Wang Jianqiang noticed them, they also caught sight of him.
Chen Jiaojiao’s expression flickered, her gaze evasive.
Beside her, Niu Shouren’s face twisted into a sneer.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Trash King?”
“Shouldn’t a useless waste like you be hiding in your hole instead of embarrassing yourself out here?”
Hearing Niu Shouren’s taunt, Wang Jianqiang arched a brow, a thought forming in his mind.
Chen Jiaojiao hadn’t sought him out for so long—something must have happened.
His eyes lingered on Chen Jiaojiao.
Her information flashed through his mind.
When he saw the mere 10 points of favorability remaining in the status bar, his suspicions grew firmer.
“Ah, Shouren, it’s you.”
Wang Jianqiang acted as if he hadn’t heard the insult, smiling amiably.
“I attended the Outer Sect Tournament a while back and caught your match. Didn’t you get eliminated in the first round? Hope you’re doing alright?”
Niu Shouren’s face twitched.
He had indeed participated—and been knocked out in the first round.
Not just that, he’d been beaten so badly he needed half a month to recover.
For someone as prideful as him, it was a humiliation. Now that Wang Jianqiang had brought it up, his cheeks burned with shame.
“Hmph, I only entered for experience. Results mean nothing.”
“True,” Wang Jianqiang nodded, as if agreeing.
Niu Shouren’s expression relaxed slightly—until Wang Jianqiang continued, “With your skills, you were never going to achieve anything anyway.”
His face stiffened, speechless.
“Enough, Trash King. Cut the nonsense.”
“Jiaojiao and I were just about to look for you. Running into you here saves us the trouble.”
“Oh? Looking for me? What for?”
Wang Jianqiang glanced at Chen Jiaojiao.
She avoided his gaze, staying silent.
Niu Shouren pressed on, “We’re here to sever ties with you, old trash. From today onward, you have no connection to us as a couple.”
“Are you sure? Jiaojiao went to great lengths to mend things between us before.”
Wang Jianqiang’s eyes fixed on Chen Jiaojiao.
Niu Shouren frowned. “What do you mean, ‘mend things’?”
Chen Jiaojiao paled. “Wang Jianqiang, Shouren has made it clear. We’re done.”
“Don’t bother us again.”
With that, she tugged Niu Shouren away, their retreat almost hasty from Wang Jianqiang’s perspective.
“Jiaojiao, what was that about? What ‘mending things’? Did you beg him?”
“It’s your fault for being so stubborn and refusing to interact with him! I had to smooth things over.”
“I see… You’ve suffered, Jiaojiao.”
…
Their conversation drifted back on the breeze.
Wang Jianqiang couldn’t help but chuckle.
Chen Jiaojiao’s betrayal didn’t affect him in the slightest.
He’d never held high hopes for this ungrateful woman to begin with.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept his alchemy skills hidden from her all this time.
Not a single Perfect Cloudmist Pill had he given her—even the Perfect Verdant Spirit Pills, she’d only received four.
Still, one thing puzzled him.
Niu Shouren's cultivation level had previously been on par with Chen Jiaojiao's, both having recently broken through to the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.
So why was Chen Jiaojiao still at the early stage of the seventh layer, while Niu Shouren had already reached the ninth layer?
After pondering for a moment, he shook his head and dismissed these thoughts, heading toward the Outer Affairs Hall.
Half a day later.
Wang Jianqiang returned to his residence.
With a wave of his hand, five jade slips materialized before him.
These five jade slips were his preparations for the upcoming Cold Spring Secret Realm expedition.
Three of them contained pill recipes, while the other two were blueprints for magical artifacts.
The three pill recipes were all for high-grade first-tier pills: the Spirit Restoration Pill, the Earth Yellow Pill, and the Blood Surge Pill.
The Spirit Restoration Pill accelerated the recovery of spiritual energy.
The Earth Yellow Pill was a healing pill.
As for the Blood Surge Pill, consuming it granted a temporary boost in strength, but the side effects were severe—it was a life-risking pill.
The two blueprints were for the Radiant Seal and the Windchaser Boots, both high-grade magical artifacts.
Dong Yue had previously mentioned that outer disciples were not permitted to purchase high-grade blueprints.
Yet, for some reason, upon learning that he was preparing for the Cold Spring Secret Realm, she made an exception and sold him these two.
Naturally, he wouldn’t refuse such an opportunity and bought them on the spot.
With these items at his disposal, his journey into the secret realm would undoubtedly be much safer.
Afterward, he focused his mind and examined each of the five jade slips.
"Ding! Detected inferior pill recipe. Optimization and upgrade require 30 cultivation points. Proceed?"
"Ding! Detected inferior pill recipe. Optimization and upgrade require 30 cultivation points. Proceed?"
"Ding! Detected inferior pill recipe. Optimization and upgrade require 30 cultivation points. Proceed?"
"Ding! Detected inferior blueprint. Optimization and upgrade require 30 cultivation points. Proceed?"
"Ding! Detected inferior blueprint. Optimization and upgrade require 30 cultivation points. Proceed?"
Three consecutive system notifications rang out.
"Yes."
As the thought flashed through Wang Jianqiang’s mind, the system responded again.
"Ding! Spirit Restoration Pill recipe successfully optimized and upgraded to the Perfect Spirit Restoration Pill recipe."
"Ding! Earth Yellow Pill recipe successfully optimized and upgraded to the Perfect Earth Yellow Pill recipe."
"Ding! Blood Surge Pill recipe successfully optimized and upgraded to the Perfect Blood Surge Pill recipe."
"Ding! Radiant Seal blueprint successfully optimized and upgraded to the Perfect Radiant Seal blueprint."
"Ding! Windchaser Boots blueprint successfully optimized and upgraded to the Perfect Windchaser Boots blueprint."
After optimizing and upgrading all the pill recipes and artifact blueprints, Wang Jianqiang took out the materials he had prepared earlier and began crafting.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
After a full month of relentless crafting, the results were impressive.
He had accumulated five hundred Perfect Cloudmist Pills.
The more frequently consumed Perfect Spirit Restoration Pills and Perfect Earth Yellow Pills numbered over a thousand each.
Since the Blood Surge Pill would rarely be used, he prepared only twenty.
Additionally, he crafted twenty copies each of the Perfect Radiant Seal, Perfect Windchaser Boots, Perfect Minor Mountain Seal, Perfect Darkwater Ring, Perfect Cloudwater Frostblade, and Perfect Moonwater Robe.
As for the Perfect Amethyst Slippers, they were no longer necessary now that the superior Perfect Windchaser Boots were available as a replacement.
"Senior Brother, the notice has been issued," Wang Yuyao came to inform him one day.
"In three days, we depart for Falling Snow Mountain."
Falling Snow Mountain was where the entrance to the Cold Spring Secret Realm lay.
"So the secret realm is finally opening?"
A glimmer of anticipation flashed in Wang Jianqiang's eyes.
He didn’t let Wang Yuyao leave afterward.
Instead, he led the blushing Wang Yuyao toward the inner room.
Since she was already here, they might as well do something.
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
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?"
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
