Dong'er's Laziness, A False Alarm

Jiang Ci'an very wisely chose not to pick up that thread of conversation. Instead, he reached out and took his childhood sweetheart's hand, leading her toward the backyard.

"Don't think about useless things. They're just guests. Come on, let's go back and continue our cultivation; we can't let that fall behind."

Xiao Xiao pursed her lips, lowered her gaze to look at their joined hands, and gave a sullen response.

"Oh." (⩌⤚⩌)

Xiao Xiao felt a bit annoyed by the protagonist's habit of changing the subject.

However, she still nodded obediently and followed Jiang Ci'an back to the backyard.

There was no helping it; if it were anyone else, she would probably still be angry, but for her own Ci'an... she could only forgive him.

Yet, just before stepping through the door, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but turn her head to glance once more in the direction where Wang Dong'er and the others had left, her eyes flickering with a faint, lingering light.

I hope they really are just guests.

On the other side.

Out on the street, Da Ming and his companions were heading toward the location of the two shops.

The three of them wove through the bustling crowd and rounded two corners before the shops finally came into view.

They stood side by side, their frontages modest and their location rather secluded, maintaining a tacit silence that matched the shuttered shops nearby.

Da Ming was busy examining the exterior of the shops, mentally planning the renovations, when Wang Dong'er suddenly spoke up from behind him.

"Big Uncle, Second Uncle."

Da Ming stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at the earnest expression on little Dong'er's face. He asked gently, "What is it, Dong'er?"

Wang Dong'er raised her eyes, her blue-pink irises reflecting Da Ming's gentle face, and said seriously, "Can I be friends with him?"

Da Ming paused slightly. He didn't answer immediately, instead asking, "Why do you suddenly want that?"

Wang Dong'er thought for a moment, looking down at her own toes. After a while, she looked back up, her voice softer. "I guess... I feel like he's a bit like me. After all, I suppose I'm an orphan too?"

Her words were somewhat abrupt, but Da Ming understood.

Er Ming opened his mouth to the side, wanting to explain something, but was stopped by a look from Da Ming.

Da Ming looked into little Dong'er's clear eyes and nodded gently.

"That is something you must find out for yourself, Dong'er. Once things have settled down during this period, you can go, how about that?"

Wang Dong'er was visibly relieved. A smile bloomed on her face as she nodded vigorously. "Okay!"

Er Ming was confused. He used soul power to transmit his voice, his tone filled with bewilderment: "Big Brother, why?"

Da Ming remained calm on the surface, replying through a steady mental transmission: "Dong'er has always lived on the mountain. She has no playmates, her parents aren't by her side, and the two of us are, at the end of the day, only elders.

"Now that Dong'er has come out and wants to make a friend, it is only natural. There is no need for us to stop her."

Da Ming paused, then added, "Of course, just to be safe, we should still look into the situation of those two children."

Er Ming still had his doubts, but he didn't argue. He gave a slight nod to Da Ming and turned to make the arrangements.

Da Ming, meanwhile, took Dong'er into the shop. As he continued to plan the layout, thoughts flickered through his mind.

There were two reasons he had agreed to Dong'er's request.

First, Dong'er truly needed some friends.

The child had grown up on the mountain with two old men like them, and her peers were too intimidated by her status to get close.

Although she had a cheerful personality, being alone all the time was not a long-term solution.

That young man appeared steady and polite, and the girl beside him was quiet and reserved. If they could become Dong'er's playmates, that would be quite good.

The second reason was the talent of those two children.

He had seen it at a glance.

The soul power fluctuations from that young man were steady and restrained; he was clearly already at level sixteen.

The little girl beside him was not bad either, at level fifteen.

At their age, with that level of power, it meant that beyond being geniuses with sufficient resources, these two children were undoubtedly working extremely hard in their cultivation. Otherwise, they could not have achieved such a level.

That was something truly rare and commendable.

In contrast, Dong'er...

Although she had awakened her martial soul at age three, she had been taking medicine due to her naturally weak constitution, and she only obtained her first soul ring once her body stabilized at age six.

Yet, even after having the soul ring for so long, she was only at level fourteen.

One had to realize that Dong'er had been raised on all sorts of heavenly treasures since she was small, and her first soul ring had been absorbed beyond her rank, pushing her soul power straight to level thirteen immediately after.

And yet, nearly half a year had passed, and she had only improved by one level!

Anyone who saw that would have to shake their head.

With two diligent playmates by her side, perhaps it could even motivate Dong'er.

Of course, that was assuming the investigation turned up nothing amiss.

Lost in thought, he arrived at the shop's backyard.

Da Ming reined in his thoughts, looked down at little Dong'er, who was tilting her head to inspect the new house, and smiled.

"Let's go, Dong'er, let's go pick out a room first."

Dong'er cheered and dashed inside, taking the lead.

Da Ming smiled and followed after her.

Time flowed slowly by.

In the blink of an eye, over a month had passed.

Ping'an Pharmacy, backyard.

The autumn sunlight slanted down from above the courtyard wall, gilding the entire training ground in a layer of warm gold.

Inside the training ground, Xiao Xiao was still dressed in light attire, carrying two small, pitch-black cauldrons on her shoulders with a third hovering above her head. With all three Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons deployed, the black power of suppression poured down like a waterfall, shrouding her figure in a deep, dark hue.

Even so, Xiao Xiao continued to channel her soul power into the cauldrons, increasing the weight of the Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons bit by bit, striving to maximize the effects of the Body Tempering Method.

Jiang Ci'an sat on a stone bench not far away, holding a freshly prepared supplement. He sipped it slowly while silently refining the medicinal power.

Compared to Xiao Xiao, who needed to rely on the pressure of the Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons to push the efficiency of the Body Tempering Method to its limit, he, as someone who had blown himself up hundreds of times, could afford to be more relaxed.

As long as the supplements kept up, his cultivation efficiency could be maintained at a peak state, making him appear the most leisurely of the two.

Dividing a sliver of his focus to keep an eye on Xiao Xiao's situation, Jiang Ci'an watched the clouds drifting slowly across the horizon, his thoughts wandering.

To be honest, this past month felt rather surreal.

During those first few days, he had kept his nerves slightly on edge, wondering if Da Ming or Er Ming might pull a surprise return.

But as it turned out, A month had passed, and aside from Da Ming sending someone to mention that they would be doing major renovations on those two shops and delivering a significant amount of gold soul coins as compensation, he hadn't seen Da Ming, Er Ming, or Wang Dong'er again.

It was as if nothing had happened; none of the contingency plans he had prepared had been put to use, as if he had truly worried for nothing.

However, this also proved that things were not as he had imagined.

Da Ming and Er Ming bringing Wang Dong'er to Shrek City was likely just a coincidence.

Though he didn't know the reason, he was safe for the time being, which was a good thing regardless.

Jiang Ci'an pulled back his thoughts and sensed the soul power within his body.

After more than a month of cultivation, his soul power had improved again, reaching the peak of level 16. In another two or three days, he would likely break through to level 17.

Looking at it this way, he could start planning for his second soul ring in advance.

He pulled an internal soul beast encyclopedia he had recently purchased from the Nine Treasures Chamber of Commerce out of his sleeve, flipped it open, and let his gaze wander between the illustrations and descriptions of various soul beasts.

Just as he was reading, a servant hurried over and whispered in his ear:

"Young Master, Mr. Ning is here. He says the carving knife you requested has been delivered."