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Chapter 684: Chapter 690: Abandonment
"It was you who made me unhappy!"
Jiang Fengwu said with a hostile tone, "Knowing full well the crisis lurking in the central region, why did you agree to let Shuo stay for her training?"
"What if something happened to her, what then?"
"Can’t you look forward to something good?" Li Zhirui stepped forward, pulled her into the pavilion to sit down, and patiently explained, "I came back later this time because I happened upon the opening of a fourth-order Secret Realm, so I went in to explore."
"And after Shuo came out of her trial, she set her mind on training in the central region. At that time, Sheng was injured, Xian Xun was too young, and I had to go to the Secret Realm. If I didn’t agree to her request, she might have just run off on her own. Do you think Shuo is capable of doing that?"
Jiang Fengwu’s expression softened a bit, and she nodded unwillingly. Of course, she knew what kind of person Li Chengshuo was; that girl was very bold!
"Rather than letting her run away secretly, it’s better to agree first. Maybe by the time I come out of the Secret Realm, she will have changed her mind, no?"
As for the outcome, well, it was clear for all to see.
"By the way, I obtained quite a few treasures in the Secret Realm this time," he said, taking out Spiritual Objects like the Luminous Green Fruit and Yellow Soul Bamboo.
Of course, there was also Jade Dew, the Grass Devil.
"You’ve tamed another Spirit Beast?"
Jiang Fengwu’s attention was instantly diverted as she frowned and telepathically said, "With Hugan and the other two devils still on the island, plus Da Qing, Xiaoqing, and Cang, that makes six Spirit Beasts. Even as an Alchemist, sustaining so many Spirit Beasts must strain your resources, right?"
It was a regrettable fact that Hugan, Hu Mu, and Hu Xuan, the three Spirit Beasts, had yet to break through the Bloodline Shackles and achieve fourth-order.
They had willingly accepted Li Zhirui as their master in hopes of finding the opportunity to break through. Unfortunately, they were not like Xiaoqing and the others; they couldn’t receive his full support.
Moreover, having stayed in that space, they knew Li Zhirui’s most crucial secret, so he couldn’t possibly let them go out to seek their fortunes.
If no miracle occurred in the end, then their ultimate fate would be to die of old age on Wanxian Island.
"Jade Dew is different. It has already broken through to the fourth order, and it’s a Spirit Plant transformed into a devil. I don’t need to provide much in terms of resources," Li Zhirui telepathically explained.
Because Jade Dew was injured and its aura was feeble, at a casual glance, one might mistakenly think it was still a third-order Devil Beast.
"Since you’re not concerned about it, I don’t have much to say either."
Li Zhirui told Jade Dew to find an empty room to settle down and recover. Once its injuries were healed, it would take care of the important Spirit Fields on Wanxian Island.
And its future residence would naturally be on the Spirit Beast Mountain range; it couldn’t possibly stay with them.
"Has Feng Peng broken through to the fourth order?" Li Zhirui asked casually.
Actually, just by looking at Jiang Fengwu, he knew the answer. If Feng Peng hadn’t broken through or if the breakthrough had failed, her aura wouldn’t have suddenly become so robust.
"It succeeded. It’s playing with Xiaoqing right now. I have no idea where they’ve run off to," she said, her face suddenly clouding over as another matter came to mind, showing no sign of joy.
She sighed, "Zhirui, you should go check on Da Qing later."
"Hmm?" Li Zhirui was puzzled. What could have happened to Da Qing?
Jiang Fengwu sighed and said, "After Mu Ling’er, Da Qing’s mate, successfully achieved Tribulation Transcendence to the fourth order, she found an opportunity to leave, abandoning Da Qing and even giving birth to their children prematurely."
"Originally, because Mu Ling’er was conserving energy to sustain her fourth-order breakthrough, the hatchlings didn’t receive much nourishment. Now, with the forced premature birth, they nearly lost their life force that day. For the past half year, Da Qing has barely been maintaining the young turtles’ lives with his own Mana."
Fortunately, the only person who knew about this was Jiang Fengwu.
After hearing the entire story, Li Zhirui’s complexion turned extremely ugly! 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
Originally, he had intended to place a magical prohibition inside Mu Ling’er, but Da Qing pleaded bitterly, and he, in a moment of soft-heartedness, gave up the idea.
Now, it had resulted in such an outcome!
If he had known this would happen, he should never have been soft-hearted at that time!
All living expenses were provided by the Li family, and even to help Mu Ling’er break through to the fourth tier as quickly as possible, Da Qing had even saved up a large part of his own cultivation resources for her use, and this was how she repaid Da Qing!
It was truly like raising an ungrateful wolf!
"Now is not the time to be angry. You better go and see Da Qing. Oh, and don’t mention Mu Ling’er in front of him, lest it brings up painful memories," Jiang Fengwu reminded.
Li Zhirui nodded, rose, and left with large strides.
"Sigh!" Thinking of Da Qing’s current state, Jiang Fengwu couldn’t help but heave a sigh.
His vital essence was in terrible condition, his qi and blood were depleted, and his spirit dispirited. Where was this the imposing demeanor of a fourth-tier Great Devil? He was no different from those beggars in the mortal realm, or perhaps even worse.
If it weren’t for the several young turtles waiting to be fed, Da Qing’s condition might have been even worse!
And this was the sight that greeted Li Zhirui as he hurried over to see Da Qing.
Xiaoqing was also by his side, obviously having learned of the matter from Feng Peng and having rushed over to visit him.
"Look at you, turning yourself into this state for a female Devil. Is it worth it? With your status and strength, what kind of female Devil couldn’t you have?"
Before being with Feng Peng, Xiaoqing was quite the libertine, leaving traces of affection with countless flowers yet never attaching himself to any, and he was referred to thus.
Feng Peng knew of his past but didn’t mind, since within the Devil Race’s view, there was no such thing as moral integrity.
Of course, even among the human race, the stronger the power, the weaker the sense of morality.
But no matter how much Xiaoqing tried to persuade him, Da Qing remained silent, focusing intently and gazing softly at the few young turtles whose shells were somewhat translucent.
Although Li Zhirui had not specifically studied pathology, as an alchemist, he had encountered some knowledge of it and could tell that the young turtles were still on the brink of life and death, barely hanging on with a breath.
Such a dire state was certainly not just due to inadequate nourishment in the womb or being born prematurely by force; it was likely that Mu Ling’er had also extracted some vitality and spiritual energy from their bodies during her Tribulation Transcendence.
It was a combination of factors that had brought the young turtles to such a dangerous plight.
And Da Qing, who took care of them day and night, likely knew this all too well.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons for his profound anguish: his partner, who had always been so mild and affectionate, could be so ruthless, inflicting such cruelty on his own offspring.
"Sigh!"
Li Zhirui sighed and said, "Da Qing, on my recent cultivation journey, I found a Spiritual Object rich with the essence of life that is wooden in nature. If you could assimilate it, you’re certain to break through to a fifth-tier bloodline, and you’ll no longer be restrained by bloodline shackles in the future."
Upon hearing this, Da Qing’s head shot up as he looked at Li Zhirui with fiery eyes and said, "Thank you, Jiu, but I would like to use it for these children."
To this response, Li Zhirui was not surprised in the slightest; he had known all along that Da Qing would give such an answer.
