Dating Games in the Cultivation World Are So Hard

BG. A story about a player girl who thinks she's easygoing and harmless, but unknowingly drives a smooth-talking, cunning fox of a man into a breakdown and turns him into a bitter, resentful husband.

The Misty Rain Pavilion is the greatest intelligence network in the cultivation world. Its pavilion master is a consummate diplomat who can calculate the fortunes of the world while chatting and laughing, with unfathomably deep schemes. Any cultivator hoping to get the better of him ends up stamping their feet and cursing him as a sly old fox.

But Ling Li, a low-ranking disciple on the fringes of the Misty Rain Pavilion, merely whistled and gave him a thumbs-up. "Super handsome!"

Ling Li transmigrated here, and somehow ended up with a romance game System. With one glance, she could see the affection ratings above people's heads.

She had no plans to use the System to wreak havoc in the cultivation world. She found a spot in the Misty Rain Pavilion to laze in the sun and slack off. Life couldn't be better.

That was until the day she went fishing in a forbidden area and reeled in the injured pavilion master.

Thanks to the System, Chu Yanqiu looked to her like a rare NPC with beautifully rendered character art.

The player praises him. The player falls in love at first sight. The player is eager to make a move.

Chu Yanqiu was handsome, but his temper was impossible to read. Ling Li and the pavilion master played cat and mouse until she finally maxed out his affection rating. Yet even then, whenever she teased him, he parried her advances with ease, keeping her at arm's length.

On one side was a love rating stuck at zero. On the other was the pavilion master, still smiling and chatting with the crowd as if nothing had happened.

Damn it! Even the most laid-back player had her limits!

She gave a cold laugh and used an item from the System to forcibly max out his love rating.

The two of them spent a while wrapped up in an artificial love, but Chu Yanqiu soon realized something was wrong with him.

From then on, the love rating above his head remained at a distorted maximum, while his affection rating fell day by day.

After their sticky kisses, Chu Yanqiu would sometimes say, "I hate you." He would subtly wind strands of hair around their necks. He would say it was disgusting, gag, then take her hand. He would smile and ask Ling Li if she enjoyed toying with him.

Ling Li actually thought it was pretty fun.

Until one day, an ordinary day just like any other.

Ling Li touched Chu Yanqiu's face, and an unexpected thought came to her.

Suddenly, she felt bored.

Chu Yanqiu had no idea what she was thinking. He only gazed at Ling Li with smiling eyes and demanded to know when this farce would end.

Ling Li glanced at the affection rating above his head, which was about to dip below zero, and seemed to come to a realization.

Had his affection really dropped this much because she'd gone too far?

So Ling Li scratched her head honestly. After thinking it over, she gave an awkward little laugh and said to Chu Yanqiu, a bit sheepishly, "...Then let's end it now."

It came out as lightly as a joke, like she was asking what to eat that day.

Even much later, Chu Yanqiu still felt that day had been like some grotesque nightmare.

Ling Li fed Chu Yanqiu another item, returning his false love rating to its original level. As if nothing had ever happened between them, she stretched with relief and walked away.

She didn't know the item wouldn't erase his memories. Even if she had known, it probably wouldn't have mattered. The player didn't care.

But Chu Yanqiu, caught between this false love and his real memories, felt like he was going insane.

He didn't even know what had happened that day.

His resentment, his anger, and that utterly absurd love, all the confused, indistinct emotions Ling Li had brought to life in him, were forcibly cut off that day.

To Chu Yanqiu, every relationship in the world came down to schemes. The same few rules applied everywhere, and yet he'd never encountered anyone like Ling Li.

It couldn't be like this...

Both are virgins.

The blurb doesn't show the full characterizations. The story itself takes precedence.

Not a strong female lead, and not a big-heroine story. The romance takes up a large portion.

At heart, this is a self-indulgent story about a couple. The leads will fall in love.

If either lead's traits aren't your thing, please steer clear.

Theme: Learn to grow.