Liu Che: I chose to ignore it!
The world of gods.
Xiao Luan came right up to the door.
The answer, in fact, was very simple.
After Liu Che grasped the Law of Fire, the god of creation instantly drew attention.
"Were you looking for me?"
"Yes. Are you going to make me stand out here?"
Xiao Luan let her gaze travel up and down him, and Liu Che felt an immediate discomfort.
It felt like being appraised as prey.
As someone who had been a highest god for a long time, this shift in position—being looked at rather than looking down—left him a little ill at ease.
Still, the visitor was his own teacher, even if her help had been… limited.
But she had been genuinely good to him: pilfering books from others for his sake, cloaking his aura so he wouldn't be discovered by other gods.
"Please, come in…"
Liu Che shifted aside with a faint smile.
He pretended not to notice the faintly revealed skin at the edges of her attire.
This big-shot really had no idea how she was dressed.
He truly suspected she'd come over in pajamas.
"Hmph… you do have a bit of conscience left."
Xiao Luan snorted softly and stepped into the living room on lotus-white feet.
When did I supposedly lose my conscience? Liu Che rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed the door.
What he forgot was that the two of them had lingered at the threshold just long enough for someone to snap photos—and those photos had already hit the net.
"Damn… explosive news: the cold goddess Xiao Luan goes to visit a male disciple in pajamas!!!"
"Who's the guy? I live right across—uh… it's Liu Che. Forget it, haha…"
"You upstairs, have some shame. I yanked my pants up the second I saw it was Liu Che! Downvote."
"Have you all forgotten how many people challenged Liu Che before? Who dares to act cute now?"
"So Xiao Luan's a seasoned grazer of tender grass, huh? Let's see if she can actually chow down."
"Not so fast. I've got word: ever since Liu Che got promoted, he hasn't gone to the Hunting Space for world fragments."
"Meaning what?"
"You don't get it? Strong as he is, cultivation still needs resources. If he's never been to Fragmented Worlds, there are two possibilities."
"One: he has massive family backing. Two: he's the reincarnation of a powerhouse from the Upper Realm."
"Don't guess blindly. Mr. Liu has no family, or he wouldn't have chosen the Chihuang Flowing Flame God System. So there's only one answer—he's a powerful Upper-Realm reincarnate."
"Didn't you all say before that it was impossible he'd comprehend the Law of Time?"
"Hot air! And yet you're the same people saying he comprehended Fire just a few days ago."
"Exactly. At this rate he'll grasp all three laws soon."
People said their piece and moved on.
And to be fair, the wild guessing—if anyone had actually landed on the truth by accident—no one would have believed it.
At this moment, in Liu Che's room.
Xiao Luan rested her cheek on one hand and stared at him without blinking, as if she wanted to pierce through his eyes and dig out every secret.
"Master, what brings you to me?"
"You really don't know?"
Xiao Luan's voice drifted, airy and magnetic, full of allure.
But no matter how she tried to project charm, it did nothing to Liu Che.
The reason was simple.
He commanded the Way of Love; charm itself fell under love's domain. Add to that a supreme soul artifact, and in this plane there was no one who could beguile him.
"Ahem… if you mean the laws, I don't know anything about that. I just… broke through gradually while in seclusion."
Liu Che tipped his head back to study the ceiling, feigning casual indifference.
He wasn't about to reveal his trump cards.
But that answer did not please Xiao Luan.
She had scoured the realm for treasures for him, risked much to conceal his information—and this was the result?
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Hot tears fell to the floor, soundless.
Liu Che frowned despite himself.
Really? Tears—over this?
This was not the behavior of the ruthless goddess the net liked to describe.
"Master, even if you start sniffling, I still won't tell you anything."
Liu Che laid his cards on the table, blunt as a blade.
Anyway, his strength was no weaker than hers; he had the confidence to speak plainly.
The air in the room congealed at once.
A pair of cold eyes fixed on him.
"Are you planning to leave this place," Xiao Luan asked quietly, "and enter the wider world on your own?"
"No. I like it here, and I like Master as well… how could I do anything so shameless as deceiving my teacher and betraying my forebears?"
Liu Che spoke evenly.
He was a god who prized love and righteousness.
As for betrayal—everything depended on circumstance.
If someone treated him well, he would certainly repay it.
So… had she come because she feared he might betray her?
Very likely, he thought. So he added gently, "Master, don't worry. Even though I've grown stronger, I won't betray this place."
She pouted.
Nice words were easy to sing.
For all she knew, he might blow up their divine residence one day.
But Xiao Luan was not unreasonable. At last she sighed. "All right. I'll believe you for now."
After that, they talked: about the Upper Realm, about how to break through the Creation Stage.
Xiao Luan gave her advice.
Of course, whether to take it—or how much to take—was up to Liu Che.
Once you attempt the breakthrough to Lord God, you must walk your own path. Where to go and how to proceed would depend on his choices.
