"And what about compared to Xun'er?" Gu Yuan continued to ask.
"Young Miss and Cousin Xiao Se haven't spent much time together. It wasn't until after Young Miss left that Cousin Xiao Se truly began to express his feelings. Most of the time, it seems more like Young Miss is suffering from unrequited love," Ling Ying said truthfully.
"Unrequited love." Gu Yuan felt a headache. How did it sound like his own daughter had turned into a simp for someone else?
He rubbed his forehead in annoyance and waved his hand at Ling Ying, "You've worked hard staying by Xun'er's side all these years. She's used to your care, so continue staying by her side in the future!"
"Understood, subordinate will take his leave." Ling Ying bowed respectfully to Gu Yuan and then withdrew.
"Sigh! A grown daughter cannot be kept, let nature take its course." Gu Yuan sighed helplessly. As a father, he didn't know how to handle matters regarding Xun'er's feelings. However, if Xiao Se were truly as outstanding as Ling Ying described and treated Xun'er with sincerity, he would be a good son-in-law. As for Xiao Se being a playboy, in this World where the strong are respected, it was common for men to have several wives and concubines. And as the Little Princess of the Ancient Clan, Xun'er would never be reduced to a concubine.
Thinking of this, Gu Yuan couldn't help but look toward the direction of the Heavenly Tomb and sighed, "Xiao Xuan, your Xiao Family has successors now!"
On the other side, upon hearing that the Xiao Family had been wiped out, the pupils of Xiao Yu, Xiao Ning, and Xiao Mei constricted sharply. They froze in place, disbelief flashing in their eyes.
"Xiao Se, I know the Xiao Family treated you poorly in the past, but there's no need to joke about this with us." Xiao Ning's face turned pale, and his voice trembled.
"Do you think I have any reason to joke with you about such a thing?" Xiao Se frowned.
"Then... what about my grandfather? How is he?" Xiao Yu grabbed Xiao Se's hand, tears welling up in her eyes.
"And what about my grandfather and parents?" Xiao Mei asked, her voice choked with sobs.
"Dead, all dead. They were wiped out the night before Xiao Yan's three-year appointment. Except for Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, Xiao Yan, the three of you, and me—those who weren't at the Xiao Family—the only survivor in the entire Xiao Family is Xiao Mei's younger sister, Xiao Qing. The only other person who might still be alive is Xiao Yan's father, but he was captured." Xiao Se felt a pang of pity.
Upon hearing this, the three of them were struck by lightning. For a moment, their minds went blank.
"Who is the murderer?" Xiao Ning clenched his fists, a fierce look on his face.
"I lured the murderer out and killed them the next day, but the mastermind is still out there. Even looking across the entire continent, few are his match. If you want revenge, then strive to become stronger." Xiao Se patted Xiao Ning's shoulder, then took out a cyan scroll and a low-grade storage ring. "Now that you have reached the Dou PractitionerRealm, this Earth Rank Low-Grade Cultivation Technique matches your Qi attribute. Take it and switch your cultivation to become stronger as soon as possible. Also, the Medicinal Pill inside is enough to support your cultivation until you reach the Dou Wang Realm."
"Thank you, Xiao Se." Xiao Ning took the scroll and storage ring, bowed respectfully, and said gratefully.
"You are Xiao Yu's brother, and you know the relationship between me and your sister. We are all family, no need for thanks." Xiao Se smiled and shook his head.
"Right, right." Xiao Ning nodded repeatedly, smiling heartlessly, "Xiao Se... oh no, brother-in-law."
"Xiao Ning, if you keep spouting nonsense, be careful I don't pull your ears off." Hearing Xiao Ning's words, Xiao Yu's pretty face, which had been crying earlier, turned red instantly. She raised her jade hand and pinched Xiao Ning's ear.
"Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Brother-in-law, look at her, look at her! Aren't you going to control your wife, this tigress? It hurts, it hurts!" Xiao Ning screamed.
"Who are you calling a tigress?" As she spoke, Xiao Yu increased the strength in her hand.
