Chapter 2: Genshin Impact, Honkai, Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero: I Have a Dungeon Simulator - Tushan Huohuo and Tushan Tingyun (Patreon)

The light screen's image flickered and changed in an instant. The biting frozen wasteland vanished without a trace, replaced by mountains and hills blanketed in forest.

[March 7th: What does 'Strictest Father of Another Race' even mean?]

[Silver Wolf: Attack multiplied a hundredfold, damage taken reduced a hundredfold — that's basically cheating!]

[Ioroi: Did we other-race folks eat your family's rice or something? Why are we getting singled out like this?]

[Mobius: Ultimate Life Form, the pinnacle of evolution... now that really is fascinating!]

[Ruan Mei: I wonder if this gentleman would be willing to let me study him a little.]

The livestream carried on.

Gusttave landed steadily, warmth surging through his body as the power of his two top-tier Traits sank into his flesh and bone like new blood — the undying vitality of the Ultimate Life Form smoothed away all the fatigue of the fall and the transmigration.

The Strictest Father of Another Race, meanwhile, gave him an uncanny sense that every non-human creature around him was as fragile as an ant before him.

Before long, Gusttave spotted a shabby Daoist temple not far off. Four presences stirred within — two human, and the rest, he suspected, belonged to this world's demon spirits.

He walked straight toward the temple.

The Ultimate Life Form had granted Gusttave not only immortality, but also extraordinarily high base stats.

As for the unique ability that belonged to him alone, he hadn't yet unlocked it.

Every Ultimate Life Form had a power all its own.

Kars's ability, for instance, was to possess every trait held by any living creature, while Tartarus's was the power to traverse parallel timelines.

Gusttave pushed the door open.

Inside stood two men in Daoist robes — one sleazy-looking, the other considerably younger, his face covered in scars.

In the corner of the temple sat two cages, each holding a fox spirit.

The longer Gusttave looked at the two captives, the more familiar they seemed — one looked identical to Huohuo, and the other bore a striking resemblance to Tingyun.

Could this be the night Tushan Honghong was rescued by the nameless Daoist? A thought struck him, pulling up a scene from an anime he remembered.

Tushan Honghong and Tushan Rongrong had been captured by two Daoist priests and were about to be sold off to Tianxian Court.

It was the younger of the two who ended up saving them.

But in her terror, Tushan Honghong had run her claws straight through the young Daoist's chest, killing him — and afterward, she never spoke another word.

Now, with the roles swapped, it was Huohuo and Tingyun standing here instead.

Judging by their expressions, though, they probably had no idea who they really were.

Whether they'd been struck speechless by fear or simply had no memory of their true selves, he couldn't tell.

Just then, the two Daoists turned around at the same time.

The sleazy Daoist spoke first, his beady eyes sweeping over Gusttave, his tone wary. "Who are you? This is a private sanctum. No trespassing."

Gusttave's gaze lingered on Mo Xiaofan's face for a moment before sliding away.

"I'm interested in those two foxes in your cages," he said, blunt and to the point.

At those words, the sleazy Daoist's expression shifted at once.

He looked Gusttave over again, top to bottom, a merchant's shrewdness creeping into his eyes. "Oh? Fellow Daoist has a taste for that sort of thing too?"

"Something like that," Gusttave said, not bothering to deny it. "Name your price."

"That won't do," the sleazy Daoist said, grinning to show a mouth of yellowed teeth. "These two are top quality — especially the brown-furred one. Her intelligence has awakened, her demonic energy is pure. The Tianxian Court has already put in a reservation—"

Gusttave said nothing more. He simply slammed a fist into the temple wall.

Boom—

The wall, whole and solid a moment ago, collapsed instantly.

Rubble tumbled down, and dust filled the air.

Both Daoists froze on the spot. The sleazy one's mouth was still stretched into that grin from a moment ago, but his eyes bulged as if they might pop from their sockets.

"Y-you—"

His finger, pointed at Gusttave, trembled.

Gusttave drew back his fist — the skin on his knuckles wasn't even scraped. With the base stats of an Ultimate Life Form, a mud wall was nothing; he could have punched clean through a mountain if he'd wanted to.

"I already said — I'm interested in these two foxes," Gusttave said, his tone calm. "So. Is that reservation still standing?"

The sleazy Daoist's composure shattered completely. He dropped to his knees with a thud, slamming his forehead against the cold floor again and again, his voice breaking apart in terror. "I wouldn't dare! Mercy, great immortal! Take the fox spirits, take them both! This lowly one has no eyes to see — please, spare me!"

