Qian Renxue Was Disappointed, but Life Was Getting Better

"You... you big jerk! I'm not talking to you anymore."

Ning Rongrong scolded him, her face scarlet, then ran off.

Without realizing it, she had changed the way she addressed Chu Xiu.

At the same time,

a notification sounded in Chu Xiu's mind again.

[Ning Rongrong's feelings for you have deepened. Bond Value +10]

[Current Bond Value: 90.]

Chu Xiu's eyes lit up.

Sure enough, a wealthy young lady falling in love for the first time, who knew nothing about it, was the easiest to win over.

Just a little more effort, and I might hit a home run tonight.

Chu Xiu was about to follow her and keep flirting

when Qian Renxue's voice came from behind him.

"I'm done washing."

Fresh from her bath, Qian Renxue radiated a holy air. Sunlight fell across her, making every inch of her skin seem to glow.

Perfect features, a full bust, a slender waist, long, straight legs... Even her delicate feet were something countless men could only dream of.

Ning Rongrong and Shui Bing'er were already beautiful.

But beside Qian Renxue, they still fell a little short.

"Where's Ning Rongrong?"

Qian Renxue walked over and asked with a slight frown.

She had told Ning Rongrong to stay with Chu Xiu precisely to stop him from sneaking a look while she bathed. She hadn't expected him to send Ning Rongrong away anyway.

Her frown deepened, and she couldn't help sighing.

"A man should have ambitions and a career to pursue. If he spends all his thoughts on women, people will only look down on him."

[Qian Renxue is very disappointed in you. Bond Value -5]

[Current Bond Value: 5.]

Chu Xiu: ???

Now it was Chu Xiu's turn to be baffled.

He had never imagined that Bond Value could go down.

And what gave her the right to say he had no ambition?

He intended to win over, through careful planning, the nine most beautiful and powerful female soul masters or Spirit Beasts in the world, each with an outstanding martial soul. How was that not ambitious?

And that was only his first-stage goal.

Once Chu Xiu obtained ten Spirit Rings and qualified to become a god, he even planned to bring goddesses such as the Angel God and the God of Life to the Deserted Island.

Then, whether it was the Douluo Continent, the oceans, the forests, the icefields, or the Divine Realm,

wouldn't it all be within Chu Xiu's grasp?

How the hell could anyone call that unambitious?

But Chu Xiu was still weak. If he wanted to win Qian Renxue over, he had to hide his ambitions for now.

"You're right to remind me, Sister Xue. But you should know yourself too. For a woman as exceptional as you, asking someone not to feel even the slightest attraction is a bit much."

Chu Xiu spoke with a straight face.

Acting like a lecher would never work on a woman like Qian Renxue.

But blindly agreeing with everything she said would only make her look down on him.

So he spoke with neither arrogance nor meekness. He didn't deny his admiration for her, but he didn't suggest he had any improper intentions either.

Qian Renxue paused. She truly hadn't considered it from that angle before.

It wasn't that she disliked being admired by men. She had grand ambitions; something so trivial wouldn't upset her.

She simply regarded Chu Xiu as an ally in their struggle to survive, so she held him to a higher standard.

After hearing his explanation, her displeasure faded completely.

"As long as you understand."

Qian Renxue's voice was calm.

Ning Rongrong hadn't gone far. Chu Xiu and Qian Renxue walked a short distance before spotting her crouched on the ground.

"Find something?"

Chu Xiu quickened his pace and stopped behind Ning Rongrong.

Ning Rongrong pried a translucent stone out of the soil and held it up excitedly for him to see. "Look, Chu Xiu! It's Glazed Stone!"

The Glazed Stone in her hand was as big as a fist, crystal clear throughout, without a trace of impurity.

If not for its irregular shape, Chu Xiu would have mistaken it for man-made glass.

"What pure Glazed Stone."

Even Qian Renxue was surprised.

She had seen all kinds of Glazed Stone, but almost all of them contained impurities to some degree. Even single-colored specimens were rare, let alone colorless ones.

Without artificial purification, Colorless Glazed Stone was highly unlikely to occur.

But this was the Deserted Island, so somehow it seemed perfectly normal.

"Wonderful! With this, we can make fire. Rongrong, you're our lucky charm."

Chu Xiu was thrilled.

They could shape this Colorless Glazed Stone into a convex lens and focus sunlight to start a fire.

With fire, they could eat cooked food and drink hot water, eliminating most of the problems that threatened their health.

Fire had plenty of other uses, too.

They could fire clay bricks to build a house.

Heating bamboo and branches would let them bend the wood into furniture, farm tools, and even weapons such as spears and shortbows.

In short, for long-term survival on the Deserted Island, fire was one of the most important resources besides water.

"We're done looking for supplies today. Let's go back and get a fire started."

Chu Xiu was delighted.

Their main reason for heading into the mountains these past few days had been to find Firestone. Instead, they had found Colorless Glazed Stone, which had even more uses.

Back on the beach,

Shui Bing'er was surprised to see them return so soon.

"Chu Xiu, why are you back so early? Did you run into danger?"

Chu Xiu laughed.

"Quite the opposite. We didn't run into any danger, and we found this."

Chu Xiu handed Shui Bing'er the Colorless Glazed Stone. At first, she thought it was a piece of glass, but she quickly noticed its irregular shape. It didn't look man-made.

"Is this... Glazed Stone?"

"That's right. Natural Colorless Glazed Stone. We can shape it into a convex lens to focus sunlight. Whether we can start a fire depends on it."

Chu Xiu found a large rock.

Next, they had to grind the irregular Glazed Stone into the shape of a convex lens.

Once it had taken shape, they switched to pebbles to polish its surface smooth.

The process took not only physical strength but intense concentration. If they ground it unevenly, the light would be difficult to focus on a single point.

Fortunately, their hard work paid off.

The four took turns, and before sunset they finally ground out a convex lens about the size of a small spectacle lens.

Shui Bing'er brought over dry grass. Chu Xiu lay on the ground and focused sunlight through the lens onto it. When the grass began to smoke, he blew gently to help it catch.

Pop.

With a sound so faint it was barely audible, a flame finally sprang to life.

"Yay! We have fire!"

"This is great! We can finally eat cooked food."

"Quick, add more dry grass! Don't let it go out."

"Rongrong, gather some dry branches. Bing'er, bring the Bone Dagger and the Owl meat. Sister Xue, get some salt. We're having roast meat tonight."

Gathered around the burning fire, all four were excited.

It marked the next stage of their survival. Fire would greatly improve their quality of life.

They each got to work, and before long, the aroma of roasting meat drifted across the beach.