"Dad, don’t worry. The Seven-Star Begonia doesn’t have much dicinal value on its own, but it can be used as a catalyst for many Spirit dicines. Even though it’s rare, there’s still a good chance of finding it. You don’t need to worry about it. Just leave everything to ," Shen Lang said comfortingly. "Why don’t you try standing up now? You should be able to walk like a normal person without any problems."
"Ah? I feel so much better. The blockages in my ridians are gone... But is it really this effective? I can get up and walk right now?" Shen Haotian was overjoyed.
He had been able to get out of bed before, but only with Shen Lang’s mother supporting him. Otherwise, he couldn’t move at all.
"Yes, give it a try," Shen Lang said, steadying his father’s shoulders.
Shen Haotian was thrilled. He moved his body and swung his legs, discovering that they were much more flexible. The awful feeling from before was completely gone.
"I never thought the day would co when I, Shen Haotian, would be normal again..."
He pushed himself up using the edge of the bed and slowly walked toward the door.
The old stiffness was gone, as was the searing pain that used to shoot through his body with every step...
Shen Haotian placed his right hand on the doorfra to steady himself. He looked into the main hall at the figure preparing vegetables with Xiaohong and called out softly, "Xiaodie..."
The busy Luo Dieqi jolted. She whipped her head around and saw the familiar figure staggering toward her.
"Haotian..." Luo Dieqi covered her mouth with one hand, her eyes blurring with tears.
"Master! Master, you’re healed?" Xiaohong cried out in astonishnt, rushing over to support Shen Haotian.
"I am, I am! It was Lang’er who healed ! HAHAHA..." Shen Haotian burst into a hearty laugh.
He was both happy that his injuries were healed and proud of his son’s abilities.
Shen Lang ca around from behind and supported Luo Dieqi, gently wiping her tears with his sleeve. "Dad isn’t completely better yet, but it won’t take more than a few days," he said. "Once I finish refining the Spirit dicine, he’ll be back to normal. Don’t worry, Mom..."
He smiled as he spoke, but his heart ached.
For the past few years, his father had been bedridden with a serious illness, and his mother, a gentle woman, had supported the entire family on her own...
Things were much better a year ago when his sister was still ho. But after she secured a spot and was forced by their father to attend Jialan Academy...
’If only I had awakened these mories sooner, my parents wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.’
Mist welled in Shen Lang’s eyes. He hastily said, "Mom, you and Dad chat for a bit. I’m going to find my sister and bring her back for dinner."
He used the excuse to head straight out the door and toward the back courtyard.
So much for a firm will and a heart of stone...
In the face of such familial love, it was all as fragile as a thin sheet of paper, easily pierced by a single teardrop...
Shen Lang secretly made a vow. ’I will make sure my family lives well. I will never let them suffer again, nor will I let anyone bully them—anyone at all!’
Under the cover of night, the usually bustling Shen Family residence fell strangely quiet, so quiet that only the chirping of insects could be heard.
Shen Lang’s earlier guess had been correct. It seed those old geezers of the Shen Family weren’t complete fools; they had probably sensed that sothing was amiss.
Or perhaps, through certain channels, they had already heard about his exploits at Tayun Academy and the Celestial Phoenix Tavern.
That was why the night was so peaceful. No one burst into Shen Lang’s ho to cause trouble.
This was exactly the outco Shen Lang wanted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have minded going on a killing spree.
...
At that mont, in a pavilion by the lake in the back courtyard, several young n and won were chatting rrily.
Shen Lang’s older sister, Shen Moran, was sitting among them. She didn’t say much, only offering a faint smile and occasionally adding a few words.
Shen Moran was like an orchid in a secluded valley, her temperant ethereal and her clear autumn-water eyes impeccably pure.
Even among the handso n and beautiful won, the quiet girl stood out.
Sitting with her in the pavilion were two n and three won, all appearing to be around her age, about twenty years old. The won were beautiful, the n handso, and all of them had an extraordinary air.
"Sis!" Shen Lang called out with a smile.
"Xiaolang? What are you doing back? Co over here, let get a look at you..."
Shen Moran’s previously calm expression rippled like a stone had been dropped into a lake.
"Ah, Moran, so this is your little brother, Shen Lang? He’s quite the looker! A sha he’s a bit young, otherwise..."
"Ooh, he’s handso! Co on, let your big sister give you a hug..."
Shen Lang, who had been walking steadily, stumbled at the won’s words and nearly fell right into the lake.
This sent them into peals of laughter.
"I’m Shen Lang. You can all call Xiaolang, just like my sister does," Shen Lang said, nodding politely at them.
But just then, one of the won reached out to put a hand on his shoulder.
Shen Moran placed a delicate hand on her forehead and shook her head with a wry smile. She knew her friend liked to joke around.
Who would have thought that Shen Lang would sway bizarrely from side to side, deftly and precisely dodging the woman’s hand!
"Huh?" Shen Moran’s friends all looked surprised.
"Alright, Zuimo, stop teasing my brother. He’s still young..."
Shen Moran pulled Shen Lang down to sit beside her and gave the other won a small wave of her hand.
"What do you an, young? On the Star Continent, you’re considered an adult at sixteen. Moran, you can’t be so stingy! As the saying goes, keep the good things in the family..." Zeng Zuimo said with a flirty laugh as she walked back.
