Words once spoken are like water spilled—impossible to take back.
There was no way around it.
Since he had already promised Maomao, Lin Yu had no choice but to steel himself and accept the challenge.
Ying'er was unusually enthusiastic.
She thoroughly explained the duel rules that Lin Yu and Maomao had privately agreed upon to everyone present.
Those who had attended the food street gathering had all witnessed Maomao's abilities before.
They instantly grasped what the competition would entail.
What surprised them, however, was that someone as terrifyingly skilled as Maomao would use the word "challenge."
Didn’t that imply…
She acknowledged Lin Yu as even more formidable than herself?
The scattered sect members who weren’t fully familiar with the rules only understood what they were competing over once the two opened the app to draw a random topic.
The randomly selected question turned out to be an old classic:
[Identifying the source of quotes from movies, TV shows, and novels!]
To liven up the atmosphere, Ying'er even set up a makeshift "stage."
She played bookmaker, letting everyone bet on who would win.
Huang Feirong: "Ying'er, so the rules are—one person quotes a line from a show or book, and the other guesses where it’s from? If they get it right, they take over as the questioner?"
Chi Qingchi: "Exactly! Big sis, that’s how it works. I’m betting on Maomao—five bucks!"
Chi Qingshui: "Qingchi! You’re seriously…?"
Ying'er: "Qingshui, today’s a special occasion—just join in the fun!"
Chi Qingshui: "I… fine. Then I’ll bet on Lin Yu—ten bucks."
Chi Qingchi: "Sis, you’re criticizing me, but you’re betting even more!"
Chi Qingchi: "…"
Shen Jiuyi: "I trust the computer whiz. I’m betting on Maomao… What’s the max bet?"
Ying'er: "The limit… hmm… let’s say a hundred."
Shen Jiuyi: "Alright, I’ll put down ten."
Shen Buyao: "Big cow, if you’re not playing, get out! I’m going all-in on Lin Yu—fifteen!"
Ye Mengfu: "Lin Yu… five bucks."
Tang Yimian: "Then I’ll balance it out—five on little sister Maomao."
"…"
Lin Yu: "…"
These people were really getting into it!
Ying'er sure knew how to hype things up!
More people bet on Lin Yu.
Ying'er was practically losing money just to keep the energy high—what a shame…
Fine, fine.
Today, he’d let them indulge a little.
And while he was at it…
He’d show them who the real mastermind was!
Before long, Ying'er finished tallying the bets and announced:
"Alright, alright, no more changes, bets are closed!"
"Now, let the competition… begin~"
"The challenger, Maomao, will go first!"
Lin Yu didn’t mind who started—he had no objections.
After all, he had already quietly crushed a [Void Array Talisman] in his hand!
Unlike Maomao, who had terrifyingly broad knowledge from her idle time, he couldn’t possibly remember so many things.
His previous victory over her had only been because she hadn’t caught on yet—he’d led her by the nose the whole time.
But now, the little genius had awakened.
And she had openly issued this challenge in front of everyone.
Clearly, she had come prepared.
How could Lin Yu afford to let his guard down?
He had to give it his all… in cheating.
Maomao steadied her racing heart and spoke first:
"I just want to kill two people. Or be killed by them."
For the first question, Maomao opted for a probing strategy.
This line wasn’t particularly obscure.
Even without resorting to his virtual computer search, Lin Yu could answer effortlessly.
Calmly, he replied:
"Kung Fu Hustle!"
"My turn…"
"Did you come here just to take a dump?"
Maomao didn’t hesitate either, answering:
"My Memories of Old Beijing."
"Next up…"
"If I like a flower, must I pluck it to prove it?"
This one sounded familiar to Lin Yu.
Wasn’t it something Chow Yun-fat said? But what was the movie called again?
Lin Yu quickly searched his virtual database.
A second later, he had the answer.
"Once a Thief!"
"Not bad, Maomao…"
"There were too many people outside earlier. Brother was wrong."
Maomao remained unfazed:
"Hello Mr. Tree—the kneeling line."
"Next question…"
"Don’t ever let someone tell you you can’t do something. Not even me."
Lin Yu had long given up on thinking for himself.
The moment Maomao finished speaking, his virtual computer had already scoured the depths of the internet at lightning speed.
"The Pursuit of Happyness."
"Then I’ll go with…"
"Hold on a sec—I’m here to rob… and to flirt."
Maomao: "A World Without Thieves."
"…"
While marveling at the two’s encyclopedic knowledge of films and literature, the crowd began murmuring among themselves.
Huang Feirong: "Pfft—ha! Maomao’s quotes are all iconic, but Lin Yu’s lines are just shameless!"
Shen Jiuyi: "True enough."
Shen Buyao: "Probably hasn’t watched a single proper film in his life."
Chi Qingchi: "It’s not surprising Lin Yu’s seen so many movies, but how does he remember them all? My five bucks… sob…"
Chi Qingshui: "His memory is seriously impressive."
"…"
Five minutes later, the back-and-forth between Lin Yu and Maomao grew even faster.
From mainstream cinema, they gradually veered into obscure titles and other mediums.
Maomao, expression stern:
"Either live properly, or die quickly. Truer words were never spoken."
Lin Yu furrowed his brows:
"Waiting Alone—damn, that’s niche. Alright, listen up…"
"If you get the chance, go ahead and be bad. Being bad is also an experience, a test."
Maomao’s eyes flickered:
"Himalaya Singh…"
"Do not return. This is not home."
Lin Yu:
"The Three-Body Problem!"
"Switching to novels now, huh…"
"We’re all little monsters. One day, we’ll be slain by the righteous Ultraman."
Maomao: "Dragon Raja…"
Lin Yu: "Holding the sun and moon, plucking the stars—no one in this world is like me…"
Maomao: "This book is dedicated to the childhood I once had…"
Lin Yu: "…"
Maomao: "…"
The intense battle raged on for what felt like an eternity.
So long that the murmuring spectators collectively gaped, jaws nearly hitting the floor.
What kind of monstrous memory was this?!
People were starting to wonder…
Did these two do anything productive at all?
Were their lives just movies and books?
How could anyone remember this much?!
As the duel oscillated between mainstream and obscure, popular and niche, both sides searched for that one fatal blow.
Lin Yu had practically exhausted his virtual computer’s database of obscure quotes and classic lines.
Yet Maomao stood unshaken.
Now, he truly understood the depths of Maomao’s terror.
Lin Yu was cheating—but Maomao wasn’t!
Was there really no corner of literature or media she hadn’t explored?!
Lin Yu: "!!!"
Suddenly, inspiration struck.
He remembered how, in her dreams, a single poke would overload Maomao’s mind…
After a brief pause, Lin Yu blurted out from memory:
"Bin’s high school grades weren’t great."

. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"

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!

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."

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.”