Su Jiu froze.
All the prepared responses she had lined up for various answers were now stuck in her throat, unable to escape as even a single word.
The flicker of anticipation she had just felt was doused from head to toe, extinguished in an instant like a bucket of cold water.
She stared straight at Su Ji, her lips slightly pouted, silent.
Su Ji, seeing Su Jiu like this, was also momentarily baffled.
Had he said something wrong?
In the world of cultivation, strength was life—it was everything.
Without power, all talk was empty.
But observing Su Jiu’s expression—one that screamed, "If you don’t give me a reasonable explanation today, you’re dead"—he seemed to grasp something.
Ah, the classic battle between emotion and logic in women?
Interesting.
He cleared his throat and decided to explain.
"What I mean is, the question itself is flawed."
"Without cultivation, what else is there to discuss?"
Su Ji—Master of Logic—began his performance.
"Think about it, Junior Sister. If I said the most important thing was a Dao companion—"
"But if I were a powerless weakling, who’d want to be my Dao companion? Even if someone did, how could I protect her? Would I just watch as she’s bullied or taken away?"
"Or if I said the most important thing was loyalty—"
"If I’m too weak to even protect myself, how could I repay others’ kindness? If someone helps me once, I’d owe them my life. That’s not loyalty—it’s a burden."
Su Ji spread his hands, his expression utterly matter-of-fact.
"So, cultivation is the foundation."
"Only when you’re strong enough do you have the right to talk about those abstract things—the ability to protect what matters to you."
"Hell, if I’m powerful enough, I could even force you to be my Dao companion, and you wouldn’t be able to resist."
Su Jiu was left utterly speechless.
She couldn’t find a single word to refute him.
He was right…
Wasn’t everything that happened at Mystic Yellow Mountain proof enough?
In front of a Nascent Soul expert, Foundation Establishment cultivators were less than ants. Their dignity, treasures, even their lives—gone in the snap of a finger.
If not for Su Ji, she’d already be an empty husk, her soul devoured.
She’d expected Su Ji to sweet-talk her with pretty words.
Instead, he’d given her an answer that was brutally realistic—and undeniably correct.
This guy…
Fine.
At least he wouldn’t deceive her with hollow promises.
Su Jiu sighed inwardly, her youthful flutter of emotions…
"Who wants to be your Dao companion?!"
"What nonsense are you spouting?!"
Before Su Ji could react, an irresistible yet gentle force lifted him straight off the bed.
He didn’t even have time to yelp before his body traced a perfect arc through the air—splash!—landing squarely in the bathtub in the corner of the room.
Cold water surged past his neck, sending droplets flying.
Su Ji was stunned.
He’d expected retaliation…
But without even a hand raised?!
He surfaced, wiping water from his face, only to find Su Jiu standing on the edge of the tub.
Her smile was dangerously sweet as she looked down at him.
"Talking such rubbish, Senior Brother—have you gone Qi-deviant? Cool off properly first."
As Su Ji tried to push himself up, Su Jiu’s foot pressed lightly on his shoulder.
The pressure wasn’t heavy, but it carried an unyielding finesse, forcing him back under.
Afraid he might get angry, she added softly,
"Besides, we’ve been traveling covered in dust. A bath is overdue…"
"And this medicinal soak is good for you."
She muttered the last part, as if convincing herself.
"Even though I just bathed… I have the Immaculate Body. Mundane filth doesn’t cling to me."
She thought Su Ji would settle down once he heard "beneficial."
Instead, he started thrashing, splashing water onto her skirt.
"Junior Sister, you can’t just dunk me because I held your head underwater last time! That’s holding a grudge!"
Mentioning that incident wiped all traces of amusement from Su Jiu’s face.
The humiliating memory of being forced to gulp bitter medicine flooded back.
Her foot pressed down harder.
She shifted her stance—and stomped directly on his face, shoving him underwater.
"How dare you bring that up?! No more talking!"
Blub blub blub…
A stream of bubbles rose.
Karma’s a wheel, they say.
And Su Ji’s "blessing"—no, retribution—had arrived.
"Mm—mph!"
Su Ji flailed underwater, his hand locking onto Su Jiu’s ankle.
"Glug glug—Let go!"
"No."
She enunciated each word.
Today, she’d make sure he remembered: never force her head down again.
It wasn’t like she’d…
Ugh.
She wasn’t some oath-breaking fox. Did he have to be so rough? It was awful.
Just as she thought Su Ji was about to suffocate—
A bizarre sensation shot through her skull.
He was… licking her sole underwater?!
As the saying goes:
Barefoot fears no shoe-wearer.
So what’s there to fear?
Su Jiu shuddered, nearly toppling off the tub’s edge.
Instinct screamed at her to pull back—but wouldn’t that let him win?
She refused to yield!
……
In the end, Su Jiu’s stubborn standoff ended in Su Ji’s defeat.
At least, that’s how she saw it.
He’d tried every trick—yet failed to make her relent.
Trapped underwater, he absorbed the medicinal brew until Su Jiu deemed it enough.
The cost?
…Best not dwell on that.
She’d won.
Soon, Su Ji grasped her "kind intentions":
"Junior Sister, what’s in this bath?"
"Feels amazing."
"I’m making some when we get back."
Su Jiu pondered, then answered earnestly:
"Three qian of cordyceps, seven petals of Chonglou flower…"
"It’s an old body-refining recipe. Though body cultivators are nearly extinct now, soaking still helps."
Su Ji nodded eagerly.
"Seriously, it’s so relaxing—and smells great too…"
Su Jiu didn’t want to address that.
But if he brewed a scentless batch later, he might tweak the recipe recklessly and poison himself.
Medicines were three parts toxin—many ratios were carved in blood.
"It’s my… Anyway, the bath itself is odorless."
As Su Ji’s gaze slid downward from her face—
Su Jiu burned crimson: "Get out! Out of my room now!"
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.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
