[Uncle and Nephew Getting Along [A lot of daily life] The young one gives a gift. Exchanging the Dragon-armored Soldiers. Giving Master Jiang a surprise.]
The Lu siblings carefully examined this young genius, feeling only that he was imposing and heroic, exuding a domineering aura. Yet, this didn’t make people feel the need to keep their distance; rather, it sparked a strange intimacy from the bottom of their hearts.
‘Truly outstanding!’
The Lu siblings subconsciously gave a gentle nod and both said, “Young friend, there is no need to stand on ceremony.”
Seeing their amiable manner, Wu Dongxiao felt slightly relieved. After exchanging greetings, he walked up to Wu Shaoqian and bowed, saying, “Little Uncle.” He then naturally raised his eyes and, sure enough, spotted the graceful young man not far away. He couldn’t help but wave, “Uncle Zhong! I’m out!”
This completely different attitude made the Lu siblings stare in a bit of a daze.
Immediately, Zhong Cai, who had been focused on refining pills, also turned his head, flashed a brilliant smile at Wu Dongxiao, and called out, “Dongxiao, come quickly and rest!”
Only then did Wu Shaoqian say, “Go over.”
The Lu siblings felt a little strange, sensing that the couple—Wu Dou Wang and Zhong Dan Wang—and their nephew had a somewhat… well, a very deep affection for each other.
The group successively walked into the bamboo cottage.
Zhong Cai was busy with alchemy, his fingers flying as he tossed several medicinal ingredients into the furnace.
Wu Shaoqian sat directly beside Zhong Cai.
Wu Dongxiao kept a little distance from the two, but still only a few feet away.
After entering, the Lu siblings also skillfully found a slightly more distant spot to sit cross-legged—originally, this was to avoid interfering with Zhong Cai’s movements when he casually threw medicinal ingredients and claimed space.
Now, seeing Wu Dongxiao so close, they felt a touch of oddity.
The next moment, Zhong Cai raised his hand, and Wu Dongxiao also raised his hand.
Then Wu Dongxiao put a healing pill into his mouth.
The brother and sister understood.
So, Zhong Dan Wang was giving Young Friend Wu medicine.
It was just… this sequence of actions was far too smooth and practiced.
What the Lu siblings didn’t know was that while Zhong Cai was skilled, he wasn’t the only one who was so practiced.
All of Wu Dongxiao’s closer relatives and friends… were quite skilled at it.
For instance, earlier, if Zhong Cai had been too busy even to take out the pill, the one tossing it would have been Wu Shaoqian.
As for why they were so practiced?
That was naturally because Wu Dongxiao often used up all his pills during his training and trials.
The most practiced was undoubtedly Xuan Bing, who often accompanied Wu Dongxiao on his trials.
As for Zhong Cai and Wu Shaoqian… it was mainly due to sparring between uncle and nephew.
Every time Wu Dongxiao received guidance from Wu Shaoqian and engaged in a big battle, he would always exhaust himself. Then, when he reached for pills to heal or replenish, he’d find them missing three or four times out of five. After that, Wu Dongxiao realized he had forgotten after using them up, and it was only when making plans for his next outing that his Senior Brother would remind and urge him to quickly prepare a new stock.
Wu Dongxiao quickly regulated his breathing for a few cycles, then allowed the medicinal power to circulate on its own to smooth out the minor injuries—his injuries weren’t actually serious.
He quickly fumbled in his storage ring and pulled out a storage bag.
Subsequently, Wu Dongxiao took out a seventh-grade Qionghua Grass from the storage bad.
“Uncle Zhong, I remember you mentioned you were short of this herb. See if I grabbed the wrong one?”
Zhong Cai was currently casually tossing new medicinal ingredients into the alchemy furnace.
At this moment, while performing hand seals to control the fusion of the medicinal properties, he looked toward the herb in Wu Dongxiao’s hand.
Zhong Cai raised an eyebrow and said, “That’s right, you found it accurately.”
Wu Dongxiao chuckled, offered the medicinal ingredient to Zhong Cai… to Wu Shaoqian, and said cheerfully, “Then I’ll give it to Uncle Zhong!”
Wu Shaoqian unceremoniously accepted it on Zhong Cai’s behalf.
In high spirits, Wu Dongxiao then took out a bright red fruit, which he also handed to Wu Shaoqian, saying, “Little Uncle! I remember Uncle Zhong likes this one. He’s busy now, so you…”
Considering appearances, he didn’t finish the last part of his sentence.
