A few minutes later, the phone vibrated.
Ding—Yama has agreed to add you as a friend.
Li Pingfan's eyes narrowed, and his expression turned serious.
As the saying goes: If Yama wants you dead at the third watch, who dares to keep you till the fifth?
This powerful deity must not be slighted in the least.
Li Pingfan: Greetings, Lord Yama.
Yama: Hmm, what do you need?
Li Pingfan: Well, I heard from Marshal Tianpeng that I could come to you to "borrow power" to enhance a mortal's strength, so...
Yama: Since you were introduced by Tianpeng, you should know the rules, right? (three smirking emojis)
"Yama uses emojis... Is he trying to be this cute?"
Li Pingfan: I understand. I'm willing to offer delicious food as a reward. I just don't know what kind of flavors Lord Yama prefers?
Yama: Flavor doesn't matter, but it must be innovative! I'm tired of ordinary food! (three cold emojis)
Li Pingfan: Alright, then please allow me a moment to think, Lord Yama.
Yama: I'm about to go to a meeting in the 18th level of hell. You'd better sort this out within five minutes. (three clock emojis)
"Uh..."
Li Pingfan froze, suddenly panicking.
It was already past 11 PM. He was sitting in a taxi, and all the shops along the road were closed. Where could he find food for Yama within five minutes?
"Huh?"
Just as Li Pingfan was growing desperate, he noticed the driver had half a pack of leftover spicy strips in his pocket.
No matter what—he'd treat a dead horse as a living one and try!
Unwilling to miss this opportunity, Li Pingfan gritted his teeth and asked: "Master, could you sell me your spicy strips?"
"What?"
The driver was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily: "It's not worth anything, and I've already eaten half of it. If you don't mind, just take it."
With that, he handed the half pack of spicy strips to Li Pingfan.
"Thank you so much!"
Li Pingfan took the spicy strips and began figuring out how to send them.
He opened the red envelope function, found an "item storage" option, tapped it, and a beam of glowing light emanated from the camera lens.
Whoosh— the spicy strips were instantly stored in the red envelope.
Send!
Ding—You've sent a red envelope to Yama.
"Damn! It's this easy to send physical items? That's incredible!"
Li Pingfan marveled inwardly.
But as soon as the red envelope was sent, he started to regret it.
This was Lord Yama they were talking about!
Sending half a pack of spicy strips—wasn't that too trivial?
What if he annoyed the old deity, and Yama marked his name with a red cross in the Book of Life and Death? Would Li Pingfan die young?
Time ticked by.
Li Pingfan broke out in a cold sweat: "Buddha bless, even if Lord Yama doesn't like it, please don't get angry. Otherwise, I'm done for!"
Ding—
The phone chimed, and Li Pingfan's heart jumped into his throat.
However, when he mustered the courage to check the message, he was completely dumbfounded.
Yama: SO! DELICIOUS! (screen full of drooling emojis)
Yama: Fellow Daoist! What's this food called? I've never tasted anything like it! This flavor is absolutely amazing!
Yama: Fellow Daoist! Do you have more of this food? Could you give me a bit more? I haven't had my fill yet!
Yama: Fellow Daoist... Are you still there? Please reply immediately when you see this!
Staring at the messages popping up on the screen, Li Pingfan even began to doubt his own sanity.
The mighty Lord Yama, going crazy over half a pack of spicy strips!
It's mind-blowing, isn't it?
Li Pingfan composed himself and replied: That food is called spicy strips. It's extremely rare, and I have none left. If I'm lucky enough to get more in the future, I'll definitely offer it to you, Lord Yama.
Li Pingfan wasn't stupid. Since Yama cherished spicy strips, he'd make them sound even more scarce.
That way, Yama would be more grateful and look forward to the next time he could eat spicy strips!
Asking Yama for favors in the future would also be much easier!
Yes—this was called hunger marketing!
Yama: What a pity... Precious things are always so rare... (three disappointed emojis) But I'm definitely keeping you as a friend!
Ding—You've received a red envelope from Yama. You've obtained one Advanced Nether Battle Eye, stored in your Treasure Chest.
Li Pingfan was instantly overjoyed.
Nether Battle Eye!
Just the name sounded cool and powerful!
Most importantly, he'd gotten it in exchange for half a pack of spicy strips. It felt like winning the jackpot!
Yama: I have to go to the meeting now, so I won't chat more. Next time you have spicy strips, save them for me! (three drooling emojis)
Li Pingfan couldn't wait to open his Treasure Chest.
—Advanced Nether Battle Eye, personally forged by Yama. Based on the ordinary Nether Battle Eye, with additional functions! Use it now?
"This thing even has ordinary and advanced versions? It seems Lord Yama really does see me as a friend." Li Pingfan grinned.
Use!
He tapped his finger, and a streak of ghostly blue light shot out of the Treasure Chest, directly into his left eye.
In an instant, everything around him turned ghostly blue!
Countless ancient characters from the netherworld and hell swirled in Li Pingfan's eye, like a river flowing through eternity, brewing mysterious and unknown power.
These characters finally converged into a disk shape, like an ancient magic array, completely hidden within Li Pingfan's left eye.
By the time everything returned to normal, more than ten minutes had passed.
"Kid, we're at Ivy University. What are you spacing out for? Kid..." The driver called out several times.
"Hmm... How much do I owe you?"
Li Pingfan rubbed his stiff face.
For those ten minutes, his soul had felt like it was pulled out of his body, and he was only now regaining his senses.
"Eighteen yuan." The driver said.
"Here you go, keep the change... Wait?" Li Pingfan pulled out twenty yuan and handed it over. As he looked up at the driver, he suddenly froze.
Ding—Cultivation: 0, Physique: 1, Combat Power: 5.
A line of blue text appeared in Li Pingfan's left eye, with a small arrow pointing at the driver.
"This must be one of the Nether Battle Eye's functions! So the driver's a combat power five loser, haha!"
Li Pingfan felt a surge of excitement.
"What about my own combat power?"
Ding—Cultivation: 0, Physique: 1, Combat Power: 4.
"Damn! That's a slap in the face. I'm even weaker than a combat power five loser..." Li Pingfan's face turned red. He was more determined than ever to elevate his strength!
After paying, Li Pingfan got out of the car and walked toward the school gate.
But he suddenly noticed a group of thug-like men surrounding a woman in the corner beside the school entrance.
If it were any other woman, Li Pingfan might have minded his own business, but this woman—he had to help!
Because she was his class counselor:
The fourth of Ivy University's Four Campus Beauties—Lin Xiang.