The power of the electric hotpot was turned up, and soon the bone broth bubbled again. The beef and mutton slices rolled about in the soup—it was steaming.
Li Du waved his hand. "Let's eat."
Without any hesitation, Godzilla took the ladle and scooped the meat into his big bowl. He had eaten hotpot with Li Du to a few times back in Flagstaff, and was familiar with the seasonings and how to go about it.
Big Quinn was more polite, nodding at Mrs. Li respectfully. "Madam, you first please."
Li Du translated, and Mrs. Li waved her hand. "You guys eat first, you guys eat first. So sorry to have caused all of you to be so tired today—"
Godzilla gulped loudly as he polished off the whole bowl of meat. His long arms stretched out to reach for the ladle as he added more scoops of meat into his bowl.
Mrs. Li had only been halfway through her sentence. "The first bowl—finished already?"
Godzilla answered her with his actions. He poured some sesame peanut sauce into his bowl, and after stirring it up, poured the meat directly into his open mouth.
He gulped. In a few seconds, another bowl of meat was devoured . . .
After chowing down three bowls of meat, there was only half the portion of simmered meat left in the huge hotpot. Only at this juncture did Godzilla pause and asked in puzzlement, "Why isn't everybody eating?"
Li Du laughed and said, "Eat all you want. There's definitely enough meat to go around!"
Godzilla stopped speaking after that. Since he'd started working for Li Du, he'd never been short of food and drink. Therefore, he had been very open in this regard. With no need for words, yet another bowl of meat was wolfed down.
At this time, the people sitting at the next table had noticed the speed at which he was eating. The people who were about to raise their cups to drink from were stunned and all turned their heads to look Godzilla as though they were watching a performance.
Mr. Li was mentally prepared; he had already witnessed Godzilla's prowess at the table the day before.
Big Quinn also had a large appetite, but he ate in a more refined manner. Godzilla usually chowed food down regardless of whether there was a storm brewing, as though he were a starving tiger.
Mrs. Li went to get another portion of sliced beef and mutton. By this time, all the meat in the hotpot had already been eaten up.
With no more meat to eat, Godzilla took a drink instead. He raised the bottle of beer and finished it in one gulp!
Many people on Mr. Li's table had begun to covet him. Someone said, "Old Sun, what did you say in the morning? That someone like him would be able to do many chores, right?"
"F*ck, who can afford to feed such a man? He could probably eat a whole tiger!"
"Able to eat and able to work is the same as able to work and able to eat."
That said, Godzilla's ability to eat was rather extraordinary. There were no chores to be done in Li Du's house for the next few days, and so he would go with Li Du to walk around. And of course, he did eat a lot.
Normally, when Mr.and Mrs. Li were home alone, they could barely finish ten kilograms of meat in a month.
Now that Li Du had come back with three other people, they would eat more than ten kilograms of meat a day. In order to cater to their taste buds, Mrs. Li usually bought beef and mutton.
The huge eaters were Godzilla and Big Quinn, especially Godzilla. He had a one-track mind and favored beef. Each meal would have him eating up to four kilograms worth of beef.
After a few days later, Mrs. Li got well-acquainted with the owner of the butchery. Later on, when she went to buy meat, the owner asked whether she was planning to start a spiced beef business . . .
The reason for Li Du's return was to spend the Spring Festival with his parents. To pass the time, he would bring Hans and the rest to the country and the market to walk around.
Other than walking around, there was really nothing else for him to do.
Those classmates and friends he was close to were all working in the city and not on break yet. There were several classmates and friends in the county but he was not as familiar with them and so they could not hang out together.
Hence, for the next few days, he rented a car and took Hans and the others around.
Li Du was worried about Hans being bored. He kept asking Hans where he wanted to go and where he wanted to explore. They had all the time and money to go wherever they wanted.
It was a new environment to Hans and so he had interest in everything and didn't find it boring. So when Li Du asked where he wanted to go, he told Li Du that he would leave it to him to arrange.
It was mid-January. Li Du had asked him where he wanted to go again, and contrary to past practice, Hans said, "Wo yao qu jin jing shi, qu jin jing shi fan da xue!"
Hans had said this sentence in Mandarin, catching Li Du by surprise. "When did you learn Mandarin? It's not bad, but I don't understand. Where did you say you want to go?"
"Jin jing shi fan da xue," Hans repeated.
Li Du finally understood. "Jin Jing Normal University, right? Why there? There aren't any scenic spots near the school."
Hans laughed but didn't explain, only urging him to go there.
Seeing Hans's coy expression, Li Du immediately guessed what was going on. "Have you been hooking up with some girl?"
Hans was furious. "What do you mean by hooking up? I got to know a Chinese teacher. I asked her to be my teacher, so I'm just going to meet her."
"How did you get to know her?"
Hans hemmed and hawed. "This is personal, I'm not telling you."
"This is my territory. You must listen to me. Otherwise, I will not take you."
After hearing this, Hans had no choice and so he muttered, "We met on that Wechat app you downloaded for me. She's a university student majoring in English, and I'm learning Mandarin from her."
Li Du stroked his chin and asked suspiciously, "Are you thinking of dating her? I told you not to mess around. This is China, the girls in my country are different from those in the US."
Hans rolled his eyes. "I never mess around, don't talk nonsense. I'm just learning Mandarin from her."
"Learning Mandarin—so is there a need for you two to meet?"
"Better to get to know each other, right? Are you taking me there or not? I tell ya, my Mandarin is now very good and I'm capable of grabbing a ride there myself!" Hans threatened.
Li Du reluctantly said, "Yes, yes, yes. You are. I can take you there, but you have to tell me the details."
Without holding anything back, Hans told Li Du all about how he'd ended up getting himself a Chinese teacher.
Almost a week ago, he'd gotten to know a pretty university student on the Internet. She was a top student majoring in English, and so had no difficulty in teaching him.
After chatting with her for two days, Hans thought she was very interesting and said he would like to learn Mandarin from her. The girl then joked that he would need to pay tuition fees.
Hans had asked her how much money she was charging, and her response was that given her high teaching standard, it would cost him 10,000 RMB. Without hesitation, Hans immediately transferred the 10,000 dollars via the chatting app . . . Ten thousand RMB was less than 2,000 US dollars. To a spendthrift like Hans, was this even money? 
Hans, who had been blessed with dashing good looks, had always maintained his good physique. Being humorous and chatty, and now that he'd demonstrated his extraordinary financial prowess, the girl was naturally very friendly to him.
The two grew in familiarity and agreed to meet up. The girl was more careful and had asked him to meet near the university. Hans didn't mind, and so he'd asked Li Du to take him there.
Li Du thought about it. "I see what's going on here. Are you sure you are only trying to make a friend and learn Mandarin at the same time?"
Hans snickered. "Well, if something romantic were to happen—"
"Then you better be prepared to marry her," Li Du interrupted.


They love gold, and they love silver. Even more so, they love gems that dazzle, like stars across the skies. 
Firearms, jewelleries, and precious metals; A collector’s world will not be complete without antiques.  
Storage auctions, old goods trade, re-estate sales and gold-digging. But the truth is, if one wants to make money, then the supreme way is through searching for the legendary treasures. 
Holding the fort, there’s an ocelot, a wolf, and an Andes condor. At the side, there’s a loyal hound, an irascible ape, and an African honey badger. Who said that you can only rely on humans when treasure hunting?! 

Chapter 1095 – Mandarin House

One month came and went quickly.

Using the overpowered effect of the recruitment board, Ouyang Shuo was filled with happiness and worry during this month.

He was happy because the effects were exceptional. In just a month, Great Xia had attracted 40 different ranked historical talents. Amongst which, there was a god level steal like Zeng Guofan.

The moment Zeng Guofan arrived, Ouyang Shuo invited him into the Cabinet.

Name: Zeng Guofan (God Rank)
Title: Top 10 ministers in history
Dynasty: Qing Dynasty
Identity: Great Xia Cabinet elder
Occupation: Civil Servant 
Loyalty: 75
Command: 80
Force: 40
Intelligence: 80
Politics: 98
Specialty: Famous Minister (raises territory honesty by 40%, raises territory efficiency by 25%, raises literary standards 15%, raises territory ruling standards by 30%)
Book: Nine Chapter Law
Evaluation: Zeng Guofan had the ability to read people, using his knowledge to promote talented people. He had great knowledge and foresight, working for the greater good of the public instead of himself, a rare skilled person in history. Although he was not good at fighting, he was able to promote many generals. His plans were really exquisite, which was how he was able to get a group of capable men to sweep the rogues and become the top minister of Zhongxing.

