"Ah!"
The next morning, while Chen Shuo was having a pleasant conversation with the Dream God, a startled scream woke him from his slumber.
Chen Shuo rubbed his sleepy eyes, full of confusion: "What's wrong?"
"Chen Shuo, tell me honestly, did you do anything to me last night?"
Su Xiyan asked with a frightened scream, covering her chest with both hands, her face full of shock.
She remembered being in the Vampire's lair last night, but her head had felt dizzy, and everything went black. When she regained consciousness, she found herself in an elegant room.
Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a hotel, which made Su Xiyan even more unsettled. In her panic, she let out a loud cry.
This was her first time staying in a hotel with a man.
Even though Chen Shuo was her boyfriend, the fact that this situation had actually occurred triggered some instinctive reactions from her deep-rooted feminine psychology.
Chen Shuo was still completely bewildered - he was fully dressed, and so was she, so what could he possibly have done?
"Heaven knows, I really didn't do anything!"
Chen Shuo raised two fingers, with a serious expression. It had taken quite some effort just to bring Su Xiyan here last night.
During this time, Chen Shuo had also used his energy to help cleanse the cold yin energy from Su Xiyan's body.
Cold yin energy entering the body was no ordinary matter - once it enters, it begins to merge with the human body.
Moreover, Su Xiyan had stayed in there for quite a while and absorbed a lot of cold yin energy.
Fortunately, his protective energy had blocked some of it; otherwise, Su Xiyan wouldn't have just fainted - she could have suffered fundamental damage.
After arriving at the hotel, Chen Shuo immediately began extracting the cold yin energy from Su Xiyan's body bit by bit.
As a result, after finishing, Chen Shuo only managed to give Su Xiyan a quick wipe-down with clean water before collapsing into sleep.
Chen Shuo recounted everything that happened last night in detail, and Su Xiyan's expression became complex after hearing it.
"What? So you just went to sleep?"
Su Xiyan still seemed skeptical, and Chen Shuo wore an expression of helplessness: "Of course! Heaven knows, just look at your clothes - do they look like they've been taken off?"
Su Xiyan looked down at herself; her clothes were neat, aside from some stains, and didn't look like they had been removed.
Seeing this, however, Su Xiyan became somewhat dejected, her emotions surging: "You're really useless!"
This sudden statement from Su Xiyan left Chen Shuo confused.
He had spent tremendous effort to save her, and he hadn't even complained about it. He had thought Su Xiyan would at least thank him.
Not only was there no thanks, but now he was getting scolded?
"Wait, how am I useless?" Chen Shuo was completely lost.
When Chen Shuo asked this, some images flashed through Su Xiyan's mind, and her face inexplicably turned red.
"Are you even a man? You're asking me about this? Shouldn't you be asking yourself?"
Su Xiyan pouted with her cheeks puffed up, and seeing Chen Shuo's bewildered expression, she felt even more exasperated.
She couldn't believe that in a situation with a man and woman alone in a hotel, with her unconscious no less, Chen Shuo had done absolutely nothing.
For a moment, Su Xiyan even wondered if she lacked charm, which was why Chen Shuo hadn't made a move.
To disprove this theory, Su Xiyan steeled herself. She beckoned to Chen Shuo with her finger: "Come here, kiss me."
"Huh? Now?"
Chen Shuo was startled, caught off guard by Su Xiyan's sudden action.
Seeing Chen Shuo frozen like a dead duck, Su Xiyan hesitated no longer and took the initiative, moving forward to plant a kiss on the corner of his mouth.
Feeling the sweetness of Su Xiyan's warm lips, Chen Shuo paused for a moment before actively responding.
At their passionate age, with such an opportunity presented, how could Chen Shuo restrain himself?
Just as Chen Shuo held Su Xiyan tightly in his arms, about to kiss her passionately, the sudden vibration of his phone interrupted their beautiful moment.
"Wait, let me answer this call!"
Chen Shuo awkwardly interrupted everything, pulled out his phone, and saw it was from his mother.
Su Xiyan had been somewhat resentful, but when she saw it was Chen Shuo's mother calling, she contained her emotions.
"Hello, Mom, why are you calling so early?"
Chen Shuo adopted a lazy attitude to cover up what had just happened.
"What do you think? Did you oversleep? Aren't we supposed to visit Xiyan's family today? Bring Xiyan back quickly - after your father and I finish buying the gifts, we'll head out right away."
Xu Mei on the other end urged Chen Shuo while shouting to Chen's father in front of her: "Hey, get some more of that wine too - one bottle isn't enough, we need a whole case!"
Hearing his mother's nervous excitement about various preparations, Chen Shuo couldn't help but feel both amused and touched.
Parents' love for their children is truly boundless - they were going to such lengths for his sake.
However, buying so many things really wasn't necessary, given the Su family's wealth and status.
"Mom, there's no need to buy so much. It's not just about carrying it all - the Su family doesn't lack for anything."
Chen Shuo kindly reminded her, only to receive another scolding from Xu Mei on the other end: "Have you lost your mind from sleeping? It doesn't matter if they have everything - we can't skimp on proper etiquette."
"What? Even if my son is marrying into their family, as parents, we still need to do what we should. We must at least bring the best we can afford - that's how we show our respect for Xiyan."
Faced with his mother's loud reprimand, Chen Shuo could only repeatedly agree.
Su Xiyan, listening to the conversation on the phone, felt an indescribable joy in her heart.
This must be what it feels like to be truly valued. Although Su Xiyan didn't care about the financial aspects at all,
what Chen Shuo's parents were doing touched her deeply.
Being part of such a family - wasn't that a kind of happiness in itself?
The phone call finally ended with Chen Shuo's repeated apologies. After hanging up, he didn't dare delay any longer.
They were being urged to hurry, and as the main parties involved, they naturally needed to get moving quickly.
After a quick tidying up, Chen Shuo prepared to leave with Su Xiyan to meet his parents.
The meeting between both sets of parents was a big deal that needed to be taken seriously. Of course, Chen Shuo also planned to use this opportunity to tell Su Yuanying about what happened in the secret cave.
Perhaps Su Yuanying could offer him some reasonable advice and help.

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.

m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!

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!