China, Ruannan Province.
Obsidian Apartment.
Xi Shi walked to the door and looked through the peephole, seeing a group of men and women crowded into the stairwell.
She could not help but sigh as she held up a vanity mirror to examine her face.
She had always thought the phrase "beauty brings disaster" was an idiom ancient male rulers had fabricated to shirk responsibility.
Now, she had to admit that the phrase did contain a measure of truth.
The face in the mirror simply did not belong in the real world. It looked more like the face of a female character from a 2D world.
Her willow-leaf brows were slender, her delicate nose exquisite, and her skin fine and flawless, like the smoothest, most luxurious jade. Her pale silver eyes, with their metallic sheen, gave her an ethereal, otherworldly air untouched by mortal concerns.
Not a single feature was flawed, and together, they appeared exceptionally perfect.
All these changes had happened three days ago.
Three days ago, she had merely been an ordinary girl. Even when the Blood Moon Incident had suddenly added three centimeters to her height, she had not paid it much mind, assuming it was simply a second growth spurt.
Because of her name, she had suffered countless sneers and slights throughout her life.
In the ancient State of Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period, there had been a beauty named Shi Yiguang, whom people customarily called "Xi Shi."
Her parents had given her that name with good intentions, hoping their daughter would grow up beautiful.
The more people lacked something, the more they emphasized it.
That saying was completely true.
Xi Shi's parents both looked quite ordinary, so naturally, the genes they passed down to her did not provide much of a beauty bonus.
From elementary school through high school, she had always been mockingly called "Dong Shi" by her energetic classmates.
Dong Shi imitating Xi Shi's frown...
Calling an ordinary girl who loved cleanliness an ugly girl was going too far.
So Xi Shi hated her classmates.
Although she had always endured the gossip around her, hoping everything would improve once she made it to university, she had never imagined such a change would happen to her...
During this time, entertainment companies such as Huayi, Lion, Dongman, Nanyan, and Yanxing had all sent talent scouts to her, hoping to sign her and bring her into show business.
The terms in those contracts were extremely generous, but Xi Shi had still turned them down.
Before she truly adjusted to her current face, she did not want to go outside at all.
The change had come too abruptly. She needed time to accept everything!
When she had first become a Silver-Eyed, Xi Shi had not noticed the changes to her appearance. She had gone out to buy breakfast for her mother and been secretly photographed several times.
Thus...
She had gained a huge number of fans online.
The men and women blocking her door now were only a small portion of them.
"Sweetheart... your fans have been waiting outside all day. Won't you go say a few words to them?"
Her father's gentle voice, filled with helplessness, sounded from the kitchen.
The noise in the corridor immediately quieted considerably.
"No!"
Xi Shi pursed her lips, then ran into her bedroom and locked the door.
What a cruel world that judged people by their faces!
Recently, who knew how many male classmates from elementary school, middle school, and her current class had apologized to her on QQ and WeChat, sending flirtatious messages and showering her with fawning praise.
It disgusted her.
They had never thought to invest early, spending every day making snide remarks and gossiping. And now they wanted to date her?
Pah!
They could keep dreaming!
Xi Shi logged onto Weibo and rapidly typed out a string of words.
"Friends, please stop blocking my door! I don't like boys..."
Xi Shi froze halfway through writing.
She suddenly realized that a considerable number of her fans were enthusiastic young women who made her scalp tingle.
The lucky girl clutched her head and let out a low groan.
"Uwaaah!"
Her head hurt!
After thinking for a moment, Xi Shi changed the wording.
"Gentlemen, aside from my parents, I have no interest whatsoever in any mediocre human beings."
"Emmm... except Great God Yan Anqing."
"Yan God isn't human."
"Ordinary people, please do not bother me. Thank you for your cooperation."
Although the wording was rather chuunibyou, it conveyed her attitude well enough. It should be enough to keep all those pesky admirers outside the door.
The forthright, innocent girl had never considered that such remarks might draw backlash.
Xi Shi reread it several times, nodded her little head in satisfaction, and posted the Weibo update.
In less than three minutes, the replies had exceeded five hundred.
Her bedroom door was pounded with loud thumps.
Her mother's roar pierced through the door, making the forthright girl cower and tremble beneath the covers.
"You little brat, your wings have gotten hard, huh?!"
"What do you mean, 'aside from my parents, I have no interest in any mediocre human beings'?"
"Without your mother's excellent genes, where would you have come from?!"
"Mediocre! Mediocre! Get out here, you ungrateful little brat, and explain yourself properly!"
Unable to hide any longer, Xi Shi cautiously opened the door and received her mother's loving guidance, taught through blows.
Within the Zhaofu Well Underground Secret Base.
"Congratulations, player, you have obtained the achievement—Public Enemy of Males." "Your number of admirers of the opposite sex has reached one hundred thousand." "Main Quest 2's current completion progress: 9/10."
After completing its little routine, the Black and White Dumpling scampered out of sight.
Yan Anqing still wore his usual expressionless face, but a faint glimmer flickered in his eyes.
Just one more achievement, and the second stage of the Main Quest could be completed...
Unlocking new game functions was only one aspect. Yan Anqing was also very interested in the so-called Overview of the Infinite Planes Power System.
He wanted to know what kind of evaluation his magically modified creations would receive within a broader worldview.
What position did Yu Hongyi, now a little Superman, occupy?
The starting point? Or the pinnacle?
While Yan Anqing silently pondered, a handsome Golden-Eyed One came to his side.
Ma Ran.
He had accepted Yan Anqing's scientific training plan alongside Yu Hongyi.
When the proliferation rate of the Limitless Cells in Yu Hongyi's body had reached 10%, Ma Ran had only barely reached 3%.
This did not mean Ma Ran had been slacking off.
On the contrary, according to the aptitude assessments Yan Anqing had originally conducted for them, Ma Ran's willpower was only one-fifth of Yu Hongyi's. Even with scientific exercise, nutritional supplements, and sufficient sleep every day, he had only been expected to reach 2%.
Ma Ran...
Had surpassed his own limits.
He had paid a price for it—his mental state was terrible, his expression vacant, and he looked as though he had been thoroughly ravaged.
His face was pale and bloodless, his eyelids slightly swollen, his lips dark purple, and even his pair of golden eyes appeared dull and lifeless.
Ma Ran was like a toy running low on power; every movement he made felt stiff and sluggish.
He looked as though he might go into shock at any moment.
This was not a sleep issue, nor was it insufficient nutrition. Even his body had not shown any signs of overload.
The exhaustion of his mind had exceeded its limits, throwing his endocrine system into disorder and dragging down his physical body.
Countless subconscious experiments had proven that, for most people, the body and mind could often affect one another.
Ma Ran stood there blankly for about two minutes before finally remembering why he had come.
He slowly said, "Yan God, do you think I'm a born salted fish?"
"The kind who can't accomplish anything, the kind no one can save?"
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Yan Anqing said, "No. You can be saved. I said so."
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