[Check Out My P4treon For +50 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!! And get chapters before publishing them here for free on my p4treon][https://p4treon.com/roooaaa]
===
"Elder Chrysanthemum, we understand what you're saying. We just didn't expect the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to be so persistent, especially that Yu Xiaogang. He's obsessed with finding out how I absorbed spirit rings beyond my level," Lin Yongming said angrily.
"Yeah, we've only been in Heaven Dou City for a few days, and Yu Xiaogang has already bothered us three times," the Blue Silver Empress added. "We didn't expect them to send a Title Douluo to ambush us this time. Thankfully, Elder Chrysanthemum, you arrived in time."
"Lin Yongming, Blue Silver, I've already warned their clan leader. They shouldn't trouble you again for a while. Although that old Dragon King is quite domineering, his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Spirit is known as the strongest beast spirit on the continent. We're both level 94, but I have to admit, his overall strength surpasses mine."
"For your safety, I think it's best if you head to Spirit City as soon as possible," the Chrysanthemum Douluo advised with a sigh.
"Elder Chrysanthemum, we understand. We'll leave in a little while," Lin Yongming nodded, then asked curiously, "Elder Chrysanthemum, why did you suddenly come back?"
"Oh! I almost forgot something. I meant to warn the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan at the auction, but I got distracted and forgot. I didn't expect that old Dragon King to stoop so low as to attack juniors. Thankfully, you're both unharmed."
"More importantly, when I left, Her Highness the Saintess asked me to deliver a message to you," the Chrysanthemum Douluo said, tapping his head.
"Her Highness the Saintess? What did she say?" Lin Yongming asked, puzzled.
Hearing that it was a message from Bibi Dong, the Blue Silver Empress also leaned in slightly to listen.
"She said, 'Focus on your training and stop messing around.' Oh, and when I left, the Saintess had already reached level 48 as a Spirit Ancestor. She also told you to hurry to Spirit City so you can meet the other members of the team. Don't keep wandering outside," the Chrysanthemum Douluo said with a chuckle.
"Her Highness is improving so fast! It's only been a little over a year," Lin Yongming exclaimed in surprise.
"I'm not sure either. All I know is that after she returned last time, she went into seclusion for a whole year. It was like something had spurred her on. A few months ago, she came out of seclusion and went to the Balak Kingdom to look for you. After that, she went back into seclusion again."
"Anyway, that's all. I hope you can make it to Spirit City within a year. After all, the Continental Elite Tournament is less than two years away."
"I'll take my leave now," the Chrysanthemum Douluo said, then left with Bishop Sarath.
"Coroll, you stay here and keep an eye on them," Bishop Sarath instructed before leaving.
"Understood, Bishop," Coroll nodded.
Bishop Sarath wanted to ensure that what had just happened wouldn't occur again.
"Uh… Her Highness the Saintess came looking for me?" Lin Yongming muttered, stunned.
"Oh, are you happy? The Saintess herself went out of her way to find you," the Blue Silver Empress said coldly.
"Ah Yin, that's not fair! Maybe she was looking for you. Didn't you hear what Elder Chrysanthemum said? She was in seclusion for a whole year. Maybe she was motivated by you," Lin Yongming replied helplessly.
"Hand it over. Give me the 180,000 gold coins. I'll keep them for you," the Blue Silver Empress demanded, holding out her hand.
"Here," Lin Yongming reluctantly handed over the money.
"Let's go eat!" the Blue Silver Empress said, taking the money and walking off without waiting for Lin Yongming.
Along the way, whenever they passed beggars, the Blue Silver Empress would give them some of the money Yu Xiaogang had compensated them with.
Of course, she didn't give too much—just one gold coin per person. Giving too much might attract unwanted attention and put the beggars in danger.
"Ah Yin, wait for me!" Lin Yongming called out as he caught up. "Women are so unpredictable. Just because Bibi Dong came looking for me, you're acting like this."
"Ah, youth!" Coroll sighed, turning into a shadow and following them discreetly.
Meanwhile, in a hotel room, Ning Fengzhi looked worriedly at the rabbit girl in front of him.
"Uncle Sword, if I just let her go, do you think she'll get captured again?" Ning Fengzhi asked helplessly. The rabbit girl had been hiding and avoiding eye contact since he brought her to the hotel, refusing to speak.
"Possibly. What do you plan to do with her?" the Sword Douluo replied calmly, sipping tea on the sofa.
"She won't talk or tell us where she's from. Bringing her to the sect might make her even more uncomfortable," Ning Fengzhi said, rubbing his temples.
