Little Li, now a prodigy who had seen his fair share of grand scenes, still couldn’t help but look like a country bumpkin when the words "cooking" slipped from the ice block’s lips.
Eating her dishes was already pushing the limits of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Now, becoming her dish? That was downright terrifying.
"The matter of refining mystic pills isn’t urgent right now. Ice Block, you must be hungry, right? So am I. Let’s go back and cook something to eat."
Li Mo stepped out of the Dragon-Tiger Alchemy Furnace without batting an eye.
That surge of fortune might’ve made him exude a bit more domineering aura, but it wasn’t a big deal.
"Ah, Junior Brother Li, blessings upon you! How could we not prepare lunch when you’ve come all this way?"
Tang Xiaobao trotted over, balancing a tray and two food boxes.
Perhaps influenced by the nation’s fortune, his tone sounded like that of a delicate little eunuch.
"......"
At this moment, Li Mo wished he could pluck out two of his own cunning wits and stuff them into Tang Xiaobao.
"I eat quite a lot for lunch—at least four dishes and a soup..."
"Here you go, four dishes and a soup."
Tang Xiaobao shook the food boxes in his hands before setting down the tray balanced on his head.
"I’m quite picky..." Little Li still wanted to resist.
"Today’s menu includes Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Boiled Cabbage, Wensi Tofu, Three-Treasure Roast Duck, and the soup is Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea."
With a flourish, Tang Xiaobao unveiled a table full of exquisitely prepared dishes, their colors, aromas, and flavors impeccable.
A state banquet wouldn’t be much better than this.
"......"
After a moment of silence, Li Mo asked, "Does Dan Ding Peak usually eat this well?"
Tang Xiaobao grinned. "We have you to thank for that, Junior Brother Li. You provided the idea of practicing alchemy through culinary skills, so our disciples have been working extra hard."
"The results are great—not only do we genuinely improve our alchemy, but we also save materials. After all, practice elixirs might not be edible, but dishes definitely are."
Well, turns out Li Mo had brought this upon himself.
"But..."
Little Li, battered by his own boomerang, opened his mouth to say something else.
Just then, Ying Bing turned her jade-like face toward him, her eyes deep and unfathomable as she picked up a bite of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
"Eat up."
"I suddenly... don’t feel hungry anymore..."
"Be good. Here comes the little flying dish~"
"....."
Ying Bing crossed her legs, watching him sweat bullets and panic. She narrowed her eyes and asked softly,
"What are the effects of the divine pill Elder Xue is researching?"
"It’s just... the kind women can take but men can’t. It’s beneficial for cultivation. That’s all I know."
"Really?"
"Really, sis."
Ying Bing wiped the corner of his mouth, sensing something off but unable to pinpoint what.
Though she had never studied alchemy, she could sense a strong vitality from that mystic crystal earlier. Its effects should align with what Li Mo described.
He was probably telling the truth, right?
"Ice Block, I can eat by myself. No need to keep..."
"I like feeding you, just like you enjoy cooking."
Witnessing this scene, passing disciples of Dan Ding Peak couldn’t help but exchange glances.
Was this the radiant, peerless Young Hero Li, whose mere presence dimmed all other scenery?
Was this the cold, transcendent Fairy of Frost, aloof and detached from the mortal world?
Their stomachs were full of words they couldn’t voice, blocked by some inexplicable force. They hadn’t even eaten lunch yet, but suddenly, they felt stuffed.
By afternoon, Li Mo handed Ying Bing a scroll titled The Scripture of Cosmic Stars and Mystic Pills.
Though called a pill scripture, it was actually a martial art based on alchemy.
The moment it involved martial arts, the Moon Palace’s mistress seemed to return. This time, she studied it with unusual focus.
Li Mo watched her holding the book and was reminded of the big ice block who spent years in the frigid Moon Palace, painstakingly composing martial arts manuals, her frosty expression never wavering even as she birthed peerless techniques.
It was as if she fulfilled some duty through her expertise, not because she truly enjoyed it...
"Done."
Ying Bing set down the scripture, her radiance making even the summer sun seem brighter.
"Ice Block, you’ve learned alchemy?" Li Mo blinked.
"No."
"Then maybe we should wait for Elder Xue to come out of seclusion."
"But I’ve learned how to hang shiny stars in your inner cosmos."
"..."
The ice block remained oblivious to the sheer lethality of those words.
The courage they gave Little Li surpassed even that bestowed by Liang Jingru. He turned and leaped straight into the alchemy furnace, even pulling the lid shut behind him.
Whoosh—
The Dragon-Tiger Alchemy Furnace blazed with unprecedented ferocity, its flames illuminating Ying Bing, who stood beside a pile of rare spiritual ingredients.
The familiar routine—heat the pot, pour the oil.
Ying Bing reached out and picked up one of the herbs.
"Next should be adding the ingredients..."
Amid the raging flames, Li Mo suddenly felt his throat go dry. He swallowed hard.
"Still hungry?"
"I can eat... Huh?"
"Then consume all the spiritual ingredients in order before releasing your inner cosmos."
Li Mo leaned back slightly, eyeing the mountain of materials outside, then pointed at himself.
Was this the result of Ice Block studying the scripture?
"Shouldn’t we refine the mystic pill first and then integrate it into the dantian?" That was how Li Mo and Elder Xue had planned it.
"If you eat the ingredients directly and use your inner cosmos as the furnace, wouldn’t that be more efficient?"
"If my inner cosmos is the furnace, then why did I jump into the Dragon-Tiger Alchemy Furnace...?"
"You jumped in yourself."
Ying Bing tilted her head as if genuinely curious, but the faint smile at her lips betrayed her.
Li Mo: "......"
He gave her a look, convinced the mischievous Ice Block was in control now.
But with the atmosphere already set, backing out would make the prodigious Little Li seem a bit foolish.
Ying Bing tossed in another spirit ginseng. When he remained silent, she asked,
"How do you feel?"
"With the furnace burning this hot, I’ll probably be a little... fiery when I come out."
"?"
Little Li, unjustly subjected to this high-heat stir-fry, lived by the creed: A gentleman never leaves a grievance unavenged.
He snatched the ginseng she’d thrown in, swallowed it whole without chewing, and glared.
Tang Xiaobao, Senior Brother Qiu, Senior Sister Fang, and the other elite disciples of Dan Ding Peak exchanged glances.
They had the distinct feeling these two were refining pills in a very unconventional way—even newer than using culinary skills.
Would this even work?
As it turned out, this method—skipping the alchemy process entirely—leaned more toward martial arts, which happened to be her forte.
When his inner cosmos manifested externally, it took the form of a crimson giant standing between heaven and earth, feet planted in chaos, head brushing the stars.
The moment this phenomenon appeared, the Dan Ding Peak disciples felt their spiritual senses grow dormant—not vanished, but stripped of all extraordinary qualities, reduced to mere mundanity.
Because this stretch of cosmos did not belong to the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
Perhaps from consuming so many rare ingredients, a mist now swirled within his inner cosmos.
"Eh? Where’s Junior Sister Ying?"
Tang Xiaobao scratched his head, looking around.
Senior Brother Qiu lifted his chin, directing his gaze upward.
In a cosmos foreign to the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, there hung a moon that had once belonged to him.
Now she has returned, her delicate hands weaving the brilliance of stars, as if she had never left.
] [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!"
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