The won in the pavilion burst into another round of delicate laughter, making Shen Lang roll his eyes. ’You’re the "good thing," your whole family’s a bunch of "good things"...’
"These are all my classmates from Jialan Academy. Let introduce you," Shen Moran said, introducing them to Shen Lang one by one.
The woman who had tried to grab his shoulder was Zeng Zuimo. The quieter one was Su Jin, and the one who hadn’t spoken at all was Lin Yue.
Of the other two young n, the one built like a Vajra with the back of a tiger and the waist of a bear was Yin Kuang; beside him, the transcendently handso young man with a face like polished jade was Shui Buyu.
These were all students of Jialan Academy, each one a dragon or phoenix among mortals, with an extraordinary bearing.
Shen Lang was quite a bit younger than them, so they didn’t pay him much mind.
After a few polite words, they returned to their previous topic.
Zeng Zuimo’s deanor changed completely. She sighed, "We were so unlucky during the year-end trial this ti. We suffered huge losses. Now our Spiritual Artifacts are broken, and who knows if they can even be repaired!"
The group, who had all been smiling just monts before, imdiately began to shake their heads and sigh.
"There was nothing we could do. Who would have thought we’d run into a Fourth Level Peak Red Fla Fierce Bear before we even got deep into the Crystal Song Forest? We’re lucky we even made it back alive. That’s a Demon Beast equivalent to a master at the Qi Martial Realm Ninth Heaven..."
Lin Yue pouted and flopped onto the stone table, staring into space.
The rough-featured Yin Kuang said in a gruff voice, "You have only yourselves to bla. You were so scared at the beginning that you just fled... If I hadn’t been seriously injured while trying to block the Demon Beast, and if everyone had just cooperated from the start to surround it, would things have ended up this badly?"
Zeng Zuimo and the others looked displeased and wanted to argue, but when they rembered how Yin Kuang had acted like a peerless hero, single-handedly holding off the Red Fla Fierce Bear with his spear, they deflated like punctured balls and said nothing.
To be fair, Yin Kuang had a point.
He had the strongest Attack Power in the group, and he wielded his Fiery Fire Divine Spear with divine skill. If they had worked together from the start and coordinated well, they wouldn’t have been so thoroughly beaten, and their Spiritual Artifacts certainly wouldn’t have been destroyed.
"Ahem..." Shui Buyu cleared his throat. "What’s done is done. There’s no use in blaming or regretting now. Fortunately, our injuries aren’t too severe, and while our Spiritual Artifacts are badly damaged, there’s at least a chance they can be repaired..."
"However, as a team, we truly lack coordination. If we don’t fix this in the next few months, we’ll have no way to compete with the other groups when we enter the Crystal Song Forest again."
"Compete my ass!" Yin Kuang said, annoyed.
"My injuries are one thing; I’ll recover in a month or so. But now my Lifebound Spiritual Artifact, the Third Grade Fiery Fire Divine Spear, has been wrecked like this. Tell , what am I supposed to compete with? There’s no way my old man is going to get another one..."
"These bullshit rules at Jialan Academy are so infuriating! Forcing us to earn Spirit Stones and gather materials on our own... The monthly allowance of Spirit Stones we get from ho isn’t even enough for one of my old spending sprees..."
Fuming, he took out a Long Spear that was bent into a "U" shape and threw it onto the stone table with a CLANG, startling Lin Yue, who was still leaning on it.
Lin Yue shot upright. Huffing, she also threw a Longsword with several nicks in the blade onto the table. "You think you’re the only one who lost sothing big?" she yelled. "My Moon God Sword was destroyed too!"
"It was wrong for us to run around scared, but you fought that Demon Beast for ages! Why didn’t you warn us that it had imnse strength and was impervious to weapons? If you had just said sothing sooner, we could have used ranged attacks and might have even killed it!"
Shui Buyu said irritably, "Enough. I already said we’re a team. What’s with all this blaming each other? Do you want to beco a laughingstock for the other teams? You’ve been arguing about this all the way from the Crystal Song Forest, saying the sa things over and over. Aren’t you tired of it?"
He quickly added in a placating tone, "Didn’t Chu Qingcheng say he’s on good terms with Mo Liusheng, the Director of the Artifact Refining Institute at Tayun Academy? He told us to find him and see if he can help with the repairs. This is no ti to be bickering and making a scene for others to laugh at!"
Yin Kuang mockingly patted the Fiery Fire Divine Spear on the table. "I just ca along to get so fresh air. I’m not expecting anyone to be able to fix my Fiery Fire Divine Spear..."
He gave a cold laugh and continued, "Are you kidding ? This is a Third Grade Spiritual Artifact, forged from Deep Sea Profound Iron. To repair it, you’d need to find more Deep Sea Profound Iron... Besides, the Fire Spirit Array Map inside has been completely destroyed. Unless you can re-inscribe a Third Grade Spirit Array Map, there’s absolutely no way to restore it to its original state!"
"That Artifact Refining Master Chu Qingcheng ntioned is Spirit Level Fourth Grade, right? How many Spirit Level Third Grade Spirit Array Maps do you think he knows? It’s not like he’d just happen to know the exact array maps for our specific elents, would he?"
The faces of the group imdiately darkened, and the atmosphere grew even more oppressive.
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