Just then, a voice called out from outside the room, filled with anger: "Ning Fengzhi, open the door!"
Ning Fengzhi immediately recognized the voice—it was the Red Tassel sisters.
"Red Tassel, what are you doing here?" Ning Fengzhi asked, surprised.
"Ning Fengzhi, you've really outdone yourself this time. We've been praising you to Red Tassel lately, and this is how you repay us? Buying some rabbit girl from the Treasure Pavilion? How could you do this to us?" Lin Yan, the most outspoken of the three, stood at the door, glaring at him.
"That's right. It seems the rumors about your flirtatious behavior at the academy are true. We misjudged you," Song Zhu added, standing slightly behind Lin Yan. Red Tassel, meanwhile, stared at Ning Fengzhi with a cold expression.
"You've come at the perfect time. Help me figure out how to get her to talk. I've been struggling with this," Ning Fengzhi said, his face lighting up.
"What, you want us to help you with your dirty work? Just let her go," Lin Yan retorted bluntly.
"Wait, you've got it all wrong. I bought her to save her. But she won't talk or tell me where she's from. I'm afraid if I just let her go, she'll get captured again," Ning Fengzhi explained quickly.
"So, I need your help to get her to talk. Once I know where she's from, I can send her back," Ning Fengzhi said helplessly.
"Is that really the case?" Lin Yan asked skeptically.
"Of course! I may have been a bit arrogant in the past, but I'm not a beast or some lustful maniac," Ning Fengzhi assured them, patting his chest.
"Fine, we'll believe you one more time," Lin Yan said.
Ning Fengzhi then invited the three into the room.
"Greetings, Your Excellency!" The three bowed slightly upon seeing the Sword Douluo sitting calmly and sipping tea. They hadn't expected him to be here.
"Hmm," the Sword Douluo nodded.
The three then noticed the rabbit girl curled up in the corner, unharmed. This made them temporarily believe Ning Fengzhi's explanation.
After some gentle coaxing from the three women, the rabbit girl finally spoke softly, "My name is… I don't have a home."
"Will you really not hurt me?" The rabbit girl looked to be around 12 years old.
With no other options, the three women decided to have Ning Fengzhi, with his vast resources, take the rabbit girl to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and let her work as a maid.
"Ning Fengzhi, I have to say, I didn't expect this from you. Rumor has it that back at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, there was a girl who got pregnant because of you, and you abandoned her, forcing her to have an abortion. But today, you don't seem like that kind of person," Lin Yan suddenly brought up.
"What are you talking about? There was no such girl. I don't remember anything like that."
"Oh! So that's what's been bothering you. There was a noblewoman who pursued me, but I rejected her. She started that rumor, and I never paid it any mind," Ning Fengzhi explained, finally understanding.
"What happened?" Song Zhu asked, confused.
"Well, it was like this…" Ning Fengzhi slowly explained the situation, which had occurred before Red Tassel and the others had even enrolled at the academy. It involved a young noblewoman who had caused quite a stir.
"So that's what happened! Why didn't you say so earlier?" Lin Yan said, annoyed.
"You never asked, and I didn't think much of it. I'd almost forgotten about it," Ning Fengzhi replied helplessly.
"Alright, let's have dinner first. I'll have someone bring the food up," Ning Fengzhi said, noticing the sky outside was growing dark.
"Fine, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this," Lin Yan said, agreeing to stay for dinner.
Ning Fengzhi was three years older than Red Tassel and the others, meaning he had graduated from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy three years earlier. Red Tassel and her friends were close to graduating as well, planning to do so after the Continental Elite Tournament.
...
By the time Lin Yongming and the Blue Silver Empress finished their roast duck dinner and returned to the hotel, it was almost 8 PM.
Back in the hotel, the Blue Silver Empress was still sulking and ignoring Lin Yongming.
"Ah Yin, my dear! We've already had dinner. Are you still mad?" Lin Yongming sat down beside her, trying to coax her.
"I'm not mad!" the Blue Silver Empress said, turning her head away.
"You ignored me the whole way back. How can you say you're not mad?" Lin Yongming said helplessly. "Besides, maybe Bibi Dong came to the village just to spar with you after her year of seclusion."
"I don't believe it. She specifically asked Elder Chrysanthemum to deliver a message to you," the Blue Silver Empress retorted.
"Well, I didn't expect that either," Lin Yongming admitted.
"I think she has feelings for you. How do you feel about her?" the Blue Silver Empress asked directly.