The young Daoist dropped down right after him, head bowed, not daring to breathe too loud, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

"Get out," Gusttave said, granting the pair their lives.

If it had been humans locked up in those cages instead of demons, Gusttave would have strangled the pair without a second thought.

But in an age where humans killed demons and demons devoured humans, Gusttave wasn't about to hold it against them for catching and selling fox spirits.

After all, in this world, plenty of demons didn't just eat people — they could devour an entire city's worth in one go.

There was blood debt owed between the human and demon races both ways.

Gusttave stepped toward the iron cages in the corner, his boots crunching over scattered rubble with a crisp sound.

The cages were rusted through, their cold iron bars trapping the two fox spirits fast. Several yellow talismans meant to suppress demonic power were pasted onto the cage frames, their faint glow dim and weak — clearly cheap goods.

Inside, Huohuo glared at Gusttave with a ferocious expression, nothing like the timid girl he knew.

Looks like anyone who ends up here loses their original memories, Gusttave thought to himself.

On the other side, Tingyun, even trapped and stripped of her demonic power, still forced herself to stay calm. Her fox ears were faintly tensed, her luminous, peach-blossom eyes sizing up Gusttave warily, her fingers quietly tightening around the bars.

Gusttave skipped any more talk and reached his hand into Huohuo's cage.

He meant only to peel the talismans off her, but she mistook the gesture for something obscene.

In her panic, she drove a claw straight through Gusttave's chest.

Of course, Gusttave let it happen on purpose. Even setting aside the fact that he was now an Ultimate Life Form, the Strictest Father of Another Race alone would have been enough to keep Huohuo from ever truly hurting him.

He did it purely so guilt would take root in Huohuo.

The sharp crack of claws piercing flesh rang out through the empty temple. Huohuo's whole body shuddered, her crimson eyes flooded with instinctive ferocity — but the next instant, that ferocity crumbled beneath sheer shock.

Gusttave didn't do anything to her. He simply reached up and gently tore the talismans from her body.

One, two, three... he didn't stop until every last talisman had been stripped away.

Blood ran down his chest, soaking through his robe, pooling into a small, glaring patch of red on the temple's cold floor.

Huohuo's claw was still buried in his chest.

She froze completely.

In those crimson fox eyes, the instinctive ferocity drained away like a receding tide, leaving only blank confusion.

This man hadn't dodged.

Not only had he not dodged — he'd kept tearing the talismans off her, one by one.

"You..." Huohuo's voice came out hoarse, like rusted metal scraping together — her throat, silent for so long, had almost forgotten how to make a sound.

Gusttave glanced down at the still-bleeding hole in his chest, his expression as flat as if he were looking at a wound on someone else's body.

His hands never paused. He tore the last talisman off her shoulder, crumpled it, and tossed it to the floor.

"You're free," he said, smiling.

At that, tears spilled from Huohuo's eyes in two clean lines.

But when she saw Gusttave collapse straight backward, she scrambled to tear the cage door open and caught him in her arms.

But she knew no healing spells, and faced with this, she had no idea what to do.

Then she remembered Tingyun — Tingyun had once studied healing techniques from someone. Maybe she could save him.

But after Huohuo tore the talismans off Tingyun and freed her from the cage,

Tingyun still couldn't save him.

Her skills simply weren't good enough.

Even so, Gusttave never blamed either of them — instead, with what little breath he had left, he told them not to grieve for him.

Then he slipped into a feigned 'death.'

Of course, as far as they were concerned, he was well and truly dead.

[March 7th: Aaaaaah, he's dead?! Wait, how is he dead?! He just transmigrated and he's already dead?!]

[Kiana Kaslana: Wait wait wait, didn't he draw that Ultimate Life Form thing? Wasn't he supposed to be immortal?!]

[Hu Tao: ...This Parlor Director was still fuming at him for insulting Liyue a minute ago, but come on, this death is just ridiculous. Skewered by one little fox's claw?!]

[Seele: He was trying to save them, and this is how it ends...]

[Silver Wolf: He's faking it, right? There's no way an Ultimate Life Form dies that easily. This has to be an act.]

[Ruan Mei: Self-healing response already underway. Vital signs recovering at high speed. Fascinating life form.]

Afterward, Huohuo and Tingyun carried Gusttave's "corpse" back to Tushan.

Feixiao, who had been searching for her sisters all along, was overjoyed to see Huohuo and Tingyun return.

But the moment she noticed the body Huohuo was carrying, she stopped in her tracks.

