In the dream world, it was impossible to distinguish the flow of time.
By instinct, it felt like an eternity had passed.
"Lin Yu..."
"Can you let your big sister here take a break?"
"My legs are sore from all this standing..."
Shen Buyao couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke up.
Not only that.
She also noticed that Lin Yu’s hand had shifted significantly from where it had started.
This shift didn’t happen all at once.
Instead, it was a slow, almost imperceptible change.
Now.
It was dangerously close to creeping past her knee!
No matter how naive she was, she wasn’t foolish enough to just stand there and let him take liberties.
Lin Yu instantly withdrew his burning hand.
"Buyao, you’re really such a good person."
"Before, I only thought you were spoiled and hard to approach."
"But today, I realized you’re actually a sweet and gentle girl at heart."
Shen Buyao: "..."
Wow. Such blunt praise.
She was used to guys treating her like some kind of menace.
So when a guy suddenly showered her with such shameless flattery,
For a moment.
She didn’t even know how to respond.
So… she did the right thing just now, right?
"Tch, smooth-talker, you—"
"Hey?! What—what are you doing?!"
Before Shen Buyao could even finish reacting,
She was shocked to find Lin Yu reaching out, one arm high and the other low, as if to pull her into an embrace.
A startled yelp escaped her.
Lin Yu obediently paused and said,
"I’m carrying you to the pavilion up there?"
Shen Buyao reflexively shot back,
"Your big sister isn’t a cripple!"
"I can walk on my own!"
Lin Yu blinked innocently, pressing further:
"Can’t I carry you? I thought it’d be okay."
"Aren’t guys supposed to show off a little in front of their girlfriends?"
"Did I mess up again…"
Shen Buyao, already numb from his relentless "questioning,"
Felt her brain short-circuit.
No matter what bizarre request Lin Yu made, she couldn’t find a way to argue back.
Curse her lack of experience!
A hug… wasn’t that something all couples did?
Her legs were practically rubbed raw—what was there to fear from a hug?
"It’s not about messing up, it’s just that I’m heavy, and you’re so skinny—"
"Wha—ahh!!"
Before she could finish, Lin Yu swept her up effortlessly.
A textbook princess carry, so forceful that Shen Buyao even felt a brief moment of weightlessness.
Lin Yu looked down at the antique-loving girl in his arms and said earnestly,
"Don’t let my slim frame fool you—I’m pure muscle down to the bone."
Shen Buyao wrapped her arms around his neck and couldn’t help but laugh.
Who knew this deadbeat Lin Yu had the strength of an ox?
As they walked toward the pavilion,
Lin Yu locked eyes with Shen Buyao for a moment before launching another interrogation:
"Buyao, why aren’t you closing your eyes?"
Shen Buyao: "???"
"What do you mean? The sun isn’t even in my eyes?"
Lin Yu furrowed his brows:
"I heard from my guy friends that when you really want to kiss a girl, you stare into her eyes."
"If she’s okay with it, she’ll close them."
"And when a girl closes her eyes, it means she wants you to kiss her!"
Shen Buyao pondered this and asked,
"Was that really your guy friends, or was it Miss Duan who told you that?"
Lin Yu: "Both did."
A sweet warmth bloomed in Shen Buyao’s chest: "So… you want to kiss me?"
Lin Yu: "Obviously."
Shen Buyao: "Then go ahead?"
Lin Yu: "I will."
Shen Buyao: "Do it."
Lin Yu: "I’m doing it now!"
Shen Buyao: "Then what are you waiting for?"
Lin Yu: "Here I go!"
Shen Buyao: "Go!"
"..."
Honestly.
Lin Yu had kissed plenty of times in his life.
But this one.
Felt like a grand, sweeping epic.
The next moment.
The scene abruptly shifted.
The two of them bypassed the treacherous steps and ended up sprawled on a bench inside the pavilion.
Lin Yu prided himself on being a seasoned expert when it came to undressing—so much so that he considered himself beyond buttons.
But the intricate ribbons of Shen Buyao’s fairy-like dress slowed him to a crawl.
Who the hell designed this?!
Why so realistic?!
A symbolic little tie would’ve been enough!
Why the layers upon layers of convoluted knots?!
"Lin Yu! Lin Yu!!"
"Wait, wait—shouldn’t we slow down a little?"
"Your guy friends couldn’t have told you that most people don’t go this far on their first date, right?"
Shen Buyao wasn’t stupid enough to believe otherwise.
She knew full well that most couples didn’t cross certain lines on their first outing.
Faced with her sudden return to rationality,
Lin Yu didn’t have a good way to deflect.
"Buyao, it’s just… the mood is right, isn’t it?"
"Isn’t it important for a couple to be in sync?"
Not being able to seal the deal earlier was a real shame.
If they’d just gotten past that hurdle, things would’ve been so much simpler.
This time,
Lin Yu’s rushed explanation didn’t fully convince Shen Buyao.
She hurriedly said,
"That may be true, but do we really have to test our ‘sync’ here?"
"Aren’t we… here to take photos?"
Phone!
Lin Yu pointed to the side:
"Didn’t we agree on recording? You didn’t object."
"I even set up the tripod. You know what they say—"
"Capture the beautiful moments!"
Shen Buyao was stunned, clutching her waistband tightly:
"Lin Yu, you idiot, ‘capture the beautiful moments’ doesn’t mean—"
"Recording a damn porno!!"
A faint buzzing noise echoed in Lin Yu’s mind.
Oh no.
This was the precursor to the dream world collapsing.
Damn these ribbons—should’ve conjured scissors instead!
He quickly pulled back, helping Shen Buyao up from the bench:
"Buyao, you’re right."
"I’m willing to hold back for you!"
If they kept going,
Not only would he fail to score,
But he might also leave some serious "collision damage" in the dream world.
Dreams were just dreams.
He couldn’t let them mess with reality.
Shen Buyao took deep, steadying breaths and nodded:
"Exactly, no need to rush like some wild monkey, I—ahh!"
A sudden scream cut her off.
Shen Buyao lost her balance in the most bizarre way and tumbled off the bench—straight down the mountain.
Lin Yu stared in shock: "???"
Dammit!
Since when was the bench next to a cliff?!
——
Back in Shen Buyao’s room.
The sensation of falling and the shock of the dream
Sent her bolting upright in bed.
"Haah…"
"Thank goodness… it was just a dream!"
She patted her chest, calming her racing heart.
Then, suddenly,
She remembered something and glanced to the side—
Shen Jiuyi sat there,
Her sharp eyes gleaming like a Persian cat’s in the dark:
"Buyao, you said ‘Lin Yu, don’t’ 52 times in your sleep."
"Did he… brutally whip you in your dream?"

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!

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.

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.”

end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia