This physique could actually count as a standard inverted triangle—this…
There was no one around.
Yet someone was using sound transmission arts to play tricks in front of him.
He walked along the riverbank and said casually with a smile, "Might I ask which deity you are, Your Excellency?"
Rong Chunsong glanced at the garden outside the window where lotuses bloomed profusely, and spoke off the cuff: "My honorific title is Wondrous Existence Lotus Realm Pure and At Ease Lord Great Compassionate World-Saving Heavenly Venerable, abbreviated as Lotus Heaven."
The mosaic human figure on the panel visibly paused for a moment.
【Target Character: Shang Daoling.】
【Favorability Value: -20.】
Well, seeing this negative favorability value, she knew the other party wouldn't be so easily fooled. He probably just hadn't expected her to rattle off such a long string of honorific titles in one breath. But she didn't want to use the "She must be a goddess descended to the mortal realm" halo just yet—this little prop was extremely impressive, and now wasn't the time to show off big. She'd first rely on herself to show off small.
Rong Chunsong brought up the small window panel displaying the original novel's content, swept through her Sea of Consciousness, and found something useful in the massive word-flood characteristic of male-oriented web novels.
A brief appearance of Shang Daoling's past, tucked away in some obscure corner.
She spoke calmly, as if she truly possessed a pair of heavenly eyes that knew past and present, having seen through his past:
"When you were young, you once wandered to a fishing village. You often gazed alone at the river's surface, and even picked up small fish and shrimp that washed ashore to eat. That's why later, when you roamed the four seas, you always liked to rest by the water."
Hmm, this slightly melancholic childhood was meant to set up the male protagonist casually destroying the Dragon Palace's aquatic clan in Chapter 570, on the grounds that their existence polluted the lake water and affected his scenery-viewing.
"But the residents of that small fishing village often mocked you, didn't they? Because of your face."
Well, apparently it was mentioned in some corner that Shang Daoling used to be unattractive. It was all this novel's fault for being so watered-down that she hadn't noticed at first.
"If you serve me and run errands for me, I can bring down a divine miracle and restore your appearance and body."
Restore his appearance and body.
His ghostly appearance, covered in black spots, was an innate curse. By chance he had become a Rogue Cultivator, wandering the four seas, witnessing the spiritual beauty of mountains and rivers and extraordinary people. He had once thought of finding a way to remove the curse from his body.
But many years had passed, and to this day he had never met anyone who could restore his appearance.
Even Illusion Arts could not conceal the traces of this curse.
Anyway, idle was idle—he might as well play along with this woman who was putting on mystical airs.
"Esteemed Lotus Heaven Venerable, since you understand my past so well, you should also know how I currently make my living. If your little spells fail, I wouldn't mind letting you appreciate my professional skills…" He smiled teasingly.
He currently made his living by killing people.
To be precise, he was the hitman in hired killings.
Beneath the broad Daoist robe was a tight outfit suited for movement.
This matter was also recorded in the original text of Celestial Feast of Consumption: "I heard that when the Nightmare Nest Path Lord was young, he drifted across the four seas and once made a living taking contracts to kill. On the road, people called him Mad Dog, Evil Ghost, Smiling Tiger."
Rong Chunsong rolled her eyes.
Ah, what a pretentious man.
Then let this w-o-r-k-e-r get a good look at what true, magnificent pretension really is.
【Skill "Atmospheric Aura" has taken effect.】
Atmospheric Aura. Given the System's name, it was easy to associate it with something like stream-of-consciousness or edge-polishing literature. But she had just studied the details of this skill, and its description was only a single short line: "First-rate stage design, crafting the exclusive Atmospheric Aura you need for your host."
First, a little wisp of smoke.
Then a bit of dazzling golden light.
And preferably a surge of powerful music—
Green smoke curled gently, flowing light danced through the air, Sanskrit tones rippled like water, and a pristine white lotus silhouette flickered in and out of view.
The surrounding environment shifted abruptly. Shang Daoling had been about to draw the short blade from her waist, but beneath her wide sleeves, the severed stump of her arm suddenly burned with a searing heat.
The Graceful Figure Pill's description was likewise only a single short line—it allowed the user to possess a graceful figure.
At first glance, it seemed like nonsense literature.
