Cleanup

"Hey, little sister, why are you ignoring us uncles?" Bald Man walked over with a grin and straddled the chair opposite Liuli's table.

Liuli looked up at him, sighed, then lowered her head and continued slurping her ramen.

"Heh heh, quite the cold one." Bald Man licked his lips, his smile lecherous.

"I don't like that laugh. Please go away." Liuli frowned as she chewed a piece of beef.

"Heh heh, Uncle will make you like it. I, Wu Ke, am someone of note in Fengxiao City. My residence is pretty big too. Want to come stay with me?" Bald Man reached out, intending to touch the Young Girl's hair.

However, his hand was blocked by the scabbard of a longsword.

"You're really annoying!" Liuli put down her chopsticks and glared up at him.

"Oh, oh, little sister's angry. Let Uncle comfort you." Bald Man burst into laughter, knocked aside the Young Girl's sword, and reached for her again.

"Fuck your mother!" Liuli snapped. This was the first time she had encountered someone this disgusting. Back when she was in the clan, who hadn't treated her with courtesy?

The Young Girl grabbed her chopsticks, circulated her Dou Qi, and thrust them directly toward Bald Man's palm.

"Hehe, naughty. How could an attack like this possibly hurt the mighty—Aaaahhh!" Bald Man had barely begun mocking her when the chopstick coated in Dou Qi pierced through his palm, spraying blood everywhere.

"Elder Brother!" Skinny Man behind Liuli shouted. Then he glared viciously at the Young Girl, gritting his teeth. "Bitch, you dare hurt my Elder Brother!"

As he spoke, he grabbed a saber and charged forward with it raised.

Liuli glanced back, kicked the table over, and shifted to the left, dodging the attack.

"If you want to fight, take it outside. This is Qing Family property." The Shopkeeper standing at the counter doing the accounts spoke coldly.

Liuli gave him a look, then darted forward and rushed out through the window.

"Elder Brother, is that bitch trying to run?" Skinny Man shouted.

"Block her! Damn it, when I catch her, I'll torture her to death!" Bald Man pulled the chopstick from his palm, threw it to the ground, and snarled.

Skinny Man nodded and leaped out through the window as well.

But in the next moment, four longswords shot over and pierced straight through his limbs, pinning him to the ground of the plaza before the inn.

Skinny Man immediately let out a scream. He tried to circulate his Dou Qi and get up, but his Dou Qi refused to obey him.

Bald Man smashed through the window and landed in the plaza. Seeing his subordinate defeated so quickly, he was startled.

This subordinate had followed him for many years and was among the stronger men in his group. He had already reached Seven-star Dou Ling, yet he had been taken down in an instant!

"Little miss, we were only having some fun. We didn't actually do anything too excessive. Isn't it a little much for you to strike so viciously?" Bald Man had spent many years out in the world and still had his wits about him. The Young Girl before him was at least a Dou Wang, and such a young Dou Wang must have had a great clan backing her. Thus, he did not act rashly.

"Yes, you hadn't taken any real action yet. But if I had been a defenseless weak woman today, wouldn't I already have been devoured by you two without even bones left?" Liuli said blandly, tightening her grip on Heart Rain.

"We were in the wrong. I apologize here, and you've stabbed my subordinate several times. How about we call it even?" Bald Man put aside his arrogance and clasped his fists in salute.

"Fine. I only wanted to quietly eat a bowl of noodles in the first place. I didn't want any of this crap. Take your subordinate and go." Liuli pursed her lips and waved her small hand. The four swords embedded in Skinny Man flew back to her side, and she put them away in her Storage Ring.

"Many thanks!" Bald Man was deeply unwilling, but faced with the Young Girl's strength and the power behind her, he could only swallow his displeasure. Silently, he lifted his subordinate and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Liuli suddenly called out to them.

"What else is it, miss?" Bald Man turned back and asked with a frown.

Liuli pointed at the hole Bald Man had smashed through in the inn's window and said bluntly, "Pay for that wall and window. And for my meal too."

Bald Man's eye twitched, but he could only silently take out the money before hurrying away.

Watching the two bedraggled figures disappear, Liuli weighed the money pouch in her hand and muttered, "Sure enough, people who cackle like that are never any good."

After returning to the inn, Liuli tossed the bag of money to the Shopkeeper, collected the room token, and went straight into her room.

