Little Nannan

Ding! The host successfully signed in at Ziyang Grotto-Heaven and obtained one Purple Sun Grass with five hundred years of medicinal age. It has been stored in the host's Qiankun Pearl!

Ding! The host successfully signed in at Xiyue Grotto-Heaven and obtained one Xiyue Flower with three hundred years of medicinal age. It has been stored in the host's Qiankun Pearl!

Ding! The host successfully signed in at Jinsha Grotto-Heaven and obtained one Black Jade Divine Lotus Seed with five hundred years of medicinal age. It has been stored in the host's Qiankun Pearl!

Ding! The host successfully signed in at Yuding Grotto-Heaven and obtained one Green Jade Snow Lotus Fruit with five hundred years of medicinal age. It has been stored in the host's Qiankun Pearl!

Over the next half month, Lu Zhou traveled through the remaining four blessed grotto-heavens within Yan Kingdom.

The rewards he received from signing in might have been considered divine medicine by ordinary cultivators.

But to him, they were nothing special.

At most, after refining these spiritual herbs and fruits, they would raise his cultivation somewhat.

That day, he left Yuding Grotto-Heaven and headed straight for Yan Capital, just over four hundred li away.

At his speed, it did not take long for him to enter Yan Capital.

The city was bustling and prosperous.

The streets teemed with people, and the cries of countless vendors rang without end.

"Golden-thread honey dates, big and sweet!"

"Crispy chicken wings! If they aren't good, don't pay!"

"Zhang's soup dumplings! Thin wrappers, generous filling, juicy and delicious! Come have a taste!"

"Candied hawthorns! Just one copper coin a skewer!"

Lu Zhou moved through the crowded market, savoring this vibrant slice of ancient city life.

He was a foodie with a strong appetite for good food. Whenever he passed a stall, he would take out little golden beans to buy snacks that caught his interest.

Behind him, stall owners repeatedly bowed and clasped their hands in thanks.

In their eyes, Lu Zhou had become a God of Wealth walking among mortals.

Yet after an entire day, Lu Zhou had not encountered the Little Nannan he wanted to meet.

He was not in a hurry. As dusk approached, his figure flashed, and he entered the Yan Emperor's palace.

He did not alert anyone, merely wandered through the imperial palace.

He had come solely out of curiosity. He wanted to see what a legendary imperial palace was like and whether the emperor's empresses and concubines were truly as stunning as rumored.

The result left Lu Zhou somewhat disappointed.

The Yan Emperor's empress and concubines were indeed exceptionally beautiful by mortal standards.

But.

They were far inferior to some of the female cultivators Lu Zhou had seen over the past days.

Two or three of the Yan Emperor's most favored and outstanding concubines might have rivaled certain female cultivators in appearance, but in terms of temperament, they were utterly outclassed.

And though the Yan Emperor's palace was resplendent and magnificent, with halls, pavilions, artificial mountains, flowing waters, small bridges, and gardens everywhere, it still felt somewhat vulgar.

Only then did Lu Zhou realize that his tastes had changed without him noticing.

He now preferred environments like Lingxu Grotto-Heaven, where nature and architecture blended together.

His standards when it came to women had also risen by an unknown number of levels.

Only then did he remember that he had not thought about the study materials he had collected before transmigrating for a very long time.

He casually found an empty palace hall within the Yan Emperor's palace and prepared to rest for the night.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he immersed his mind in the system.

As expected, Yan Capital could indeed be signed in at.

He immediately muttered, "Sign in."

Then Lu Zhou was stunned.

Ding! The host successfully signed in at Yan Capital and obtained one complete Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art. It has been stored in the host's Qiankun Pearl!

An Imperial Scripture!

This was actually the Imperial Scripture created by the Empress in her first life!

This tiny Yan Capital had allowed him to sign in for an Imperial Scripture.

This reward utterly surpassed those from Yuding and the other major blessed grotto-heavens.

The first thought that arose in Lu Zhou's mind was that it was most likely related to the Empress's Dao Fruit, Little Nannan, wandering around Yan Capital.

Unable to wait any longer, he entered the Qiankun Pearl and began examining the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art.

He spent three days studying it.

Without the aid of Great Emperor-level comprehension, even though he had embarked on the path of cultivation and comprehended the Dao Sutra, he still found the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art created by the Empress profoundly obscure and extremely difficult to understand.

Lu Zhou realized that not only was he an ordinary mortal body.

His comprehension was probably ordinary as well.

Though his understanding came with great difficulty, he still gained quite a bit.

Within the Qiankun Pearl, Lu Zhou's eyes flickered uncertainly.

There was no doubt that for an ordinary mortal body like his, the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art was an exceptionally suitable cultivation technique.

As long as he devoured the origins of cultivators with special physiques, his mortal body could undergo transformation, allowing him to gain powerful physiques that countless cultivators dreamed of.

But.

"The Indestructible Heavenly Art naturally restrains the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art."

"Cultivators of the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art are merely fish forever unable to escape the river, destined to serve as furnaces for cultivators of the Indestructible Heavenly Art."

"One Dao suppresses ten thousand Daos."

Lu Zhou shook his head and sighed.

He set aside the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art. He did not intend to cultivate it, only to use it as a reference.

Early the next morning, he left the palace and continued wandering through Yan Capital.

Near noon, Lu Zhou finally saw a little girl who called herself Nannan.

Her eyes were bright, but she was filthy all over. Her little clothes were tattered, and even her small shoes had holes where her toes poked through.

"Big sister, I'm hungry. Please buy me a bun to eat. I'm begging you, Nannan is so hungry..."

She was pitifully begging a young maid who appeared to belong to a wealthy household, only to be frightened by the maid's scolding.

She shrank back timidly with her head lowered. Her tiny body trembled like a quail, and she did not dare say a word.

But the maid, who looked to be around sixteen, still refused to let it go. Perhaps she had suffered some anger from her master and was venting all the pent-up resentment she had accumulated lately on the pitiful little girl.

Filthy insults poured from her mouth.

Even that was not enough. As she cursed, she raised her hand and tried to slap the little girl across the face.

Heavens, she was just a pitiful little beggar. Even if you were unwilling to give her anything and had no sympathy for her, you could have simply ignored her and left. Why go this far?

The moment he saw this, Lu Zhou flashed and appeared before the little girl calling herself Nannan. Then he directly slapped the maid flying.

Lu Zhou had acted in anger. Whether this little girl was Little Nannan, the Empress's Dao Fruit, or not, he could not stand to see such a thing happen before his eyes.

So when he sent her flying, he truly sent her flying.

That maid was slapped directly out of Yan Capital by Lu Zhou.

Only after sending the maid flying did Lu Zhou turn around and discover that Little Nannan was looking at him timidly.

Lu Zhou put on what he considered his sunniest and gentlest smile and spoke to Little Nannan.

"Little sister, come on. Big brother will treat you to something delicious!"

Thanks to big boss Black Hole Hurricane for the two monthly tickets!