Zeng Guofan was born in a landowner family. Since a young age, he loved to learn. At eight, he could read the four classics and recite the five scriptures. At 14, he could read literary choices like The Rites of Zhou and Records of the Grand Historian.

In the 18th year of Daoguang, he became a Jingshi, becoming the disciple of Grand Council minister Mujangga. Then he became a Cabinet advisor, department of rites assistant minister, the minister of various departments, Provincial Governor, Zhili Province Viceroy, Wuying Hall Grand Secretary, and more roles.

When the Taiping Country started running, he established the Xiang army to wipe them out after many years of battles.

Zeng Guofan spent his whole life in politics, and his main belief was that one had to be diligent, honest, and humble and could not be arrogant because one was an official. He was a really disciplined person who focus on rites and politeness, using loyalty to do politics.

Under the suggestion of Zeng Guofan, the Qing Dynasty built China's first steamship, their first ordnance school, printed the first batch of western books, and arranged for the first batch of students to study in America.

As such, one could say that Zeng Guofan was the pioneer for the modern constructions in China.

With such a person who was familiar with ocean work as well as having a deep influence in Qing, the benefits toward Great Xia were evident.

Zeng Guofan had many reasons for choosing Great Xia. Apart from the influence of the recruitment board, he was invited by his disciple, Li Hongzhang. Furthermore, his ancestor Zeng Zi was also in Great Xia, which was why he came.

Coming along with Zeng Guofan were Zeng Guoquan and Zuo Zongtang, who both came from the Xiang army.

Ouyang Shuo was planning to expand the Household Legion Corps, and both of them were the top choices for Legion General.

Currently, Ouyang Shuo just arranged for them to enter the Household Legion Corps 1st legion. Along with Legion General Oda Nobunaga, they would build and train the 1st full firearm legion in Great Xia.

Apart from Zeng Guofan and his group, Cao Xueqin also arrived in Great Xia.

Cao Xueqin's great grandmother was once Emperor Kangxi's nanny, and his great grandfather was once the tutor and guard to Kangxi.

During the Kangxi and Yongzheng rules, the Cao family three generations helped to run China for 58 years. Their family was really huge, having power and strength, really rich and becoming the top family in Nanjing.

Kangxi went down Jiangnan six times and Cao Yin led it four of those times.

In the 5th year of Yongzheng's rule, Cao Xueqin was 13. In December, his hncle who was the Jiangning weaving department minister was jailed for disturbing the relay and polluting the air, shifting funds, and the like. In the Lantern Festival of the next year, his family was raided.

Cao Xueqin moved to Beijing along with his family, and since then, they were not as glorious as before, depreciating by the day.

Under such circumstances, Cao Xueqin obviously was not willing to return to Jingdu and live under the Qing Dynasty. On the contrary, Shanhai City had a great literary environment and did not restrict literary talents, and it was also a really open place that was suitable for him to stay in.

Along with Cao Xueqin moving into Xinan University, a System Notification spread across China.

"System Notification: Representative figure of the school of literary works - Cao Xueqin - has moved into Great Xia, fulfilling the three requirements for the school of thought to move in."
 ...
"System Notification: School of literary works move into Great Xia. Awarding Shanhai City the title of home of literary works, congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi!"
 ...
"System Notification: School of literary works move into Great Xia. The current Shanhai City title Land of Philosophers covers the new title given, awarding Shanhai City hidden building - Mandarin House, congratulations player Qiyue Wuyi!"
 ...
Name: Mandarin House
Type: Hidden Building
Function: After hanging a portrait of a civil servant within, can revive them.
Specialty: increases attraction toward civil servants by 20%, increases territory reputation by 5%
Note: a building built specifically for civil servants. Lord can pay a certain amount of gold to hang a limited amount of civil servant portraits within to revive them once without any added cost.

The Mandarin House had a total of four floors, the lowest one had a limit of Gold Rank and 50 people, each 10 thousand gold. Second was King Rank and 20 people, each spending 50 thousand.

The third was for Emperor Rank, 10 people, each 200 thousand. The top was for God Rank civil servants, limit of three with each costing a million gold.

With the Mandarin House, the civil servants of Great Xia would have an added layer of insurance.

As there was a limited number, the main reason for getting into the Mandarin House would be the best person in the yearly evaluation.

At the same time, Ouyang Shuo specially left 10 spots for old civil servants like Gu Xiuwen and Zhao Dexian.

Zeng Guofan, Cao Xueqin, and the like were only a small portion. Out of the 40 historical talents, half of them came from Qing Dynasty.

This was understandable.

If it were not for them not having a choice, there were few Han officials, especially those with ambitions, who were willing to work under Qing Dynasty. After appearing in the wilderness and after Great Xia obtained the orthodoxy, he naturally became their top choice.

Needless to say, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Tingyu, Tian Wenjing, and the like also played a role.

As for the ones from the Ming Dynasty, they were mostly chancellors and great ministers like Shang Lu. Although they came from the Ming Dynasty, the Great Ming in the wilderness only took up one prefecture. Without a space for them to perform, they would naturally go elsewhere.

The arrival of this batch of civil servants greatly increased the foundations of Great Xia, pretty much levelling the power difference with the generals. Of course, there were other problems that came from it.

Apart from that, during this month, Great Xia also had an unexpected surprise.
 


Earth Online – a virtual MMORPG that takes place in the future year of 2190 – a game that everyone will bet their futures on. Set in a map that is ten times the size of real-world Earth, players battle for supremacy in the first game to feature personal adventure, territory construction, and grand warfare. For every death you experience in the game, your level would drop back to zero. Ouyang Shuo, an above average player, suffered the ultimate betrayal. For merely a piece of equipment, his sworn brother betrayed and backstabbed him. This time, after he reincarnated in the game, Ouyang Shuo swore to exact vengeance.

However, in an unexpected turn of events, Ouyang Shuo found himself back five years before the betrayal – right before the launch of Earth Online. This time, armed with the knowledge from his past life, Ouyang Shuo would venture upon a new path.

How to perfectly complete quests? What historical battle maps would appear? How should one build up their territory? Utilizing the experience from the predecessors of his last life, Ouyang Shuo makes his bid for the top against all odds. Follow his journey as he seeks to lord over the world!

A different kind of tale that blends historical characters and virtual reality gaming, with heavy emphasis on kingdom building and warfare.

When Lin Chu met the ridiculously rich and affluent Yan Beicheng, she did not expect him to act like an immature hooligan, shameless in every way whenever they bumped into each other. Yet, every encounter had him come to her rescue, from saving her from the humiliation of watching her ex-boyfriend marrying her adopted sister, to whisking her away from petty colleagues and lecherous clients.Whether this is true kindness remains to be seen, as he never forgets to take advantage of her whenever he can. Is there something between them or is he just having fun with her?

This time, Hayden woke up at 3:30 AM, feeling refreshed. "What the heck? I slept only for 5 hours and 30 minutes, yet I already feel vigorous?"
 
"There can only be two possibilities here," Hayden speculated as to what happened. "Either Divine Perception's usage wasn't as bad yesterday because of me playing War of Honor in alternative of playing the keyboard, or Indestructible Devil evolved, which is unlikely as I don't use it all that much..."
 
Thinking more, he changed his conjecture. "Wait, I always exercise and dance in the morning intensively, which uses Devil's Persistence to give my body energy and repair the muscle tears… Well, both are possible, so, let's just say that both contributed as factors."
 
Hayden closed the matter as it was no use theorizing about it. After stretching, he learnt seven routines from CHORUS, TITANIUM, and from one of the best dancers in Korea, Sungha.
 
He performed all of them perfectly without any mistakes. "It seems that the adoptive muscle memory of Divine Perception is getting stronger."
 
Because of the constant usage of Divine Perception, and the continual use of Devil's Persistence, Hayden thought that both Abilities were starting to evolve.
 
Shrugging this matter off once more, he proceeded to exercise for an hour. When he finished, he smelled bacon being cooked downstairs.
 
Going down, he saw his mom cooking food. A rare sight, but a welcome one!
 
"Good morning, sweetie." Hayden's mom said as she cracked an egg to make a sunny side up. "How's your dancing?"
 
Hayden froze at the mention of this. "What dancing? I don't dance…"
 
"Psh," Hayden's mom laughed. "I opened your door to see the commotion, only to see you concentrated on your dancing. I didn't know you were such a good dancer! You hid it well."
 
"I was simply practicing," Hayden awkwardly laughed. He didn't like his parents seeing him doing anything like practicing as they always bragged about how good their son was on things he was merely trying. "On top of that, because of Aswang, I don't like going out, I feel unsafe."
 
