"Aaaaah—"
Xia Tongxin's piercing shriek echoed through the villa. She was completely losing it—absolutely, thoroughly, and utterly losing it.
If before she could grit her teeth and endure being ganked two-vs-one with no backup, or getting her farm stolen by the young miss while being mocked, then now, being jumped by five enemies out of nowhere while just walking down the lane—that was the final straw. The last thread of her composure snapped.
Xia Tongxin transformed once again into an enraged golden cockroach, thrashing and rolling on the floor.
Spinning in a perfect three-sixty with flawless rotation, she was practically polishing the floorboards to a shine...
Head Maid: "..."
The Head Maid hurriedly put down her phone and scooped Xia Tongxin up from the ground: "Young miss, what's wrong?"
"Waaah, Xia Xia, they're so mean, they're all bullying me! I didn't even do anything and all five of them went after me, waaah..." Xia Tongxin clung to the Head Maid pitifully, sobbing.
The Head Maid was about to comfort her when the young miss's airy voice drifted over from the side.
"Don't blame the road if you can't drive. If you're trash, just practice more."
Head Maid: "..."
Xia Tongxin: "???"
In an instant, the tears that had just been falling dried up. She morphed from a fragile little roach into a cocky little punk mode, launching an absolute verbal barrage!
"You're the trashiest one here! You fed the most, did zero work, we'd have already won without you!"
The best way to conquer fear is to face it head-on—with rage fueling her, Xia Tongxin went straight for the throat with the young miss. Zhao Zilong had guts of steel; Xia Tongxin was made of nothing but Zhao Zilong.
Shen Qinghan looked utterly calm, a mocking, smug smile curling at the corner of her lips: "You died more times than me."
Xia Tongxin: "???"
And this was the young miss's clever move. As a beginner, she wouldn't get tangled up arguing about mechanics—that was open to debate. Look at the score afterward and everything would be obvious, which didn't favor her. But shift the angle of the argument and you'd find a whole new world.
Like...
Deaths and assists.
I mean, think about it. Ye Cheng had a fully-built Yao sitting on his head—it would take at least three people jumping him to maybe secure a kill, and even then there was risk of getting reverse-murdered. But Xia Tongxin? She was just a lone little short-legged squishy huddling under the tower, fragile as paper, one sneeze would kill her. She was basically an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Naturally, her death count was looking absolutely gorgeous.
She snapped. Completely, utterly snapped...
At a visible speed, Xia Tongxin was turning red with rage, her cheeks flushed crimson... a girl's blush that outshone everything.
And if Xia Tongxin still had a shred of sanity left at this point, then the little nephew's final strike became the straw that broke the camel's back.
"Ding ding ding—"
Top-ranked Kindergartner: "Stop feeding, marksman."
Xia Tongxin: "???"
"Aaaah!!!"
Xia Tongxin sank her teeth into her tablet, ready to go to war with it, while the Head Maid let out a piercing scream as the whole hall descended into chaos.
The young miss, while clearing jungle camps, still found time to jab at Xia Tongxin: "Trash. Practice more."
As for Ye Cheng... he was lying on the couch, phone propped up in a little floating window, comfortably watching brainless short videos, occasionally tapping the screen. He had such incredible micro-play!
"BOOM!"
Without the Head Maid's emotional buffering, the crystal exploded in under three minutes, and a giant red "DEFEAT" flashed across the screen.
When they exited the match, an even more soul-crushing sight appeared... The young miss had pulled off an outstanding 4.5 rating, while Xia Tongxin, who had been holding the line the entire time, earned a 3.7—a rating so low it didn't even look human.
Shen Qinghan's lips curled upward. Holding up her phone, she looked at Xia Tongxin, still sitting on the floor chomping on her tablet, and started showing off.
"Trash. Practice more."
Xia Tongxin's remaining shreds of sanity glanced over. Seeing that her own rating was actually LOWER than the young miss's, she nearly choked and fainted on the spot.
