Chen Miemie stepped out of the [Door Gap] carrying the [Forbidden Fruit Compendium].
The street had once again become lively.
Following the guidance of the [Forbidden Fruit Compendium], Chen Miemie walked into the shop at No. 5 Fairy Tale Road.
It was a candle shop.
“Welcome, young man. What can I get for you?”
The shopkeeper was a man somewhere between middle-aged and elderly. He had a ruddy complexion, fair skin, and neatly combed hair. He appeared well-maintained, though the few silver strands on his head gave away his age.
“I need some candles with the five lights.”
“Coming right up. So you’re a Mystic, I see. Please, look over here.”
The shopkeeper led Chen Miemie to the counter at the very back.
Inside the glass counter were several candles with visibly exquisite carvings.
Before Chen Miemie could nod, he suddenly realized something was off: candles are meant to be burned, so why add all this fancy carving on the surface? Wouldn’t carving them just reduce the material and slightly shorten the burn time? That’s purely a downgrade.
“Boss, I’m also a neighbor on this street. You shouldn’t try to fool me.”
“Oh? You are? Just arrived?”
“Yeah, you know Old Song? I inherited his place.”
“Ah, why didn’t you say so earlier! Old Song’s nephew, right? My name is Liu Gui. If you don’t mind, you can call me Uncle Liu.”
“Uncle Liu, I’m Chen Miemie.”
“Since you’re one of us, and this is your first time, just pick whatever candles you need and take them. But I wasn’t trying to trick you earlier. I run my business honestly, dealing fairly with everyone. I just charge outsiders a bit more, but the goods are always genuine.”
“Oh, Uncle Liu, why do these five-light candles have these raised patterns on the surface?”
“They store a faint five-light within them, so they’re different from ordinary candles.
Making these five-light candles is no simple process.
First, you have to prepare a special oil-wax blend.
Second, a Mystic skilled in the power of ‘light’ must painstakingly infuse the corresponding light into the oil-wax.
Third, as soon as step two is done, another Mystic skilled in engraving formations must immediately carve a seal on the candle’s surface to prevent the light’s power from leaking out.
Only then is it a proper five-light candle.”
Just hearing this process, Chen Miemie knew five-light candles couldn’t be cheap.
“So how much are they?”
“The Golden and Silver Sun Candles are 3 years apiece; the Rainbow Moon Candle is 9 years; the Frost Moon Candle is 30 years, and I only have one Frost Moon in my shop. That’s my price to you. For outsiders, I add half a year to a full year on each type.”
“Uncle Liu, why are the moon ones more expensive, and the Frost Moon so much more? Is it because there aren’t as many Mystics with the corresponding powers?”
“No, that’s not it.
The number of Mystics is about the same. It’s the difficulty and cost of making the candles.
The sun gives off light and heat, which matches the nature of candles, so they’re easy to make, and almost never fail.
The Rainbow Moon represents chaos, and rainbow-moon light isn’t very stable.
The Frost Moon represents cold and probability. Probability alone makes the success rate a gamble, and storing cold light in a candle meant for burning is extremely hard.
Over time, fewer people make moon candles, and it’s a vicious cycle, so the candles have gotten more expensive.”
“Uncle Liu, with prices this high, do you actually sell many?”
“They really don’t sell well anymore,” the man said. “Ordinary people hardly have any use for them. Back when Colorful Mailboxes were popular, this was a thriving business. Now it’s a sunset industry.”
“I’d like to buy some of that special oil wax you mentioned.”
“What, you want to make them yourself?”
“Yeah, I’m interested.”
“No problem, I can sell it separately. One portion of special oil wax costs one month. Buy ten, get one free.”
“Alright, give me ten portions. And three of each type of Sun Candle.”
After some back-and-forth, Chen Miemie paid with eighteen years of time.
Even though Uncle Liu said she could just take them for free, a sum worth over a decade from someone she’d never even met... Chen Miemie wasn’t about to take it without paying. Only, after the haggling, the oil wax ended up being free anyway.
