Just as Zhong Yi was wondering why Zuo Yi was acting so strangely toward him, an eerie wolf howl suddenly rang out.
“Awooooo—!”
The frenzied Direhowl, which had been getting thoroughly crushed by the Sparkit, suddenly threw back its head and howled at the sky.
A moment later, pair after pair of scarlet eyes lit up in the boundless darkness.
“A pack of… frenzied Direhowls!?”
Zhong Yi’s expression immediately darkened.
One frenzied Direhowl would have been easy enough to deal with. After all, the Pals in this area weren’t very high-level.
But if an entire pack attacked at once, the situation would be completely different.
“Miss Zuo, this place is dangerous.”
Zhong Yi took a deep breath and stepped in front of Zuo Yi.
“Hm? …Mm.”
For some reason, the sight of Zhong Yi’s tall figure suddenly made Zuo Yi feel safe. She lowered her head in panic.
Just then, Zhong Yi rummaged around at his chest and pulled out two rings.
Under Zuo Yi’s incredulous gaze, he handed them to her.
“Eh?”
Zuo Yi’s cheeks instantly turned as red as ripe apples.
“Here. You take them.”
Zhong Yi spoke with an extremely serious expression.
“M-Me?”
Zuo Yi’s heart began to race as she stared helplessly at the two rings he was offering her.
“F-First of all! Let me make this clear! It’s not like I’m going to… just because you gave me rings or anything…”
The girl bit her lip and stole glances at Zhong Yi from the corner of her eye. Her throat felt as though it were filled with smoke, and she couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
“And another thing! You… you really know what these rings do, right…?”
Her voice grew softer and softer, but both hands obediently accepted the rings from Zhong Yi.
“Of course I do.”
Zhong Yi turned around and walked step by step toward the encircling pack of frenzied Direhowls, his back radiating grim resolve.
“The Isis Ring increases the damage dealt by Water-type Pals, while the Mercy Ring is used to capture Pals.”
“I don’t have a Water-type Pal, and I can’t capture frenzied Pals anyway. Neither of these rings is useful to me.”
“We left in such a hurry that I forgot to clear out my bag… Hold on to the rings for me. Otherwise, I won’t have room to pick up the Predator Cores later.”
“Huh!? Why are you giving me your rings!?”
…
…
Although there were a great many frenzied Direhowls, the forest was still part of one of the starting areas.
The frenzied Pals, which were only level 35, were quickly wiped out by Frostallion.
“Phew… It’s finally over. But why hasn’t the quest been completed?”
Zhong Yi wiped the sweat from his brow, troubled as he stared at the still-incomplete Bond Quest.
That didn’t make sense.
Zuo Yi had clearly been found, and her wish had been fulfilled.
Wasn’t her wish simply to be with the Sparkit forever?
“This stupid quest gives far too few hints…”
Zhong Yi couldn’t help muttering under his breath.
“Miss Zuo, why did you suddenly run off without saying a word earlier?”
Zhong Yi asked, puzzled.
“Hmph!”
Zuo Yi snorted unhappily. After a long while, she finally muttered in a small voice,
“Y-You were going to team up with another Tower Master anyway… Other Tower Masters are stronger and more capable. What am I supposed to count for…?”
“Ohhh! So Miss Zuo was worried that if Tower Master Li Wei joined us, then she wouldn’t be able to…”
“I—I never said that!! Don’t you dare…”
“…fight powerful Pals anymore, right? Hahaha! Miss Zuo really does love fighting from the bottom of her heart. Come to think of it, wouldn’t Junior Brother Mu or Lao Zhou be more suitable for her?”
“Oh.”
“If that’s what you’re worried about, Miss Zuo, then there’s no need to be concerned.”
Zhong Yi shook his head with a smile.
“I have a close friend who has never had a Tower Master’s assistance. Since there’s now a Tower Master who doesn’t care much about luck, naturally, I’ll leave her to him.”
