The Troubles of Happiness

"Come, let me introduce you."

Luo Can pulled the two little girls in front of him. "This is my eldest disciple, Ye Lingling. Lingling, this is Dugu Yan, the second disciple I've just taken in."

Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan sized each other up, curiosity in both their eyes.

After looking at each other for a moment, Ye Lingling extended her hand first, wearing a friendly smile.

"Hello, I'm Ye Lingling. I'm six years old. From now on, I'm your senior sister!"

Dugu Yan blinked, then reached out and took Ye Lingling's hand.

"I'm Dugu Yan, nine years old. Please teach me well, Senior Sister!"

Luo Can smiled as he watched the two little girls clasp hands.

"You two should get acquainted and spend some time together inside first. Starting tomorrow, you'll cultivate together."

He left his two young disciples in the Wooden House and stepped outside, faintly hearing their quiet conversation within.

The next day, before dawn had broken.

Luo Can was already seated by the spring, having taken out his fishing rod to begin the day's Fishing.

Ever since the fishing spot had been upgraded, not only had the number of times he could fish increased, but the quality of his catches had undergone a qualitative leap.

Before the upgrade, six or seven out of every ten casts had been purple-quality items.

After the upgrade, at least five or six out of every ten casts could reach black quality.

[ Ding! This Fishing session has ended. Overall rating: Excellent+. Reward: 2500 Points ]

[ Points: 94500 ]

The crisp system notification rang out in his mind.

Luo Can put away his fishing rod and swept his gaze across the mountain of items piled inside the System Space, momentarily dazzled.

Spirit Bones ranged from a minimum age of fifty thousand years to a maximum of eighty thousand years, seven in total.

They varied in attributes—some focused on assault, some on defense, some on agility, some on control. There was even a rare auxiliary-type Head Spirit Bone.

Soul Tools ranged from level one to level eight, numbering over thirty in all.

Most of them were level six or above, with every category represented: offense, defense, and support.

Medicinal herbs, ores, ancient books, pills, rare metals...

All kinds of resources had been sorted into categories, filling over half the System Space. Deep Sea Sunken Silver, Star Iron, and other top-tier forging materials alone were enough to craft dozens of high-level Soul Tools.

"Haah..."

Luo Can rubbed his brow and sighed inwardly.

What a troublesome kind of happiness.

How to use these resources had become his most pressing headache.

The forces under his command did not even qualify as a fledgling organization.

The Ye Clan had barely over a hundred people in total.

Dugu Bo was a Title Douluo, but he was ultimately alone. As for the thirty-one children on Jueming Cliff, none of them had even broken through level-one Soul Power. Bai Ningshuang and Bai Chen had reached level ten, but they had only set off yesterday to hunt their first Spirit Rings.

With so few people, they could not even make a dent in these resources.

"It seems I need to speed things up."

As he pondered, the door of the Wooden House creaked open.

Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling emerged hand in hand. After spending the night together, the two little girls had clearly become close. They clung to each other, chatting away, their little faces full of smiles.

When they saw Luo Can, they immediately stopped talking and bowed in unison.

"Good morning, Master!"

"Morning." Luo Can put his thoughts aside and smiled gently. "Go wash up. Breakfast will be ready soon."

"Yes!"

Half an hour later, a simple breakfast had been laid out on the stone table. The two little girls ate with great relish, occasionally whispering to each other. The atmosphere was harmonious.

After breakfast, Ye Lingling went to the clearing as usual, preparing to practice a set of Tiger Stance movements as a warm-up.

The instant she assumed her stance, the aura around her abruptly changed. As her fists cut through the air, the faint phantom of a fierce tiger seemed to follow her. Her punches were like a tiger's pounce, her steps like a tiger's stride, and the entire set flowed smoothly.

Dugu Yan stood to one side, her emerald eyes wide and her small mouth slightly open.

"So... so amazing! Is this... a Self-Created Soul Skill?"

"Mm!" Ye Lingling withdrew her stance, a hint of pride on her little face. "It's the Tiger King Mountain-Crushing Fist Master taught me. But I've only learned the first two forms so far."

As she spoke, she grabbed Dugu Yan's hand. "Yanyan, come on! I'll show you something fun!"

The two little girls ran over to the other side of the clearing and stopped before the Soul Power Barrier.

Inside the Barrier, the hundred-year-old Ghost Tiger was lying on the ground, dozing. Sensing someone approach, it lazily raised its eyelids. When it saw Ye Lingling, it lay back down again. After being "harassed" by this little girl every day for over half a month, it had practically gone numb.

"This is... a Ghost Tiger?" Dugu Yan was somewhat baffled, unable to understand what her senior sister intended to do.

"Yanyan, watch carefully!"

Ye Lingling released her hand, stepped back two paces, and assumed the opening stance of the Tiger Stance. Her little face turned solemn, and a fierce glint flashed through her eyes.

"Watch me battle this ugly tiger for thirty rounds!"

As soon as the words fell, Luo Can snapped his fingers from afar.

The pale golden Barrier surrounding the Ghost Tiger vanished at once.

