The Fourteenth Day of Being a Rich Second-Gen

Tang San was absorbing the Bloodthirsty Demonic Flame Spider's spirit ring while the others rested. Such an unexpected turn on their first day in the Star Dou Great Forest had left the group of youngsters exhausted in both body and mind.

Ming Sui handed Nian Nian to Xiao Wu to hold, then went to where the Emerald Angel had vanished. Even the blood the Emerald Angel had shed earlier was gone. She stood in silence for a while before taking out a small bottle and a tiny shovel from her Storage Spirit Tool, scooping up a bottle of soil and putting it away.

An Emerald Angel's eyes turned green after it had been born for more than three days; before then, they were purple. Nian Nian's eyes had already turned green before it fell asleep, so it was no longer attractive to other spirit beasts. Ming Sui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"She was so close to being able to leave safely with her child." Ning Rongrong still could not let it go.

"That's why we need to become stronger." Dai Mubai walked over and spoke solemnly. "I understood that when we first met."

"That's right, Sister Rongrong. We won't always be this powerless. We'll become stronger together," Ming Sui told Ning Rongrong.

"Let's cultivate." Ning Rongrong wiped away her tears. "Dai Laoda, you cultivate first. We'll stand guard."

Dai Mubai and the other main attackers had expended plenty of strength as well, and their Soul Power was indeed nearly depleted. But seeing how obviously overdrawn Ming Sui was, Dai Mubai still arranged for her to cultivate first. He could hold on a little longer. Once Tang San finished absorbing his Second Spirit Ring, he could cultivate for a while too.

From the rear, Flender watched all the children's actions since they had decided to pick up the leftovers and let out a long breath. "Not bad. A little better than I expected."

"A little, or a hundred million?" Zhao Wuji raised an eyebrow at him.

"I thought those two little princesses would throw a tantrum. And Xiao Wu too—she did pretty well to hold back." Flender thought for a moment. "Still, it makes sense. Ming Sui has always been sensible, and with her around, Ning Rongrong can't make too much of a fuss. Xiao Wu is a good child after all. Kids need more experience before they can grow up."

Flender thought for a moment longer, then asked Master, "Do you know what that light that flew into Ming Sui's body was?"

Master was pondering it as well. He had never seen anything like this before. In fact, they had only learned about spirit beasts like Emerald Angels after meeting A'tu, which showed just how many secrets the Star Dou Great Forest held. "Judging by the Emerald Angel's motives, she had no reason to harm Ming Sui."

"Exactly. Otherwise, she wouldn't have just stood by and done nothing, right? Forget it. We'll keep a closer eye on her, and when we get back, we'll have those two Your Excellencies take a look." Flender considered it.

Master nodded, then looked again at Tang San, who was absorbing his second ring, his face full of gratification. They had obtained the target spirit beast's ring so smoothly, and its age was suitable. Even he felt pleasantly surprised.

However, Tang San, who was absorbing the spirit ring, did not feel comfortable at all, because the Bloodthirsty Demonic Flame Spider felt that its death had been far too unjust.

This demonic spider's true cultivation age was eight hundred and ninety years. Its aura normally made other people and beasts think it was a thousand-year spirit beast, but it had been injured fighting its own kind some time ago. On top of that, it specialized in Spiritual Power, so it lost without surprise and was badly wounded.

It had been furious, throwing a fit everywhere, when the Beast God answered its prayers. It had actually discovered an Emerald Angel hatchling that was less than three days old. If it ate it, it would be able to defeat its enemy.

The demonic spider's simple mind held only a craving for power. It wanted to deal with the Emerald Angel mother first, and so a massacre began.

But the demonic spider had not expected that the ones to ruin its good fortune would be a group of humans.

Humans! Detestable humans! They had joined forces to injure it, then simply ignored it. What humiliation!

The demonic spider wanted to spit demonic flames and launch a sneak attack on those detestable humans, but its silk sac was already empty, and its heavily injured body could not crawl over to stab them.