Wu Shaoqian showed a look of satisfaction, nodded at Wu Dongxiao, took the fruit, and lightly sliced it with a flick of his finger—without them knowing how he did it, a small plate suddenly appeared in his palm with the cut fruit inside. He then took a thin skewer, pierced the fruit pieces one by one, and brought them to Zhong Cai’s lips.
Zhong Cai happily ate the fruit, first saying to Wu Shaoqian, “Old Wu, the fruit you gave me is delicious!” Then he looked at Wu Dongxiao, delightedly saying, “Your luck was on the right path this time!”
Wu Dongxiao also smiled, completely unbothered that he was always prioritized second.
The Lu siblings nearby: “…”
Though they didn’t know what to say, they couldn’t resist looking a few more times.
Wu Dongxiao, after giving one fruit, simply brought out a small tree he had dug up, which was laden with the same kind of fruit, and also gifted it to Zhong Cai. It was still accepted by Wu Shaoqian on his behalf.
But this wasn’t the end.
He successively took out three more relatively rare medicinal herbs, all seventh-grade, and presented them all to Zhong Cai.
The Zhong-Wu couple still did not stand on ceremony.
In fact, every time this kid returned from a trial, if he managed to accumulate a large amount of resources, while coming to pay off old debts and incur new ones, he would always bring back some relatively hard-to-find medicinal herbs for Zhong Cai.
However, he never brought anything for Wu Shaoqian.
Perhaps Wu Shaoqian genuinely appeared a little “desireless,” to the point where his own nephew didn’t know what to give to touch his heart… ‘Wait, that’s not right!’
When Wu Dongxiao, who was worrying about his Little Uncle, pondered this question, he quickly realized the truth.
To please his Little Uncle, what better way was there than giving things to his Uncle Zhong?
As long as Uncle Zhong was sufficiently well-provided for, his Little Uncle would be very satisfied.
And if he didn’t give his Little Uncle anything, Uncle Zhong wouldn’t think he was neglecting his Little Uncle, because Uncle Zhong knew very well that he was a bit timid around his Little Uncle. Therefore, Uncle Zhong could tell, just by looking at the amount of resources he used to show respect to Uncle Zhong, that this must include his Little Uncle’s share as well.
After emptying the storage bag he had specifically set aside, Wu Dongxiao stayed quietly still.
Zhong Cai had happily finished the plate of fruit, and now, putting on a stern face, he no longer wore his cheerful smile. He then added, “If you can understand what you see, go ahead and look. If not, go find your uncle and play with him.”
Wu Dongxiao replied, “Oh.”
Although he was very willing to listen to Uncle Zhong, it seemed that the so-called “playing” with his Little Uncle… would likely involve his Little Uncle “giving him pointers,” wouldn’t it?
‘No, thank you.’
He was truly exhausted from the past month or so.
As soon as he said he was tired, Wu Dongxiao laid down on his side and immediately fell asleep.
Zhong Cai glanced over there.
[Old Wu, this is the first time I’ve known Dongxiao to fall asleep instantly, he’s almost snoring!]
Wu Shaoqian suppressed a smile and replied via soul transmission.
[He hasn’t fallen asleep at all.]
Zhong Cai was stunned, and he quickly shifted his attention back to the alchemy furnace, otherwise, he would have burst out laughing.
‘This little rascal.’
Wu Shaoqian watched Zhong Cai busy himself, his eyes filled with a smile.
…
Wu Dongxiao was quite good at making friends, and since the Lu siblings were already very friendly towards him, the few of them quickly became friends at first sight in a short period.
The brother and sister generously imparted their combat experience, and Wu Dongxiao learned a great deal. Therefore, when he sensed that the two Soul Transformation [1]Seventh Order jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3526236_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3526236_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); experts might need a certain kind of treasure, he would cautiously sound them out… The Lu siblings understood and took the initiative to inquire.
Subsequently, the two parties engaged in a transaction.
The Lu siblings had some assets, and since the prices Wu Dongxiao offered were all “friendship prices,” they were able to successfully exchange for the items.
Wu Dongxiao carefully put away the Xuanshis.
After the brother and sister left, it would be time for him to count his resources, pay off his debts, and use whatever he could to offset them.
After Zhong Cai successfully refined the Niepan Dans and concluded the transaction with the Lu siblings, the brother and sister knew they couldn’t shamelessly place another order. Staying there would only delay the uncle-nephew-couple’s time together, so they stood up and took their leave.
