[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host! Your intimate relationship with the Joyous Sect’s Talisman Master has deepened, advancing to the sixth realm—"Hearts Aflame"!]
[Reward: 50 Spirit Stones]
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host, for completing the "Soul Cultivation Bond" trial mission and successfully binding a soul cultivation partner!]
[Reward: 100 Sect Contribution Points, 200 Spirit Stones]
[Partner’s Sect Identity: Joyous Sect’s Talisman Master]
[...]
[Friendly Reminder: As the number of partners increases, new reward categories have been added to the prize pool.]
The kiss was fleeting.
Lin Yu didn’t press further—no taking advantage, no pushing his luck, no stirring the pot, no exploiting vulnerabilities…
Stopping here today was just right. The atmosphere was perfect.
If he rushed to "complete the set," he’d only ruin the rare, delicate tension between them.
Worse, it might leave little Fufu—already insecure—with unpleasant memories.
Their gentle embrace lasted about ten seconds.
When Ye Mengfu finally snapped out of it, her arms trembled slightly…
Who was she?
Where was she?
Why had she, without realizing it…
been returning Lin Yu’s hug?!
She wanted to pull away, yet her hands hovered hesitantly behind his back.
If she withdrew abruptly, would he misunderstand… that she hated it?
But if she stayed like this… how long were they supposed to keep hugging?
This question was utterly beyond Ye Mengfu’s expertise.
What terrified her more was:
Once they parted…
How was she supposed to face Lin Yu?
Were they… dating now? Or… not quite?
Lin Yu noticed every subtle shift in her demeanor.
Post-breakthrough awkwardness? That wasn’t something to dump on the girl.
Otherwise—what kind of man would he be?
He slowly loosened his hold and straightened up, feigning embarrassment.
"Just now… I couldn’t help myself. Sorry—did I scare you?"
His retreat actually eased Ye Mengfu’s nerves.
After a pause, she shook her head slightly.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to speak.
She just had no idea what to say.
Everything that followed was uncharted territory—no experience, no script.
The only certainty? She felt…
Happy?
Pleasure?
Sweetness?
Even she couldn’t pin it down.
But she knew it was positive. Unresisted. Even… longed for.
Because she realized:
Lin Yu was attentive. Considerate.
She could tell he cared about her feelings too.
Seeing little Fufu so docile, Lin Yu wrestled down his rising mischief.
Patience.
Just wait.
If soul cultivation was achieved, physical cultivation couldn’t be far behind, right?
He gently took Ye Mengfu’s hand.
If she hadn’t resisted a forehead kiss or hug, holding hands would be an easy sell.
"Here’s the rest of the hairpins. Pick whichever you like to wear daily."
Ye Mengfu nodded vigorously.
"Mm. Th-thank you… Lin Yu."
Watching her blush, her breathing uneven from nerves yet still obediently standing before him—
Lin Yu knew he couldn’t stay longer.
He knew himself too well.
With such an alluring little artist before him, lasting three minutes without sinful thoughts would require divine intervention.
"I should be thanking you. I’ll take good care of the bunny you gave me."
"Feel free to visit it whenever you’re free."
"That painting—it’s yours now too."
With that, he picked up the cardboard box and reluctantly left Ye Mengfu’s room.
For two or three minutes after Lin Yu’s departure,
Ye Mengfu’s mind floated in a daze.
She sat where he’d painted earlier,
staring at his sketch of the white rabbit for ages.
Noticing the hairpin on the rabbit’s head, she touched the one in her own hair.
Then—
She pinched her cheeks lightly.
Ow.
It hurt.
Proof this wasn’t a dream.
From the small speaker by the easel, soft music still played:
"♪ I think I’m starting to miss you~~ ♪ Though I just met you~~ ♪"
"♪ I wonder if this magic~~ ♪ is just a trick~~ ♪"
"♪ I think I’m falling for you~~ ♪ ‘Cause I’ve got love’s courage~~ ♪"
"♪ I’ll dive headfirst~ into your mischief~~ ♪ Your mischief~~ ♪"
Pursing her lips, Ye Mengfu touched her forehead—still warm—where Lin Yu had kissed her.
---
Lin Yu’s bedroom.
"Humans have rules. Bunnies have bunny rules."
"Today, I’m laying down the law…"
"Eat here. If you’re hungry, hop out of the cage and find me."
"Toilet area: this spot only. Everywhere else is off-limits."
"Your mom bought this chew toy. Gnaw on it when bored."
"I’ll take you out for walks when I’m free."
"Remember—follow the rules. No freelancing."
"…"
Inside the cage, the bunny clutched a half-eaten lettuce leaf,
frozen in place after five minutes of Lin Yu’s lecture.
The little bunny must be curious too.
Why can Lin Yu speak "bunny language"?
Such a terrifying "big bunny"—there's no way to resist!
Lin Yu watched the little bunny's timid expression.
Honestly, it kind of reminded him of little Fufu!
He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the bunny, then sent it to Ye Mengfu on WeChat.
He couldn’t just kiss her and then ghost her.
Follow-up was just as important.
The moment he sent it, the nurse sister called.
"……"
Lin Yu: "Help you clean up your room together?"
Xia Yiwei’s voice came through the phone:
"Yeah! If you don’t help, who else is in the apartment right now? You can call the others too, if you want."
"Though, I doubt you’d want them to know about your little connection with the kitty, right?"
Lin Yu: "……"
Alright, alright.
Here we go again.
That familiar tone!
Bringing others along to help clean wasn’t the scary part.
The real issue was the unnecessary complications that might arise.
Like:
"You and Sister Wei are that close? She’s letting you clean her room?"
"The new girl moving in doesn’t mind you helping her unpack?"
And so on—those kinds of headaches were bound to pop up.
Xia Yiwei lived on the first floor, quite far from the Shuang Chi sisters’ rooms.
As long as Lin Yu didn’t make a big deal out of helping, he probably wouldn’t be noticed.
"Fine, alright."
"Call me when you start cleaning. I’ll come help."
Lin Yu agreed.
Then, Xia Yiwei continued over the phone:
"No need to wait for me, though. You can go in first."
"The key’s under the doormat outside my door."
"Could you start by packing up my clothes?"
"There are some on the sofa in the bedroom, a few on the chair by the closet, and maybe some on the bed too."
"Just toss them all into the closet for me!"
"Please, please~ My amazing little shifu!"
Lin Yu: "……"
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!
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
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.”
