What does it mean to be terrible at something but hopelessly addicted to it?
Just look at Shangguan Yunying.
Although she was no longer suppressed by her bloodline and was no longer the useless weakling who collapsed after just a few moves, the outcome had been decided from the beginning.
The final winner was, without question, Gu Chengyin.
Because he knew Shangguan Yunying far too well.
More precisely, he knew her body far too well.
Even Shangguan Yunying herself did not know where she was most sensitive.
But Gu Chengyin knew.
He knew that there was a spot on the left side of her waist. A light touch there was enough to make her legs instinctively go weak.
He knew that if he pressed his lips to the spot three inches behind her ear, her breathing would immediately fall into disarray.
He knew that if he traced circles with his fingers an inch below her collarbone, it would feel as though all the bones had been drawn from her body, leaving her limp in his arms.
Shangguan Yunying knew none of this.
She only knew that it felt good, without knowing why it felt good.
And the price of not knowing was that she would never be able to defeat Gu Chengyin.
After all, he was no superhuman. His cultivation was still only at the Foundation Establishment Realm, and he could not keep relying on brute force.
No matter how tough he was, could he really overpower Lin Qingyan?
The reason he could make the invincible Golden Core Fairy Jingzhe cry and beg for mercy was not simply because he was physically stronger.
It was also because of his experience, his technique, and the little tricks he had worked out through countless rounds of practice.
For example, finding the most crucial weakness.
Everyone’s body had its own vulnerabilities, its own defenses, and its own seemingly solid dams that would collapse at the slightest touch.
When you did not know where a weakness lay, it was impenetrable.
But once you found it, it became no more than a sheet of paper that could be pierced with a single poke.
Then, at exactly the right moment, all it took was a little stimulation.
Not too early. If it was too early, she would be prepared, the dam would be reinforced, and the weakness would retreat into hiding.
But not too late, either. If it was too late, her threshold would already have fallen, and even stimulating that weakness would produce a greatly diminished effect.
It had to be done at precisely the right moment.
Ideally, when they thought they were just about to win.
Then, all he needed to do was touch them lightly.
The dam built by reason would collapse with a thunderous crash, as though swept away by a flood.
So even though Shangguan Yunying had tried her hardest and remained determined, she was simply too far behind Gu Chengyin in both technique and state of mind.
What made Gu Chengyin formidable was not his cultivation, his spiritual power, or anything else that could be measured with numbers.
It was his mentality and his attitude.
He treated this as a skill that deserved to be taken seriously, repeatedly contemplated, and constantly refined.
That was also why, after Lin Qingyan obtained Gu Chengyin, she had not grown tired of him.
Instead, she had become even more devoted.
It had begun with his ability, turned into loyalty because of his charm, and deepened into obsession because of his prowess in bed.
In the end, Shangguan Yunying could only lie limp and boneless in Gu Chengyin’s arms.
Just like every time before, she had lost again.
But this time, losing felt different.
Shangguan Yunying was like a piece of silk that had been kneaded into a wrinkled heap—soft and limp, without even the strength to hold herself up.
Her breathing carried the satisfaction of someone who had just weathered a storm.
Her beautiful eyes were half-open and half-closed, her gaze hazy.
The corners of her lips curved in complete contentment, her happiness impossible to hide.
This time, she had finally truly enjoyed herself.
Before this, everything had happened too quickly.
So quickly that the moment vanished before her mind had time to process it.
Like a sudden rainstorm that came and went in an instant. She would still be standing in the rain with her face tilted upward, waiting for more drops to fall, only for the rain to stop and the sky to clear.
All that remained was one person standing on the rain-soaked ground, drenched from head to toe yet unable to understand what had just happened.
So Shangguan Yunying had never had the chance to savor those sensations, much less remember exactly what they had felt like.
But this time was different.
This time, she was in a normal state, with enough time to savor every detail.
She could feel how it began, how it developed, and how it ended.
So even though she had lost, Shangguan Yunying had not the slightest complaint.
Because winning or losing no longer mattered.
If every time could be like this, she was willing to keep losing forever.
Shangguan Yunying contentedly nestled against Gu Chengyin as they bathed together in the falling moonlight.
The moon watched them from the sky, and the stars watched them too.
The night breeze swept through the treetops, stirring a rustling sound like a lullaby sung for them.
Gu Chengyin leaned against the tree with Shangguan Yunying in his arms. Seeing that she had finally quieted down, he could not help shaking his head.
To be honest, satisfying these women was not something an ordinary man could manage.
Each one had more energy than the last, and each one was more overwhelming than the last.
Three women, three different kinds of addiction.
Any one of them would have been enough to handle on her own, let alone all three combined.
But now that things had come this far, he could finally bring up the serious matter.
That was the real reason Gu Chengyin had taken Shangguan Yunying out of the Heart-Calming Pagoda.
Lifting the suppression of her bloodline had merely been incidental, something he had done so Shangguan Yunying could experience his gentleness.
Of course, that gentleness had been sincere.
But it had only been the appetizer, the aperitif.
It was meant to help Shangguan Yunying relax, to ease the tension from her body, remove her defenses, and dispel all doubt and unease.
That way, when she heard something that might otherwise make her worried and anxious, she could remain calm and rational instead of being swept away by emotion.
“Yunying, could you help me with something?”
Shangguan Yunying blinked.
Her beautiful eyes still held the hazy, watery brightness left by satisfaction, gleaming like they had been washed clean.
But she was also digesting the implications of Gu Chengyin’s request.
Gu Chengyin needed her help?
The realization left Shangguan Yunying somewhat dazed, because she had never believed she could help him with anything.
Gu Chengyin was so powerful, so intelligent, so seemingly capable of anything.
What could she possibly do for him?
And yet, Shangguan Yunying felt an indescribable happiness in her heart.
Because he had said he needed her help.
That meant he did not regard her as an outsider.
He was not treating her as a slave who could be ordered around at will, nor as a tool that only needed to carry out commands.
Instead, he regarded her as family—someone he could discuss things with and rely on.
It was equality. It was respect. It was the honesty of saying, I need you.
Shangguan Yunying lifted her head and stared straight at Gu Chengyin.
The haze and satisfaction in her beautiful eyes had vanished, replaced by a serious scrutiny.
Then she pouted. Her lips looked like the tender bud of a flower about to bloom, pink and delicate enough to make anyone want to bite them.
“What do you mean, ‘help’? Are you treating me like an outsider?”
The grievance in her voice was impossible to miss.
Seeing her aggrieved expression, Gu Chengyin smiled and immediately corrected himself.
“Sorry, Yunying. I misspoke.”
Only then was Shangguan Yunying satisfied. She hooked an arm around Gu Chengyin’s neck and pecked him on the lips.
Then she nestled back into his embrace, her voice muffled against the hollow of his neck, soft and low.
“So what do you want me to do?”
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.
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!
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
