Ruan Ruoyin’s throat tightened as she swallowed her food, nearly choking.
She frantically switched out of the game.
Zaizai, Mom didn’t mean to look at your upper body!
After the panic subsided, Ruan Ruoyin stared wide-eyed at her phone.
He was her Zaizai—what was wrong with looking?
Besides, it was only his upper body, not any important parts!
Although she easily convinced herself, Ruan Ruoyin ultimately didn’t open the game again.
She spent the difficult thirty-six hours immersed in a novel.
Truthfully, Ruan Ruoyin played other games too, but after playing The Path of Cultivation for the Peerless Demon Lord, she couldn’t get into any other games.
Whenever she saw any game character, she would compare them to her own Zaizai. The facts proved that no game character could compare to her Zaizai!
The illusory scene of the alchemy room came into view. Ruan Ruoyin saw that Zaizai had already put on his clothes. A thin black cord outlined his slender waist, and his ink-black hair cascaded like a waterfall over his shoulders, half-covering his jade-like earlobes and slender neck. His dark, fierce aura felt even more oppressive now.
Suddenly, the image of Zaizai’s bare upper body flashed through Ruan Ruoyin’s mind.
Ruan Ruoyin slapped her own face. Stop it, stop it—no lewd thoughts!
She noticed a line of small text appear on the screen and examined it carefully.
【Fu Ruheng’s bone structure and talent have been restored, successfully awakening a mutated Ice Spiritual Root.】
Ruan Ruoyin blinked, not entirely satisfied with Zaizai’s spiritual root talent.
Zaizai was the future Demon Lord—how could he only awaken one spiritual root?!
This cultivation game differed from the systems in cultivation novels; here, the more spiritual roots one had, the more powerful they were.
The most common were the five elemental spiritual roots, followed by mutated ones like wind, ice, and thunder.
Zaizai’s mutated Ice Spiritual Root was strong, but it didn’t match the awe-inspiring identity of the Demon Lord.
Ruan Ruoyin asked the Game System, “Will Zaizai awaken more spiritual roots in the future?”
The Game System bubbled up: 【After the Demon Lord’s Special Bloodline awakens, he will awaken a mutated Dark Spiritual Root.】
Ruan Ruoyin: That’s it? That’s it?
So underwhelming!
Ruan Ruoyin rubbed her hands together. “System, I’m going to spend money—arrange a mutated Thunder Spiritual Root for Zaizai!”
Why choose the Thunder Spiritual Root? Mainly because she considered that Zaizai would face thunder tribulations later.
With a mutated Thunder Spiritual Root, thunder tribulations would be like child’s play—practically supplements for Zaizai!
It could even boost his cultivation!
The Game System was accustomed to Ruan Ruoyin’s extravagance. After deducting 648 from Ruan Ruoyin’s Black Card, it immediately arranged a mutated Thunder Spiritual Root for Fu Ruheng.
Fu Ruheng sat cross-legged, absorbing the remaining medicinal power of the Elixir that had reshaped his spiritual root talent. Suddenly, a wild and chaotic force rampaged through his body. Before he could suppress this sudden power, it gentled down, and then… he discovered he had gained another spiritual root.
A mutated Thunder Spiritual Root.
Fu Ruheng: “…”
His heart skipped a beat.
Even though he knew that person was omnipotent, he was still shocked by their methods.
He hadn’t even sensed that person’s presence, yet in the blink of an eye, they had awakened another spiritual root for him.
Out of all the spiritual roots, why specifically a Thunder Spiritual Root…
Fu Ruheng lowered his gaze. Waves of emotion surged in his heart, nearly making half his body go weak. He couldn’t control his thoughts; his mind was filled with the idea that “that person was afraid he would be in danger during thunder tribulations,” which was why they had awakened a Thunder Spiritual Root for him.
He didn’t want to assume too much, but his mind stubbornly insisted on believing it.
That person cherished him so much, he didn’t know how to repay them.
Wealth, power—that person lacked nothing.
What did that person need?
His body?
Fu Ruheng lowered his eyes, the floor tiles reflecting his breathtakingly beautiful face that blurred gender lines. His fair skin and delicate features, with peach blossom eyes half-closed into a slender arc, trembling lashes—all presented a fragile, vulnerable demeanor.
When he had no power, people used to say his appearance was more beautiful than any woman’s.
In the past, he hated his own beauty…
But now, he was grateful to have such good looks.
