Douluo: Jianmu Martial Soul, Am I an Abomination of Abundance? Section 8

Even with her father-in-law protecting him, Li Qin could not help but worry.

"Xiao Ci, did you encounter any danger on this trip? Were you hurt while hunting soul beasts?" Li Qin bent down and inspected Mu Ci from head to toe, her hands checking him all over.

"Mom, I'm fine. Not only was I not hurt this time, but something good happened too. We'll tell you together once Dad gets back."

The mother and son spoke warmly, with Mu Ci recounting what had happened over the past few days while Li Qin occasionally chimed in, fussing over him and asking after his well-being.

But the elderly couple on the other side was far from peaceful. Lin Ya sat on the sofa with her head turned away, refusing even to look at Mu Changsheng.

Lin Ya's face was full of displeasure, her eyes slightly reddened. Her red lips were pressed together, and no matter what Mu Changsheng said, she ignored him.

It was not that Lin Ya was angry with Mu Changsheng. They had met and fallen in love in their teens, had been together for more than sixty years, and still loved each other dearly. They had never had any serious conflicts.

Though Lin Ya was already over eighty, she did not look old at all. With her level eighty-six Spirit Douluo cultivation and the care afforded by a wealthy household—

At a glance, she looked no more than an ordinary woman in her forties. Her skin was still smooth and delicate, with only a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and on her forehead.

But now, looking at her husband, who had regained his youth and appeared barely over thirty, he looked young enough to be her son's younger brother.

Then, when she thought of her own appearance, an indescribable emotion rose from the bottom of her heart, making her unwilling to look at him.

Since ancient times, beauties were like famed generals; neither was allowed to show white hair to the world.

This sudden development left Mu Changsheng at a loss.

Mu Changsheng had originally been deeply intoxicated by his rejuvenated body. The rapid growth of his Soul Power during meditation filled him with beautiful expectations for the future.

But Lin Ya's change made his scalp tingle. He had nearly forgotten that while women were certainly happy about increased cultivation, they cared even more about differences in appearance.

If he failed to placate her, he would probably be sleeping next door from now on.

Mu Sheng, who was teaching at Plant Academy, received a message from a servant and hurriedly assigned homework before rushing home.

The moment he entered the hall and saw the scene before him, he had no idea how to speak.

He wanted to comfort his parents, but did not know what reason to use. He wanted to check on his son, but the two were deep in mother-son affection, leaving no room for him to intervene.

So he could only stay off to the side, glancing around and hesitating to speak.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Mu Changsheng hurriedly shifted the topic to Mu Ci.

"Now that everyone is here, let's talk."

Afterward, he dismissed all the servants around the main hall and set up a soundproof barrier with Soul Power.

Only then did he tell his family about what had happened during the soul hunt.

After a while.

Having heard the entire story, Lin Ya had long since lost her earlier sense of grievance. Instead, she stared at Mu Ci with shining eyes.

"Xiao Ci, tell Grandma the truth. Is everything your grandfather said real?"

Hearing his grandmother's question, Mu Ci obediently nodded.

"It's true, Grandma. A Deity really has chosen me. As long as I complete the trials arranged by the Deity, I can become a god and live forever in the future."

"And the Abundance God Fruit Grandpa took truly was a treasure bestowed by the Deity. As long as one passes the trials, one can obtain it, regain youth, and extend one's lifespan."

Hearing Mu Ci's confirmation, Mu Sheng was incredibly excited that his son had become a God Trial Participant, while Lin Ya and Li Qin were equally thrilled at the prospect of regaining their youth in the future.

Seeing the entire family happy over this matter, Mu Changsheng waited for a moment before gently interrupting them.

"Cough, cough. Although it is a tremendous matter that Xiao Ci has been chosen by a Deity, he is not a Deity yet, so this should not be publicized."

"Once we finish talking today, everyone is to forget this matter after leaving this room and act as though it never happened."

Mu Changsheng spoke to his family with great seriousness. This concerned his grandson's future and was also key to the rise of the family. There was no room for carelessness.

As long as Mu Ci became a god in the future, the Mu Family could become like the Angel Qian Family, passing down its legacy for ten thousand years and dominating the continent.

Then Mu Changsheng began covering the loose ends regarding his own situation.

"Not many people know that I took a divine gift and regained my youth. They are all servants in the household. Xiao Sheng, notify them later that this matter is not to spread."

"I will not meet anyone this year. Tell the outside world that I sensed my bottleneck loosening and am in seclusion to make a breakthrough. Once I reach level ninety a year from now, this matter will no longer matter."

"Xiao Ya, I'll have to trouble you to speak with Her Excellency Ling Yuan later. I will need her assistance when I hunt my ninth soul ring in the future."

Knowing the importance of the matter, Lin Ya was no longer angry. She nodded solemnly.

"That won't be a problem. When I go to Spirit City at the end of the year to report on my duties, I'll find her and let her know."

Once Mu Changsheng had finished discussing the major matters, he began asking Mu Ci about the God Trial.

"Xiao Ci, is there anything the family can do to help with your God Trial?"

At the mention of this, Mu Ci felt somewhat troubled. The first stage of Path Power was feedback from initially awakening the Abundant World Tree. As for how to improve it afterward, he still had no reliable method.

In order not to make his family's expectations too high, he could only answer first, "Grandpa, ever since that one bestowed the God Fruit, there have been no further instructions."

Hearing this, everyone exchanged glances, their enthusiasm cooling somewhat.

"However, according to the information that one passed on to me, one day in the God Realm is one year in the mortal world. That one is probably still considering how to arrange the next God Trial."

"You brat, can't you stop pausing so dramatically when you talk?"

This time, everyone relaxed. Li Qin sat beside Mu Ci and lightly smacked him twice in annoyance.

