Luo Yang's figurine collection room
Watching Xiao Third Brother leave for the Desert Iron Mercenary Group with his second brother, Xiao Li, and disappear completely from sight, Luo Yang remained rooted in the crowd, seemingly lost in thought. In truth, he was working out his next steps.
Xiao Yan had a protagonist's halo. It would be unwise to clash with him head-on.
Although Xiao Third Brother ranked among the most upright protagonists in all fiction, Luo Yang intended to snatch away Xiao Yan's future karma, which doomed the two of them to conflict.
One mountain could hardly hold two tigers.
When two men fought over a peach, only one would fill his belly.
After pondering for a long time, Luo Yang sank his consciousness inward and entered his figurine room.
He was a little obsessive-compulsive, so the collection room was not messy. Luo Yang had sorted all his figurines into four main sections.
First came a man's romance-the "transformations and mecha" section.
This was the section where Luo Yang spent the most time during his sage time.
Here were the Armor Hero series, centered on Emperor and Shura, along with the Japanese tokusatsu series Ultraman and Kamen Rider: figurines, transformation devices, and actor-signed stills.
The Pacific Rim series featuring Gipsy Danger.
The urban hero series featuring Spider-Man.
The Marvel series headed by Iron Man.
The Transformers series featuring Bumblebee.
They filled two large shelving units over two meters tall. Several oversized, extremely heavy mecha and life-size models stood directly on the floor beside them, some fixed-pose statues and others articulated.
The second was the [mythology] section.
Journey to the West mythology figures included the Three Pure Ones, Fourth Brother, Bimawen, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Xingzhe, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, Erlang, the True Lord of Manifest Sagacity, the Nine Luminary Star Lords, the Yama Kings of the Ten Courts, the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, the Fortune Star, the Prosperity Star, the Longevity Star, and others. (No Investiture of the Gods or Primordial World.)
Folk legend figures included Celestial Master Zhong Kui, Maoshan Dao Patriarch Lam Ching-ying, Living Buddha Jigong, and others.
For the Jade Emperor, Lam Ching-ying, the Supreme Lord Lao, the Old Man Under the Moon, and the Martial God of Wealth, Luo Yang had even specially placed incense burners and offerings before them.
They had all been consecrated at temples and were very efficacious.
Whenever he passed the incense altar, Luo Yang would light a few sticks and pay his respects.
Since they accepted his incense, they had to work for him. He never kept freeloaders.
Now that Luo Yang had transmigrated and possessed a special ability related to karma, he suspected this might well have been the reason.
The third was the monster/horror section.
Giant monsters included Godzilla, the Cart Titan, the Giant Centipede, the Kraken, and others.
Horror monsters included jiangshi, facehuggers, Cthulhu, xenomorphs, parasites, Pyramid Head, the chainsaw butcher, Pennywise, zombies, Sadako, the Silent Hill Valkyrie, and others.
Aliens included the Predator, the Netherworld Legion, the Kyrieloids, and others...
Although this section was far too eerie and sinister, Luo Yang never feared attracting unclean things.
With all those big shots in the mythology section next door keeping things in check, especially the ones accepting his incense, what blind little ghost would dare run wild here?
Had it grown tired of living?
The fourth and final main section was also Luo Yang's favorite-the waifu section.
It was also where Luo Yang spent the most time outside his sage time.
There were figurines of every kind of beautiful woman here, and Luo Yang had sorted them into more detailed categories.
Little sisters, mature ladies, queens, lolis, contrasting types, married women, sisters, parent-and-child pairs, fairies...
The previously mentioned Tushan Yaya was here.
Aside from the largest, life-size waifu version, the other three smaller ones sat on the cabinet. Beside them were the sweet and naïve Tushan Honghong, the adorably ditzy Tushan Susu, the sexy and cute adult/child Qing Tong, Dongfang Huaizhu with her unmistakable married-woman appeal, the little loli Dongfang Qinlan, the mature beauty Cui Yuling, the Southern Kingdom's princess Huandu Luolan, the police beauty Lü Jianwen, the shy young lady Yue Tixia, the military girl Li Xueyang, and others. And... Tushan Rongrong's scenic base.
Since Tushan Rongrong had already been activated, only an empty scenic base remained here-a miniature Tree of Suffering.
These were all female characters from Fox Spirit Matchmaker, so Luo Yang had placed them together.
