【Congratulations, Host, for making the right choice.】
【This comparison has been restarted!】
Ying Bing was not one to hesitate once she made a decision.
Besides, she was already mentally prepared.
After all, she had even endured the previous punishment.
What worse punishment could the system possibly come up with?
Wait…
Why was she even thinking about punishments?
Having traveled all the way from the Southern Border, her understanding of him was no less than her understanding of herself.
Her chances of winning weren’t small.
Even if she lost, she wasn’t afraid of the punishment.
【The Host’s courage is commendable, befitting a peerless genius who has ranked second in the system three times in a row.】
"Thanks for the praise."
Ying Bing remained expressionless.
The ice block just sat there quietly, watching what tricks you could pull.jpg.
【This time, the system has also undergone a major upgrade, with a complete overhaul of its mechanics.】
"What exactly was upgraded?"
【Primarily the punishment mechanism for losing.】
Ying Bing: "?"
That was the last thing that needed upgrading, thank you very much.
Truly, aside from rewards, there wasn’t a single aspect of this system that lived up to the title of "peerless genius."
Frowning, she began reviewing the new punishment mechanism.
【Starting now, the system’s punishment will be determined by a lucky blind draw before the challenge begins!】
【Currently compiling the punishment options, sourced from the last ranking’s top scorer: Li Mo.】
Lines of illusory text appeared one by one, then slowly faded away.
In their place, a screen only she could see materialized.
Ying Bing was puzzled, lightly pursing her lips.
She had heard of reward draws, but punishment draws?
And this "sourced from Li Mo"…
She lifted her gaze, glancing at the young man sitting before the Jade Phoenix Spirit, deeply immersed in comprehending its essence. Bathed in a soft glow, he sat upright, appearing even more sunny and easygoing.
Elders would surely call him "that exemplary child from someone else’s family."
Scholars would praise him as "a noble gentleman, graceful as jade and fragrant as orchids."
Did this mean the punishment… would be based on his thoughts?
【Begin the draw?】
After staring at Li Mo for a moment, Ying Bing relaxed, a confident smile curling at the corners of her lips.
He wasn’t just putting on an act.
What she had witnessed firsthand proved it.
Aside from occasional childishness in his youth and even now, he truly deserved to be called a gentleman.
For example:
Li Mo had zero interest in Ouyang’s art books.
So there was nothing to worry about. She doubted he even had many thoughts suitable for punishments.
Ying Bing shifted her posture, reclining sideways on the soft couch and popping a grape into her mouth.
【Yes.】
As the thought settled, the screen rippled, and images gradually began to form.
A young couple walked hand in hand down the street, the girl eating a piece of candy the boy handed her.
"Is this what he’s thinking about?"
Ying Bing’s eyes were calm, though a faint trace of amusement flickered in their depths.
Feeding her candy? She had even eaten the candy figurine Li Mo made for her today. How could this count as punishment? Clearly, his mind was…
The next moment.
"I want some too."
"But there’s only one piece."
"I want this one."
The two shared the same piece of candy—the kind that left strings of sweetness between their lips.
【Preliminary Punishment Option 1: Imported Candy.】
Ying Bing: "?"
Her ice-mirror-like eyes froze, fingers involuntarily curling slightly.
Sure, they had even shared the same cup before. Sometimes during meals, Li Mo would use his own chopsticks to pick up food and feed her, and she would habitually open her mouth to accept it.
But then she vaguely recalled earlier today, when her lips had been stained with sticky syrup from the candy figurine.
He had casually wiped it off… then proceeded to slurp his fingers while eating noodles.
At the time, she had felt a faint, indescribable flutter in her chest.
Now that flutter had been given form—and it was no longer faint.
"Is this… the kind of thought a gentleman should have?"
As everyone knows, forgetting something outrageous is easy—just learn something even more outrageous.
Before Ying Bing could steady her thoughts, the screen scrolled again.
And as everyone also knows…
Li Mo carried memories from a past life, having been exposed to all kinds of information. In certain group chats, generous souls had opened his eyes to entirely new worlds.
This was something most people experienced sooner or later…
But the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands were different.
Some things, after years of solitude in the cold Lunar Palace, the Phoenix Heavenly Empress had never even heard of—let alone imagined.
"No wonder he likes feet…"
"It’s not just feet he likes…"
…
A long while later.
Ying Bing’s eyes fluttered open, only to land on her own damp little feet. She quickly averted her gaze, but the images in her mind refused to fade.
"He’s… no gentleman."
"He’s just a little devil…"
She shot a resentful look at the boy sitting there, instinctively curling her legs and hugging them close.
There were twenty punishment options in total.
Imported candy turned out to be the mildest—the rest were all gateways to entirely new realms.
The bad news?
She had to pick one of these twenty as the condition for her next punishment.
【Host, please draw your next punishment!】
On the screen, blind boxes shimmering in various colors began shuffling at a dizzying speed.
Ying Bing took a quiet breath and reached out a finger.
……
The next morning.
Li Mo rubbed his temples as he got up. The spirit within the Jade Phoenix had been the most ferocious one he’d ever encountered.
After struggling all night, he still found it nearly impossible to integrate it into his Seventy-Two Transformations.
The spirit of the Yazi.
Even as a remnant, it was deeply rooted in arrogance, violence, and combat.
Either he had to satisfy this Yazi spirit… or keep grinding away at it.
"I thought I’d perfect the Seventy-Two Transformations last night."
"Ice block…"
Li Mo turned, about to ask Ying Bing what she wanted for breakfast.
But when he looked back—
Ying Bing sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, staring at him with an unreadable gaze. The moment their eyes met, hers trembled slightly before she turned away.
"……"
Clueless about what had happened, Li Mo picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"What’s wrong?"
"I thought you just liked feet."
"Pfft—!"
The tea Li Mo had just sipped nearly sprayed out.
"That’s just professional habit…"
"But it seems you want more than just rubbing them."
Ying Bing lowered her eyes, her voice soft but pointed.
Li Mo felt a pang of guilt under her stare. "Who said that? Ice block, you’re slandering me!"
"Hmph… ‘gentleman’…"
Li Mo didn’t know why Ying Bing suddenly brought this up, but her tone didn’t sound particularly approving.
Just then, Zhong Zhenyue’s voice rang out from downstairs—he had come to take Li Mo to the Greenwood Barracks.
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.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
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)
