Are Your Parents Home?

Qian Xunji leaned against the wall, his gaze fixed on a young girl in the alley,

The girl wore a dark blue dress and a black veil. She was walking out of the medical clinic alone, giving off an air that warned strangers to keep their distance. She was Ye Lingling, the current heir to the Nine-Heart Begonia.

Qian Xunji straightened his robes and walked over. He stopped politely a meter away and inclined his head slightly.

"Sorry to trouble you, young lady." Qian Xunji's voice was warm and resonant,

"Could you introduce me to your guardian?"

Ye Lingling stopped and regarded the masked man before her warily. As a member of the Nine-Heart Begonia family, she had seen all manner of people come seeking treatment. Some would stop at nothing to get it.

However, when she met the man's eyes, she froze for a moment.

Though he wore a mask, the aura surrounding him was unusually calm and warm, like sunlight on a winter's day. Somehow, it put her at ease. That innate light attribute was the subtle influence of the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul. Even though Qian Xunji deliberately kept it in check, he still made people feel as if they were basking in a spring breeze.

Ye Lingling hesitated. The Nine-Heart Begonia was passed down through a single line, and its healing abilities were heaven-defying, which brought plenty of trouble with them. They rarely treated outsiders. But she didn't know the man's strength or intentions, so she could only agree for now. Besides, he seemed pretty sunny...

"My grandfather's coming to pick me up today. You can wait here for a while."

"Thank you." Qian Xunji smiled and stepped aside, waiting quietly.

About the time it took to burn a stick of incense, an unassuming black carriage stopped at the entrance to the alley. A spirited old man with a head of silver hair climbed down. He was Ye Tianxin, the current head of the Ye Family.

"Grandfather." Ye Lingling walked up to him, then pointed at Qian Xunji nearby,

"This gentleman says he wants to see you."

Ye Tianxin followed his granddaughter's gaze. His normally cloudy eyes narrowed sharply.

As a seasoned Soul Douluo, he couldn't see through Qian Xunji's exact cultivation level,

"May I ask what you want with this old man?" Ye Tianxin asked in a low voice, shielding Ye Lingling behind him.

"Elder Ye, could we speak in private?" Qian Xunji gestured invitingly toward a high-end restaurant on the corner.

Ye Tianxin pondered for a moment, knowing that if a powerhouse of this caliber chose to use force, he wouldn't be able to stop him. Rather than stand there at an impasse in the street, he might as well find out what the man wanted. He told the coachman to look after Ye Lingling, then followed Qian Xunji to a private room on the restaurant's top floor.

Once the door was shut, Qian Xunji casually set up a soundproof barrier, then slowly removed his silver mask.

When his handsome, unmistakable face was revealed, Ye Tianxin shuddered. His pupils shrank, and he stumbled back two steps, his pointing finger trembling slightly.

"You... You're... Qian Xunji?"

He was the famous man currently wanted across the continent by Haotian Hall and struck from the rolls of the Angel Sect!

Qian Xunji gave a bitter smile, pulled out a chair, and sat down again. "There's no need to be nervous, Elder Ye. As you can see, I'm nothing but a stray dog, still recovering from severe injuries. I came here to beg you to use the Nine-Heart Begonia to help repair the hidden damage from the meridians severed throughout my body."

Ye Tianxin took several deep breaths before he managed to calm his shock. He sat down across from Qian Xunji, brows furrowed, and fell into a long silence.

The rules of the Nine-Heart Begonia were set in stone, but people could adapt. If Haotian Hall found out, the Ye Family would face annihilation.

But this was also an enormous opportunity.

Ye Tianxin picked up the cold tea on the table and took a sip, then stared intently at Qian Xunji. "Your Excellency, I can help you, but I have one condition."

"Go ahead, Elder Ye." Qian Xunji looked composed.

"The continent's been in turmoil these past few years." Ye Tianxin sighed, weariness flashing across his old face. "Yu Fengzhi, the head of the Seven Treasure Overlord Pagoda Sect, has been trying to recruit the Ye Family more and more often lately. Their Martial Soul has an innate limitation that prevents them from breaking through level seventy-nine, but they can trap Soul Beasts inside their pagodas and summon them to fight. They urgently need the Nine-Heart Begonia's area-wide healing abilities to support their army of summoned beasts."

"I've turned them down several times, but the two in their sect—the Bone Sword user, Gu Xin, and Chen Rong, whose Martial Soul is the Seven Kill Dragon—are both level ninety-five Super Douluos, and they're growing more and more domineering. Our Ye Family is weak and outnumbered. We can't hold out for long."

Ye Tianxin stared straight into Qian Xunji's eyes and spoke each word with emphasis. "I want you to promise that, if necessary in the future, when the Seven Treasure Overlord Pagoda Sect or another faction tries to take us by force, you, Qian Xunji, will step forward and stand with the Ye Family, protecting us!"

One treatment in exchange for the protection of the youngest Titled Douluo.

Qian Xunji smiled.

He extended his right hand, holding it in the air. His deep eyes gleamed with confidence and authority that looked down upon the world. "It's a deal."

Their hands clasped tightly.

For the next month, Qian Xunji stayed at a secret residence of the Ye Family.

Every day at noon, Ye Tianxin would pour all his strength into summoning the Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Soul. Its pink petals, brimming with pure life force, nourished the severed, withered meridians in Qian Xunji's body like spring rain. Combined with the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul's own healing ability, his body—which had once been pronounced beyond saving—was reborn at an astonishing rate.

A month later,

When the last petal of the Nine-Heart Begonia merged into Qian Xunji's chest, he suddenly opened his eyes. A blinding golden light shot from them, and the temperature throughout the residence rose sharply in an instant.

His long-lost peak strength had finally returned!

Golden holy light slowly receded like the tide,

Level ninety-five!

Qian Xunji let out a long breath, feeling the mighty Soul Power surge through his body again without the slightest obstruction. A satisfied smile tugged at his lips. His meridians had been completely repaired, and after being broken and reforged, they were even tougher than before.

"Thank you, Elder Ye." Qian Xunji rose, straightened his robes, and bowed solemnly to Ye Tianxin, whose face was drawn with exhaustion.

Ye Tianxin wiped the sweat from his forehead and waved a hand. "You paid for the treatment, and I did my job. Your Excellency, remember our agreement."

"Don't worry. I, Qian Xunji, keep my word." Qian Xunji smiled faintly and put his silver half-mask back on. "Stay here, Elder Ye. Until we meet again."

After leaving Heaven Dou City, Qian Xunji didn't hurry back to Nuoding City to visit Qian San. His son's development was already on track. With the preparations he'd left in place and Qian San's experience from living two lives, nothing too serious could go wrong.

Now he had something important to take care of, something that concerned the future balance of power,

He had to find his father, Qian Daoliu.