"True," Hayden's mother agreed with him. Abruptly, she brought up another topic that made Hayden freeze in his tracks. "You've never touched the keyboard we bought for you. It's such a pity it's gathering dust on your bedroom closet. Jeez…"
 
"I-I play at times…" Hayden scratched his head. "You guys purely don't know because I play the keyboard when you're out of the house."
 
"Sure, sweetie," Hayden's mom gave him a meaningful look. She finished cooking, plated it, put in rice, and handed the perfectly cooked egg and bacon to Hayden. "Eat up."
 
"Thanks mom!" Putting the bacon in his mouth, along with egg and some rice. "Food cooked by you really is still the best!"
 
Sometimes, when a person cook for you, especially your mother, food tastes much better. When Hayden cooks for himself, it tastes good, yes, but it doesn't taste as good even if he was following the exact same steps his mother do.
 
"The real secret ingredient is love, honey," Hayden's mom winked at him as she cracked another egg and put another batch of bacon on another pan. "You'll learn that when you get a girlfriend."
 
Hayden's bacon got stuck in his throat when he heard that. "Jeez, mom, why do you have to make me depressed!"
 
His mom simply laughed, which cracked a smile on Hayden. This was a nice peaceful moment for Hayden that made him lose any sense of having powers, feeling like a regular teenager again.
 
After eating, he immediately went to shower before going up to his room again to put his uniform on. "Oh, yeah, it's Friday…"
 
Due to using his Divine Perception to listen in on his lessons, giving him a calm mind, time always passed so quickly for him. Unlike in his previous years, he wasn't bored at all, resulting in his perception of time becoming faster.
 
"First Friday of the school year, huh?" Hayden put on his black uniform, took his bag, and went downstairs to put on his shoes. Subsequently, he waved goodbye to his mom so that he can go to school.
 
He passed the day like regular without interacting with anyone willingly. Of course, Hayden didn't complain that nobody bothered him, laying low again. The basketball matter a few days ago was already off the mind of others as they were stressing of what to do the next few weeks, which will be the real start of the school year. Assignments, projects, and everything will be given out more often starting next week.
 
Going home, he wanted to visit a sports store first. He had the perfect store in mind, which was the John's Sports Goods in the marketplace near their house. This was where their family bought Hayden's first workout equipment.
 
Nearing the place, Hayden heard a hubbub in an alleyway. Turning on his Divine Perception, he saw five men that looked like extorting a student from his school. Hayden felt perplexed as to why the kid was in this kind of a situation as the world was a much better place ever since decades ago, this kind of thing rarely happened.
 
"I guess he is in the same generation as me, after all…" Sighing, Hayden decided to take action. When he was about to go in the alleyway, through his Divine Perception, he noticed a glow on the chest of the student. "Fuck, a wielder?"
 
Hayden knew he had to rush. For the first time, he activated the superhuman strength and speed of Indestructible Devil, allowing him to appear inside the alleyway in an instant.
 
As Divine Perception was still active, Hayden deduced that there were four thugs among them, and one student belonging from Makati City Scholar Academy. When he arrived, Hayden saw what they were doing to the student.
 
His initial thought was that they were extorting the poor student; on the contrary, hearing their conversation, they were harassing him for being a student of the Scholar Academy!
 
"You guys, using physical force because you can't compete in the brains department, huh?" Hayden's sudden appearance startled the six people in the alleyway, including the student who was about to use his Ability.
 
"What did you say, kid?" One of the gangsters asked in a menacing manner. "You picking a fight, eh? Oh, another smarty-pants bitch?
 
The hooligan noticed Hayden's uniform, which belonged to the Makati City Scholar Academy. As a result, all six of them knew that Hayden was a student of the revered academy.
 
"Heh, smarty-pants bitch? Don't have any other word in your vocabulary?" Hayden coldly smiled as he mocked. "Birds of the same feather truly do flock together. A bunch of low-lives are harassing a single student. Ahh, I thought the world has already become a better place. To think that it is still harboring such trash!"
 
Hayden spat out on the man's shoes. This will look rude to others, but they disrespected him first. Plus, bullying a person with the reason that they had higher intellect than them was such a bullshit reason!
 
This action of Hayden angered everyone. The rich-looking student's face twitched as he smiled. "What a silver-tongued smartass!"
 
"Just because you're smart doesn't mean you can fight!" The rich student smirked. "All of you, what are you doing? Attack already!"
 
Hayden turned off Indestructible Devil as he thought that fighting regular humans with his current strength would be enough. At that moment, a soothing calmness spread from his body towards his mind, which in turn made him see the world as if it was in slow motion.
 
'Holy shit!' Hayden didn't expect this development. Seeing the world in slow motion was a cool power, and Hayden always liked this power! 'Now, this is something!'
 
Analyzing every single movement of the four men, he knew that they had little to no combat experience. With this, he was confident that he can win this fight. The alleyway was relatively wide, allowing the four men to surround him.
 
Of course, Hayden wanted to be surrounded, because if he didn't want to be surrounded, he would've already reacted.
 
"Feeling scared now, eh boy?" One of the hooligans laughed because he thought that Hayden not making a move was him being terrified. "Too late for regrets now! You have thoroughly offended that young master already. Now, you have to face his wrath!"
 
The man who talked threw a punch at Hayden's back. Hayden felt the airwaves from this punch, allowing him to know the exact velocity, angle, and power of this punch. With his perfect reflexes, he reacted to this punch by stepping to the right, turning around, and countering the man's punch with another punch.
 
As the man put all of his weight into this punch, with Hayden's strength and the weight from the man's own attack, his head was thrown back. The man was instantly knocked out!
 
This single retaliation from Hayden made all the others re-evaluate him. Punching a person out cold with a single punch was a feat that only boxers will be able to do against a regular human! However, the one in front of them was a regular high school student, how can he possibly possess such power?
 
"Boys, we have to charge at the same time." The one who Hayden mocked at the start of this whole mess spoke. They all nodded when they heard this as seeing Hayden knocking out their comrade left a big impression on them.
 
Seeing the three thugs charging towards him, Hayden snorted. He was surrounded, so he was being assaulted in three directions. The three arrived before him at arm's reach, punching Hayden with a right hook almost at the same time.
 
Observing this, Hayden ducked and did a sweep kick, making the two unfortunate enough to receive this sweep kick lose their balance, with their arms hitting the cement ground first. Hayden deliberately left the leader, basing on the looks, for last.
 
Looking at his comrades writhing on the ground because of the pain they experienced on the arm they fell on and the ankles they were kicked by Hayden, he was absolutely scared out of his wits.
 
"Boss, I think we have to run," The leader turned around hurriedly. "Run, boss!"
 
The rich kid was also scared and astounded at this moment. The hooligans' leader's shout woke him up from his daze, wanting to run away. When the fellow student from the Scholar Academy saw this, Hayden noticed that his Origin Crystal lit up, as his eyes changed color.
 
"Don't." Hayden said as he put his hand on the shoulder of his schoolmate. "I'll handle it, don't use your power on regular humans."
 
Gathering energy on his legs, Hayden rushed towards the two people escaping, easily catching up to them with his speed. He did a karate chop with both of his right and left hands simultaneously towards their neck to make them faint, which was successful.
 
Turning around, Hayden saw his fellow student was speechless. "Are you okay? You're also from Makati City Scholar Academy, right?"
 
"Yes," the student was speechless. "How do you know I was planning to use my power? You're also someone who has a power?"
 
Hayden simply nodded. "Don't casually use that power, it's dangerous. Imagine if the Triple A caught wind of you using your power."
 
When the student heard this, his face changed. "Fuck, I forgot about them. True. I have you to thank for stopping me. My name is Daniel, Daniel Luntiang-Dahon (1). 9th Grade, Class 1-5."
 
"Hayden," he similarly introduced himself. "Hayden Emperador. 9th Grade, Class 1-8."
 
"Let's talk tomorrow at school, lunch, for now, go home, you look tired." Hayden said towards Daniel.
 
"But, it's Saturday tomorrow…" Daniel awkwardly said. "You mean Monday, right?"
 
"Yeah, yeah, right," Hayden smiled with embarrassment. "Monday, you rest for two days. Look out for Aswang, most likely, he's also someone like you and me. Oh yeah, don't forget to touch that prism on your chest, with the question 'how can I hide this' in mind. You're smart enough to figure out the next part."
 
Daniel nodded, acknowledging Hayden's warning, before picking up the bag he dropped and scurrying away. Hayden, who saw this, felt delight on finally finding a fellow wielder.
 