After they left, Wu Dongxiao let out a breath, his demeanor much more relaxed than before.
Zhong Cai, while cleaning impurities from the alchemy furnace, eyed him and smiled, “Now you’ve relaxed, no longer trying to keep up appearances?”
Wu Dongxiao chuckled, “I don’t need to pay so much attention to my image in front of my two Uncles.”
He then jumped up and started taking out storage bags.
Wu Shaoqian took them, counted them, and said, “Still a little short.”
Wu Dongxiao knew this naturally, and quickly took out several more resources of equivalent value for his two Uncles to choose from.
Zhong Cai cupped his chin, sorting through the resources, and smiled, “Dongxiao, did you strike it rich this time?”
Wu Dongxiao’s expression suddenly became a little complicated, but he didn’t say anything further.
Zhong Cai’s mouth twitched slightly, “Did you strip the land bare?”
He suddenly remembered the collapse he had heard from the cave-dwelling area before. Looking now, the once quite ancient cave entrance was now just a pile of rubble, and the whole area looked dilapidated.
It seemed a bit pitiful…
Zhong Cai couldn’t help but ask, “What did you do? Did you chop down a support beam inside the cave-dwelling?”
Wu Dongxiao scratched his head, but ultimately, he honestly said, “I found a legacy from an ancient predecessor inside. It reached the Heavenly Connection [2]Ninth Order jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3526236_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3526236_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); level, but it was only a fragmented scroll and could only be used for reference…”
Before that, Wu Dongxiao had gathered some resources in the cave-dwelling, but the amount wasn’t very large.
Afterward, the time he spent on the inheritance trials far exceeded what had come before.
In the end, after great difficulty, he finally succeeded—only to find that much of the inheritance had been eroded by the passage of time, its contents now utterly impossible to decipher!
Wu Dongxiao didn’t actually lose anything.
But in his view, if it wasn’t a huge gain… it was equivalent to a loss.
So, Wu Dongxiao pushed himself and pulled out some of his most impractical, last-resort items to excavate the inheritance pillar.
He recognized that the column itself was refined from many ancient ores and contained a number of medicinal substances. He tried hard to find a weakness, and by guessing and patching, he actually managed to dig out quite a bit.
What surprised him even more was that a large pile of resources of various grades clattered down from a space inside the column, connected to who-knows-where!
Although the highest grade was only seventh-grade, it was speculated that this was likely a compensation mechanism to give resource to legacy seekers who failed the trial, so they wouldn’t have come in vain…
It was actually a sign of the cave-dwelling owner’s generosity.
However, after countless years, this space had become unstable, and with Wu Dongxiao’s thorough excavation, it simply collapsed and released its contents.
Overjoyed, Wu Dongxiao dug even more meticulously into the column.
And it wasn’t just the legacy column; he found other columns in the cave-dwelling and excavated all of them too!
The result was… he only dug out a few pieces of refining materials.
His gains were far less than when he dug out the legacy column.
What was even more tragic was that after Wu Dongxiao dug up those columns, the cave began to shake!
Many stones were on the verge of falling. Wu Dongxiao hastily gathered all his resources, disregarding what was what, and frantically fled the collapsing cavern, sprinting back towards the exit route!
During his escape, the cave collapsed even faster. To ensure a smooth escape, Wu Dongxiao released a damaged seventh-grade puppet to help block the falling debris.
In the end, by the time Wu Dongxiao finally managed to escape from the cave, the seventh-grade puppet was completely destroyed, beyond repair, and had been swallowed by the collapsing cave, making it very difficult to recover…
Wu Dongxiao scratched his face: “That’s basically what happened.”
Zhong Cai looked at Wu Dongxiao, his feelings complex.
‘Is this the protagonist’s luck?’
‘Collapsing one side while taking from the other?’
For the Feng family, what they primarily wanted must have been that Heavenly Connection legacy.
But perhaps due to the protagonist’s destiny, the little Dongxiao was still far from the Heavenly Connection level, and he already carried a sufficiently suitable Heavenly Connection legacy. Running into another one only gave him a fragment, and it won’t affect his main cultivation technique.
Zhong Cai showed no emotion, smiling as usual, “Not bad, at least you didn’t suffer any major injuries.”
Wu Dongxiao scratched his face again.
Actually, he had quite a few internal injuries from being struck by the debris.
But it didn’t really count as a major injury, apparently.
He was used to it.
