Money Is Time!

In a secluded courtyard of the Xiao Clan, Xiao Xun'er sat alone in her room, her chin resting on her hand, her gaze drifting somewhat boredly out the window.

"Young Miss, the Xiao Clan family is gathering at the Martial Arena. Shouldn't we go take a look? Maybe we'll find some clues about the Ancient Jade jade?" Ling Ying's voice came from the shadows.

"That's Brother Huo Yuhao teaching the Xiao Clan's protective formation. It's not appropriate for us to go and watch. Brother Xiao Yan will tell me what happened when he gets back."

At this point, a look of resentment appeared on Xiao Xun'er's face.

"Brother Xiao Yan would rather bully Cousin Xiao Yu than go shopping with me. If he doesn't explain himself properly when he gets back, hmph!"

As the sun began to set, Huo Yuhao had already begun to teach the Xiao Clan family the three formations he had developed: one for defense, one for offense, and one to confuse the enemy.

After assigning tasks for the next day's drills, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Yan were talking with several elders.

"It must have been tough on you Huo Yuhao." The First Elder gazed at Huo Yuhao's face with a complex expression, still feeling regretful.

"It would be great if Huo Yuhao had the bloodline of the Xiao Clan."

"It's what I should do," Huo Yuhao replied.

"No, this shouldn't be your responsibility. We old folks are ashamed!" the elder sighed.

"By the way Huo Yuhao, your bracelet looks exceptionally beautiful. What material is it made of?" Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit tense, the Third Elder changed the subject. He stroked the bracelet on his wrist, which was entirely golden, and his fingers lingered between the two blue gemstones set on the front of the bracelet.

"This bracelet is made entirely of Essence Gold and inlaid with Spirit Jade."

"What?"

Upon hearing this, the elders looked up in disbelief and counted the number of bracelets on their fingers. Their expressions changed drastically, and they all clutched their hearts, their faces contorted in pain.

"So much Essence Gold and Spirit Jade? Heavens! Our Xiao Clan is going bankrupt!"

"Rest assured, elders, these were all obtained through my and Xiao Yan's training and were exchanged at the Mittel Auction House. No family assets were used."

"That shouldn't be so extravagant!" The Grand Elder pounded his chest, struggling to breathe.

"Haha, after all, it's meant to be part of our Xiao Clan's heritage, so spending a little money is fine!" Xiao Zhan said with a smile, trying to smooth things over.

"Is that all?" the First Elder roared. "Huo Yuhao, if this money were converted into resources to support your and Xiao Yan's cultivation, you'd probably break through to the Dou Ling at the very least!"

"Well..." Huo Yuhao wanted to continue explaining.

"It's all your fault for not setting a good example as the clan leader!" The First Elder suddenly turned his attention to Xiao Zhan, who was trying to smooth things over, grabbing his sleeve and glaring at him angrily.

"Come on! Follow us back to the council chamber to handle some business!"

Watching the elders "escort" a sullen-looking Xiao Zhan away in a hurry, a dark line quietly appeared on Huo Yuhao's forehead.

Beside him, Xiao Yan weighed the Essence Gold bracelet in his hand and complained, "Is this the legendary 'time is money'? Even if we sent them all out to mine, we wouldn't be able to earn this much money back from this little bit of practice time saved, would we?"

"And where did we get all this stuff from?"

"The collections of those people from the Chu Yun Empire, and the pile of junk weapons that Senior Gu He didn't want."

"Oh, what a pity, I quite liked that gleaming short sword." Xiao Yan put the bracelet into his Storage Ring and said with a hint of regret.

"We still have plenty of Moonlight Stone; we can make more."

After several days of practice, the Xiao Clan family members were able to form formations on their own, without Huo Yuhao's constant guidance.

Therefore, Huo Yuhao stopped going to the Martial Arena to instruct them every day and began to continue playing "My World" in his own Spiritual Sea.

That afternoon, a Xiao Xue fell in Wutan City. Xiao Yan was idly strolling along a relatively bustling street with Xiao Xun'er when two familiar figures came into view.

"Huo Yuhao? Xiao Yi Xian?" Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised.

Huo Yuhao nodded slightly, while Xiao Yi Xian beside him smiled brightly, "Xiao Yan, Xun'er, what a coincidence! You're shopping too?"

"Brother Huo Yuhao, Sister Xian'er, hello!" Xiao Xun'er greeted them warmly. Then she left Xiao Yan behind and started chatting with Xiao Yi Xian, their hands clasped together.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Yan's eyes met in the air, and they both understood the helplessness in each other's eyes at being dragged along to "accompany" them.

After strolling around for a while, the two girls were quickly attracted by the exquisite jewelry in the window of a nearby jewelry store. They went inside hand in hand, leaving Huo Yuhao and Xiao Yan standing outside.

"What have you been up to lately? Haven't seen you blacksmithing in ages." Xiao Yan nudged Huo Yuhao with his elbow, lowering his voice with a hint of boasting, "I've recently come up with something really cool!"

"Oh, Xiao Yan has started doing research too?" Even when he was out playing with Xiao Yi Xian, Huo Yuhao's mind was always occupied with his own "game" in his Spiritual Sea, so he always had a feeling of being absent-minded.

Xiao Yan didn't care, chuckled, and instantly concealed his near- Dou Master aura, appearing only at the third stage of Dou Qi: "Huo Yuhao, guess where my Dou Qi went?"

Huo Yuhao was finally drawn to Xiao Yan, and slightly projected a portion of his mind to sense Xiao Yan's aura, and understood.

"Simulation?"

"Tch, boring." Xiao Yan's face showed a fleeting disappointment after Huo Yuhao saw through him, but it was immediately replaced by excitement. "How about that? Pretty low-key, right? The ultimate trick of playing dumb to fool others! Just imagine, everyone thinks you're a weakling, but then you unleash your power at the crucial moment... tsk tsk..."

Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment, then immediately concealed his aura, hiding it at the Three-Stage Dou Qi: "Hmm, it does have its merits. It can confuse the enemy in battle, making them mistakenly believe that you are seriously injured, thus causing them to be careless."

"Damn, I've been studying this Concealment Technique for almost a week, and you learned it in one glance?" Xiao Yan didn't want to talk anymore, so he squatted down and drew circles on the snow.

"I've recently been working on Spirit Runes for higher-level Spirit Artifact artifacts in my Spiritual Sea..."

At the same time, a highly discordant, greasy voice interrupted the two girls' shopping.

"My two beauties, I am Liu Xi, a first-grade alchemist. May I make your acquaintance?"

Inside the jewelry shop, a young man dressed in fine clothes, his face pale and unsteady, blocked Xiao Xun'er and Xiao Yi Xian's path, his eyes greedily scanning the two women, making no attempt to conceal his lewdness. Behind him were two guards, their auras around that of Dou Master.

Xiao Xun'er's cold eyes swept over Liu Xi as if he were a speck of dust, and she pulled Xiao Yi Xian away. But Xiao Yi Xian stopped in her tracks. She looked at Liu Xi's face, which was full of desire, and then at the first-grade Alchemist Badge on his chest. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"You have shattered my beautiful image of alchemists."

Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Yi Xian flicked her wrist, and a puff of powder was thrown at Liu Xi!

"Ugh--!" Liu Xi was caught off guard, feeling a tingling sensation on his face, followed by a burning sensation! He covered his face in terror, fell to the ground, and let out a pig-like scream. In just a few breaths, his once decent-looking face swelled up at a visible speed.