Eyeing the people who was knocked out on the ground, he snorted once more. "Utter trash. Bullying people with such a shitty reason."
 
He then left them lying on the ground as he went back to his original plan of looking at exercise equipment. He wanted to buy so many workout equipment. Despite that, he refused to give in when he saw the credits in his account.
 
Shaking his head, he went to leave, dispirited. Arriving at his home, Hayden changed clothes and learned Korean again. When he finished, he tried practicing what he learned.
 
"It's already been five days, huh?" Hayden spoke in perfect Korean. "I'm pretty eloquent already, knowing the sentence structures, and many more… I can also read Korean now. In fact, I've pretty much mastered the language…"
 
Nodding his head, he was fulfilled of what he was able to learn in a short five days. He was still speaking Korean as he talked to himself. "It seems that I can go to Korea without ever having to get lost. I want to meet those girls…"
 
Hayden exhaled as he thought of those girls. The girls he was referring to was naturally CHORUS, specifically, Kim Eun-Ha. "Why is she so pretty? And her personality is utterly flawless… Well, if that's her true personality even while off camera anyways…"
 
He knew that sometimes, celebrities, as long as they were famous enough, were conceited and arrogant in real life, only having respect for their fellow artists, always looking down on non-celebrities. Hayden wished that Kim Eun-Ha wasn't like this at all, hoping that what he saw on camera is what she was really like. "I mean, KTM Entertainment does find people with good ethics…"
 
"Well, time to move on to Japanese!" Throwing the matter out of the window, feeling it was too farfetched to meet them, Hayden moved on. With the intent of watching anime raw, he must learn the Japanese language! "There're also some Japanese members in CHORUS, perhaps I can impress them…"
 
At the thought of this, he became more eager to learn Japanese (2). Thinking of it, there was also a Taiwanese member in CHORUS! Thinking of this, he was also excited to learn Chinese Mandarin now!
 
"Wait, three weeks to learn three languages? Wouldn't polyglots, some of whom dedicated their entire lives learning languages, kill me?" Hayden bemused to himself. Laughing at his own joke, he turned on War of Honor. "I'll learn tomorrow, there's no rush."
 
Playing five ranked games, Hayden's team won, solo-carrying every single game with perfect strategies and micromanagement skills. Hayden was delighted because, without Divine Perception, his rate of improvement was still something to behold.
 
Finishing the last game, he heard their doorbell ring. The stuff he ordered was here! Going downstairs with fast steps, he opened the door to see the package in his front door.
 
He then carried it towards his room and opened it. He set up the computer for recording. For now, he didn't set up the backdrop yet as he wouldn't record his face anyways, only the keyboard. Instead, he put the backdrop on one corner of the room, leaving it there for the future.
 
After testing recording for a single War of Honor game, he was satisfied. "Wait, this camera can also be used to record piano tutorials, which is equally as popular in Streamlink!"
 
Once he realized this, he felt that his income already doubled. The remaining question is where he would post the piano tutorials, in his channel where he game, or in another channel?
 
"I guess I'm going to post it in my gaming channel. I'm named Supremacy anyways, showing two talents at once to show to the world isn't really odd compared to the narcissistic-sounding name." Hayden promptly made a decision before going to sleep.
 
"Tomorrow, I'll record and edit for the entire day! Releasing three videos at once!" Saying this, Hayden closed his eyes. A few minutes later, he went into deep sleep.
 
…..
 
1 Luntiang-Dahon – Can be directly translated to English as Green-Leaf.
 
2 I'm not using the official language names of the languages I stated. I apologize for referring to Pyojun-eo as simply Korean language. Why would I do this? For the sake of simplicity. I humbly apologize for any offense I would've brought upon to anyone. For those of you all who don't know, Japanese in its native language is Nihongo, while Chinese Mandarin is Putonghua. Note: Putonghua still has tone marks. I will keep referring to these languages as simply Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Mandarin now for the sake of keeping it simple, thank you for understanding!

Wouldn't you just want to possess superpowers in this modern world? What would you do if you suddenly come to possess superpowers? Would you want to play the hero? Or perhaps the villain? Or continue living your life, using your superpowers for your own personal gains and well-being, instead of planning evil acts, or trying to save the day?

Well, that is the precise situation that Hayden Emperador, the main character of our story, is going to face.

"I heard Wing Chun was invented by a woman," Jin ignores what Ip Man commands. 

"That suits you just right. Ip Man, are you afraid of your wife?" Jin asks him with arrogance. 

Tony who was standing to the side watching this prideful Northerner spoke up for his master. 

Telling him in mandarin, "No men are afraid of their wives. There are only men who respect their wives."

The Northern martial artist was surprised a servant could speak mandarin, but hearing what was said was like some kind of laughable joke to his masculine-values. 

He looks to Mrs. Wing Sing saying to her, "Don't worry, Mrs. Ip, I won't beat him to death. If you're afraid he'll lose, I'll only use one hand. If that's not enough, I can do it with no hands." 

This time his words were truly making Mrs. Wing Sing angry. 

And she couldn't stand this unknown stranger who barged into their home. While the crowd is cheering for a fight.

"Fight With him, Master Ip! Beat him up!"

Jin continues to speak acting with dissatisfaction, "I'm so disappointed in Foshan. I can't believe it! So many martial artists but none of them good enough."

Mrs. Wing Sing tells the arrogant man off, "Shut up! You wouldn't even be able to stand a kick from my husband. Even his student Hui could easily defeat you." She motions to Tony with her head to fight him.

Tony takes a deep bow to Ip Man's wife, "I understand your order." 

She then quickly walks away from the scene. Leaving Ip Man and Tony nodding to each other in anticipation for the open thrill to fight. 

At this moment a group of men walked through the bushering crowd, in the front was the police captain Li and his men, followed by a group of injured martial art masters.

"What's going on here," Captain Li asks Ip Man, observing the tan Northerner in shagged brown ropes and his men in strange clothings. 

"You came at the right time," Ip Man says, "this place is too small. Please excuse us and go outside? And close the door on your way out."

Captain Li nods in agreement and whispers to Tony's ears, "You have to redeem our honor." 

Then telling his officers to move back the crowd from the room. Soon the living room only consists of Ip Man, Tony, and the other northerners. 

Ip Man looks to his student with the expression of 'Are you ready', and Tony nods back. 

As a teacher he was very relaxed about the result of this fight, because he's well aware of Tony's progress which is already only a small distance from walking through the final doorway. 

Testing him numerous times in the past years, each time with the secret amazement at Tony's insane learning speed. 

As a teacher there's not much more he can teach him, leaving only a few spots here and there to show him the way to a deeper philosophy hidden in Wing Chun. 

In the past whenever some martial arts master comes to their home Ip Man would let Tony watch from the side. Allowing him to grasp as many opportunities as possible to learn from a real fight.

When he was learning from his Master, Ip Man's teacher praised him as a rare martial arts talent that's only seen once every couple decades. 

To reach where he is at takes a combination of talent, hard work, and practical experience.

Normally to reach the Master level in martial arts, like Master Liao, would take from 15-20 years. 

At the lowest level with a lot of hard work and talent it would take someone 10 years. 

But the legendary Grandmaster level is a degree of total mastery over skills and understanding that might even be impossible to reach even in 30 years. 

And is the apex requiring diligence and large amounts of insights.

What surprises him is that Tony surpassed him in speed. Seeing him reaching his level of mastery only in 10 years. 

So that's why he has no qualms for his student to fight this arrogant martial artist.

Tony smoothly transitions into the Wing Chun fighting stance with his left hand extending closely from the elbow, "Wing Chun, Hui Liang."

The northerner Master Jin scoffs impolitely, "I really wanna see...How can a man fight like a woman."

Grinning a bit at this arrogance he replies, "When I defeat you. You will understand."

Master Jin salutes Tony and immediately goes into his fight stance with his right fist leading in front and the left fist behind. 

In running steps he starts throwing powerful punches toward Tony.

The fists that he deflects with his elbow were creating louds sounds as a result of Jin's immense strength. 

His martial arts is more strength based, using strength to overwhelm the enemy.

Jin hits with both fists below to Tony's stomach but were pushed downwards without hitting him. 

Borrowing the gravity of Jin's body moving downwards he hits his fingers open palmed in Jin's throat.

Tasting the dense bones jagging into him, Jin pushes himself away backwards. 

Feeling the discomfort in his throat and beginning to go fight even harder.

Tony died once before in his former life and now he gets the chance to turn back time. 

Returning to when he was 18 when everything was fresh and new. Additionally he gets a system that can increase his Soul Power. 

