The Monastery's Daily Life of Child-Rearing

The memorial album only recorded his exploits of blowing up pirated copies of Boss Yang and the subsequent filing, with no mention of the Elysian Realm or his later journey with Raiden Ryoma and Yae.

Li Ming was also confused about the existence of the memorial album, but he could feel a strong connection to it. However, he had no idea when the contents within had appeared.

Closing the memorial album, Li Ming fell asleep filled with doubts.

In his dream, he saw Hua wearing a beautiful dress, smiling gently at him. Then, she reached out her hand as if to pull him, and the scene suddenly changed.

Hua's biceps bulged, her muscles clearly defined. After grabbing his hand, she executed a perfect German suplex.

Li Ming then transformed into a star, shining in the sky.

He could still see Hua, pointing to the sky with her left finger, "Your death star has already appeared in the sky!"

For a moment, Li Ming didn't know how to describe his feelings; it was... very complicated.

All he could say was that the situation was complex.

Then Li Ming woke up with a start, checking the time to find it was only six o'clock.

As soon as he woke up, he heard someone knocking on his door.

Li Ming flinched, quickly got up, and put on his clothes. He felt like he was developing a bit of a Fu Hua phobia.

Li Ming quickly got up. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Hua standing charmingly by the door, her slender low ponytail tied behind her back, her beret covering her slightly curled bangs.

She wore a light-colored short shirt and white hot pants, perfectly accentuating the girl's slender figure.

But seeing Hua's movements, Li Ming dared not move, truly, not daring to move at all. The previous day's injuries still ached faintly.

"It's time to get up. The children aren't up yet, so we need to start preparing breakfast. Let's clean up first," Hua tucked a strand of her bangs to the side.

"Breakfast?" Li Ming was a little hesitant. To be honest, all he knew how to make was egg fried rice.

"You can help me out. This morning, we'll make porridge. I saw that Grandma Rona prepared pumpkin, probably for dessert. You can help me cut the pumpkin," Hua could see Li Ming's embarrassment and naturally guessed his thoughts, especially considering how clumsy he was with the egg fried rice last night.

"Alright, then I can learn from you," seeing Hua take on the main task, Li Ming felt too embarrassed to refuse.

After the two finished cleaning and went to the kitchen, Hua tied on an apron and started cooking, while Li Ming could only help out on the side.

Mommy Sunflower's class is now in session, no, it's the Valkyrie's restaurant that's in session!

Sweet Pumpkin Porridge: Select good rice, measure out water, use Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment to bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the rice is done.

Inch-Force Melon Splitting: Cut the pumpkin into chunks, peel, and remove the seeds.

Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment transforms into Heavenly Fire Greatsword, ignite, and steam the pumpkin until soft.

Then, use Taixu's Grasp to circulate Inch-Force, mashing the pumpkin into a puree.

Pour the pumpkin puree into the steamer, stir evenly with the rice porridge, and simmer for 15 minutes.

And so, the sweet pumpkin porridge, filled with the love of Heavenly Fire, was served hot.

Even Sigfried would have said he learned something.

The two left the porridge to simmer in the pot and checked the time; it was only six-thirty.

Hua untied her apron and said, "Let's go. We still have time. Shall we spar for a bit?"

"Can't we not go?" Li Ming's mouth twitched slightly.

But Hua directly grabbed Li Ming's arm and pulled him out, "The early bird catches the worm. We must persevere in our martial arts training!"

Resistance was futile. Li Ming could only pray that Hua would go easy on him.

The two were in the courtyard where the children usually played. To ensure the children had enough space to play, Apponia had put a lot of thought into clearing a central area in the orphanage.

There were children's recreational facilities around, like slides and the like.

Instead of their usual morning exercises, the two were sparring. Although they held back some of their strength, the clashing of their fists and feet produced dull thuds.

Occasionally, a blow would land on the ground, cracking the concrete surface.

Under Apponia's management, the children at the convent usually woke up quite early. Grandma Rona alone couldn't handle all the cleaning, and the convent hadn't hired extra help for some reason. However, any issues at the convent were resolved by the children themselves. While they were called children, the oldest among them were already thirteen or fourteen.

