"You've gotten even thinner, child. Did you not eat properly during summer break?"
Lin Dongmei spoke while pulling fifty yuan and two brand-new pens from her pocket, then forcefully pressed them into Ye Ruoxi's hands.
"Take it! This is from me—a thank-you!"
"You're a role model for our Xiao Yang."
"High school textbooks and materials are expensive—don’t deprive yourself."
"And these pens—our Xiao Yang saw you using one last time and loved it. I bought extras, so here are two for you. Consider it borrowing some of your top-scorer’s luck!"
Ye Ruoxi wanted to refuse.
But Lin Dongmei was stronger, and far more insistent.
"If you don’t take it, you’re looking down on me!"
Ye Ruoxi’s fingers curled around the money and the two pristine pens.
Something inside her chest burned faintly.
"Thank you, Auntie," she murmured.
"What’s there to thank? We’ll be counting on you to guide Xiao Yang at school."
"That boy’s not as quick as you—just knows how to grind through things the hard way."
Lin Dongmei patted her son’s back.
Su Yang flushed, scratching his head with an awkward chuckle.
He looked at Ye Ruoxi, wanting to say something, the way he used to in middle school.
But the words dissolved before they left his lips.
The girl before him seemed unchanged from her junior high days.
And yet, everything about her felt different.
She was taller, thinner.
Her chin sharper, her lips pale.
But her eyes—amid the noisy crowd—were like two quiet black stars, impossible to meet directly.
Looking at her, he felt an inexplicable ache, and something else, something warm…
---
The fifty yuan and the two pens didn’t stay with Ye Ruoxi for long.
Zhang Cuilan found them the moment she got home.
"Well, well, Ye Ruoxi. Young as you are, you’re already cozying up to boys for money?"
Zhang Cuilan pinched the bill between her fingers, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Was it Su Yang? Or some other stray mutt?"
Ye Ruoxi didn’t bother explaining.
She just wanted the pens back.
Lin Dongmei had bought them specifically for her.
Zhang Cuilan saw right through her.
With a sharp snap, she broke both pens in half right in front of Ye Ruoxi.
Then tossed them into the trash.
"Let me make this clear. I raised you. Every single hair on your body belongs to me."
"You want money? Earn it with your labor!"
Ye Ruoxi stared at the shattered pens in the bin. Her heart turned colder.
But she said nothing.
---
High school was more demanding than junior high.
By day, Ye Ruoxi was a sponge at school, absorbing knowledge voraciously.
By night, she became an emotionless machine, working tirelessly at home.
Zhang Cuilan had grown lazier with her spicy noodle stall.
Instead, she’d taken on piecework from relatives—trimming loose threads for a local garment factory.
Piles of clothes, reeking of chemical dyes, cluttered their tiny living room.
Every day after school, Ye Ruoxi sat before that mountain of fabric.
Snip. Snip. For two or three hours.
Until her vision blurred and her fingers stiffened.
Her reward? Just enough money from Zhang Cuilan for the next day’s meal.
High school life was tense.
Ye Ruoxi grew even quieter than before.
She sat perpetually in the classroom’s corner.
An isolated island.
Her lunch was always a cold steamed bun.
And a bowl of cafeteria soup, nearly devoid of vegetables.
Around her, classmates buzzed about celebrities, video games, and fledgling romances.
Those belonged to another world.
One that had nothing to do with her.
---
The first monthly exam results sent shockwaves through the grade.
Ye Ruoxi was first again.
And her scores? Nearly perfect in every subject.
Su Yang remained second.
Staring at the names on the rankings, separated by an uncrossable gap, he felt something new: helplessness.
He couldn’t catch up to her.
No matter how hard he tried.
She didn’t belong here.
She belonged somewhere far beyond.
Their homeroom teacher, a young woman fresh out of college, admired Ye Ruoxi’s brilliance but noticed her isolation.
She wanted to help her integrate.
"Study groups!" the teacher announced. "Top students will assist those struggling."
Her first pick was Ye Ruoxi.
"Ye Ruoxi, as our class’s top scorer, you’ll lead Group One. Alright?"
Every eye turned to that corner.
Ye Ruoxi stood.
"Teacher, I decline."
Her voice was soft but firm.
"I don’t have the time."
Then she sat back down.
The classroom fell dead silent.
Then came the whispers.
"Who does she think she is? Just because she scores well?"
"So arrogant."
"What a freak."
The teacher’s face flushed with embarrassment.
Su Yang watched Ye Ruoxi’s rigid posture, his chest tight.
He knew it wasn’t arrogance.
She simply had no energy left—for anything beyond surviving.
---
The ostracism grew sharper after that.
At lunch, girls would stroll past her table, voices loud.
"Look, the genius is eating her sad little bun again."
"Fairies like her survive on dew, don’t they?"
Ye Ruoxi never reacted.
She just lowered her head further.
Eat faster. Finish this bun.
Then solve two more problems.
If she could just escape this place, it would all end.
---
Then came the 800-meter run in gym class.
For most girls, it was a nightmare.
For Ye Ruoxi, it was torture.
Years of malnutrition and exhaustion left her weaker than most.
She gritted her teeth and ran.
Crossing the finish line, her vision blackened. She nearly collapsed.
Staggering back to the classroom, she slumped at her desk, too drained to move.
Sweat soaked through her uniform.
She just needed to sleep.
Just for a moment.
Around her, classmates chattered and laughed.
But she fell into a heavy, dreamless slumber.
Su Yang sat nearby, watching.
Her thin shoulders, trembling faintly.
The pallor of her face, drained of color.
He thought of everything she’d endured these past two years.
The cruel taunts.
The solitary figure at the cafeteria’s free soup station.
His mother’s words:
"Son, Ruoxi’s a good kid. A kid who’s had it hard. Look out for her at school."
Something swelled in his chest—anger, sorrow.
And another feeling, one he couldn’t name.
The urge to shield her.
Suddenly, he understood.
What he felt for Ye Ruoxi wasn’t just neighborly concern.
Wasn’t just classmate camaraderie.
It was something deeper.
A deeper, more intense emotion seemed to take root and grow within his heart.
He noticed how thin her school uniform was.
The window was open, and the autumn wind drifted in, carrying a faint chill.
He hesitated for a long time.
His fingers clenched, then loosened.
Finally, he stood up.
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
