Xiao Ran pulled open the passenger door and unceremoniously got in. "Xu Mu, what a coincidence. Saves me the fare."
"Where to?"
Xu Mu asked curiously.
Xiao Ran smiled. "Where else would I go but to Wanyue's place?"
"Haven't you been following the Dragon King all this time?"
Xu Mu started the car and got back on the road.
"I can't follow him all the time. He has to give me a few days off too."
Xiao Ran leaned back in the seat and glanced at Xu Mu. "There's something I'm not sure if I should say?"
"Just say it. Once you've said that much, I'll be curious if you don't."
Xu Mu kept his eyes on the road ahead.
"The Dragon King plans to settle down in Jiangbei. I don't really know his thoughts, but yesterday, he went to your Xu Family to discuss cooperation."
Xiao Ran paused, then continued, "I could tell, the Dragon King seems... quite interested in your sister."
Hearing this, Xu Mu's eyes gradually turned cold.
"Unhappy?"
Xiao Ran showed a faint smile. "You didn't like him after what he said to you last time, right?"
"You don't like him either?"
Xu Mu didn't answer, instead turning the question back on her.
"The relationship between him and me isn't about liking. He saved my life. I'm repaying him, so I work under him."
Xiao Ran said softly.
"So, you're his employee?" Xu Mu asked.
"Correct."
Xiao Ran nodded.
"Would you dare to quit?"
"I..."
Xiao Ran didn't know how to answer, but in her heart, she already had the answer.
If she really wanted to quit, the Dragon King might agree.
But if she quit and then switched sides—like following Xu Mu—the Dragon King would absolutely not allow it.
He was a very domineering person. He could choose not to use someone, but he wouldn't allow others to use them either.
"Tired?"
Xu Mu suddenly asked softly.
Hearing this, Xiao Ran was completely stunned.
[Favorability +15]
She felt like she'd never had a moment's rest. Either accompanying the Dragon King on missions or venturing into ruins for him, competing with other masters for treasures.
All those big and small scars on her body were left from battles over these past few years.
Tired? Of course she was tired!
It's just that she had never thought about it, and no one else had ever asked her.
"It's okay, I guess. Isn't life just like this? Busy and bustling, muddled and dazed, and then a lifetime is over."
Xiao Ran looked out the window and sighed.
"Life can also be very exciting."
Xu Mu said softly.
"You're right."
Xiao Ran didn't want to continue this topic because it made her think of Meng Wanyue.
Meng Wanyue had gradually gained her humanity, transforming from the former killing machine.
She knew very well this was all Xu Mu's doing.
The deeper this conversation went, the more she envied Meng Wanyue.
"This doesn't seem like the way to Wanyue's house."
Xiao Ran suddenly looked out the window, changing the subject.
"At this time of day, Wanyue isn't at home. She's training in the mountains."
Xu Mu drove the car outside the city. Not long after, he parked behind a Wuling Hongguang minivan.
Xiao Ran looked at the license plate; it was Meng Wanyue's car.
"I won't get out. I have some things to attend to back home. You go find her."
Xu Mu said to Xiao Ran.
"Alright, thank you."
Xiao Ran waved to Xu Mu, got out of the car, and headed down the slope from the road.
Just after jumping down from the road, she felt a vibration.
Xiao Ran's face was filled with disbelief, so she quietly crept forward to observe Meng Wanyue in the distance.
Sensing the released Gang Qi, Xiao Ran's eyes widened.
She whispered to herself, "Late-stage Gang Qi? How is that possible! I remember she only entered the Gang Qi stage half a year ago..."
"Who's there?!"
In the distance, Meng Wanyue suddenly growled. A black shadow instantly shot out from her.
Wherever it passed, a large tree was sliced clean in half.
Xiao Ran, seeing the shadow rapidly approaching, immediately leaped back. "Wanyue, it's me!"
Meng Wanyue, realizing it was Xiao Ran, immediately stopped her action, and the black shadow vanished.
"Sister Ran! I'm sorry, how did you get here?"
Meng Wanyue jogged over to Xiao Ran.
"Wanyue, you've really been hiding your strength. How long has it been, and you're already at late-stage Gang Qi?"
Xiao Ran forced a smile. "At this rate, it won't be long before you catch up to me. Soon I'll have to call you Sister Wanyue."
"Sister Ran, don't joke."
Meng Wanyue lowered her head shyly. "You'll always be my sister."
