A Guide to Mythical Beasts of Mountains and Seas

[The System's current story is The Tug-of-War System Made Me the Strongest Human. It's a lighthearted, feel-good power fantasy with a strong female lead. The blurb is at the very bottom.]

Xiyan was a great demon at the top of the food chain, and she used to be perfectly happy. Every day, she'd eat and then go to sleep, relying on spiritual energy to digest her food.

Then one day, the spiritual energy suddenly disappeared while she was asleep. By the time she woke up again, thirty thousand years had passed.

To find out what had happened to the spiritual energy, she set off in search of her kind.

But as she searched, she ended up filling an entire courtyard with fellow demons, and all sorts of troubles came one after another.

Scene One:

"Boss, that human is back. This time he wants to borrow Dang Menghuai to watch over their courtyard."

Xiyan: "Menghuai isn't a dog. I'm not lending him out."

"But he said he'd pay him."

Menghuai: "I'll go! I can do it! Boss, if I earn some money, could you buy me a little wooden house? I've been jealous of that cat's private villa for ages!"

Xiyan: "...All right."

Scene Two:

"Boss, some people came by saying they want to stay next door for a while."

Xiyan: "? Do they need my permission to live wherever they want?"

"But they said they want to benefit from Dang Kang's special trait."

Xiyan: "...It's not like Wi-Fi, where you can switch the trait on and off. If they want to benefit from it, they can just go ahead."

"By the way, who are these people?"

"The ones from the farming community."

The mythical creatures in this story are based on The Classic of Mountains and Seas, A Survey of Mountains and Seas, and Baidu Baike. The details aren't all that rigorous, and there are probably plenty of differences from the original sources. If that bothers you, dear readers, feel free to find something more to your taste.

Love you all!

Upcoming Story Blurb

When other people get bound to a System, it's like they've acquired an enormous golden finger. Wherever they go, the System carries them to easy wins. Just thinking about it sounds great.

Yu Wan was lucky enough to get bound to a System too. She asked timidly, "What can you do? What benefits do I get?"

"No benefits. I'm low on energy and about to crash."

"Ah! Host, find something to recharge me!"

It then produced a long list, and every item on it was ridiculously expensive!

Yu Wan was done for.

?

To make a living, Yu Wan became an esper. On her first battlefield, high-level espers were fighting like mad, and explosions went off one after another.

Yu Wan's voice trembled. "I'm scared..."

The System: "I'm so scared too. Host, you have to protect me."

Yu Wan tried to persuade it. "To be safe, let's go back first."

The System [delicately touching its forehead]: "Ah... I'm about to crash. Host, what did you say?"

"..." Yu Wan hefted her weapon. "Charge!"

?

After a major battle, Yu Wan became famous overnight. Her name became a taboo among espers in every country.

After the newcomers kept pressing for answers, they finally learned why.

"Have you ever seen someone rip a Devourer apart with her bare hands? She can!"

"Have you ever seen someone come across a companion being chased, refuse to help, then pin both groups to the ground and loot them? That's her!"

"I fought tooth and nail to win all that stuff, and she didn't leave me so much as a blade of grass!"

"Have you ever seen someone unhappy with the supplies on the battlefield, raid the Devourers' nest, then lie in wait and rob every single competitor? That's her!"

"Outrageous! Simply outrageous!"

Yu Wan passed by and saw a group of people gathered together, passionately discussing something. Curious, she went over.

"What are you talking about?"

The people who'd been fuming just seconds before all bowed and scraped, eager to please. "Boss Yu, are you still looking for someone to carry your bags?"

"I'm strong enough to haul them! Pick me!"

"Me, me! I can fill my whole storage space with food for Boss Yu!"

The newcomer: "..."

These hypocritical seniors were unbelievable!

"Boss Yu, take me along too. I want to coast to victory!" The next second, the newcomer had turned into the very sort of person they'd hated.

Content notes:

1. Strong female lead, slow burn, very little romance.

2. The heroine has a golden finger, but most of her success comes from her own hard work.

3. The setting isn't very polished. It's just meant to be a bit of fun, so please don't overthink it.

Theme: Approach new things with an open and peaceful mind.