Traveling to countless movies, anime, and novels:

Tony Stark: "If I'm Iron Man who's that guy flying in that armored suit?"

Madera Uchiha: "What! That thick eyebrow guy broke my susanoo!! Stop what you're doing!"

Harry Potter: "I thought I'm supposed to fight Voldemort. How come Ron just send a spell that burnt Voldemort into a barbecue chicken?"

*This is my first time writing. So feel free to tell me what improvements can be made :)

Chinese people were not accustomed to using eye masks when they slept. As the sun grew stronger and brighter, most of the passengers in the economy class woke up one by one, crowding beside the windows at the side of the cabin, overlooking the phenomenal view at the distant clouds.
Several bean-sized figures were either riding cranes with white snow-like wings and beautiful birds with fluffy flame-like feathers or standing on relics like flying swords, gourds, or jades while flying around a light door that was emitting a dazzling light. Effortlessly, they summoned strange phenomena such as the Taiji, Eight Trigram, and so on.
As the world's largest and most advanced passenger airliner, the balance system of the Airbus A380 was naturally amazing. However, when 200 to 300 passengers in the economy class gathered on one side of the cabin, the fuselage would still tilt.
In this critical situation, as though not seeing the fantasy movie-like phenomenon outside the cabin, the air stewardess who had received specialized emergency training politely and gently reminded everybody, "Dear all respected passengers, for the safety of the aircraft, please immediately return to your seat. Thank you."
However, judging from her pale cheeks and clenched palms, one could tell that her emotions were not as calm as her tone.
Sensing the shakiness of the plane, along with the reminder from the flight attendant, the restless passengers hurriedly returned to their seats, but still fidgeted and stretched their heads to look outside.
Guo Caiying, who also returned to her seat, did not feel uneasy but whispered to Zhang Lisheng with a look of anger, "Junior Brother, what do those Taoists want to do?"
"I'm not adept in the Dao method, but the ancient book 'South China Views Collection' has stated before 'The Yin and Yang would be able to cow everything into submission if it walks on both Heaven and Earth.' If I hadn't guessed wrongly, I think those Taoists want to acquire the entrance to the Yingzhou paradise. My comment just now about them being blindsided by material gains is indeed correct," Zhang Lisheng replied with a scornful smile.
"The entrance to the Yingzhou paradise refers to the light door outside the plane, right? Isn't that a small world channel, though? Can we even acquire that? Won't they pose any danger to the aircraft if they do so?"
"Senior Sister, you should know that there is a key assumption in Dr. Hawking's space theory that our universe is just a page in a thick book. According to this theory, the earth is only a small insignificant dot on the page. The so-called paradise is just a twisted hidden space attached to this small dot while the foreign world is another page of the book. These two have very different attributes. The light door outside looks very similar to the world channel, but judging from its relative position and absolute position that are drifting around in an unfixed way, it differed completely from the world channel," Zhang Lisheng explained in an endless stream of words. "In the ancient myths and legends, it's also stated that paradise is occupied by the 'great powers.' The relics that are said to be able to contain a high mountain despite their small sizes originated from here."
"Junior Brother, you really can analyze everything clearly and logically," The girl silently digested the young man's words for a while before saying with a smile. "Unfortunately, you haven't answered the most critical question yet. Is the plane in danger?"
"I have no idea," Zhang Lisheng shrugged. "It's a wild fantasy to have the desire to acquire the spatial relic that contains a great amount of power despite its small sizes with the strength of those Taoists flying around the plane outside like sparrows. Who knows what consequences it will have. However, you don't have to worry too much, at the very least, we are absolutely safe."
"Spatial relic? Such a strange term actually appeared in real life now? Wow, looks like our days are not looking so well now," The girl sighed and looked at the young man before speaking in a pleading voice, "Junior Brother, you have so many strange powers, so if something really happens, can you save this entire plane? There are over 500 people here."
With Zhang Lisheng's ability at this moment, he could easily keep the plane safe even if several Gate of Dao's disciples caused the paradise to trump up a countercharge. The reason why he did not take the initiative to mention this was because of his apathy and his inclination to refuse to be nosy when it was unneeded. However, now that he heard the girls' pleading, the situation changed a little. With a smile, he agreed, "Alright, since you've already asked me to do so, I'll do as you say."
The young man's answer was nonchalant. Guo Caiying, who was already prepared to beg some more if he did not agree with her, became stunned and sighed, "Junior Brother, you're still the same. You always seem so cold to your acquaintances, but you actually treat them very well. On the other hand, you seem to be always very polite in front of strangers, but in actual fact, you don't care about them at all, to the point where you won't even blink even if they die in front of you."
"Senior Sister, I'm a wizard, not a savior. Besides, since when have I ever been cold to you?" Zhang Lisheng smiled while comfortably leaning back on the plane seat.
Guo Caiying curled her mouth and did not say anything more. Anxiously, she also leaned back in her seat, seemingly thinking about something.
In the silence, time passed by slowly. The worst-case scenario did not appear, and a few minutes later, the light outside the cabin gradually dissipated. The plane left the light door and the flying Taoists, and they all soon disappeared.
After a while, the air stewardess' relaxed and clear voice resonated in the cabin, "Dear distinguished leaders, this flight is about to arrive at the destination 'Capital Airport,' please fasten your seat belt..."
"We're here now! We're soon landing at the 'Capital Airport'! It's okay now! Haha… We're safe now…" As the air stewardess' voice resonated, only one passenger who seemed to be in his twenties could not help but exclaim in a pleasant shock. However, by the time the flight landed, inexplicable warm applause broke out in the cabin. Compared to the directness of Westerners, the Chinese were more introverted in showing their feelings.
The Beijing Capital International Airport, which was commonly referred to as the Capital Airport, was the main international airport of Beijing City, the capital of China. It was located in the northeastern part of the city and was only about 25 kilometers away from Tiananmen. One could say that the airport was built in the bustling city.
As the largest international airport with the most important geographical location, the largest scale, the most complete equipment, and the busiest transportation in China, this airport was the window of the air entrance and foreign communications of Beijing, the capital of China. Not to mention, this aviation hub was also the most important national civil aviation of China, which was the second-largest in the world.
As soon as Zhang Lisheng got off the plane, he could not help but marvel over the 'iron birds' that were busily taking off and landing in the night sky; the tens of thousands of lights on both sides of the extended runway that were shining like stars and the magnificent terminal building in the distance.
"The only airport in China that I've ever been was the Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu. I already feel that it's incredibly extravagant compared with the size of its city, but I can't believe that it's only a very 'small fellow' compared with Beijing Airport." Standing on the airport runway, the young man looked around as he exclaimed in surprise.
"Junior Brother, Beijing is the capital of China, so of course it is bigger than Chengdu," Guo Caiying took a deep breath of the cold night air and replied in Mandarin.
"Senior Sister, you're indeed right," the young man nodded and replied in Mandarin.
Since the flight was chartered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Capital Airport had given them a 'green channel' service, with their luggage being cleared directly without going through any custom clearance. While they were speaking, several buses had already stopped beside Zhang Lisheng.
"Government ministry leaders, please take the red bus; business leaders, please go to the yellow bus; distinguished guests and translation comrades returning to the country should take the green bus..." When the bus door was opened, several serving women broadcast in both English and Mandarin fluently interchangeably using a megaphone.
"Let's go, I will accompany you on the 'green bus' and send you to the Hotel first before I go home," Guo Caiying said a few words to the colleagues beside her before walking back to the young man. Then, they proceeded to get on a green bus that had the words' Welcome to Beijing' written on it.
After sitting in the middle of the bus near the window, the girl pondered for a while before joking half-heartedly, "Junior Brother, China has been promoting Mandarin for many years. Can't you learn some 'authentic Mandarin' as well? Your Western Sichuan accent is really awkward."
"Why should I learn it? What's wrong with me, a Western Sichuaner, speaking in Western Sichuan accent anyway? You understand me anyway," Looking at the ever-changing scenery outside the window, Zhang Lisheng said casually.
"But if you want to invest in the Kunlun World as an overseas patriotic industrialist, then you have to deal with many officials of the Chinese government, so your first impression is significant. If you speak in English, then you can't say that you're a patriotic entrepreneur who grew up in China and only migrated overseas when you were a teenager. If you speak in the Western Sichuan accent, yes, we do understand, but it just doesn't match with your identity as a successful industrialist who graduated with his Ph.D. at Stanford. Even if we know that your identity is legit, we would still find it suspicious."
"That serious?" The young man asked in surprise.
"Yes, it is indeed this serious," The girl nodded solemnly.
"In that c-case, I'll speak… in a-a authentic Mandalin… then," Zhang Lisheng shrugged and replied after pondering.
"It's Mandarin, but it doesn't matter. You just have to practice slowly, and you'll soon be able to master it," Guo Caiying said with a smile.
As the two talked and laughed, the bus had already driven for a long time in the city's brightly lit avenues that had a blend of classical and modern convergence with both oriental charm and the essence of the West and finally stopped before a magnificent luxurious hotel foyer.
"Dear respected ladies and gentlemen, we've already reached the Beijing Hotel. I wish you all a happy and wonderful holiday in China…" When the bus stopped, the serving women said in English amiably.
"Beijing Hodel? What a direct name," Zhang Lisheng stood up together with a group of Westerners with different skin colors and hair color before muttering and walking forward. Behind him, Guo Caiying corrected, "It's not Hodel, but Hotel. It's Beijing Hotel. This is the best five-star hotel in Beijing and is just next to the Imperial Palace of the Forbidden City. It only takes you a five-minute walk to see the Tiananmen and the Great Hall of the People, and it's also very close to Wang Fu Jing Pedestrian Street. Anyway, I'll be swamped for the next two days after my return, so you can just roam around first. Remember to not make any trouble. Remember that this is not the United States where you can directly shoot a robber to death. don't be so impulsive and just call me at any time."