"What's going on? Such rapid progress in strength, is there some secret? Tell your sister quickly."
Xiao Ran asked with a smile.
"A secret? The secret is... Boss Xu gave me a few Qi Sea Pills."
Meng Wanyue told the truth.
"What? Qi Sea Pills? And several?"
Xiao Ran was dumbfounded, her face full of disbelief. "Treasures of that level, and he just gave them to you?"
Seeing Xiao Ran's expression, Meng Wanyue guessed the importance of these pills.
Especially remembering the first time, how Xu Mu had tricked her into taking one.
Meng Wanyue was deeply moved.
[Favorability +20]
"That's right. Boss Xu not only gave me several pills but also a few cultivation techniques."
Meng Wanyue continued.
"Techniques? Several?"
Xiao Ran was stunned, recalling the black shadow from earlier—its speed was extreme, definitely not an ordinary technique.
Her heart, which had been filled with envy, now turned to jealousy.
How long had Meng Wanyue been following Xu Mu?
Seventh-grade Qi Sea Pills, given away just like that. Techniques, given away several at once.
In contrast, Ye Chen... she had been injured multiple times for him. The most precious pills he had ever given her were probably the Marrow Cleansing Pill and the Qi Gathering Pill.
She didn't dare to think about it. Continuing like this, it wouldn't take long at all for Meng Wanyue to surpass her.
The little sister she once knew, whose strength was merely at the Hidden Force level, was now, in such a short time, about to overtake her.
Xiao Ran felt a very sour taste in her heart.
Especially remembering last time, when Ye Chen invited Xu Mu's family to dinner and later spoke to Xu Mu alone.
Ye Chen told Xu Mu to give up on Ye Tong, and Xu Mu directly refused.
Then Xu Mu told Ye Chen to give up on Xiao Ran, and Ye Chen agreed immediately.
She had fought desperately for Ye Chen, nearly losing her life multiple times, yet in Ye Chen's eyes, she seemed to be just a dispensable existence.
How could the gap between people be so vast?
"Sister Ran, you should follow Boss Xu too!"
Meng Wanyue grabbed Xiao Ran's hand. "Boss Xu is much better than Ye Chen..."
Before she could finish, Xiao Ran raised her hand to cover Meng Wanyue's mouth.
"Wanyue, if it were half a year ago, you daring to say such a thing, I would have slapped you across the face."
Xiao Ran sighed. "If the Dragon King found out about this, do you think you'd still be alive?"
"That's exactly why I don't like him. Do you know what Boss Xu told me? He wants me to be free, not to live for someone else."
Meng Wanyue looked seriously at Xiao Ran. "Sister Ran, you're beautiful, strong, and most importantly, you value loyalty. Boss Xu would definitely accept you."
"It's precisely because I value loyalty that I can't leave Ye Chen."
Xiao Ran patted Meng Wanyue's shoulder. "Xu Mu treats you so well, perhaps because he likes you. It might not be the same for me."
"Who says? Sister Ran, you're prettier than me and better with words. With just a few sentences, Boss Xu might fall head over heels for you."
Meng Wanyue took Xiao Ran's hand. "Come on, let's go find President Xu Mu!"
invincible power, Gu Changge transmigrates into a fantasy world, bound to a sign-in system that grants him cultivation rewards and various peerless treasures daily. While others struggle desperately to break through their cultivation realms, he has long since reached the pinnacle of the Great Dao, becoming a reclusive Emperor whose true strength even he himself cannot fathom. Originally planning to lie low and retire peacefully on Purple Bamboo Peak, the system suddenly issues a new task — take on disciples. With no other choice, Gu Changge casually picks up a few disciples: The eldest disciple, born with a War God Constitution, is thrown a copy of "War God Stratagems" by him, and ends up conquering the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, becoming a peerless War God who sweeps across the cosmos. The second disciple, possessing a Chaos Sword Body, can break all techniques with a single sword, his swordsmanship unmatched throughout history. He points his sword at the heavens: "My master said, the sword and the man stand together. If the sword perishes... my master will give me another one." The third disciple, a reborn Empress who returns to her throne, her elegance and grace overshadowing all beings. And without anyone noticing, his own sect, the Qingxuan Sect, has become the number one sect on the continent. Looking at these unbelievably formidable disciples, Gu Changge, holding the "Primordial Purple Qi" he just signed in for, falls into deep thought: — Wasn't this supposed to be a peaceful retirement? How did I become the ultimate master?!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
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?!