"What feelings? We're just ordinary friends. Besides, as the Spirit Hall's Saintess, she probably doesn't have many friends in Spirit City. Meeting people with similar talent and age, she probably sees us as friends," Lin Yongming explained.
"Just that?" the Blue Silver Empress asked skeptically.
"Ah Yin, don't overthink it. At least for now, my heart only has you. No matter what happens in the future, I can promise that you'll always be the most important person in my life."
"Please don't be mad anymore, okay?" Lin Yongming said gently, taking her hand.
"Don't flatter yourself. I don't want that," the Blue Silver Empress said, her cheeks turning red as she tried to sound tough.
"Alright, if you don't want it, I'll give it to someone else," Lin Yongming said with a mock-sad expression.
"Hmph! You wouldn't dare," the Blue Silver Empress said, lightly punching his chest.
"Then what should I do? I'm in a tough spot," Lin Yongming said helplessly.
"Hehe, that's not my problem," the Blue Silver Empress said with a proud smirk.
"Wow, you're really something," Lin Yongming said, pretending to be annoyed.
"What are you going to do about it? Hit me?" the Blue Silver Empress challenged.
"Alright, you asked for it," Lin Yongming said, starting to tickle her.
"Ahaha! Stop, it's too ticklish!" the Blue Silver Empress burst out laughing.
"Let's see how you handle this!"
The two playfully wrestled on the small sofa until they ended up tangled together, finally stopping their antics.
"Ah Yin, you smell so nice. I love your scent," Lin Yongming whispered softly.
"Alright, enough playing around. Get off me; it's too hot," the Blue Silver Empress said, her face flushed as Lin Yongming lay on top of her.
"No, you ignored me for two hours. Give me a kiss, and I'll get off," Lin Yongming teased.
"Don't push your luck, or I'll hit you," the Blue Silver Empress said, her cheeks turning even redder.
"Hit me all you want; I'm not moving," Lin Yongming said stubbornly.
"You're so annoying. Fine, just one kiss," the Blue Silver Empress said shyly, leaning up slightly.
"There, happy?" she said after giving him a quick peck.
"Let me do it properly," Lin Yongming said, leaning down to kiss her lips.
"Alright, that's enough. I need to go take a bath," the Blue Silver Empress said, her face bright red as she pushed him away and straightened her disheveled clothes.
"Hehe, alright," Lin Yongming said with a satisfied smile.
The Blue Silver Empress quickly ran into the bathroom, muttering to herself, "That rascal Xiao Ming is getting bolder."
After her bath, at the Blue Silver Empress's insistence, Lin Yongming returned to his room to meditate and train.
The next morning, while having breakfast outside the hotel, Lin Yongming and the Blue Silver Empress noticed Tang Xiao and Tang Hao approaching.
"Brother Lin, good morning!"
"Brother Tang, join us for breakfast," Lin Yongming replied.
"No, we're here to say goodbye. We've been away from the sect for nearly three months, and it's time to head back," Tang Xiao said.
"That's right. My brother is close to breaking through to level 60, and we've settled Yuehua's arrangements. We were supposed to leave a month ago, but Yuehua didn't want us to go, so we stayed an extra month," Tang Hao added.
"I see. Safe travels, then," Lin Yongming nodded.
"Brother Lin, Yuehua hasn't been in Heaven Dou City for long and doesn't have many friends. If you and Blue Silver are still training here for a while, could you visit her sometime?" Tang Xiao asked somewhat awkwardly.
"Well…" Lin Yongming hesitated.
"Of course! I quite like Yuehua. It's no problem," the Blue Silver Empress chimed in.
"Thank you. If we meet again, I'll treat you to a feast," Tang Hao said gratefully.
"No need to be so polite. If we have time, we'll visit Yuehua. But can we even get into the Ethereal Moon Academy?" Lin Yongming asked.
"Don't worry, the Ethereal Moon Academy isn't too strict. As long as you dress formally, you can enter," Tang Xiao assured him.
"Exactly. If you have any trouble, just say you're there to see Tang Yuehua," Tang Hao added.
"Alright, we'll keep that in mind," Lin Yongming nodded.
"In that case, we'll be off. Until we meet again," Tang Xiao said, clasping his hands in farewell along with Tang Hao.
"Until we meet again," Lin Yongming and the Blue Silver Empress replied in kind.
With that, the two brothers left with a confident stride.
Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 191 on my patreon, go check it out and remember that if we reach the goal of 100 power stones I will publish the next chapter.