Scion of a Great Family

The moon shone bright, casting dappled shadows across the forest.

The air was dreamy and hazy with romance.

Nie Li finished massaging the bruises on Xiao Ninger and watched as she slowly put her clothes back on. The two sat quietly, neither saying a word.

Xiao Ninger glanced up at Nie Li. His expression was calm and serious. A trace of warmth still lingered where the bruises had been, and she was filled with gratitude. If not for Nie Li, she didn't know how much longer she would have struggled in agony. He had pulled her out of an endless mire.

Under Xiao Ninger's gaze, Nie Li felt a little awkward. After all, he had touched some places he shouldn't have. They had felt pretty nice, too.

"Nie Li, you've offended the Sacred Family. You need to be very careful." Xiao Ninger knew the Sacred Family was despicable and shameless. Back when her Winged Dragon Family had fallen into decline, it had been because they fell into the Sacred Family's trap. More than eighty percent of their businesses had ended up under the Sacred Family's control, leaving them no choice but to become dependent on them.

Even now, the Winged Dragon Family still hadn't recovered. They were near the bottom among the Magnate Families and were on the verge of falling into the ranks of the Noble Families.

"I know what I'm doing. The Sacred Family is a bunch of hypocrites who care about their reputation, so they won't make a move against me for now. They'll probably wait at least a few months, until the fuss dies down, before settling the score with me." Nie Li smiled faintly. By then, he would have ways to strike back.

Nie Li's expression brimmed with confidence. Xiao Ninger felt that no matter what problem he faced, it wouldn't be a problem for him. Her heart was full of admiration for him.

"When you get back, find an unused Soul Crystal. I'll help you test your talent," Nie Li said, looking at Xiao Ninger. As they got to know each other better, he felt that she was a pretty good girl. Maybe one day she would become a powerful ally. Nie Li decided to teach her some powerful cultivation techniques.

"An unused Soul Crystal? Do you mean this?" Xiao Ninger asked. She took a Beginner Soul Crystal from her Spatial Ring. "I have three here."

"So you already have some. That's great." Nie Li smiled and picked one up. "Put your Soul Power into it and let me see."

"All right." Xiao Ninger nodded and poured her Soul Power into it. The Soul Crystal immediately shone with dazzling light. Inside, the points of light seemed to form the shape of a Winged Dragon spreading its wings and soaring through the sky.

Nie Li looked at Xiao Ninger in surprise. "Your Soul Power is 83. Your Soul Attribute is wind and thunder, and your Soul Form is a Winged Dragon."

No wonder Xiao Ninger had cultivated so quickly in his previous life. Even after lying in bed for two years, her cultivation had still risen rapidly. She actually had a Winged Dragon Soul Form—a peerless talent, one in ten thousand. Anyone with such a Soul Form would advance quickly no matter what technique they practiced. If they practiced a wind-and-thunder technique, they would be even more formidable.

"Wind and thunder, Soul Form, Winged Dragon... What do all those things mean?" Xiao Ninger didn't really understand this string of terms Nie Li had rattled off. Her beautiful eyes were full of confusion.

"It means you're suited to cultivating wind-and-thunder techniques." Nie Li thought for a moment. "I have a technique here. I'll give it to you."

Nie Li had obtained this wind-and-thunder technique in a lost ancient city. It was perfectly suited to people with a Winged Dragon Soul Form. Once Xiao Ninger cultivated it, her cultivation would surely advance by leaps and bounds—probably even faster than Nie Li and the others.

A Winged Dragon Soul Form—her talent was so good it even made Nie Li jealous!

"This technique is much more powerful than the one you're cultivating!" Nie Li said. He taught Xiao Ninger the incantations and other details of the technique.

Xiao Ninger memorized the technique and carefully savored its meaning. This wind-and-thunder technique truly was incomparably powerful! The techniques she had seen before were nothing but dregs compared with it!

"This technique is called the Wind Thunder Winged Dragon Art!" Nie Li said with a smile. "It's the most suitable technique for you!"

"Thank you." Xiao Ninger looked up at Nie Li, her heart full of gratitude. She didn't even know how she could repay his kindness. First, he had freed her from her pain, and now he had given her such a powerful technique. She bit her lip, her cheeks growing warm. "I don't know how to repay you. Whatever you ask me to do, I'm willing."

Hearing Xiao Ninger's gentle words, Nie Li's heart gave a slight tremble. He glanced at the charming girl and gave a wry smile. "We're friends. It's only right that we help each other. If I run into trouble someday, you'll help me too, right?"

"Mm." Xiao Ninger nodded, a trace of disappointment flashing through her beautiful eyes. If Nie Li had asked her to be his girlfriend right then, she would have agreed without hesitation.

They each cultivated for several hours. Xiao Ninger practiced the Wind Thunder Winged Dragon Art Nie Li had given her, and her cultivation surged at a rate she could hardly imagine. Those with a Winged Dragon Soul Form were already rare super-talents. Add a supreme technique suited to their own constitution, and their cultivation would advance a thousand miles a day.

Although the Heavenly Dao Divine Art was much more powerful than the Wind Thunder Winged Dragon Art in the end, during the early stages, cultivating the Wind Thunder Winged Dragon Art raised one's cultivation much faster!