A group of children were just about to get up to clean when they saw that the convent looked brand new. The cleaning had clearly been done, and even the areas they couldn't reach and hadn't cleaned were now spotless.

Then they heard the sounds of fighting coming from the courtyard. The children peeked around the door, watching the two spar, or rather, watching Li Ming get beaten unilaterally.

"Adam, that Ming brother looks so miserable."

"Shh, Tina, speak softly. Don't let Sister Hua hear, or she'll smash your head."

"But the older brothers and sisters are so amazing! I want to be as strong as them when I grow up!"

Children at this age most admired heroes, and the oldest among them, Adam, was no exception.

Facing Hua, Li Ming's own strength was insufficient, so he could only constantly dodge to trigger the effect of the engraving Chaotic Hundred Flowers [Plum].

This increased his attack and movement speed by forty percent for eight seconds.

The improvement effect was very obvious. Li Ming felt that after triggering the engraving's effect, his back and legs no longer ached, making him feel as energetic as an old man who had just activated a passive skill with his Leg Strength Enhancer.

Unfortunately, even when Li Ming counterattacked, the force of his blows landed on Hua like a stone dropped into the ocean, her body not even budding.

It was like a stone dropped into... well, a plain.

At Hua's level of cultivation, how could she not notice Li Ming's gaze, which was filled with resentment tinged with pity, and pity mixed with relief?

Even though I told myself not to get angry, the strength in my hands increased. Li Ming could still manage for a while, but later, forget dodging, his health was ground down to nothing.

Just as Li Ming's Chaotic Hundred Flowers [Plum] went into cooldown, when his old strength was gone and new strength hadn't yet arrived, Hua slapped him in the chest. Li Ming then fell like a dead fly.

He was stuck in the wall, unable to pull himself out.

The moment they saw Li Ming get sent flying, the eyes of a group of children lit up.

"Coach, I want to learn this!"

Hua noticed the children's commotion. Looking at Li Ming, whom she had just smashed into the wall, she felt a pang of guilt. Then, she smelled something and felt that something was off.

Turning her head, she saw thick smoke billowing from the kitchen. Clearly, the sweet pumpkin porridge, filled with the love of Heavenly Fire, was in big trouble.

Truly the Heavenly Fire Greatsword; even pumpkin porridge couldn't escape its grasp.

Hua rushed to salvage it and barely managed to save the pumpkin porridge. Unfortunately, it had turned into pumpkin pancakes, burnt black on the bottom of the pot, with quite a bit stuck to the pot itself.

Although Li Ming was slammed into the wall, he didn't faint. He was just sore all over and too lazy to move. A group of children surrounded him, making him uncomfortable.

Finally, Li Ming couldn't pretend to be dead anymore and pulled himself out of the wall. As he looked up, he saw thick smoke pouring out of the kitchen.

The children followed Li Ming's gaze. A little girl, only a few years old, pointed at the smoke in the distance and asked curiously, "It looks like something's on fire somewhere, it's smoking so much!"

Li Ming fell silent and quickly ran towards the kitchen. The children obviously reacted too, and each ran off to find pots and pans to help put out the fire.

The kitchen door opened, and thick smoke hit Li Ming's face, making his eyes unable to open. Then he saw Hua emerge, holding a pot of something pitch black.

Her slightly delicate face was also smudged with soot.

A while later, the smoke in the kitchen cleared. The children, carrying pots and pans, came to help with the fire. But as soon as they entered the kitchen, they saw the originally off-white kitchen walls blackened by the smoke.

Hua coughed dryly, "Hahaha, uh, why don't we eat first!"

Then, over a dozen children gathered around the table, looking at a pot in the middle that was somewhat yellowish but looked like a lump of coal.

The children glanced at the pot, then at Hua, feeling a bit strange. This Sister Hua felt even more terrifying than Mama Apponia.

Li Ming could only sigh, "Forget it, let's make it again. But we're out of ingredients. Should we go out and buy some later?"

"You stay here with the children. I'll go buy them. You're not familiar with this place yet." Hua glanced around and tidied herself up, preparing to go out.

Li Ming didn't stop her, just took a basin of water from one of the children. "Wash your face first before you go. We'll clean up the kitchen."

