Chapter 113: Always Together

In an abandoned unfinished building

"Bro! Why are your QQ and WeChat usernames so weird?" Luo Shengying asked, staring at the QQ page displayed on her phone.

"Have you not outgrown your middle-school otaku phase yet?"

Nine days remain until New Year's Eve; during this time, Luo Shengying and Su Lin trained daily, seeking ways to restore their strength and strive to appear glorious before their past selves.

Su Lin, having just finished correcting timeline flaws for his past self and uploaded a killmate video, walked over, removed the red-green wig from his head, and tapped his fingers twice to post the video.

"Isn't my ID just the handsome male lead of a modern urban novel?" Su Lin smiled, leaning his head closer. "How come my heroine is still otaku?"

The QQ number was correct—Su Lin wouldn't forget something so basic; he himself had given Luo Shengying the number and told her to try adding him.

He understood his past self too well: possessing a system but powerless to use it, willing to abandon dignity for transcendence, yet still forced to work hard just to afford daily necessities.

The path to transcendence lay right before him, visible yet out of reach—how many system-stream protagonists, like him, had held a system for a full year and still remained a salary slave? The immense gap gradually plunged his past self into anxiety and impatience.

Especially when he groveled on construction sites by day and unleashed furious online attacks by night.

Repeatedly warned by moderators, repeatedly accused of plagiarism; had he not pre-planned to channel all online earnings into charity work, triggering a sudden reputation rebound and a coincidental publicity surge, he might never have broken past the 100-point threshold.

In reality, due to the real estate market's poor condition, he encountered delayed payments and unpaid wages by year-end.

In short…

In his low point, Su Lin's eyes gradually corroded under the lure of desire, all he thought about day and night was taking off, taking off, taking off.

Though the past had changed slightly, as long as that person was Su Lin, he absolutely loved beautiful girls! Luo Shengying pretended to be a distant relative to add him, then let him personally initiate an online romance—hey, he'd even get the color of his underwear.

"Uh…"

"Whose QQ is this?" Su Lin asked.

"Yours," Luo Shengying glanced at him, as if to say, You forgot even this?

"Why is my ID 'Jin Dan Stage Light God'? What even is this?" Future Su Lin triple-checked the QQ number—it was right—but the avatar wasn't the cartoon bricklayer image.

What kind of Frankenstein monster is this? Why don't you just spit fire?

"Is he going the visual effects route?" Future Su Lin stroked his chin; the avatar showed himself with glowing wings sprouting from his back, standing mid-air.

"Visual effects, videos, viral!"

It was like a sudden epiphany—he understood: his past self had become a visual effects artist, on the High-End Premium path.

Su Lin: "Kiss her! You coward! Kiss her!"

Su Lin's outburst had its reasons.

When thinking of healing, Lu Mingfei immediately recalled the Western fantasy powerhouse—the Light God.

And when he thought of the Light God, he naturally thought of his brother-in-arms, Dora—no, Su Lin.

After learning the situation, Su Lin glanced at Weigong Shilang, frantically arranging materials, tossed his current tasks to the enraged Lao Tang, then turned into a streak of light and fled.

Dark clouds obscured the sun; though it was morning, it was extremely dim—even indoors required lights to see clearly. The hotel's bright orange lighting somehow radiated warmth in this environment.

Lu Mingfei comforted Hui Liyi as she changed clothes and ate breakfast; Hui Liyi was in low spirits, having eaten only one bento and two rice balls that morning, like a student on the first morning after vacation ends—reluctant to leave home yet wary of the outside world.

After receiving a reply, Lu Mingfei led Hui Liyi down the emergency staircase, pried open the locked iron door, and carried an umbrella to the rooftop to wait.

Facing the storm, the flimsy umbrella instantly flipped inside out; Lu Mingfei had no choice but to generate a spherical barrier with spiritual energy, enclosing both himself and Hui Liyi.

Soon, a luminous figure, indistinct in form and face, appeared in the distant sky, its back adorned with six wings composed of light particles.

"Hui Liyi, don't be afraid," Lu Mingfei grasped her small hand. "He's here to help us."

