"Big Brother, help Little Jiu wash her hair~"
"Big Brother, play ranked matches with Little Jiu~"
"Big Brother, sleep with Little Jiu~"
"Okay. By the way, do you think my nails are pretty?"
Seeing Little Jiu fall into a deep sleep under the hypnosis of the Good Dream Technique, completely unconscious, Ren Suo guessed she wouldn't wake up for at least eight hours. During this period, no matter what happened, she would neither know nor awaken.
Ren Suo revealed a wicked smile, covered her with the quilt, then turned off the lights and left the guest room.
Checking the time, it was exactly 11:00 PM. Ren Suo hurriedly moved the Mini-World Game Console from the TV cabinet to his bedroom, placing it under the bed and surrounding it with several boxes to conceal it thoroughly.
Then, he pressed the power button on the controller. Simultaneously, the 4K ultra-clear 32-inch display screen, ordered during the day and delivered that evening, lit up. Ren Suo silently put on his headphones and heard the familiar startup sound:
"Endless Fun in the Mini World."
Ren Suo quickly closed his bedroom door, settled comfortably into his gaming chair, put down the controller, started his computer, and switched the computer monitor's input. The display changed from the Mini-World Game Console's main interface to his computer screen.
Barring any surprises, he would have to play the Mini-World Game Console this way for the next few days.
At dinner that day, Dong Chengling solemnly announced she was going into seclusion.
"The fourth transformation is within my reach," Dong Chengling said, her tone as casual as if she were saying she knew the auntie selling roast meat at the supermarket well. "But the final step is a chasm."
Bai Ji was somewhat surprised. "Is it really that difficult?"
At the dining table, only he and Dong Chengling were close to the fourth transformation. However, he seemed to have neglected his Cultivation recently for some peculiar reasons and thus hadn't reached the final step like Dong Chengling, nor had he sensed the difficulty of the breakthrough.
Dong Chengling nodded firmly. "I feel that the transition from the third to the fourth transformation is a qualitative change. My discussions with Fourth-Stage Cultivators have confirmed this—not only in terms of strength, but Fourth-Stage Cultivators also overwhelmingly suppress Third-turn Cultivators in almost every aspect. Whether it's the application of Spells, the burst of aura, or the amount of Spiritual Energy in one's Qi Cyclone, the change from the third to the fourth transformation is far greater than from the second to the third."
Bai Ji and Ren Suo, having witnessed the three from the Great Wall, also nodded in agreement. Indeed, whether it was Mr. Chuan, You Jiu, or the purely supportive Endless Monk, they were all terrifyingly powerful.
You Jiu's combat power surpassed even that of the Disaster Messenger, and his attack range was enormous. Even Bai Ji, the strongest here in terms of overall combat power, probably wouldn't last ten seconds against him—and that was with You Jiu only using his Flying Sword. It was said that You Jiu also possessed Muddy Water Thunder, Samadhi True Fire, Thunder Law, and other Spells; at full power, he could assault modern fortresses.
Mr. Chuan was an expert in Earth Spells; standing on the earth rendered him unbeatable. He had no weaknesses in Attack, Defense, or Move. In a previous battle with 'Aurora Roy,' the ace of the Federal Undertakers, Roy was sent fleeing while Mr. Chuan remained unscathed.
As for the Endless Monk, a single Support Secret Technique from him could enable Dong Chengling to maintain a Space Gate for tens of minutes. His support capabilities were truly endless—compared to his vast, ocean-like support power, Ren Suo's was pathetically small.
Of course, the Fourth-Stage Cultivators from the Great Wall were elites among their kind, undoubtedly much stronger than the average Fourth-Stage Cultivator. But this served as a testament that Fourth-Stage Cultivators indeed far surpassed Third-turn ones.
"Therefore, I have decided to take time off for seclusion to challenge the fourth transformation," Dong Chengling said. "The normal Cultivation schedule yields little for me. I must focus exclusively and exhaust all my Potential to even glimpse a chance for a breakthrough."
Bai Ji immediately approved Dong Chengling's leave. Ren Suo then took Little Jiu home. Since Dong Chengling wouldn't be cooking, teaching, or going out during her breakthrough, the responsibility of caring for Little Jiu naturally fell to Ren Suo.
Dong Chengling also trusted Ren Suo greatly. His past instances of "reporting" on Little Jiu had proven him to be a mature adult capable of managing and disciplining young girls.