Hua paused, "That's true."

After Hua left, Li Ming looked at the children. "Come on, let's get to work. Otherwise, it'll be hard to explain when Sister Apponia gets back."

As soon as he finished speaking, several children rushed towards the kitchen with the speed of a whirlwind. The smoke was gone, the trash was gone, and even the previously blackened walls were repainted off-white, shining brightly.

Just as he was carrying a pot to wash it, a white-haired child came over and, with a couple of quick moves, a brand-new pot was produced.

Li Ming didn't know what to say at this point. Why did he have this inexplicable sense of guilt?

"Brother Ming, what do we do next?" the leading white-haired child asked him, his big eyes sparkling.

Li Ming was a bit flustered. Their efficiency was so high that it threw him off. He tentatively asked, "What do you guys want to do?"

"Learn martial arts q(≧▽≦q)"

"Learn martial arts ψ(｀?′)ψ"

"Learn martial arts (??ω??)?"

"Eat (☆▽☆)"

"Learn martial arts (/≧▽≦)/"

Wait, something different seemed to have slipped in there.

Then, when Hua returned after buying groceries, she saw a group of children in the monastery, sitting in a row, eating… no, not fruit, but following Li Ming, practicing horse stance.

This completely baffled Hua. Li Ming saw Hua return and instructed, "You all hold your horse stance steadily. Persevere, and you'll become like me and Hua."

"Yes, Master Ming!"

Hua's mouth twitched. "What is this?"

"The children are hungry. Hurry up."

Li Ming quickly pushed Hua into the kitchen, and after quite a bit of work, they finally prepared the meal again.

When the hot food came out, the children, who had been practicing horse stance all morning, finally had a chance to rest. Even though it was just pumpkin porridge, the children drank it to their heart's content.

Then it was back to practicing horse stance, while Li Ming and Hua helped repair the monastery.

Originally, the two of them planned for one to teach and the other to work. But when the children learned that Li Ming was going to let Hua teach, their expressions were truly heartbreaking to hear and tear-inducing to see!

So the final solution was that everyone would practice horse stance first. After practicing horse stance, Li Ming and the others finished the necessary repairs, and then Li Ming would teach.

However, he would only teach simple things, like breathing exercises.

In the afternoon, the children were busy with what they called redecorating. Hua brought a cartload of materials according to the children's requests. At first, Li Ming and Hua didn't think there was anything wrong, and even helped out a couple of times. They finally finished working late into the night.

Then Li Ming and Hua looked at the monastery's original statue, which now held a plaque with the word "Martial Arts" written on it.

The floor had become wooden planks, and the walls were still off-white. The effect looked strange no matter how you looked at it.

After dinner, the children, exhausted after their baths, all fell asleep. Some lay directly on the floor. Li Ming and Hua had no choice but to carry them to their beds one by one.

The two rested for a while, ultimately deciding to stay at the convent for one night before leaving.

The next morning, Apponia returned to the convent. As soon as she entered, her originally smiling eyes widened in surprise.

She then quietly walked back out and took a look, confirming it was indeed the convent. But upon re-entering.

The smooth wooden floor was waxed, and the spacious courtyard was filled with stone locks, wooden dummies, plum blossom stakes, and more. A tall statue, meant to depict hands in a gesture of devout prayer, inexplicably held a large banner with the character "Martial".

A group of children, following Li Ming, were practicing their horse stance and punches. Several large 'X' marks appeared on Apponia's smooth forehead. Her originally sky-blue eyes, warm and deep like the ocean, suddenly turned wine-red as her gaze swept towards Li Ming.

Li Ming, who had been facing away from the entrance, saw the children scatter in front of him. He felt a gaze sweeping over his back intermittently, and immediately understood what had happened.

His head felt like it was stuck, and he slowly turned his head, frame by frame, to look behind him. As expected, Apponia stood behind him, her eyes narrowed and smiling, her hair flying and her loose, long dress billowing as if in a wind that wasn't there.

She's smiling with her eyes narrowed, but why are red lights flashing from the gaps between her eyelids? What kind of monster is she!

"Yabete~"

A mournful wail then echoed from within the convent, enough to bring tears to one's eyes.