The next morning, at 5:58 AM.
Shen Family Five-Star Hotel, Presidential Suite 404.
Jiangnan opened her eyes precisely on time.
After a night of suppression, his eyes had completely lost all worldly desires.
Clear and profound, I entered a state of sagehood.
He expressionlessly removed the underwear covering his face and moved aside the two soft, delicate bodies that were entwined like octopuses.
She rolled out of bed and walked barefoot to the French windows.
I drew back the curtains, bathed in the cool, dim light of early morning in Soul Return Town, and stood confidently by the window, walking my bird.
Looking at the undulating buildings outside the window, a trace of vicissitude flashed in Jiangnan's eyes, and he felt a sense of melancholy.
Life is unpredictable; the large intestine encloses the small intestine.
"The effects of last night's medication seem to have led me astray again."
"Wait, why did I say 'again'?"
He tried to find the origin of the word "again" in his memory.
The time was exactly 6 a. m.
[Sky Curtain] arrived as promised.
[Hello! Warriors who survived! Welcome to Day Nine!]
[Let's start with a report on the fun things that happened on day eight!]
[That arrogant individual, despite not getting anything, still insists on going his own way.]
Such stubbornness will only lead to a crushing defeat in the end.
[Ahem, enough chit-chat, let's get back to the main topic!]
[Only one day remains until the end of this trial!]
[I wonder if everyone is ready for the final outcome?!]
Of course, it's okay if you're not prepared.
[After all... being able to return alive to that so-called "home" isn't necessarily a good thing, hehe~]
Finally, let's take a look at today's Novice Rankings!
[That cheater is finally gone!]
[Number 1: Eat Now or Get Old]
[Location]: Polar Icefield (A-Class Area)
[Battle Record]: Killed 2 Frost Drake (A-Class)
[Points]: 20000
[2nd Place: Needs More Roasting]
[Location]: Polar Icefield (A-Class Area)
[Battle Record]: Killed Frost Drake (A-Class) x 1
[Points]: 10000
Jiangnan glanced at the second-place finisher casually before looking away, without continuing to look at the rest.
Today is the second stage.
Jiangnan thought to himself, "After this, the final stage of the groom selection should begin."
Based on my past life's relationship with the Phoenix Emperor, I'm basically guaranteed to win.
But his fighting instincts told him things weren't that simple.
Phoenix Emperor's strange attitude and the Desolate God Society's plot in the town have cast a shadow over the selection competition.
The image of the blindfolded, white-haired old man he had encountered in mid-air resurfaced in Jiangnan's mind.
"All caution stems from insufficient firepower."
He looked at the Human Emperor Lamp on the coffee table.
Last night I accelerated the factory's time by four times; my "love points" should be enough now.
We must go in to improve our physical fitness and make up for our weaknesses.
The pressure on the body will also decrease when using the Dragon God Imperial Armor.
Jiangnan transformed into black smoke and entered the Human Emperor Lamp.
No sooner had they left than the two people on the bed, who were in a deep coma as the effects of the medication wore off, slowly opened their eyes.
"Hiss"
Both of them gasped simultaneously.
A tearing pain, ten times worse than hemorrhoids, shot from my lower body straight to the top of my head.
"You pervert! You beast! You bastard!"
Liu Ruyan was in so much pain that tears streamed down her face. She gripped the bedsheets and gritted her teeth, "This is killing me! You're not human!"
Upon seeing the hotel environment and the state of her body, Shangguan Shuyi's expression turned to horror and fear.
"Oh my god! What did I do last night? I had that kind of relationship with the Dragon God?"
She was trembling with fear, her mind blank.
If Phoenix Emperor knew that she hadn't completed her task of delivering vegetables as an apology and had instead slept with the Dragon God.
"It's over! I'm doomed!"
Shangguan Shuyi frantically imagined the Phoenix Emperor's fury.
"At best, they'll be beheaded; at worst, they'll be shaved into human stumps and turned into wine vats or human pigs!"
"No! I don't want to die! I don't want to be turned into a human pig!"
She broke down, clutching her head and trembling on the bed.
Despite the excruciating pain, Liu Ruyan turned her head and yelled, "Hey! You stinking woman! Have you gone crazy from being fucked? What are you yelling about!"
Shangguan Shuyi then realized that there was someone else in the bed.
"It's you?!"
She lunged forward and grabbed Liu Ruyan's arm, her eyes filled with humility and fear.
"Listen, whatever you do, don't tell anyone about what happened today!"
"We can't let anyone know! Otherwise, given Phoenix Emperor's methods, we'll both be torn to pieces!"
Liu Ruyan's lips twitched.
She, the dignified Sword Emperor, was inexplicably used as a mount and even had her body ripped open. How could she face anyone back home after this happened?
She wanted to keep this dark history to herself even more than Shangguan Shuyi.
"Nonsense! Who would blurt out something like that! Shut up, I'd rather die than say a word!"
Shangguan Shuyi was overjoyed. "That's wonderful! As long as we keep our mouths shut."
She had just stood up straight when the whole body was affected by the tearing sensation, causing her knees to buckle and she almost collapsed to her knees.
"I can't take it... it hurts so much."
Shangguan Shuyi broke out in a cold sweat, struggling to pick up her Daoist robe and put it on. "I need to go to the clinic to get some medicine."
Seeing her miserable pigeon-toed stance, Liu Ruyan swallowed hard, feeling a pang of sympathy.
She forced herself to get up despite the excruciating pain, picked up her tattered beggar's clothes, and managed to put them on.
"Count me in, I'll go too."
Liu Ruyan's face was pale.
Shangguan Shuyi did not stop her.
After last night's absurdity, the two of them can be considered as comrades-in-arms who have "fought together in the trenches".