"Haha." Everyone couldn't help but laugh at this lively pair of siblings.
After this farce, the gloom that had previously hung over everyone due to the destruction of the Xiao Family dissipated quite a bit.
"Brother-in-law, look, even I have an Earth RankCultivation Technique and Medicinal Pill, so my sister, as your wife..." Xiao Ning rubbed his palms together.
"Your sister has already had them for a long time." Xiao Se smiled. "Yu'er, show him your current cultivation."
"You brat, watch closely." Xiao Yu patted Xiao Ning's head, and light cyan Dou Qi wings condensed from her back.
"Dou Qi transformation wings? Sister, you're actually a Dou Huang expert?" Xiao Ning's face was filled with disbelief. It seemed like three years ago, Xiao Yu had just entered the Great Dou MasterRealm!
"How about it, impressive right?" Xiao Yu wore a proud smile, her gaze turning to Xiao Se, as if to say, "Look, my man gave this to me."
Standing aside, Xiao Mei watched Xiao YuBreakthrough to Dou Huang and Xiao Ning receive an Earth RankCultivation Technique and Medicinal Pill. Her heart turned sour, and gathering her courage, she tremblingly pleaded, "Cousin Xiao Se, I..."
"Don't worry, I won't forget you." Xiao Se gave a reassuring smile and took out a dark green jade box from his storage ring. "Xiao Mei, your current cultivation is still stuck at the ninth stage of Dou Zhi Qi, so I won't give you a Cultivation Technique yet. Here is a Qi Gathering Powder. Once you reach the Dou PractitionerRealm, I will give you a suitable Cultivation Technique and Medicinal Pill."
"Thank you, Cousin Xiao Se, thank you, Cousin Xiao Se." Hearing that she would also get a Cultivation Technique and Medicinal Pill, Xiao Mei's charming little face bloomed with a joyful smile. She took the Qi Gathering Powder and said gratefully.
Xiao Se nodded and continued, "Xiao Yu, you should guide Xiao Ning and Xiao Mei in their cultivation these next few days. I will come again in a few days."
"You're leaving again?" Xiao Yu gave him a resentful look. Aside from this disappointing brother Xiao Ning, Xiao Se was the only family she had left.
Xiao Se stepped forward and hugged Xiao Yu, saying softly, "Sea King Pavilion has some matters that need my attention. I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you later."
"Then you aren't allowed to lie to me, or I will never talk to you again." Xiao Yu's pretty face flushed, and she snuggled into Xiao Se's arms, thinking to herself, Make it up to me? Could it be that thing?
Thinking of this, Xiao Yu felt both expectant and shy.
"When have I ever lied to you?" Xiao Se asked indignantly.
"When have you not lied to me?" Xiao Yu rolled her eyes and retorted.
"Uh..." Xiao Se twitched the corner of his mouth, released Xiao Yu, and changed the subject. "Xiao Mei, Xiao Ning, Cultivate well during this time, no slacking off."
"Yes, brother-in-law."
"Got it, Cousin Xiao Se."
Xiao Ning and Xiao Mei replied.
Xiao Se nodded with satisfaction and turned his gaze to Zhu Zhuqing, Die, and Zi Yan. "Zhuqing, Die, Zi Yan, let's go."
"Mm." Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing, Die, and Zi Yan consciously held onto Xiao Se, and under the astonished gazes of Xiao Yu and the others, they disappeared from the spot.
They reappeared next to Xiao Yi Xian, at the headquarters of the Sea King Pavilion—Maple City.
"Xiao Se?!" Xiao Yi Xian, who was sitting on the throne, saw the four of them appear and walked to him with a look of pleasant surprise.
Xiao Se gently stroked Xiao Yi Xian's head and smiled. "Xian'er, how is the matter going?"
"Demon Flame Valley has completely disappeared, and the medicinal herbs urged to grow using the palm heaven bottle over the past two years have all been collected." Xiao Yi Xian smiled and handed over a storage ring and the palm heaven bottle. "The herbs are all in the storage ring. As for the palm heaven bottle, I have also collected enough green liquid, enough to last for a long time. Now, returning it to its owner."
