Top floor of the Star-Plucking Tower in the Eastern Market of the Divine Capital.
Steaming hot roasted lamb was placed on the table, its fragrance wafting everywhere.
Yet the atmosphere at the table was so delicate that no one quite knew what to say.
But no matter what, under Gu Chengyin’s forceful urging,
Lin Qingyan and Gu Xiaoli eventually ended up sitting at the same table—
one on the left, one on the right, with Gu Chengyin in between.
Gu Xiaoli sat to Gu Chengyin’s right, her small frame curled up in the chair.
Her dark, luminous eyes kept glancing at him, sparkling as if they held stars.
Her bowl was completely empty, but she didn’t seem to mind at all.
Her little hands gripped her chopsticks, and every now and then she would pick up a piece of lamb, earnestly placing it into Gu Chengyin’s bowl.
“Big Brother, eat.”
“Big Brother, this piece is big.”
“Big Brother, this piece is tender.”
Her voice was soft and sweet, carrying a childlike eagerness to please, mixed with a hint of tentative hope.
Each time she put a piece of meat in his bowl, she would glance up at him, waiting for him to eat it.
Then her eyes would crescent into little moons, her joy bubbling like a kitten who had stolen a dried fish.
The lamb in Gu Chengyin’s bowl grew into a small mountain at a visibly rapid pace.
On his left sat Lin Qingyan.
Her face still wore that expression of utter indifference, as if the liveliness before her had nothing to do with her.
As if the Dead Cat’s flattery had nothing to do with her. As if Gu Chengyin’s very existence had nothing to do with her.
Lin Qingyan sat upright, her gaze fixed blankly ahead. She didn’t pick up any meat, nor did she speak.
But inside, she was seething with fury, her teeth grinding in hatred.
Hiding behind her inner demon, Lin Qingyan fixedly stared at Gu Xiaoli’s every move.
She watched her pick up the meat, watched her fawn, watched Gu Chengyin eat what she offered, watched her smile with joy.
Every single scene cut like a knife into Lin Qingyan’s heart, stroke by stroke.
Damn it!
That Dead Cat was definitely doing this on purpose!
If it weren’t for keeping up her persona, she would never have let that Dead Cat show off in front of her.
She was the one who loved Gu Chengyin the most.
She was the one who had the most intimate contact with Gu Chengyin.
She was the one who should be acting cute and clingy by Gu Chengyin’s side!
But now she could only sit here stiff as a wooden dummy, watching that Dead Cat grovel.
Lin Qingyan took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
She couldn’t let this go on.
She had to think of a way to recover.
She absolutely had to get back into Gu Chengyin’s world!
Otherwise, she’d explode from anger sooner or later—
and even worse, having Gu Chengyin right in front of her but not being able to “taste” him would be torture enough to make her burst.
The more Lin Qingyan thought, the angrier she got, the more pent up she became.
In the end, she simply stopped watching.
Out of sight, out of mind.
She left everything to her inner demon to control, and retreated to sulk on her own.
Meanwhile, Gu Xiaoli had no clue about the storm raging inside Lin Qingyan.
She cheerfully continued piling meat into Gu Chengyin’s bowl.
Piece after piece after piece.
Gu Chengyin looked at the mountain of meat in his bowl and twitched the corner of his mouth.
This little one—hadn’t she practically given him the entire plate of lamb?
He finally couldn’t help but stop her. “Xiaoli.”
Gu Xiaoli was just about to place a big piece of lamb into his bowl.
Hearing his voice, she looked up, blinking her big eyes at him.
Gu Chengyin stared into those pure, innocent eyes and chose his words carefully.
“Do you have a master now?”
The moment the words fell, the table fell silent.
Gu Xiaoli froze.
Her hand holding the chopsticks stopped midair. The largest piece of meat still wobbled precariously on the chopsticks, but she forgot to pass it along.
Shangguan Yunying also froze.
She jerked her head around, her gaze sharp as lightning, darting back and forth rapidly between Gu Chengyin and Gu Xiaoli.
Master?
What did Gu Chengyin mean by that?
Was he trying to become Gu Xiaoli’s master?
Had he taken a fancy to Gu Xiaoli?
Could it be... he liked them small?
Countless thoughts flashed through Shangguan Yunying’s mind.
She looked at Gu Chengyin, at Gu Xiaoli, back at Gu Chengyin, then at Gu Xiaoli again.
Gu Xiaoli truly was stunningly adorable.
Fair and soft, petite and delicate, with those big, sparkling dark eyes.
Her lashes were long and curled, making her look like a delicate porcelain doll.
On top of that, she could sprout furry cat ears and a long cat tail.
She was so cute you’d want to take her home.
But... she was far too young!
Alarms blared in Shangguan Yunying’s heart.
If Gu Chengyin really liked them small, what would she do?
Would her greatest strength become her biggest weakness?
The more Shangguan Yunying thought, the more nervous she got. The hand holding her chopsticks trembled slightly.
As for Gu Xiaoli, she misunderstood too.
When she heard the word “master,” her little face flush involuntarily.
A trace of shyness and hope flickered in her deep, dark eyes.
She stopped raising meat with her chopsticks, lowered her head, and twisted her little fingers together.
After fidgeting for a while, she spoke in a small voice:
“Is Big Brother saying he wants to be Xiaoli’s master?”
She lifted her eyes and stole a glance at Gu Chengyin, then quickly lowered her head again, the tips of her ears reddening as if they could bleed.
Gu Chengyin: “...”
He glanced at Gu Xiaoli’s bashful, expectant look, then at Shangguan Yunying’s expression as if facing a dire threat.
Suddenly, he realized how odd his words must have sounded.
Like a complete creep trailing after a little girl.
Gu Chengyin quickly clarified:
“No, Xiaoli. That’s not what I meant.”
“What I mean is someone like what you have with Empress Lin.”
Hearing this, Gu Xiaoli finally understood.
So the “master” Gu Chengyin was talking about wasn’t that creepy kind of master.
It was more like a family member, like her relationship with Niangniang.
Gu Xiaoli blinked, the shyness fading from her eyes, replaced by a hint of disappointment.
So Big Brother wanted her to be his cat, just like with Luo Zhao.
But... she had already promised Luo Zhao, hadn’t she?
Even though that promise was only verbal and not binding in any way,
a promise was a promise. She might be a cat, but she knew the weight of one’s word.
Besides... she didn’t want to be Gu Chengyin’s cat.
Gu Xiaoli lifted her head and looked at Gu Chengyin seriously.
“Niangniang isn’t Xiaoli’s master—Niangniang is Xiaoli’s family.”
“Does Big Brother want to be Xiaoli’s family?”
Gu Chengyin nodded without hesitation. The reason he asked so directly,
without any roundaboutness, was because Gu Xiaoli was simply a cat.
She was clever, but keeping things too complicated would be unnecessary.
For a simple-minded creature like her, straight to the point was the best approach.
Gu Xiaoli lowered her head again, twisting her little fingers together.
After fidgeting for quite a while, she looked up and spoke softly:
“Xiaoli likes Big Brother, and Big Brother wants to be Xiaoli’s family too.”
“But... not the kind of family like with Niangniang.”
Gu Chengyin raised an eyebrow, about to ask why,
when Gu Xiaoli continued:
“Xiaoli wants to be Big Brother’s bride.”
Gu Chengyin: “...”
Shangguan Yunying: “...”
Lin Qingyan: “...”
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