By the time dawn began to break, a faint blue light had risen around Xiao Ninger.

"The Wind Thunder Winged Dragon Art really is terrifyingly fast. It hasn't even been that long, and she's already touched the threshold of Bronze 1-star." Nie Li couldn't help but marvel. By comparison, the talents of Du Ze, Lu Piao, and the others were quite ordinary.

When Xiao Ninger opened her eyes, Nie Li had already left. A trace of disappointment flashed through her eyes. From childhood to adulthood, she had rarely interacted with other boys. Nie Li was the only one who had ever caught her eye. Thinking of him filled her heart with warmth.

If she hadn't met Nie Li, she had no idea how bleak her life would have been. How could it have been as full of hope as it was now?

She had already made up her mind. Whether or not Nie Li loved her, she would stay by his side until the day he noticed her.

If the boys who had secretly admired Ninger knew of Goddess Ninger's decision, they would have been heartbroken.

"My Soul Power is 92. I'm about to reach Bronze 1-star!" Xiao Ninger was drenched in sweat, sticky and uncomfortable, but her skin seemed more delicate and translucent than before.

She gazed deeply in the direction Nie Li had gone, gathered her belongings, and headed toward the exit of the trial grounds.

After daybreak.

Mysterious people appeared at all kinds of medicinal herb shops throughout the City of Brilliance. They looked like servants from great families and frantically bought Purple Mist Grass, taking as much as they could. They even cleared out stock that some shops hadn't managed to sell in years.

"What are they buying so much Purple Mist Grass for?"

"I think I recognize that person. He's a servant of Miss Xiao Ninger from the Winged Dragon Family!"

"Why would Miss Xiao Ninger want to buy Purple Mist Grass? I can't make sense of it!"

Apart from burning it to drive away insects, Purple Mist Grass had no other use. A dozen or so pounds would have been enough for the Winged Dragon Family's estate, yet these servants had bought up hundreds of thousands of pounds. The sheer amount was staggering.

All the shops' stock of Purple Mist Grass was bought up by the servants Xiao Ninger had sent. Some herb shops even pulled up the Purple Mist Grass growing in their medicinal gardens just to sell it. It looked like the City of Brilliance would be short of Purple Mist Grass for the next three years. But it was the sort of thing people could take or leave, so no one paid it any mind.

When Nie Li received the Spatial Ring full of Purple Mist Grass from Xiao Ninger, he was utterly dumbfounded. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of Purple Mist Grass must have cost hundreds of thousands of Spirit Coins. That was no small sum!

But Xiao Ninger didn't care in the slightest. As long as Nie Li was happy, she would do anything for him. And besides, it was only a few hundred thousand Spirit Coins. In terms of value, that amount probably wasn't even one percent of the Wind Thunder Winged Dragon Art.

Once they learned that Xiao Ninger's cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds and that her Soul Power had risen above ninety in just a few days, with a breakthrough to Bronze 1-star imminent, the entire Winged Dragon Family was thrilled. They gave her hundreds of thousands of Spirit Coins and all kinds of precious cultivation materials, so she wasn't short of money at all.

Even a starving camel was bigger than a horse.

Though fallen into decline, a camel was still bigger than a horse. The Winged Dragon Family was still remarkably wealthy, and they spared no expense when it came to raising the younger generation.

With so much Purple Mist Grass in hand, Nie Li was very satisfied. Although he couldn't repay Xiao Ninger yet, it shouldn't take long before he could.

Du Ze and Lu Piao were both puzzled. They had no idea what Nie Li wanted with all that Purple Mist Grass. Nie Li had found a spot in the library and was scribbling away at something in a mysterious, muttering fashion.

That afternoon, the library was bustling with people coming and going. Under Nie Li's guidance, Du Ze and Lu Piao were poring over books on inscriptions and combat techniques. To reach an exceptionally high level of cultivation, one first had to become a learned master.

After cultivating the divine techniques, their minds had been developed to a certain extent. They could remember ordinary knowledge at a glance, so learning came quite easily to them.

Not far from Nie Li and the others, a group of students had gathered, chatting animatedly.

"The armor I'm wearing is called the Flame Nether Armor. It's Bronze rank, and you couldn't get it for less than a hundred thousand Spirit Coins on the market!" one student boasted proudly, showing off the red armor on his body. He was tall, and in the armor he looked rather heroic.

His name was Chen Linjian. He was a scion of a Peak Family and a direct descendant of the Sacred Nether Family. At fifteen, he was already Bronze 5-star and was about to advance to Silver rank. Of the three Peak Families, the Sacred Nether Family was the wealthiest. Chen Linjian had considerable prestige among the students and a large group of brothers.

"With that Flame Nether Armor on, you're invincible below Silver rank!"

"What handsome armor!"

Several girls beside him looked on with envy, and quite a few of them kept throwing Chen Linjian flirtatious glances.

"I'll give it to you!" Chen Linjian casually tossed the Flame Nether Armor to one of his lackeys.

An armor worth a hundred thousand Spirit Coins, just like that? Everyone stared, stunned.

A hundred thousand Spirit Coins was nothing to Chen Linjian. He smiled faintly. "Here are six five-year-old Sacred Nether Grass plants. I brought them from home. As long as you follow me and work hard, there'll be plenty of benefits in it for you!"