They then helped each other out of room 404, limping as they walked.
The inner world of the Human Emperor Lamp.
Jiangnan stood suspended in mid-air, watching the numbers flash across the panel, feeling a sense of joy.
[Current Love Value Balance]: 348600
"Three hundred and forty thousand, that's very good."
Jiangnan looked at the enormous sum of money.
"You can make over 300,000 in profit in just four days, according to this logic..."
"Can I exploit the Great Love in Time bug to infinitely farm 'Great Love' points?"
Jiangnan felt great as she thought about it.
I plan to use this money to buy some equipment for the factory workers and improve the pressing process...
No, I mean productivity.
However, when he lowered his head and looked down at the male and female worker areas, he was stunned.
The Great Love Factory, which should have been bustling with activity, was now eerily quiet!
Most of the sewing machines had stopped, and rows of employees collapsed on the floor.
They were panting heavily, too weak to even lift a finger.
Only a handful of people remained, barely holding on, in the enormous workspace!
What happened?
"The troublemakers are on strike?!"
Jiangnan's face darkened, and he tore off a sticky note and wrote a line of text.
He then threw the note at Ye Desheng's face, who was maintaining Order in the men's work area.
Ye Desheng was hit by the note, looked up and saw Jiangnan in the void, and hurriedly went forward to report to his superior.
"Boss! You've finally arrived!"
Ye Desheng was so anxious he was almost in tears. "Nobody knows what's wrong, we just can't regain our strength!"
"These past two days, we've had wave after wave of people working at our desks, and now there's absolutely no one left to move!"
"If this keeps up, I'll have to go up and operate the sewing machine myself!"
"What? You can't regain your stamina?"
Jiangnan was shocked and puzzled.
Logically, the number of people should exceed the number of workstations.
They can recover their strength after a short rest during their shift change, so how could they all be exhausted?
Could it be that...
Jiangnan frowned, his gaze falling on a scholar who had collapsed to the ground.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the scholar's soul was currently in a flickering state.
It's as if it's recovering at an almost halting pace.
Seeing this, Jiangnan immediately spent 10,000 Great Love Points.
A [slowing down] aura was cast upon the area where the scholar was located.
The next second, Jiangnan keenly noticed.
In that area where time was slowed down, the scholar's soul flickered and recovered at a faster pace.
It stopped abruptly relative to external time!
That means it's not going to be restored!
Jiangnan withdrew, the time slowed down, and the scholar began to recover.
"I see..."
Jiangnan finally understood!
Or perhaps, he finally saw the hidden flaws in the seemingly invincible skill [Great Love in Time]!
The Human Emperor Lamp is itself a top-tier Weird Artifact with a powerful ability to nurture the soul.
But the problem lies in the laws of time!
Once Jiangnan used time acceleration or deceleration, he forcibly distorted the Time Flow within the factory area.
The Human Emperor Lamp possesses an inherent mechanism that gently nourishes the soul.
It will become invalid due to the disruption of the timeline!
Even more fatally, these employees are completely different from Jiangnan, who has a physical body!
They are all pure souls, working intensely on sewing machines in this shady factory.
What's being consumed isn't actually [stamina (Mana Bar)]
Instead, it's [Soul Power (Health Bar)]!
"In other words, my mana is depleted during labor, but it can be fully restored after a short rest."
"And their labor... is causing them to lose blood!"
Jiangnan looked down at the group of employees scrambling and crawling, and finally realized what was happening.
This large-scale shutdown, on the surface, seems to be due to the exhaustion of these workers.
The reason is actually because they are subjected to high-intensity, time-accelerated pressing.
My Health Bar is almost completely drained, I'm about to die!
"The price of not having a physical body is still a bit too high."
Jiangnan stroked his chin, assessing the current situation.
The only long-term solution to this problem is...
It is necessary to build dedicated [dormitories] next to the factory area.
This allows them to be free from the constraints of time when they are not at work.
Entering normal state, nourishing the soul and restoring vitality.
But now is clearly not the time to plan the architecture, because the employees are about to be driven to despair.
If no action is taken soon, his entire army of cheap labor will be wiped out.
"How can you harvest chives when they're all dead?"
Jiangnan raised his hand, and a majestic declaration descended from the sky:
"Order! In consideration of your recent hard work and significant contributions, special permission is granted to all employees in both the male and female work areas!"
"Three days of paid leave! Immediately cease all work and rest on the spot!"
Anyway, the love points he earned by taking advantage of the four-day time difference are enough for him to squander for a while.
Giving employees a break to recoup some costs is a sure-fire way to make money.
I heard the word "holiday" coming from the sky.
The group of employees below, who were already nearly scared out of their wits, froze for two seconds...
Immediately begin expressing gratitude and cheering!
"Long live the boss! The boss is so kind!!!"
Ignoring the grateful expressions below, Jiangnan flashed back to his office.
Inside the office, Charlotte, who had examined him yesterday, was fast asleep on the soft sofa.
Jiangnan didn't bother her; he simply walked straight through the office and glanced at the Isolation Room.
Isolation Room, Tiffany yelled and cursed at Jiangnan.
"You despicable scoundrel! Let me out!"
"If you've got the guts, release me and let us have a one-on-one duel with our Evil God!"
Jiangnan didn't even spare her a glance.
"I'll lock you up for a few more days, let's see if you can still jump around so happily."
Then, Jiangnan walked to the center of the office.
He sat down cross-legged, slowly closed his eyes, and mobilized the enormous [Great Love Points] of over 300,000 that he had just earned.
He gave the instruction in his mind.
"Activate [Great Love Upon the Body]!"
[100,000 Love Points have been consumed to upgrade the main body! Expected to reach S+ rank.]
[Under reinforcement...]