Chapter 536: Was I Overthinking It

"What grade are you in, Taozi Daren?"

Chen Shu pulled Taozi over again. It was a pity she had grown a bit, so she was no longer suitable to be held on his lap, so he just let her sit beside him, and while fiddling with her fluffy cat ears, he asked.

"Fifth grade."

"The second volume, right?"

"That's right."

"You're about to enter Youth School."

"That's right."

"You're a cultured little cat-girl now."

"That's right."

"You still have to study hard," Chen Shu said to her. "Our family is full of highly educated intellectuals: two from Yujing Academy, two from Ling'an Academy, and even that Zhang Suannai next door is from Ling'an Academy. Don't you go lowering our average diploma."

"I won't, I'm going to test into Ling'an Academy."

"Don't, test into Yujing Academy."

"Why?"

"Yujing Academy is a bit better."

"..."

The little cat-girl looked at him with her big eyes, then turned her head to look at her owner and Xiaoxiao beside her, falling into deep thought.

"Brother-in-law."

Just then, Xiaoxiao's voice came from the side, as if she were asking for credit: "I'm already a Doctor."

"When were you awarded the degree?"

"The second year after you left," the young girl stared at him and said. "After you left, once the New Year passed, the school awarded me my Doctoral Degree."

"That's amazing! Doesn't that make you the second Doctor in our family besides Chen Banxia? Better than both me and your sister!" Chen Shu paused, and seeing the young girl looking a bit puffed up with pride, he added fuel to the fire, "But with our Xiaoxiao being so amazing, it doesn't seem like such a big deal for the school to give you a Doctoral Degree."

"That's right."

The young girl immediately puffed up even more.

Seeing this, Chen Shu couldn't help but reveal a smile.

"Have you two had lunch?"

"Taozi Daren and I have already eaten."

"What did you eat?"

"I ate peppercorn mashed potatoes."

"And Taozi Daren?"

"Also peppercorn mashed potatoes."

"..."

"But I gave Taozi Daren two bottles of milk. Because Taozi Daren is currently growing, she needs to eat more protein to grow taller." The young girl caught a glimpse of her brother-in-law looking a bit speechless and hurriedly added.

"Isn't this your 'grow-tall' method?"

"That's right."

"Is it useful?"

"..."

The young girl suddenly fell silent.

"Haha, alright." Chen Shu laughed twice, then looked at Chen Banxia, "Dump that plate of shredded potatoes, and take us out for a good meal... Is that clay pot skewer place near you still open?"

"Okay, okay!"

Chen Banxia agreed immediately, then asked, "Which one are you talking about?"

"The one we ate at before."

"When?"

Chen Banxia blinked her eyes, as if asking him when he had snuck off to eat clay pot skewers in this area behind her back without calling her.

"When I was in college, freshman year, I think."

"Oh..."

Chen Banxia seemed to have just remembered, suddenly realizing, then said with regret: "It closed a long time ago. How many years ago was that? Ten years. But a few new skewer shops have opened around here. I've seen them online, and there's one that seems to taste pretty good."

"Ten years have already passed..."

"Haven't they?"

"Time flies so fast," Chen Shu couldn't help but sigh.

"Hasn't it? It's a good thing I've stayed eighteen, youthful and beautiful. A colleague even pursued me recently," Chen Banxia said with Joy.

"Then I've stayed twenty-two, doesn't that make me older than you?"

"Smack!"

"Alright! Let's go eat at that one!" Chen Shu made his decision and stood up to walk outside, "By the way, give me the details on that male colleague pursuing you, let me have some gossip!"

"Let's go, let's go..."

Chen Banxia followed along actively, bouncing and hopping.

She hadn't even wanted to order takeout, and was too lazy to even boil a bowl of noodles, but now that her younger brother had arrived, even going to a skewer shop several kilometers away to dine had become something wonderful.

Half an hour later—

A shop called Wutou Skewers.

This shop was also a chain. The interior was kept very clean, with a fresh, minimalist decor style. There was little oily smoke, and even the tables were free of grease. Having grown accustomed to the smoky, fiery atmosphere of ordinary skewer hotpot restaurants, seeing one so clean was quite pleasant.

Chen Banxia swept away her previous laziness and actively and proactively inserted a large handful of skewers upright into the pot, then used a cup to cover the bottom of the wooden sticks, striking the pose of a thoughtful older sister taking care of her younger brother and sister as they ate.

The little girl and the little cat-girl sat to the side, one holding two skewers of potatoes, the other holding two skewers of crispy sausages, idly stirring the water in the pot for fun.

Then, Chen Banxia began to talk about her male colleague...

Chen Shu listened with great interest while eating the skewers, feeling sorry for that male teacher in his heart—it was bad enough that he couldn't win the girl over, but he also had to be treated as a joke for her to feed to her relatives and friends; it was sigh-inducing.

Two days later, Zhilan Garden, seven o'clock in the evening.

Chen Shu lay on the sofa, quietly watching the news.

Tonight's national news used an entire segment to broadcast this war, which had begun without the world knowing but was affecting the survival of the entire Plane; the tone of the two anchors, a man and a woman, remained calm and professionally extreme, but if one looked closely, one would see that their expressions were also somewhat shaken.

The news script omitted a lot of content, such as the layout of the gods and the Withered Power that might continue to cause panic, only stating that a life-and-death battle belonging to the Ninth Stage had broken out between this Plane and another, that we had ultimately won, but that some people had also sacrificed themselves.

