Ye Tong understood what Xu Mu meant—he didn't want to move, not that he didn't want to do it.
He wanted to lie there and rest while she did the work.
Although Ye Tong was shy, she'd already experienced it once when she got drunk last time, so this time she was more at ease.
Lying there, Xu Mu watched the Favorability values floating above Ye Tong's head. After only a few rounds, he had gathered a full ten thousand Fate Points.
He tapped open the system panel to check his stats first.
Name: Xu Mu
Identity: Holy Body of the Villain; HR Manager of the Xu Group
Realm: Hidden Force (mid-stage)
Physique: 190
Spirit: 190
Cultivation Points: 10 (200 max)
Fate Power: 80
He then looked at the roulette beside it—ten thousand Fate Points were ready.
Without any nonsense, Xu Mu dumped them all into a draw.
Black text floated before his eyes:
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for triggering a hidden rule. Ten thousand Fate Points can open an Advanced Draw.]
[Click to confirm if you wish to open it.]
He noticed the interface had changed.
Below the roulette, a new "Advanced Draw" option had appeared.
Xu Mu reached out and tapped it. The entire roulette turned gold.
The instructions were clear: ten thousand Fate Points = one draw.
He didn't agonize over it. These ten thousand were practically a freebie from last night's performance—he might as well try it once.
If the reward turned out garbage, he'd skip it in the future.
He tapped "Draw." The golden wheel flared with light.
Only Xu Mu could see this; for Ye Tong on top of him, the room remained pitch-black.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Heaven-grade cultivation art, Starshift.]
Xu Mu stared at the text, stunned.
Heaven-grade art!
After so many pulls before, he'd only ever gotten a single Earth-grade art, Cloudstep.
This time, he'd jumped straight to Heaven-grade.
The ten thousand Fate Points were gone.
Weighing it over, he decided that in the future he'd still prioritize normal ten-pulls.
Compared to random items, the guaranteed Cultivation Points were more valuable to him.
He was only mid-stage Hidden Force; still too weak.
At this level, he didn't even feel confident against Lin Yan, let alone the soon-returning Dragon King.
"Wife, time to switch offense and defense," Xu Mu said, flipping them over—making Ye Tong yelp in surprise.
—
Early the next morning.
Xu Mu opened his eyes. He'd been busy last night and hadn't had time to examine the Heaven-grade art.
After getting up, he closed his eyes to review it—and was shocked by Starshift's description. Worthy of Heaven-grade—far too domineering.
In one line: damage transfer.
When Starshift is activated, injuries he suffers can be transferred to other people within a certain range.
But Heaven-grade arts consume an enormous amount of Qi; with Xu Mu's current Hidden Force realm, he could use it only once.
As he had expected, his top priority now was to raise his strength.
Ye Tong was already up. She quickly dressed. "I'll make you breakfast."
"I'll do it," Xu Mu smiled.
"No need. You cooked the last few days, and I'm free now."
After several days of Xu Mu's careful care, Ye Tong's cheeks were much rosier than before.
Her whole spirit had lifted; the former gloom was gone.
Over breakfast, Ye Tong shared her thoughts.
She didn't want to stay home forever. She had studied biomedical science and wanted to work at the Xu Group's pharmaceutical subsidiary.
She had already called Wang Weiliang, but hadn't spoken to Xu Shou yet.
Xu Mu, of course, agreed. It was their own company; he felt reassured.
"Don't worry. I'll talk to my dad at the office today and find you something light," Xu Mu said.
"No overtime under any circumstances. After a day at work, I want to come home and see you early."
[Favorability +10]
"Okay," Ye Tong lowered her head, a blush spreading across her cheeks.
—
Xu Mu drove to the company, greeted Meng Wanyue, and returned to his office.
He had barely sat down when a message arrived.
It was from Lu Xueyao—they hadn't seen each other in a few days.
She forwarded a video with a note:
"Brother Xu Mu, is this you? You're trending! So handsome! So handsome!!"
Xu Mu opened the video—it was his piano performance from yesterday's concert.
He replied, "That would indeed be me,"
and added a panda-face meme.
Then he went online to check—he really was on the hot search.
Most headlines led with Shen Wanning:
"Shen Wanning's Concert, a God-Tier Performance Appears"
"Shen Wanning Invites Mystery Guest, Stuns the Audience"
… and so on.
Xu Mu didn't care. He never liked standing in the limelight.
On Douyin, he saw that his original piano piece "Dawn" had been released as well.
Within just a few hours, it had already surpassed one hundred million plays.
Xu Mu shook his head lightly—still not interested.
He preferred to till his own small field: protect the Xu family and be ready for the Dragon King's return.
He took the elevator to the chairman's office on the top floor.
Pushing the door open, he found Xu Shou grinning at his phone while Xu Ningbing stood opposite, speechless.
"Perfect timing. You were in Yang City yesterday?" Xu Shou asked with a smile.
"Zhou Henning was there. I wanted him to help me find a celebrity," Xu Mu said, sitting on the sofa.
"I see. Your piano was phenomenal—hundreds of times better than the phone recording. It moved me to tears," Xu Shou sighed.
As a father, he'd never realized his son had musical talent.
"Dad, let's talk business," Xu Ningbing rolled her eyes.
"The slimming pill has entered mass production. Approval is in. We can hit the market in as soon as a week."
"Good."
Setting his phone down, Xu Shou turned to Xu Mu. "Your thoughts?"
Xu Ningbing shot Xu Mu a glance. She was used to it by now—dad asked for Xu Mu's opinion on everything.
"Nothing special. We proceed steadily—no need to rush," Xu Mu said, then added, "I actually came to discuss Ye Tong."
—
These past few days, Feng Yue felt like a soul adrift, sitting in the second-floor room of her bar.
Her former ambitions had been crushed like tofu under a hand.
She hadn't expected Lin Yan to be a legendary ancient martial artist.
Scrolling her phone, she saw the hot search about Xu Mu—and froze.
Listening to that piano piece, Feng Yue couldn't stop her tears.
She had never imagined that a wastrel like Xu Mu could have any artistic sense.
Thinking back on his recent words—
Xu Mu had indeed changed.
Before, whenever she thought of him, the first word that came to mind was spitting.
Now, when she thought of him, she thought of his speech—his poise.
Just then, her phone lit up with a call. She glanced at the caller ID and answered immediately.
"Miss Feng, Flavor Foods has hired top star Song Luoluo. I found out her commercial is already shot and the ad placements have begun," a middle-aged man reported over the line.
"This Xu Mu—what a blockhead! I warned him long ago, and he still didn't take it seriously," Feng Yue cursed inwardly, deciding to go find Xu Mu again.