Su Lin scanned the target area from above, watching the two figures huddled tightly together in the rain, took a photo with his phone as a memento, and for some reason, suddenly recalled the magical girl Lu Mingfei he'd observed earlier with the Great Expansion Pearl—if only these two were beautiful girls hugging right now…

He shook his head, clearing the distraction; it seemed the side effects of Gu Tianwang were not merely absent in the Jin Dan Stage—they were utterly ineffective.

He spread his arms, and countless light elements rose from his surroundings, like fireflies converging into a river, surging toward the dark clouds.

【Sacred Spell: Path of Redemption】

【Ninth-Rank Spell: Light Barrier】

The knowledge and power granted by the Light God's divine essence were instantly and fully integrated—there was no such thing as unfamiliarity; after Su Lin's historical projection fused with the divine essence, he had already mastered all properties and applications of the Light Principle.

If he wished, he could even develop new spells himself.

For the problem of bloodline loss of control, he instantly found the optimal solution.

Without a sound.

The rain ceased; a colossal beam pierced through the black wall of clouds, descending directly onto the building where Lu Mingfei and Hui Liyi stood, its diameter perfectly covering the entire structure.

The light was not blinding, only warm and bright; the black veins on Hui Liyi's hands gradually faded, invisible to the naked eye—her body's damage from the bloodline was repaired, blocked vessels cleared, and depleted life energy replenished. In the microscopic world, light elements formed a net-like structure, precisely separating the dragon blood from human bloodline, while simultaneously constructing micro-barriers.

This was only temporary; Hui Liyi's problem lay in unstable bloodline. Though an elemental barrier had been constructed, any use of her power would shatter this boundary, allowing the dragon blood to resume its erosion—yet after the spell's repair, her body should now resist far better than before.

Many solutions existed: the Dragon King's blessing, the Carthage Academy's Nibelungen Project… if all else failed, Su Lin had his own methods.

But if possible, Su Lin preferred Lu Mingfei to accomplish this himself; time was not urgent, and for Lu Mingfei, this would soon be within reach.

Hui Liyi joyfully sensed the changes in her body and pulled out her slightly dampened notebook.

【Sakura is amazing! Is that angel your friend?】

"Mm," Lu Mingfei nodded shyly; it wasn't his strength—it was the guy flying above—but face mattered now.

Hui Liyi happily hugged Lu Mingfei; if this was true, she could go out and play more places with Sakura, wouldn't need to go home, could stay with Sakura forever.

Forever

Hui Liyi lifted her head to look at Lu Mingfei's flushed face and remembered the words of the man with the monocle she'd met in the park:

【When both wish to be together forever, and every day spent together is joyful—that is a couple.】

Hui Liyi gazed at Lu Mingfei, wondering: Am I truly Sakura's girlfriend? But no—it required both to wish to be together forever.

She let go of Lu Mingfei and wrote a sentence in her notebook:

【Hui Liyi wants to be with Sakura forever. Does Sakura want to be with Hui Liyi forever?】

Then, nervously gripping the hem of Lu Mingfei's shirt, afraid he might run away, she looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Above, Su Lin, watching the scene, instantly felt exhilarated and raised his hand to unleash a city-wide 【Fifth-Rank Light Spell: Radiant Wings】

Petals of light slowly drifted down from the sky, like warm snow, on the rooftop — the only place in the whole city where sunlight broke through the dark clouds — as Lu Mingfei stood there in a daze, staring at the girl before him.

His whole body was taut, his palms drenched in sweat, his mind a complete blank.

The two of them just stood there, gazing at each other, gazing at each other.

Su Lin: "Do you have any idea how tiring it is to put on special effects? @Lu Mingfei"

Su Lin: "Kiss her, you coward!"

Su Lin: "I really want to press your head onto hers and wrap them together with duct tape. I'm up here in the sky right now being your backdrop, healing you with holy-tier magic, setting the mood for you — do something useful for once!"

Su Lin: "I gave you the chance and you're useless!"

Su Lin: "Kiss her! Coward! Three minutes already! Kiss her!"

Adding this chapter — 10,500 characters, so that counts as 5 updates, right? Right? Hahaha. Well then, good night (burrowing into the blankets).