The natural cooldown time for the Life Simulator was ten thousand days—over 27 years.
Long by some measures, short by others.
Xu Xi had long prepared himself to wait out these 27 years, even halting further simulations in anticipation.
Yet.
He never imagined that this seemingly endless countdown could have a "shortcut."
If it were truly possible to bypass the wait and step onto that nameless path ahead of time, Xu Xi would gladly take it.
"...How exactly was this done?"
"Suddenly, a hundred hours were subtracted."
"Could it be related to Xu Moli?"
"Or is it because of me?"
Numerous speculations arose in Xu Xi’s mind. To test them, he even reenacted his earlier conversation with his sister, but the simulator’s countdown didn’t budge.
Recalling the full name of the simulator—
The Beautiful Life Simulator.
Xu Xi pondered, a vague understanding dawning on him.
"Brother, did Moli help you?" Xu Moli asked curiously, nestled in Xu Xi’s arms.
"Yes, you did. You helped me greatly," Xu Xi replied with a gentle smile, resting his hand atop her head and ruffling her hair lightly.
In the days that followed,
Xu Xi didn’t actively chase after reducing the countdown.
He simply continued with his usual rhythm of life.
Sometimes spending time with the five girls, other times stepping out to check on Earth’s condition, visiting the people of the Survival Army or Li Wanshou in the capital.
Occasionally, he even brought blood-replenishing treasures to the red dragon.
"Brother, the melons today are so sweet."
"Mentor, do you think this outfit suits me?"
"Psst, sir, I’ve thought of a foolproof plan for eloping—no one will ever find out."
"Master, I found a wedding dress. It’s the same one we saw before, by coincidence."
"Great Sorcerer, I also want to… ahem, you know, that thing."
An ordinary life.
A mundane routine.
Like a faintly rippling cup of tea, nothing particularly remarkable.
Yet within these simple moments lay an indescribable warmth and tenderness, like soaking in lukewarm water, washing away all worries.
This was the beautiful life Xu Xi had always yearned for.
[Ding—]
[Ding—]
[Ding—]
Amidst these uneventful days, every so often, the simulator’s interface would chime, subtracting dozens or even a hundred hours at a time.
The once-distant 27-year countdown began slipping away at an increasingly rapid pace.
"Three years… no, perhaps just one or two, and it’ll be complete."
After calculating this, Xu Xi felt a brief daze before chuckling softly.
Condensing 27 years into one or two was certainly cause for joy—especially since the waiting process had been anything but dull.
"Sir, sir."
Wu Yingxue’s voice pulled Xu Xi from his thoughts.
It was summer.
The young noblewoman had changed into lighter attire, trotting up to Xu Xi and tugging at his sleeve with a playful glint in her eyes.
"Sir, I just read a question in a book."
"What question?"
"Ahem, listen carefully—if all five of us fell into a river, who would you save first?"
Silence fell.
His sister, the witch, the mechanical maid, and the hero all maintained calm expressions.
But their ears were secretly perked up.
Clearly, they all wanted to hear Xu Xi’s answer.
"Who to save…" Xu Xi glanced at Wu Yingxue, then at the other four girls in the courtyard, sensing an indescribable, majestic presence—a supreme authority.
He sighed deeply, rubbing his temples in resignation.
"I suppose I’d save the river first."
Among the myriad realms, no river held a higher status than the River of Time. Yet even that primordial current, flowing through chaos itself, could not withstand the power of the supreme beings.
As far as Xu Xi knew,
that mother river of spacetime had already run dry many times.
Fortunately, the girls had always restored it.
...
Spring, summer, autumn, winter—the seasons cycled.
Sun and moon rose and fell, heaven and earth shifted.
As time passed, Xu Xi grew ever closer to the five girls.
In truth,
they hadn’t changed.
Nor were their actions anything new.
Watching sunrises and sunsets, embracing one another, buying new clothes, cooking new dishes, acting childishly capricious, sharing heartfelt secrets—
all these so-called intimate moments
had happened long ago between Xu Xi and the girls.
Yet the same acts, at different times, brought entirely new shifts in emotion.
"Mentor, your tea."
While Xu Xi browsed through historical records of various worlds in his study, Krisha arrived as usual, carrying a warm afternoon brew.
The porcelain cup trembled slightly,
ripples disturbing the tea’s surface,
clearly reflecting Krisha’s serene face and those mesmerizing eyes.
"Thank you, Krisha."
Xu Xi accepted the cup, sipping the tea while stealing a glance at Krisha’s attire.
No longer the long skirts of a maid,
but something softer—
a graceful, body-hugging outfit draped with a brown shawl.
"You look almost like…" Xu Xi hesitated, glancing at his tea, then at Krisha, who waited patiently.
"A gentle, devoted wife, waiting for her husband to finish his work?"
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!" "......"
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.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
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!
