Chapter 522: Rejecting Me, All of You? Can We Still Be Friends?

Yujing, Zhilan Garden.

Chen Shu intercepted the little cat-girl, Chao Qingqing, as she was trotting past, scooped her up in his arms, and walked toward the house, asking, "Taozi Daren, did you miss us?"

Taozi neither cried nor made a fuss, nor did she show any signs of dissatisfaction; she let him carry her, leaned back against his shoulder, stared at her mistress behind them, and answered honestly when she heard his question:

"I did~"

"How did Taozi Daren do on her exams this semester? Was it all A's?"

Chen Shu could clearly feel the little cat-girl's body stiffen, and even her fluffy, swaying tail went perfectly still.

"There... there was one subject that wasn't."

"Which subject?"

"Art."

"Oh! Taozi Daren has no artistic talent!" Chen Shu walked into the house with her and said with a smile, "Why didn't you take after me? Just like Qingqing, the worst subject Qingqing had when she was little was also art..."

"Qingqing was too~"

He could tell the little cat-girl had already set her mind at ease.

Chen Shu grinned and continued to ask, "Did you learn drawing, singing, or dancing this semester?"

"Drawing..."

"Let me tell you, back in the day, Qingqing could only draw by copying; if you asked her to draw on her own, she wouldn't, she'd just hand in a blank sheet." Chen Shu said, then paused, "The singing class was even more incredible; she would keep her mouth shut and stare eye-to-eye with the teacher, it was so silly..."

"So silly..."

Taozi subconsciously wanted to repeat it and wanted to laugh along, but when she lifted her eyes to glance, she saw her mistress following behind, staring coldly at her and Chen Shu.

"Hiss~"

The little cat-girl decisively shut her mouth.

Arriving at the sofa and sitting down, the little cat-girl finally left Chen Shu's embrace, ran to sit to the side, and while letting Chen Shu play with her ears and tail, she secretly glanced at her mistress while answering Chen Shu's questions.

"Have you been studying hard?"

"I have."

"Have you been keeping an eye on Xiaoxiao?"

"I have."

"Has Xiaoxiao been refusing to sleep?"

"I have... no!"

"Smack!"

"Ouch~"

"Were you not listening to what I was asking at all?"

"I have!!"

"Look at you... I told you, don't just learn those life experiences from Senior Xiaoxiao, but you wouldn't listen."

"I listened!!"

"Oh my! And you're being fierce!"

"I'm not!"

The little cat-girl answered very firmly. After a few seconds, she glanced secretly at Chen Shu and her mistress again, her voice soft: "You two have been gone for so long again..."

"Many human children whose parents work away from home are like this."

"Are all like this..."

"That's right."

"Will you... will you go away again?" Taozi glanced secretly at her mistress, remembering that what her mistress said didn't count, so she turned around again and glanced at Chen Shu; those big eyes were truly much larger and much brighter than those of a human child.

"At the very least, I will accompany Taozi Daren until third grade."

"Third grade~"

"What grade are you in next semester?"

"Second grade."

"It really is different once you've studied; the logic in Taozi Daren's speech has become much clearer."

"Then what about after third grade?"

"We are going to save the world."

"Save the world~"

"Yes."

Chen Shu pinched her fluffy tail and shook it around haphazardly; his behavior was very childish, but his tone was very patient: "It's not that Qingqing doesn't want to accompany Taozi Daren, it's because this world has run into some trouble, so Qingqing and I have to go protect the world, and also protect Taozi Daren, so that Taozi Daren can grow up healthy and smoothly into a mature, intelligent, and respected higher lifeform."

"Mm..."

Taozi turned her head to glance at her mistress again, her eyes sparkling.

Ning Qing felt it was a bit childish, but facing her gaze, she still nodded:

"That is indeed the case."

"Wow~"

The little cat-girl couldn't help but exclaim in Surprise.

"When we left, was Taozi Daren more reluctant to part with me, or more reluctant to part with Qingqing?"