It focused on the fall of the Heavenly Palace, the Artificial Cultivators, the Green Demon Project, and the preparations made by various countries around the world for this.

It focused on the countries and the Ninth Stage Cultivators who participated in this war.

At the same time, in accordance with the personal wishes of Ning Qing and Chen Shu, the existence of the Secret Sect was not mentioned at all, nor was Chen Shu's decisive role; they were simply listed among the participants as ordinary combatants.

It focused on the sacrifices of the current Yi Emperor, the Prince of Jin, and the Ninth Stage Cultivators led by the Sword Master, the Sword King, the Sword Sect First Disciple, the Ling Sect Old Sect Master, the Ming Sect Sect Master, the Dao Head, and the Xinzheng Temple Abbot.

At the very end, there was a long list of names.

And at the very end, were the names of the fallen.

The anchors read them one by one, starting from the domestic ones; the first name was the current Emperor, and looking further down, every name was also incredibly familiar.

After reading only a few, the anchor was already choking up.

But they still had to continue reading.

Even when reading the names of the foreign fallen later on, their names were often thunderous to enthusiasts of ancient cultivation and high-level figures. Many had even been dragged online by netizens to fight remotely, comparing who was stronger with someone domestic, or had had conflicts with the domestic side, or had fought against Yiguo in wars many years ago; now, they were just cold names.

"Before setting out on the expedition, His Majesty said to the Prime Minister, 'I wish to offer my blood to the earth to exchange for eternal peace in the world.' No matter what threats they face, the Dayi Imperial Family has never retreated, the traditional cultivators of Dayi have never retreated. Every bit of peace and tranquility is because someone is bearing the burden for us. May we cherish this hard-won peace, not fail the sacrifices of our predecessors, cherish the memory of the martyrs, pay tribute to the heroes, continue to struggle, and forge ahead..."

Tonight, one does not know how many hearts will be shaken.

It is estimated that for a long time to come, major news outlets, online media, and social platforms will be occupied by this event.

The various official interviews, responses, memorial services, and state funerals, as well as the subsequent guesses and analyses by internet influencers, will likely last for a long time.

"Really annoying..."

Chen Shu sighed and shook his head to cast aside the distracting thoughts.

Almost at the same time, his Mobile Phone had already begun to vibrate, receiving greetings from many people.

"Sigh..."

Chen Shu looked distressed as he picked out the messages from Wei Lvshi, Chen Banxia, and several teachers, replying to them one by one with patience.

As for the others...

Chen Shu glanced at the little cat-girl playing with a game console next to him and tossed his Mobile Phone over: "Taozi, now I'm going to test the results of your cultural studies. There are many people on my phone asking after me; help me reply to them politely, and I'll check it later."

Taozi put down the game console and stared at him blankly.

The next period of time was as he had expected—

First was attending the memorial service and funeral of the Yi Emperor.

This was one of the rare Ninth Stage members of the Yiguo Imperial Family to have a memorial service and funeral held; most Imperial Ninth Stage members simply died quietly after their Spirit Decay, and the few who had proper funerals were those who died on the Battlefield.

Leaders of surrounding small countries basically all came; some countries that still remained under absolute monarchy even had their kings arrive in person to pay their respects to the Dayi Imperial Family.

In addition to the vassal states of Dayi, some countries that had gradually become less close and less respectful to the Dayi Imperial Family also solemnly sent their highest leaders. In this era where technology and thought were changing with each passing day, in this era where the Dayi Imperial Family had relinquished power and the Central Kingdom had turned into a constitutional monarchy, after many years, they once again felt the feeling of being awed by the Meng Yi Imperial Family.

Other major powers also sent important Messengers, but their leaders could not come because their own countries were also busy holding state funerals.

Then followed the funeral of the Ling Sect Old Sect Master.

For the several military Ninth Stage members and major sect Ninth Stage members who died in battle, as well as the Prince of Jin, the country also gave them high-standard state funeral treatment. However, top sects like the Ling Sect, which were equal in status to the Imperial Family in ancient times, had their own rituals, so they only enjoyed official obituaries, media reports, half-mast flags, and other treatments; as for the viewing of the remains, transport, burial, and memorial services, the Ling Sect was responsible for them itself.

Chen Shu, as the Ling Sect Saint Son about to become a god and the Vice Sect Master, naturally had to participate throughout the whole process; he was mainly responsible for receiving guests from other sects.

The number of people who came this time was dozens of times more than the last Sect Master succession.

Not only did people from major sects, religious factions, and partners come, but there were also Lingzhou Government officials; at least most of the Ling Sect's Outer Sect Disciples had returned, and even the masses from Lingzhou and even other provinces had spontaneously rushed over to see the Old Sect Master off.

There were too many people; the vast Yuding Mountain almost couldn't hold them.

In short, it took a lot of Chen Shu's effort.

When the funeral of the Ling Sect Old Sect Master was finished, the funerals of the Sword Sect Sword Master and the First Disciple were also basically completed. Zhang Suannai, as the only remaining Ninth Stage member of the Sword Sect, naturally became the next Sword Master of the Sword Sect, though the inauguration ceremony had not yet been held.

With the funeral preceding it, it is estimated that everything will be kept simple.

I wonder if she is sad...

Chen Shu picked up his Mobile Phone and was just about to comfort her when he happened to receive a message from her.

Grandma Always Says: Calling Chen Dog @Qingcai Keke

Qingcai Keke:?

Grandma Always Says: How do you make Yuer Chicken? Can you give me a detailed tutorial? I want to let the chef in my sect learn it.

"..."

It was me who thought too much.