Zhong Cai continued to clean the furnace, while Wu Dongxiao, in front of his two uncles, arranged and then put away the resources he had acquired.
Among them were items the couple was interested in, which they exchanged for one by one.
After Wu Dongxiao had nearly finished tidying up, he hesitantly said, “Uncle Zhong, Little Uncle, I am currently lacking in self-defense means…”
Zhong Cai looked at him and asked with a smile, “And?”
Wu Dongxiao cleared his throat and answered with an unrelated question: “Right, Uncle Zhong, that Elder from the Feng family seemed to have died at the hands of several Armored Warriors? Are those a new type of puppet? Their combat power is very strong.”
Zhong Cai stared at Wu Dongxiao.
Wu Dongxiao whispered, “Can I trade for one of those?”
Zhong Cai answered with a slight smile, “You can trade for one, they are similar to puppets. However, as you saw, each of them is comparable to the peak of Nirvana [3]Eighth Order jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3526236_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3526236_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); level. Although their ability to display power is often not smooth enough, they can indeed exert Nirvana-level strength.”
Wu Dongxiao understood that they would be very expensive.
Sure enough, Zhong Cai said, “The price of each is not cheap. Your Little Uncle and I also spent a lot of wealth to nurture one. If you really want to trade for one, you might find it difficult.”
Wu Dongxiao said even more softly, “I can write an IOU.”
Zhong Cai laughed, “If you’re willing to be heavily in debt, that’s fine.” He then suddenly raised an eyebrow, “But you are, after all, different from others. If you can’t afford to buy one, we could also rent one to you.”
Wu Dongxiao still answered honestly, “They’re easily damaged. I’d better spend more Xuanshis.”
Zhong Cai then raised his hand, preparing to pat Wu Dongxiao’s shoulder, but they were sitting too far apart.
Wu Shaoqian had been quietly watching his A Cai’s lively and animated appearance. Now, seeing A Cai look a little awkward, he simply reached out a hand and grabbed a large portion of palm force.
The palm force caught Wu Dongxiao’s collar.
Wu Dongxiao’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t resist.
Then, he was directly lifted and set down next to Zhong Cai.
Zhong Cai turned slightly, happily patted Wu Dongxiao’s shoulder.
‘Wait, what was I trying to do before?’
It seemed like he wanted to comfort little Dongxiao.
Now, it was a success.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaoqian no longer cared about exposing the existence of the Dao Soldiers. However, unless a close person asked specifically, they would use them but wouldn’t volunteer information.
Now, because Wu Dongxiao wanted one, Zhong Cai readily agreed.
However, there was definitely a price.
This was also a way to spur the protagonist to work hard and improve!
Even though he no longer had the complex interpersonal relationships of the original book, the pressure from debt was still immense, allowing him to maintain rapid progress under pressure.
And now…
New pressure arrived!
Zhong Cai said in a very gentle tone, “Fifty thousand high-grade Xuanshis, for one.”
Wu Dongxiao was momentarily stunned.
‘…How much?’
‘Fifty thousand… high-grade?’
‘That is so much!’
Wu Dongxiao finally understood just how expensive “very expensive” was in his Uncle Zhong’s mouth.
Upon closer thought, it wasn’t surprising. After all, it was a peak Nirvana-level item, and it was extremely difficult for even a puppet to reach this requirement. Most puppets on the market were only eighth-grade lower or middle-grade, generally comparable to the early and mid-stages of Nirvana.
It was rare to reach the late stage, let alone the peak?
It was normal for the price to reach the ceiling for that level.
In fact, at an auction, the price would likely be even higher.
Wu Dongxiao took a deep breath.
He recalled that Hall Master Jin’s clone had not yet been solidified. If he didn’t have an eighth-grade level of protection, his life would be precariously hanging in the balance.
‘I’ll exchange for it!’
Wu Dongxiao grit his teeth, took out a scroll of paper, quickly wrote, and formed an IOU.
Then, he respectfully offered the IOU with both hands.
Looking at the number on the IOU, Zhong Cai couldn’t help but smile.
The handwriting was quite deeply etched.
It seemed that this time the “pressure was immense.”
Zhong Cai was not ambiguous; with a wave of his hand, he released a total of five Dragon-armored Soldiers!
All of them had been nurtured by him to the peak of Nirvana.
The aura of every Dragon-armored Soldier was extremely strong.
And they were fundamentally identical, with no discernible differences—since they were mass-produced, they truly had no difference.
