Knowing that the Crown Prince was never one to give up easily, what surprised Gu Chengyin was Luo Zhao's methods.
Seizing the opportunity to win over Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli, forming an alliance with them. Setting the nominal target as Lin Qingyan instead of him, Gu Chengyin.
Gu Chengyin mentally broke down Luo Zhao's strategy.
First, Luo Zhao knew exactly how Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli felt about Lin Qingyan.
Shangguan Yunying was filled with grievance and resentment, while Gu Xiaoli harbored both old and new grudges against Lin Qingyan.
These two were natural allies for her, requiring hardly any effort to win over.
But Luo Zhao didn't just go with the flow; she took the initiative.
Through this incident, she formally united the two around herself, establishing her dominant position.
Second, Luo Zhao set Lin Qingyan as the target.
This was quite clever. If she had said she wanted to break up Gu Chengyin and Lin Qingyan, Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli might not have cooperated wholeheartedly.
But she directed her attacks solely at Lin Qingyan, even removing Gu Chengyin from the equation.
This way, Shangguan Yunying and Gu Xiaoli not only wouldn't resist but would be united in purpose.
Finally, and most unexpectedly for Gu Chengyin,
Luo Zhao didn't reveal her intention to deal with him.
She hid it deep, so deep that even Shangguan Yunying only sensed it but couldn't be certain.
Gu Chengyin inwardly nodded. Luo Zhao had indeed grown.
She knew how to seize opportunities to win people over, and cleverly set the nominal target as Lin Qingyan instead of him, Gu Chengyin.
This move was more mature than he had anticipated.
After a moment's thought, Gu Chengyin lowered his head and lightly brushed his lips against Shangguan Yunying's.
A touch that ended as quickly as it began, like a feather landing on the water's surface, barely allowing ripples to form before being swept away by the wind.
But Shangguan Yunying's reaction was as if she'd been struck by lightning.
Her eyelashes trembled violently, the blush on her cheeks spreading from her cheekbones all the way to her ears, her breath catching for a beat.
"I understand."
Gu Chengyin's voice came from very close, low and gentle.
Carrying an intimacy only Shangguan Yunying could detect:
"Thank you, Yunying. I knew it all along—you're the one who loves me the most."
This wasn't a question; it was a statement.
Shangguan Yunying's heart lost all control at that moment.
Her chest felt like countless butterflies were fluttering their wings at once, fluttering so hard they sent a dull ache through her ribs.
Gu Chengyin's initiative was like a key, slamming open the door she had locked away for so long.
She was the one who loved Gu Chengyin the most!
This thought struck like a lightning bolt, clearing all the shadows and insecurity in Shangguan Yunying's heart.
What was Lin Qingyan?
So what if she was the Jingzhe of the Celestial Master's Mansion?
Even if Lin Qingyan had Gu Chengyin's body,
she would never have Gu Chengyin's heart!
Because Gu Chengyin had said it himself—she was his favorite!
Shangguan Yunying's hands shot up and wrapped tightly around Gu Chengyin's neck.
Her arms tightened, so tight she could feel the pulse throbbing in the side of his neck.
Then she rose on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.
This time, it wasn't passive acceptance, but active pursuit.
But Shangguan Yunying's kissing technique was pitifully clumsy; after all, she had kissed Gu Chengyin only a few times before.
So her lips just awkwardly pressed against his, unsure whether to move or stay still, unsure whether to apply pressure or hold back.
Yet this very clumsiness had a fatal charm.
Like a fruit not yet fully ripe—tart with a hint of elusive sweetness.
It made one want to taste it bite by bite until it was completely savored.
Gu Chengyin didn't push Shangguan Yunying away.
His hand slid from her waist to her back, pulling her closer.
His lips parted slightly, catching her lower lip, gently and slowly brushing against it.
The touch was as soft as flower petals soaked in warm water, carrying the sweet, fresh scent unique to a young woman.
And a boundless, unreserved devotion that made one want to sink into it.
Shangguan Yunying felt her mind turn into a pot of porridge.
All reason, all restraint, all rules and boundaries—in that moment, they all burned to ash.
Her world consisted only of Gu Chengyin's lips, Gu Chengyin's breath, Gu Chengyin's fingers moving gently across her back.
She thought of nothing, cared about nothing, wanting only to keep kissing him forever.
A long time passed.
Perhaps the time it took to drink a cup of tea, perhaps the time it took to burn an incense stick, perhaps longer.
Shangguan Yunying had completely lost track of time.
All she knew was that when their lips finally parted, her heart was beating like a drum in her chest.
Her gaze was hazy like glass clouded by steam, her pupils slightly unfocused.
Her lips were kissed swollen and moist, glistening with a wet sheen.
Her breathing was shallow and rapid, her chest heaving violently.
She felt as if she had been burned from the inside out, her very bones turned soft.
"Gu Chengyin..."
Shangguan Yunying's voice was hoarse, unlike her own, carrying a pleading undertone she wasn't even aware of:
"Take me."
When she said those words, even Shangguan Yunying startled herself.
But once spoken, she realized this was what she had wanted.
For a very long time.
Ever since that first kiss in the Shangguan residence.
Ever since every restless night when his face surfaced in her thoughts.
She had wanted it.
She wanted to be held in Gu Chengyin's arms, to be kissed by him, to become his.
Not in some vague position of being "the favorite."
But in a tangible, bone-deep sense—to be his woman.
Gu Chengyin's expression flickered. Of course he wanted Shangguan Yunying.
But timing was everything.
Not now.
He had just recently settled Lin Qingyan, taking great care to soothe the fairy, who was now curled up under the covers, fast asleep.
If he were to sleep with Shangguan Yunying now,
unless he could split himself in two—half to be with Lin Qingyan, half to be with Shangguan Yunying.
Gu Chengyin quickly calculated in his mind.
He knew Lin Qingyan's recovery abilities.
With her strength at the Golden Core realm, though her mental energy was severely drained, with her foundation, she would recover at most by noon.
If she woke up to find not that he had gone to confront Luo Zhao, but that he had been tangled up with Shangguan Yunying,
That scene—Gu Chengyin didn't want to imagine.
Moreover, there was still the serious matter of dealing with Luo Zhao.
After a moment's thought, Gu Chengyin refused:
"No."
Two words, crisp and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.
Shangguan Yunying's mouth drooped.
This pout came quickly and naturally, like a child whose candy had been taken away.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
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.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
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!