"Qingqing~"

"How heartless!"

"So heartless~"

"I'm so sad..."

"So sad~"

"You're even copying me, I'm even sadder!"

"Even sadder~"

"Smack!"

"Ouch~"

The little cat-girl rubbed her small head; having been hit, she acted as if she hadn't been hit at all, glanced left and right at the air, and completely forgot about it.

Chen Shu couldn't help but look at Xiaoxiao.

The little girl received his gaze and couldn't help but roll her eyes, aiming them out the window.

Next door, wild grass kept flying up and falling back down; it was the neighbor who had just returned. Her courtyard was already overgrown with weeds, and she was frantically weeding. The little girl seemed able to imagine the neighbor's appearance through these rising and falling grasses.

Life seemed to have returned to how it was before.

Chen Shu continued to research Spells, especially the Blazing Sun World-Extinguishing Divine Art; he had a good idea for improving it.

It was a pity he couldn't find the Sect Master to share and discuss it—

Ever since the Tribulation-Responding Buddha and the Reed God jointly suppressed the calamity in Nanzhou, the Reed God had detached from the body of the Nameless Person and had been in a certain Forbidden Land within the Lanya territory. During this process, this Forbidden Land was open, and many Ninth Stage or Eighth Stage Peak Cultivators had gone to that Forbidden Land to borrow Divine Power for cultivation.

This included the newly ascended Spirit Sect Sect Master, the first few Personal Disciples of the Sword Sect Sword Master, and even the current Yi Emperor.

This war would not only require the super-new Ninth Stage cultivators of Chen Shu's generation, but also the old Ninth Stage cultivators of the Sword Master and Ling Sect Old Sect Master's generation, as well as the new generation of Ninth Stage cultivators like the current Spirit Sect Sect Master and the Sword Master's eldest disciple who ascended to the Ninth Stage last year.

It was a pity that there were no figures like Cao Ci and the Tribulation-Responding Bodhisattva among the new generation of Ninth Stage cultivators; at most, they were only on par with the talent of the contemporary Sword Master and Ling Sect Old Sect Master.

Chen Shu had no choice but to bury himself in research, going to Nanzhou to test things whenever he had time.

Now his flight speed had already exceeded the Hunter-34, and if he flew at full speed, it wouldn't take long to reach Nanzhou.

Before he knew it, his cultivation had reached the Ninth Tier Peak.

He had barely managed to catch up to Zhang Suannai, but after the Ninth Tier Peak, there were no Spirit Locks, and cultivation became extremely difficult and slow, though not impossible to progress further. How much further Zhang Suannai had gone with the help of the mark, he did not know.

A cool afternoon.

The warm sunlight first passed through the persimmon tree outside the window, which had just sprouted tender, lush green buds, and then shone through the window, casting dappled light onto the desk.

Chen Shu sat seriously at the desk, and professional equipment projected a three-dimensional, complex Spell structure. To be accurate, it was only a part of the structure, but those dense, numerous Runes were already so small that they were invisible to the naked eye of an ordinary person. An ordinary person could only see light in the air, but in Chen Shu's eyes, the millions of Runes in this area were clearly visible.

Furthermore, due to his high level of understanding and deep modifications, he only needed to glance at it to know clearly what it was, without feeling a headache.

"Is it done?"

Chen Shu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the final modification made based on the last test in Nanzhou; if no new problems popped up, it would be considered finished.

"Emmm..."

He needed to find someone to test it.

Chen Shu took out his Mobile Phone.

Almost simultaneously, the Mobile Phone buzzed.

Nameless Person: Telling everyone, I've also ascended to the Ninth Stage!

Suddenly Silent: So fast

Suddenly Silent: Only half a year later than me

Suddenly Silent: Thinking about it, it really wasn't easy for the two of us, we finally caught up to them /tears

Nameless Person: Yeah.

