Chapter 49: The Meaning of the Shikon Jewel Shards, the Return of the Spirit Liquid

Of course, this is limited only to the current Gu Che and Lin Ruoxi; after all, they are merely shards, their utility is limited, and their growth potential is capped right there.

"Shikon Jewel shards?"

Su Mengyao's hand, which had originally intended to touch the purple crystal, instantly retracted, and the hand holding the box even trembled slightly.

She had watched *Wang Quanye*; although it was an old series and she should have forgotten many of the plot settings by now, the dimensional invasions had made revisiting various works one of her daily tasks.

*Wang Quanye* was one she had happened to rewatch recently.

Therefore, her memory of *Wang Quanye* was currently very deep.

She hadn't noticed it before, but looking at it now, the things in the box that looked like glass shards were truly identical to the shards of the Shikon Jewel.

But the problem was—

"Where did you get this thing?"

Su Mengyao was somewhat incredulous. Counting Ye Xuan's own Wangquan Baye template, Ye Xuan had already obtained three treasures from the Myriad Realms, hadn't he?

Was he the Child of Luck for this world? It had only been five months since the spiritual energy recovery, and he had already obtained three treasures from the Myriad Realms?

No, that wasn't right. If one counted from the time this guy obtained the Wangquan Baye template, he had essentially obtained one every month.

She would let the Silly Girl slide; although she also didn't know where Ye Xuan had obtained her, the Silly Girl was too special. Even if she wanted to know, it wasn't appropriate to ask too much. But the Shikon Jewel was different. Never mind that it was just a shard; even a complete Shikon Jewel couldn't compare to the Silly Girl.

She felt no psychological pressure at all when asking.

Moreover, she was genuinely curious. Nowadays, the treasures from the Myriad Realms that appeared in reality basically appeared in the real world in their complete forms. This was the first time she had seen one appear in the form of shards.

If there were shards, then what about the complete Shikon Jewel? Wouldn't it also be shattered for some reason, just like in *Wang Quanye*, requiring one to go and collect the shards bit by bit?

"Found it in the 【Mist-Hidden Mountain Range】 of the Hangcheng Nature Reserve."

"But no other shards were discovered."

"So I cannot determine if the carrier of the complete Shikon Jewel that manifested in reality was shattered from the very beginning, with the vast majority of the shards cleared away before the spiritual energy recovery, leaving only one shard that fell into the valley and went unnoticed; or if the Shikon Jewel only manifested a single shard."

Ye Xuan said indifferently.

He had checked the 【Mist-Hidden Mountain Range】, and there was only this one Shikon Jewel shard.

Therefore, he could not determine whether the Shikon Jewel had manifested in reality in its complete form, with the chosen carrier simply shattering at the start, leaving only one shard in the valley; or if the Shikon Jewel had appeared in reality as shards from the start.

But regardless of whether it was the former or the latter, it represented one result: the Shikon Jewel was already shattered.

Someone had counted the shards of the Shikon Jewel in *Wang Quanye*; there were 24 of them. This meant that in the best-case scenario, 24 people or creatures other than humans would obtain Shikon Jewel shards; of course, it was also possible that some people or mutated beasts had obtained more.

If the result was bad and the number of shards was greater than 24, it would be quite troublesome.

It was impossible for Great Xia to expend such vast manpower and material resources to search for so many Shikon Jewel shards.

"Why are you giving it to me?"

Su Mengyao had a headache; clearly, she had also thought of this point.

But fortunately, this didn't fall within the scope of her work. She would just summarize and report it to the higher-ups later and let them figure out a solution themselves.

In any case, it was impossible for them to hand the task to her, and she wouldn't take it if they did.

However, why did Ye Xuan give the Shikon Jewel shard to her?

"Repayment for the spirit liquid. I don't like owing favors."

Ye Xuan said in a flat tone.

Su Mengyao curled her lips.

"Why calculate things so clearly..."

She muttered softly, but didn't say anything more.

