After Meeting Your Granddaughter, I've Decided You're Family!

By the rules of the Douluo world, the more attention a character received, the more erratic and obsessive they tended to become.

By comparison, Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, and Shui Bing'er were among the few gifted girls of their generation who seemed to have their heads on straight.

The three beauties of Spirit Hall, on the other hand, were an ingrate, a lovesick fool, and a lunatic. The three beauties of Shrek were lovesick, spoiled, and willful.

Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, and Shui Bing'er were far better choices.

But Lu Xuan had no time to dwell on romance. The moment he confirmed Dugu Yan's identity, his mind turned to the immortal herbs.

The two girls before him were about his age, only six or seven. By that reckoning, Tang San had either not been born yet or had only just entered the world.

That meant he had more than ten years to plan how to obtain the immortal herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. In that case...

"Sir." Lu Xuan looked at Ye Renxin, his voice sincere. "I have no money, no home, and no family left. Could I stay at your clinic? If possible, I'd also like to become your disciple."

"Oh? You want me as your master?" Ye Renxin stroked his beard and regarded him with an amused smile. "Tell me, little one. Why do you want to study under me?"

Lu Xuan knew how abrupt his request sounded. If he made up an excuse, a man with the elder's experience would see through it at once.

His expression turned solemn, and he answered frankly, "The moment I met your granddaughter, I knew I wanted you as my grandfather!"

Through sheer shameless persistence, and by quietly revealing a hint of his Innate Full Soul Power, Lu Xuan finally became Ye Renxin's disciple and gained a place to live at the Ye Family clinic.

From then on, Ye Renxin began teaching Lu Xuan to identify medicinal ingredients.

With Huang Yaoshi's complete legacy at his disposal, including its vast knowledge of medicine and divination, Lu Xuan found identifying herbs and studying medicine easy enough.

In just three days, he learned to recognize every medicinal ingredient in the clinic. Within a month, he could write simple prescriptions on his own.

Even so, he never neglected his cultivation. Each night, when all was quiet, he practiced the Nine Yin Manual's internal techniques to refine his foundation and steadily build his Soul Power.

Lu Xuan deliberately held off on obtaining a soul ring, however, so the Soul Power Level he showed others remained at ten.

"You really are a little monster." Watching Lu Xuan's astonishing progress, Ye Renxin grew more pleased with his disciple by the day.

In his eyes, Lu Xuan could not only inherit his medical skills but might someday make a fine match for his granddaughter.

"It's thanks to your excellent teaching, Master," Lu Xuan replied modestly. "I've only just begun. There is still so much I need to learn from you."

And Lu Xuan truly did have much to learn.

This was a very different world. To integrate the medical knowledge in his head with what he found here, he would have to work twice as hard.

Even so, he was confident that, given time, he could surpass his master in medicine.

Ye Renxin tested his disciple further. Seeing that Lu Xuan had a firm grasp of everything he had learned, he rose and slowly left the room.

But the moment he stepped through the doorway, his gentle smile vanished, replaced by a troubled, heavy expression.

The Ye Family's Nine Heart Begonia was bound by a cruel rule of inheritance: no more than two people in the world could possess that martial soul at the same time.

In half a month, it would be time for his granddaughter Ye Lingling's martial soul awakening. For her to awaken the Nine Heart Begonia, either he or his daughter would have to die.

Ye Renxin had long since prepared himself to die. He had not urged Lu Xuan to obtain a soul ring because he wanted to use what little time remained to teach him as much as possible and pass on his life's work.

After Ye Renxin left, Lu Xuan picked up a medical text from the table and began reading it with quiet concentration.

He had already noticed his master's expression growing more somber by the day, an inescapable worry settling between his brows.

But everyone in the Ye Family avoided speaking of the trouble hanging over them. Though Lu Xuan knew what it was, he could only pretend ignorance.

Knock, knock, knock.

A few light taps sounded at the door, followed by a clear young voice. "Brother Lu, I'm coming in!"

The door opened, and a slender little girl stepped inside. It was Ye Lingling.

Few children her age had ever wanted to play with her. She spent most of her time alone and could not help feeling lonely.

Since Lu Xuan had come to the Ye Family, the adults had teasingly cast him as her future husband. He had also become one of Ye Lingling's few playmates.

Lately, the little girl had grown much more cheerful.

"Lingling." Lu Xuan looked up as she entered. "What brings you here at this hour? Isn't Aunt Ye making you study?"

"Hmph, I finished today's lessons ages ago!" Ye Lingling lifted her little chin proudly. "Mom told me to come and spend more time practicing that strange technique with you."

The "strange technique" Ye Lingling meant was the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow-Cleansing Chapter, the introductory practice of the Nine Yin Manual.

Lu Xuan had told them it was a meditation and body-training method passed down through his family. Ye Renxin had believed him without suspicion.

In fact, the major sects and noble families across the continent all had cultivation methods of their own. Even primary Soul Master Academies gave their students basic methods to practice.

Most family techniques were tailored to the traits of their martial souls, so children were not suited to practicing them until after their martial souls awakened.

Ye Renxin noticed nothing unusual about Lu Xuan's family technique. Taking it for a way to keep children occupied while training their bodies, he let Ye Lingling practice it too.

It gave the little girl something to do and let the two children spend more time together and grow closer. As for a third reason...

Ever since Ye Lingling had started practicing the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow-Cleansing Chapter with Lu Xuan, her appetite had improved considerably.

She was less picky about food than before, and her health had grown steadily better.

"What do you mean, strange technique?" Lu Xuan teased her. "It's a technique passed down through the Lu Family. Aside from direct descendants, we only teach it to women who marry into the family."

"Who... who said I was going to marry you?" Ye Lingling's cheeks flushed bright red as she hurried to protest.

Despite her protest, she obediently sat cross-legged, calmed her mind, and began practicing the technique in earnest.

Watching her practice with such care, Lu Xuan gave a small nod.

The Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow-Cleansing Chapter could cleanse the body and improve one's natural aptitude. On the Douluo Continent, it stood a real chance of raising Ye Lingling's Innate Soul Power.

Unfortunately, she had not practiced it for long, and Lu Xuan could not be certain whether it would bring her all the way to Innate Full Soul Power.

There should... still be some hope.