Too much time had passed. Many customers had come by two or three times, and when they still didn't see Qin Yuan, they gradually stopped asking about him and assumed their commissions had been canceled.
The remaining commissions were mostly trivial matters, and none had triggered any system-related tasks, so Qin Yuan couldn't be bothered with them.
After a pause, Qin Yuan said, "Keep running the shop. You can keep the money you earn or send it back to the village so everyone there can improve their lives."
"Also, save up as much as you can. When the time is right, buy the shop from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Then you can rely on it to support yourself in your old age."
As he spoke, Qin Yuan gave Chen Ze a light pat on the shoulder. "And don't neglect your cultivation. I have a feeling we'll have access to even more resources in the future. Breaking through to higher levels won't be a problem."
Chen Ze wasn't very interested in cultivation. In his eyes, cultivation was simply a way to make money and improve his life.
Now that he had a business, all he wanted to do was focus on it, and inevitably he let his cultivation slide.
Only after finishing up the odds and ends did Qin Yuan finally meet with Ning Rongrong.
Ning Rongrong was still a little girl, but she was widely read and more mature than other children her age.
From the way she spoke, Qin Yuan could hear the loneliness and isolation in her heart.
In the original timeline, her little devil personality had probably developed in this twisted environment, hadn't it?
Otherwise, could a few taunts from Flender really have changed Ning Rongrong's personality?
Heh. Ning Rongrong simply hadn't wanted to lose the friends she'd made at Shrek Academy, and Flender had used that to get the upper hand.
Now that he knew the root of the problem, the rest would be easy.
"Miss Rongrong, is it because you don't have any friends to study with that you dislike studying?" Qin Yuan asked.
Ning Rongrong rested her chin in her hands and grumbled, "The teachers' lessons are so boring. They're no fun at all. Rongrong doesn't want to be a Soul Master. Rongrong just wants to play with her friends."
Qin Yuan wasn't an expert on psychological problems, but he understood children.
Didn't children all like toys? Wouldn't Ning Rongrong find it easier to understand if he presented obscure Soul Master theories in the form of toys?
At Plant Academy, Qin Yuan had paid attention to how the six-year-old children studied.
Many of them hadn't even begun to grasp the basics. No matter how skilled their teachers were, their lessons might as well have been spoken to cows.
Not every child was like Qin Yuan, a transmigrator who had understood the importance of knowledge from a young age and studied desperately.
Even a precocious child like Ning Rongrong was, at heart, still just a child.
In the shadows, a pair of eyes kept watch on Qin Yuan.
The watcher was none other than Dugu Bo.
A few days ago, he had learned of the commission from Dugu Yan, and it had nearly given him a brain hemorrhage.
Since so much time had already passed, he hadn't gone to Silvis City to look for the man. Fortunately, Qin Yuan was good to his word and hadn't asked for any extra payment afterward.
That alone had made Dugu Bo see him in a new light.
Still, Qin Yuan's strength was nothing special.
Dugu Bo figured they were unlikely to cross paths again, so he had abandoned the idea of speaking with him.
Seeing Qin Yuan in close contact with someone from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Dugu Bo decided to stop watching. But just as he was about to leave, he sensed an unusual presence.
"Sword Douluo, since you're already here, why hide in the shadows?"
It was perfectly normal for Sword Dao Chenxin to protect Ning Rongrong in secret when she went out alone.
But when Dugu Bo suddenly appeared to keep an eye on Ning Rongrong, Chen Xin couldn't help but grow tense.
Of course, he had no idea what Dugu Bo was really after.
"Old Poison, keep your schemes to yourself. If you harm Rongrong, you know what I'm capable of!" Chen Xin didn't show himself, but rebuked Dugu Bo through telepathy.
Dugu Bo's mouth twitched. How was he supposed to know beforehand that Qin Yuan and Ning Rongrong were connected?
He'd only just been about to leave when Sword Dao Chenxin caught him. If this weren't an urban area, where Chen Xin couldn't attack recklessly, Dugu Bo would have been completely unable to defend himself.
"I have no grudge against the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Why would I harm a child? Sword Douluo, don't let your imagination run wild. I'm leaving."
With that, Dugu Bo vanished on the spot.
Sword Dao Chenxin spread out his senses and scanned the area. Once he saw that Dugu Bo had gone far away, he stopped paying attention to him.
Still, one thing surprised him.
Two months ago, when Qin Yuan helped Ning Rongrong obtain a Spirit Ring, he had only been at level fifty-one. Now, he was already a level fifty-five Soul King. He'd been gaining a level every half month, even at the Soul King stage.
That kind of cultivation speed was unheard of.
Sword Dao Chenxin was even more convinced that Qin Yuan had a great secret.
But he wasn't in a hurry. Everything should proceed step by step. Qin Yuan had a good attitude toward the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. They could try to win him over in the future, and then they would learn his secret.
If they forced him to reveal it, they might end up in a fight to the death, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would gain nothing.
Putting the matter aside, Sword Dao Chenxin continued to keep watch over the surroundings.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, two years had passed.
During that time, Ning Rongrong came to confide in Qin Yuan every other day.
Meanwhile, Qin Yuan had taken on several One-Star Missions and had built up quite a fortune.
He put complicated Soul Master theories into toys. As Ning Rongrong played with them, she gradually learned the systematic framework behind the theories without even realizing it.
On top of that, Ning Rongrong was naturally bright. As she received more and more praise for her studies, she became more and more willing to learn.
In her eyes, any knowledge she hadn't mastered was like a monster in a game. Every new thing she learned was like killing one. Learning through play was much easier for her to accept.
[Four-Star Mission complete. Accept Ning Fengzhi's commission and inspire Ning Rongrong to take an interest in studying. Reward: Divine Slaughter's Domain.]
A murderous aura inexplicably burrowed into Qin Yuan's body. His Battle Saber Martial Soul appeared on its own, and a Shura mark was engraved upon it.
A wave of bloodlust rose in Qin Yuan's heart for no apparent reason. It seemed that with a mere thought, he could envelop everything within a hundred meters in his domain and easily kill every passerby.
But the bloodlust was suppressed almost immediately.
The system's rewards came with no side effects. He didn't need to adapt to such a vast murderous aura to control it freely.
"Four-Star Missions are exhausting." Qin Yuan slumped into his rocking chair.
Who knew how much effort he'd spent over the past two years trying to guide Ning Rongrong toward studying?
Still, it had taught him a lesson.
The system's mission ratings weren't based solely on how dangerous a mission was. The effort and time required were also key factors in determining its rank.
So far, the highest rating he'd seen was Four-Star. He wondered if there were Five-Star Missions—and, if so, what kind of rewards they would offer.
He'd had to put off quite a few things over the past two years. For a while after completing Dugu Yan's mission, both Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling had often visited the shop.
He'd thought Dugu Bo would show up soon, but who knew he'd have to wait two whole years?
And as time went on, Dugu Yan visited the shop less and less.
To Qin Yuan, the Immortal Herb seemed to be slipping further and further away.
How could he let that happen?
Of course, he couldn't act too eager, either. Dugu Bo was highly wary, and rushing things would only backfire.
Before you continue