"Mmm, ah!" She took off the black robe draped over her body and tossed it onto a chair, then collapsed onto the soft bed with a long sigh, sounding utterly exhausted.

That month-long trip through the Seeking Demon Mountain Range had worn her out. Especially that fight with Big Lion—if she had not used an Illusion to confuse him, she might have been dragged back to the clan to cultivate by now.

Staring at the beam overhead, she began carefully considering her plans for the future.

Her father, Gongsun Lin, had given her eight years to gain experience. It was an extremely generous amount of time.

If she followed Xiao Yan's timeline in the Original Work, it should be from age fifteen to twenty-two. His strength would rise from Dou Qi Third Stage to around Five-star Dou Emperor, which just happened to cover all the time he spent training in the Northwest Region.

During the early stages, she could not interfere too much in Xiao Yan's life. Nalan Yanran breaking off the engagement, absorbing Heavenly Flames, the Three Year Agreement—at most, she could be a bystander for those things.

Once Xiao Yan entered Jia Nan Academy and forged his enmity with the Misty Cloud Sect and Soul Hall, she could formally make contact with him. She would use her strength to protect him, become another cheat for him, safeguard him before he went to the Central Continent, help him beat up a few enemies, make him owe her a few favors, and become his good friend.

After that, she basically would not need to do much. She could return to the clan and cultivate diligently, ensuring she had enough strength to protect herself when the final battle came. Then she would persuade her father to decisively side with Xiao Yan. Once Xiao Yan became a Dou Di and destroyed the Soul Clan, she and her family could live without worry.

"First, I'll secretly go see Xiao Yan. Otherwise, I might not even know what he looks like. Then I'll find a way to enter Jia Nan Academy. I absolutely have to become his Senior Sister."

Protecting someone as their Senior Sister had more prestige, after all!

Liuli's lips curled slightly. Her plan was practically foolproof. There should not be any major deviations, and she could not think of any reason it would fail.

"First, I need to check out the good stuff that stinking Dad gave me!" The Young Girl took a blue Storage Ring from her clothes.

A thread of Spiritual Sense entered it as she began examining its contents.

After a long while, the Young Girl slowly opened her eyes, her face full of delight.

I'm rich! I'm rich!

There were three hundred thousand Gold Coins in the space inside—just loose change. Beside them was a Seven-stripe Purple Gold Card.

The Seven-stripe Purple Gold Card was accepted throughout all human territories on the Dou Qi Continent, and the minimum amount stored on it was Five Million! To apply for this card, one needed to be at least a Dou Emperor.

"Stinking Dad really is rich!" Liuli exclaimed.

As the clan leader of one of the Nine Ancient Clans, how could he not be rich?

There were also countless Dou Skills, cultivation methods, and Secret Methods. She made a rough count and found no fewer than thirty Earth Rank Dou Skills and cultivation methods. Mysterious Rank ones were even more numerous, and there were even two Heavenly Rank Dou Skills! Taken to the Central Continent, these would amount to the entire foundation of Dou Skills and cultivation methods possessed by a first-rate faction.

There were few pills, mainly because Liuli was an Alchemist and could refine them herself. Thus, most of what Gongsun Lin had prepared were Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, Strange Objects and Spirit Herbs, and Pill Recipes. So until she began refining Eighth-grade pills, she would basically never be bottlenecked.

Though there were few pills, that did not mean their quality was poor. The three most eye-catching ones were these:

Sect Breaking Pill, a High-grade Sixth-rank pill that greatly increased the chance of successfully breaking through to Dou Zong.

Sect Stabilizing Pill, a Seventh-grade Intermediate pill that allowed a Dou Zong user to instantly rise one level with no side effects. Its effect was the same as the Spirit Dou Pill and Imperial Pill.

Starfall Spirit Conferring Pill, a Seventh-Grade High pill that allowed someone at the Dou Zong level to temporarily gain Three-star strength for half a day, and could stack with other effects.

Of the three pills, two increased cultivation while one could save her life. It could be said that Gongsun Lin had paved every road for her through the Dou Zong realm.

The other rare treasures were piled into a small hill, but they were mostly just icing on the cake. Liuli took one look and did not bother counting them further.

She pressed the Storage Ring to her lips and kissed it. The Young Girl smiled softly, warmth filling her heart.

Dad really does care about me...

She became even more confident about the journey ahead.