Make me leave the team? My beast girl and I can win easily.

After resolving Lin You's accommodation issue, Lin Shan voluntarily returned to her room and "confined herself to her room."

On the other side, the newly appointed maid, Lin You, immediately got to work.

She took out her cleaning tools and began cleaning meticulously, starting from the top floor of the villa.

Her energy body allows her to move lightly and silently, without worrying about leaving footprints.

It can float up and wipe windows without any problem.

She is an SSS-level cleaning maid.

Lin Yu then went to the spacious living room and sat down on the soft leather sofa.

He was preparing to begin another important task in his plans—

Study symbol arrays.

In this world, theoretically any professional can attempt to inscribe a matching rune array using the appropriate rune pen and ink.

Of course, whether it will succeed and what the final result will be are other things.

If Lin Yu wants to make the most of the sacred rune array materials in his possession, necessary preparations are indispensable.

First and foremost, you need to practice a lot to master the talisman brush.

The more powerful the rune array, the more complex the array patterns and characters it is composed of.

Any deviation could significantly reduce the effectiveness of the entire rune array.

If you don't practice and just start drawing, it's hard to say what kind of thing you'll end up with.

It's even possible that an evil god will be summoned.

Practicing drawing runes naturally cannot directly consume precious epic materials.

Lin Yu went into the kitchen, took out a clean porcelain bowl, and filled it with more than half a bowl of water.

Then, he bit his fingertip, squeezed out a few drops of bright red blood, and dripped them into the bowl.

This bowl of "blood water" contained his life energy, and thus became a kind of "temporary talisman ink".

Use it to practice drawing rune arrays; if the patterns and structure are completely correct, the rune array can also be activated.

Of course, the effect of this rune array is probably less than one ten-thousandth of the normal effect.

The next step is to study the theory.

Simply being able to draw lines is not enough; one must understand the working principle of each module in the symbol array.

Only by grasping the principles can one be confident and well-prepared when depicting a subject.

They can even add custom functional modules to the mature rune array framework according to their own needs.

This also facilitates subsequent maintenance and management.

Textbooks on this subject can be purchased online.

There are also free video lessons available.

Lin Yu searched on her phone and selected a highly-rated online course.

Learn Rune Arrays in 10 Hours: From Beginner to Monk.

He projected the video onto the 100-inch TV in the living room, making it easy on the eyes.

Lin Yu watched with great interest, holding a pen and paper in her hand, taking notes from time to time.

Lin Xue and Lin Ya sat on the sofa, watching with Lin Yu.

Not long after, Lin Ya fell asleep.

After a while, Lin Yu looked at Lin Xue's clear but blank eyes.

Let her take Lin Ya away and let her roam freely.

"No wonder it's called 'From Beginner to Monk'," Lin Yu rubbed his throbbing temples, looking at the teacher's increasingly thinning hair on the screen, and sighed, "This thing really does damage your hair."

As the course progressed, he also learned about the level classification of rune arrays:

From highest to lowest, they are divided into five ranks: Saint, Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow.

When used together, the legendary rune brush and epic rune ink in his hands can inscribe celestial rune arrays!

That is a powerful presence sufficient to serve as the core defense of a large city.

To master the inscription of Heavenly Rank rune arrays, one naturally needs to invest a considerable amount of time and effort.

The level of threat to hair...

It's quite tall.

It will probably take quite a bit of time to learn.

Time slips away quietly.

Two hours later, Lin You had finished cleaning the upstairs area.

They floated down to the first floor and began cleaning the restaurant and kitchen.

However, when the teacher's voice explaining the principles of talisman arrays came from the living room, Lin You, who was wiping the dining table, suddenly slowed down.

Her pointed ears twitched slightly, as if she were captivated by the course content.

She subconsciously floated closer, stopping at the boundary between the living room and the dining room, and listened intently.

Before I knew it, I was so engrossed that the broom in my hand drooped.

Even when Lin Yu turned his head and looked at her thoughtfully, she didn't notice at all.

"Lin You," Lin Yu called out.

"Ah!" Lin You suddenly woke up, almost dropping the broom from her hand.

She panicked when she saw Lin Yu staring at her.

She quickly floated to Lin Yu's side, knelt down, and said in a terrified voice, "Your...Master, I...I was not focused on my work, please punish me!"

Seeing her nervous expression, Lin Yu found it somewhat amusing.

He thought he was quite kind.

Why are Lin Shan and Lin You both so afraid of him?

