"Miss, what do you plan to do with him?"
Seeing that Xiao Yan had fallen silent, Ling Ying turned to Xiao Chen and left the decision in his hands.
After a moment's thought, Xiao Chen finally said, "Leave him to the Xiao Clan Chief. How he educates his son is his problem!"
"However... sneaking into a young woman's room in the middle of the night to do something untoward? The Xiao Clan Chief's way of raising his son is far from adequate!"
Those words were truly cutting. If anyone else had dared say them, Xiao Yan would probably have blown his top already.
But now he was in the wrong. Even if he wanted to argue, he had no idea what to say, so he could only endure it in silence.
With his young lady's order, Ling Ying breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly took Xiao Yan away into the night.
After they left, Xiao Chen didn't return to his room. Instead, he stared in the direction Ling Ying had vanished, lost in thought.
[ Ding! Congratulations, host, on changing Gu Xun'er's life trajectory. Rewards: Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame (Gold), Dou Power—Five Stages (White)! ]
As the system notification rang out, the world before Xiao Chen's eyes gradually blurred. By the time he could see clearly again, he had returned to his room and was lying on his bed.
"The fourth-ranked Heavenly Flame, the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame, is mine just like that?"
Looking at the system's rewards screen, Xiao Chen finally felt just how amazing having a cheat was.
This was a Heavenly Flame! Countless alchemists went mad over the stuff, searching their entire lives without finding even one. And now he had one just like that—the fourth-ranked Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame, no less.
It would've been a lie to say he wasn't excited. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then contacted the system again. "System, can I handle the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame?"
[Rest assured, host. Everything produced by the system is a fine product, guaranteed to have no side effects!]
"That's good!"
With the system's assurance, Xiao Chen had nothing to worry about. He tapped the system panel and chose to accept the reward.
The next second, wisps of Dou Qi welled up from his dantian. Feeling the energy inside him grow stronger by the moment, Xiao Chen burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! I can finally cultivate!"
At the same time, a domineering golden flame began coursing through Xiao Chen's meridians, then finally surged into his dantian.
If anyone else had let a Heavenly Flame run through their meridians like that, they would've been reduced to ashes already. Yet Xiao Chen didn't feel the slightest pain. Instead, he let out a comfortable hum.
After refining the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame, Xiao Chen couldn't wait to summon it.
Watching the flames wrap around his palm and dye it gold, Xiao Chen couldn't help exclaiming, "So this is a Heavenly Flame! It's both beautiful and dangerous!"
Feeling the violent energy surging within the flames, Xiao Chen was certain that even a wisp of this stuff could easily kill a Dou Wang.
Of course, that was assuming the Dou Wang was caught off guard. Otherwise, Xiao Chen probably wouldn't even get the chance to make a move before being slapped to death.
There was no helping it. The gap in their realms was too great, and he couldn't react fast enough. He'd only just raise his hand, and the Dou Wang would already be gone. How was he supposed to kill them in one hit?
After admiring the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame for a while, Xiao Chen seemed to remember something. He drew it back into his body and contacted the system, puzzled. "System, I thought refining a Heavenly Flame came with a boost of energy. Why didn't I feel any energy from the flame?"
[Host, what are you dreaming about? The energy boost comes from wild Heavenly Flames. Ours is domesticated. Where's it supposed to get the energy to give you?]
PS: Wild Heavenly Flames contain extremely powerful energy. After being refined once, they lose their ability to provide a boost when refined again. See the Sea Heart Flame for reference!
"Uh... all right. Looks like I was overthinking it!"
Xiao Chen shrugged. He didn't care much; he'd only asked out of curiosity. Whether the flame gave him a boost or not made no difference to him.
Rather than dwell on that, he might as well sleep. The night grew darker, and drowsiness crept over him. Xiao Chen felt his eyelids growing heavy, so he stopped forcing himself to stay awake and let sleep engulf him.
Meanwhile, Gu Xun'er was wide awake. She seemed to have just had a dream. In it, all she did each day was cultivate, take pills, and soak in medicinal baths. This routine continued until she arrived at the Xiao Family and met Xiao Chen.
After that, Xiao Chen would take her to watch the sunset and sunrise every day, and they'd catch butterflies and dragonflies together in the back hills.
Sometimes, he'd take her shopping in Wutan City. Every time they went, Xiao Chen would buy her some exquisite gifts. The Gu Xun'er in the dream was so happy that she even hoped she could live like that forever.
Who knew how much time passed, until the Xiao Clan Chief's son tried to break into her room and she caught him. Then the dream shattered with a crash.
When Gu Xun'er woke, she felt a little lost. The dream had been so real that, for a moment, she couldn't tell whether it had been a dream or something she had truly experienced.
"Elder Ling!"
At her soft call, Ling Ying's figure appeared outside her room once more. He asked quietly, "What is it, miss?"
"How long have we been at the Xiao Family?"
As she asked, Gu Xun'er felt a little foolish. She had only arrived today and remembered that perfectly well.
But the dream had felt so real that she didn't know how to tell the difference. So she could only call Ling Ying over to confirm it.
"Huh? Well... miss, we only arrived at the Xiao Family today. Is something the matter?"
Ling Ying was bewildered by the question and had no idea what was going on, but he answered honestly all the same.
After hearing Ling Ying's reply, Gu Xun'er looked a little disappointed. She would've preferred it if the events in her dream had been real.
After all, she had been far happier in the dream than she was in reality. But there was no way she could tell Ling Ying that, so she simply made up an excuse: "It's nothing, Elder Ling. I just miss my father!"
Hearing that, Ling Ying scratched his head so hard he nearly thought age was catching up with him and his ears had gone bad.
What? The young lady said she missed her father? That sounded a little too fake, didn't it?
As the guard who had watched Gu Xun'er grow up, how could he not know what she was like?
I'm not exaggerating, but there's a better chance she misses that kid Xiao Chen, whom she only met today, than Gu Yuan.
But since Gu Xun'er had said it, what could he do? It wasn't as if he could call her out.
Helpless, he played dumb and replied, "If you miss the clan chief, miss, you can send him a message on a jade slip!"
"Never mind. Father is busy with countless affairs. I shouldn't disturb him."
Gu Xun'er felt a little awkward. She seemed to realize her excuse had been flimsy, but now that she'd started, all she could do was grit her teeth and keep it going. Ling Ying certainly wouldn't expose her.
"Miss is right. If there's nothing else, your subordinate will take his leave!"
All Ling Ying wanted now was to get away as quickly as possible. Acting along with his young lady was simply too awkward.
Before you continue