Xiao Se nodded, took the storage ring and the palm heaven bottle, and stored them in his System warehouse. He then took out two 100,000-year-old leg bones—the Titan Giant Ape's and the Sky Azure Bull Python's. "Xian'er, take these two Spirit Bones and absorb them. After the auction ends in a month, I will take you and Zhuqing to the Douluo Continent to complete your spirit rings and Spirit Bones."
"Mm." Xiao Yi Xian took them with a smile. With these two Spirit Bones, her Calamity Poison Body could be further controlled, and her cultivation would naturally rise.
One month later, deep within the Inner Academy of Jia Nan Academy, in a certain valley.
Xiao Se sat cross-legged in front of the myriad beast cauldron.
Beside him was an old man who looked exactly like the Earth Demon Old Ghost, his eyes dull, resembling a Puppet. This was the Earth Demon Puppet that Xiao Se had refined using the body of the Earth Demon Old Ghost, the Soul of the Iron Protector, and a seventh-Rank fire-attribute monster core.
Above the sky, dark clouds gathered, with lightning flashing and thunder rumbling. From time to time, thunderbolts fell, but without exception, they were all caught by the Earth Demon Puppet.
As the final thunderbolt fell, a blood-colored Medicinal Pill the size of a dragon's eye flew out from the myriad beast cauldron and landed in Xiao Se's palm.
"This is the third Yin and Yang Life Soul Pill, the quality is not bad." Xiao Se examined the blood-colored Medicinal Pill in his hand and smiled faintly. He turned his head to look at the Earth Demon Puppet beside him and couldn't help but frown. "After absorbing seven waves of Pill Lightning from seventh-RankMedicinal Pills, it still hasn't advanced to a Heavenly Demon Puppet. It seems only the colored Pill Lightning of an Eighth Grade Pill will do. But with my current foundation, refining an Eighth Grade Pill is still a bit of a stretch."
"Oh well, let nature take its course. It's time to go to Black Seal City; Xian'er is waiting for my Medicinal Pill there." Shaking his head helplessly, Xiao Se stood up and put away the Earth Demon Puppet and the myriad beast cauldron. Just as he was about to leave, a long-lost blue light drifted out from the magic sword pattern on his right hand, landing on the ground and transforming into the beautiful figure of Long Kui.
"Big Brother, Long Kui missed you so much." Long Kui threw herself into Xiao Se's arms.
"Did you have a Breakthrough?" Xiao Se gently stroked Long Kui's jade back and said softly. Three months ago, when he was helping Yun Shan remove the secret technique of the Hall of Souls, Xiao Se discovered that Long Kui had entered an ethereal state, and her spirit power was increasing at several times its usual speed, seemingly breaking through. Xiao Se did not disturb her and let Long Kui do as she pleased.
"Mm. Big Brother, according to the SoulRank classification of the Fighting Qi Continent, Long Kui's SoulRealm has broken through to the Middle Stage of the Heaven Realm now!" Xiao Se's affection made Long Kui's beautiful eyes curve into two shallow crescents, and she giggled.
"Congratulations. Once I become a Grade 8 Alchemist and refine the Life Bone Fusion Blood Pill, I will definitely find you a suitable female Dou Zun—oh no, Dou Sheng skeleton as soon as possible." Xiao Se smiled slightly. He was not surprised; Long Kui's Soul was already powerful, and she had been practicing the Returning to Origin Soul Technique for five or six years. It would have been strange if her SoulRealm hadn't broken through.
"Long Kui has always believed in Big Brother." Long Kui stood on tiptoe affectionately and kissed Xiao Se's lips. Xiao Se responded immediately, and the two were intimate for a long time before Xiao Se reluctantly headed to Black Seal City.
In Black Seal City.
"Teacher, it's so lively here." Looking at the dense crowd around him, Xiao Yan couldn't help but exclaim.
"Mm, it looks like a major auction is about to be held, otherwise it wouldn't be possible to gather so many people." In his mind, Yao Lao's voice suddenly rang in Xiao Yan's ear.
