The River of Mother and Child

"I know, old master." Han San believed Jade Little Sister's words without a doubt.

How could Tang Qinghe have humiliated his old master, or made him forget kindness and betray loyalty?

From start to finish, he had never intended to cross paths with Jade Little Sister.

Tang Qinghe, who was practicing his cultivation routine in the training ground, sensed Han San and his master approaching. A cold laugh rose in his heart. He stood up to greet them, his expression utterly indifferent. "Han San, are you here to snatch the Spirit Essence?"

"So what if I am?" Han San showed Tang Qinghe no good grace.

"Enough, Xiao San. It's getting late. Let's go." Jade Little Sister couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge Tang Qinghe. She turned to leave with Han San.

Tang Qinghe's figure flickered, and he blocked Han San's path again. "Han San, you can't go with him. Even if you really want to obtain Spirit Essence, you should find those old masters in the academy, not this—this 'Big Shot.' I don't know if this 'Big Shot's' reasoning is strong or not, but I do know his strength is definitely not weak. A twenty-ninth-tier Spirit Body, with martial skills that are barely passable—if you go with him, you'll definitely run into danger. Even if I dislike you no matter how much, I can't bear to watch you walk straight to your death with him."

These words, spoken with such "sincerity and earnestness," were truly heartfelt.

Even Han San was stunned for a moment, feeling that this man wasn't as vile as he had imagined.

But to Jade Little Sister's ears, they were extremely jarring.

Although he had always been "inwardly heavy-fisted and outwardly weak," if someone was weaker than him on the outside, he would be fiercer than ever. In plain terms, he bullied the weak and feared the strong.

Hearing Tang Qinghe's words, Jade Little Sister could no longer hold back. She exploded, "That's enough, Tang Qinghe! Xiao San is my disciple. I naturally know how to guide him. It doesn't require your concern."

[Jade Little Sister's Resentment +18888]

[Jade Little Sister's Resentment +28888]

"Oh, then go ahead. I just hope that when you encounter a Spirit Beast, you can actually protect your disciple, instead of being protected by him."

Seeing Jade Little Sister's emotional value explode, Tang Qinghe, who had achieved his goal, no longer blocked them. He turned and continued his cultivation.

This sudden change caught Han San off guard. He asked Jade Little Sister with some doubt, "Old master, we..."

"Enough, let's go. Don't mind him. A mere first-level Spirit Essence—I still have confidence in handling it."

Jade Little Sister patted his head, giving him a reassuring smile. Her entire demeanor seemed much better, as if she had vented her frustration by scolding Tang Qinghe.

As the eastern sky slowly brightened, Tang Qinghe, who had stopped his cultivation, was drenched in sweat.

He washed up, changed into dry clothes, and began the day's cultivation.

Because today was the opening ceremony, there were no classes.

After the opening ceremony, Tang Qinghe was assigned to Wang Can's group to complete the work-study tasks. As compensation, Tang Qinghe would hand over the wages he earned.

This matter was naturally welcomed by the work-study students, who were struggling to make ends meet.

Two classes in the morning.

One class on cultural knowledge, one class on martial skills.

During breaks, Tang Qinghe cultivated the Heavenly Net Technique to increase his Spirit Power.

At noon, he used mealtime to quickly finish his food, then went to the library to read books, learning about the Spirit Beasts and human geography of this world.

In the afternoon, he went to the small woods behind the academy to cultivate the accompanying movement techniques and the Drunken Immortal Fist of the Heavenly Net Technique.

Worth mentioning is that the wine used for the Drunken Immortal Fist was ordered by Tang Qinghe from the sect's blacksmith shop when he went out to buy supplies yesterday.

Each bottle was made of pure copper, ten Spirit Stones per bottle. Tang Qinghe knew the principle of not revealing his wealth, so he only ordered a hundred bottles for now, which was enough for the time being.

In the evening, Tang Qinghe returned to the dormitory, washed up, and went to bed to rest and cultivate.

Midnight.

Taking advantage of the dormitory's deep sleep, he sneaked out, went to Jade Little Sister's residence, used the Drunken Immortal Fist to pry open her door, and poured half a bottle of Mother River Water into her water jug.

Then he quietly returned to the dormitory to cultivate, unseen and unheard.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

Since that morning after the opening ceremony, Tang Qinghe had never seen Han San or Jade Little Sister again.

Similarly, Xiao Wu, after her butt healed, took leave from the academy and, unsurprisingly, went somewhere to gather Spirit Essence.

On this day, Tang Qinghe was practicing his cultivation in the training ground as usual when an old man and a young man walked out of the academy gate. It was Jade Little Sister and her disciple Han San.

When they came out, the two looked quite disheveled, especially Jade Little Sister, whose eye sockets were sunken and face pale, looking utterly exhausted.

Seeing Tang Qinghe, both Han San and Jade Little Sister had unpleasant expressions, because they both blamed Tang Qinghe for jinxing them.

They had encountered a nearly four-hundred-year-old Flood Dragon Python. Jade Little Sister couldn't defeat it. In the end, if Han San hadn't used a life-saving magic treasure to save them, the two might have died in the Spirit Beast Forest.

"Oh dear, oh dear, Big Shot, you're in trouble, aren't you? Did you run into a century-old Spirit Beast? Why bother? I told you long ago that your crappy martial skills are no match for a Spirit Beast. You just had to rush in blindly. I'm telling you, if you died, it wouldn't matter much—after all, your martial skills are just trash, and your innate Spirit Power is only half a strand. But if you dragged my brother Han San to his death, then our academy would lose an innate full Spirit Power genius. The loss to the future martial world would be..."

As soon as he saw them, Tang Qinghe greeted Jade Little Sister with a barrage of words.

"What are you saying?!" Jade Little Sister's face turned green and purple with anger. Finally, with a loud roar, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

He had been angered into vomiting blood by Tang Qinghe's left and right slaps of trash talk.

[Jade Little Sister's Resentment +88888]

[Jade Little Sister's Resentment +128888]

"This Fatty truly is a great philanthropist, actually offering over twenty bolts of love silk in one go."

Tang Qinghe's heart blossomed with joy.

But Han San was not one to let things slide. "Tang Qinghe, if you show my old lady the respect she deserves, fine. Otherwise, don't blame me for bullying the weak and treating you discourteously."

[Han San's Rage +888]

"I'm doing this out of kindness. Still, since the old lady is hiding behind her student and needs him to protect her, this is the first time I've seen such a thing. You just enjoy yourselves."

Seeing that Han San was actually showing a hint of emotional attachment, Tang Qinghe caught a whiff of something fishy. He curled his lip, turned around, and continued to half-heartedly break the formation.

And his half-heartedness once again caused Jade Little Sister to break through the great formation.

[Jade Little Sister's Resentment +188888]

Jade Little Sister glanced at Tang Qinghe, who had returned to the arena and was lazily splashing water, a bitter, self-mocking smile on her face. "Xiao San, am I really as useless as Tang Qinghe says?"

Han San interrupted her decisively. "No, old lady is not useless. Besides, I said long ago that for a fat man, the old lady's learning ability has never been the most important—survival is. If not for the old lady's martial soul being so cherished, that demon wouldn't have been able to obtain a top-grade martial soul so easily. And thanks to my alchemy skills, I was able to enhance its attack power, turning it into a control-type Spirit Body."