Is the mission considered complete?

Tang San's eyes widened, and the expression on his face froze. He opened his mouth, but it felt as though something had lodged in his throat. He could not say a single word.

Under the moonlight, an exceedingly complicated expression appeared on his bruised little face. Shock, shame, anger, resentment, and an indescribable... despair.

Seeing the state he was in, Xiao Wu snorted, stood up, and dusted off her skirt, though there was no dust on it.

"Remember this. From now on, when you see me, call me Great-Auntie. Otherwise, I'll beat you up every time I see you." With that, she turned and skipped away, her scorpion braid swishing beneath the moonlight, looking particularly cheerful.

Tang San lay motionless on the cold bluestone pavement, staring at the sky full of stars.

His nose bridge was swollen, one eye was blackened, his lip was split, and several bruises marked his face. His ribs ached faintly too. But none of that hurt the most. What hurt most was that "Great-Auntie"—the fact that he, a grown man who had lived nearly thirty years, had been pinned beneath a four- or five-year-old little girl and beaten, then forced to call her "Great-Auntie."

He climbed up from the ground, wiped away his nosebleed, and staggered back. Every step sent a dull ache through his ribs. That girl Xiao Wu had truly hit hard, without holding back in the slightest.

He returned to his little room, shut the door, and slid down against it to sit on the floor.

Moonlight streamed through the window lattice, illuminating his battered face. Looking at the black-and-blue boy in the mirror, he suddenly found himself utterly ridiculous.

Just then, the system's voice rang out in his sea of consciousness.

[Ding—]

[Congratulations, Host. Main quest completed: Make contact with Xiao Wu, the Daughter of Destiny, and form an intimate relationship.]

[Quest completion assessment: An "Great-Auntie—grandnephew" generational relationship has been established with Xiao Wu, the Daughter of Destiny. An intimate relationship has been formed. Quest complete.]

[Quest reward being issued: Innate Full Soul Power, Level 10.]

Tang San's expression froze on his face.

It was as though he had been struck by lightning. He sat there blankly, even forgetting to breathe.

Completed? This quest... was completed?

Xiao Wu had pinned him down and beaten him senseless, beaten him until his face was black and blue, beaten him until he cried for his father and godfather. Being forced to call her big sister had not been enough—he had even been forced to call her Great-Auntie. And this was what the system called an "intimate relationship"?

He sprang up from the floor, but the sudden movement tugged at his injured ribs, making him bare his teeth in pain. Yet he could not care about that now.

"System! What the hell is going on? What do you mean by an intimate relationship? She beat me into this state—how does that count as an intimate relationship?"

[System notice: Intimate relationships include, but are not limited to, romantic relationships, sibling relationships, and relationships between elders and juniors. "Great-Auntie—grandnephew" is an elder-junior relationship and meets the definition of an intimate relationship. Quest conditions satisfied.]

Tang San opened his mouth, yet could not utter a word for a long while.

He had been beaten. Beaten black and blue, forced to call her Great-Auntie, utterly crushed beneath a four- or five-year-old little girl—and that counted as completing the quest?

A warm current of energy suddenly surged up from deep within his dantian, interrupting his thoughts. Tang San shuddered all over. Setting aside the absurdity of it all, he quickly sat cross-legged and sank his awareness into his body.

The energy was not violent. Instead, it was gentle as water. It slowly flowed through Tang San's meridians, and whenever it passed through one, that meridian gave off a faint hum, like a parched riverbed finally receiving its long-overdue spring rain.

He could clearly feel that familiar, abundant power reviving at an astonishing speed.

Level five. Level six. Level seven.

The rise in energy was steady and unwavering, without the slightest obstruction.

Level eight. Level nine. Level ten.

Innate Full Soul Power, Level 10!

Tang San abruptly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing within them. The soul power inside him, so abundant it seemed ready to overflow, surged and roared through his meridians. Every pore on his body seemed to be cheering.

It was back. His Innate Full Soul Power was back.

The corners of Tang San's mouth slowly curled upward, and then he could not help laughing aloud. The laughter echoed through the empty little room, carrying a twisted exhilaration, as well as an indescribable absurdity.

"HAHAHAHA!!!! Cough, cough cough~~"

The laughter tugged at the wounds on his face, making him suck in cold breaths of pain, but he continued to laugh. The smile on his bruised and swollen face looked utterly comical, yet his eyes shone brilliantly.

What was one beating? What were a few cries of "Great-Auntie"? As long as it made him stronger, Tang San could endure this little humiliation.

He even had an impulse.

Tomorrow, he should go let Xiao Wu beat him up again.

Maybe he could get another reward?

In the room on the other side, Tang Ling sat in a wicker chair by the window, holding a cup of tea as he watched the farce in the courtyard from beginning to end.

When Xiao Wu straddled Tang San and threw punch after punch, when Tang San howled for his father and godfather, Tang Ling did not so much as raise an eyelid.

As for everyone else, there was even less chance of any reaction.

The moment Xiao Wu started fighting, he had casually set up a soundproof barrier. The barrier was invisible and intangible; with Xiao Wu and the others' current cultivation, they could not possibly detect it. Nor could any sound from inside the barrier travel outside.

So even if Xiao San screamed himself hoarse in the courtyard, all that reached the others was the quiet sound of the night wind.

As Xiao Wu happily beat him up with imposing vigor, leaving Tang San calling to heaven and earth with no answer, not a single person came out. Only Tang Ling remained seated by the window from beginning to end.

He watched Xiao Wu punch Tang San again and again, listening as Xiao San cried out "Great-Auntie" over and over.

Not until Tang San staggered back into his room.

Only then did Tang Ling set down his teacup and shake his head slightly.

"That girl." Though he spoke of Xiao Wu, Tang Ling's divine sense had already passed through the wall and settled in Tang San's little room.

The abrupt surge of soul power within Tang San—the change from Level 0 to Level 10—was laid bare before his eyes in every minute detail.

Getting beaten once could raise his soul power?

Tang Ling narrowed his eyes slightly. The system inside Tang San was indeed still running.

"Like a cockroach that just won't die."

Tang Ling murmured to himself. There was no anger in his tone—rather, a faint, almost imperceptible amusement.

He had originally thought that crippling the system would solve everything once and for all. Now it seemed this low-end system was far tougher than he had imagined.

However, he had no intention of erasing it again.

With it still there, Tang San would keep getting back up. And if he got back up, there would be another chance to torment him. Without the system, Tang San would just be a dead dog. There would be no fun in tormenting him further.

It was like raising a pig. You had to fatten it up first, so that slaughtering it would be more satisfying.

Tang Ling lifted his teacup and took another sip. His gaze pierced through the wall, settling on the bruised and swollen child in Tang San's room, whose smile was twisted beyond measure. The corner of his lips rose slightly.

"Laugh, Xiao San." His voice was as soft as a night breeze, fading into the fragrance of tea. "The happier you are, the more it'll hurt when you fall again."