Reunion After a Long Separation and Their Choice

After a quiet night, he instructed the maidservants to have the residence in the city cleaned up the next day.

The courtyard Golden Crocodile Martial Uncle had given him was not particularly large compared to where he currently lived, only a little over 1,200 square meters. However, it was a residence meant for sale to the public, naturally unlike the public property on the mountain. Still, it was considered quite good in this area. Most of the people living here were Spirit Hall's senior officials, making it something of a network of connections.

Just as Broad Hill had expected, with four days remaining until Han Li's birthday, Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao arrived early. Han Li took Xiu'er with him to welcome them.

They had not seen each other for only a year, yet Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao could barely recognize the two, who had changed so drastically. If Han Li had not taken the initiative to hug them, and if Xiu'er had not had two round ears atop her head, they would never have dared to speak to them first.

"Grandfather Ma Xiunuo, Tao Ge, it's been a long time. I originally planned to go back during the New Year, but Master happened to be in seclusion then and arranged training for me. I also didn't know about your subsequent transfers. Otherwise, I would have gone back to see you long ago."

After Xiu'er greeted them as well, Han Li dismissed the attendants. He took the two of them along as he introduced the situation and led them toward the residence.

Even after a year apart, he felt no distance from them. These two had taken care of him for nearly three years. Compared to Spirit Hall, where he had to think twice before doing anything, he felt closer to these two, whose kindness toward him came purely from affection.

"It seems you've truly been doing well here, Xiao Li. You've grown so much taller in just a year, and you're still so sensible," Ma Xiunuo said with satisfaction.

"More than that. Didn't you see that Xiao Li even had attendants just now? The Soul Power fluctuations from those attendants were about the same as mine. As expected of Spirit City," Su Yuntao said somewhat stiffly.

"Ha, Tao Ge, that was all arranged by Master. It has nothing to do with me. If you want, I can arrange one for you these next few days too?" Han Li asked with a grin, winking at him.

"No, I couldn't accept that. By the way, Xiao Li, where are we going? Isn't the hotel over there?" Su Yuntao hurriedly refused, then casually asked as he looked at the buildings to his right.

"Of course we're going to where I live. Now that you've come to Spirit City, how could I let you stay in a hotel? Once we get there, pick whichever rooms you like. The house was a gift from one of my martial uncles. To be honest, I haven't lived there either. Xiu'er and I have been cultivating on the mountain with Master until now." As Han Li answered, he pointed toward the distant Elder Mountain.

"We're here. Let's go in."

As he spoke, Han Li stopped in front of a grand residence and pulled the still-stunned pair inside.

After showing them around and having a carefully ordered lunch delivered, Tao Ge, who could barely suppress his Soul Power, broke through to rank 29 on the spot. Han Li had previously asked his master to send them some cultivation resources. They were of little use to Ma Xiunuo, but Tao Ge had still raised his rank by one over the course of the year.

Of course, what Broad Hill sent them could not compare to what Han Li used daily. Besides, anything too valuable might not necessarily have been a good thing for them.

After this, the two of them were somewhat numb to it all. They truly understood the difference between top-tier Soul Masters and bottom-tier Soul Masters. Fortunately, Han Li's attitude toward them remained unchanged, which gave them considerable comfort.

After lunch, the three soaked in a pool infused with medicinal herbs, relaxing and chatting.

When they spoke of Notting City, Han Li was surprised to hear from them about what Yu Xiaogang and Tang San had done on the very day he left. When he learned that the two's Soul Master subsidies had been canceled, he could not help laughing aloud.

"By the way, what happened afterward? No one gave you any trouble, right?" Han Li pressed.

"No. Not long after that, the two of us were transferred to the Martial Soul Sub-Hall in the Balak Kingdom Capital. We heard from people transferred there later that they truly never went to collect the subsidies again. We don't know anything else," Ma Xiunuo said, shaking his head.

"Ah, what a pity for that child named Tang San. No matter what, he had Innate Full Soul Power."

Su Yuntao still sounded somewhat regretful when the matter was mentioned.

"That was his own choice. You can't be blamed for it, Tao Ge. Don't take it to heart. You said everything that needed to be said, and perhaps he was taken in by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon long ago," Han Li consoled him.

"Mm, I suppose so. No matter how useless his Martial Soul was, his talent was still there. Why would I need to worry about him?" Su Yuntao froze for a moment, then mocked himself.

"Don't say that, Tao Ge. Didn't you personally awaken my Martial Soul too? By the way, Grandfather Ma Xiunuo, Tao Ge, since you're already here this time, how about staying in Spirit City?" Han Li asked directly.

Ma Xiunuo was fine upon hearing this, but Su Yuntao was clearly tempted. He was only in his twenties and not yet thirty, and he was about to reach rank 30. The Balak Kingdom was nice, but the sacred land of Soul Masters was also a place he longed for. Now that he had the chance to stay here, he was truly moved.

Ma Xiunuo glanced at Su Yuntao and answered with a smile, "Xiao Li, no rush. Let us think it over. If we really stay, we'll have to trouble you then."

"Alright, it's settled then. Don't feel burdened. You should be able to tell that this is no big matter to me," Han Li said sincerely.

"Don't worry, we won't stand on ceremony. Right, Yuntao?" Ma Xiunuo said with a smile.

"Ah, mm, right."

Su Yuntao nodded hurriedly. His face was somewhat red, whether from the heat or the thoughts in his heart, no one knew.

Over the next few days, Broad Hill allowed Han Li to temporarily put his other lessons on hold, as long as his cultivation time was not affected. Han Li took the opportunity to bring Xiu'er and the two of them around Spirit City, letting them experience the prosperity of the sacred land of Soul Masters.

Strangely enough, although he did not have the benefit of a Simulated Environment these past few days, perhaps because of his mood, Han Li felt that his cultivation speed had not slowed. On the contrary, it had even become slightly faster. Combining work and rest seemed to have a pretty good effect, he thought happily.

And just like that, his birthday passed quietly. That day, he received five gifts: one each from Ma Xiunuo, Tao Ge, Uncle Xiao, who had asked them to bring one on his behalf, his master, and his martial uncle. Of course, there was also one from Xiu'er. After secretly kissing him, Xiu'er ran back to her room. No matter how he coaxed her, she refused to come out.

Afterward, Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao also revealed their choice. They had decided to stay. The two had both been alone to begin with; otherwise, they would not have chosen to leave Notting City back then. Being able to remain in Spirit City now fulfilled a small wish of theirs.

After asking what they wanted to do going forward, Han Li secured a small courtyard for them, left them a sum of money, and used members of Broad Hill's affiliated family to arrange positions for them at an orphanage under Spirit Hall.

He prepared medicinal herbs for them and helped condition their bodies. Ma Xiunuo essentially had no possibility of breaking through any further, so Han Li used processed Whale Rubber to strengthen Tao Ge's body again. He also told him to make sure to notify him when he obtained his next Soul Ring.

That was right. He planned to use the Martial Soul theory he had mentioned when he first met Broad Hill on Tao Ge. Tao Ge's talent was truly rather low, and he was no longer young. He himself did not have a particularly strong desire to cultivate and was instead eager to start a family. In that case, he would slowly advance Tao Ge's Martial Soul Evolution. If it could benefit his descendants, that would be a good choice as well.

After settling everything, he brought Xiu'er back up the mountain and resumed his diligent cultivation, only occasionally going down the mountain in his spare time to meet with the two of them.

Although he had previously said he would move down, now was not the right time. He needed to break through to Soul Grandmaster as quickly as possible. Only then would he have an excuse to leave Spirit City.

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