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Ning Shengsheng didn’t bother with the system anymore.

Having transmigrated into a xuanhuan novel, the previous inability to cultivate had left her feeling quite regretful. Moreover, in this era where the strong were respected, having her own strength was the only way to deal with various unexpected situations.

Right now, she just wanted to become stronger and hold her destiny in her own hands!

She reviewed the cultivation incantations over and over again. Closing her eyes, she felt the soul power in her mind wander through her meridians, circulating through her limbs and bones before returning. She vaguely saw a red sphere suspended above a spring. Is that my sea of consciousness and soul power?

Ning Shengsheng was captivated by the novel experience and became lost in cultivation, unable to extricate herself.

The offline system was shocked by its host’s level of comprehension of soul power and silently marveled that Ning Shengsheng had caught the “reading bug.” There weren’t many people who loved to learn this much. No wonder the higher-ups had chosen her. She seemed like a cheerful and lively little girl, but she actually possessed extreme resilience, and she didn’t panic in the face of trouble. A good mindset was a necessary condition for success.

Time passed quickly during cultivation. Ning Shengsheng was awakened by the hunger in her stomach. She glanced at the sky outside; it was not far from midnight.

On the table were a few bowls of plain congee and side dishes, which Songgao must have specially prepared, fearing she would overeat. Ning Shengsheng picked up a bowl and took a couple of bites. The temperature of the congee was just right. The two palace maids who attended her were extremely good people. Songgao was meticulous and thoughtful, while Zaoni was simple and straightforward. Both were kind-hearted girls at their core.

Just as she finished eating and took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, a knock came from the door.

“Knock, Knock—”

“It’s me, Xue Chen.”

His voice was slightly hoarse, laced with a deep weariness.

She briskly opened the door, pulled him inside, and pushed him down at the table. “You haven’t eaten, have you?”

Xue Chen had initially resisted, but upon realizing her intentions, he paused. He indeed hadn’t eaten. To ensure that tonight’s operation would be flawless, he had just returned from outside. He had come to find her directly without resting in his own room. Besides, it was no use going back to his room; no one would have prepared a meal for him.

He had wanted to refuse, but the aroma of the food wafted to his nose. He thought for a moment and picked up his chopsticks. The warm congee warmed his stomach, and the weariness in his eyes dissipated slightly.

He heard Ning Shengsheng muttering in the room, occasionally making noises, and he didn’t know what she was up to. Xue Chen waited patiently for the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn. Just as he was getting impatient and about to urge her, the girl walked out with a grand air, dressed in a pitch-black night-prowling outfit, her head covered with a black mask, leaving only her bright eyes blinking.

Ugh… what a… fool…

“Hehe, how do I look, this princess? Don’t worry, although my combat power is not strong, when it comes to the ability to survive, if I claim to be number two, no one in Great Ning would dare to claim number one!”

He actually found himself unable to bring himself to point out her redundancy. After a moment of thought, he hesitantly raised a question. “I understand the night-prowling outfit, but that thing on your face… is it necessary?”

“Hey, how is it not necessary? If I only cover the lower half of my face, won’t people easily recognize this princess?” This mask was something she had fashioned after the style of a facekini. The kind of masks in TV dramas didn’t offer enough coverage, and she always felt they were an insult to the audience’s intelligence when she was binge-watching.

“Alright… then…”

A struggle flashed in Xue Chen’s eyes, and he finally accepted Princess Ning An’s “quirk.”

“Let’s go now.”

His sleeve was tugged by the girl behind him. He heard her urge him with a tone of concern, “You should put this on too. I specially prepared a set for you!”

“?”

“That’s not necessary.”

A crack appeared on the young man’s usually calm face.

Ning Shengsheng saw that he was already expertly dressed in a black, form-fitting outfit and nodded. “Mm, you don’t have to change your clothes, but you have to put on the black bandit mask!”

“…”

Xue Chen’s handsome face turned ashen. “I’d rather die than wear that.”

Fearing that Ning Shengsheng would pester him, he took the lead and ran off. The girl followed behind, urging him in a low voice.

“Why won’t you wear it?”

At that moment, he felt that the punishment of not being able to enter the Frigid Spirit Pool wasn’t so bad after all.

The two of them, one running in front and one chasing behind, arrived at Sweetwater Alley before midnight.

Ning Shengsheng was calmly and peacefully carried by Xue Chen by the collar and flown up to the roof. She even had the leisure to pop a candied fruit into her mouth.

Xue Chen glanced at her from the corner of his eye and couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

The system, shrunken in Ning Shengsheng’s mind, also really wanted to twitch. But it had no physical form. This was killing it!

Xue Chen looked down. The Prefect Shi’s son on the bed looked even more like a bloody mess than yesterday. He deliberately dragged Ning Shengsheng over to have a look too, but she didn’t seem to react much.

There was still half an hour until midnight. The two of them lay on someone else’s roof, Ning Shengsheng snacking and Xue Chen cultivating. The moon was dark and the wind was high. They were being quite sneaky. No matter how one looked at it, they didn’t seem like good people. Yet these two were acting so openly, as if someone else’s roof were their own living room.

“Hiccup~”

Ning Shengsheng covered her mouth and burped, then let out a small yawn. “Xue Chen, I’m a little sleepy.”

She tugged at Xue Chen’s sleeve with two fingers.

“If you fall asleep, you’ll be eaten by the bone demon. You can sleep if you want,” Xue Chen said lightly without opening his eyes, his words chilling.

“Oh~”

She sounded a little aggrieved.

He opened his eyes a crack and saw her mindlessly looking up at the stars. He let out a breath and closed his eyes again. He couldn’t help but curse himself inwardly. Xue Chen, oh Xue Chen, you actually thought you could scare her. Simply…

He suppressed his dark and unclear emotions and continued to cultivate.

“Pop, crack, crack,”

A strange sound came from below. Xue Chen frowned, leaned over, and looked down. Ning Shengsheng stuffed the Dragon Bone Soul into his hand.

Suddenly, a foul smell erupted from inside, accompanied by a black smoke that billowed out. She covered her nose. Although her heart was pounding, her eyes were fixed on the bed. The fusion of flesh and bone was accelerating, and the smell was getting worse. It was as if the flesh was being devoured.

It wasn’t until the black smoke gradually dispersed that Ning Shengsheng, despite being prepared, was still shocked by the sight. The person on the bed was composed of bone and flesh. The left half of his face was exposed to the air, with no skin covering it. The right half of his face was bare white bone. His body was also in a state of being neither human nor ghost.

“Has my son come back to life?”

As someone opened the door, Prefect Shi’s voice entered their ears.

“Crack, crack,”

The monster on the bed slowly sat up.

“Are you human or ghost? Where is my son?”

Prefect Shi instantly went mad, frantically searching for his son.

The half-skull-like mouth creaked open and shut a couple of times, spitting out a few words.

“I… am… him…”

“Impossible! How could it be? How could you be my son? Wentai, where are you? Where are you?” Prefect Shi raised a dagger and pointed it at the bone demon. “It was you! You, this monster, killed my son! You said you could bring him back to life…”

“Hah—”

Prefect Shi was grabbed by the throat by the bone demon.

“Fool. I was just using you to revive my physical body. Besides, your son is still alive… Isn’t this body his?”

The terrifying face laughed, its whole expression stiff and its laughter eerie.

“You’ve already been given a body. Why did you… have to use my son’s?” Prefect Shi’s face turned the color of a pig’s liver. The matter-of-fact tone of his words enraged Ning Shengsheng on the roof.

Is a commoner’s life not a life?!