At first glance, Wu Dongxiao immediately stood up excitedly.
Since he had signed the IOU, he absolutely had to find the one that was most pleasing to the eye!
So, Wu Dongxiao began to walk in front of the Dragon-armored Soldiers one by one, patting each one as he passed.
In the end…
All the selection movements were nonsense. Wu Dongxiao relied entirely on his feeling and chose the one in the very center.
Zhong Cai gave the Dragon-armored Soldier instructions, telling it that its main priority was to protect Wu Dongxiao and to fully obey his commands.
Then, he exchanged a look with Wu Shaoqian.
[What was that brat thinking, putting a monitor on himself?]
Wu Shaoqian smiled faintly.
[We wouldn’t be able to find him if he were across different domains anyway.]
Although that was true, both of them knew that in the future, if the kid got into any trouble, as long as he said which area he was in, when the two of them rushed there, they wouldn’t need to use the mirror to search blindly.
As soon as they reached that area, by shining the mirror, it would naturally reflect the location of the Dao Soldier, and by extension, they could see Wu Dongxiao’s situation.
Then, they could just follow the route directly provided by the mirror.
After Wu Dongxiao had put away the Dragon-armored Soldier he fancied, Zhong Cai and Wu Shaoqian packed up the rest.
Then, the group left the bamboo dwelling.
Zhong Cai put the soldiers into the Ancient City, then released Qingyu.
“Let’s go.”
Wu Shaoqian and Zhong Cai held hands and climbed onto Qingyu’s back together.
Although Wu Dongxiao’s own Chi Huo Luan had already started evolving towards the Jin Huo Feng Huang and its realm was nearing the seventh-level, it was still far inferior to Qingyu. It was unnecessary to bring it out for the journey now—otherwise, Qingyu would have to fly for a while and then wait, which would be even more troublesome.
Therefore, Wu Dongxiao also jumped onto Qingyu’s back and sat cross-legged in a spot that wouldn’t interfere with his two uncles’ affectionate display.
Qingyu took off, and its speed was indeed incredibly fast.
The Zhong – Wu couple leaned against each other.
Wu Dongxiao watched them from a distance.
…Every time this happened, he felt a little wistful.
He was all alone.
‘If only Senior Brother has come out with me this time.’
‘After returning this time, Senior Brother must have made great progress in strength…’
As soon as they returned to the Lingxian Sect, Wu Dongxiao headed back to his own place.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaoqian went straight to the new hall of the Zhan Shen Palace to seek an audience with Jiang Chongguang.
Since Jiang Chongguang arrived at the Zhan Shen Palace, his combat power had advanced by leaps and bounds with the help of the resources here. Because he used a great variety of resources, his accumulation grew steadily. It shouldn’t be long before he could attempt to break through to the mid-stage of the Nirvana Realm.
During this period, he had fought against many Branch Hall Masters, defeating many early-stage Nirvana Realm Hall Masters, and could even fight with mid-stage Nirvana Realm Hall Masters for a long time, lasting longer with each fight.
The Hall Masters were very fond of their sect, and naturally, they were willing to accompany a new Hall Master who was so proactive.
Moreover, few of these Hall Masters loved fighting; as long as someone challenged them, they almost never refused!
Because of Jiang Chongguang’s love for battle, the Hall Masters also felt that life was quite enjoyable.
The Hall Masters were initially somewhat shocked by Jiang Chongguang’s progress, but as time went on, they felt it was normal—after all, Jiang Chongguang was Wu Shaoqian’s master! If the disciple could achieve such terrifying combat power, the master must also have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Many Hall Masters believed that if Jiang Chongguang had come from a top-level continent, he would definitely have made it onto the Cangqiong Ranking!
It was a bit of a pity now.
Today, Jiang Chongguang happened not to be fighting anyone.
Hearing that his two disciples were requesting an audience, he very readily opened the main door.
Zhong Cai excitedly rushed in, yelling as he ran, “Master Jiang! Master Jiang! Old Wu and I brought you a huge surprise! Come and see!”
Jiang Chongguang’s figure flickered, and he was already standing in front, watching Zhong Cai run toward him.
Wu Shaoqian also flashed, running alongside Zhong Cai the entire time.
The couple braked suddenly right in front of Jiang Chongguang.
Zhong Cai, his eyes bright with excitement, took out a small golden bell and presented it to Jiang Chongguang.
“Master Jiang, this is for you!”
“It will absolutely surprise you!”
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