Chapter 1: The Interdimensional Livestream Room

Legend has it that tens of thousands of years ago, there existed an era known as the "Early Classic" period.

In that age, systems bearing the title of [Innocent Flower Saintly Mother] would pair up with hosts whose "Saintly Mother" stats were off the charts, diving into various novels to conquer countless arrogant, cool, and overpowered male leads. The process, characterized by heart-wrenching angst followed by cloying sweetness, garnered a massive following the moment it was broadcast.

However, as time passed, the arrival of systems like [Vicious Female Supporting Character Counterattack], [Soft and Sweet Koi at Three-and-a-Half], [The Bigwigs' Pet], and [Fighting Tea with Tea] pushed the [Innocent Flower Saintly Mother] system to the brink of obsolescence. It was deemed insufficiently "so" (refreshing), not exciting enough, and lacking in sweetness, eventually becoming a relic discarded by mainstream tastes.

System 888, the sole descendant of the [Innocent Flower Saintly Mother] lineage, looked at the few remaining scripts in its possession and finally let out a long, heavy sigh.

Today was the decennial Divine Realm System and Host Matching Fair. The hosts present were all "Provisional Gods"—individuals who had yet to ascend to the Divine Realm. Those selected by the Heavenly Dao for their outstanding contributions to various minor worlds were known as Provisional Gods. However, their successful ascension and the subsequent determination of their divine rank depended entirely on the comprehensive evaluations from audiences across different worlds and planes.

These audiences included not only the gods of the Divine Realm but also ordinary viewers from the lower realms. The evaluation process involved the Provisional God binding with a system and entering various novel plots to host a livestream. Viewers would tip based on the host's performance, and the total value of these tips would represent the "power of faith" the host had accumulated.

In the Divine Realm, there are ranks: Divine Envoy, Divine General, Divine Lord, Divine Sovereign, and Divine Venerable. Each rank is divided into six levels, with First-Level Divine Venerable being the highest and Sixth-Level Divine Envoy being the lowest. The tips received are split between the system and the host according to a fixed ratio. The more tips obtained, the greater the power of faith, and the higher the divine rank granted.

To secure popular scripts from the Divine Realm’s trending novel pool, systems must rely on a certain number of subscriptions and spend significant tip currency. The most popular category is the competitive script, where multiple systems lead their hosts into a story to vie for roles. It is rumored that the [Soft and Sweet Koi at Three-and-a-Half] system once shot to fame with a competitive script, not only upgrading to an SS-level system but also seeing its host crowned as a First-Level Divine Lord upon ascension due to the massive influx of faith.

Systems with low subscription and tip values, like 888, could only take these ancestral "Saintly Mother" scripts to the fair, hoping some soft-hearted god might be willing to sign a contract.

In truth, 888 didn't think these ancestral scripts were all that bad. After all, the rise of the [Innocent Flower Saintly Mother] lineage was built entirely on these classic "sweet pet," "heart-wrenching," and "refreshing" tropes. For instance, there was the once-wildly popular male-oriented "Dragon Overlord" upgrade-path script. The only pity was that while others went in to become the Dragon Overlord himself, 888’s role was to be the silently enduring, understanding flower by the Dragon Overlord’s side.

New hosts often advised 888 to change its path. "With such a great script about a Dragon Overlord’s rise, why can't we just be the Dragon Overlord ourselves?"

888 would reply in agony, "The [Dragon Overlord] system has plenty of cheats to offer! I’m just a romance-focused system; I have no cheats. How am I supposed to compete with a native Dragon Overlord?"

Furthermore, its ancestors, obsessed with the concept of "petting," had set every male lead to be extraordinarily overpowered. While others in Dragon Overlord scripts arrived with hidden stats and cheats, its hosts arrived with only one advantage: they were the male lead’s childhood sweetheart.

"Well, the [Fighting Tea with Tea] system doesn't need to fight either. Why don't you pivot to the green tea route?" some hosts would ask.

