At the same time,
Su Ji's comprehension of the [Desolate Fallen Dragon Art] had reached an entirely new level.
Though he wouldn’t dare claim to rival its creator,
he had now mastered every aspect of it.
Even if he were to attempt the [Heavenly Palace Golden Core] in the future, he had some confidence.
However, the [Heavenly Palace Golden Core] could only be achieved by those blessed with unparalleled fortune.
He wasn’t sure whether the surge of luck Su Jiu had bestowed upon him during his Qi Refinement breakthrough would be enough.
Most likely not…
He might still need to seek out opportunities to enhance his own fortune.
Never mind.
Thinking about the Golden Core stage now was getting ahead of himself.
It was better to focus on fulfilling the prerequisites for Heavenly Foundation Establishment first.
‘Condense spiritual energy into liquid, forming a self-sustaining cycle.’
Su Ji began circulating the fully comprehended version of the [Desolate Fallen Dragon Art].
The spiritual energy within his dantian was being compressed and refined at a frenzied pace.
Faint signs of liquefaction began to emerge.
One drop.
Two drops.
……
Time flowed slowly.
By the time the light outside the window shifted from bright to dark,
Su Ji suddenly snapped his eyes open.
A sharp glint flashed briefly in his pupils.
At the final moment—Qi Refinement, Eighth Layer!
Breakthrough!
“Haaah…”
Su Ji exhaled a long, turbid breath, which transformed into a white streak in the air before dissipating after lingering for a while.
He could feel the unprecedented surge of power within his body. In his dantian, a small portion of spiritual energy had now condensed into a pool of liquid, endlessly cycling and replenishing itself.
The moment he opened his eyes, he met Su Jiu’s gaze—her eyes brimming with quiet concern.
Seeing him radiant and his aura steady, Su Jiu finally let go of her worries, a faint smile unconsciously tugging at the corners of her lips.
But then, she recalled her earlier embarrassing actions, and the smile instantly vanished, replaced by a slight pout.
“Senior Brother, did you just experience an epiphany?”
Su Ji nodded openly.
“Yes.”
Su Jiu’s eyes shimmered with curiosity as she probed indirectly, “This is the first time I’ve witnessed someone enter an epiphany. Could you tell me what it feels like?”
She paused before adding, “For example, were you still aware of changes in the outside world, like during normal cultivation?”
Su Ji was inwardly delighted.
This act of hers was far too transparent.
Even though he had been in an epiphany,
he had been fully aware of everything happening around him.
Including Su Jiu’s words.
Especially the way she had fed him medicine—it had nearly jolted him out of his enlightened state.
But telling the truth now would be nothing short of suicidal!
Su Ji adopted an expression of deep recollection and spoke with a mix of truth and fabrication.
“At first, it was a bit hazy…”
“I vaguely heard something about medicinal liquid from you, Junior Sister…”
Su Jiu’s cheeks instantly flushed crimson, like a ripe apple, heat rushing straight to the top of her head.
What?
He had heard her?
Did that mean all her words—and those mortifying actions—had been fully perceived by Su Ji?
Pretending not to notice her embarrassment, Su Ji continued, “But later, everything became indistinct.”
“Still, I could sense the lingering medicinal effects in my body.”
“Combined with the fact that I’ve now reached the eighth layer of Qi Refinement, that medicinal liquid must have been incredibly precious. Thank you for your generosity, Junior Sister.”
“How many spirit stones did it cost? I’ll find a way to repay you.”
Huh?
Hearing this, Su Jiu felt the heat in her face subside slightly.
So… he meant his perception had been fuzzy and unclear?
In a certain sense, Su Ji's explanation wasn't entirely wrong.
Without the medicinal liquid Su Jiu had fed him, he probably would have only broken through to the sixth level of Qi Refinement.
After all, the main purpose of enlightenment was comprehension, not realm advancement.
Feeling slightly reassured yet still somewhat concerned, Su Jiu pressed further: "What about other things? Didn't you feel anything at all? That was enlightenment we're talking about."
Seeing Su Jiu perk up her little ears to listen carefully, Su Ji wore a wry smile that suggested this was only natural: "You jest, junior sister. An opportunity for enlightenment comes once in a thousand years—who would have the mind to pay attention to anything else?"
"I wished I could split one hour into two to make full use of it."
[Conversation with Su Jiu detected. Target meets aesthetic standards. Romance options triggered.]
[Option 1: With junior sister watching over me, I felt completely at ease and focused (Reward: Su Jiu's affection +3)]
[Option 2: Junior sister, why is your face red? Is it too hot in here? (Reward: Being thrown by Su Jiu into the freshly used bathing tub for proper cooling.)]
[Option 3: We've already kissed, why be shy now? Junior sister, I'm missing one medicinal herb—vanilla mud. (Reward: Su Jiu flees in embarrassment and disappears for two and a half months.)]
[Permanent Option: Not offering this one (Current kill count: 1)]
...
Su Ji's words were impeccably delivered, dissolving the last traces of doubt in Su Jiu's heart.
She gave a light hum, her delicate face wearing a hint of pride.
"Hmph, that pill was originally meant for my breakthrough to the ninth-grade Golden Core. Forget about the spirit stones—between you and me, there's no... I mean, even if we sold senior brother it wouldn't cover the debt, so consider it repayment for your kindness."
Su Ji raised an eyebrow.
"So we're even now?"
"No!"
The response burst from Su Jiu almost instantly.
Seeing Su Ji's surprised expression, she suddenly realized how overly eager she'd sounded.
She quickly turned her face away to hide her reaction, her voice softening: "I mean... my life isn't that cheap to be repaid with just one pill."
Only then did Su Ji notice that Su Jiu had changed into fresh clothes at some point.
Tiny crystalline droplets still clung to the ends of her hair.
A thought occurred to Su Ji.
"Junior sister, why is your face red?"
"Is it too hot in here?"
At these words, Su Jiu's clear fox-like eyes widened at Su Ji. Instead of fading, the blush on her cheeks intensified, spreading to tint her ears a delicate pink.
Since when was it hot in here?
It was clearly...
Su Jiu lightly bit her lower lip as she studied Su Ji's completely straight-faced expression.
She took a deep breath.
She decided to ask Su Ji one question... if he answered appropriately...
it wouldn't be impossible to give him a chance to pursue her...
Mhm.
Just a chance.
After all, she hadn't even thought about what to name their children yet...
Su Jiu took another deep breath, suppressing the chaotic thoughts in her mind, and reassumed her peerlessly beautiful, serious expression.
With solemn demeanor, her clear fox-like eyes gazed intently at Su Ji.
"Senior brother, the path of immortality is long. Setting aside cultivation level, what do you think is the most important thing on this journey? What is it you could never bear to part with?"
As she finished speaking, Su Jiu's small ears unconsciously perked up again, carefully attuned to catch even the faintest sound in the air.
What answer would he give?
Would it be... herself perhaps?
Or something else entirely?
However, Su Ji's reply came so swiftly that it caught her completely off guard.
"I can't let go."
【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.)
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.
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
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.”