Chen Miemie left the candle shop carrying six candles and a large bundle of oil wax.
Once outside, the [Forbidden Fruit Atlas] finally spoke up. “You want to make Colorful Candles yourself?”
“Yeah, but I can’t do it yet. I’m missing an assistant who can carve the sealing formation.”
“So why don’t you go back and try the ‘Two-Radiance’ level for mailing?”
“No way. I’m Chen Miemie. If I don’t use it at all, I’ll go for the ‘Five-Radiance’ level.”
“Hah.” The [Forbidden Fruit Atlas] let out a cold laugh, clearly unconvinced.
As they talked, Chen Miemie passed by the café at No. 16 Fairy Tale Road.
The owner, Qiu Tian, was out front tidying up the outdoor tables and chairs.
Their eyes met.
Qiu Tian stopped what she was doing and smiled slightly. “Want a cup of coffee?”
Chen Miemie glanced at the sign behind her—[Four Seasons Café].
“Sure, I’ll have one.”
Chen Miemie followed Qiu Tian to the counter.
On the eye-catching blackboard menu were only four items:
[Spring Cherry], [Summer Cicada], [Autumn Moon], [Winter Snow].
Judging by the names alone, Chen Miemie had no idea what flavors they were.
“Can these four tastes really make people feel like they’re tasting different seasons?”
“Oh, that,” Qiu Tian said. “I just made those up. Actually, the café can only make four types of coffee: sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy.”
“I’ll have a spicy coffee,” Chen Miemie declared on the spot. She’d tried sour, sweet, and bitter before, so she had to sample the spicy one.
Qiu Tian looked at Chen Miemie. Chen Miemie looked back.
Neither of them moved.
“How about you go sit over there? I’ll bring it to you when it’s ready.”
Chen Miemie refused. “No, I want to see how you make spicy coffee.”
“Alright, please wait a moment.”
Then Qiu Tian began her magical mixing process.
Chen Miemie had imagined it would involve grinding, brewing, latte art, and so on.
In reality, Qiu Tian’s approach was to slice open a pack of instant coffee, dump in a huge amount of black and white pepper, chop up some Devil’s Red chili peppers with a fruit knife, and finally pour in boiling water, stirring everything together roughly.
“Ah-choo!” The excessive pepper made Chen Miemie’s nose itch.
“All done.” Qiu Tian was all smiles.
Chen Miemie stared at the bubbling black liquid with occasional chili seeds floating on top. She hesitated. “Boss—”
“Call me Qiu Tian.”
“Qiu Tian, are you sure this is drinkable?”
“Of course. My skills are unbeatable. If it’s not good, you don’t have to pay.”
Chen Miemie took the cup and carefully moved away from Qiu Tian to a small table.
It wasn’t a matter of payment anymore. The real question was whether her Level 9 [Indestructibility] could withstand this terrifying liquid.
She probably wouldn’t get hurt, but she honestly couldn’t bring herself to take a sip.
Lifting his head slightly, he saw Qiu Tian not far away, looking at him with eyes full of anticipation.
"Forget it, die or be damned."
Chen Miemie steeled himself and took a small sip from the rim of the cup.
Huh?
Chen Miemie was a little taken aback.
This flavor was surprisingly good!
Within the richness of the coffee, two kinds of spiciness occasionally emerged, making it feel like a volcano erupting inside his mouth and between his teeth.
Where did the volcano come from? Scooping with a spoon, he found popping candy inside!
Bitter, spicy, explosive—under the dual stimulation of taste and touch, he felt as if his whole being was elevated.
"Delicious!"
Before he knew it, the cup was empty.
"Boss Qiu Tian, your craft is incredible. The seemingly bizarre ingredients you paired together produced an astonishing effect. I'll come again to try other flavors, but do you only have four kinds?"
Qiu Tian was still grinning.
"You flatter me. Don't worry, every cup of my coffee tastes different.
People call me a 'coffee artist'—no matter how randomly I mix things, it is destined that I can brew delicious coffee."
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!
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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?!