888 would feel a surge of grief. "Because the scripts are too poor! In those other scripts, the male leads and supporting characters are written as if they've lost their intelligence, and the setting revolves entirely around the female lead. In my scripts? All the female supporting characters revolve around the male lead, serving only to highlight how 'awesome' he is!"

If a male supporting character happened to like the female lead, she would strictly keep herself pure for the male lead. So how was one supposed to be "green" or "tea"? Simply put, the scripts were too poor, and the system had no tip currency to buy cheats. No sensible host wanted to sign up.

With only ten minutes left until the fair ended, 888 looked at its remaining ten subscriptions, disheartened, and prepared to pack up its stall. If no host signed with it this time, once the subscription count hit zero, 888 would be scrapped, and its scripts would likely be taken over by the [Dragon Overlord] system and rewritten into harem novels.

"A Dragon Overlord upgrade-path script?"

A pair of footsteps stopped in front of 888’s stall.

"I’ve heard that 'Dragon Overlord' refers to a child of destiny with immense luck. Is the Dragon Overlord in this script also very strong?"

The fair had been open for three days. Dozens of hosts had been attracted by the name, but after clarifying the details, they had all run off faster than rabbits.

888 didn't even look up as it replied, "Very strong. Extremely strong. But the role here isn't the Dragon Overlord—it's the primary partner in the Dragon Overlord's harem."

"Oh?"

The female voice suddenly carried a hint of interest. "How strong?"

888 couldn't help but look up at her. The young woman was strikingly beautiful, with heroic, arched brows, proud phoenix eyes, and alluring red lips. As she stood there holding her sword, she looked like a plum branch covered in frost in midwinter—majestic, untouchable. Yet, when she looked at someone, it felt like being plunged into an ice hole in the dead of winter, chilling to the bone.

She looked exactly like a "Phoenix Overlord"—the female equivalent. These arrogant souls would never settle for a measly romance system. 888 was well aware of its place.

"On par with the strongest Dragon Overlords in current male-oriented novels. But I don't have any cheats. If you're looking to slap faces, upgrade, and counterattack, please go thirty meters straight and turn left. The [Vicious Female Supporting Character Counterattack] system is there to serve you."

"No cheats? You mean your interference level with this novel's plot is very low?" The woman’s eyes lit up, seemingly even more intrigued.

888: "?"

Seeing that this was the only host showing any real interest, 888 cautiously replied, "Y-yes?"

"And you won't demand that I do anything?"

"Provided it adheres to the general regulations for Provisional God transmigration, y-yes?"

Seeing her eyes brighten further, 888, having never faced such a situation, panicked and stuttered, "But my script follows a romance route... I can provide you with a lot of advice regarding emotions..."

"Why bother with romance? We sword cultivators have our own families!" The woman replied dismissively. "As long as you’re willing to arrange a role for my sword, I’ll sign with you right now!"

888’s round, bouncy spirit form felt its long, upright ears droop instantly. "I’m sorry, I’m a D-level system; I don't have the authority to arrange roles for your sword..." Because it had no tip currency to buy system manifestations, 888 still looked like a fresh-from-the-factory spirit.

"I heard that subscription counts and tips can upgrade a system. It’ll be fine once you upgrade to B-level."

Huh?

888 looked up abruptly to see the woman say decisively, "It's settled then. No time to lose, let's head to the streaming center to sign and register! By the way, I’m Su Bai. What’s your name?"

***

Until the signing was complete, 888 remained in a state of "Am I dreaming?"

There really was a host willing to play the part of a benefactor to a D-level system that couldn't provide cheats, couldn't bring in massive traffic, and held onto a pile of trashy scripts!

