The atmosphere at dinner was much more relaxed than the day before.
Coarse rice, a plate of pickled vegetables, a dish of stir-fried wild greens, and a small bowl of steamed egg custard that Liu Lan had specially made for Ning Chuan.
This was already the best meal this poor family could put together.
“Xiao Chuan, eat more.
You’re growing,” Liu Lan said, pushing the egg custard closer to Ning Chuan, her loving gaze resting on her son.
Seeing that Ning Chuan, though quiet, no longer looked as lost and dejected as he had yesterday, she felt much more at ease.
Ning Chuan grunted in response and lowered his head to shovel rice into his mouth.
After fusing with the Dual Soul Spirits, his body had consumed a tremendous amount of energy, and he was truly starving.
“Hmm?” In the middle of eating, his mother Liu Lan suddenly frowned slightly, put down her chopsticks, and reached out to tug at Ning Chuan’s sleeve.
“Xiao Chuan, this shirt of yours…
Mother thinks it looks a bit tight?
The sleeves seem shorter too?”
Ning Chuan’s movements froze abruptly, his heart skipping a beat!
Instinctively, he looked down at the faded, coarse cloth shirt he was wearing.
Indeed!
The once-loose cuffs were now tightly stretched around his forearms, outlining the faintly bulging lines of his muscles.
The shoulders and chest also felt noticeably constricted!
Right!
His Spirit Power had skyrocketed to level twenty-five overnight, and his body had been washed and transformed by the Soul Spirit energy.
Although it wasn’t as drastic as the obvious physical growth from absorbing a Spirit Ring, subtle strengthening and slight growth were inevitable!
He had been so caught up in his excitement that he had completely forgotten about this!
“Ah…
maybe, maybe it’s because I ran around the mountains all day yesterday and sweated a lot, so the shirt shrank?” Ning Chuan quickly offered a clumsy excuse, instinctively hunching his shoulders and sucking in his stomach to make the shirt appear looser, his heart pounding with fear.
Thank goodness!
Thank goodness he was at home, facing his parents who were so concerned they overlooked details and had no concept of what a Soul Master was!
If an outsider, especially that seemingly slovenly and decadent Tang Hao from the village who was actually a Titled Douluo, had noticed anything amiss, the consequences would be unthinkable!
He had just been testing his Soul Skill in the back hills.
Although he left promptly, what if…
what if Tang Hao had sensed it?
The mere thought of that possibility sent a cold sweat instantly breaking out on Ning Chuan’s back.
“Shrunk?” Liu Lan looked suspiciously at Ning Chuan’s arm, feeling it again.
“This fabric has been washed so many times; if it was going to shrink, it would have done so long ago…
And you, child, you seem much sturdier?” She felt that her son’s arm under her hand was noticeably firmer than it had been yesterday.
“Eat, eat!” Ning Dazhuang interrupted gruffly from the side.
“Boys grow fast.
It’s normal for clothes to get short.
In a couple of days, when I go to Nuoding City to deliver work, I’ll buy some new cloth and have your mother make you a new set.”
He obviously hadn’t thought much of it, simply feeling it was a good thing that his son was in better spirits and his body was stronger. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Ning Xiaohe blinked her big eyes, looking at her brother, then at her mother, and said softly, “Brother is growing fast.
He’ll be taller than Dad soon!”
Ning Chuan quickly seized the opportunity to lower his head and shovel rice into his mouth, mumbling, “Mhm, maybe my appetite’s been good lately…
Mom’s cooking is delicious.”
Seeing that both her husband and daughter said so, Liu Lan, though still feeling something was odd, didn’t press further.
She just smiled and shook her head.
“A good appetite is a blessing.
Being sturdy is good.” In her heart, she began planning to indeed make new clothes for her son.
Ning Chuan finally breathed a quiet sigh of relief, though his heartbeat took a long time to settle.
Keep a low profile!
He absolutely had to keep a low profile!
At this moment, he felt immensely grateful that fusing with the Spirit Soul had been completed through his Spiritual Body inside the All-Heaven Scrap Station.
The main tempering and effects of the energy occurred at the soul level, making the direct modifications to his physical body relatively mild and concealed.
If he had truly hunted a Soul Beast and absorbed a Spirit Ring, breaking through twenty-five levels overnight, the physical changes and Spirit Power fluctuations would have been impossible to hide from Tang Hao’s perception!
