One year of time passed quietly—
In a quiet little courtyard within the Xiao Family.
“Creak—”
The wooden door was gently pushed open, and a little girl wearing a light purple dress poked her head in.
Her face was as exquisite as a porcelain doll, and her slightly chubby cheeks made her look very cute; she was none other than Gu Xun’er.
Gu Xun’er’s large, dark, glistening eyes quickly scanned the room.
After discovering it was empty, her little mouth pouted slightly, revealing an expression that said, “As expected, he’s not here again.”
“Has Brother Xiao Qing gone to the back mountain to Cultivate again?” the little girl frowned and muttered to herself, her tone carrying a hint of disappointment and anticipation, “I don’t know if I can still wait for Brother Xiao Qing to come back to help Xun’er nourish her body today…”
Just then, footsteps were heard outside the courtyard gate, and a figure walked in, carrying a trace of the wind and frost from the mountains; it was Xiao Qing, who had just returned from Cultivating in the back mountain.
“Yo, isn’t this our little sister Xun’er?
Why are you here alone?
Who made our Xun’er unhappy?” Xiao Qing saw Gu Xun’er standing in the courtyard with her little face slightly drooping at a glance.
He couldn’t help but chuckle, slowing his pace as he asked in a teasing tone.
“Brother Xiao Qing!”
Hearing that familiar voice and seeing that familiar figure, Gu Xun’er’s previously disappointed little face instantly blossomed like a spring flower, overflowing with a radiant smile.
She took short strides, running quickly towards Xiao Qing with her arms spread wide, her voice full of excitement: “Quick, catch Xun’er!”
Xiao Qing laughed, bent down, and scooped up the little girl who had pounced on him, spinning her around with ease.
He deliberately weighed her in his arms and teased, “Oh my.
Our Xun’er seems to have gained quite a bit of weight!”
“I did not!” Gu Xun’er was immediately displeased, knitting her little brows and puffing out her cheeks in protest, “Xun’er is not fat!”
Xiao Qing gently placed Gu Xun’er back on the ground, then stretched out his right hand to measure the height above her head, a gentle smile on his face as he said, “Doesn’t gaining weight just mean our Xun’er has grown taller?”
Gu Xun’er’s eyes lit up immediately, and she nodded vigorously, happily agreeing, “Yes!
Xun’er has grown taller!
Xun’er has grown!”
Recalling when he first came into contact with Gu Xun’er a year ago, Xiao Qing had discovered that her small body was exceptionally weak, her Meridians thin and fragile, even showing signs of atrophy.
At that time, Xiao Qing understood that this was the aftereffect of forcibly performing a Fusion with the “Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame,” ranked fourth on the strange fire ranking list, which caused Gu Xun’er’s Physique to be frail and her complexion to be pale all year round.
Because she was too young and still in the Dou Zhi Qi stage of laying a foundation, she could not rely on Medicinal Pills with violent medicinal properties for conditioning; she could only be slowly nourished through gentle Qi. New chapters come out on g.com first.
This physical condition, combined with Gu Xun’er’s identity as the Young Miss of the Ancient Clan and her cold, precocious personality, meant she had almost no playmates while in the Ancient Clan.
When she first arrived at the Xiao Family, she carried a sense of distant coldness toward everyone.
By chance, perhaps because Xiao Qing was the first youth evaluated as “interesting” by Gu Yuan, Gu Xun’er had less guardedness toward Xiao Qing.
Don’t forget, although Xiao Qing possessed a high level of deterrence and suppression over the strange fires of heaven and earth, he also had a natural affinity for the flames of heaven and earth.
Xiao Qing took the opportunity to utilize the characteristics contained within his Qi, which made nourishing her Meridians exceptionally smooth, gentle, and nourishing.
He spent over a month continuously smoothing out Gu Xun’er’s Meridians, which greatly accelerated her recovery process.
If she had relied solely on her own slow recuperation, it would likely have taken at least half a year.
Now, Gu Xun’er’s body had long since recovered; her originally pale little face had become rosy and healthy, and paired with her exquisite features, she was so cute that one’s heart would melt.
But even though she had recovered, the little girl would still find excuses from time to time to pester Xiao Qing to use his Qi to “nourish” her Meridians, seemingly enjoying that warm and comfortable feeling, which had become a unique interaction between the two.