As if possessed, Fu Ruheng tugged his clothes downward slightly. The startling snow-white of his chest intertwined with the black fabric, like white paper stained with thick ink, or white night devoured by darkness—an indescribable beauty akin to divine craftsmanship, mysterious and soul-stirring.
Moments later, a familiar soft touch landed on his chest.
Fu Ruheng’s face flushed so hot it seemed to steam. He thought that person might take liberties with him, but they only properly adjusted his clothes before stopping.
Fu Ruheng’s complexion paled again.
As if plummeting from heaven to hell.
Did that person… not like his body?
Fu Ruheng swayed unsteadily, bracing himself against the floor with both hands to keep from collapsing.
Outside the screen, Ruan Ruoyin puzzledly tapped her head. Why was Zaizai suddenly pulling at his clothes?
Before she could figure it out, a small thought bubble appeared above Zaizai’s head.
“Want to die.”
Ahhh, why was Zaizai having these suicidal thoughts again?
Ruan Ruoyin panicked immensely. Remembering how she used to coax children, her eyes lit up. “System, I want to spend money. Deduct whatever amount—get Zaizai a stick of candied hawthorns! The sweetest, sweetest, sweetest kind!”
As her words ended, a plump, enticing stick of candied hawthorns appeared beside Fu Ruheng’s hand.
Ruan Ruoyin dragged the candied hawthorns to touch Fu Ruheng’s hand. His collapsing emotions paused slightly. Dazedly, he stared at the vibrant red appearing in his vision. Lifting his hand, he blinked away the faint mist over his eyes. His slender, jade-white fingers unconsciously grasped the small wooden stick holding the candied hawthorns.
His voice hoarse, he tilted his head in confusion. “For me?”
Ruan Ruoyin patted Fu Ruheng’s head, silently affirming. “For you.”
Fu Ruheng’s eyes lowered slightly at the corners. His cherry-pink, thin lips closed around the top hawthorn ball.
So sweet.
The overwhelming sweetness diluted the despair and panic in his heart.
That person was coaxing him.
With sweet candied hawthorns.
When Fu Ruheng was young, he envied children with families—envied how they were cherished while growing up, envied how someone coaxed them to buy candy. Later, when he became the Demon Lord, money became the thing he lacked least. He bought candy for himself and ate it, but it was so sweet it made him want to vomit.
In this second life, the candy in his hand was bought by the person he cared about. He ate it without a physiological feeling of nausea, only a feeling of being warm and healing.
So, with a different mindset, the experience of eating was also different.
Fu Ruheng licked the candied hawthorns, tears at the corners of his eyes falling like broken strings of beads, dropping one by one onto the floor.
His Spiritual Root talent had been restored, but his physique was still weak. As he silently wept, his waist trembled along, the corners of his eyes tinged with a blush of rouge, sickness spreading across his cheeks.
Ruan Ruoyin’s heart ached terribly.
She could guess why Zaizai was crying.
Zaizai used to live in dire straits, never knowing where his next meal would come from. For him, candy was unaffordable—a luxury beyond reach. Growing from a little baby into an eighteen-year-old youth was a bumpy, arduous journey. In his world, there was only bitterness, no sweetness.
She wanted to pamper Zaizai a little more.
Ruan Ruoyin found it hard to think of Zaizai as just a fictional character. His emotions were incredibly sensitive; he was delicate and evoked pity, yet his nature was so resilient and unyielding. Even without her interference in his life, he could still rely on that tenacity to become a generation’s Demon Lord.
But there were no what-ifs—she had intervened anyway.
Ruan Ruoyin gently nuzzled the corner of Zaizai’s eye, whispering softly, “Be good, Zaizai, don’t cry. Mom will stay with you for a long, long time, until you no longer need me.”
She had plenty of time; she could spend the whole day immersed in the game, keeping Zaizai company.
Zaizai, grow up well and strong.
Ruan Ruoyin didn’t dare think too much about the day Zaizai would become the Demon Lord, because that would mean the game had reached its end…
The soft touch wiped away his tears, and Fu Ruheng clung greedily to the sensation of that person’s tenderness.
With the crushed candy in his mouth, he suddenly understood.
He didn’t need to rush to repay that person.
That person had no interest in his body, most likely because he was too frail.
If he cultivated diligently and built up his health, one day he would surely reach a state that would please that person.