Chen Shu typed casually—

Qingcai Keke: Congratulations, congratulations

Brother Meng had ascended to the Ninth Stage when they were about to finish the Nanzhou campaign; if one calculated carefully, it was quite reasonable—when Chen Shu was Ninth Stage, he was Eighth Stage. Under the influence of the mark, it took everyone almost only a year to ascend from the Eighth Stage to the Ninth Stage. Brother Meng used the Imperial Secret Technique, so it should have been even faster. They only went to Nanzhou for training three months after Chen Shu ascended to the Ninth Stage, and the training took a year; as a result, Brother Meng only ascended to the Ninth Stage when it was almost over, which was already considered a bit slow.

He missed the training trip to Nanzhou.

At that time, the Nameless Person was only Seventh Stage. By comparison, it took the Nameless Person nearly two years to go from Seventh Stage to Ninth Stage; his cultivation speed was slightly faster, perhaps related to the benefits left behind by the Reed God, and also related to his Rest and Recovery Cycle Secret Technique.

Chen Shu typed rapidly—

Qingcai Keke: Everyone, I just finished modifying my Blazing Sun World-Extinguishing Divine Art and urgently need a test subject. Is anyone willing to accompany me on a trip to Nanzhou?

One minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

Three minutes passed.

No one replied.

Qingcai Keke: @All Members

Still no one replied.

As expected, fake is fake; it's fine for playing around, but it's useless at critical moments.

"It doesn't matter."

Chen Shu could start @ing them one by one.

Qingcai Keke: @Haoran @Zhong Miao @Qingdeng @Grandma @Luo Huaian @Eight-Pack Beauty @Jiang Lai

Haoran: Thanks for the invite, no.

Qingcai Keke: This is to save the world /pout

Haoran: Find someone else /smile

Zhong Miao: You should find Zhang Suannai.

Qingdeng: Amitabha, Junior Brother Xuanzhen is right, Qingcai Caike, you should still find Grandma.

Grandma: Why did you put me fourth?

Grandma Always Says: You look down on me!

Grandma Always Says: /points with a Sword

Grandma Always Says: Since you look down on me, why should I still go help you test the Sun Technique?

Just Call Me Luo Huaian: Busy

Qingcai Keke: You wouldn't be busy studying the Sutra of Controlling Men, would you?

Just Call Me Luo Huaian: It's useless /smile

Beauty with Eight-Pack Abs: Sorry, Senior Brother Chen, I've also been busy researching the Ninth Stage Sect-Controlling Secret Technique lately.

Jiang Lai: It's useless if I go, I'd just be a target.

"..."

Chen Shu was extremely helpless for a moment, and he couldn't figure it out.

What is wrong with these people?

Before, they wanted to gang up on him because he mocked them; how did they suddenly calm down after he reached the Ninth Tier Peak?

Qingcai Keke: @Suddenly Standing Silently

Qingcai Keke: Brother Meng, you missed the Nanzhou training before and lack combat experience. Come, let me make it up to you a little.

Suddenly Standing Silently: Brother Chen, stop trying to fool me.

Suddenly Standing Silently: That's not combat experience, that's the experience of being burned. Besides, I am handsome and dashing, I have an image to maintain.

Nameless Person: Is no one there?

Nameless Person: I can do it.

Qingcai Keke: You had better focus on stabilizing your realm.

Haoran: Go find those two Night People.

Grandma Always Says: Yes, yes, those two silly dogs are responsive to every request.

"Sigh..."

It seems this is the only way.

Chen Shu sighed helplessly, then opened WeChat.

A few minutes later—

One of the Night People sent him a video call. In the video, he was wrapped up like a mummy, feeling like he was only one breath away from death, with only his eyes exposed, staring at him.

At this moment, silence speaks louder than words.

The message box of the other Night Person initially kept showing "the other party is typing." After a few minutes, the prompt on the message box disappeared, but the message never came through.

Chen Shu could not help but fall into deep thought.