Chapter 85: A Couple of Things
Chapter 85: A Couple of Things
“Don’t be rude…” Sister Zhao glanced at her assistant and admonished her gently but firmly.
The girl had been with her for many years, and their bond was strong. She usually knew her place, so Ling Yi’s baffling actions today must have pushed her over the edge.
Frankly, Sister Zhao was skeptical too.
If magical artifacts could be made so easily, they wouldn’t be sold for such astronomical prices.
Moreover, the creation of magical artifacts was something Sister Zhao and her assistant viewed as sacred.
One didn’t need to burn incense and bathe first, but at least it required seclusion in a studio, undisturbed.
No one just whipped out a carving knife at a dinner table in front of others, made a few motions, and—poof—it was done!
If it were that simple, they could ditch all other business. Younger Brother could craft artifacts, Big Sister could sell them, and they’d be rolling in money!
The world had no shortage of wealthy people needing protection.
Ling Yi didn’t seem bothered. He smiled at the assistant. “Miss, are you at the Acupoint Opening Realm?”
The assistant looked at him. “Yes! What, you want to spar with me? I’m no match for you…”
Never mind his glorious feat of defeating Zhao Tianping in public with a mysterious woman, or that night at the Imperial Garden. Just the fact that he had beaten several treacherous Second Order juniors to a pulp while his own acupoints were sealed made the assistant painfully aware of the gap between them.
“I don’t want to spar,” Ling Yi chuckled, turning to Sister Zhao. “Sister, put this on.”
Hesitantly, Sister Zhao put the jade pendant around her neck and looked at Ling Yi with confusion.
Ling Yi told the assistant, “Punch Sister in the face. Use all your strength.”
The assistant: “…”
This isn’t how you get someone killed, is it?
She couldn’t help but glare at Ling Yi.
But Sister Zhao seemed to believe it a little now. She looked at her assistant. “Listen to him, girl. It’s fine.”
The assistant sighed inwardly. Sister, why are you acting like a kid too?
She threw a soft, weak punch toward Sister Zhao’s face.
Her fist nearly touched Sister Zhao’s cheek, but nothing happened.
Ling Yi frowned. “I said use your spiritual energy properly. What was that? Giving Sister a facial massage?”
The assistant’s eyes widened angrily. “You do it then!”
Ling Yi shook his head. “Fine, I will.”
He channeled a bit of spiritual energy, formed a fist, and struck toward Sister Zhao’s face.
Whoosh!
A burst of fist aura shot from Ling Yi’s fist.
The assistant jumped, gasping. “You—”
Boom!
A powerful force erupted from Sister Zhao’s body—more precisely, from the jade pendant around her neck.
Then, Ling Yi’s punch was stopped by an invisible barrier about twenty or thirty centimeters from Sister Zhao’s face.
Both Sister Zhao and her assistant were stunned.
“This… this really is a magical artifact?” the assistant muttered.
Ling Yi said, “I used about peak Acupoint Opening Realm strength just now. For this jade, that’s no pressure at all. So it can fully defend against any attack from the Acupoint Opening Realm, anytime, anywhere.”
“However, Meridian Unlocking or higher attacks will damage it to some extent. The jade will develop cracks.”
“If it’s an assassination attempt by a Dao-Entry Grade expert, it can only block one hit at most.”
“First, the material quality is limited. Second, my own abilities are still limited too. But no worries. Later, when I find better materials and improve my skills, I’ll make Sister a new one!”
Sister Zhao stared at Ling Yi, murmuring, “This is incredible! I’ve never seen such a thing before… and I never imagined I’d be wearing one.”
Her eyes grew slightly red as she spoke.
The assistant glanced at her and said, “Sister, let me try. I’m not that strong. I won’t damage it…”
Sister Zhao glared. “Buzz off! Where were you earlier? Don’t cause trouble. My brother said it wears out. I asked you to try before and you didn’t. Too late now!”
“Please, Sister? Just one punch?” the assistant actually started to whine.