But when she dragged the item from her inventory and dropped it onto the Observation Avatar's head, the small item's details column suddenly bloomed with a long string of automatically generated text—something that seemed suspiciously like edge-polishing literature.
[Detected item usage target: Shang Daoling. Analyzing target's temperament… After using the Graceful Figure Pill, "Shang Daoling" will possess broad shoulders and a narrow waist, tall and elegantly handsome, muscles firm as cast metal, curves fierce and condensed.]
To put it plainly, that meant an inverted-triangle physique with clearly defined muscle blocks and excellent hand-feel. Though… his build had already been an inverted triangle to begin with. Using the Graceful Figure Pill would probably just repair his disability and add a bit of muscle to improve the hand-feel.
A ding sounded.
[Item "Graceful Figure Pill" x1 has been used. Target Shang Daoling has received the Broad-Shouldered Leopard-Waist BUFF. Shang Daoling's malnutrition and disability status have been removed.]
The clear river water reflected a tall, upright, and heroic figure.
Flesh regrew over bone, blood flowed anew—his severed arm… the sensation of still having his right hand was something he hadn't recalled in ten years. Shang Daoling opened and closed that hand with its long, well-defined fingers, a flicker of bewilderment passing through his eyes.
In the wind, that female voice sounded once more.
"I've shown a sliver of my divine power to heal your disability—how about it? Join my cult this instant, and I'll restore your appearance as a bonus."
On the other end, the Observation Avatar chuckled. "Milord, you've only given your honorific title. What cult is it that you lead?"
Ah, she'd let her tongue run ahead of her again and added another setting for herself.
Fine then, let it be called…
"The Huazang Cult."
Huazang—the Lotus Treasury World—meant a pure and solemn world hidden within a lotus. Very good, very magnificent, very mysterious, very Zen—thankfully she read a lot in her spare time and knew a bit about Buddhist doctrine.
In the original novel, Shang Daoling's dao name was Nightmare Nest Path Lord, and in the mid-to-late stages, he also had his own cult. Having the esteemed cult leader himself become her follower didn't seem like a bad deal. Step by step, the male lead could first run errands and do odd jobs for her to accumulate experience, and only then would he be ready to venture out and start his own enterprise.
Shang Daoling was silent for a breath.
This person truly had some skill. The way she eagerly wanted to recruit him into her fold suggested she was probably an Evil Immortal or spirit with just a bit of cultivation. So she'd picked out someone who seemed "pitiful" to accumulate merit, and was urgently seeking to draw in incense and faith.
If she could restore his appearance, temporarily playing along with her and posing as her follower was no trouble at all.
As for what she wanted him to do—if it was helping her kill a few people, that was a trivial matter. She'd sought him out, perhaps precisely because she'd noticed how cleanly he handled things. Once the killing was done, they'd be square.
His thin lips curved into a slight arc: "Then from now on, should I, your believer, address you as Heavenly Venerable or as Sect Leader?"
Not bad—this male lead knows to feign politeness when he needs something from someone, knowing to call her Heavenly Venerable and Sect Leader.
"Just call me Heavenly Venerable. Drop the Sect Leader."
Calling her Sect Leader easily brings to mind Dongfang ○ Bai…
Another ding.
[Item "Snow-Skin Rosy-Cheek Pill" ×1 has been used. Target Shang Daoling gains the BUFF Skin Radiant as Snow, texture smooth and even as if carved, cool to the touch yet warming. The black birthmark on Shang Daoling's face has been removed.]
Green smoke, golden light, Sanskrit chanting, and lotus flowers all dispersed from his body.
This whole string of flashy ethereal sounds and radiant lights, when they scattered, also carried away the pitch-black mottled marks on his face.
Without a word, he narrowed his eyes and examined this face.
So this was what his face looked like beneath the marks.
The humiliations he had suffered in childhood because of this face were beyond counting. In his blood-soaked career, he had rarely ever examined this thing—this thing that might or might not count as human skin.
A face like this, if it were on someone else, he might well have resorted to some trick to ruin their looks whenever he was in a bad mood. Ten years of toying with the world—the more beautiful something was, the more he wanted to destroy it.
But now, this face was on his own body.
Deep-set contours, long dark brows, ink-black phoenix eyes, a jade-like countenance tinged with a certain pallor—snow-white pallor set against the deepest black, giving off instead a kind of bewitching, demonic beauty.
