Whether the Second or Third, Both Had Grit. Only the Eldest...

As for his eldest grandson,

Qian Daoliu honestly felt that Qian Renchuan was wasting his potential.

He had such extraordinary talent, yet he was lazy beyond belief. All he did was sleep and play with the maids.

Both he and Qian Xunji had tried to push the boy to cultivate during this time.

Qian Renchuan had smiled and agreed to everything.

Then he had turned around and gone right back to sleep. They were at their wits' end.

As time went on,

they could only let him be.

Cultivation was a personal matter. They could hardly force someone to do it, and even if they tried, it wouldn't work.

"The eldest is giving me a headache."

"Twin Martial Souls and level twenty-five Innate Soul Power. What a heaven-defying gift!"

"If he put his mind to cultivation, even with half the effort the second puts in, Spirit Hall could rest easy for the next hundred years."

"But look at him now. He lies in the courtyard sunbathing all day and won't even meditate to cultivate his Soul Power."

"What a waste of his gifts! It drives me mad!"

Hearing Grand Priest Qian Daoliu's words, Golden Crocodile Douluo sighed with regret.

"Your words are true, Grand Priest."

"The Eldest Young Master does have a peculiar temperament."

"Fortunately, we still have Miss Xue."

"She's been pushing herself so hard on the Back Mountain these past few days that it pains me to watch."

"A six-year-old girl running along mountain paths with that much pig iron on her back. Even when she scraped herself bloody, she didn't make a sound."

"With Miss Xue, Spirit Hall is sure to prosper."

Qian Daoliu's expression softened a little, but he still shook his head.

"The second is excellent, but the eldest is still the firstborn grandson. He represents the Qian Family."

Then Qian Daoliu seemed to remember something. He turned to Golden Crocodile Douluo and asked,

"Oh, right."

"What about the third?"

"Why haven't I heard anything from him these past few days?"

Golden Crocodile Douluo answered at once.

"I haven't seen the Third Young Master."

"But according to his maid, he's shut himself in his room for several days now."

"He won't see anyone, and he even eats in there."

"When the maids bring his meals, they can only leave them by the door. He takes the food inside himself, then pushes the empty bowls back out."

"Every now and then, they hear banging and clanging from his room. No one knows what he's up to."

At that, Qian Daoliu let out another long sigh.

"The third... ah..."

In his eyes, Huo Yuhao must have been devastated by his disappointing awakening. He had awakened only a useless eye Martial Soul, and his Innate Soul Power was only level ten. His pride had taken a blow.

He was only a child...

His older brother and Second Sister were both prodigies,

while he was ordinary. Of course he would struggle to accept it.

In the end, Qian Daoliu stroked his beard and summed it up.

"All in all, both the second and the third have tremendous perseverance."

"The second trains her body relentlessly. The third may have suffered a setback, but at least he knows to shut himself away and reflect."

"Only the eldest, Qian Renchuan, has supreme talent, yet he..."

"Ah, in all my years, I've never seen such a lazy Soul Master..."

Little did he know,

at that very moment,

inside Riverside Courtyard,

the sun was bright and the breeze gentle.

Qian Renchuan had stopped playing hide-and-seek with the maids.

He was once again lying in the big rocking chair in the middle of the courtyard, soaking up the sun.

The maid in green on his left carefully peeled an ice crystal grape from the Star Luo Royal Family's lands and placed it in his mouth.

The maid in pink on his right held a large palm-leaf fan.

She controlled each stroke with precision, fanning away the summer heat.

Qian Renchuan chewed his grape, thoroughly content.

Work hard?

Strive?

What a joke.

When he had people working for him, why would he do the work himself?

[Ding—]

[Bonded target "Qian Renxue" completed an endurance run while carrying fifty jin of dark iron. Tenfold return triggered!]

[Physical Body Enhancement +1 +1 +1...]

A warm current seemed to flow through Qian Renchuan's body, leaving him feeling even better.

And it wasn't over.

The system sounded again.

[Ding—]

[Bonded target "Huo Yuhao" performed prolonged, high-intensity metal forging. His mental power was pushed to the brink, then rebounded stronger than before. Tenfold return triggered!]

[Mental power +1 +1 +1...]

Hum!

The sea of consciousness between Qian Renchuan's brows trembled once more.

His mental power had already far surpassed that of his peers, yet now it grew stronger still.

"This feels great..."

Qian Renchuan relaxed even further.

Second Sister, little brother, don't you dare stop.

If it won't kill you, push yourselves to the limit.

Whether your big brother can coast his way to invincibility soon depends entirely on you two chosen workers!

Seeing their Eldest Young Master like this, the two maids exchanged a helpless glance.

They had always been Qian Renchuan's personal maids.

They had cared for him since he was only a year or two old.

In their hearts, they truly regarded this handsome, good-natured young master as their own little brother.

That was why it hurt all the more to watch him squander his extraordinary talent.

For the past few days, rumors had been spreading outside.

People said the Eldest Young Master had Twin Martial Souls but was a good-for-nothing who didn't even know how to cultivate.

Every word they heard made them more anxious.

So, as they worked, the two maids began chatting quietly with each other.

"Xiao Qing."

"Have you heard?"

"Miss Xue has been training her body on the Back Mountain behind Worship Hall."

"I heard she carries dozens of jin of pig iron up the mountain every day. She works so hard."

The maid in green immediately caught on.

"Doesn't she, though."

"I heard Miss Xue sweats so much every day that you could wring water from her clothes."

"And it's not just Miss Xue. The grandsons of several other elders in Worship Hall have been cultivating like mad lately."

"I heard one elder's grandson reached level ten last night. They were so happy they set off firecrackers all across the courtyard."

The maid in pink sighed and stole a glance at Qian Renchuan in his rocking chair.

"Yes, everyone's working hard."

"Our Eldest Young Master is so talented. Twin Martial Souls! Most people wouldn't dare dream of having them."

"If he put in even a tiny bit of effort, he'd surely outshine every last one of them."

"Then let's see who'd still dare gossip behind his back."

They played off each other,

talking about nothing but how hard everyone else was cultivating.

They hoped the hint would give Qian Renchuan a sense of urgency.

After all, he was still a child. Surely hearing how capable others his age had become would stir his competitive spirit.

But they were wrong.

Qian Renchuan wasn't buying it.

Without even opening his eyes, he said calmly,

"If you think serving my second sister would be better for you,

I can speak to her and have you transferred."

At those words,

the courtyard fell silent.

The two maids went pale. Neither had expected him to say such a thing.

A moment later,

they both trembled.

Their legs gave way, and they dropped to their knees, kowtowing and apologizing over and over.

"Eldest Young Master, we were wrong!"

"We shouldn't have spoken out of turn! We won't do it again!"

"Please don't send us away!"

The maid in pink was frantic, her eyes red.

"Eldest Young Master, we've served you since you were little. We truly think of you as family."

"We only wanted to persuade you because it upset us to hear people speaking ill of you."

"We would never look down on you, and we don't want to go to Miss Xue!"

The maid in green kowtowed desperately too, her forehead striking the stone paving with dull thuds.

"Eldest Young Master, please forgive us this once, for old times' sake."

"From now on, we'll just take care of you. We promise we won't say another word."