Invitation

After polishing off a bowl of noodles and two steamed buns, Wu Ling felt comfortable all over.

"Small stalls like this still have that special feeling. It's just like those roadside stands I used to eat at with my old man when I was little. It's a shame, though. For all sorts of reasons, those roadside stalls eventually weren't allowed to stay open."

Wu Ling rubbed his full stomach and reminisced about the past for a moment.

"Boss, the bill."

"Right away, young master. One bowl of noodles and three steamed buns, three Copper Soul Coins in total."

Wu Ling casually placed a Silver Soul Coin on the table.

"Please wait a moment, young master. For one Silver Soul Coin, I'll give you seven Copper Soul Coins in change."

"Forget it. Keep the rest as a tip."

By the time the owner went to get the change, Wu Ling had already stood up and left. Clutching the seven Copper Soul Coins in his hand, the owner watched Wu Ling's retreating figure and gave him a deep bow.

"Take care, young master!"

After breakfast, Wu Ling began strolling leisurely down the streets. One reason was to help digest his meal; the other was to take in the scenery of the Heaven Dou Empire's capital.

After all, he had visited the Heaven Dou Empire many times, but this was his first time coming to its capital.

Pedestrians came and went around him, but most hurried along. People leisurely wandering about like Wu Ling were not unheard of, but they were exceedingly rare, and most of them were elderly.

The clearest difference Wu Ling noticed was that the people in the Heaven Dou Empire's capital were mostly ordinary folk, while Spirit City's residents were mostly Soul Masters.

The Heaven Dou Empire's capital had ordinary peddlers and small vendors like the one from before. Spirit City also had merchants, but most of what they sold was related to Spirit Beasts.

As for prices, most small vendors here dealt primarily in Copper Soul Coins. Silver Soul Coins were already extremely rare, and only the larger trading guilds conducted transactions in Gold Soul Coins.

In Spirit City, even the cheapest items cost Silver Soul Coins. Even the corpse of an ordinary ten-year Spirit Beast could sell for more than a Silver Soul Coin, while slightly better materials were priced mainly in Gold Soul Coins.

At the auctions jointly held by several major trading guilds in Spirit City, you would be too embarrassed to enter without at least several hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Wu Ling wandered around for nearly half an hour before finally making his way unhurriedly to Spirit Hall's main temple.

The two guards outside the main temple immediately stood at attention and opened the doors when they saw Wu Ling, respectfully ushering him inside.

Wu Ling smiled and nodded at them before walking into the hall.

Honestly, Wu Ling sometimes found it rather troubling. Someone as handsome and talented as him simply never got the chance to play the pig to eat the tiger or show off and slap faces.

On the contrary, his current situation was more like the sort of bait the protagonist defeated, only to draw out the "older generation" behind him before wiping out his entire family.

Of course, Wu Ling was certainly not comparable to some minor boss. At the very least, he had to be on the level of the great villain lurking behind the scenes.

Lost in random thoughts, Wu Ling returned to his temporary residence, where the three Xiao Hong Clones happened to be cultivating in the courtyard.

As he passed Xiao Hong and Xiao Lan, Wu Ling saw how absorbed they were and nodded in satisfaction, every inch the "007 capitalist."

But when he reached Xiao Fen, he found her staring blankly into space while eating a lollipop.

When it came to Xiao Fen, Wu Ling had chosen a hands-off approach. After all, she was the apple of his eye.

At present, a potion Xiao Fen developed, combined with a basic cultivation method, had already increased Xiao Lan and Xiao Hong's cultivation speed by more than twenty percent. Once advanced cultivation methods and potions came out, even a fifty percent increase would be considered low.

Between eight Clones at 1.5 times cultivation efficiency and nine Clones at normal cultivation efficiency, anyone with even a little arithmetic could tell which was better.

Wu Ling immediately sat cross-legged beside Xiao Fen and asked with concern, "Xiao Fen, why aren't you doing research today?"

Xiao Fen glanced at Wu Ling, tilted her head toward him, then let herself fall over. She rested her head on Wu Ling's lap, firmly bumped her face against his stomach several times, then opened one eye to look at the lowered head of Wu Ling as she spoke.

"Even with the materials in hand, researching outside my own Workshop just doesn't feel as comfortable. So after researching for a while, I came out."

Wu Ling's gaze softened as he gently stroked Xiao Fen's hair. Though he looked so young, he somehow gave off the feeling of an elder at that moment.

"If that's the case, then get some proper rest these next few days. You've been working on potions, spell formations, and cultivation methods for the past month. You must be tired."

"A little. But that's only because you, the original body, gave me so many tasks." Xiao Fen puffed out her cheeks slightly, complaining about Wu Ling in a tone utterly devoid of blame.

Wu Ling reached out and pinched Xiao Fen's chubby cheek, smiling. "All right, all right, my fault. Grandpa Ghost is out today because of the awakening matter, so I won't cultivate either. Let Xiao Hong and Xiao Lan keep training, and I'll spend the whole day playing with you. How about it?"

In the distance, Xiao Lan and Xiao Hong had quietly stopped cultivating. Watching the interaction between the original body and Xiao Fen, the two began whispering to each other.

"The original body and Xiao Fen have such a good relationship. It feels like they're siblings." Xiao Hong sighed as he watched the warm scene.

But Xiao Lan disagreed. "No, not siblings. More than siblings, they feel like father and daughter to me."

Xiao Lan wore an expression as though his all-seeing eyes had seen through everything.

"Because the original body is physically young, his mental age hasn't decreased, but it also hasn't increased much.

But his soul age is different. His soul has truly 'existed' for nearly thirty years. If he hadn't transmigrated, he would already be thirty now.

Although the original body was twenty in his previous life and had never even held a girl's hand, at thirty... well, perhaps, maybe, he would have gotten married.

So when a thirty-year-old soul sees Xiao Fen, who shares a similar appearance and is also part of the same soul, he probably subconsciously interacts with her from an elder's perspective."

After hearing Xiao Lan's words, Xiao Hong scratched his head and thought for a moment before suddenly saying, "Wait. If that's true, does that mean the original body sees us as his sons?"

"How could that be! In a man's eyes, girls and boys are practically different species, okay?" Xiao Lan firmly rejected Xiao Hong's words.

"Really? Then why do I feel like you're lying? I train hard because that's just my personality, but it's hard to explain why you train so hard. After all, the original body has never demanded that we work ourselves to the bone."

"...Go train."

"Are you embarrassed?"

"...Forget training. Get as far away from me as you can."

Ignoring the bickering between Xiao Hong and Xiao Lan, Xiao Fen told Wu Ling something.

"What? An invitation, from Xue Qinghe?"