A breakthrough!

Wen Xiancheng and Xue Ruigao finished their meal.

Wen Xiancheng walked Xue Ruigao to the gates of the Royal Academy.

Only then did Xue Ruigao say, "Cheng, you're incredible! You actually sold a children's book worth one low-grade spirit stone for fifty low-grade spirit stones. Fifty times the price!"

Wen Xiancheng smiled. "It was nothing."

Suddenly, Xue Ruigao's expression turned serious. "Cheng."

Wen Xiancheng also stopped smiling. "What's wrong?"

Xue Ruigao said, "Seeing you again this time, you've changed so much. I guess this is what your parents always meant by growing up!"

Wen Xiancheng asked in return, "Don't you like the change?"

Xue Ruigao hurriedly waved both hands. "No, no, no! Of course I like it!"

Suddenly realizing how her words could be taken, Xue Ruigao blushed and lowered her head.

Seeing Xue Ruigao looking so shy and girlish, Wen Xiancheng once again felt a deep ache well up inside him.

Wen Xiancheng forcibly suppressed it.

In his memories, Xue Ruigao had always been strong and generous-hearted. She had never shown this side of herself.

Reaching out to gently stroke Xue Ruigao's head, Wen Xiancheng said softly, "I'll keep working hard to grow up. I won't let you shoulder the burden and struggle forward alone."

Xue Ruigao nodded gently.

Only then did Wen Xiancheng take his hand off her head and wave. "All right, go on in! From now on, text me before you come home so I can buy groceries and have dinner ready for you."

"Okay," Xue Ruigao answered softly.

She was about to turn and leave, but stopped and beckoned to Wen Xiancheng with her right index finger.

Puzzled, Wen Xiancheng leaned his head closer.

Xue Ruigao suddenly planted a smacking kiss on his cheek, then laughed and dashed into the Royal Academy.

Wen Xiancheng touched the spot where Xue Ruigao had kissed him, his face feeling a little hot as well.

Yet the next moment, he discovered in astonishment that two trails of tears were rolling down his cheeks.

Wen Xiancheng let out a long sigh. "Then tell me what I'm supposed to do. Ignore Xue Ruigao from now on? Are you sure that's what you want? Or why don't you come back to life and take this body back? If you can, I won't resist at all. Damn it, I was living perfectly well in my own world when I somehow transmigrated into your body. Do you think this is fun for me?"

The tears kept flowing.

Wen Xiancheng couldn't be bothered to do anything about them.

He really had run into eight lifetimes' worth of rotten luck.

Transmigrating was bad enough, but he had landed in a body that still held traces of its original owner's consciousness.

And this was only because Xue Ruigao had kissed him.

If Xue Ruigao did something unmentionable with him, would this body go berserk?

Wen Xiancheng made his way back to his rented room.

He planned to buy some books for young children the next day.

No matter the era, parents wanted to give their children the best, especially when they were little.

Every parent wanted their child to win at the starting line.

Books for young children enhanced with illusion arts would therefore be the hottest sellers, and the easiest to sell.

For now, after taking a shower, he resumed cultivating according to page six of Cui Qianqian's notebook.

All he wanted now was to race against the clock and cultivate!

The illusion arts training on page six went a little deeper.

It was no longer about conjuring individual characters with illusion arts.

Instead, he had to try conjuring simple shapes.

As Wen Xiancheng began cultivating, the Mouse Clone hugged a small piece of wood and gnawed on it out of sheer boredom.

This Mouse Clone felt uncomfortable if it went even a day without grinding its teeth.

For the next few days, the Mouse Clone had no intention of visiting Cui Qianqian's residence.

With the memories of both bodies, it still remembered the contents of the first ten pages of notes very clearly.

Of course, the credit for that really belonged to Cui Qianqian.

Her notes were so vivid and illustrative that, once it had read them, they were hard to forget.

After gnawing until late at night, the Mouse Clone decided to go out for a stroll.

It didn't like staying cooped up at home.

Spending all day and night indoors was torture to it.

It had just reached the window and was about to climb out when it stopped again.

It had heard a rustling sound.

That sound-

The Mouse Clone turned back, its darting eyes scanning the room.

The darkness couldn't obstruct its vision!

Before long, sure enough, it spotted three little mice creeping out from under the bed. They scurried over to the makeshift wardrobe assembled from several pieces of coarse cloth and began gnawing on it.

The Mouse Clone flew into a rage.

It recognized them. They were the same three little mice it had frightened off before by imitating a cat's meow!

Enemies really did meet on narrow roads. Here they were, causing trouble again!

The Mouse Clone took a deep breath. Scaring them away would be enough.

It couldn't be bothered to pick a fight with a few mice.

Opening its mouth, the Mouse Clone let out a "meow."

The three little mice were so frightened that they immediately turned and fled, soon disappearing beneath the bed.

The Mouse Clone snorted inwardly. You mouse-hearted cowards! I'll scare you to death!

Let's see you try coming back!

Yet just as it was about to resume climbing out the window, the three little mice timidly emerged from under the bed again, ran over to the makeshift wardrobe, and began gnawing on its coarse cloth.

The Mouse Clone was getting genuinely angry.

These three little mice simply had no fear of death!

The Mouse Clone imitated a cat's meow again.

The three little mice were frightened into turning tail once more.

Yet before long, they came out again.

The Mouse Clone was so angry its teeth itched.

Its current body wasn't much bigger than theirs.

If it went down to teach them a lesson, they had numbers on their side. It might end up being the one taught a lesson.

Looks like I'll have to go big and catch the whole lot in one net!

Just wait until morning. You'll see how I finish you off!

The Mouse Clone had originally planned to go out for a stroll, but faced with these three little mice that refused to give up, it had no choice but to spend the whole night in the room imitating a cat.

Only when daylight came the next morning did the three little mice retreat.

The Mouse Clone felt as though its throat were on fire. Only after several mouthfuls of cold water did it feel a little better.

Since it had been busy all night, Wen Xiancheng let the Mouse Clone sleep in the room while he took his wallet and headed to the Xinhua Library.

Only after buying a full fifty books for young children, spending fifty low-grade spirit stones, did Wen Xiancheng head home.

After that, he also bought three mousetraps at a hardware store.

Back home, Wen Xiancheng looked at the rows of gnaw marks on the makeshift wardrobe, so angry his teeth itched.

You three damned little mice. Just watch how I take your lives tonight!

Wen Xiancheng placed the three mousetraps at three corners of the makeshift wardrobe and concealed them beneath scraps of paper. Then he left them alone, sat down on the bed, and began enhancing the fifty children's books with illusion arts.

Perhaps because he was growing increasingly adept at enhancing text with illusion arts, by midnight Wen Xiancheng had actually finished ten of the children's books.

He had also exhausted his spiritual power three times, consuming one low-grade spirit stone.

Just as he was about to enhance the eleventh children's book with illusion arts, he seemed to hear a crack inside his head.

Then he distinctly felt his meridians widen and thicken!

The spiritual power within his meridians was circulating faster, too!

This was-!

A breakthrough!

Wen Xiancheng was ecstatic.

To think he had finally broken through!

Wen Xiancheng immediately stopped enhancing the children's books with illusion arts. Holding a low-grade spirit stone in his left hand, he sat cross-legged, calmed his mind, and began absorbing spiritual energy from it.

Just as he had suspected, this time filling his body with spiritual power took twice as much of the low-grade spirit stone as before!

(End of chapter)