[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: But putting the photos aside, I still want to hear the group leader tell me—which of us is prettier?]
Meng Hongchen still refused to give up, hoping Chu Mo would give her a definitive answer.
Ha~
Chu Mo yawned, then casually replied to the question on the screen.
[Chu Mo: You're cute, while Nannan is a little more mature.]
He wasn't just saying that. Judging from the photo, the other girl looked like a completely tsundere little girl. She was cute, sure, but compared to Jiang Nannan, she was missing a certain something.
Besides, he couldn't exactly be too blunt. A photo was bound to be different from meeting someone in person.
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Okay, one last question. Why is the group chat called Harem Family?!]
[Chu Mo: Well...]
[Revenge Girl: Isn't a harem something emperors talk about? They say an emperor has three thousand beauties in his harem. Could it be that the group leader wants one too?!]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: Huh, so you really are a bad guy!]
What followed was a never-ending barrage of accusations. Apart from Huo Yu'er and Tang Ya, who had already gone to bed, the other three relentlessly condemned Chu Mo for wanting to build a harem!
Chu Mo helplessly pressed his forehead. The name had been generated at random; he hadn't chosen it himself.
[System notification: "Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog" changed the group name to Sun Moon Empire Family.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: That's much better, hehe.]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: Why does it have to be the Sun Moon Empire? I want to change the name too!]
[System notification: "Dong'er is Not a Girl" changed the group name to Clear Sky Sect Family.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: ? What's so nice about that lame name? It's not imposing at all!]
As Chu Mo watched them argue over what to name the group, Huo Yu'er, who had been quiet all along, finally spoke up.
[Grilled Fish Girl: I-I think the name doesn't really matter.]
Ever since she was born, the girl had been unwanted. She spent every day struggling to get by, and the food she ate was just enough to keep her from starving. She had never once eaten her fill. Otherwise, how would she have gotten so good at grilling fish?
When she heard someone wanted to take her into his harem, she was a little happy. At least someone had noticed her, so she unusually stepped in to take Chu Mo's side.
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: Oh, Grilled Fish Girl, don't tell me he's charmed you!]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Exactly, exactly! The group leader is definitely a womanizer. Don't let him fool you. He must be trying to possess you!]
Black lines appeared on Chu Mo's forehead when he saw the message. What was that supposed to mean? Sure, his dream was to build a harem, but wasn't three thousand a bit too many?
[Chu Mo: Three thousand is a bit much. Thirty should be about right.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Scumbag!]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: Scumbag!]
[Revenge Girl: Scumbag!]
[Grilled Fish Girl: Bad guy~]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: ...]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: That insult was way too soft. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were flirting with him!]
The self-conscious Huo Yu'er just couldn't bring herself to swear. And from what she'd observed, Chu Mo clearly didn't know who would join the group. It was quite possible that people were being automatically added by some kind of cheat, as he'd said.
[Grilled Fish Girl: I don't think the group leader is a bad person.]
[Chu Mo: Aww, I'm so touched. When I get to the academy, I'll definitely visit your stall and have some grilled fish.]
[Grilled Fish Girl: Okay, I'll wait for you.]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: Scumbag! I won't let you go after such an innocent girl. If you're going to do anything, come after me!]
Chu Mo pursed his lips. Why did he feel like he was the bad guy? He hadn't even said anything yet.
[Chu Mo: Fine. I was going to ask Grilled Fish Girl to send me a photo so I could see what she looked like. Since you want me to go after you, send one instead!]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: I knew you had bad intentions!]
[Grilled Fish Girl: If the group leader wants to see, I can send one. Sister Tang Ya sent one too, after all. But I'm not very pretty.]
Chu Mo had only meant to tease Dong'er and get her to stop chatting. He hadn't expected her to be so hostile toward him, and he certainly hadn't expected Yu'er to actually agree...
[Grilled Fish Girl: Image (Huo Yu'er, petite in stature, sat with her left arm wrapped around her leg and her right hand clutching the corner of the blanket. Her bare feet were so tense that they gripped the bedsheet).]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: You're quite cute. Don't be self-conscious.]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: But you are a little thin. You look pale—are you malnourished?]
Meng Hongchen was a warmhearted girl. She could sense the insecurity in Huo Yu'er's words, so she broke the silence and encouraged her.
[Revenge Girl: You look fine, but you really are too thin.]
Huo Yu'er's malnourished appearance was quite obvious. They all had sharp eyes; anyone could tell at a glance how she differed from them.
[Chu Mo: You're pretty. I'll be at Shrek Academy in about four days. When I get there, I'll treat you to something delicious.]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: Hmph, as if we need you. I can treat her tomorrow!]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: Image (Wang Dong'er's blue-and-pink hair fell over her chest. She wore a blue-and-pink princess dress and white stockings. Her eyes curved into crescents, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, as if she were showing off).]
[Dong'er is Not a Girl: This is me. I was going to send one in place of Grilled Fish Girl, but I didn't expect her to send one herself.]
Chu Mo was a little surprised when Wang Dong'er sent a photo. At first, she'd been quite cautious and had only shown her thigh. Now she'd sent a full-body photo for someone else's sake.
He wasn't sure whether she was a little silly or just too kindhearted. Was she taking pity on Yu'er?
So he really was the bad guy after all. But he hadn't planned to bully Huo Yu'er. Though the decision he'd made later had indeed been rather awful, he'd meant what he'd said before.
[Chu Mo: Why do I feel like I'm some kind of bad guy?]
[Ice Frog is Stronger than Poison Frog: Aren't you?]
[Chu Mo: Of course not. I'm logging off too. I'm a little sleepy. Good night.]
After saying that, Chu Mo didn't read the replies. He turned on Do Not Disturb and closed the chat window.
"Ha~"
He yawned again, patted his cheeks, and sat up straight from where he'd been leaning. Then he reached into the System Space, took out one of the pills he used to increase his cultivation, swallowed it, and sat cross-legged to begin cultivating.
He was the only one using the Chat Group. It didn't have some feature where he could get a Titled Douluo cultivation level or become a god with a single "ding," but it did provide plenty of support.
Whether it was finding medicinal herbs or learning how to make pills, he'd relied on the Chat Group to cultivate to his current level.
Normally, he should have used Martial Soul Possession while cultivating, but Chu Mo hadn't. Instead, a round, soft, bouncy thing had appeared beside him!
A pale green Slime!
That's right, this was Chu Mo's Martial Soul: an external Martial Soul. Its attacks were too weak because it was so soft and squishy, so it had never been taken seriously and had been labeled a Trash Spirit.
But Chu Mo hadn't given up, and his perseverance had paid off. He had already cultivated past level thirty, his speed hadn't slowed, and his cheat was now fully activated. The future looked promising.
Before you continue