A young man from the Miaowei Tribe brought up by his strict father, suddenly turned into Rank 1 Wizard on the day he was orphaned. He then obtained the ability to control giant worms. 
Soon after, he found his mother who was in a faraway foreign land by accident. From a small mountain village, he managed to jump into the amazing arena that was a global metropolis.
Thus far, we have a young man who inherited the legacy of mastering ancient demons from an ancient country. 
From Western civilization to other worlds, a fascinating saga is born.

"Mater, you've been on TV over and over again recently. I bet you'll get famous!"
"Nonsense! Master is already famous!" Wang Qian and Li Kun said, full of envy.　　
In the early morning, the local news was on the television. The background was the residential area where Carpenter Wang lived. Zhang Zian was interviewed seriously in front of the camera as an expert. He described the toxicity of Palytoxin, asking all aquarium owners to be very cautious when buying marine creatures. The best practice was to buy them from official stores in order to prevent similar incidents.　　
Next, Sheng Ke was interviewed.　　
The news took a long time to recap the incident, then showed a close-up picture of Palythoa corals. They warned all aquarium owners in the city that if anyone found similar corals at home, they should call the police immediately and not handle them on their own.　　
Wang Qian and Li Kun were right: Zhang Zian had been on the local news a lot lately, sometimes even in the provincial news. He was almost a local celebrity.　　
"Don't just watch the stories!" Zhang Zian stared at them. "The live rocks we bought from the aquarium market may have these corals attached to them, too. Be careful, the two of you. If a similar incident happens to us, we'll have to close the shop for good!"　
He was not exaggerating, nor was he threatening them. In fact, the aquarium that Carpenter Wang often visited was suspended indefinitely. Nobody knew if they could ever reopen. After such an unexpected event, that aquarium owner might have to head to his hometown and get married there. 　　
They heard that Carpenter Wang's family was out of danger and gradually recovering. Carpenter Wang's condition was the most serious. His hands had been inside the water, so his arms were covered in rashes. He still needed to stay in hospital for observation.
As soon as Welder Zhao got better, he could not wait to be checked out of the hospital. The doctors wanted him to stay for a few more days for observation, but he insisted on being released, claiming that he was too unlucky. He didn't want to spend so much money on being hospitalized because of a few fish. It was definitely not worth it…　　
Electrician Wu thought that Welder Zhao deserved what happened to him, so he didn't bother to visit him. Moreover, he asked other retired employees not to visit him. Even if they did visit, they should not bring gifts. He would only learn after paying a price…　　
As the rumors were busted in time by solid proof, the incident didn't cause any aftermath on the internet. It died out soon. Only the retired people in that residential area had something new to talk about at tea time.　　
Wang Qian and Li Kun made faces, but didn't dare to talk back.　　
Jiang Feifei was drawn to the story. She felt that ever since she had started working part-time in Zhang Zian's aquarium, she had learned a lot of new knowledge that she didn't know in the past. The work shifts were not boring at all. 　　
They chatted while they did their routine cleaning, preparing for the new business day.
Zhang Zian returned to the second floor. He headed to his parents' room first to check out if the marine creatures were growing well.　　
The corals seemed normal, especially the "Ugly Duckling Coral" that he named by himself. As it grew bigger, it turned brighter and brighter under the blue light. The blue rings on the red bottom was a rare combination, making it as pretty as the most beautiful corals. 　　
He estimated that, in a few days, he could try to cut them, dividing them into twos, fours, eighths, and so forth… Soon, he would have a flock of Ugly Duckling Corals.　　
Corals might sprout or divide even if they were left alone, forming a coral bed from one single coral. Artificial cutting, however, could help them propagate faster. 　　
Before making the real cut, it was wise to practice on cheap corals.　　
The sea angels, Antarctic sea anemone, and sea butterflies were all growing very well. The sea angel's abdomen was already visibly enlarged. He was sure that it was pregnant. A school of little sea angels would be born soon. 　　
He checked the instruments once again. The high-end instruments had automatic alerts that detected abnormalities, but being careful was always good.　　
After finishing his tasks, he took the saltwater samples and headed back to the living room for the daily water quality test.　　
Pi was still typing and wearing its glasses. It paused from time to time to refer to the Nameless Book.　　
"Hey! A-jeoan! Are you outside? If you are, squeak!" Sihwa shouted from the bathroom.
"Squeak, " Zhang Zian answered her lazily, lifting his head from the microscope.　　
"Hey! You actually squeaked. Aren't you afraid all cats downstairs will come up to catch the mice? Ahahaha!" Sihwa laughed hard, feeling good about herself.　　
"Most cats in this shop don't catch mice. Some don't bother, and some just can't," Zhang Zian answered from a distance. "They might know how to catch fish, though."　
Sihwa said, "…Come in here. I have a question."　　
Zhang Zian put down his work temporarily and walked into the bathroom.　　
She lifted the phone so that he could see the words on the screen. "How do you pronounce this?"　　
Zhang Zian saw that the all of the syllables had confused her. She could not figure out why syllables like yuan, yue, and ying must be read directly, instead of pronouncing them as y-u-an, y-ue, and y-ing.　　
"Because this is a rule. There is no why." He gave a crude and simple answer. "Don't mind these minute details––just remember them."　　
Sihwa learned very quickly, as she was not a baby and had been immersed in a Mandarin-speaking environment. She encountered difficulties only once in a while.　　
"Then why is there an apostrophe in Xi'an?" she asked again.　　
"Without the apostrophe, you'd pronounce it as Xian." Zhang Zian pointed at himself and said, "And my name is actually Zi an. It's okay to omit the space in between, but in English, it may be mispronounced."　　
"Pfff. Chinese is so hard!" Sihwa was a bit discouraged.　　
"Quack! How about changing your change into Billy Zhang? I guarantee it will not be misunderstood!" Richard showed up at the right time and started quacking.　　
"No! This one will be misunderstood!" Zhang Zian complained. "Why did you fly up here again? You can't hold your bird droppings?"　　
"Quack! You look down upon me! I'm telling you. When you are away, I'm the one teaching her Pinyin!" Richard shouted.　　
Zhang Zian was quite surprised to hear that He looked at Sihwa and asked, "Is this true?"　　
Sihwa nodded. "Yes! It's true! Richard's pronunciation is very good. Much more accurate than yours!"　　
Zhang Zian spoke Mandarin, but he still carried a slight local accent, especially when he spoke with customers.　　
Despite that, he was even less reassured. He was concerned that Richard might teach her dirty and gay things, which were inappropriate.　　
"Quack! Oh, right. I'm up here for something. Someone's looking for you downstairs. You'd better go down," Richard said.　
"Fine." Zhang Zian looked back at Sihwa and said, "You can learn by yourself and write down anything you don't understand. We'll discuss it after I come back up. For the stuff the parrot teaches you, don't' believe a single word of it!"　　


