Xuan Ji couldn't help but worry as he watched him - the image of the slim and trim witch people seemed to have collapsed due to the abundance of food, would the Emperor's "diligence and self-discipline" that left a mark in history also be no match for the modern internet?

After all, he had given up his martial arts skills in the latter half of his life.

Sometimes, Xuan Ji felt that if he wasn't forced to do so, he wouldn't be so diligent.

He was a big boss addicted to the internet...well, it sounded kind of cute.

"Don't look at it, it's bad for your eyes. Look at me instead and take good care of your eyes." Xuan Ji snapped his fingers and the dishes flew onto the table.

At the same time, Sheng Lingyuan's phone flew into Xuan Ji's hand as he emptied his own.

"What are you playing? You're so into it..."

But Sheng Lingyuan wasn't playing games or scrolling through social media - he was practicing typing on his phone.

The material he was using to practice was the news that was currently playing. The pace of the news program was generally not fast, and the announcers had the most standard Mandarin in the country, and there were subtitles.

Sheng Lingyuan had not yet learned pinyin, so he used the stroke input method to type whatever word he caught.

At first, because he was not familiar with the characters and the input method, most of them were unrecognizable garbled characters. After several pages of garbled characters, he finally began to produce decent simplified characters.

However, there were too many typos, and he couldn't make sense of them.

By the time Xuan Ji took away his phone, he was able to type out decent words, and with just a glance, he realized that all the words he had caught were key words from the news.

The whole thing was an accurate and highly summarized shorthand, and anyone who hadn't listened to the program could take a quick look and get a general idea of what had just been broadcast.

Xuan Ji: "..."

Oops, he got it wrong and had to kneel down.

Even if His Majesty is not as diligent as the legends say, he should not be underestimated with the mindset of a lazy and ignorant person.

"Don't you like the game I gave you?"

Sheng Lingyuan stretched his shoulders and answered like an old man, "It's too chaotic, my eyes hurt from all the flashy graphics and constant fighting."

Xuan Ji suggested, "You can try playing idle games, it's fun to collect things."

Sheng Lingyuan gave him a perplexed look, and Xuan Ji inexplicably understood the meaning behind it - after thousands of years, you haven't even saved up a chicken coop, yet you spend your days collecting things in a game, what kind of interest is that?

"Alright, Your Majesty, let's move over and have dinner."

As he was picking up his chopsticks, he heard the evening news reporting on a theme park that had malfunctioned due to overcapacity, leaving several visitors stranded on a Ferris wheel.

Sheng Lingyuan's attention was immediately drawn to the TV, where the sight of the massive crowds waiting in line left him in awe.

"During holidays and festivals, theme parks always turn into queueing grounds. How about I take you to experience it one day?" Xuan Ji suggested, recalling the time they spent together in the Illusion Realm under the Biquan Mountain, where there was also a theme park scene.

"The one you created in your Illusion Realm had no queues at all. It was completely unrealistic and just a way to fool people," he added casually.

"No, thank you," Sheng Lingyuan stared at the subtitles on the TV, his attention habitually shifting to the simplified characters and pronunciation.

Without thinking, he added, "I just didn't want you to have any regrets, I wasn't trying to fool you..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake and bit his tongue, thinking to himself, 'Uh oh.'

The air suddenly became silent.

After a while, a pair of chopsticks suspended in mid-air finally fell onto the porcelain bowl with a crisp sound.

Xuan Ji's eyes, filled with a sinister look, lifted from the dining table as he asked each word deliberately, "Oh? Your Majesty, please tell me, what regrets would I have?"

Sheng Lingyuan: "..."

He had been lying down for too long, probably suffering from that thing they talked about in TV commercials... lack of blood flow to the brain.

"Uh, no...oh, the changes in Mandarin have been too great in recent years, it's even harder to learn than the language of the witch people..." Sheng Lingyuan was silent for a moment, then cleared his throat and pretended, "That's not what I meant, you're overthinking it. What I meant was to be prepared for anything, just in case, so that you won't have any regrets..."

Upstairs, the couple seemed to be assisting in the battle, not eating quietly at this time, and another war broke out. A voice came through the ceiling and floor, "Well, you're quite thorough!"

Sheng Lingyuan didn't need this background noise to add fuel to the fire, so he raised his hand and cast a weak spell towards the ceiling, hoping to create a soundproofing charm.

But before that faint power could leave him, Xuan Ji pushed it back, "Don't be reckless!"

Sheng Lingyuan patiently coaxed, "I've already explained it. Dan Li and I have been fighting for so many years, and we have an unspoken understanding. You..."

Xuan Ji pressed his wrist onto the table and interrupted, "So you're saying you and that old man have a strong connection. I bet you two never had any conflicts when you were together!"

Sheng Lingyuan: "..."

It was true that the only time he had a falling out with Dan Li was when they were at a complete impasse and fighting for their lives. Before that, they had always had a model teacher-student relationship.

After all, in his entire life, Xuan Ji was the only person he could talk to without thinking too much.

Xuan Ji grumbled, "I knew it was too good to be true when you suddenly started being so considerate towards me. I've been by your side for thirty years, from 'Sword Spirit' to 'Dead Sword Spirit', and I've never seen you use any illusions on anyone. If it weren't for my desperate gamble with no way out, you wouldn't have had the energy to play so many tricks. You probably never even thought about leaving Biquan Mountain!"

Sheng Lingyuan remained silent, feeling slightly guilty.

Xuan Ji's accusations were well-founded.

He was a demon, but he received a very orthodox education from a young age and followed the path of a noble and upright person. By the time he learned of his true identity and broke the seal of Dan Li, he was already the emperor and had no need for lowly tricks like demon illusions.

At that time, being the emperor kept him busy day and night, with endless tasks to attend to, leaving him no time to study such trivial skills - his abilities were already extraordinary, as demonstrated by his performance with the bronze cauldron.

Sheng Lingyuan decided to give up arguing and diverted Xuan Ji's attention by fidgeting with his fingers.

He gently pulled Xuan Ji towards him and said, "Is Little Ji saying this because he thinks I treated you badly before? Brother Lingyuan will change, okay? From now on..."

His voice became increasingly muffled and low, intentionally making it difficult to hear.

Naturally, attention was drawn to his lips and teeth. Xuan Ji's gaze shifted downwards, and at that moment, Sheng Lingyuan lightly licked his lips.

Xuan Ji's eyes darkened, and his throat visibly moved.