Rest Day, Oh Rest Day

He casually picked up a wooden staff, demonstrated the Five-Lang Eight-Diagram Staff, and then followed up with a demonstration of the Nine-Yin Bone Claw.

In truth, ever since he discovered the library, he had spent most of his time immersed in study. Since his martial soul was Myriad Silk, it was only natural to master a variety of weapons. Now that his cultivation realm was slightly higher, it stood to reason that mastering one thing would lead to mastering them all—or so he hoped.

"Wow, that's amazing."

The two children stared, completely dumbstruck.

As for the Golden Body and the Shadow Flow Secret Art, he did not practice them; these were not techniques one could learn at a glance, so he did not demonstrate them.

Even so, the two children were left in constant awe.

Once the demonstration concluded, it was time for their training, though Luo Xiaoshi remained as abstract as ever, making Chen An doubt his own methods.

"Tsk, Zhuqing, you continue your practice. Luo Xiaoshi, you go back to basics. To practice martial arts without building a foundation is to end up with nothing in old age. From now on, your schedule will change: three hours of basic training daily, one hour for each of those two cultivation techniques, and the remaining time for internal energy practice."

Chen An said, his brow furrowed.

He had misjudged the boy's physical fitness; his foundation was truly abysmal.

Upon receiving the new schedule, Luo Xiaoshi neither argued nor showed dissatisfaction; he simply nodded.

He went off to practice according to Chen An's arrangements.

After this, there were no further ripples, except for when Zhuqing, feeling her own foundation was insufficient, requested a schedule similar to Luo Xiaoshi's.

Later that evening, after both children had collapsed from exhaustion, Chen An felt a slight sense of unease—they shouldn't have been pushed to the point of collapse. After carrying them back to their respective rooms, he began to reflect on his actions.

"I missed something. I should have had them soak in a medicinal bath for half an hour, fed them, and then let them sleep. I'll change that later. Also, I need to intersperse some moral education; at least half an hour every day, starting tomorrow."

He recorded his insights in his small notebook, as this was, in a true sense, his first time teaching.

"The current medicinal herbs are enough, but once I take in that next batch of students, it certainly won't be. I must find a way to develop the medicinal garden as soon as possible (crossed out). I still won't consider cooperating with Martial Soul Hall."

In truth, Chen An held no malice toward Martial Soul Hall. After all, they did perform good deeds, such as helping commoners awaken their martial souls for free and suppressing evil soul masters. He had even spent some time within Martial Soul Hall himself.

He simply felt that cooperating with Bibi Dong was a non-starter; a woman blinded by love was terrifying, not to mention that he would likely clash with Yu Xiaogang.

Moreover, behind Martial Soul Hall stood the Angel God for Qian Daoliu, and the Rakshasa God for Bibi Dong.

Getting involved with the God Realm right now was not a good thing.

Chen An sighed, cast thoughts of the God Realm and Martial Soul Hall to the back of his mind, and looked at his notebook to continue writing.

"The medicinal garden has been opened, but it will need two months to stabilize."

This was an ability he discovered after taking in Luo Xiaoshi, likely a reward triggered by meeting the library's requirements.

Regrettably, he remained stuck at level 89—or more precisely, 89.3.

Still, his strength had improved, which counted as a positive result.

"I'll transplant the herbs later and irrigate them with the spiritual energy from the library."

After writing this, Chen An stopped. He carefully reviewed what he had written, closed the notebook, and tucked it away into his storage space.

"The night view is quite nice today."

Chen An looked out at the night sky, thought of the two little ones, and couldn't help but let a smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

The days that followed were relatively peaceful, spent entirely in martial arts and cultivation. His greatest joy was helping Luo Xiaoshi suppress his level.

This was mainly because Luo Xiaoshi hadn't built a proper foundation; if he leveled up to 20 now, he would only have to start over from scratch.

Chen An was now looking forward to seeing how Little Stone would perform against Dai Mubai once this phase was over.

This day was a scheduled rest day for the two children; after all, even beasts of burden were given rest, so why shouldn't humans?

