Night had fallen.
The private room was dimly lit, with candlelight filtering through the frosted glass shades, casting a hazy glow that seemed to shut out even the moonlight.
"Take off your shoes."
Li Mo sat on a small stool, gazing earnestly at Ying Bing, who reclined on the massage chair. He hoped this gesture would repay her for the effort she'd expended earlier while rushing about—and maybe, just maybe, secure some investment in the process.
As for why he was sitting on a stool...
"Take off my shoes... why?"
Though Ying Bing's jade-like face remained as composed as ever, her slender, fair fingers had already tightened their grip on the fabric of the massage chair.
"Have you ever seen a dragon?" Li Mo asked solemnly.
"I have," Ying Bing nodded.
Li Mo: "......"
Had she seen one in a past life or in a dream?
He was momentarily at a loss for words.
Noticing his speechlessness, Ying Bing tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and corrected herself, "Oh, then I haven't."
"Good. You’re about to," Li Mo said mysteriously.
Ying Bing's delicate brows furrowed slightly, a few question marks practically materializing above her head.
Li Mo grinned. "Because you’re about to experience the full dragon service."
Ying Bing didn’t quite understand what this strange term meant, but Li Mo explained it was a new service their tavern planned to offer customers.
If it was meant for guests, it was probably... somewhat normal.
Besides, it involved dragons—a word now absent even among the myriad beasts of the Southern Border, reserved for solemn and dignified contexts, often used by the imperial family.
Li Mo added, "If you feel uncomfortable at any point, just let me know."
The young man was oddly enthusiastic, though he wasn’t entirely sure why.
"Want any extras?"
"Extras?"
"Never mind, I’ll add lotus wine for you. Enhances the experience."
He poured snow lotus wine—worth a thousand taels of silver per bottle—into the basin, unbothered by the fact that the water would eventually be discarded.
But he soon regretted it.
Her calves were fairer than snow, her toenails like delicate petals curling slightly as she tested the water temperature before finally dipping her feet in.
"Mmm..."
"What’s wrong?"
Ying Bing noticed Li Mo had fallen into deep thought.
He was suddenly struck by how wasteful it felt to pour out this water—especially since it now contained such precious wine.
Well, it must be because of the wine’s muscle-relaxing properties...
"I’ll... begin now. Just relax."
"Mm."
Ying Bing turned her face away, silent.
Li Mo observed that though the "ice block" maintained her usual aloof expression, her fingers and toes curled slightly whenever she was nervous.
This was a truth he’d confirmed firsthand.
Earlier, it had just been a hypothesis—after all, practice was the sole criterion for testing truth!
A moment later...
"Are you done?"
"I haven’t even started yet."
"But you’ve been... rubbing for a while."
"Impossible. You must just be feeling every second drag on."
"......"
Li Mo employed the Flower-Pinching Technique, but well...
This was probably just the eternal struggle between service providers and their clients.
The more indifferent Ying Bing looked, the more determined Li Mo became to find her pressure points.
So he located a particularly sensitive acupoint and pressed down—squelch~
Hmm...
Good thing he dodged fast.
Otherwise, those damp, jade-white toes might’ve ended up in his mouth.
When he looked up, Ying Bing’s cool gaze clearly spelled out:
'Not funny.'
So Li Mo behaved himself.
Honestly, whoever created the Flower-Pinching Technique was a genius. Even without its core essence, the technique was remarkably effective.
And was Li Mo taking this seriously?
Well, customer Ying Bing certainly thought he was enjoying himself a little too much.
In any case, Ying Bing’s tense posture gradually relaxed.
But that annoying system never missed an appointment—and was never late.
[Ding—]
[Countdown to the next ranking comparison: one minute remaining.]
The system’s virtual text overlapped with Li Mo’s figure.
Ying Bing glanced down at him, her lashes fluttering with an unreadable emotion.
Unlike the first two times, she wasn’t so confident now.
She’d lost twice already. Though she’d since mastered divine techniques, what exactly had Li Mo just been using?
"You go to the top of the Sword Tower often, don’t you?"
Li Mo was diligently applying the Flower-Pinching Technique, though his hands seemed to have a mind of their own. Still, multitasking wasn’t an issue:
"Yeah. I’ve been trying to sketch the strange stone up there, but no luck so far. Though I have made some progress..."
"Why sketch the stone?"
"If it’s that mystical, maybe it’s a Great Dao Divine Form?"
Li Mo chuckled.
Ying Bing dismissed it as a joke. "You can’t possibly depict a Great Dao Divine Form right now."
She’d never heard of anyone successfully copying one.
The most skilled painting sage she knew could only replicate Extreme Forms—and even that required perfect conditions.
Normally, the inheritance of Extreme Forms involved powerful figures splitting off fragments of their soul to leave behind divine imprints.
Ying Bing didn’t find it odd that Li Mo could study two divine imprints.
Most in the Observation Divine Realm were lucky to master one divine imprint in their lifetime—some didn’t even manage a Lower Form.
But she herself had taken the path of observing a hundred avian Extreme Forms to condense the Phoenix Divine Form.
"If you want to study other divine imprints, you’ll need ones compatible with your physique."
"But I don’t know what suits me."
Li Mo shrugged.
Only the things he drew himself seemed to fit.
"It can’t just be a rock."
"What if a monkey jumps out of it?"
"You—"
Ying Bing’s cold gaze suddenly paused.
She looked down and saw his hand resting on her calf.
While they’d been talking...
When had it moved up there?
Li Mo coughed professionally. "Just say the word if it’s uncomfortable."
"Right now..."
Ying Bing’s lips parted slightly.
But the countdown was already nearing zero.
3...
2...
1...
[Results of the third Eastern Wasteland Domain prodigy ranking have been announced.]
[Note: The next ranking will expand its comparison scope.]
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 50th place: Zheng Conglong]
...
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 39th place: Lin Jiang]
...
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 22nd place: Murong Xiao]
...
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 11th place: Xiao Qin]
...
[Eastern Wasteland Domain Prodigy Ranking, 2nd place: Ying Bing]
...
[Congratulations, Host. You’ve secured second place in this ranking.]
[Rewards are being issued...]
[Detected that Host has activated the Punishment for the Defeated. All rewards have been stored in the system space and will be distributed after punishment is completed.]
[This punishment’s content: Request ‘Li Mo’ to touch you.]
[Requirement: Cover over 80% of your body’s surface area.]
Ying Bing pressed her lips together, momentarily dazed.
It was unexpected—yet made perfect sense.
Or perhaps, deep down, she’d already braced herself for this?
The air seemed to freeze for a second.
Li Mo suddenly felt the smooth arch of her foot tense up again, her previously relaxed legs stiffening once more.
Hmm...
To be honest, the issue wasn’t whether Ying Bing could adapt or not.
Student Li Mo felt he needed to cool off too—maybe take a cold shower or something.
It was a bit overwhelming.
But the investment feedback still hadn’t refreshed. Was it because the investment wasn’t complete yet, or did this not even count as an investment?
"First time being a deadbeat dad—it’s normal not to be used to it."
"Let’s end it here."
Yet just as he shook the water droplets off his hands and stood up,
Ying Bing’s faint voice drifted from behind him. She seemed to be struggling to maintain her composure:
"Wait… can’t you see the dragon?"
"What dragon?"
"The dragon in ‘full-service dragon.’"
"??"
Li Mo turned back in confusion.
Her jade-like face, usually as cold and clear as frost under moonlight, now seemed more like the moon’s reflection rippling across a lake, faintly trembling.
Must be the lighting.
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?"
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.”
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