"Alright, you can go."

The spirit liquid had been received, and the Shikon Jewel shard had been given away; naturally, there was no need to keep the guest any longer.

Ye Xuan turned and walked toward Lin Miao, who had been standing quietly to the side. The young girl was still holding the insulated lunch box, and seeing him walk over, her eyes lit up slightly.

"Thank you."

Ye Xuan took the insulated box, thanked Lin Miao, and said to her:

"If you are free tomorrow morning, you can come over; I will help you guide your potential."

Although Ye Xuan, having the Rat Shu Shu Fu Zhou, could directly manifest characters from *Cooking Master Boy* and *Food Wars! * to cook for him, it would be a bit of a waste to use the Rat Shu Shu Fu Zhou for this aspect when Lin Miao was available.

However, Ye Xuan also sensed that Lin Miao seemed to harbor some special affection for him; perhaps it was his illusion, but regardless of whether it was or not, he had no intention of accepting it.

In his eyes, Lin Miao was simply too well-protected by her family, so after spending a long time with a person of the opposite sex, she had developed some feelings that hadn't existed before.

This kind of feeling would disappear very easily.

But wanting Lin Miao to become his chef was real, and Ye Xuan didn't intend to enjoy the dishes Lin Miao made with peace of mind while giving nothing in return.

Although it seemed a bit strange to use the power of the Hogyoku to guide a chef's potential, Ye Xuan also wanted to know to what level Lin Miao's culinary skills would break through once her potential was guided.

"Oh, okay."

Lin Miao blinked. She didn't care what Ye Xuan meant by guiding her potential; she just felt that Ye Xuan was inviting her, and she felt quite happy inside.

"Love-struck brain."

Su Mengyao rolled her eyes and complained.

Before, it had just been teasing, but now she could be 100% certain that Lin Miao had truly fallen for him.

But thinking about it carefully, it wasn't strange. Ye Xuan's face was indeed handsome enough, his strength was strong enough, and his luck was ridiculously good—being able to obtain three treasures from the Myriad Realms. It was perfectly normal for Lin Miao to be moved.

The problem was, Ye Xuan looked like he only treated Lin Miao as an ordinary friend, with absolutely nothing special about it.

And considering Ye Xuan's mature personality and the special nature of his family, she was skeptical about whether Lin Miao could conquer Ye Xuan.

"Hmph hmph, bleh—"

Upon hearing the complaint, Lin Miao not only didn't feel shy, but instead stuck her tongue out at Su Mengyao, her face full of "I'm happy with it."

If she was love-struck, so be it. As long as she was happy, that was enough.

The current Lin Miao had already clarified her own heart and understood that Ye Xuan had no interest in romance; but so what?

Romance was a matter for two people, but liking someone was a matter for one person alone.

As long as she was happy herself, wasn't that enough?

Seeing that Lin Miao was not only not shy but also provoking her, Su Mengyao couldn't help but clench her fists a little tighter. Then, as if thinking of something, she glanced at the Silly Girl following behind Ye Xuan, and a mischievous smile curled the corners of her mouth.

"Don't you get beaten by a mobile phone."

Lin Miao's originally happy expression stiffened.

Su Mengyao immediately laughed triumphantly. Just as she was about to tease her a couple more times, she heard Ye Xuan's somewhat helpless voice.

"My hearing isn't so bad that I can't hear your conversation from such a short distance."

Lin Miao and Su Mengyao's faces turned red in a "whoosh," and they quickened their pace to walk out the door in unison.

What on earth were they talking about!

Ye Xuan glanced at the direction in which the two had left and couldn't help but sigh.

What kind of thoughts were they having to think that he would fall for "Silly Girl"?

No, strictly speaking, Silly Girl couldn't even be considered a mobile phone now. After all, her power originated from the Rat Shu Shu Fu Zhou; she should be called an action figure.

His desires didn't go so far as to make him do such a thing.

(End of chapter)