Indeed, Ren Suo strictly followed Dong Chengling's instructions, ensuring Little Jiu was in bed before 11:00 PM and setting an alarm to take her to school on time the next day. After all, Little Jiu's presence at home was preventing him from playing his games.
Ren Suo had experimented with this before: besides the television, as long as the Mini-World Game Console was placed near any screen, pressing the power button on the controller would cause the nearest screen to be automatically commandeered by the console, becoming its display. Follow current novels on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚫𝙣𝙚𝙩
In other words, Ren Suo could perfectly well play the Mini-World Game Console in his bedroom.
He hadn't done so previously simply because playing on the large TV was more enjoyable, and lounging on the sofa while gaming was a double dose of happiness.
But now that Little Jiu was here, Ren Suo had to resort to playing games in his bedroom.
Ren Suo also considered whether to let Little Jiu know about the Mini-World Game Console, but in the end, he abandoned the idea.
After all, the console can't play games by itself, so Little Jiu knowing wouldn't be much use. At most, she could offer suggestions for his games—but he could just as easily discuss strategies with silly netizens online. Besides, Little Jiu couldn't register a new account to become a new Player on the Mini-World Game Console anyway. So, the only benefit of telling her would be to earn her starry-eyed admiration. But Ren Suo genuinely loved the Mini-World Game Console; he considered it his own personal triumph, not something to flaunt.
Just then, Ren Suo's phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, he answered, "Cheng Ling, what's up?"
After a moment of Silence from the other end, a voice said, "Congratulations."
"You've said that many times today."
However, Ren Suo, equipped with his "Listening Headphones," picked up complex reverberations from Dong Chengling: When I was at the third stage, you hadn't reached the second. Now you're at the third, and I'm advancing to the fourth. It's a shame our Cultivation paths aren't synchronized.
It took Ren Suo three seconds to mentally translate the sentiment, summarize its content, extract the central idea, and understand Dong Chengling's feelings. He replied, "Don't wait for me."
"The Dong Chengling I know is a girl who relentlessly walks ahead of me, then turns back with a proud gaze, beckoning me to hurry up and catch her."
"You are very proud. Shouldn't you be, becoming Lianjiang's first Fourth-Stage Cultivator?"
After a brief Silence, Dong Chengling replied, "Yes, I am proud."
"So, the faster you go, the happier I'll be," Ren Suo said sincerely. "I genuinely Hope that you can reach the very pinnacle of a Cultivator's path, then turn around and tell me, 'The view up ahead is amazing; hurry over!'"
Dong Chengling giggled.
"So, you don't have to wait for me. It's not your fault you're moving fast; it's mine—I'm slower than you," Ren Suo said. "I'll catch up sooner or later, and then… we'll walk forward together."
"Well, I'll be heading off first then."
"Mm-hm, no need to wait for me. I'll be thinking about Cultivation even in my sleep. I'll catch up with you soon."
"Good. I'll wait for you up ahead."
After hanging up, Ren Suo rubbed his temples. Now that Dong Chengling has advanced to the fourth transformation, her Bond Ability, 'Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart,' should also be upgraded, right? However, 'Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart' is still sealed… and there aren't many days left until the 44-day mark. Initially, I thought about using the Bond upgrade to refresh cooldowns, but now it seems unnecessary—I rarely have occasion to use the 'Within Reach, Yet Worlds Apart' Ability anyway. How should I put it? It's probably similar to the saying 'an otaku is easy to keep.' Being someone largely without worldly Desires, I don't really need many Abilities; my Abilities are all for my game characters.
While he was pondering, a notification popped up on the internal network. Ren Suo clicked on it and glanced over; it concerned an issue with the Federation.
Ever since the Disaster Form of the Source of Disaster appeared in the "Destiny" live stream, it seemed there was a chance a Source of Disaster would manifest whenever disasters struck anywhere in the world. Defeating the Source of Disaster could eliminate the Calamity.
However, the Source of Disaster only existed for a short time and was quite powerful; ordinary people couldn't handle them. Thus, natural and man-made disasters continued to occur inevitably.
The internal network notification was about a Federation Watcher who had timely defeated a Source of Disaster, saving everyone from a fire.
Ren Suo glanced at it, only registering that the Watcher had blond hair, was handsome, possessed an excellent physique, and exuded great Affinity. Truly a public enemy to all men. Compared to some terrifying, scar-faced middle-aged man, this Watcher was far more suitable as the public face of the Watchers—an idol, essentially. Compared to him, You Jiu might be stronger, but… A powerhouse (perhaps a 'comedian of true talent') versus an idol type (a handsome blond)—which better represents an organization's image?