As for the male characters from Fox Spirit Matchmaker, Luo Yang had put them in the opposite cabinet. Although the two cabinets stood only a little over a meter apart, they gazed at one another from afar, never to meet in their lifetimes.
Besides the life-size Tushan Yaya, there were oversized, life-size versions of many other goddesses, complete with every detail. They were his waifus, after all...
This was not just "Mom would beat you if she saw this." Anyone who saw this would beat him. Easy to invite a god in, hard to send one away...
Ahem, those were the four main sections of Luo Yang's figurine room. Aside from those, there was actually a small subdivision called [other].
These were all figures with ambiguous classifications that were difficult to sort into sections, so Luo Yang had put them together.
For example: ↓↓
Brother Kun, who liked singing, dancing, and playing basketball.
Mei Raccoon Cat with a middle-parted hairstyle.
Jackie Chan's version of Chun-Li.
Brother Jie taking off his glasses.
Lu Xun holding two guns, a cigarette between his lips and sunglasses on his face.
Crow flipping a table.
Musclebound Pikachu/Squirtle/Charmander/Bulbasaur.
The professional mage Liu Haizhu, who wanted to "attend an eight a.m. class."
Tang Seng carrying an AK-47 and wearing sunglasses.
Huaqiang buying a melon, along with the melon stall owner.
Anya in various cross-dressing cosplays.
Minions in every form.
This section contained a great many miscellaneous figures, mostly purely comedic characters and memes. Luo Yang had no idea how to categorize them, so he had simply tossed them together.
But in terms of combat strength, none amounted to much, so Luo Yang had skipped this section outright when looking to activate a fighter.
After touring the four main sections, Luo Yang still had not chosen one to activate.
Either they were too powerful and required an enormous amount of karma, or they were very weak-useful in the short term, but not later on.
Forget it. After spending ages trying to choose, the indecisive Luo Yang finally decided to go back and ask Sister Rongrong's opinion first.
Ever since he had acquired Tushan Rongrong, he could hardly be bothered to use his brain.
Despite all the time Luo Yang had spent inside, only a single breath had passed outside...
Moon-Gazing Palm!!
The instant his consciousness returned to his body, someone patted Luo Yang's shoulder. His nerves went taut, and he instinctively turned and struck with a Moon-Gazing Palm, only for the person to block it with one hand.
"Oh, it's you, Elder Hai. You startled me."
Only after getting a clear look at the person's face did Luo Yang relax, letting out a long breath.
"I should be asking what you're doing! I called you several times just now, and you didn't react. Then I patted your shoulder, and you tried to hit me," Hai Bodong said irritably.
He had been heading back after finishing his business outside when he spotted Luo Yang along the way. After several greetings went unanswered, he had decided to pat him on the shoulder, never expecting to nearly get struck by a palm.
Fortunately, he was a Dou Huang expert. Blocking an attack from a mere Dou Shi was as easy as turning his hand over.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about something and got distracted. Anyway, where did you go this morning? I didn't see you all morning." Not wanting to discuss a sensitive topic with Hai Bodong, Luo Yang casually made an excuse and turned the questions back on him.
"I settled a few old scores with some people. It's taken care of."
Hai Bodong was equally vague in response to Luo Yang's question and did not answer directly.
In truth, Luo Yang had no interest in knowing, either.
The two chatted as they walked back to the inn.
During their conversation, he told Hai Bodong about Qing Lin.
Upon hearing this, Hai Bodong was mildly surprised for 2.5 seconds.
He had also heard of human women being violated by the Snake-People. Ordinarily, relations between Snake-People and humans would not result in pregnancy.
However, nothing was absolute. There was always an exceedingly slim chance that a woman who had relations with one of the Snake-People would become pregnant and give birth...
Although such children could be born, infants with both human and Snake-People blood generally struggled to live past two. Yet the girl Luo Yang described was already fifteen or sixteen and perfectly healthy, without the slightest sign of an early death. How was that possible?!
Luo Yang did not tell Hai Bodong about the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. He merely said that within a few years, Qing Lin would be someone Hai Bodong had to look up to.
Naturally, Hai Bodong did not believe him.
He was a dignified Dou Huang expert. Only a Dou Zong expert could make him look up to them; even a Peak Dou Emperor would not suffice.
Go from no cultivation at all to Dou Zong in just a few years?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
But when he thought of Luo Yang's mysterious background and the powerful methods of that magical beast woman named Tushan Rongrong, he could not help wavering again.
Could it really be possible...?