“You can whine?” Sister Zhao gaped at the girl who had been with her for years, eyes wide. This was a first.
“Just one,” the assistant grinned.
“Alright, fine. But be gentle! You crack it, you pay!” Sister Zhao looked pained.
Beaming, the assistant summoned all her strength and threw a punch.
Boom!
That force emerged again, but much weaker than before.
Then the assistant yelped and stumbled back several steps. Looking at her reddened fist, she said with lingering fear, “It can rebound force too?”
Ling Yi glanced at her. “No. You’re just too weak.”
The assistant felt like she had taken ten thousand points of damage.
That stung!
She quickly adjusted her mindset to console herself—good thing my main job is assistant, not bodyguard.
After crafting a simple defensive magical artifact for Sister Zhao, Ling Yi settled a minor concern for the moment. He bid Sister Zhao farewell, lugged two large suitcases, and got into an ordinary car.
Seeing Ling Yi disguised as a man in his thirties, Su Qingqing couldn’t help but comment, “Why so ugly this time? Even worse than that middle-aged look before.”
Ling Yi leaned back in the seat lazily. “Ugly is good. Fewer troubles.”
Su Qingqing: “…”
The car drove into an upscale villa area in Capital City. Ling Yi asked in surprise, “You moved?”
Su Qingqing glanced at him. “The old place was known to too many people. Since you don’t want anyone to know you’re back this time, we had to switch spots. How’s the environment here?”
Ling Yi looked at the towering trees lining the community roads and nodded. “Nice. How much?”
Su Qingqing smiled. “Not bad. Just over eighty million. Normally it’d be over a hundred million. It was developed by Sister Qin’s family, so we got a huge discount. The house is under Yun’er’s name. Oh, the biggest perk here is that owner information is highly confidential, and the security is top-notch in Capital City…”
“Sister Qin?” Ling Yi looked at Su Qingqing.
Su Qingqing nodded. “Yeah, Qin Jiuyue. Aren’t you two good friends?”
Ling Yi: “…”
Upon arriving home, Ling Yun shrieked and rushed into Ling Yi’s arms.
“Brother, you’re back!”
Ling Yi hugged his sister and patted her back. “Crazy girl, missed me?”
“Yeah, missed you!”
Beaming, Ling Yun dragged Ling Yi into the living room. “Brother, let me show you your room…”
Ling Yi sighed. “Can I put my things down first?”
Ling Yun eyed the huge backpack behind him and giggled sheepishly.
Later, the three sat on the spacious living room sofa, chatting casually.
Ling Yi looked at them. “I came back this time for two things. One, to handle some business. Two, to leave you both with some items. I’ll be leaving again soon.”
Ling Yun’s little face fell, and she said somewhat gloomily, “We still have to go?”
Ling Yi reached out and patted his sister’s head, saying, “Yes, I still have unfinished business.”
Su Qingqing glanced at him and softly said, “Dad might not be in such a hurry.”
Ling Yi looked at her. “It’s not entirely because of Dad.”
Ling Yun sat silently to the side, a sad look in her eyes, murmuring softly, “If only Dad were still here, how good that would be!”
Yes, if the old man were still here, how good would that be?
Ling Yi said, “Let’s not talk about this. Ling Yun, go get those jade pieces I gave you last time. I’ll make something for you.”
Ling Yun was stunned for a moment, then stood up and obediently went to fetch those things.
Ling Yi looked at Su Qingqing. “Yours too.”
Su Qingqing also stood up and went back to her room to get them.
A short while later, the two girls sat on either side, watching intently as Ling Yi used a carving knife to scratch lines on those already quite exquisitely carved jade pieces.
They both looked pained.
Ling Yun secretly glanced at Su Qingqing—What is my brother doing?
Su Qingqing also glanced at Ling Yun—I don’t know.
Ling Yun—This is such a waste, isn’t it? Has my brother gone crazy?
Su Qingqing—Seems like it.
For as long as Ling Yi concentrated on etching the Formation Array, the two girls silently communicated with their eyes.