Mu Ci smiled shyly at his mother.

What else could he do? After returning, he would have to carefully recall the detailed information about the Path of Abundance from the game and see whether he could gain any inspiration from it.

And over the next few days, he also needed to visit Plant Academy's library to look through books on meditation techniques. With Path Power as his foundation, improving meditation techniques into cultivation methods could also be put on the agenda.

"So that's how it is. It seems that not much time has passed for the Deity, so there is no need for everyone to worry over this matter. Go do whatever you need to do."

Once Mu Changsheng understood the situation, he made the decision directly and sent everyone off to handle their own affairs.

Military Mobilization

One month later, at Plant Academy.

Mu Ci had just finished studying a book on soul beast classifications in the library. As he left, he headed home with his attendant.

After that day, everyone in the Mu Family had acted as though nothing had happened and continued with their usual routines.

A few days earlier, Mu Sheng, Li Qin, and several teachers had led a large group of academy students to Skywater Academy for an exchange event.

Mu Changsheng had also entered seclusion, leaving only Mu Ci and his grandmother Lin Ya at home.

However, before Mu Changsheng entered seclusion, Mu Ci had mentioned that he wanted to enter the academy library and study Spirit Master knowledge on his own.

The main reason was that he truly did not want to attend classes step by step alongside those children. It was far too much of a waste of time.

Only a few years remained before the main storyline began. He needed to establish a sufficiently large lead early on if he wanted to deal with everything more calmly.

Mu Changsheng considered how disciplined his grandson had been since childhood, as well as his newly acquired status as a God Trial Participant. It truly was not suitable for him to study alongside the other students.

Who knew whether the Deity might cause something to happen? If some abnormality appeared during class and others saw it, they could not exactly wipe all those people out.

After thinking it over repeatedly, Mu Changsheng agreed to the request and gave him permission to access most areas of Plant Academy.

After a month of studying and cultivating, Mu Ci's Soul Power had already broken through to level fourteen, and his improvements to meditation techniques had also begun.

Combining the Daoist Internal Alchemy and Small and Great Heavenly Circuit theories he had read about in his previous life, he planned to begin by connecting the Small Heavenly Circuit with Douluo Continent's meditation techniques before gradually expanding it into the Great Heavenly Circuit.

However, Mu Ci had only read about the specific texts as a hobby outside his studies in his previous life and could not be considered knowledgeable about them. As a result, his exploration of combining the two had only achieved preliminary success.

Yet even this newly developed introductory cultivation method, which could not even increase cultivation speed, was enough to make Mu Ci ecstatic.

It meant that his idea was correct. The path was viable.

He called this initially successful cultivation method Medicine King Secret Method Version 0.1. Once he perfected the Small Heavenly Circuit, it could be called the official Version 1.0.

After all, this secret method mainly relied on the healing abilities of Abundance Power, allowing treatment and repair to reach the cellular level.

Only then could it be developed smoothly. Otherwise, damage to his meridians alone would have been enough to ruin his future. Therefore, Mu Ci felt it was only appropriate to name it after the Merciful Medicus.

Walking along the mountain road of Plant Academy, the refreshing mountain breeze, rich with oxygen, washed over him and swept away the day's fatigue.

Like Heaven Dou Academy, Plant Academy was built amid the mountains. It avoided the noise of the city while also gaining a natural Mimicry Training Ground.

Mu Ci walked along the main road with his attendant, and everything was no different from usual.

Suddenly, in the distance, squad after squad of knights and soldiers raced down the highway toward somewhere far away, as though something had happened.

"Huh? What's going on? There are almost a hundred of them." Mu Ci said in surprise.

Luo Lan Province bordered the Heaven Dou Imperial Capital and did not share a border with the Star Luo Empire. Godwood City lay even deeper within Luo Lan Province, so there was even less need for troops there.

That was why the sudden mobilization of soldiers was quite unusual.

As for the possibility that Fallen Spirit Masters had been discovered, Mu Ci did not consider it.

Generally speaking, once Fallen Spirit Masters were discovered, the local city lord would hand the matter directly to Spirit Hall. The nobles would never take on such thankless work.

And his grandmother was Spirit Hall's bishop in Godwood City. He knew perfectly well whether there were any Fallen Spirit Masters nearby.

With his already dull life, Mu Ci suddenly became interested in this unusual event and instructed his attendant to follow along with him.

Keeping far behind the hundred-man unit, they traveled roughly seven or eight kilometers before arriving at a small village.

The village was not large, with fewer than fifty households scattered sparsely within a mountain hollow.

At that moment, all the villagers had been gathered in an open area at the center of the village. Most of the more than one hundred people lay on the ground with darkened faces, while only a dozen or so men stood before the army.

Even so, the two sides remained dozens of paces apart.

Mu Ci and his attendant crouched low as they approached, gradually able to hear the conversation between the two sides.

"Please, save my child! Our village is willing to hand over all our savings! Please, sirs, find a Lord Soul Master to save my child!"

In the open area, the dark-faced women held their children in their arms. They coughed from time to time, their bodies weak and limp, barely able to speak.

The men who still had some strength knelt before the armored knights and begged without stopping.

"You poor wretches think you have money to hire Lord Soul Masters? Do you even deserve it?"

"I warn you, do not come any closer, or you will be executed immediately."

"Archers, prepare!" The commander of the hundred-man unit sneered disdainfully. Seeing that the villagers intended to move closer again, he immediately gave the order to the troops beside him.

The villagers all knelt and shuffled forward on their knees toward the army. Their faces had begun to turn purple as they muttered, "Save us. Save my child."

Seeing this, the commander's expression turned fierce, and he said harshly, "Can't you understand? Archers, ready!"