He wasn't some heartless capitalist.

It was then that Zhuqing, in a rare move, sought out Chen An to make a request.

"Master, I would like to go to Suotuo City."

Chen An frowned inadvertently.

It wasn't far from Suotuo City, just across a small plain.

But what was there to do in Suotuo City? Oh, right—his disciple's nominal fiancé was there.

He couldn't help but wonder if some invisible hand was once again manipulating his disciple's will behind his back; he was already getting numb to it.

He instinctively looked up at the sky, but saw nothing except a few young birds flying in pairs.

"Master? Master, what's wrong?"

Seeing Chen An lost in thought, Zhuqing waved her hand in front of him and called out again.

"Ah, oh, it's nothing."

This response left Zhu Zhuqing feeling puzzled.

"Why is Master so distracted?"

"If you want to go, then go. I don't restrict your freedom here."

Chen An was ultimately relieved; everyone has their own aspirations, and that didn't stop him from smiling and ruffling Zhu Zhuqing's little head.

"Master (づ￣3￣)づ╭~"

It was rare for Zhu Zhuqing to be this playful, and he felt a bit happier.

It seems this child has changed a lot during this period.

No, now is not the time to focus on that.

"Good disciple, can you tell Master why you suddenly want to go to Suotuo City?"

Zhu Zhuqing pondered for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said.

"Master, my fiancé is in Suotuo City. I want to go and see his lack of ambition."

"And then? To urge him to work hard and invite him to our academy?"

Chen An considered it; if Zhu Zhuqing was dead set on inviting Dai Mubai over, and that fellow was willing to come, he wouldn't mind.

But if he were the one expected to do the inviting, Chen An would absolutely refuse.

Who would have thought that Zhu Zhuqing would shake her head and say.

"No, I won't invite him, nor will I run off to follow him, so Master can rest assured.

I just want to compare myself to his decadence to keep myself vigilant; perhaps I won't even speak to him."

Little Zhu's expression was very serious, not joking at all; that was exactly what she thought.

"Oh."

Not expecting that this period of time could change Zhu Zhuqing so much, Chen An expressed that he was very gratified, feeling like he was watching his own child grow up.

"Master, you wouldn't happen to think I'm going to leave you, would you?"

Zhu Zhuqing stared at Chen An with suspicious eyes, then teased him.

"How could that be? Impossible."

Although he said that, Chen An's eyes were already darting elsewhere.

He thought to himself, how did this little girl learn to tease people? It shouldn't be like this; wasn't her character supposed to be the cold and aloof type?

Why is there no sign of that coldness now, only a sharp-tongued, warm-hearted girl?

"Hmph, if Master doesn't treat me to barbecue tonight, this matter won't be settled."

Zhu Zhuqing lifted her chin slightly, speaking with a hint of tsundere.

This sense of visual dissonance—I dare not think about it, I dare not.

Chen An recited a cleansing mantra in his heart before speaking.

"Fine, remember to come back early. By the way, here are a few talismans. If you encounter danger, tear this one first, and I will know.

If the situation is critical, use these directly; they are offensive talismans, and their power is roughly equivalent to the full-force strike of a level 70 Soul Master."

Zhu Zhuqing's eyes lit up, and after taking the talismans, she said.

"Thank you, Master♪"

After handing over the talismans, Chen An lay back on the grandmaster chair he had recently made and closed his eyes to bask in the sun.

The young girl didn't mind; she bowed again before leaving, then remembered something at the door, turned her head, and shouted.

"Master, don't forget to save a portion for me tonight."

Chen An waved his hand, signaling that he understood.

He was secretly pleased, thinking, since Zhuqing wants to eat barbecue tonight, should I go catch some Soul Beasts?

What flavor did the girl like to eat again?

As for Little Stone's taste? That's not important; would he dare to say a word against the food Master makes?

Meanwhile, Little Stone, resting in the dormitory, yawned several times, wondering who was thinking about him.

Having no ideas, and with nothing to do, he crossed his legs and began to cultivate.