Mother and Daughter Lay Their Cards on the Table

After saying goodbye to her two overthinking friends, Liu Erlong headed towards her home.

These two were her only friends during her five-plus years at the academy. Just ordinary friends.

Upon returning home, the familiar aroma of food wafted into her nostrils the moment she stepped inside, instantly thawing the coldness on Liu Erlong's face and bringing a smile to her beautiful features.

"Mother--!"

Liu Erlong jogged into the kitchen and saw the figure wearing an apron. She immediately pounced on her, wrapped her arms around the other's slender waist, pressed her jade face against the thin back, and gasped for breath.

Liu Yan put down the long-handled wooden spoon in her hand, turned around and hugged Liu Erlong, who was now almost as tall as her. She gently brushed a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear and said softly:

"You're back. Erlong, are you hungry? If you are, have some snacks to tide you over. The soup needs to simmer for a while longer—"

"I'm not hungry."

Liu Erlong buried his face in his mother's chest, rubbing his cheeks left and right, and said in a muffled voice.

Although she didn't say the word "want," the way her hands tightly hugged Liu Yan's slender waist and her lingering affection clearly showed her longing and dependence.

If the teachers and students of the Luolin Junior Soul Master Academy were to see this scene, they would probably be utterly astonished.

Even her only two friends, Si Kexin and Audrey, only knew that Liu Erlong valued her mother very much, but they did not know that she had such a girlish side in front of her mother.

About ten minutes later, a large pot of milky white bone broth appeared in the center of the table, emitting a rich aroma of meat. Next to it were several exquisite dishes, both meat and vegetables.

Of all the dishes and soups on the table, the one that cost the most was the pot of bone broth that Liu Yan had been simmering for most of the day.

The price of a hind leg bone from a Hundred-Year Soul Beast, including the bone and flesh, is enough to support an ordinary family for three to five years!

Although Liu Yan was a single woman raising Liu Erlong alone, a certain person would visit once or twice a year, leaving behind a large sum of money each time. As a result, the mother and daughter lived at a standard of living comparable to most wealthy families in the Douluo Continent.

"Mom, I don't want to continue studying at the Soul Master Academy— "

After finishing his meal, Liu Erlong put down his empty soup bowl, looked at Liu Yan, and said earnestly.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yan paused in her actions and looked up at Liu Erlong opposite her.

After a long silence, he asked in a low voice, "If you're not going to school, what are you going to do? Have you thought it through?"

She did not object to Liu Erlong's seemingly absurd decision.

Although Liu Yan genuinely hoped that Liu Erlong would continue down the path of the Soul Master Academy and receive systematic training, she also hoped that her daughter could make some true friends during her future academy years.

[Luolin Junior Soul Master Academy] is merely an academy in a small town, with students coming from the local area and some surrounding villages and towns, making it difficult to produce any true geniuses.

In this situation, even if Liu Erlong is willing to make friends with his classmates, he may not necessarily gain true friendship.

Not to mention that due to her family background, which was almost no different from that of a single-parent family, Liu Erlong herself was rather cold and would never take the initiative to befriend or make friends with classmates who were not as good as her or even subconsciously distanced themselves from her.

Even though Si Kexin and Audrey are just ordinary friends, it's because of their own talent. In the [Luolin Junior Soul Master Academy], they are among the strongest, second only to Liu Erlong. In addition, Dean Yi Qingzhu has intentionally or unintentionally reminded their parents, which is why they took the initiative to befriend Liu Erlong.

Dragons do not live with snakes, not only because dragons are proud, but also because snakes would feel immense pressure and thus shy away.

Think about the Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy in the original novel. Those few minor characters in the early stages were high-level minor characters with names and identities. However, after the timeline switched to Tang San and Xiao Wu's graduation, they never had another chance to appear. Their names didn't even appear in the flashbacks.

This isn't because Tang San and Xiao Wu are indifferent; rather, they are simply from different "worlds." After passing each other by, they naturally won't have any further interaction.

Perhaps, as Tang San's fame rises on the grand stage of the Douluo Continent, even becoming Zhentian, Wang Sheng, Xiao Chenyu, and others in Nuoding City might say to those around them, "Look! That ' Thousand-Hand Asura,' ' Blue Hao King ' Tang San, used to be in the same academy as me!"

When questioned, Wang Sheng might even say, "He used to be my roommate!"

But no matter what, Nuoding City is just the starting point for Tang San, the protagonist. As for the people and the land here, apart from Old Jack of Holy Soul Village who had taken care of him, the three mud-brick houses of the blacksmith shop that used to be his home, and the small mountain in the west of the village where he cultivated for five or six years, there is really nothing for him to miss.

For Liu Erlong, it was much the same. Apart from her mother, Liu Yan, and the small courtyard where the two of them lived, "Luolin City" was no different from anywhere else on the Douluo Continent.

Therefore, she had nothing to miss about leaving this place.

As long as her mother, Liu Yan, can stay by her side, that's enough.

"I want to go to ' Gengxin City '!"

A determined look appeared in Liu Erlong's starry eyes as he spoke to his mother, Liu Yan.

"What?!" Liu Yan almost thought she had misheard. Her rosy lips parted slightly as she looked at her daughter in astonishment.

"I said," Liu Erlong looked directly into his mother's eyes and said, enunciating each word clearly, "I~ want~ to~ go~ to~ 'Geng~ Xin~ City'!"

Liu Yan: "..."

Another silence followed.

Liu Yan originally thought her daughter wanted to go to the Jade Dragon Mountain Range, to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, to find her father, Yu Luomian.

Or, perhaps, move to a place closer to the Jade Dragon Mountain Range...

But no matter what, Liu Yan never expected that the place Liu Erlong wanted to go was so different from what she had imagined.

Even if the actual distance isn't that far, it should still be around seven or eight thousand li.

"Erlong," Liu Yan couldn't help but widen her watery eyes and meet Liu Erlong's gaze, asking, "What are you thinking? ' Gengxin City '... is it the ' Gengxin City ' of the [Star Luo Empire]?"

Although Liu Yan wasn't a powerful Soul Master, but just a lowly level nine Soul Scholar, the place she lived in back then saw many distinguished figures and powerful Soul Master coming and going every day. She had heard of the name "Gengxin City," the "City of Metal."

Why is it that all of a sudden, we're leaving ' Luolin City ', leaving Biqi Province, and even leaving the ' Heaven Dou Empire '?