Damn it! The demonic spider was furious. Just a little longer, and the Emerald Angel would have died. It could have eaten that hatchling and gained tremendous power, perhaps even grown powerful enough to become the king of its species, possessing the finest demonic spider mate and fathering strong demonic spider hatchlings.

Even more hateful was that in that short time, the hatchling's time had come. It was no longer a hatchling in its infant stage, and eating it was useless now. The flames of hatred burned even fiercer.

With its one uninjured eye, it glared fixedly at the detestable humans who had ruined everything, wanting to remember their appearances and auras. It would have its revenge.

Wait, that Emerald Angel had died. This was bad. Those humans would be even less likely to spare it now.

Sure enough, that little bastard with the strange Blue Silver Grass martial spirit came over. Its strong spider legs, once its pride, were cut off one segment at a time, and its other intact eye was gone too. So much hatred, such unbearable hatred! Beast God above, let me go. I will curse this human with my life. If that little bastard dares absorb my spirit ring, then let him be trapped in demonic flames forever.

That was the inner journey of the Bloodthirsty Demonic Flame Spider, now reduced to scraps. Tang San knew none of it.

Although this was his second time absorbing a spirit ring, Tang San still found it somewhat unfamiliar. When he had absorbed the Mandala Snake's spirit ring last time, it had not been this uncomfortable.

It was cold yet scorching, like a low-temperature burn. The pain slowly increased, making him a little irritable, yet he could clearly feel the power of his Blue Silver Grass growing stronger.

Soul Power washed through Tang San's body bit by bit. His dark blue Soul Power absorbed the dark red Soul Power of the Bloodthirsty Demonic Flame Spider. Feeling his Soul Power grow increasingly stronger, Tang San relaxed slightly.

Suddenly, pain struck his brain. At the same time, his companions and teachers, whether cultivating or standing guard, noticed the change in Tang San.

The Bloodthirsty Demonic Flame Spider's spirit ring had been completely absorbed. It seemed that he had successfully absorbed the spirit ring, yet Tang San had not awakened. Not only had he not awakened, but his Blue Silver Grass had begun to riot.

The Blue Silver Grass, thicker and sturdier than before, instantly grew and wrapped around Tang San's body. Master rushed over in three strides and stopped the others from approaching. "Don't act rashly yet. Xiao San's aura is still stable for now."

Everyone watched Tang San worriedly. Ming Sui had already rested enough. "Master, do you need me to release my Soul Power?"

"Wait a moment," Master said after some thought.

Tang San's head throbbed, and his consciousness was pulled into a black space.

"Who are you?" a cold voice asked him. "How did a child like you come here?"

"Your Excellency, I was absorbing my Second Spirit Ring when my Spiritual Power was attacked. It went out of control and devoured the attacker. I do not know how I ended up here." Feeling the other party's immense pressure, Tang San decided to tell the truth.

After hearing his answer, there was no immediate reply, as though the voice was verifying whether his words were true.

"You're an honest kid," the voice sounded again. "You're decent material, though still far too weak. Still, you're lucky. I'll give you a great gift." The voice vanished after that, and Tang San's consciousness returned to his body. He could once more see the state of his Soul Power and Spiritual Power within himself.

In his Sea of Consciousness, his Spiritual Power had devoured the Bloodthirsty Demonic Flame Spider's troublesome Spiritual Power, equivalent to two years of diligent cultivation. Tang San gave a wry smile. He had nearly been ambushed with Spiritual Power by a defeated foe. There was no one to reason with about that.

Wait, what was this on his ribs? Tang San looked inward in shock and uncertainty, staring at the extra bones on his ribs. It was as if another set of bones had fused onto them.

Had he mutated after absorbing a demonic spider's spirit ring?

Was I even human anymore?!

The nervous group watched as the Blue Silver Grass slowly receded. Tang San inside looked to be in fairly good condition, and they gradually relaxed. Before long, Tang San opened his eyes, a sharp gleam shooting from them.

Master laughed. "Good, good, good! Xiao San, do you feel any discomfort?"

Tang San stood up and sensed himself again. The foreign object on his ribs was still there.

"There actually is something," Tang San said with an odd expression.