Ren Suo browsed the internal network for a while longer. Feeling it was about time, he switched to the game console's channel.
When the clock ticked from 23:59 to 00:00, Ren Suo took a deep breath and opened the "World Store"!
This next game felt crucial. Even after clearing the 5-Star-level game "Hand of Fate," his Player Level hadn't increased. He figured that by playing higher Star-level games this month, he should be able to advance to Player Level 5! Reaching Level 5 meant new Player permissions and an upgrade for "Rippling Spring Sounds"! Although there was no concrete proof, no matter how he thought about it, Ren Suo felt that "Rippling Spring Sounds" had to be related to Player Level. Once "Rippling Spring Sounds" was upgraded, his Collector—which had been passively active—would finally be useful. It had already gathered plenty of Desires, meaning he could at least enjoy another Food God Meal! His earlier claim about quickly catching up to Dong Chengling wasn't just empty talk—of course, he'd rely on help from his game characters! Catching up through his own strength was impossible.
However, even if "Rippling Spring Sounds" was upgraded to 5 stars, he still wouldn't be able to summon the Disaster Girl. Although a game character's Star-level wasn't directly related to their strength, the Disaster Girl's ability to influence Destiny and her 'Flash Step' might well justify such a high rating—anyone who opposed her met with misfortune, and anyone who attacked her was invariably counter-killed.
That was a concern for after "Rippling Spring Sounds" was upgraded. Right now, what he needed to do was play a High Star-level game!
Thankfully, November brought no surprises; the "Free Game of the Month" section appeared as expected.
Ren Suo didn't hesitate, promptly using up his "Start of Winter" and "Minor Snow" holiday promotional events.
He'd finally figured it out—he should stick to free games instead of splurging on titles during sales. The Star-level of promotional games wasn't guaranteed to be high, and he usually scored between 70 and 80 points anyway. Unless it was a pay-to-win game or a special situation, hitting 90 was tough. In that case, the Merit Points spent buying and playing games were roughly equivalent to what he earned back. Having tasted the sweet reward from leveling up from Player Level 3 to 4—even snagging the powerful "Bond System"—he naturally wanted to save more Merit Points to milk the game console for more rewards during future lucky draws. Of course, playing more games meant having more game characters at his disposal. So, he decided: if a month had only two promotional events, he'd use both to pick games. If there were three, he'd only use the first two. Using only one holiday promotion meant only one game choice, which didn't feel like true Freedom. If he had to play whatever the console gave him, then wasn't the console the one getting a free ride off *him*? A true freeloader ought to have choices!
Thus, two games appeared on the screen:
"Crowdfunding Rebirth"
'This is a role-playing strategy game. The Player becomes an amnesiac powerhouse from a future apocalypse where survival is impossible. Aided by the combined strength of countless companions, this individual is reborn in the past. However, the journey through time erases all memories, leaving only the companions' wishes.'
'By fulfilling these wishes, the powerhouse gradually recovers fragments of strength, enabling the completion of 107 wishes from companions scattered far and wide.'
'Maximum Merit Point reward: 450. Exclusive completion reward: "Wish Exchange." In-app purchases available. Single chapter, potential for future expansion. Difficulty: 4 Stars.'
Ren Suo let out a soft "Oh?" This game… seems quite interesting. The only problem is that the exclusive reward, 'Wish Exchange,' seems utterly baffling. However, wouldn't playing this game allow me to glimpse the future through the protagonist? I just finished playing 'Hand of Fate' and eliminated five doomed futures, and now you're telling me the future is *still* an apocalypse? Is Earth really this dangerous? Should I just go back to Mars?
With that, his Enthusiasm for this 'future powerhouse' cooled considerably. Besides, the game mentioned 'recovering strength,' not 'recovering memories'… Sounds like the game console's usual misleading wordplay, a commercial deception.
So, Ren Suo turned his attention to the other game and was slightly taken aback:
'This is a role-playing strategy game. The Player becomes a Demon Lord hunted by the Six Major Factions, fleeing with a Maid in a Foreign Country.'
'Every choice the Player makes will determine the Demon Lord's fate and shape the future of the Martial World.'
'Maximum Merit Point reward: 500. Exclusive completion reward: "Erase Authority." In-app purchases available. Single chapter, no future expansions. Difficulty: 5 Stars.'