1. Download a suspicious game
2. Catch a few magical pets as partners
3. Go through interesting daily routines and lead the pet shop to a whole new level

Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
An old man slowly rose to his feet on the bus. He cautiously hid some mandarin peaches behind his seat and used an old shirt to cover them, as if he was worried that someone would steal the mandarins.
He went to the washroom at the back of the bus. He decided to relieve himself after struggling for some time. There was still more than an hour's journey before he reached his son's place.
"Ah, you're on this bus too, what a coincidence!" The old man immediately recognized Cheng Ying seated in the last row. He had a friendly smile like he was eager to converse with her. "People are less polite nowadays. It's really rare to see someone like you, who's willing to help the elderly. Was the mandarin I gave you sweet? I planted it myself. My son loved them when they were young. I always bring him some whenever I visit him in the city. (Sigh)...he rarely comes home after he started working in the city. We aren't as close now, I wonder if I'm troubling him and his family with my visits..."
Cheng Ying looked at the old man silently. She had already noticed the old man was heading to the same destination as her.
The old man seemed to have misunderstood her. He thought Cheng Ying was willing to hear him out. He added, "There seems to be something wrong with my legs. I can no longer live in the mountains and plant fruits. The doctor suggested me to move to the city since it's cold in the mountains, but my daughter-in-law doesn't seem to like me very much. Besides, I'm having trouble moving on my own because of my legs. I wonder if I'm going to be a hassle for my son. I wouldn't want to disturb them..."
"I can help if it really is troubling you," Cheng Ying said.
"Really? Please tell me," the old man blurted out.
"It's no longer a problem if you were to die now!" Cheng Ying's voice turned cold. She held a sharp icicle that had appeared out of nowhere. She stabbed the defenseless old man in the heart.
The old man did not feel any pain at the start. He only felt a chill around his heart. There was no blood pouring out, as it was frozen by the ice.
Even his breath had turned into a mist. He looked at the woman in astonishment.
The old man had assumed Cheng Ying was a gentle, kind-hearted woman. She even helped him down the stairs, and he had given her a peach as a token of gratitude. The little encounter had provided the old man some relief. If even a stranger was so friendly to him, his son's family would not think of him as a hassle, either.
He never thought the kind-hearted woman would suddenly turn into a detestable murderer!
"Your mandarin was terrible, I believe your son only likes them because he doesn't want to hurt the ego of a piece of trash like you!" Cheng Ying grinned and shoved the old man away.
The old man stared at her. The thought of his son's disgusted face crossed his mind prior to his death.
Was it true?
Was it really that bad?
Was he really a piece of trash?
The pain surged across his body, but for some reason, the emotional pain was worse than the pain from his heart.
"AHHHH!" The other passengers had seen what had happened, and screamed in fear, "Help, she's a murderer!"
The driver quickly slammed on the brakes to stop the bus so the passengers could escape, but a strange voice suddenly barged into his mind, forcing him to lock the doors and continue driving.
The passengers completely lost their calm. They never expected that there would be two cold-blooded murderers on the bus!
"The Enforcement Union will never stand a chance against us. It's too easy to kill someone, but saving a person's life is ten times harder than that! It's very simple to find out if the Enforcement Union is on our trail. We just have to kill these useless vermin of society. If they are nearby, they will show themselves to stop us," the Shepherd yawned.
Every member of the Black Vatican being extradited was an important clue that could lead the Enforcement Union to the Black Vatican. Therefore, every time the Shepherd did his job, he would always use this simple yet effective method.
Killing the people!
Killing at will!
The more innocent the people were, the better!
If the scum of the Enforcement Union were around, they would surely intervene!
If they were not around, they could just treat it as a way to entertain themselves. Besides, the number of people in the world was so high. Even if they were to kill from morning to night, it would still not make any difference to the world!
"Continue with it, take your time, let's torture the people that are on our trail," the Shepherd said.
"I have waited too long for this day!" Cheng Ying laughed. She stared at the timid passengers hiding and screaming in the corners.
---
---
A pair of golden wings were soaring in the sky above the mountains. He remained on one side of the mountain to prevent the people on the bus from seeing him.
"Shit, they seemed to be murdering the people on the bus!" Zhao Manyan blurted out.
"Those assholes of the Black Vatican!" Mo Fan's heart burned in rage.
"What are you doing?" Qi Yang of the Preventive Committee immediately stopped Mo Fan.
"Saving the people, of course!" Mo Fan said.
"If you show yourself now, they will know that we are following them. This is the common approach that the Black Vatican use when they are extraditing someone important. If we are serious about taking down the important authorities of the Black Vatican, we have to ignore it. Saving them is the duty of the Enforcers, but our duty is to track them down. If we all act on impulse like you when dealing with the Black Vatican, we'll never be able to track down their Blue Deacons and Red Cardinals!" Qi Yang held Mo Fan firmly, not willing to let Mo Fan act recklessly.
Qi Yang had been hunting for the Black Vatican for a long time. The Black Vatican had always played them like a fiddle. The Enforcement Union never made any progress because of this, thus they came up with a different approach.
People like them were only responsible for tracking the Black Vatican. They were not allowed to show themselves, no matter what happened.
Against a cult like the Black Vatican, they would never make any progress by adhering to normal ways!
"So you're telling me to just watch them die?" Mo Fan looked at Qi Yang.
"If you are serious about tracking down a Red Cardinal, you will have to bear the condemnation of your conscience. Cheng Ying is a Blue Deacon, and the Extraditor with her is one of the best they have. Not only is he extremely powerful, he also has direct access to the higher-ups of the Black Vatican. There's a good chance we'll learn the identity of a Chief Extraditor, or even a Red Cardinal. There are only around a dozen people on the bus. It's worth it if we can stop something like the Incident of the Red Mediterranean Sea from happening!" Qi Yang said sternly.
Mo Fan was in the car right behind the bus. He took a deep breath.
He stood up with silver Stars flickering around him. The Stars joined into Star Orbits, which further combined into Star Patterns, and eventually constructed a Star Constellation...
"I'm afraid I don't agree with you. I'm not a Tracker like you, and I don't really care about the bigger picture here. We can always find another way to stop them, but the dead will never return. I don't want to carry the guilt for the rest of my life!" Mo Fan said.
As he finished the sentence, the number of Stars around him had reached 343.
The brilliance of the Stars reached its limit. They soon shattered into pieces and disappeared magically.
The following second, Mo Fan appeared on the roof of the bus.
Qi Yang looked at Mo Fan's figure standing in the strong wind. He was left speechless for a moment.
Every person had their own decisions to make. It did not necessarily mean Mo Fan was doing the wrong thing. Qi Yang had understood that the heart of the strongest participant in the World College Tournament was like a fire burning without restrictions.
"Damn it, I can't stand it any further too. I'll kill those two sons of b**ches!" Zhao Manyan dove from the sky and landed heavily on the roof of the bus.
The impact blasted a hole in the roof. Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan jumped into the bus.
The bus was quite big, with a spacious walkway. The driver's mind was being controlled. The bus was still picking up speed on the highway. A strong wind was now blowing in through the hole, knocking the things inside the bus flying.
"Save the people," Mo Fan told Zhao Manyan.
"Got it!" Zhao Manyan had outstanding defensive powers. He would not have any problem protecting the civilians.
He immediately cast Water Barrier on the passengers. A golden Rampart split the bus in two, preventing any harm from befalling the passengers.
Mo Fan saw the passengers were all at the front of the bus. He decisively summoned a bolt of lightning.
The bolt of lightning slashed at the spot where Zhao Manyan had placed his Rampart, splitting the bus in two!
The second half of the bus began to lose its momentum, but the front half sped up and pulled away!
Mo Fan was left in the second half of the bus. He stood close to where the bus was split in half and stared at the Shepherd and Cheng Ying coldly. His chest was burning with rage when he saw the dead old man.
"You couldn't even bear it when we only killed one person," the Shepherd sighed. "You're most likely a new Enforcer...there were fifteen people on the bus. If you didn't show up, only fifteen would die, but it's now seventeen, including you and your partner," The Shepherd remained seated even while the second half of the bus was shaking vigorously.
"Extraditor, he's not an Enforcer, he's Mo Fan!" Cheng Ying recognized Mo Fan right away.
Cheng Ying was surprised to learn that she was actually being followed. In other words, she had killed Su Qingqing for nothing. Her identity had been exposed!
"Mo Fan? Oh, I remember now, you're the guy that gave Salan a huge headache! I believe they also call you the strongest participant in the World College Tournament... it turns out that the Chief Extraditor wasn't lying to me. This is indeed an interesting job!" The Shepherd finally rose to his feet and took a closer look at Mo Fan.


He woke up in a familiar world that had vastly changed.

His familiar school had become a mystical school that teaches magic, encouraging everyone to become a mighty magician.

Outside the city, many wandering magical beasts and monsters attacked and preyed on humans.

His world of advanced science changed into one that praised magic. Despite this, his ambition in life, and his social status remained the same; one of the dregs of the society with a struggling father and a disabled step sister that couldn’t walk.

