After Ye Chuan finished showering, he heard Bai Qianshuang say to him,
"Ye Chuan, Lan Xiaoke actually broke through to the Qi Refining Realm."
At this moment, Lan Xiaoke still hadn't grasped the situation, wearing an "OvO?" expression as if asking whether the Qi Refining Realm was some big deal. After all, she had only absorbed a tiny bit of energy for a short while and didn't even fully understand what cultivation was about.
In fact, Lan Xiaoke had broken through before Ye Chuan even finished his shower.
"Qi Refining Realm? Seriously?" Ye Chuan was momentarily stunned by Bai Qianshuang's words.
He then pointed at Lan Xiaoke, who was blinking dumbly, as if asking—
[This little thing?]
Ye Chuan glanced at Lan Xiaoke and confirmed that her aura had indeed reached the early stage of the Qi Refining Realm—she was a genuine Qi Refining cultivator.
Hearing Bai Qianshuang mention that Lan Xiaoke had achieved this level of strength just by casually dabbling in cultivation, Ye Chuan couldn't help but feel astonished by her speed.
After all, he had spent days idly grinding before breaking through. How had Lan Xiaoke managed it so quickly?
No wonder the system's description mentioned that while Lan Xiaoke was weak, her growth potential was high.
Was this what it meant?
"But if that's the case, why haven't you made any progress in decades?" This puzzled Ye Chuan. If Lan Xiaoke truly had such talent, why had she remained a low-tier ghost all these years?
He shot another glance at Lan Xiaoke, whose eyes were now filled with question marks.
Seeing her like this, Ye Chuan quickly figured it out.
The answer was simple—
She was lazy and a shut-in.
Lan Xiaoke never harmed anyone, never left the school building, and spent her days sneaking around ventilation ducts just to peek at people scrolling through their phones. As a ghostly NEET who didn’t cultivate or cause trouble, how could she possibly focus on training?
She probably got frustrated whenever someone scrolled past a video she wanted to watch.
"Then why aren’t you hurrying up and cultivating?" Ye Chuan said, seeing her clueless expression.
If she had some strength, would she have gotten caught and electrocuted like that?
"Cultivation is so boring," Lan Xiaoke muttered. Besides, now that she belonged to Ye Chuan, wouldn’t he protect her if she got bullied?
Listening to her grumbling, Ye Chuan stroked his chin and suddenly grinned.
"Alright, how about this? For every minor realm you advance, I’ll give you 5,000 bucks. Deal?"
"W-w-what?! How much?!!!!" Lan Xiaoke’s eyes nearly popped out.
Five thousand?
Five grand?!
"I’ll start cultivating right now!" Lan Xiaoke immediately latched onto Bai Qianshuang. "Coach Qianshuang, teach me! I wanna learn cultivation!"
Bai Qianshuang silently observed Lan Xiaoke.
Was she really interested in cultivation—or just the money?
"Fine," Bai Qianshuang finally agreed. "But you must join the Jade Void Sect and become one of its disciples. From then on, I’ll be your senior sister."
Bai Qianshuang was traditional at heart. While she was willing to teach Lan Xiaoke, she also insisted on formalizing the master-disciple relationship.
"Huh? What Void?" Lan Xiaoke didn’t quite understand. "So I’ll be a disciple now?"
Whatever—as long as she got paid!
Lan Xiaoke had become a ghost for two reasons: choking to death on instant noodles, and money. Right before her death, she had looted an in-game item worth a fortune but never got to enjoy the profits.
After decades of poverty, how could she not be resentful?
In some ways, her greed matched Ye Chuan’s.
Soon, Bai Qianshuang took Lan Xiaoke into a room to begin cultivation. Ye Chuan watched for a moment but didn’t feel like joining.
After all, he didn’t need to meditate to absorb spiritual energy—his system automated the process.
Sitting still for weeks on end was impossible for him. He had a life to enjoy.
Returning to his room, Ye Chuan had just sat down when a notification popped up on his phone.
[Quest: Increase Lan Xiaoke’s Favorability (Completed)]
[Daily Income Generation: 1,000 → 3,000, Medium Chance of Obtaining Ghost-Type Items]
[Obtained: Thunder Peachwood Sword (Mid-Grade)]
Ye Chuan hadn’t expected Lan Xiaoke’s favorability to rise.
What had he even done?
All he did was promise her 5,000 per breakthrough—and that alone was enough to make her like him more?
What a money-grubbing little gremlin.
[Item: Thunder Peachwood Sword
Mid-Grade Artifact
Deals bonus damage to ghost-type entities.]
A mid-grade artifact—slightly better than his Azure Peak Sword, though only by a small margin.
Ye Chuan summoned the sword. Its dark wooden body had a jade-like sheen, giving it an elegant appearance.
Not bad.
With Lan Xiaoke evolving into a cash-generating asset, she was proving to be quite the investment. Ye Chuan felt relieved he’d taken in this cowardly ghost.
If he’d been any later, she might’ve been electrocuted to death.
After sitting for a while, Ye Chuan stored the sword in his inventory and noticed the jade pendant lying quietly in the corner.
It was looted from his last raid, containing a dormant soul that required 200,000 to awaken—essentially a "ring grandpa."
"Since I found this in the ruins dated 2099, whatever’s inside this pendant might not be ordinary either." After some thought, Ye Chuan decided to awaken the soul.
"Come on, give me a wise old mentor. Help me soar through cultivation and become an immortal emperor."
Checking the appraisal cost and recalling the money he’d earned from Qiao Xin, Ye Chuan tapped confirm without hesitation.
As 200,000 was deducted, the pendant in his hand began glowing.
Ripples of light pulsed outward before coalescing into a solid form.
"Is it out? Ring grandpa? Or grandma?"
"Bzzzt—"
A blinding flash filled the room, forcing Ye Chuan to squint.
"Who threw a flashbang?!"
Just as he cursed internally, the light dimmed, revealing a figure slowly descending to the floor. To Ye Chuan’s shock, what appeared was a petite girl dressed in purple gothic attire.
Standing around 1.4 meters tall, she had knee-length twin tails and delicate, doll-like features.
Her eyes, filled with confusion and disdain, locked onto Ye Chuan.
"Such a feeble insect—was it you who awakened this great sorceress?"
Ye Chuan: "..."
He was speechless.
Wait, why did a jade pendant from the Tianxuan Continent summon a gothic lolita straight out of a Western fantasy?
Where was his wise old mentor?!
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
n] Top-tier player Zhou Yi died and was reborn into the body of a hopeless simp who shared his name. His first love callously dumped him for a rich heir, his childhood sweetheart saw him as an embarrassment, the ice-cold campus beauty looked down on him—every woman he ever loved treated him like a pathetic doormat. But later, his ex came crawling back in tears: "Yi, I was wrong. Please take me back." His childhood sweetheart became hopelessly devoted: "Yi, just one more glance from you is all I ask." The aloof campus belle blushed as she handed him a love letter: "Zhou Yi, I was blind before. Will you accept my feelings?" To all of them, Zhou Yi just smiled. "Sorry, too late. I’m done with love." Oh, and he also gained a system—every time he earned a woman’s affection, his looks improved and his bank account grew. Soon, he became the nation’s most eligible bachelor, with socialites and heiresses begging for his attention...
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
