Xu Mu stared at the smile that Xu Ningbing had just revealed, momentarily stunned.
He had to admit, Xu Ningbing usually wore a cold, icy demeanor, but when she smiled suddenly, she truly looked breathtakingly beautiful.
“Sis, you do have some charm when you smile,” Xu Mu said, standing up to compliment her.
“Only some?”
Xu Ningbing’s smile vanished instantly, but above her head, words appeared.
【Favorability +5】
“I thought you weren’t interested in appearances,” Xu Mu teased.
He pulled out a martial arts manual called the “Mountain Breaking Palm” from his belongings. “Take a photo with your phone. This is a martial art technique.”
“A martial art technique?”
Xu Ningbing was momentarily taken aback. “Did you get this from that old master?”
“That’s right. I traded some good wine for it,” Xu Mu nodded lightly.
Xu Ningbing’s reaction was exactly what Xu Mu expected.
Since she had just stepped into the realm of ancient martial artists, she probably didn’t realize how precious such manuals were.
Meng Wanyue, already an established ancient martial artist, naturally behaved differently.
“Great!”
Xu Ningbing immediately took out her phone and snapped a picture of the yellow-grade technique.
“Don’t practice it on your own. Ask Dad when you get home after work,” Xu Mu reminded her. For someone like Xu Ningbing, who had just entered the ancient martial artist world, even a yellow-grade technique would be difficult to master.
He also didn’t plan to reveal the black-grade techniques just yet—at least not until she reached the Dark Qi stage.
After finishing, Xu Mu said his goodbyes and left.
……
Back in the office, Xu Mu sat down in the boss’s chair and closed his eyes to rest.
His mind was occupied with the current situation around him.
The favorability ratings of Ye Yu and Xu Ningbing had both turned positive.
One was a Level 9 Destiny, the other a Level 10 Destiny.
Xu Mu’s own realm was steadily rising, but the glaring problem was the lack of experts around him.
Currently, apart from Lin Yang’s crisis, the Xu family also faced potential threats from the Dragon King and a secretive clan.
Just as Xu Mu was deep in thought, his phone vibrated.
He glanced at it and saw it was Feng Yue, so he answered, “Hello?”
“Xu Shao, have you forgotten about me? I already said I’m willing to follow you, and yet you haven’t even uttered a single ‘hmm’,” Feng Yue’s voice came through the phone.
“I’ve been busy preparing things. Come to my company now and meet me,” Xu Mu replied.
He had been so focused on Xu Ningbing that he had forgotten about Feng Yue, but he certainly couldn’t say that out loud.
“I’m already outside your company,” Feng Yue said from the other end.
Xu Mu smiled slightly. Feng Yue had finally understood the nature of their relationship.
He got up and left the office, heading downstairs to the company entrance, activating his perception.
He spotted Feng Yue’s figure; she was still waiting at the same spot where she had picked him up last time.
Seeing that location reminded Xu Mu of what had happened between them previously.
This time, he didn’t sit in the back seat but took the passenger side.
Feng Yue, wearing sunglasses, turned to look at Xu Mu. “Xu Shao, you’re finally sitting here. Looks like our relationship is moving a step closer.”
“It’s not closer. We’ve already had close contact for a while,” Xu Mu said, arms crossed.
Feng Yue smiled coquettishly. “You’re right, Xu Shao.”
Xu Mu was speechless, then glanced at her. “When I said that, shouldn’t you have covered your face and acted shy?”
"I'm not that kind of woman, but if Young Master Xu likes it, I can pretend."
Feng Yue started the car and drove away, following the main road toward the outskirts of the city.
"No need. You should just be your true self."
Xu Mu shook his head, took out his phone, and sent a message to Feng Yue.
Feng Yue was driving and didn’t check her phone. She smiled and asked, "What did you send me?"
"The formula and production process for a beauty pill. This pill has remarkable effects on skincare, especially for acne—it works instantly."
Xu Mu said calmly.
Hearing this, Feng Yue nearly lost control of the steering wheel, her heart pounding and emotions running wild.
Since the Xu family was already producing weight loss pills, it made sense that they could develop a beauty pill too.
"Young Master Xu, why are you giving me this?"
Feng Yue tried to calm herself. She felt this product, like the weight loss pills, could become a bestseller.
"I need you to start a beauty company and use this medicine to rake in the profits."
Xu Mu leaned back, hands behind his head, smiling.
"So you mean the Xu family wants me to be the head of a branch company?" Feng Yue asked.
"No, it has nothing to do with the Xu family. You have only one boss—me. The company is yours; I only take the patent fees."
Xu Mu glanced at Feng Yue. "We'll split the profits 70-30."
"Young Master Xu, giving me this medicine—how will your father react?"
By now, Feng Yue had driven out of the city and pulled over by the roadside.
"This medicine is mine, no one else’s business."
Xu Mu looked at her. "Do you have confidence you can make this beauty company succeed?"
"As long as the effects are as you say, I’m confident."
Feng Yue took out her phone and reviewed the formula Xu Mu sent. It was still all traditional Chinese herbs. "Young Master Xu, the mistake you made with the weight loss pills was this."
"Where?" Xu Mu asked.
"This world is built on comparison."
Feng Yue smiled as she took off her sunglasses. "For example, if you have a hundred yuan, you might feel poor and inferior. But if everyone around you only has one yuan, you feel superior."
"I see what you mean—you’re saying beauty exists because of comparison."
Xu Mu chuckled softly.
"Exactly. Anyone can get weight loss pills and lose weight anytime, so no one feels urgency."
Feng Yue shook her phone. "But if I produce the beauty pills in limited monthly quantities, it will cause a rush to buy. Whoever gets them first will enjoy looking better for a month, maybe even longer."
Xu Mu smiled. "You think the Xu family didn’t consider this? We just wanted to use the weight loss pills to generate massive cash flow and keep the company running smoothly."
"I get it now. I was too hasty," Feng Yue said, awkwardly waving her hand.
"But your company can operate that way."
Xu Mu continued, sending Feng Yue the files Meng Wanyue had organized—dozens of cases of people falling victim to honey traps. "Take a look when you have time, see if they can be useful."
"Okay."
Feng Yue nodded.
“Just see me off, alright? And make sure you prepare everything on your end.” Xu Mu said calmly.
Feng Yue looked at Xu Mu in surprise, then a wave of affection seemed to shimmer above her head.
“Xu Shao, how deep is your scheming?” she asked.
“What’s wrong now?” Xu Mu frowned.
“I’m your woman now—I’ve accepted your favors—and besides, we’ve already been together once before.”
Feng Yue stared deeply at Xu Mu. “I thought next, you’d be like all those vulgar men and expect me to repay you.”
She could hardly believe that the man before her was still the Xu Mu she once knew.
Apparently, he had never been interested in her. His closeness back then was only to root out the company’s mole.
Feng Yue prided herself on understanding men, but this one was completely unreadable.
“Thanks for the reminder.”
Xu Mu glanced at Feng Yue. “I almost forgot—you’re actually quite attractive.”
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
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.”
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