However, Mo Fan found that when most people could only practice a single major element of magic, he was a Versatile Mage!

Light snow started to coat the city, as December welcomed another cold winter season. Malls, shops, restaurants and other commercial places began to have festive Christmas decorations. Shoppers swarmed the malls in droves, attracted by the Christmas-themed sales and limited edition products.

Both Iris and Jin Liwei didn't celebrate Christmas. In her past life as Evelina, Christmas was celebrated sometime in January. And even then, it wasn't a joyous family-oriented occasion. Her mother used it as an opportunity to review the organization's yearly performance. 

Even now as Iris, she didn't think much of Christmas. It wasn't a public holiday in the country, so she planned on working as usual. JJ and the members of Pandemonium wanted to release the single next month, so she needed to whip them harder to finish it in time.

In addition to this, she also continued to study with Professor Kalisha Schwarz and Professor Hisakawa Akio who returned to the country just for her. Not to mention her business lessons with Grandpa Lu. 

She was also preparing for the launch of her gaming company, Planet Monkey, with Hou Liang sometime next year. And also to finish preparations for when the Bauer siblings arrived from Germany to start working on her other company, Orchidia Beauty.

In short, she was very busy this December.

However, Dom begged her and Jin Liwei to decorate both the mansion and the penthouse for Christmas. She agreed, feeling a bit guilty of not allowing him to go home to the Philippines to celebrate Christmas and New Year with his family. She needed him because it was a very busy month.

Although Dom never complained, she knew that he must be feeling disappointed and missing his family. So she made a win-win decision for both of them.

"Dom, why don't you bring over your family here instead? You can celebrate Christmas and New Year here together."

For the first time ever, Dom was speechless. After the initial shock, he burst into tears. He continuously thanked Iris while sobbing in happiness.

In just a week, Dom's family arrived from the Philippines. Jin Liwei lent one of his private jets after hearing about the matter. Iris also lent her penthouse at Gold Heights Condominium to them. Dom was so overwhelmed by both of his bosses' kindness and generosity that he swore eternal loyalty to them and their descendants.

Dom temporarily moved out of the mansion to spend time with his family at the penthouse. Of course, he travelled back to the mansion every morning to continue his work as Iris' assistant.

The ones who arrived were his mother (the undisputed boss of the family), father, older sister and her husband and their two children, his other older sister and younger sister. It seemed that his aunts, uncles and numerous cousins also wanted to go but he and his mother shot them down because they didn't want to be seen as taking advantage of Iris and Jin Liwei's hospitality. 

His mother told them that if they wanted to go, they should buy their own plane tickets and book their own hotel rooms. When his mother spoke, it was the end of discussion. Nobody dared to face against this terrifying mother dragon.

The family visited the mansion the next day to have dinner with Iris and Jin Liwei. They all thanked them, especially Iris, for being good to Dom and for being so generous to them. They also brought a lot of souvenirs from the Philippines.

Afterwards, they visited the main branch of the Cao family. The Chua family was the Filipino branch of the Caos. Dom's father was a distant cousin to Cao Guang, Long Tengfei's assistant. 

Despite all the excitement with the arrival of Dom's family, Iris continued to work hard. Dom's twenty two-year old younger sister named Clover accompanied Dom and Iris while they worked. Clover's exuberant personality was very similar to her brother. She also started calling Iris boss and Jin Liwei sir boss. The siblings both fangirled over Iris and Jin Liwei.

24th of December.

Even though Iris and Jin Liwei wouldn't normally celebrate Christmas, they ordered a Christmas Eve dinner at the mansion for the Chua family. Little Jun, Jiang Ying Yue, Yi Mei and all the household staff from the penthouse came over to the mansion to celebrate with them. Meimei also came, immediately getting along with Dom's younger sister. The twins Dom and Meimei became triplets with the addition of Clover.

Iris invited her big brother Lu Zihao, but he declined saying that he was busy. She was disappointed but didn't force him to come.

The Christmas Eve dinner was prepared in cooperation of Jin Liwei's private chef, Iris' penthouse cook, Dom's mother and first older sister. The chef and the cook were in charge of the Chinese dishes, while Dom's mother and older sister cooked Filipino food.

Before dinner, Dom's father connected a home karaoke system they brought from the Philippines. Iris was very entertained by the family because they all sang with gusto. Even when their singing voices weren't all that pleasing to the ears, it was still fun watching them because of their enthusiasm. They seemed happy all the time.

"Boss, please sing. We want to hear you sing live," Clover begged Iris. She spoke in English so that her family members could understand. 

The only ones in their family who were proficient in Mandarin were Dom, Clover and their father. That was why both Iris and Jin Liwei also spoke English to communicate with them.

"Alright." 

Iris wasn't shy. She took the mic and then started singing a classic song in English. Jin Liwei whipped out his phone and started recording his baby girl on video.

When everyone heard the opening tune, all the Chuas cheered. They stood up and started sway-dancing to the music.

"Left a good job in the city
Workin' for the man ev'ry night and day…"

The beat started to change. The Chuas' booties also started shaking and their bodies shimmying. Meimei joined them, copying their dance movies. Even Little Jun started bouncing in delight as he danced with her new playmates, Dom's 10-year old niece and 2-year old nephew.

"Big wheel keep on turnin'
Proud Mary keep on burnin'
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river…"

Iris winked at her darling who was recording her, as she danced and continued to sing the catchy song. Her voice also became stronger and growlier, reaching high notes that sent the Chuas into frenzy. They acted as if they were in a concert.

Everyone gave a loud applause when the song ended. Iris gave her small private audience a fancy curtsy bow.

"The best version of 'Proud Mary' I've ever heard in my life!" Dom's father declared, giving two thumbs up to Iris.

"Thank you, Uncle Domingo," she replied.

After their fun karaoke session, they finally ate a hearty Christmas Eve dinner. It was in buffet style, so everyone enjoyed the food at the same time, including the penthouse and the mansion's household staff.

Everything was delicious. Jin Liwei and Meimei ate more than usual, liking the taste of authentic Filipino food. Iris had to watch her figure as a celebrity, so she only ate the same amount as usual.

Jin Liwei's butler and other household staff couldn't believe how much the mansion had changed ever since Iris came to live with their master. It was warmer and felt more like a place where a family lived. They also felt more appreciated as employees. Like right now, they never would've imagined that they would be eating and chatting with their master and mistress and their guests like equals.

During dinner, Iris asked about Dom's sisters. The youngest, Clover, was going to graduate with a Business Administration degree in a few months.

"Do you already know where you're going to work after you graduate?" Iris asked Clover.

"Not yet. I'm eyeing a few companies in the Philippines but the competition among new graduates is fierce. Only a small number of us will get hired."

"What do you think about working here instead? Or do you want to stay in the Philippines?"

Clover's eyes lit up. "Oh! I would love to work here! That's why I did my best to learn Mandarin."

"Good. Come work for me then, if you want. I plan on creating a beauty company in the near future. You can help me set it up," Iris told her.

"YES!"

A world-famous hacker and daughter of the most powerful criminal family who ruled the international Underworld for many generations is killed when their organization is annihilated in a single night.

She is reborn into the body of Iris Long, a teenage pop singer, wild party girl, and spoiled brat. For the former princess of the Underworld who lived an overprotected and shackled life, this new life is a chance to finally live the life of freedom and independence that she always wanted.

Jin Liwei is the most powerful man in the country's business world. Cold and ruthless, he is someone only a few dare offend. When the infamous Iris Long, who used to chase his younger brother, wakes up from a year-long coma, his unfeeling heart moves for the first time and he falls hard for this unexpected genius girl.

She wants to fly freely and soar high beyond the sky. He wants her everything, to tie her to himself and to never let her go.

This is her journey to super stardom. This is his journey in accompanying her. Together, they will rock the world while facing many challenges.

But what will happen when she discovers that she can never escape from the shadows of her previous life? Will she still be able to live her dream life of freedom and independence? Will he be able to protect her from the dangers?

###
Instagram: Arria Cross (@arriacross)

HGWS Discord Server: 
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WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!

This novel is rated 18+ (no one 17 and under allowed). It contains mature adult themes, coarse language, explicit sexual content, and occasional graphic violence. Reader discretion is strongly advised. Please do NOT read if you are under 18 or if you feel uncomfortable with any of these elements. 

And despite of what some of the negative reviews are claiming, there is NO rape in this novel. Many scenes are deliberately made uncomfortable (clear 18+ warning), but there is NO rape.

Also please remember that this is a work of "fiction". Thank you!

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