Chapter 23: Wang Shun’s Little Thoughts

At the dinner table, the whole family sat together, chatting and laughing.

Su Mingshan even announced that the new house would officially begin construction in five days. To speed things up, they had hired laborers from the entire village.

It was expected to be completed within half a month.

This was the happiest news in recent days.

The villagers speculated that the money for building the Su family’s new house came from Su Fu. After all, that Ning Yumo fellow wasn’t too heartless and must have given some money to the mother and daughter to get by.

The villagers in Qinghe Village were simple and honest. Having recently received some meat to eat, now being asked to help build the house — with wages more than double the usual — everyone in the village was grateful to the Su family.

The Su family already had a good reputation in Qinghe Village, and the villagers liked dealing with them.

Over the next two days, the village children all trained in martial arts with Ji San. After two days of squatting in horse stance, they were all exhausted—only the Su family members and Zhu Wa were still persevering.

Zhu Wa was quite overweight; after just one round, he was drenched in sweat but still kept going.

The image of Su Wan effortlessly defeating those thugs kept inspiring him.

Having taken the Body Refining Pills for only two days, their bones hadn’t changed much yet, so progress in martial arts wasn’t obvious. But Su Mingshan had improved a lot in these two days and was already able to block two moves from Ji San.

As for Su Wan, it went without saying—whether in lightness skills or martial arts, she was above the others. Truly living up to the saying: “The disciple is a martial arts prodigy, destined to be formidable.”

Everyone in Qinghe Village knew the Su family had a prodigy and envied them greatly.

Su Shanyu was proud to have such a talented little sister and hoped that one day he could have such innate talent too.

He had a vague sense that his body was changing. He attributed this all to practicing martial arts.

His master had said martial arts not only helped in battle but also strengthened the body.

Excited, he shared this discovery with the family. The whole family exchanged glances.

Xia Xian asked with delight, “Shanyu, do you also feel like you have endless strength inside you?”

“Mother too?” Su Shanyu caught the emphasis on “too.”

Xia Xian nodded excitedly, “Lately, we all feel stronger. Your father can now easily carry a 300-pound wild boar.”

Hearing this, everyone fell into thought, feeling this wasn’t simply because of better food.

What could the reason be?

Nearby, Su Xinyao was eating and said, “It should be because of the…”

Su Wan raised an eyebrow and quickly popped a small bun into Su Xinyao’s mouth. “This bun tastes good, have another one, little sister.” She winked at the little one.

Su Xinyao stared with her big, adorable eyes, blinked a few times, and then finished eating the bun.

No one at the table paid much attention to the unfinished words from Su Xinyao.

The elderly couple were finally able to stand and walk again, and they no longer took the medicine prescribed by Doctor Gong.

In these three days, Su Wan’s cultivation advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refining. She had also mastered the second move, “Emerald Shadow Sway.” The tricky part was that the spiritual energy in the jade statues had been completely absorbed.

Without Su Xinyao, they might have held on for a few more days. But now, besides Su Wan, Su Xinyao also had to absorb the spiritual energy. Where else could she get the Spirit Gathering Stones?

After dinner, Ji Sang drove the carriage to pick up Su Fu and her daughter, along with Su Shan Yu and Zhu Wa, heading to Qinghe Town.

Upon arrival in town, they first sent Su Shan Yu and Zhu Wa to the private school before leaving.

Before parting, Su Wan didn’t forget to give the two pills. “Remember, one pill a day, no more.”

“Got it, got it, you’ve emphasized it so many times,” Su Shan Yu replied. Wan Wan was clearly trying to make them think of her often by repeating the instructions.

“You must study well and pass the exams to earn honors in the future, brother.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Su Shan Yu and Zhu Wa climbed onto the carriage as Su Wan waved goodbye.

Zhu Wa looked envious. “Shan Yu, I really envy you for having two sisters, and they’re all so adorable.”

“Don’t envy me. We’re good friends. My sisters are your sisters. Let’s go, Brother Wa. From now on, we’re close friends.”

“In the future, we’ll both pass the exams and become generals on the battlefield.”

“Really?”

“Then I must work hard.”

The two boys walked into the academy arm in arm.

The shop had been busy these days, so Su Fu didn’t pay much attention to how Su Wan’s martial arts practice was progressing.

But Su Wan had no intention of slacking off. Besides practicing basic skills, she would repeatedly practice her “Xuan Yu Mu Technique” while Ji Sang dozed off.

The nine moves of the Xuan Yu Mu Technique all have similar hand movements, but their destructive and killing power varies.

As her cultivation improved, the power and range of the technique’s damage would continue to increase.

Alone, she had self-protection ability, but behind her was the whole Su family — self-protection alone was far from enough.

In addition, she also practiced lightness skills. With spiritual power and illusion vines aiding her, ordinary people could no longer catch up with her.

While practicing, Su Fu’s voice came from outside, “Young Master Wang, you’re too polite. I hadn’t taken that matter to heart.”

“Madam Su, please accept this. I was clearly at fault in that matter and should have come to apologize in person,” Wang Shun came bearing many formal gifts to apologize.

Su Fu was puzzled. That guy had already apologized twice, so why was he still holding a grudge about that matter?

At this moment, Wang Shun’s gaze locked tightly on Su Fu, feeling she looked even more stunningly beautiful. To him, that Ning fellow must be blind to let go of such a delicate, charming, gentle, and virtuous woman so easily.

Su Fu’s attire remained simple and plain, but these days, thanks to the nourishing effects of the body-refining pill, her skin had become fair and radiant, making her look even more graceful and refined — just like a fresh and elegant little beauty.

Wang Shun was so entranced that he didn’t even notice Su Wan had quietly appeared by his side.

“Hey, why are you staring at my mother like that?” Su Wan shouted loudly, startling Wang Shun.

Seeing it was the little shopkeeper, his heart jumped.

“I—I—I’m here to apologize. This—this is a gift to the little shopkeeper as compensation. Please, please forgive me.” With that, he fled as if chased by a ghost.

Su Wan smirked, then looked at the gift Wang Shun had brought. She tore off the paper on the outside, and when she saw what was inside, her eyes immediately lit up.

A Spirit-Concentrating Stone?

That guy really knew her tastes, knowing she had run out of Spirit-Concentrating Stones and sending her a jade plate.

However, she needed three of these to set up her formation.

She would have to find a chance to ask where he got these things. She had already sneaked off to the jade shop to check, but they didn’t have any Spirit-Concentrating Stones.

Otherwise, she’d buy some herself.

Su Fu was lost in thought and didn’t notice Su Wan opening the box, nor did she see that the gift inside was a very valuable jade plate.

Taking advantage of Su Fu’s distraction, Su Wan put the item into her spatial storage and replaced it with a pile of silver coins.

Then she exclaimed loudly, “Ah, Mother, that Master Wang is so generous! He sent us so much silver!”