"Child?"
The word felt utterly foreign to Shen Yu.
At just 19 years old, she was still a girl... one who didn’t even understand love, let alone childbirth.
Yet here was Jiang Che, bringing it up so brazenly.
"Child?" Shen Yu murmured softly to herself.
She felt lost. The mere mental image of herself pregnant, belly swollen, filled her with unease.
If she couldn’t love, then naturally, maternal instincts were out of the question.
"Exactly—a child! Shen Yu... I admit defeat. On my own, I’ll never make you fall for me. So I’m calling in ‘external reinforcements.’"
Jiang Che spoke with a straight face, but his tone and gestures dripped with mischief.
He wrapped an arm around Shen Yu’s shoulders, pulling her close.
After a long pause, Shen Yu’s gaze hardened with resolve.
"I can’t get pregnant now. The system assigned me a bunch of one-year tasks. I have to complete them within the deadline. If I’m pregnant..."
Before she could finish, Jiang Che cut her off.
"Shen Yu, pregnancy doesn’t conflict with research! In fact, you could take maternity leave afterward—no more school, no distractions..."
Shen Yu: "..."
For a fleeting moment, his logic struck her as bizarrely convincing.
"I... I..."
"Come on, Shen Yu, think about it. Once you’re carrying my child, your status in the Jiang family will skyrocket. Plenty of girls are lining up for this chance..."
Jiang Che’s voice oozed temptation, though it had little effect on her.
"I’m only 19. The baby’s genes might be suboptimal..."
"Don’t overthink it. The second my mom finds out, she’ll fly back to dote on her future daughter-in-law. You won’t suffer a bit."
"Worst case, I’ve got my system. My shop’s full of treasures—our kid will be born perfectly healthy..."
Shen Yu frowned. "But... my IQ is high, and yours is slightly lower. I’m worried about the child’s intelligence..."
Jiang Che: "..."
Enough. He’d had enough.
Was this girl outright calling him dumb?!
Rumor had it that dogs had an average IQ of 50, humans around 100, and geniuses started at 150. So to a genius, ordinary people were like... dogs.
Jiang Che didn’t consider himself a once-in-a-century intellect, but he wasn’t that far behind, was he?
"Shen Yu!!!"
Jiang Che snapped. Fine—he’d go all out, skip the dual-cultivation skills, and see if he could knock her up in one shot.
If it worked, so be it. He could afford a kid.
Honestly, he was out of options. He once thought Shen Yu’s heart was sealed in cement. Now? It was clear—she didn’t even have one.
My unconceived child, I’m counting on you.
---
Jiang Ruoxu was miserable.
His master had retreated into her soul-nurturing ring again, too terrified to emerge.
Yesterday, a terrifying pressure had blanketed half the province. His master gasped, "A Nirvana-stage powerhouse?!" before vanishing into the ring, not even a flicker of soul energy left.
No matter how he tried to reach her, she ignored him—like she’d died.
Jiang Ruoxu knew a bit about these so-called Nirvana-stage experts. His master used to brag that in her prime, she was a ninefold-Nirvana supreme, on the verge of transcending mortality. Stuff like "ruling a domain" sounded epic.
"Sigh... Gotta grind more face-slapping points. Earn enough to buy her that top-grade Body Reforging Pill."
Jiang Ruoxu clenched his fists, determination hardening.
He pulled out his phone, opened a livestream app, and started broadcasting.
As the holder of the Ultimate Face-Slapping System, he’d learned that livestreaming yielded the highest returns.
Slapping faces offline? One spectator = 10 points. Online? Just 0.01 per viewer.
But numbers made up for it.
Backed by the Jiang family’s influence, becoming a mega-influencer was child’s play.
His platform already had over 3 million followers. His streams regularly hit 1–5 million live viewers, especially when he "visited" martial arts sects—his signature move.
He’d already challenged every major master and hidden clan, earning himself the title of "the Martial World’s Tumor."
"Yo, streamer’s finally live! We’ve been waiting!"
"What’s today’s stunt? Another sect challenge? How about the Shaolin Temple’s 18 Bronze Men? Rumor says there’s a janitor there—some hidden grandmaster..."
"Bro, you’re #2 now. Some guy’s streaming ‘cultivation’—seems legit."
Jiang Ruoxu’s eye twitched at the chat.
Never in his wildest dreams did he think he’d become an abstract-content streamer with millions of fans.
But hey, face-slapping points were face-slapping points. No shame in the grind.
"Today’s not a challenge. We’re exploring a forbidden zone."
He snapped his fingers.
As the protagonist, forbidden zones and secret realms were basically his birthright.
Last time, though, he’d run into a few Sky-Shattering-stage experts descending from the heavens... and got his ass handed to him.
The trauma lingered.
"Forbidden zone? For real? Those exist?"
"If forbidden zones are real, is ‘spiritual revival’ next? I’ve heard rumors—people awakening as martial artists or getting superpowers overnight..."
"Spiritual revival? Touch grass, dude. That’s pure fiction."
"Check the #1 stream. Dude’s teaching cultivation. Word is, some viewers actually made progress..."
Jiang Ruoxu frowned. What were these guys on about?
Cultivation streams?
He checked the rankings.
#1: Lin Fan Loves Cultivation — 10M popularity
#2: Jiang Ruoxu (Not Here to Slap Faces) — 3M popularity
Well, well. Someone dared overshadow him?