"ROAR—!!!"

The newly freed Ghost Tiger instantly sprang up, its enormous body pouncing toward Ye Lingling like a bolt of black lightning!

Dugu Yan's little face went pale with fright, but what happened next left her completely stunned.

Facing the hundred-year-old Ghost Tiger's assault, Ye Lingling did not retreat. Instead, she charged forward with the agility of a tiger cub and threw a punch!

Bang!

Fist and claw collided, and a blast of air exploded outward.

Ye Lingling was forced back three steps, but the Ghost Tiger's forward momentum was also brought to an abrupt halt.

Then she tapped off the ground with her toes and surged forward again. The Tiger Stance shifted into Mountain-Crushing Force, and her fists hammered toward the Ghost Tiger's chest and abdomen like a rainstorm!

"Roar!"

The Ghost Tiger bellowed in fury, its claws lashing out as it fought Ye Lingling.

For a time, fist winds whistled through the clearing as tiger phantoms surged and twisted.

Although Ye Lingling was far inferior to the Ghost Tiger in strength and size, her movements were nimble and unpredictable, and her punches came from tricky angles.

Time and again, she avoided fatal attacks, redirecting and neutralizing the Ghost Tiger's power.

Even more astonishing was her momentum. It was as though she had truly transformed into a young ferocious tiger, every punch and kick carrying tyranny and savagery. Though the Ghost Tiger forced her back again and again, her imposing presence only grew stronger with every exchange, faintly beginning to suppress it!

"So... so powerful!"

Dugu Yan stared blankly, her emerald eyes filled with shock.

She knew that Ye Lingling only had level-ten Soul Power and possessed the Nine-Heart Begonia, a purely healing-type martial soul. Yet now, relying on physical strength and skill alone, she was evenly matched with a hundred-year-old Ghost Tiger!

This combat strength... was greater than hers!

Even after taking the Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma and breaking through to level twenty Soul Power, she could never achieve such a result against a hundred-year Spirit Beast!

At some point, Luo Can had already come to her side and gently patted her shoulder.

Dugu Yan came back to her senses and turned toward her master, yearning in her eyes.

"Do you want to learn?" Luo Can asked.

"Yes!" Dugu Yan nodded heavily.

"Very good." Luo Can took out a roll of yellowed, ancient snakeskin from his Storage Soul Tool and held it before her. "I happen to have a Self-Created Soul Skill suitable for you."

Dugu Yan took a deep breath and respectfully accepted it with both hands.

The snakeskin felt cold and supple, its surface covered in fine scale patterns. When she unrolled it, three ancient characters came into view—

Myriad Poison Force.

There was also a line of small writing beside it: I, the Poison Venerable, created this method by blending ten thousand poisons into force. When cultivated to great mastery, one palm strike can turn a hundred miles into a dead zone, leaving no life behind. May those who inherit it never tarnish its fearsome name.

Dugu Yan's small hands trembled slightly.

This... this was practically a technique tailor-made for the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor martial soul!

"Thank you, Master, for bestowing this technique!" She clutched the snakeskin tightly and bowed deeply to Luo Can.

"No need for such formality." Luo Can helped her up, his expression serious. "But I must remind you—my understanding of the poison path is limited. You'll need to comprehend this Self-Created Soul Skill on your own. There is only so much I can do to help you, and cultivating this technique is extremely dangerous. The slightest mistake could cause the poison force to backlash and injure you. Have you... thought this through?"

Dugu Yan raised her head, determination filling her emerald eyes.

"This disciple has thought it through. I want to learn!"

"Good." Luo Can nodded approvingly. "Study this method first. I'll prepare some poisonous herbs and toxic materials needed for your cultivation."

He turned and returned to the Wooden House, taking out a sheet of paper and writing down the names of dozens of highly toxic substances: Jade Phosphorous Seven-Absolute Flower, Bone-Rotting Grass, Heart-Eroding Vine, Jade Blood Toad, Blood Jade Scorpion King...

These were external aids required to cultivate Myriad Poison Force. They could draw poison into the body and refine it into poison force. More than half of them could only be found at Dugu Bo's Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

After finishing the list, he added a line at the bottom.

"Senior Dugu, please bring these poisonous items with you when you collect the herbs next month. I have an important use for them. —Luo Can"

He put the letter into an envelope, sealed it with Soul Power, then rose and left Fate Defying Valley.

A short while later, at the Ye Mansion in Yaowang Town.

Luo Can handed the envelope to Ye Shengxin. "Senior Ye, please have someone deliver this letter to Dugu Bo."

"Mr. Luo, you are too courteous. I'll arrange it immediately." Ye Shengxin accepted it with both hands, then promptly summoned a trusted subordinate and gave careful instructions.

After giving his instructions, Luo Can did not linger and headed to Luo's Herb Shop.

Bai Ningshuang and Bai Chen would need at least half a month before they returned.

The task of tending the shop naturally fell back onto him.

It was a good chance to think carefully about how to turn these "troubles of happiness" in his hands into actual strength.