Chapter 99: Punishment

"Is there a place where I can go into seclusion to cultivate? I will come out in one month."

Fei Er Si Te brought Su Xi to a quiet room; it was empty and devoid of any furnishings. There was only a floor-to-ceiling window, hung with moon-white curtains.

Pulling back the curtains, one could see the vast, deep universe outside.

"This place is quite good." Su Xi looked around, then took a Spirit Stone platform out from her System Space.

This was something she had secretly hidden away while Rong Shou was away from Ling Shou Yuan.

It was also a small memento of her Master.

Fei Er Si Te said, "If you need anything, just call for me; I will be outside. You can also call me Xiao Yan."

"Mm." Su Xi sat on the Spirit Stone platform, closed her eyes, and began to cultivate.

The spiritual energy within the Spirit Stone platform entered her body in thin, wispy strands...

Fei Er Si Te opened the family group chat.

【Xiao Yi Yi: How did everyone do on the exam?】

【Xiaomiqi: Pretty good, I passed, so I'll spare your life.】

【Xiao Yi Yi: Thank you, Sister Xiaomiqi.】

【Xiao Zhaozhao: Hahahaha... I came in last on the exam, but! I have Fangfang, so I have neither merit nor fault.】

【Xiao Mumu: How can you say you have no merit? You successfully eliminated the biggest threat. No matter how bad we are, we're still only second to last.】

【Xiao Shiliu: I really envy you all for being able to take the exam; things here have become a tangled mess, who has time to come over?】

No one spoke anymore; they all went offline collectively...

Fei Er Si Te also exited the group chat; he had the most important task now.

His gaze turned toward the quiet room where Su Xi was, and a Crystal Ball appeared in his hand, showing the scene of Su Xi cultivating.

Suddenly, his figure vanished from within the spaceship.

When he reappeared, he was in a bamboo forest, where Xiao Mi was practicing her calligraphy with a brush.

Sitting beside her was a stunningly beautiful and gentle woman, holding a ruler in her hand; her expression was very calm, yet it made one feel fear from the bottom of their heart, not daring to get close.

"Mother, is there something you need by summoning your son?" Fei Er Si Te asked cautiously.

Su Yan glanced at him, then tossed a small mountain of durians in front of him. "This is the punishment proposed by Xiao Nannan, who took first place on the exam. If you aren't satisfied, go find her after you finish peeling the durians."

"This son would not dare to cause trouble for Sister." Fei Er Si Te honestly peeled the durians with his bare hands.

The God-grade durians had shells comparable to divine artifacts, making them truly difficult to open. Before long, several wounds had been added to his fingers.

"Xiao Mi, you wrote this character wrong, rewrite it." Su Yan took a new sheet of paper.

Xiao Mi said to Fei Er Si Te, "Brother, it doesn't hurt; Xiao Mi is here to suffer the punishment with you."

A sound-transmission talisman flew toward Su Yan.

She opened it casually, and a very pleasant, deep voice came from within—【Yan Yan, don't be too hard on the children.】

"It's Father," Xiao Mi said pleasantly surprised; usually, if her father pleaded for mercy, her mother would agree.

However, this time Su Yan burned the sound-transmission talisman directly. "Continue writing."

Fei Er Si Te said in a low voice, "Um, Xixi is by herself in the spaceship, and with the time difference, this son should take her to the Shen Ming Zhan Chang."

"What realm is she in that she can go to the Shen Ming Zhan Chang?" A little white mouse scurried over and stood in front of Fei Er Si Te.

"..." Fei Er Si Te replied, "Sister Xiao Zhaozhao, she is a Divine Weapon System; she needs to enter the battlefield to kill and level up."

"Then give me one," Xiao Zhaozhao replied.

Su Yan picked up the little white mouse. "Give you one of what?"

Xiao Zhaozhao immediately behaved. "Mother, Fangfang and I agreed to eat together."

"Then why did you come here?" Su Yan let her go.

Xiao Mi's dark, round eyes peered at Xiao Zhaozhao. "Sister, I'm hungry too."

Xiao Zhaozhao immediately transformed into human form, picked up Xiao Mi, and ran off. "Mother, I'll bring her back after we finish eating."

Su Yan put away the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, finally picking up the sheet Xiao Mi had just written on; it was crooked and distorted, some characters lying down, some crawling, some looking like they wanted to grow wings and fly away... This little girl was the youngest and also the hardest to manage.

Looking at Fei Er Si Te, who was still peeling durian skins, Su Yan asked, "Does Xiao Mi like her?"

Fei Er Si Te replied, "Yes! When Xiao Mi is with her, she is rarely well-behaved, and she doesn't even need incense to sleep."

Su Yan took a delicate pouch-shaped Storage Bag from the space ring on her finger. "Xiao Mi has caused her quite a bit of trouble; this is a small token of gratitude. Take this pile of durians back, and after you finish opening them, send them to Uncle Zu Lu."

"... Thank you, Mother." Fei Er Si Te hurriedly put all the durians into his space ring and left.

'Boom—' The spaceship in flight suddenly encountered an artillery attack.

The spaceship's navigation system immediately issued a sharp warning of an enemy attack and automatically entered defensive mode.

Su Xi hurriedly stopped her cultivation and went to the cockpit.

She looked at the fleet of spaceships appearing on the screen and asked Er Miao, 【What happened?】

【While the host was cultivating, the spaceship entered a White Hole. It has arrived at the Level 3 Civilization of the system world. Judging by the markings on the ships, it is the eighth-ranked Oretic Pirates of the system world's Level 3 Civilization. Host, do not worry; this spaceship has very powerful defensive functions.】

【Can I kill them?】

【You can. The host's skills can all be used; you can take this opportunity to practice.】

【Good.】

Su Xi headed toward the pirates' spaceship; after boarding, she killed every pirate she saw.

When Fei Er Si Te returned, he saw Su Xi killing the pirates, using area-of-effect skills one after another.

"Victory by Killing the Enemy!" Su Xi designated a range and used this skill; instantly, only she remained, and all the pirates within the range were dead.

"Wrath of Thunder!" Su Xi targeted a spaceship, and it was immediately blasted into fragments by a pillar of lightning from the sky!

The remaining pirates saw this and dared not linger, immediately preparing to retreat.

Su Xi continued her attack, "Area-of-effect skill, Thunderstorm Art!"

Countless thunderbolts chased after the pirate ships.

There were dozens of ships when they arrived, but in the end, only two airships escaped.

Fei Er Si Te appeared beside Su Xi and smiled, "You've worked hard. The purpose of my trip was to eliminate these pirates."

"Oh, is there a reward then?" Su Xi rubbed her hands together with a grin.

Fei Er Si Te gave her a beautiful pouch and a Storage Ring, "Here you go."

"A pouch? A ring!" Su Xi looked at the exquisitely crafted, natural-looking pouch and the Storage Ring, "I'm not overthinking this, am I?"

"A ring is just the most common and ordinary Storage Treasure; there are also earrings, necklaces, and the like, but they aren't as convenient as a ring. My mother asked me to give you the pouch as a thank-you gift for taking care of Xiao Mi; you should just accept it."

"……I don't want it." Su Xi returned both items to Fei Er Si Te, "It is my honor to take care of Xiao Mi, and besides, Xiao Mi has already given me many things. Even the fact that I can stand before you now is because of the Resurrection Card Xiao Mi gave me; I am the one who should be thanking him."