The moment everyone heard that something was wrong, they became tense again.

Wasn't that just a polite question? How could there really be something wrong?

"There's something extra on my ribs, but my Soul Power is circulating normally, and I don't feel anything strange." Tang San described it while carefully sensing his body.

Master was a little bewildered too. He wanted to go back and search through his materials again.

Ming Sui's face tightened. "Let me take a look. Cousin, don't resist my Soul Power."

Ming Sui placed her hand against Tang San's ribs, and green-gold Soul Power appeared again, slowly seeping inside. Ming Sui examined him carefully over and over, but there was nothing wrong.

"I can sense that your ribs have become thicker, but there's nothing else. At least it isn't absorbing your Soul Power." Ming Sui spoke in confusion. "If not, we can send Father a message and ask him."

Ming Sui's Life Spirit Power had not sensed anything abnormal. After some thought, Master said, "Xiao San, be cautious while testing things out for the time being. If anything feels wrong, say so immediately. When we return, we'll ask Saint Light Your Excellency to examine you."

It was best if they did not delay the team's plans, and Tang San agreed.

Ming Sui frowned, only for Tang San to ruffle her hair. When would he finally be able to pinch her cheeks again? he thought gloomily. His cousin had grown up, and her face had slimmed down. Tang San's thoughts rarely went off the rails like this.

Flender walked over. Seeing that the children did not look well, he unusually did not comfort them. "All right, children. You've experienced a lot today, and it'll be dark soon. The terrain here is decent, so we'll set up camp here. The air is a little damp. It may rain."

Zhao Wuji walked over as well. "Rest tonight. The few of us will keep watch. Get a good night's sleep and pull yourselves together. You're not allowed to be like this tomorrow."

Everyone from Shrek answered in unison.

Soon, the camp was set up. Oscar began cooking again, while Ming Sui, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing prepared milk powder for Nian Nian.

Nian Nian woke up and immediately wanted food. Its green eyes were wet and glistening as it whimpered and nuzzled against Zhu Zhuqing, who was holding it. Even the usually calm and aloof Zhu Zhuqing was about to break into a sweat, making Dai Mubai beside her unable to hold back a laugh.

Evil rose in Zhu Zhuqing's heart. She shoved Nian Nian into Dai Mubai's arms and ran off.

Dai Mubai's arms stiffened as he held Nian Nian. Nian Nian was not picky, though. It seemed to know that these people had saved it, and it was very affectionate toward all of them. Of course, it was still most attached to Ming Sui.

Ming Sui and Xiao Wu were busy preparing the milk powder. Ning Rongrong had found it after rummaging through the three Storage Spirit Tools she had brought along. Zhu Zhuqing ran over too, and the four girls checked the water level, tightened the Milk Bottle, then handed it to Tang San and Ma Hongjun.

Tang San released Blue Silver Grass and wrapped it around the Milk Bottle, while Ma Hongjun summoned a tiny wisp of Phoenix Flame to heat it. No one had expected that the first use of Blue Silver Grass after gaining fire immunity from the Bloodthirsty Demonic Flame Spider's spirit ring would be as a heat-conducting plate.

With the two of them working in precise coordination, the milk was heated to a suitable temperature.

But Nian Nian was too difficult to feed. It refused to cooperate no matter what.

Everyone showed off their own special skills.

Dai Mubai held Nian Nian while Tang San released Blue Silver Grass again, teasing Nian Nian to draw its attention. Ma Hongjun had a high body temperature and kept stroking it. Oscar made a large sausage, using the scent of meat to entice Nian Nian to open its mouth. Zhu Zhuqing held the Milk Bottle, Xiao Wu played the bad cop, Ning Rongrong played the good cop, and Ming Sui mediated.

Princess Nian Nian slightly parted its golden mouth, and Zhu Zhuqing swiftly and gently slipped the Milk Bottle inside. Feeling the strange sensation, Nian Nian sucked from muscle memory. It was eating, it was eating!

The shoulders of the wildly flustered group relaxed.

How wonderful. They had not messed everything up.