A ghost from the netherworld had grown a magnificent Painted Skin anew.
That woman who inexplicably called herself Lotus Heaven seemed to have truly reshaped his flesh with a single lotus petal.
As the marks faded, the large and small, fine and dense scars left on this face—still only in its early twenties—from years of beast-like slaughter also vanished along with them.
No more marks, no more need to wear a veil hat or mask.
Those mosquito-like annoying gazes of terror or contempt could also cease.
Most importantly… this face would surely be better at gaining others' trust. Truly a great convenience for his "livelihood." Otherwise, when a target spots a masked man or a person with a face full of marks from afar, they always grow wary.
But that Ghost Immortal said in his ear: "My first request is that you stop taking money to kill people, and do not recklessly slaughter the innocent."
Rong Chunsong thought to himself, wondering if the Favorability Value could go up—but he might as well take the opportunity to lower the Darkness Value of this dark male-lead novel first.
The Observation Avatar seemed to fall silent for a breath.
A flicker of danger passed through his eyes. Other trades couldn't compare to the profit of one hand taking money and the other handing over a brocade box containing a severed head.
But having just received a "boon," this cheap believer of hers had to put on a show at least.
He smiled slowly into the void: "As you command."
Just as he thought this matter had temporarily come to a close—
In the void, that young female voice came again.
"Now let's take a look at the little figure I sculpted. Not bad, not bad—much more appetizing now."
Not just the female voice.
There was also a woman's hand.
"Much easier on the eyes without the black marks. There's even a small mole at the corner of his lips—nice, nice, quite charming."
"This physique is a standard inverted triangle too, and this butt is quite perky. Let me give it a squeeze."
From a distance, he really was pinched by someone.
Through a layer of Daoist robe, an unfamiliar shudder rolled across his skin.
Only when he noticed the Observation Avatar's long brows furrow slightly did Rong Chunsong realize something was off.
It turned out that the real-time interaction function with the target wasn't turned off yet. She had just used two items in quick succession, and the System had lagged—she'd tapped away frantically, thinking she'd already disabled the real-time interaction.
Fine, so he heard her. What was this paper cutout going to do, talk back to her?
She casually pinched his leopard-like waist again.
"What, having received my kindness, you dare to have objections?"
It took a long moment before Shang Daoling squeezed out two words: "I… wouldn't dare."
When had he ever been so frivolously teased and molested? First he was groped, then she'd established her authority over him with such overbearing arrogance, asking if he had any objections—it was utterly, utterly humiliating.
But this woman's spiritual power could override his curse, meaning her cultivation was likely above his. For now, it was better not to burn bridges with her.
So restoring his appearance had been for her own ulterior motives after all.
Dual cultivation? Draining his essence?
He knew well that every gift in this world came with a price, but this price was truly beyond anything he'd anticipated…
A flicker of darkness passed through Shang Daoling's eyes.
This Ghost Immortal's voice sounded quite young—truly young and reckless, daring to provoke anyone.
If she had the guts, let her manifest before him.
[Ding. Target Shang Daoling's Favorability Value +5. Current Favorability Value: -15.]
She'd practically remade him into a proper man, and the Favorability Value only went up by five points?
She'd thought it would at least return to zero, but it was still in the negatives!
Was this the psychological defense of a dark-flow male lead? Thicker than city walls. She'd spent two small items in a row and only earned five points of favorability.
Well, he was a formidable character with a [Corruption Value: 60] after all.
Though those two beauty items were useless to her, next time she'd be more careful with this stingy man—using skills would be more cost-effective.
Rong Chunsong sighed, losing interest, and "logged off" for now. Because—
"Xiao Chun! I've been calling you to come eat, and you still haven't come!"
She'd been so absorbed in playing this raising game that when maidservants came several times to invite her to the main hall for the meal, she'd just said "wait a moment, I'm coming."
And so she kept waiting and waiting, until her mother came to drag her out personally.
Outside the door, a woman who looked no older than thirty, with a graceful brow and elegant features, was watching her with a "smile."
Rong Chunsong quickly closed the System panel in her mind, stepped forward briskly, and dutifully took her mother's arm: "Coming, coming—I'm coming right now, aren't I?"