Afterward, Huohuo laid Gusttave's body inside a cave sealed in frost, then sat alone beneath the Bitter Love Tree.

Not knowing what her sister had gone through, Feixiao stared in confusion at Huohuo sitting alone beneath the tree.

[Jiaoqiu: General Feixiao, someone's little sister... that's rather strange to picture.]

[Moze: Hard to imagine, indeed.]

But compared to the strangeness of seeing a familiar face out of context, most people were far more fixated on Feixiao's absurd figure.

Standing in for Tushan Yaya, Feixiao had — just like her — an almost unfair figure even in childhood.

[Hu Tao: No way that's real. Why does someone that young already have a body like that?]

Glancing down at her own unremarkable chest, Hu Tao's jealousy was written all over her.

[Furina: That's just against the rules, isn't it?]

[Silver Wolf: She's definitely padded!]

[Kiana Kaslana: Mei, Mei, look at this! Is this even fair?!]

[Raiden Mei: ...Kiana. Focus on the livestream.]

[March 7th: Then again, General Feixiao had that kind of presence even as a kid. No wonder she grows up to be a great Xianzhou general!]

Petals drifted down from the great Bitter Love Tree, pale pink fluff settling on Huohuo's drooping fox ears. She sat curled up at the tree's roots, knees drawn to her chest, her eyes swollen red like water-soaked cherries. The timid girl she used to be was nowhere to be found — only an unshakable guilt and a heavy silence remained.

Huohuo looked much older now than before.

The fox spirit's power of deepest devotion had not only granted her tremendous strength, but had made her grow into an adult overnight.

Even Tingyun had visibly grown up.

For a moment, Feixiao — who was supposed to be the second sister — looked instead like the youngest of the three.

Inside the frozen sanctum, the body that had shown no sign of life suddenly stirred.

Gusttave slowly opened his eyes. The gruesome wound in his chest had already healed completely, without leaving even a trace of a scar.

The Ultimate Life Form's undying power worked silently around him — the frost surrounding his body couldn't touch him at all, and instead crumbled apart, shattered by some invisible force.

He sat up, rolled his neck, and listened to the faint conversation drifting in from outside the cave. A knowing smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Goal achieved.

He'd used his own faked death to carve an indelible mark into Huohuo.

[March 7th: Wait, he's not dead?]

[Silver Wolf: What an actor. With skills like that faking death, it'd be a waste not to go into showbiz.]

[Elysia: Poor little foxes... ? Though isn't this friend's little prank going a bit too far?]

[Aventurine: Farming guilt with a fake death — now that's a deal well made.]

Gusttave stood, brushed the frost off his clothes, and walked slowly out of the ice cave.

From there, he quietly slipped into Tushan's library.

Powerful as his body already was, Gusttave had no intention of coasting on it. He wanted to use this world's own systems to grow even stronger.

And to obtain proper cultivation methods within human territory, the only way was to join one of the great sects or one of the noble clans.

After all, cultivation techniques and resources were monopolized by those great clans and orthodox sects — ordinary people had no way to even touch them.

But Gusttave had no intention of bowing to any of those great clans.

So he chose Tushan instead.

After all, demon magic and Daoist arts in this world weren't fundamentally different — they both drew on the same energy.

Inside the library, the scent of sandalwood mixed with old paper and ink. Rows of wooden shelves overflowed with yellowed tomes, and silk scrolls piled layer upon layer, recording a thousand years of Tushan's secret demon arts.

The moment Gusttave's fingertip brushed a scroll of technique, his Scholar Trait kicked in instantly — cryptic runes and incantations poured straight into his mind, and he never forgot a single line.

Combined with the top-tier comprehension of the Ultimate Life Form, it took him less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn down halfway to fully master the whole technique. A faint golden qi began coiling around him, demon power and Daoist arts blending seamlessly, without a hitch.

The energy of this world shared a single root anyway — to him, it was simply a different way of channeling the same thing.

[Ruan Mei: Peak learning efficiency. A perfect fit for the traits of an evolved life form.]

[Silver Wolf: Two cheats stacked together — this cultivation speed is straight-up hacking.]

[March 7th: I thought he was going to punch straight through Tushan. He's actually reading!]

[Zhongli: Merging demon arts and Daoist arts as one, without prejudice toward either school — quite an open, unclouded mind.]

[Elysia: He looks so dazzling when he's focused... ? But the little foxes are still grieving!]

And so, Gusttave began his path of cultivation within Tushan.

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