Only when Ling Yi handed the first jade piece to Ling Yun did their silent eye conversation finally stop. Then their two heads leaned together to examine it closely.
“It seems… there’s no change?” Ling Yun muttered.
“If you look carefully, you can still see some lines on it. What is this? A Formation Array?” After all, Su Qingqing had seen more.
After Ling Yi finished explaining, their reactions weren’t much different from that of Sister Zhao’s little assistant—they were both a bit incredulous.
Until they tried it themselves—
“Wow, this is so fun?”
“Let me try!”
“Let me try a couple more times. Ouch, it can even bounce back?”
“…”
Ling Yi spent most of the night turning all those jade pieces into low-level Magical Artifacts.
And Su Qingqing and Ling Yun finally accepted the fact that Ling Yi was an Artifact Forger.
Becoming an Artifact Forger had always been Ling Yun’s dream. So, after discovering her brother could actually make Magical Artifacts, the little girl immediately pestered Ling Yi, wanting to learn.
For his own sister, Ling Yi naturally held nothing back. He wrote down some simple knowledge points and left them for her.
At the same time, after seeking the Enchantress’s opinion, he left them that Meridian Unlocking Cultivation Method and the brand-new Pressure Point Strike level Cultivation Method the Enchantress had created in half an hour…
Finally, Ling Yi left one of the two large boxes of Spirit Stones.
He never really expected Su Qingqing and his sister to cultivate to a very high level, but now that there was an opportunity, why not?
At least, after improving their cultivation, they could have more self-protection abilities and also prolong their lives and delay aging.
Look at Qian Luoying. Someone in her thirties looked like she was just over twenty. It wasn’t because of any makeup technique or beauty filter—she really was that young.
After passing the Cultivation Methods to the two girls, Ling Yi patiently explained them.
In truth, both girls were extremely intelligent. Previously, they just hadn’t made much progress due to restrictions in their cultivation talent.
Now, with the enhancement of the Cultivation Methods given by the Enchantress, their original shortcomings were well compensated for.
He believed it wouldn’t be long before the changes in the two would absolutely shock everyone who knew them.
Just as the Enchantress had said, things like Pressure Point Strike and Meridian Unlocking were child’s play.
As long as there was a suitable method and enough resources, rushing to the peak of Meridian Unlocking overnight wasn’t some incredible miracle.
So Ling Yi was very expectant.
Early the next morning, Ling Yun, who had slept very late, was still deep in slumber when Ling Yi got up, ready to leave.
“Won’t you stay a couple more days?” Su Qingqing, who had forced herself to stay awake all night, looked at Ling Yi, a touch of reluctance in her eyes.
“No. I’ll go back to the old house in Spring City for a while first, then I need to go search for various cultivation resources. Qin Hao and Gu Tong probably already know I’m back. I won’t see them this time. I’ll meet them next time when I find good materials and can help them make some good defensive Magical Artifacts. They’re also very busy now. Meeting would just distract them.”
“Oh, Vice-Principal Zhang and Vice-Principal Meng have returned to Zongwu!” Su Qingqing said, looking at Ling Yi. “Vice-Principal Zhang has now become the new principal, and Vice-Principal Meng has become the executive vice-principal. Dad’s ideal can continue. Later, Ling Yun can also enter Zongwu without worry.”
Ling Yi was stunned for a moment, a flicker of pleasant surprise showing in his eyes. “That’s great news!”
Su Qingqing said, “Naturally it’s good news. So you don’t need to be in such a hurry. Lu Qingming isn’t so easy to deal with. No matter what, I believe Dad wouldn’t blame you. You’ve already done more than enough.”
Ling Yi nodded. “I understand. But to live comfortably in the future, I must work hard now.”
Su Qingqing couldn’t help but smile, while a tinge of bitterness also welled up in her heart.
Only this kind of bone-deep hatred could make the lazy Ling Yi strive so desperately.
No one wants to live in hatred all day long.
Unless the enemy is gone.