"Young miss? Young miss, are you okay?!" The Head Maid was already reaching for her phone to contact the emergency medical team.
Their young miss was physically healthy, no doubt—but this current state made it seem like there was some previously undetected condition at play.
Like... a heart condition.
"AGAIN!!!"
Xia Tongxin suddenly stopped crying and throwing tantrums, teeth gritted, eyes blazing with vengeance as she stared at Shen Qinghan sitting on the couch.
Head Maid: "..."
Soon, composing herself, the second match began.
Oh right, for the record—Ye Cheng got the glory, lost one match and still gained a star from it, and as always, took home the MVP.
Shen Qinghan: "???"
"Why is YOUR rating so high?" A question straight from the depths of her soul. She'd watched what Ye Cheng was doing, and it looked like he wasn't doing ANYTHING. How was his rating higher than hers?
Ye Cheng blinked: "No clue. Maybe system thinks I'm good-looking."
Shen Qinghan: "..."
"BONK!"
"Hey now, young miss, that's not fair at all! Can't a guy pass the exam just because he's handsome? I mean, can't a system knock a few points off for looks? That's pure discrimination, isn't it?!" Ye Cheng put his hands on his hips, all righteous indignation!
"BONK!"
Ye Cheng: "..."
Alright, fine, he admitted his tone was a bit loud there. He wasn't good-looking at all. But he'd already said it, and backtracking wasn't an option.
He couldn't exactly tell the truth, after all: "Sorry, young miss, I've been siphoning your strength, that's why the rating's so high..."
If he said that, he'd get beaten to death. But rephrase it differently, and it became something else entirely.
"Young miss, I can only survive because of you!"
Listen, listen to that—doesn't it hit different all of a sudden? Same principle as liking someone's wife, turning "I love my girl who happens to be someone else's wife" into "wait, comrades, pour one out for him." From "Death to the thief" into "Bro, pass me a drink"...
And inspired by Ye Cheng's approach, Shen Qinghan also started thinking it over. Eventually, she decided to switch from jungling to support, and even picked the same champion—Yao—just like Ye Cheng.
Naturally, she copied his build as well...
"VROOM—"
"Match found!"
Game on!
This time, Ye Cheng and Shen Qinghan swapped roles, while everyone else stayed the same... Ye Cheng ramped up, and in under six minutes, he had absolutely demolished the enemy team.
If it weren't for the six-minute surrender restriction, the enemy would've surrendered the instant they saw Ye Cheng's national champion border flash on the screen. They were terrified—THE Grandmaster Jing was coming out!
Stop chasing us, Lord Jing! Take this single star of ours, we beg you!
One star?
Why not queue up again and lose another one, right?
"BOOM!"
Before Shen Qinghan could even figure out her abilities, the enemy's crystal exploded. This match was even simpler and more brutal—everyone had a uniform 5.0 rating, except for Ye Cheng.
As for why... because all the gold went to Ye Cheng. The enemy jungle camps, their lanes, everything. The enemy team was practically pooling coins just to scrape together pity gear at this point.
Shen Qinghan frowned: "Why did it end so fast? I didn't even get to do anything."
Head Maid: "..."
Hearing this, the Head Maid couldn't hold it in anymore. If they waited for her to start carrying, the crystal on their side would probably be the one to blow up.
What Shen Qinghan actually cared about was the lack of involvement. Games were designed from the start to cater to all kinds of people—it wasn't like only winning brought joy.
Some people spent money on skins and were happy, some enjoyed trolling others for a couple of matches and were happy, those who desperately wanted to win... those were called 'tryhard slaves.'
When you weren't strong enough, weren't you just locked in by the matchmaking system? The game starts playing you.
It was just like how Shen Qinghan used to be addicted to claw machines, but after Ye Cheng came along and gave her plenty of fulfillment, she quit cold turkey... She saw clearly how big the gap was between people.
"I'm playing this one next match," Shen Qinghan said.
"Uh... Young Miss, wouldn't this one be... too easy?"