After nearly two hours, Xiao Luan left smiling, a gift tucked in her arms.
One hundred rose-shaped magical elixirs—beautifying, invigorating.
A goddess's delight.
But she was still his master; she couldn't just take something for nothing. She left behind her own cultivation insights in exchange.
What Liu Che didn't know was that this was only the beginning.
As a homebody god, he had no idea how terrifying online clamor could be.
She had arrived full of worry; her clothes had been daring. She left with cheeks dimpled in pink and a gift in her hands.
One glance, and it looked exactly like a lover's visit.
"Damn… the manager really is in a thing with Liu Che!"
"Man, I'm cracked. The lioness has a man…"
"Use your rear end for brains and you still could figure it out—Liu Che's strength is right there."
After Xiao Luan left, Liu Che exhaled and was about to return to his domain to continue comprehending the laws.
But since he was already out, he thought, he might as well see what was happening outside.
He opened the Domain Network.
Chaos, like a windstorm.
[The Master–Disciple Vibe? The Terrifying Power of the Chihuang Flowing Flame God System!!]
[Mom Doesn't Have to Worry About the Manager's Temper—The Lioness Has a Lover!!]
[Master–Disciple Romance, a Doomed Fate…]
[Xiao Luan vs. Liu Che: Who's Riding Whom?]
Endless headlines flooded the Chihuang Flowing Flame forum.
More alarming was that Xiao Luan didn't seem to mind at all.
As a manager, she let herself be discussed without restraint.
"Oh… I'm being played."
All of you are saying I'm the disciple; what "master" nonsense?
The master was clearly extracting wool from her own disciple.
Good grief—she was even leveraging gossip.
If the public push wasn't enough, she would go covert!
"Damn…"
Liu Che's face went dark. Then he thought about it and realized he hadn't actually suffered any loss.
First, Xiao Luan had treated him well.
Second, she kept her own reputation tidy; he had never heard any rumors about her.
Her clothing might be bold, her temperament uninhibited.
But he truly hadn't heard a single scandal involving her and another man.
"Forget it… I'll keep cultivating."
He shook his head and dived back into God's Domain.
Strength was the truest backing.
Everything else was just noise.
Moreover, the God of Creation was merely the peak of this tier. A vaster divine realm still awaited him.
…
Inside the Flowing Flame Pagoda.
Xiao Luan hummed a little tune, positively glowing.
As soon as she returned, the god who attended her reported, "My lord, the arrangements are complete. The entire forum is now discussing your affair with Liu Che."
"Mm, well done. I'll grant you a boon."
"Thank you, Mother Deity. I just don't understand one thing. Why would you condescend to court a disciple?"
The attendant was an elf.
Long, flying silver hair—very beautiful.
She didn't understand this self-lowering of the great Mother Goddess and even felt pained by it.
Xiao Luan's snort was cold. "What do you know? Small beings can only see the immediate benefit. If Liu Che truly breaks through this bottleneck, I'm more than willing to hitch a ride on that momentum. The pity is… he has no sense for these things."
By the end, she was angry again.
He had already comprehended three laws—what was wrong with supporting her a little?
She'd practically spelled it out: open up your God's Domain and let me draw on your divine power.
A man with no sense of romance.
So very dull.
…
Back in the world of God's Domain.
Good news awaited Liu Che: Captain Jack from the Pirates of the Caribbean world was finally carrying out the final sacrifice.
Of the earliest group of believers, he was the last.
Because he had been so unruly back then, after being "castrated," he had worked hard—like a pig made diligent.
"Have the Destiny True Dragon bring him over…"
He couldn't rely on Ao Gan every time; this time, he would slow it down.
The method of the Destiny True Dragon was simple: directly draw in the fate of that world and swallow it through the authority opened by the God of Eternity.
Ding… Your believer Jack has sacrificed to you the Fountain of Immortality, triggering a ten-thousand-fold increase. You have obtained the Nine-Star God—Princess Soul, the River of Shenhe.
Note: This river brims with strong vitality. Even a dead planet may restore its life if some of its spring water is injected.
Ding… Your disciple Jack has sacrificed to you the sea goddess Calypso, triggering a thousand-fold increase. You have obtained the Three-Star Sea Monster race.
Ding… Your believer Jack has sacrificed a world to you, triggering a hundred-thousand-fold increase. It has now been elevated to a God-Star world. Please choose a cultivation system.
Currently available systems:
[Shenwu]
[Wild World]
Only two systems were available.
That spoke to how weak Jack's original world was.
"Choose the Wild World!"
Liu Che confirmed, and Jack's world began to surge upward as if time were reversing, rolling back toward antiquity.
Bloodlines buried in history woke one after another.
A wild world.
Put simply, it meant a return to ancestral might—barbaric strength as a form of power.
All manner of savage beasts were born in succession.
Witchcraft and blood sacrifice; paladins and spirit totems—
One series of forces after another began to stir and recover, just as he had foreseen.