The Hidden Dragon Tournament had only one final round left, but it seemed almost inconsequential now.
Li Mo had become the only participant with a flawless victory record so far. Even if he lost one more match, it wouldn’t affect his guaranteed spot in the top three—and he was practically certain to take the championship.
Crown Prince Jiang Yu had been defeated by him.
Xie Xuan? If they fought seriously, Xie Xuan might not even withstand Li Mo’s opening move—the "King of Brawls Ultimate Technique."
Ying Bing? Well, need we even mention the Frost Fairy?
Before anyone realized it, this "Hidden Dragon Fourth" had already defeated all three of the tournament’s top-ranked contenders.
Outside the Step Cloud Pavilion, a victory banquet had already begun prematurely.
Fame brings trouble, especially when rumors spread—courtesy of certain well-informed imperial advisors—that Li Mo might have blood ties to the Emperor himself.
Otherwise, why would the Emperor praise him so lavishly after his victory over Jiang Yu?
Otherwise, why would Jiang Chulong follow him around?
The implications were terrifying!
Regardless of whether the rumors were true, many came bearing extravagant gifts, hoping for an audience. Most sought out Zhong Zhenyue to arrange introductions.
Old Zhong had initially refused to bring them along.
But their offerings were simply too generous.
"Why is the victory banquet set up in the middle of the street? Like some commoner’s feast—sitting on the roadside to eat? What kind of standard is this..."
"Well, he is of humble origins. Understandable, understandable."
"Hey, don’t knock it—this stuff is actually delicious. What’s it called... barbecue?"
"Sitting right here on the street? Now that’s authentic."
"I’ll have to ask who came up with this recipe later..."
"It was Brother Li," Zhong Zhenyue replied cheerfully, munching on a skewer while patting his noticeably heavier coin pouch.
"Then where is he?"
"The guy at the grill."
"???"
...
At the grill.
The renowned "Idea King" of the Clear Abyss Sect, Best Actor of the inaugural Golden Statue Awards, pioneer of the barbecue strategy, and the one and only "immature brat" personally designated by the Phoenix Heaven Empress—what was his status? Something as trivial as socializing wasn’t worth his time.
He had more important matters to attend to.
"Extra spicy on this one—Frosty’s been craving heat lately."
"Oh, and sour too. Barbecue dipped in vinegar? Hmm... got it, sour plum soup!"
Li Mo wore a solemn expression as he prepared his excuse for later when he barged into Frosty’s chambers. In the meantime, he checked the pending investment rewards.
Two were from Little Jiang Chulong, and one from Ning Que.
Both were of golden destiny, though Jiang’s had grown richer after her sword bone’s rebirth.
[Investment Reward: Secret Silver Tome Seal]
The "Seventy-Two Transformations" technique currently only had its introductory chapter, so the Secret Silver Tome Seal would still be necessary.
[Investment Reward: Lotus-Step Cloud Treads]
"With this, the Great Sage’s battle regalia is almost complete, huh?"
Li Mo shook his head slightly—still missing the most crucial piece.
The staff.
The Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod was part of the set too.
"Not knowing staff techniques isn’t a problem. With my martial insights, my talent for staff arts should surpass my swordsmanship anyway..."
"Though my nickname might take another strange turn."
His thoughts wandered, but he quickly dismissed them as premature. Golden destiny rewards probably wouldn’t drop that easily.
In the end, he’d have to rely more on clinging to Frosty’s jade-like legs.
"Should I go for the black or the white ones?"
With that in mind, he opened the reward from Ning Que—a treasure-tier weapon embryo, similar to a mystic-tier one, capable of replicating a divine weapon in treasure-tier form.
...
Splash—
Soft ripples broke the moonlight in the basin as fair, jade-like toes playfully scattered its reflection.
Ying Bing bit her lip, her gaze lowered to her knees, where pearl-white lotus silk and dark cloud gauze lay neatly folded. She stared blankly, lost in thought.
Why had she agreed to this again?
She couldn’t quite remember, but when that little rascal Li Mo declared he wanted "everything," she’d somehow nodded along...
[Reminder: Next punishment—er, system ranking update in two days.]
[Wait, host, what’s that in your hands?]
"Two very precious materials," Ying Bing replied with icy dignity.
[This system strongly suspects you two might outpace the punishment schedule entirely.]
For the first time, the system sounded almost defeated. After that remark, it fell silent—whether to self-reflect or prepare something truly devastating next time, no one could say.
"Frosty, dinner’s ready."
A knock came at the door, and Li Mo’s head popped in.
"Later, we’re only... touching. That’s what we agreed on."
Ying Bing pressed her crimson lips together, her narrowed eyes tinged with wariness.
"?"
Li Mo blinked, momentarily baffled. What kind of talk was this?
Obviously! What else would they be doing?
"I’m just curious about how the material feels when worn. As a blacksmith, these are my two finest works. Master Du always said, 'Touch with your hands, feel with your heart.'"
"You’d better mean that literally..."
"Just like how you taught me to 'seal' things on your neck."
"..."
Moments later, the speechless Frost Fairy could only shut her eyes as warmth seeped through the pearl-white silk, leaving her mind and heart in disarray.
If he was making socks from pearl-white lotus silk and dark cloud gauze now... what kind of garments might he craft later?
She remembered when even holding hands had been purely for cultivation, when sharing a bed left her heart as still as an ancient well.
But now?
...
] 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.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