"An auction?" Xiao Yan's eyes lit up; he felt his chance to pick up a bargain had arrived.
Just then, exclamations suddenly rang out from the crowd in the distance:
"Everyone look, it's the Pavilion Master of the Sea King Pavilion, Heaven Poison Girl, the Deputy Pavilion Master Die, as well as the Barbarian Emperor Zi Yan, and the Nether Emperor Zhu Zhuqing."
"Two Dou Zong experts, two Dou Huang experts—the Sea King Pavilion's lineup is too strong."
"That's nothing. It's said that the Sea King of the Sea King Pavilion is also a mysterious Seventh-Rank Alchemist. He was the one who killed the Demon Flame Valley's Valley Master, the Earth Demon Old Ghost, some time ago. This auction is being held to sell the Medicinal Pills he refined. It's rumored that there is even a Break-Sect Pill among the auction items."
Listening to the discussion in the crowd, Xiao Yan looked in the direction pointed out by the crowd and saw Xiao Yi Xian and the others flashing out from the depths of Black Seal City, flying over rapidly. In just a few blinks, they reached the space above the crowd.
"It's them." At a glance, Xiao Yan recognized Xiao Yi Xian and Die. He had met Xiao Yi Xian a month ago at the place where the Earth Demon Old Ghost had fallen, and he had been beaten up severely at the time. Die had been seen at the wedding of Medusa and Xiao Se in the depths of the Tagor Desert.
"Xiao Yan, be careful. Don't let that girl discover you; her cultivation has broken through to an eight-star Dou Zong." In Xiao Yan's mind, Yao Lao's warning sounded again. Yao Lao was particularly wary of this Heaven Poison Girl who coveted his Bone Chilling Flame. She was a woman who didn't play by the rules. If not for Xiao Se appearing in time last time, he feared he would have really lost the Bone Chilling Flame.
"Eight-star Dou Zong." Xiao Yan swallowed hard. While holding his breath, his gaze followed Xiao Yi Xian and the others to the top of the Black Seal City gate. Outside the city gate, in the sky, a figure gradually magnified. As it got closer, Xiao Yan finally saw the person clearly—it was Xiao Se.
Seeing Xiao Se arrive, Yao Lao breathed a sigh of relief. With him here, Xiao Yi Xian probably wouldn't dare to act recklessly. He then smiled and said, "It seems the Seventh-Rank Alchemist they were talking about is him, but I don't quite understand the purpose of him holding this auction."
"Why don't we just go and see." Hearing the joy in Yao Lao's words, Xiao Yan felt a bit displeased. He thought, Why is he everywhere? Now even Teacher is starting to lean towards him.
Xiao Se, who had arrived at Black Seal City, first swept his gaze over the crowd. After spotting Xiao Yan, he sneered in his heart, then looked at Xiao Yi Xian and the others with a gentle gaze. "I'm not late, am I?"
"Not late, the timing is just right." Zhu Zhuqing smiled.
"If you were an hour later, the auction would have started." Xiao Yi Xian smiled and replied.
"Sorry, because Long Kui just woke up, it delayed things for a while." Xiao Se chuckled.
"Long Kui?" The women's eyes lit up, especially Die and Zi Yan. Among Xiao Se's many wives—ah, bah, among his many recognized female friends—they were the only two who knew of Long Kui's existence but had yet to meet her.
"Zhuqing and Xian'er have already met Long Kui. I'll introduce you to her later." Seeing the curious expressions of Die and Zi Yan, Xiao Se smiled slightly and said.
"Then we must see her. Sister said that Long Kui is a very good person." Die smiled.
"I want to see her too, I want to be friends with Long Kui." Zi Yan replied excitedly. Having been alone since childhood, she was very eager for friendship.
"Don't worry, I won't let you down. Let's go in, finish the auction first. Xian'er's bodhi transformation saliva depends on today." As he spoke, Xiao Se's figure flashed, and he rushed towards the depths of Black Seal City. Xiao Yi Xian and the others followed closely behind.
(End of Chapter)
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