After the playing, Xiao Qing looked at the little girl with the radiant smile before him and sighed softly, his tone becoming more serious: “Xun’er, in a few days…
I might have to leave the Xiao Family with my teacher to go out and train for a while.”
The place Xiao Qing was going to train was the Magical Beast Mountain Range, where there was a fragment of the map for the Purification Lotus Demon Flame, ranked third on the strange fire ranking list!
He had already said goodbye to Xiao Zhan and Aunt Yan Qian about this yesterday.
Regarding the arrangements of that mysterious teacher, although Xiao Zhan and his wife were reluctant, they were more supportive and hopeful, and they even prepared quite a few resources Xiao Qing would need for his travels.
It was just that when facing Gu Xun’er, Xiao Qing had never known how to bring it up, so he had delayed it until today.
The smile on Gu Xun’er’s face instantly froze, and her bright, large eyes were quickly covered with a layer of moisture, filled with deep reluctance.
“Brother Xiao Qing…
are you going out to train with that ‘Soul body’ Senior?”
Gu Xun’er’s voice was somewhat choked with sobs, and she tried hard to hold back her tears.
She knew that there was an Alchemist teacher in a Soul body state by Xiao Qing’s side; Xiao Qing had not deliberately kept it from her.
Seeing that her tears were about to fall, Gu Xun’er quickly turned around, back to Xiao Qing, and wiped her eyes quickly with her little sleeve.
Then she turned back, trying hard to act strong, and said, “Brother Xiao Qing going out to train and become stronger is a good thing!
Xun’er…
Xun’er has a gift for Brother Xiao Qing!”
As she spoke, Gu Xun’er took out two scrolls that looked ancient and simple but faintly radiated extraordinary fluctuations from her small storage ring and handed them to Xiao Qing. Get faster updates on g.com.
Xiao Qing looked at the two scrolls before him, which were clearly high-level Dou Techniques, his heart filled with mixed emotions, which eventually turned into a helpless chuckle.
‘I…
have I started living off a woman?’
Xiao Qing did not look closely at the contents of the scrolls, but just by feeling the obscure energy fluctuations coming from them, he knew they were definitely not ordinary items.
He did not decline, but solemnly accepted them and put them into the storage ring he had bought with the money earned from Alchemy over the past year.
This gift carried a friendship far greater than its own value.
Next, Xiao Qing spent half a day carefully performing one last nourishing of Qi for Gu Xun’er and properly said goodbye to her, promising that he would definitely bring her a gift next time he returned.
A day later, a figure left Wutan City alone, heading toward Qingshan Town near the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
On the road, the Soul body of Yao Lao floated out from the bone flame ring.
Looking at the calm-faced Xiao Qing, he couldn’t help but chuckle, his tone carrying a bit of banter:
“Tsk tsk tsk, kid, when I first saw you, I thought you were a serious youth focused on Cultivating, but I didn’t expect you to be a fake-serious kid!” Yao Lao floated out from the bone flame ring and teased.
“A precious daughter of a Peak Dou Saint expert, just like that, coaxed by you kid into being so obedient?
This’soft rice’…
you’re eating quite well, aren’t you!”
When Yao Lao was young, he had once seen from afar, within the Medicine Clan, the Clan Chief of the Ancient Clan who had come to visit and seek medicine—that peerless expert who had reached the Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint, Gu Yuan!
And this time, the distance was so close!
So close that Yao Lao could clearly feel the vast aura around the other party, which was faint yet seemed to coexist with heaven and earth.
In front of such an existence standing at the Peak of the continent, this wisp of his remnant Soul was like a candle in the wind, and any means of concealing his aura appeared pale and ridiculous.
With just a single glance, Yao Lao felt his Divine Soul shake, as if his entire Soul were enveloped by an invisible force, with nowhere to hide.
Especially since that gaze was not indifferent, but carried a hint of profound pause—Gu Yuan had obviously recognized who he was!
Regarding his teacher Yao Lao’s banter, the corners of Xiao Qing’s mouth twitched slightly, but he did not refute it.
He just shook his head helplessly, no longer paying attention to this disrespectful old Yao Lao, and continued on his way.
On the horizon, the silhouette of the Magical Beast Mountain Range was already vaguely visible…