The next morning, Li Ke felt a bit light on his feet as he walked. It felt as if he were stepping on cotton, and his vision was even a little blurry. With great effort, he dragged himself to the dining table and collapsed onto it like a man completely devoid of bones.
In stark contrast, Seria looked radiant and full of life. Bursting with vitality, she showed absolutely no signs of fatigue despite being worked hard all night. She was even humming a cheerful tune as she went about her morning.
Consequently, when Roche walked out yawning, she couldn't help but stare in shock at Li Ke slumped over the table. His face was ghostly pale—to the point where there was practically no color left in his skin!
As a loli mage, she actually knew a fair bit about these matters. Her expression instantly shifted from sleepy to pure disdain, and she promptly planted her hands on her hips.
"Don't you know how to exercise some self-restraint? You literally look like you're about to die!"
After saying that, she couldn't resist poking Li Ke's cheek with her soft, pale little hand. Li Ke merely gave a weak, dismissive wave of his arm, lacking any desire to move at all.
There was no helping it; he felt like he had been completely drained dry.
Seria didn't possess much physical strength—in fact, she barely had any at all. Furthermore, the experience itself had been incredibly pleasurable, leaving him utterly addicted.
The problem was that, for some inexplicable reason, doing it with Seria was exceptionally exhausting. It drained his stamina dozens of times faster than usual. It was as if his physical energy was constantly bleeding away just by being close to her.
To put it in perspective, if doing it once with Robin consumed roughly 2% of his stamina, Shinobu Kocho was 0.5%, while Erina Nakiri and Nikumi were about 1% each.
Doing it once with Seria, however, drained a whopping 20%.
Going at it once or twice wouldn't have been an issue. But he had fired off twenty consecutive rounds in one go. That was how he ended up in his current state—feeling as though his body had been entirely hollowed out.
Worse still, he hadn't received a single Energy Point reward the entire time. Li Ke was starting to suspect that he might no longer be able to farm Energy Points from Seria anymore.
This was highly unusual. Li Ke remembered very clearly that there hadn't been such a drastic change the last time he slept with her.
Still, seeing Seria look more and more radiant by the minute, Li Ke decided there was no point overthinking it. Besides, his instincts were telling him that he should be railing Seria even harder and more frequently!
It was only because he was currently running on empty; otherwise, Seria's breakfast today would have been his raw DNA!
Roche was highly annoyed by Li Ke's fly-swatting gesture. Crossing her flat arms over her chest, she grumbled at him.
"You're being way too degenerate. Do you actually have any desire to get stronger?"
From her perspective, Li Ke had only been gone for a short while. Yet the moment he returned, he spent the entire night fooling around with Seria, showing absolutely no serious dedication to improving his strength!
Just as she spoke, Miss Ruohua walked out of her room. She looked at Li Ke and spoke with utmost seriousness.
"She's right. Behavior like this is truly concerning."
Her tone was completely flat—cold, even.
If Li Ke was truly this kind of person, then no matter how much money he offered her, she would never team up with him again.
"Well, how should I put this... I was out practicing a new cultivation routine, which is why I couldn't help myself. Don't worry, I know my limits."
Hearing her words, Li Ke forced himself to sit up straight and offered an explanation to the stern-faced Ruohua.
"Is that so?"
Ruohua raised an eyebrow, her expression noncommittal.
"If you don't believe me, we can have a spar after breakfast."
Li Ke stretched his arms, matching Ruohua's serious gaze.
Almost instantly, the lazy, exhausted version of Li Ke vanished. A sharp, intense aura emanated from his body. Although he had spent plenty of time chasing women recently, the number of life-or-death situations he had survived was by no means small.
"Then I'll look forward to it."
Despite saying she looked forward to it, Ruohua didn't take him seriously at all. In her eyes, Li Ke's strength was mediocre at best. If a fragile young girl like Seria could drain his stamina so completely, how powerful could he possibly be?
However, she did cast a slightly puzzled glance at Li Ke's physique. If she remembered correctly, his build hadn't been this well-proportioned or tall before.
Roche, on the other hand, didn't notice any of these details. She simply hopped onto her chair and stared at Li Ke with deep suspicion.
"Hey, hey, do you just enjoy getting beaten up? Ruohua hasn't slacked on her training at all lately! She even cleared out the local Minotaurs and Goblins with me. Her strength has definitely increased!"
Roche couldn't help but chime in with a warning. Even though she was annoyed by Li Ke, he was the one who introduced her to Seria—who constantly provided her with food—and Ruohua, who was quiet but incredibly reliable and cool. Because of that, she really didn't want to see Li Ke get his teeth kicked in.
After all, her overall impression of Li Ke was actually pretty decent.
"Well, I don't think I'm going to lose."
Staring at Miss Ruohua, Li Ke mentally compared her to Mai Shiranui, and then gave a firm nod.
She wasn't as big as Mai! Therefore, he wouldn't lose!
"Where exactly are you looking..." Roche sputtered, unable to resist吐槽ing his blatant staring.
Right at that moment, Seria walked out of the kitchen carrying a fresh pot of hot meat broth.
"Breakfast is served! Miss Ruohua, Little Roche, come and eat!"
Sporting a bright smile, she began ladling out the soup for Roche, whose eyes instantly lit up with excitement.
"Oh, oh, oh! It's pork rib soup!" Roche cheered excitedly.
But just as she reached out toward the bowl Seria had filled, Li Ke's hand snatched it away a split second faster.
This single action caused Roche's pupils to shake in sheer disbelief.
She didn't plan on saying anything, but Li Ke found her staring down at him a bit annoying. Downing the meat broth in one massive gulp—instantly letting his depleted body savor the rich flavors of real food—he handed the empty bowl back to Seria and glared back at the little mage.
"What are you looking at?! Can't you see I'm literally starving to death?!"
Roche instantly clenched her small fists. However, considering Li Ke was technically her employer, she swallowed her pride and silently accepted the next bowl Seria scooped out.
I'll endure this! she thought.
But just when Roche thought the ordeal was over, she watched as Li Ke dumped another entire bowl of soup and meat straight down his throat, before giving her an unceremonious, challenging look.
"So fast!"
Roche immediately felt her professional pride as a glutton being severely insulted!
She instantly chugged her own meat broth to the last drop and slammed her bowl down toward Seria.
"Another bowl!"
Seeing Roche's determined expression, Li Ke's face darkened.
"I'm faster!"
"I'm way faster!"
"No, any way you look at it, I'm—"
"Alright, alright, there's still plenty more in the kitchen," Seria giggled, thoroughly amused by Li Ke's childish behavior as she scooped a bowl for Miss Ruohua.
But Li Ke and Roche were no longer paying attention to anything else. Like a passing hurricane, the two of them swept through the remaining dishes on the table, devouring everything at a frantic, competitive pace.
Eventually, both of them locked their eyes onto the very last piece of pork rib.
Li Ke stared at Roche, and Roche stared back at Li Ke. It was as if an epic duel theme song had suddenly started playing between them.
"I can't even find an opening to intervene..."
Miss Ruohua, who hadn't even eaten her fill but was already stuffed just from watching them, found herself completely baffled.
"Does this guy normally have an appetite this massive?"
Staring at the mountain of empty bowls stacking up beside Li Ke, Ruohua couldn't help but furrow her brows.
She felt more and more certain...
There was absolutely no way a guy like Li Ke could ever become a true powerhouse.