Aba Aba

That evening, on the training ground.

Bao Liang, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen sat cross-legged in a row, each with a Soul Guidance Lamp in front of them. The lamps cast a dim yellow light.

"Are you ready, kids?" Bao Liang asked.

"I'm ready." Meng Hongchen was eager to begin.

"...Can I say no?" Xiao Hongchen asked expressionlessly.

"No," Bao Liang and Meng Hongchen said in unison.

Xiao Hongchen: "..."

The mental power training method Bao Liang had mentioned involved linking up with the External Soul Bone, the True Eye of the Evil King, and sharing the mental power training method with others by channeling Soul Power mixed with mental power.

Leaving its effectiveness aside, the price alone was enough to make people recoil.

"Remember, focus! The more focused you are, the better the results," Bao Liang instructed. "Training mental power isn't like cultivating Soul Power. Soul Power builds up day by day, but mental power has to be squeezed out from the depths-push yourself to the limit, then endure it, and your mental power will make a huge leap."

"To be specific, our Seas of Consciousness will be repeatedly roasted and steamed by simulated heat, just like steaming buns.

"After all, I have Ultimate Flame." Bao Liang gestured as he spoke. "The fiercer the fire, the more thoroughly they're steamed, and the faster mental power grows. That's also why our bodies heat up and smoke comes out of our heads during training."

"Easy for you to make it sound nice." Xiao Hongchen snorted. "Then why don't you tell us why we have to turn into idiots with you?"

"Because it's too lonely turning into an idiot by myself," Bao Liang said matter-of-factly. "So of course we share our blessings and face our hardships together."

"..." Xiao Hongchen felt that he must have had water in his brain when he agreed to this in the first place.

"Start!"

The three closed their eyes at the same time.

The instant they closed their eyes, all three felt as though their Seas of Consciousness had been wrapped in an intensely scorching flame.

But the flames did not burn painfully. Instead, they brought a peculiar sensation of heat, like roasting slowly over a low fire, or like buns in a steamer. Waves of heat burrowed into their Seas of Consciousness, steaming away the impurities and sluggishness they normally couldn't perceive, bit by bit.

The more they focused, the fiercer the fire burned.

And it was precisely because their Seas of Consciousness were being roasted over and over that their bodies grew hotter and hotter, and wisps of white smoke rose from their heads.

At first, everything was normal.

The training ground was quiet, save for the rustling of leaves in the night breeze and the occasional croak of a frog from the distant pond.

Then smoke began rising from Bao Liang's head.

Next, smoke began rising from Meng Hongchen's head.

Finally, smoke began rising from Xiao Hongchen's head too.

Three wisps of white smoke curled upward, standing out against the night sky. From a distance, they looked just like three little chimneys.

At some point, Jing Hongchen had brought a chair under the covered walkway. Sitting there with a cup of tea in his hand, he watched the scene with great interest.

Gradually, the expressions of the three began to change.

First was Bao Liang-his eyes went vacant, his mouth fell slightly open, and a glistening drop of drool slid down from the corner of his mouth.

"Aba... aba aba..."

Next was Meng Hongchen-the girl's eyes were just as unfocused. She tilted her head and made meaningless sounds: "Woo... woowah..."

Last was Xiao Hongchen-he had been gritting his teeth and holding on, but as the mental power training entered deeper waters, a vacant, idiotic expression gradually appeared on his handsome face.

"Ribbit..."

Jing Hongchen's hand froze around his teacup.

He silently looked at his two precious grandchildren and that grandson-in-law he'd acquired so cheaply. All three wore identical silly grins, with smoke rising from their heads and drool running from their mouths-

Pfft.

Jing Hongchen finally lost it and sprayed out a mouthful of tea.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

He set down his teacup and wiped the corner of his mouth. After looking at the three little idiots in silence for a moment, he turned to his trusted aide beside him and gave an order. "Have someone come tomorrow and put a fence all the way around the training ground.

"And hang a sign at the entrance that says: 'Cultivation grounds, no admittance to unauthorized persons.'"

"Yes, master."

The aide acknowledged the order, then couldn't resist taking another look at the three little ancestors babbling away over there. He silently buried everything he had seen that night in his stomach.

The fence really was put up the next day.

But that was a story for later.

Bao Liang was the first to wake from the training.

He shook his still somewhat dazed head and immediately spotted the silly looks on Meng Hongchen's and Xiao Hongchen's faces beside him. He burst out laughing, slapping his thigh. "Hahahaha! Sister Meng, you're drooling! You too, Xiao! If outsiders saw you two like this, the Hongchen Clan would lose every shred of face!"

"Hm?" Meng Hongchen groggily raised her head. "Little... Baozi... aba..."

"Hahahaha!"

Xiao Hongchen finally woke up too.

His first reaction was to raise a hand and wipe the corner of his mouth. His second was to lunge straight at Bao Liang. "Bao Liang! You did this to me!"

"Hey, hey, hey! I've been wronged! I told you we'd 'share our blessings and face our hardships together'! Besides, didn't you look like you were enjoying yourself just now? You were even going aba aba!"

"I was forced into it!"

"Then are you training tomorrow or not?"

"...Yes." Xiao Hongchen squeezed the word out through clenched teeth.

He couldn't lie to himself about the feeling of his mental power growing stronger.

The clarity of mind and the feeling of controlling his Soul Power as easily as his own arm were more convincing than any promise.

"That's more like it." Bao Liang nodded in satisfaction. "Don't worry. With me around, I guarantee your mental power will double within a year, Xiao."

"Hmph!" Xiao Hongchen rolled his eyes at him, but didn't argue.

Meng Hongchen came fully awake and touched her wet chin, her face full of disgust. "Ugh... that was so embarrassing.

"Little Baozi, are you sure we have to train like this every day from now on?"

"Of course." Bao Liang spoke as though it were only natural. "Now that you two have the boost from my ultimate talent, plus this mental power training, it'd be hard for your cultivation not to rise.

"If you don't believe me, ask Xiao. Doesn't his head feel much clearer now?"

Xiao Hongchen fell silent for a moment, then nodded reluctantly.

It was true.

The feeling was hard to describe-it was like a dusty mirror had been polished clean, and even the Soul Power circulating through his body flowed a little more smoothly.

"..."

Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen exchanged a glance, each seeing the same thought in the other's eyes-

We're stuck with a guy like this, so we might as well accept our fate.

"All right, we've finished today's training. That's a wrap!" Bao Liang patted his backside as he stood up, and his stomach let out a loud, well-timed rumble. "Come on, come on, I'm hungry. Are there any big meat buns left in the kitchen?"

"Didn't you just eat forty this afternoon?" Meng Hongchen was speechless.

"Forty isn't nearly enough." Bao Liang counted on his fingers. "I'm wearing a five-hundred-kilogram Soul Tool right now, so I burn through a lot and need extra food.

"Besides, when I'm squeezing out both mental power and Soul Power, how can I not replenish them?"

"Eat, eat, eat. Eating is all you ever think about." Xiao Hongchen sounded disdainful, but followed him anyway. "Have the kitchen steam two more baskets. I'm hungry too."

"Two baskets? Didn't you say you didn't like buns, Xiao?"

"...I'm tasting them for you to make sure they're seasoned right."

"Oh-that's very thoughtful of you."

"Get lost."

Under the covered walkway, Jing Hongchen held his teacup and watched the three children head noisily toward the kitchen, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

A five-hundred-kilogram Soul Tool, the boost from an ultimate talent, and those three little idiots with smoke rising from their heads...

He suddenly felt that, as the days went by, there was more and more to look forward to.