After leaving Dawn's house, Chen Miemie went to the East District. Xi had sent a message saying she needed to see him.
Chen Miemie didn't expect that Xi was actually inviting him to her home for dinner.
During the society's group hunt last week, Chen Miemie and Xi had been standing at a distance. Right before Xi was about to eat the fatal fruit of the [Heart Orchardist], Chen Miemie had stopped her.
This was practically a life-saving favor.
Although as partners they would continuously help each other in the future and didn't need to be overly formal or keep strict score, Xi still wanted to show her gratitude for this crucial first assist.
Xi's home was in the Green Maple Building in the East District of Sixiang City.
Downstairs at the Green Maple Building.
"Xi, isn't this a bit sudden, meeting your parents already? I came empty-handed and didn't prepare anything. How about next time, I'll go get a perm first."
Upon hearing that Xi's parents were home, Chen Miemie shook his head vigorously, wanting to retreat back into his sedan.
Xi grabbed him.
"Why are you running? My family has already seen you."
"Huh? Where?"
"Let's go, let's go."
Pushed by Xi, Chen Miemie entered the building.
Xi's home was on the second floor. Having a place on this floor meant she came from serious money—a proper little rich lady.
The moment Xi opened the door, Chen Miemie knew his assumption was spot on from just one glance.
If normal home renovations were categorized into basic, refined, and luxury.
Then Xi's home belonged in the ultra-luxury category.
It wasn't the ostentatious kind of expensive, but an elegant, profoundly sophisticated kind of luxury.
Upon entering, a sweep of the eyes revealed that the living room alone was larger than Chen Miemie's entire house.
After changing his shoes and sitting on the sofa, Chen Miemie looked left and right, constantly feeling like a couple might suddenly rush out of a room to interrogate him about his background.
But no one came.
On the coffee table in front of the sofa sat a fruit platter.
It was filled with fruits completely unfamiliar to Chen Miemie. The only one he somewhat recognized was the hook fruit, which cost 10 hours a pound.
"Chen Miemie, have a seat for a moment. I just need to stir-fry one more dish."
Chen Miemie observed the living room.
Since a guest was coming, the living room had obviously been tidied up, making it look not too messy.
Yes, that was the right way to put it—just "not too messy." In truth, it was still a little bit cluttered.
It was hard to imagine a single room giving off both an elegant and a cluttered vibe at the same time.
The clutter was because, just like Xi's personal lounge at the [Court of the Silver Moon], there were paintbrushes and easels everywhere.
The walls were hung with many abstract art paintings of various colors and sizes.
Chen Miemie felt that if he stared at those twisted lines for too long, they would definitely have a hypnotic effect.
Before he could be lulled to sleep, Xi's voice arrived just in time, calling him to the dining table to eat.
Xi's dining table was huge, and it was already filled with a large spread of dishes that looked and smelled fantastic.
"Try it, I rarely cook," Xi said as she took off her apron.
"You made all this? It looks delicious."
"Yeah. I was quite the glutton when I was little. I would secretly eat the food halfway through painting it. Later, my family only gave me raw ingredients to paint, so I slowly learned how to cook them."
Chen Miemie glanced at Xi's astonishingly slim waist, completely unable to tell she was a foodie.
"Is it just the two of us eating? Aren't you going to call your family to join?"
"Oh, right. I'll call my mom and dad over to see you."
Chen Miemie wished he could slap himself for being so talkative.
Xi walked into an inner room and quickly returned.
She placed two picture frames on two chairs.
Inside the frames were a portrait of a man's face and a portrait of a woman's face. The woman looked about seventy percent similar to Xi.
"Chen Miemie, these are my parents."
"Ah, I'm sorry, Xi, I didn't know your parents had already..."
Before Xi could speak.
The man in the painting actually moved. He gave Chen Miemie an "I'm very fierce" expression:
"Are you that kid Chen Miemie? My daughter's partner?"
Chen Miemie rubbed his eyes, then his ears, making sure he wasn't hallucinating.
The woman's portrait moved too: "Keep your voice down, you're scaring our guest. Chen Miemie, what a spirited young man. I heard you just graduated this year. When do you plan to settle down? How many people are in your family?"
Chen Miemie looked at the two paintings, then at Xi, a bit unable to process the situation.
Xi ignored the two paintings with their exaggerated expressions and placed a piece of meat into Chen Miemie's bowl.
"These are my mom and dad. My family is all tied to paintings. They run the [Faded Gallery] year-round, so they are actually still over there."
"Oh no! Xi actually served this kid food! My precious little girl has never even served me food. I'm going to kill you, kid!"
Chen Miemie finally sorted out a small part of the situation.
These were Xi's parents. They were both still alive, and they were both likely Mystics.
"Hello, Uncle, Sister. Xi and I haven't known each other long, but she takes care of me a lot in the society."
"You're a good kid with a good eye. Sister likes you. Eat up, and come visit us often when you have free time."
"Hmph, smooth talker. I can tell at a glance he's up to no good."
"What, am I not worthy of being called 'Sister', huh?!"
The woman actually reached her hand out of her picture frame, into the man's frame, and pinched his ear.
"Let... let go, it hurts."
Xi stood up again, picked up the two paintings, and put them away in the inner room.
"You've met them now. They're too noisy. Come, let's continue eating."
The food Xi cooked was truly delicious. Chen Miemie ate two large bowls of rice in a row.
However, after finishing the meal, Chen Miemie didn't sit in the living room for long before taking his leave.
Xi's home was filled with paintings, including quite a few portraits.
Ever since meeting Xi's parents, Chen Miemie kept feeling like the people in these paintings were secretly staring at him, making him feel rather uncomfortable sitting on the sofa.
At 6:30 PM, dusk had just passed.
Chen Miemie immediately left Xi's home.
Before he left, Xi gave him a painting.
A very tall and large painting.
On the painting was a door.
Chen Miemie loaded the painting into his sedan.
"Chen Miemie, the door in this painting can actually be pushed open. Walk through it, and you'll arrive at the [Faded Gallery]. However, it will turn into an ordinary painting after one use, so you can save it for an emergency."
So this was the true thank-you gift of the day.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
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
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.”
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.
