Kids Are Cute... Except at That Age When Everyone Hates Them

So although its defensive power was not much inferior to Hongchen's Protection, the upgraded Level 9 Defense System Soul Tool developed by Jing Hongchen, this early product had still been discarded by Jing Hongchen due to its awkward passive activation method and its inability to adjust its defensive strength.

Yet even with all those flaws, Hongchen's Guard was still an outstanding Level 8 Soul Tool. It could basically be used as a reusable Invincible Shield, considering that it could be activated regardless of the user's cultivation and produce a shield capable of withstanding a Super Douluo's attacks for several seconds.

Across the Sun Moon Empire, many Level 8 Soul Masters could spend their entire lives without being able to produce equipment like this.

If it were put up for sale, given Jing Hongchen's reputation and technical skill, it could sell for tens of millions of Gold Soul Coins within the Sun Moon Empire. If auctioned on the Douluo Continent, it could fetch at least fifteen million Gold Soul Coins.

After all, even a normal single-use Invincible Shield Soul Tool capable of blocking a Super Douluo's attack cost an astronomical price—over a million Gold Soul Coins apiece.

Even without considering its technical value, simply using it as an Invincible Shield Soul Tool would guarantee a profit.

Jing Hongchen chatted with Chen Ming and Chen Li. Though most of it was polite small talk, he occasionally probed Chen Ming's breadth of knowledge and usual temperament through indirect questions.

Soon, the afternoon had passed.

Looking at the setting sun beyond the window, Jing Hongchen invited the two of them to wait in a sitting room normally used by family members and relatives for private meals. After excusing himself, he went off to arrange the banquet and handle miscellaneous matters.

At the dinner table later, he would introduce his grandson and granddaughter, letting both sides get acquainted while also showing off his outstanding grandchildren.

A few minutes later, while Chen Ming and Chen Li were curiously looking around the sitting room, a youth wearing a cheerful grin like a husky suddenly slammed open the door and darted inside, quickly hiding behind a "pillar" in the room.

A silver-haired girl with a head full of dirt and wildly disheveled hair chased after him. Her gemlike red eyes brimmed with anger as she surveyed the room.

Just as she was about to yell at the unfortunate Brother who had teased her, she saw two large and small mountains of flesh standing awkwardly in the middle of the sitting room, looking at her strangely.

Seeing the two obvious outsiders, Meng Hongchen, who had planned to prank Xiao Hongchen only to be discovered and pranked by him first, instantly became incomparably embarrassed.

The silver-haired, red-eyed girl took a small step back and threw away the ice rod she had been tightly clutching in her hand. Then, she hurriedly wiped her face with her muddy hand, forced out an awkward smile, and bowed to Chen Ming and Chen Li.

"Meng Hongchen greets the two seniors."

"Meng, you?" Hearing Meng Hongchen's words, Xiao Hongchen, who was hiding behind the "pillar" and carefully holding the "surprise" he had prepared for her, was startled. Instinctively, he steadied himself against the pillar in front of him.

But after getting caught up in their earlier horseplay and failing to notice, Xiao Hongchen's mind had now cleared slightly. The moment he touched it, he immediately realized something was wrong.

What kind of pillar was this springy and sturdy—and wore clothes, too?

"Ah... Senior... I-I-I-I'm sorry!"

Seeing Chen Li glaring at him with a "fierce" expression, Xiao Hongchen, who was only six years old, immediately lost his composure. His hand, tightly clutching the "little surprise," loosened slightly, giving the treasure Xiao Hongchen had carefully selected a chance to perform.

It was a small insect-type Soul Beast with a dull shit-yellow body. Xiao Hongchen had been pinching a vital part of it, forcing it into an emergency state. The moment it was released, it immediately attacked on instinct.

This Soul Beast had only barely reached the threshold of a ten-year Soul Beast, and its quality was even lower than that of low-grade Soul Beasts. Otherwise, Xiao Hongchen would not have been able to casually hold it in his hand and play with it. Its combat ability was not even enough to defeat an Ordinary Person.

Yet this little thing had a resounding name—Sanpao Worm.

This insect possessed a very special little ability. Just like the Martial Soul Luo Sanpao possessed by the young "Master Douluo," Yu Xiaogang, Ten Thousand Years Ago, this tiny creature attacked by... farting!

In an instant, hidden by Xiao Hongchen's palm, the little bug's abdomen swelled high before compressing to its limit. With a pop, it released everything.

Although this ultimate attack beyond its limits consumed the Sanpao Worm's fragile life, its desperate strike achieved an effect that many powerful Soul Beasts could not accomplish at the same age.

"Ugh..."

Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, Chen Ming, and Chen Li had no time to react before they were all hit by the stench left behind by that tiny creature, whose faint Soul Power fluctuations had been concealed by Xiao Hongchen's hand.

The attack carried not the slightest bit of physical destructive power, but its smell was like tossing fermented canned herring into a sun-baked cesspit, mixing in fermented mung bean juice, then reducing it over high heat. It dealt immense damage to the human mind.

According to unofficial rumors, the stench of this insect's farts was exactly the same as Luo Sanpao's.

Though that was probably fake—after all, if Luo Sanpao's farts really smelled this bad, Yu Xiaogang could at least have defeated some low-level Soul Masters across ranks—it had been passed around as truth by later generations. Still, that was indeed the origin of the Sanpao Worm's name.

Even Chen Li, a Titled Douluo, was nauseated for a moment by the sudden stench. He immediately held his breath with Soul Power, then grabbed Chen Ming by the collar and lifted him into his hand.

But whether Xiao Hongchen was simply far too short compared to Chen Ming, or Chen Li did it deliberately, no one knew.

Moving with the speed of a Titled Douluo, Chen Li smoothly bypassed Xiao Hongchen, the prankster whose out-of-control joke had dragged innocent bystanders into it. With his other hand, he grabbed Meng Hongchen by the collar and swiftly retreated into the courtyard with the two of them like a charging freight truck.

Then Soul Power surged forth, transforming into wind in a terribly inefficient manner and rapidly blowing the stench off all three of them.

Watching the three of them suddenly vanish, Xiao Hongchen froze for a second. Then the stench nearly choked him to death. He immediately covered his nose, held his breath, and charged out with Soul Power reinforcement.

After reaching the courtyard, Xiao Hongchen instinctively breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to take a deep breath. Instead, he inhaled a wave of stench even stronger than the one inside. Before he could react, he was choked unconscious.

Before passing out, Xiao Hongchen seemed to understand something. He painfully glanced at the hand that had been holding the little bug, then collapsed with a smack into Chen Li's large palm.

That behavior, as though untouched by the pollution of knowledge, truly gave Chen Ming quite a shock.

Xiao Hongchen had merely been choked until he lost his breath; it was not an injury at all. Chen Li sent a little Soul Power into him and gave him a slight shake while holding him, and Xiao Hongchen immediately regained consciousness. Once he was placed on the ground, his face had already turned bright red. His legs trembled from nervousness, but he still barely managed to force out a smile uglier than crying.

"Thank you, Senior... for saving my life!"

"Uh... no need to thank me." Even as a Titled Douluo, Chen Li could not quite maintain his expression. He could only reply awkwardly.