Feeling the impending force of a "bonk" about to land on his head, Ye Cheng quickly changed his approach and went with a more tactful phrasing.
"Why not try something with more skill involved, like this one with the axe, or this one with the staff? If those don't work, how about this armored warrior with the big sword? That's also an option!"
Ye Cheng recommended a few simple, easy-to-pick-up characters.
Shen Qinghan looked for a moment, then frowned: "No, these are ugly. I'm playing this one."
Ye Cheng: "..."
Alright, negotiation failed.
"Bzzzt—"
The third match began.
Good news: the Young Miss finally started putting in effort this round!
Bad news: She went full feed mode!
"BOOM!"
Ten minutes in, the crystal exploded.
Huh?
Young Miss, why is your face all red?
Shen Qinghan frowned, staring at the score screen... This time, Xia Tongxin's score was higher than hers, and she had died fewer times too. Why?
"Nyahaha~~~"
"Someone out there got lucky once and thinks it's actual skill. Heh heh heh, if you're bad, just practice more..." Xia Tongxin's annoying voice drifted over from the side.
Shen Qinghan: "..."
"Forget it, forget it, Young Miss. Maybe it's better for you to play support—"
"Shut up!"
Shen Qinghan shot Ye Cheng a glare, insisting she was going to keep playing jungle!
Ye Cheng: "..."
Alright, it's over. Looks like they weren't getting any sleep tonight.
"Bzzzt—"
"Match found!"
The fourth match began!
Twenty minutes later.
"BOOM!"
The crystal exploded, match over, defeat.
Ye Cheng still had the highest score, followed by the Head Maid, then the little nephew... Shen Qinghan and Xia Tongxin were fighting over the bottom two spots.
Unfortunately, the Young Miss still brought her A-game, comfortably securing last place with crushing numbers.
Xia Tongxin had gotten smarter—she started building tank items and bought speed boots. Whether she could win didn't matter anymore; what mattered was outscoring Shen Qinghan!
"Gulp."
Ye Cheng swallowed nervously: "So, uh, Young Miss, how about... we call it here for tonight?"
Ye Cheng said hesitantly.
He felt like if they kept going, it would definitely recreate that glorious disaster from the day they played Ludo at the Shen residence.
Shen Qinghan narrowed her eyes: "Are you sleepy?"
Ye Cheng: "..."
"I'm sleepy. I'm done playing." Xia Tongxin jumped in, stretched, and faked a yawn, the smugness in her tone impossible to hide.
No other reason—she had only embarrassed herself once, but Shen Qinghan had embarrassed herself twice. She won!
Not playing anymore!
Hehe.
Shen Qinghan spoke calmly: "If you don't dare to play, then whatever. We'll just recruit someone new."
Retreat to advance.
If Xia Tongxin really ran off, Shen Qinghan couldn't keep playing anyway. But... such an obvious provocation, probably...
"Who says I don't dare to play?!!!" Xia Tongxin's eyes blazed with fury!
Head Maid: "..."
Ye Cheng: "..."
Wow, took the bait instantly. Gotta hand it to you, Blondie!
"Little uncle, I have school tomorrow. I'm gonna log off now..."
Shen Qinghan narrowed her eyes, about to send a message to pressure the little nephew. The little nephew seemed to think it wasn't great to lose a teammate, so he came up with an idea.
"How about this, little uncle? I'll go ask Auntie next door if she wants to play." The little nephew's ultra-kid voice came through the team chat.
Shen Qinghan stopped typing...
Auntie?
The leftover lady!
After a bit, the little nephew came back. However, this time his tone seemed a bit nervous.
"Little uncle, I'm not sleeping anymore. I'll keep playing. But I need to stay quiet, so I won't send voice messages from now on. I'll just type."
Type?
A contemplative look appeared in Shen Qinghan's eyes.
Meanwhile.
At the Tang residence.
"Alright, little fatty, off to bed. Auntie's taking over from here." Tang Yuyao sat next to the little nephew in her pajamas.
The little nephew: "..."
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
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.”
