The two-week military training had finally ended, and a day off was granted.
"Finally, it's over! So, Long Aotian, what are your plans for tomorrow?"
"How about we all hang out together?"
Faced with their questions, Long Aotian answered without hesitation for the first time: "Can't tomorrow. I already made plans with someone."
He had promised Hu Yuying long ago that once training was over, he would take her around the capital. After all, he was the world’s best big brother—he couldn’t go back on his word.
Hearing this, his three roommates immediately perked up.
They’d seen others invite Long Aotian out plenty of times, but it was practically unheard of for him to be the one initiating plans!
"Oho, look at that smug face!"
"Hahaha, what’s got him grinning like that?"
"Wait, this is different. Have you ever seen Long Aotian make this kind of expression before? The anticipation in his eyes is practically overflowing!"
Long Aotian just chuckled and didn’t bother explaining. Truth be told, he really had missed that little girl, Hu Yuying.
He wondered how she was doing at school—had she made friends? Had she grown more outgoing? Was she happy every day?
He opened his phone and navigated to the chat screen.
Before he could tap on Hu Yuying’s conversation, a message from Lin Wanning popped up:
"Bro, you free tomorrow?"
After a moment’s thought, he replied: "No plans. Just meeting up with some friends."
Lin Wanning stared at the message, unsure how to respond.
She had wanted to ask him out herself. But if he already had something going on, she didn’t know how to bring it up.
Then, her eyes brightened as she read his follow-up message: "Wait… is he taking me to meet his friends?"
"Guess my brother isn’t completely clueless after all."
She quickly typed back: "Is that really okay?"
"Of course. Who knows, you might even hit it off with them."
After sending that, Long Aotian exited the chat and switched to Hu Yuying’s conversation. He sent two quick message vibrations to get her attention.
When she didn’t reply immediately, he figured she must be busy. After all, she wasn’t like before—she wasn’t alone anymore.
He set his phone aside and lay down on his bed, waiting.
After a while, he got up and headed out.
——
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Hu Yuying frowned slightly as she stared at the small cake that had fallen to the ground.
Xue Shaohua scratched his head sheepishly, picking up the basketball at his feet. He mimed a jump shot in front of her before calling out to his friends in the distance, "You guys go ahead!"
Only then did he turn back to Hu Yuying. "Sorry about that. How about I buy you another cake to make up for it?"
"You’re boring. And childish." Hu Yuying turned and walked away without another word.
She had bought two cakes—one for herself and one for Qingxue. Now, both were ruined.
Xue Shaohua smirked and followed after her. "You mad?"
Hu Yuying had no patience for people she disliked, so she ignored him entirely.
But Xue Shaohua found her attitude all the more intriguing. Girls who came running at the snap of his fingers were just too dull.
"Come on, can’t you at least talk to me? Being this cold will leave you with no friends."
At that, Hu Yuying paused briefly. "I have friends. And could you stop following me?"
Xue Shaohua shrugged. "Nah. I upset you, so I gotta make it right. Otherwise, it’d be awkward seeing you in class later."
Before she could protest further, he cut in, "Two cakes, and I’ll leave. Otherwise, I’ll feel too guilty."
Hu Yuying said nothing, simply quickening her pace.
Amused by her helplessness, Xue Shaohua matched her speed, keeping a slight distance but staying close.
Inside the cake shop, Hu Yuying sat by the window, tuning out Xue Shaohua’s endless chatter as she waited for her order.
Her indifference only fueled his interest. He bragged endlessly about how popular and impressive he was.
Then—the chime of the doorbell rang.
Hu Yuying instinctively glanced up.
A familiar figure stepped inside.
Her eyes instantly lit up with joy.
"Long-ge."
Hearing her voice, Long Aotian turned. His gaze cut through the crowd, locking onto hers.
In that moment, everything else seemed to fade. All the waiting, all the longing—it all melted into an irrepressible smile.
Xue Shaohua froze. He had never seen Hu Yuying smile like this—so vividly, so radiantly.
Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the boy across the room, her gaze brimming with undisguised, unreserved tenderness.
Hu Yuying stood and hurried toward him, her breath hitching with every step. The distance was short, yet her heart pounded wildly, uncontrollably.
Watching her run to him, Long Aotian’s grin widened—an inexplicable, overwhelming delight surging through him.
He reached out, ruffling her hair with practiced ease. His eyes, warm and affectionate, held nothing but adoration for her alone. "I texted you."
Hu Yuying pulled out her phone in dismay. Oh no—she’d missed his message!
"Sorry, Long-ge, I—"
Before she could finish, Long Aotian laughed it off. "Was gonna bring you cake, but since you’re here, I’ll treat you instead."
"I already ordered," Hu Yuying said, her eyes never leaving him. "Back at the bay, Qingxue made us cookies. I never got the chance to return the favor, so now that training’s over, I wanted to buy her a cake."
Just then, her order was ready.
Long Aotian paid and handed her the box. "One for you, and one for you and Qingxue to share."
Hu Yuying lifted her face, her smile soft, fond, and full of devotion. "What about you, Long-ge?"
"I’ll take you somewhere even better than cake."
"Mm!" She nodded eagerly, falling into step beside him just like old times.
As the two left the shop, Xue Shaohua stood rooted in place, fists clenched, watching their retreating figures with bitter envy.
Hu Yuying wouldn’t even spare him a word—yet with that guy, she was a completely different person.
Yet in front of that boy, she couldn’t help but pour out every ounce of her tenderness.
This blatant double standard was something the proud Xue Shaohua simply couldn’t stomach.
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?!
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.
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
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!