Letting Li Wei go to Zhou Yue to capture her had been part of Zhong Yi’s plan from the start.
That was also why he had delayed setting out to search for her location.
Especially after learning that Li Wei’s Partner Skill enhanced the cultivator’s own combat ability, Zhong Yi’s resolve had only grown firmer.
“R-Really?”
Zuo Yi looked up, her eyes shining like they held tiny stars. She made no attempt to conceal her joy.
“Of course. Why would I lie to you?”
Zhong Yi scratched his head, somewhat baffled.
From beginning to end, he still couldn’t understand why she was reacting so strongly.
Just then, a system notification rang out:
[Quest complete! You successfully found Zuo Yi and untangled the knot in the girl’s heart.]
[Your Bond Level with Zuo Yi has increased to Level 10.]
[The Tower Master Zuo Yi’s permanent function has been unlocked.]
“Hm???”
Zhong Yi’s face filled with question marks.
The quest had been inexplicable, and its completion was just as inexplicable.
As someone who had always prided himself on being a master strategist when it came to relationships, Zhong Yi couldn’t help questioning his professional abilities.
How had it suddenly been completed!?
Zhong Yi looked at Zuo Yi in front of him, still completely bewildered.
The girl’s cheeks were flushed, and her lips were slightly pursed.
If one listened carefully, one could even hear her heartbeat pounding rapidly.
Zhong Yi raised an eyebrow and suddenly reached out, grabbing Zuo Yi by the wrist.
“Y-You—what are you doing!?”
Like a startled fawn, Zuo Yi immediately became incoherent.
“D-Don’t think that just because you said a few nice things, this lady is going to… going to…”
“Shh!”
Zhong Yi made a stern silencing gesture.
The girl obediently lowered her head and, unusually, stopped struggling.
“As I thought.”
Zhong Yi released her wrist and spoke in an even tone.
“Miss Zuo’s pulse is far too rapid—nearly six beats in a single breath.”
“You’ve been flushed and short of breath since earlier. Your pulse is now superficial and rapid, yet weak under pressure… You likely suffer from deficiency of the heart and spleen, with the blood failing to nourish the heart. You’ll need to build up your health in the future.”
“??? Why are you shocking me again!?”
…
The livestream chat had lost it for what felt like the umpteenth time.
[Hahahaha, as expected of you, Zhong!]
[I finally understand what it means to be single through sheer skill…]
[What exactly were you all expecting!?]
[Miss Zuo says the opposite of what she means, while Zhong keeps putting his foot in his mouth… They really do seem like a perfect match?]
…
…
After unlocking the permanent function, a Tower Master could fight alongside a Pal.
However, while in the permanent state, the Tower Master’s combat ability would be drastically reduced. Their primary role was to provide emotional support.
Naturally, when no Pal was deployed, the Tower Master would enter their normal combat state. Overall, it was a fairly decent support position.
After all, Lu Ze had deliberately designed every Tower Master’s Partner Skill to be a powerful support-type ability.
At that moment, Zhong Yi and Zuo Yi were sitting together atop the Sparkit’s head as it made its way back to the base.
“Hey!”
Zuo Yi fidgeted for quite some time before finally seeming to make up her mind and calling out.
“I’m not ‘hey.’ My name is Zhong Yi…”
Zhong Yi smiled helplessly.
Compared with being called “Scrub,” not being called anything at all seemed like a major improvement.
“Um…”
Zuo Yi quickly turned her face away, her voice soft as a mosquito’s buzz.
“Thank you.”
“Huh?”
Zhong Yi was slightly taken aback.
This was the first time he had ever heard such blunt words from Zuo Yi.
Just then.
He suddenly saw, with startling clarity, countless strands of Dao intent drifting through the air around Zuo Yi before converging before his eyes.
The techniques of the Ten-Cross True Art reflected themselves before him, scene after scene…
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
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.
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!