Su Bai's resume was then transmitted to 888's backend. 888 was already deeply moved that any host would sign with it. A Provisional God with excellent stats wouldn't end up looking for 888, but no matter how bad this host's stat sheet looked, 888 had decided to use its lifetime of experience as a "Saintly Mother" and "Innocent Flower" to help her earn more tips and eventually redeem divine coins for a higher rank.

Name: Su Bai
Spouse: Suchao Sword
888 couldn't help but slowly display a "?". The host wasn't joking.
Profession: Sword Cultivator
Mental Power: SSS+ (She is extremely firm in her Dao)

888: "??"
Combat Power: SSS+ (Peerless and lonely in victory)

Seeing this, 888 was completely shocked. The upper limit for all Provisional God stats in the Divine Realm was SSS+. And this person had two SSS+ stats right out of the gate!! Terrifying, simply terrifying!

Speed: SSS+
Agility: SSS+
Intelligence: A (Actually, we don't know how to explain this subtle result...)
Beauty: S (Beauty is her least noteworthy merit)

888 was stunned. Just as it was pondering why such a flawless all-rounder would choose it, the next attribute made everything clear. Indeed, there was no such thing as a "sucker" without a reason in this world.

Empathy: F (She seems to have her own unique understanding of worldly affairs, and this understanding has, to a certain extent, dragged down her otherwise excellent intelligence.)
Green Tea Concentration: F (One must admit that due to her outstanding learning ability, she might be able to employ some common green tea tricks, but it is hard to guarantee what terrible consequences might follow...)
Saintly Mother Value: F (To a Ruthless Dao sword cultivator, everything that makes her unhappy should be severed by her sword!)

Wait, a Ruthless Dao sword cultivator!?

888’s pupils vibrated. It suddenly recalled a piece of news widely circulated in the Divine Realm a few days ago. There was a cultivator in a lower world who practiced the Ruthless Dao. It was said that due to her absurd talent and combat power, she should have been granted a divine rank directly, but because she was too obsessed with cultivation and the pursuit of power, the Heavenly Dao feared she might succumb to "Qi Deviation" and decided to have her train in the Provisional God team.

They had strictly forced her to go to a romance novel system with a "Sweet Pet" tag. Now, many "Strong Female" novels also carried "Sweet Pet" tags, and she should have been favored by many such systems. However, the problem was that she was rumored to be extremely arrogant and unwilling to follow any plot arrangements. For example, she would despise the male leads in the scripts provided, insist on adding scenes where she dueled the male lead, and mock the systems for "selling dog meat under a sheep's head"—claiming the story was about a strong woman, but in reality, it was just a story about a strong woman and an even stronger man.

These popular systems had their own tempers. Besides, while the cultivator could fight, popular systems had plenty of cheats—even a piece of trash could be built into a Dragon Overlord with enough cheats. They had no reason to seek out a "hard rock" to suffer for.

Thus, she had been boycotted by many systems.

888 looked at the legendary, arrogant Ruthless Dao cultivator. In three days, it would begin the livestream of the Dragon Overlord upgrade-path script with her.

The Ruthless Dao cultivator sat upright, seriously studying a Dragon Overlord "refreshing" novel titled *Fighting to Break the Heavens*. Beside her were three or four stacks of colorful, varied romance novels, piled as high as a person. Her reading was extensive: from the early angst-filled *The Overbearing CEO Fell in Love With Me* to the modern *National Treasure at Three-and-a-Half*, the classic *Becoming the Substitute White Moonlight of the Cold-Hearted Master*, and the face-slapping *The Darkened Female Supporting Character Quits!*.

Her scholarly rigor was immense. She studied the Dragon Overlord’s path to upgrading and cheating, whether the darkened female supporting characters were treated unfairly, and whether their counterattacks were lacking in force... Her diligence was such that she didn't just read with her eyes; she used her divine sense and even created paper dolls with talismans to summarize key points from various trope-heavy novels, so she could review them at any time.

This spirit of humble learning left 888 in awe. With such temperament, sending her to the romance novel channel was truly a waste of talent!