novelhk Chapter 56 Money is time!
Chapter 56 Money is time!
In a secluded courtyard of the Xiao family, Xiao Xun'er sat alone in her room, her chin resting on her hand, her gaze drifting somewhat boredly out the window.
"Young Miss, the Xiao family is gathering at the martial arts arena. Shouldn't we go take a look? Maybe we'll find clues about the ancient jade?" Ling Ying's voice came from the shadows.
"That's Brother Yuhao teaching the Xiao family's protective formation. It's not appropriate for us to go and watch. Brother Xiao Yan will tell me what happened when he comes back."
At this point, a look of resentment appeared on Xiao Xun'er's face.
"Brother Xiao Yan would rather bully Cousin Xiao Yu than go shopping with me. If he doesn't explain himself properly when he gets back, hmph!"
As the sun began to set, Huo Yuhao had already begun to teach the Xiao family the three formations he had developed: one for defense, one for offense, and one to confuse the enemy.
After assigning tasks for the next day's drills, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Yan were talking with several elders.
"It must have been tough on you, Yuhao." The elder gazed at Huo Yuhao's face with a complex expression, still feeling regretful.
"If only Yuhao had the blood of the Xiao family."
"It's what I should do," Huo Yuhao replied.
"No, this shouldn't be your responsibility. We old folks are ashamed!" the elder sighed.
"By the way, Yuhao, your bracelet looks exceptionally beautiful. What material is it made of?" Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit tense, the Third Elder changed the subject. He stroked the bracelet on his wrist, which was entirely golden, and his fingers lingered between the two blue gemstones set on the front of the bracelet.
"This bracelet is made entirely of refined gold and inlaid with spirit jade."
"What?"
Upon hearing this, the elders looked up in disbelief and counted the number of bracelets on their fingers. Their expressions changed drastically, and they all clutched their hearts, their faces contorted in pain.
"So much refined gold and spirit jade? Heavens! Our Xiao family is going bankrupt!"
"Elders, please rest assured, these were all obtained through my and Xiao Yan's training and were exchanged at the Mittel Auction House. No family assets were used."
"That shouldn't be so extravagant!" The elder pounded his chest, struggling to breathe.
"Haha, after all, it's meant to be part of our Xiao family's heritage, so spending a little money is fine!" Xiao Zhan said with a smile, trying to smooth things over.
"Is that just a little bit?" the Grand Elder roared. "Yuhao, if this money were converted into resources to support your and Xiao Yan's cultivation, they could probably at least break through to the Dou Ling realm!"
"Well..." Huo Yuhao wanted to continue explaining.
"It's all your fault for not setting a good example as the clan leader!" The First Elder suddenly turned his attention to Xiao Zhan, who was trying to smooth things over, and glared at him angrily.
"Come on! Follow us back to the council chamber to handle some business!"
Watching the elders "escort" a sullen-looking Xiao Zhan away in a hurry, a black line quietly slid down Huo Yuhao's forehead.
Beside him, Xiao Yan weighed the refined gold bracelet in his hand and complained, "Is this the legendary 'time is money'? Even if we sent them all out mining, we wouldn't earn this much money from the little bit of practice time we saved, right?"
"And where did we get all this stuff from?"
"The collections of those people from the Izumo Empire, and the pile of junk weapons that Senior Furukawa didn't want."
"Oh, what a pity, I quite liked that shimmering short sword." Xiao Yan put the bracelet into his storage ring and said with a hint of regret.
"We still have plenty of moonstone; we can make more."
After several days of practice, the Xiao family members were able to form formations on their own without Huo Yuhao's constant guidance.
Therefore, Huo Yuhao stopped going to the training ground to instruct them every day and started playing "Minecraft" in his own mental sea.
……
That afternoon, a light snow fell in Wutan City. Xiao Yan was idly strolling along a relatively bustling street with Xiao Xun'er when two familiar figures came into view.
"Yuhao? Little Fairy Doctor?" Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised.
Huo Yuhao nodded slightly, while Little Fairy Doctor beside him smiled brightly: "Xiao Yan, Xun'er, what a coincidence! You're shopping too?"
"Brother Yuhao, Sister Xian'er, hello!" Xiao Xun'er greeted them warmly. Then she left Xiao Yan behind and started chatting with Little Fairy Doctor.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Yan's eyes met in the air, and they both understood the helplessness in each other's eyes at being dragged along to "accompany" them.
After strolling around for a while, the two girls were quickly attracted by the exquisite jewelry in the window of a nearby jewelry store. They went inside hand in hand, leaving Huo Yuhao and Xiao Yan standing outside.
"What have you been up to lately? Haven't seen you blacksmithing in ages." Xiao Yan nudged Huo Yuhao with his elbow, lowering his voice with a hint of boasting, "I've recently figured out something really cool!"
"Oh, Xiao Yanzi has started doing research too?" Even when he was out playing with Xiao Yixian, Huo Yuhao's mind was always occupied with his own "game" in his spiritual sea, so he always had a feeling of being absent-minded.
Xiao Yan didn't care, chuckled, and instantly concealed his near-Dou Shi aura, appearing only at the third stage of Dou Qi: "Yuhao, guess where my Dou Qi went?"
Huo Yuhao was finally drawn to Xiao Yan, and slightly projected a portion of his mind to sense the aura emanating from Xiao Yan, and understood.
"simulation?"
"Tch, boring." Disappointment flashed across Xiao Yan's face for a moment after Huo Yuhao saw through him instantly, but it was quickly replaced by excitement: "How about that? Pretty low-key, right? The ultimate trick of playing dumb to fool others! Just imagine, everyone thinks you're a weakling, but then you unleash your power at the crucial moment...tsk tsk..."
Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment, then immediately concealed his aura, hiding it at the level of the third stage of Dou Qi: "Hmm, it does have its merits. It can confuse the enemy in battle, making them mistakenly believe that you have been seriously injured, thus causing them to be careless."
"Damn, I've been studying this Concealing Breath Technique for almost a week, and you learned it in one glance?" Xiao Yan didn't want to talk anymore, so he squatted down and drew circles on the snow.
"I've recently been working on spirit runes for higher-level magical artifacts in my spiritual sea..."
At the same time, a highly discordant, greasy voice interrupted the two girls' shopping.
"My two young beauties, I am Liu Xi, a first-grade alchemist. May I ask if we can make your acquaintance?"
Inside the jewelry shop, a young man dressed in fine clothes, his face pale and unsteady, blocked Xiao Xun'er and Little Fairy Doctor's path, his eyes greedily scanning the two women. He made no attempt to conceal his lewdness. Behind him followed two guards, their auras hovering around the Dou Shi level.
Xiao Xun'er's cold eyes swept over Liu Xi as if he were a speck of dust, and she pulled Little Fairy Doctor away. But Little Fairy Doctor stopped in her tracks. She looked at Liu Xi's face, which was full of desire, and then at the first-grade alchemist badge on his chest. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"You have shattered my beautiful image of alchemists."
Before she could finish speaking, Little Fairy Doctor flipped her wrist and a puff of powder was thrown at Liu Xi's face!
"Ugh—!" Liu Xi was caught off guard, feeling a tingling sensation on his face, followed by a burning pain! He covered his face in terror, fell to the ground, and let out a pig-like scream. In just a few breaths, his once decent-looking face swelled up at a visible speed.