"Don't rush to clean," Lin Yu said gently. "Get up and sit next to me."

He pointed to the spot next to him.

Lin You hesitated for a moment before carefully standing up and sitting down sideways next to Lin Yu.

"You seemed quite engrossed in listening just now," Lin Yu asked. "Are you interested in rune array technology?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is indeed so!" Lin You nodded immediately, her eyes gleaming with a thirst for knowledge: "The 'rune array' technique of this realm is remarkably similar to the 'magic rune' technique studied by my servant clan!"

"Many of the rune array structures can even corroborate each other with the ancient magic rune fragments I have studied, demonstrating a clear connection between them!"

When she spoke about her professional field, her voice became noticeably more fluent.

Lin Yu's eyes lit up.

There are already top students and teaching assistants here!

"It's good that you're interested." Lin Yu smiled, took a notebook and a pen from the side, and handed them to Lin You. "Now you can start learning from the beginning and use this to take notes."

"Once you've roughly caught up with the pace, we'll learn together again."

"It's better for two people to do the research than for me to work on it alone."

He silently added to himself, "Maybe it'll save me some hair loss."

Lin Yu switched the course back to the first segment.

Lin You took the notebook and pen, her eyes glistening with excitement: "Thank you... thank you for your trust, Your Excellency!"

"I will certainly do my utmost to live up to your expectations!"

For her, this was more than just an opportunity to learn new knowledge.

It is also a recognition of value bestowed by the Lord.

After making arrangements for Lin You, Lin Yu decided to give her brain a break for a while.

Continuous high-intensity study can indeed be quite tiring.

He got up and stretched, then decided to go upstairs to see what Lin Xue and Lin Ya were doing.

Upon arriving at the entertainment room on the fifth floor, they indeed heard Lin Ya shouting and yelling coming from inside.

Pushing open the door, I saw Lin Xue and Lin Ya sitting side by side, each holding a controller, playing a fighting game.

The battle situation on the screen...

Well, it was quite tragic.

The character controlled by Lin Ya is being thoroughly thrashed by Lin Xue's character.

Lin Ya's face flushed red as she frantically pressed the controller, repeatedly muttering, "Ahhh! Sister Lin Xue, slow down!"

"I haven't even realized what's happening yet!"

"This isn't fair!"

In contrast, Lin Xue had a cold expression and focused eyes; she remained silent but exuded a murderous aura.

"Ah—!" With a scream, Lin Ya was defeated once again.

"I'm not playing anymore! I'm not playing anymore!"

"Sister Lin Xue, you're bullying me!"

Lin Ya angrily threw down the controller, her pink hair standing on end.

Lin Yu walked over and ruffled Lin Ya's hair: "If you're not as skilled as others, you have to practice more. Throwing a tantrum won't help."

"Master~~~" Lin Ya immediately hugged Lin Yu's arm and began to whine, "Sister Lin Xue is too amazing, please teach her a lesson for me!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xue merely glanced at Lin Ya indifferently.

"You guys keep playing," Lin Yu said with a smile. "I'm going to rest for a bit; my eyes are getting tired just looking at all."

After leaving the entertainment hall, Lin Yu went down to the fourth floor.

He randomly chose an empty bedroom, took out the key, and indicated that the room was occupied.

Just as he was about to go in and check the details, he clearly sensed Lin Shan's presence coming from the next room through the pet contract.

Lin Yu then realized that Lin Shan had been "confined" for more than two hours.

Go see what that girl is doing.

He walked to the door of the next room and knocked gently.

The door was opened quickly.

Lin Shan stood behind the door, still wearing the same pajamas, her long golden hair slightly disheveled.

Upon seeing that it was Lin Yu, a flicker of panic crossed her eyes, and she instinctively reached out to kneel: "My lord..."

Lin Yu reached out and took her arm as she walked in, saying, "I was just looking around... Have you been in the room the whole time?"

Lin Shan's room was so tidy it was almost rigid.

The bed was made perfectly flat without a single wrinkle, and the table and chairs were arranged neatly.

The cloth armor that Lin Yu had given her before was neatly folded and placed in a corner of the desk.

"Yes, my lord." Lin Shan lowered her head, her voice soft. "I have been reflecting on my actions and carrying out my punishment."

Lin Yu: ? ? ?

He asked instinctively, "What punishment?"

Lin Shan knelt down on the cold floor with a "plop".

Immediately afterwards, a flash of white light appeared on her body, and her pajamas came off, revealing her back.

However, what should have been flawless skin was now covered with large patches of purplish-blue bruises!

