Oscar and Ning Rongrong were running laps around the village. Each lap was three kilometers, and they had to run twenty laps, finishing before lunch.
Otherwise, they would not get lunch.
The others went off to do their own things.
Except Tang San.
Flender stopped Tang San alone and told him to follow him to the office.
"How is your teacher?"
The moment Flender saw the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at Tang San's waist, he had already guessed most of it.
Sure enough,
Tang San handed him a letter.
Flender opened it. It was a handwritten letter from his old friend Yu Xiaogang, saying that Tang San was his disciple and could prove his theories, and so on...
Flender's head began to ache. His old friend Yu Xiaogang, Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao, Tang Hao's son, Yu Xiaogang's disciple Tang San...
Why did the continent suddenly feel so small...
It was not yet noon. It was still morning.
Xia Yan sat cross-legged on a mat, cultivating. He vaguely heard footsteps outside, followed by three gentle knocks on the door.
He walked over and opened it.
There, Ning Rongrong stood prettily outside, her hands tucked behind her back. She was simply a beautiful sight to behold.
"You're the one who once hunted Wolf Bandits all across the continent, right?"
Xia Yan was not surprised at all that Ning Rongrong knew about him. After all, he had always gone to the Seven Treasure Pavilion to cash in the rewards.
There was no need for him to hide it, so he nodded. "That was me."
Stars immediately seemed to glitter in Ning Rongrong's beautiful eyes. "So it really was you!"
For a little princess who had grown up in a wealthy and safe environment, nothing was more appealing than a dangerous adventure.
Long ago, she had accidentally heard Ning Fengzhi mention Xia Yan. With strength only in the twenties or thirties, he had dared to hunt organized groups of Wolf Bandits alone. It was simply terrifying. She had been especially curious then and had looked through Xia Yan's portraits and every record about him, deeply hoping that one day she could be like him.
Unrestrained and free, challenging danger wherever she pleased!
Back when Zhao Wuji first mentioned Xia Yan's name, she had felt it sounded strangely familiar, as if she had seen it before. But at the time, she, Zhu Zhuqing, and the other two had been challenging Zhao Wuji, the Soul Saint-level Immovable Bright King.
The pressure had been too great.
They had needed to focus all their attention on preparing for battle, so she had not been able to remember it at once.
Only after yesterday's battle ended had she suddenly recalled it.
It was him! It was him! It was that Xia Yan!
He was the peerless genius whom both her father and Sword Grandpa had praised so highly!
"Why did you hunt Wolf Bandits?"
Xia Yan looked at Ning Rongrong's starry eyes and that fangirl-like gaze...
"I wanted to make money. Hunting Wolf Bandits was dangerous, but it paid quickly, so I went."
Ning Rongrong froze.
Eh... that's not right. This isn't what I imagined. Father didn't say that...
You acted discreetly, turned down the Seven Treasure Pavilion's offer of a huge sum of Gold Soul Coins, and even openly said that you did not want too many people to know about you...
"How could you be short of money? Aren't you the core disciple of some reclusive sect?"
Xia Yan asked, "So that is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's guess?"
Ning Rongrong subconsciously covered her mouth and hurriedly shook her head, making the ends of her hair sway. "No, no..."
A young lady was still a young lady, but she certainly knew that if one investigated someone behind their back, they absolutely could not let the person in question find out. No matter who it was, there was a high chance they would not be happy.
"I... I guessed it myself..."
What was the difference between her guessing and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect guessing?
Xia Yan said plainly, "I was never the disciple of any reclusive sect. I was born in an ordinary, remote little village, and none of the things you imagined are true. Of course I am willing to help maintain peace on the continent, but my reason for hunting Wolf Bandits was still to make money."
"I needed a great deal of resources for cultivation. A two-ring Soul Master received a monthly subsidy of ten Gold Soul Coins, while a juvenile Wolf Bandit was worth two hundred Gold Soul Coins. That was a difference of twenty times."
Ning Rongrong immediately took out a dark red card engraved with cloud patterns around a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
"Are you really that short of money?"
"There are one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins in this card. If that isn't enough, I also have these..."
Her fingers flipped nimbly, and she produced another three black cards. Looking at Xia Ya with a simple yet lavish gaze, she held the cards out to him.
"If you need them, they're all yours."
The downside of growing up overly wealthy was having no concept of money. She could give away one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins as easily as that. The upside was also having no concept of money. She could give away one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins as easily as that. To her, that money might truly not have meant much.
She had seen too much money.
Xia Yan had too many things he wanted to say, but in an instant, they all got stuck in his throat.
He had worked painstakingly to hunt Wolf Bandits. Juveniles were worth two hundred, adults five hundred, and a hunt only brought in a few thousand Gold Soul Coins at most, sometimes not even a thousand. Yet Ning Rongrong casually offered one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins...
He suddenly felt the disparity of the world.
Ning Rongrong thought Xia Yan found it too little.
She could only say awkwardly,
"I didn't bring much money when I left home... If it isn't enough, I can go earn more in Suotuo City. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda can appraise treasures!"
She proudly puffed out her chest. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had built its fortune on the jewelry trade.
Xia Yan raised a hand. "Stop, stop, stop."
"I have money. Put your cards away."
"But..."
"No buts. I still have several hundred thousand on me. I don't need your money."
All thanks to the Wolf Bandits' selfless contributions.
"Alright."
Ning Rongrong could only put the cards away.
She looked into the room. It was clean and tidy, and there was even a pot of small white pinwheel-shaped flowers on the windowsill opposite, gently swaying in the breeze.
They decorated the room.
She tilted her head slightly and smiled. "Can I come in?"
Xia Yan stepped aside.
Ning Rongrong's eyes sparkled as she entered. Perhaps it was an illusion, but she always felt that Xia Yan's room had a unique atmosphere.
"Can you tell me how you did it back then?"
"I've thought about it so much that I couldn't sleep..."
Xia Yan poured her a cup of water. Ning Rongrong happily held it in both hands and drank it all.
"There isn't much to tell. I just fought. I first went to the Silvi Great Grassland, then to the Wild Desolate Plateau. After that, I followed the edges of the empire in a great circle, hunting whatever Wolf Bandits I could along the way. I reached the Great Desert, then finally passed through the Kingdom of Haggendas to the Balak Kingdom, where I temporarily settled down at Shrek Academy."
He had traveled in one enormous half-circle.
Ning Rongrong leaned closer and asked eagerly, "Did you encounter any danger?"
In only an instant, she had accepted the reality that Xia Yan hunted Wolf Bandits for Gold Soul Coins. The more they talked about it,
the more wonderful it felt!
Standing up for the continent's peace was certainly admirable, but hunting Wolf Bandits for Gold Soul Coins while also protecting the continent's peace felt far more real!
He was not rigid, and even less boring.
That made him feel more vivid and more attractive!
Besides, being short of money was wonderful!
Money was the one thing she lacked the least!
Xia Yan answered with certainty, "Of course."
"Once, on the Wild Desolate Plateau, there were almost no signs of people. Even Soul Masters did not want to go there. The information I received said that a small group of Wolf Bandits was roaming around, fifteen in total, but more than six of them were juveniles. I thought I could probably handle them, so I went..."
Ning Rongrong could not wait any longer. "And then? And then?"
Before you continue