“It seems that before Tang San leaves Holy Soul Village, I must hide my strength as much as possible and absolutely cannot easily reveal my Spirit Rings or Soul Skills,” Ning Chuan warned himself inwardly.
“Tang Hao is a ticking time bomb, far too dangerous.”
Simultaneously, a longer-term and more urgent thought surfaced in his mind.
His younger sister, Xiaohe, also had no innate Spirit Power, destined to be unable to become a Soul Master.
In this world, being unable to cultivate meant a mere century of life, destined to eventually turn to dust.
And his parents—they were just ordinary people, toiling diligently, scrimping and saving, giving the best of everything to him and Xiaohe.
Their years were also quietly slipping away.
He possessed the heaven-defying opportunity of the All-Heaven Scrap Station.
His future achievements were limitless; he might even have the hope of pursuing that elusive divine-level realm and obtaining a long lifespan.
Could he just stand by and watch his closest family members leave him after a hundred years?
No!
Absolutely not!
“I must solve the problem of Xiaohe being unable to cultivate!
Ideally…
I need to obtain Godhood for my parents and sister!” Once this thought took root, it grew wildly in Ning Chuan’s heart like weeds.
Godhood!
The key to becoming a god in the Douluo Continent world!
Though immensely difficult, it wasn’t entirely hopeless!
Moreover, what he possessed was a scrap station connected to all the worlds of the heavens!
Among the “scrap” dumped there, who could guarantee there wasn’t something related to divine-level, or even higher-tier power?
Even if it was just a fragment, something damaged, discarded as trash…
Like that charred willow branch from the Perfect World, containing a trace of the Willow God True Spirit!
Its level was unknown, far surpassing the deities of Douluo!
His thinking suddenly opened up!
Securing Godhood for his family wasn’t a delusion; it was a goal he must strive for in the future!
One of the great driving forces supporting his continuous growth and exploration of the vast sea of scrap from all heavens!
Of course, the premise for all this was to survive, grow stronger, and…
be cautious enough.
At the dinner table, Ning Xiaohe chattered away about the day’s amusing events in the village.
Liu Lan listened with a smile, and Ning Dazhuang occasionally interjected a word or two.
Under the warm lamplight, everything seemed to have returned to the day before yesterday—ordinary and warm.
But Ning Chuan knew everything was already different.
He ate his meal quietly, listening to his family’s casual conversation.
The restlessness and desire to show off born from gaining power gradually gave way to a deeper, firmer sense of responsibility.
He wanted to protect this warmth.
And protection required not just power, but also wisdom, patience, and absolute caution.
“Dad,” Ning Chuan suddenly spoke up, his tone calm and natural, “when you go to Notting City in a couple of days, could you bring me a few miscellaneous books about the continent’s geography, legends, and such?
I’d like to read them in my spare time.”
He needed to understand this world more deeply, especially information about legends of deities and possibly existing ruins.
Starting with books was the least suspicious approach.
Ning Dazhuang glanced at his son with some surprise, seemingly not expecting him to suddenly want to read, but still nodded.
“Alright, there should be some in the town’s bookstore, though they won’t be cheap…”
“No problem, I still have some Copper Soul Coins saved up from before,” Ning Chuan quickly replied.
He needed to lay the groundwork for a plausible source for the items or knowledge he might later retrieve from the All-Heaven Scrap Station.
“Well, loving to read is a good thing,” Liu Lan said with a gratified smile.
“Maybe our family can produce a scholar.”
Ning Xiaohe also looked at her brother with admiration.
“Brother is so amazing!”
Ning Chuan smiled and said nothing more, simply adding “find valuable items in the scrap station that can be exchanged for this world’s currency as soon as possible” to his agenda.
Dinner ended in a warm atmosphere.
That night, Ning Chuan did not enter the All-Heaven Scrap Station again.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he did not cultivate Spirit Power but instead carefully recalled and sorted through all the details in his mind about the original Douluo Dalu, especially the parts concerning divine inheritances.
Combining this with the characteristics of his scrap station, he contemplated possible future directions.
At the same time, he repeatedly scrutinized his next steps to ensure nothing would go wrong.
The joy brought by power gradually settled, transforming into a restrained sharpness and clear planning.
Ning Chuan knew that the path belonging to him had only just begun.
And the first step was to perfectly “lie low” here in Holy Spirit Village, right under the nose of the Clear Sky Douluo, until the moment the hidden dragon emerged from the depths.