In some places, the skin was even torn open, with streaks of bright red blood seeping out, which looked shocking!

Lin Yu was instantly stunned.

The next second, Lin Shan took out her staff, gripped the staff with her right hand, and slammed it heavily down on her back!

"Stop!!!"

Lin Yu grabbed her wrist.

"Shanshan, you've misunderstood," Lin Yu said softly. "That's not what I meant. I just wanted you to stay in the room."

Lin Shan was held by the wrist and couldn't move, but she stubbornly refused to let go.

She looked up at Lin Yu, her eyes slightly red, her voice choked with sobs: "My lord... I just... didn't want you to hate me."

"I don't want my master to think I'm someone who causes trouble..."

"I want Master's favor, I want Master to like you as much as you like Lady Lin Xue..."

Her eyes were filled with unease and fear.

Since taking human form, she has been afraid that she is not doing well enough, and afraid that she will not receive the same attention and love as Lin Xue and Lin Ya.

Lin Yu looked at the bruises and wounds on her back, and then at her reddened eyes, and felt a pang of heartache.

Punishing yourself like this even reduced your health points by a third.

"Silly girl..." Lin Yu sighed.

He took out a bottle of healing potion from his all-purpose pouch and fed it to Lin Shan.

The warm medicinal properties quickly dissolved, and the bruises and wounds on his back began to fade and disappear at a visible speed.

Lin Yu found a bath towel and gently draped it over her shoulders and back.

"Shanshan, I have never hated you, not even once."

Lin Yu placed his hands on her shoulders, making her face him, his tone earnest yet gentle.

"You, Lin Xue, Lin Ya, and Lin You are all my most important family members."

I like every single one of you, without any distinction of rank or importance.

"Especially you, you're the most well-behaved in my heart."

Lin Shan stared blankly at Lin Yu, her golden eyes glistening with tears.

Her lips moved, as if she wanted to say something.

In the end, she simply nodded forcefully, and glistening tears silently slid down her cheeks.

"I promise I will never hurt myself again, it makes me feel terrible."

Lin Yu gently wiped away her tears with her fingertips.

"…Um."

Lin Shan responded softly, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Seeing that she had calmed down, Lin Yu was about to get up when Lin Shan gently tugged at her sleeve.

"My lord..." her voice was barely audible, her head bowed, her ears burning red, "You said... you like me..."

"Then... could you... prove it?"

"Proof?" Lin Yu was taken aback.

Before he could even figure out how to "prove" it, Lin Shan had already mustered her courage and threw herself into his arms.

The bath towel I had just put on slipped off silently…

……

……

Meanwhile, in the e-sports room on the fifth floor.

Lin Xue's cat ears twitched slightly, as if she had caught some kind of special sound wave vibration.

Her fingers tightened slightly as she gripped the game controller.

Her originally cool and aloof face seemed to be shrouded in an indescribable gloom.

She tried to refocus her gaze on the screen, but her eyes kept wandering, and her movements were noticeably less sharp and precise than before.

"Hey! Sister Lin Xue, you're distracted!"

"Take this!"

Lin Ya seized the opportunity and randomly pressed buttons, actually managing to unleash a combo that cornered Lin Xue's character.

In the past, Lin Xue could have easily resolved the situation.

But at this moment, she seemed genuinely distracted, her reaction a beat slower than usual.

He was hit by several skills from Lin Ya's character in succession.

"KO!"

The sound of victory rang out.

Lin Ya looked at the screen, where she saw a notification of her victory.

He paused for two seconds, then suddenly jumped up and erupted in a deafening cheer:

"yeah--!!"

"I won!"

"I beat Sister Lin Xue!"

"Persistence pays off, bear!"

"Hahahahaha!"

She was so excited that she danced around, her pink pigtails almost reaching the sky.

-

Based on everyone's suggestions over the past few days, I've changed the protagonist's ultimate skill to "gain all skills of the crafting target," whereas it was previously a random skill.

Actually, this randomness was also arranged by the author, which feels a bit like "taking off your pants to fart". It would be more reasonable to change it to "all skills" according to everyone's suggestions.

Also, it should be noted that this is actually the ultimate skill of an alchemist. The ultimate skills belonging to the protagonist should be the two skills with the tags "Alchemy Saint" and "Nine Heavens".

That is, the Transformation Pill and the "Nine Heavens" skill that will be released later.

I have carefully read everyone's suggestions and accepted everyone's criticisms.

Finally, thank you all for your support!