Chapter 3: Emptying the Scumbag Dad’s Treasure Room

After making sure that Su Wan was asleep and carefully tucking her in, Su Shi left the room.

Hearing the door close, Su Wan immediately sat up, agile like a nimble raccoon, and crossed her legs to meditate.

The initial stage of Qi Refinement involves absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, guiding the energy to flow slowly through the meridians, gradually enhancing their flexibility and strength, as well as transforming the physical body.

Once a certain level is reached, one progresses to the second stage, known as the second layer of Qi Refinement.

This cycle repeats until the spiritual foundation is established.

The strength at the Qi Refinement stage is comparable to martial artists in this world. To seek revenge and stand against the Rong Guogong Mansion or even the royal family, she must at least reach the Golden Core stage.

After all, she wasn’t just confronting one or two individuals but the entire royal family.

Only by attaining the Golden Core stage would she have enough confidence and support.

Su Wan focused her mind and spirit, unaware that the night had already passed halfway.

When she opened her eyes and noticed that her physical transformation was minimal, she felt a bit discouraged. “It seems I still need a Spirit Gathering Formation. Never mind, I’ll deal with the treasure room first.”

Although called a treasure room, it mostly contained a few chests of silver and fabric bestowed by the emperor on the day Ning Yu Mo achieved high honors, along with congratulatory gifts from various mansions.

Since the Ning family had wronged her first, they couldn’t blame her for being ungrateful later.

Ning Yu Mo had not yet hired suitable guards, giving her the perfect opportunity. Based on her past life’s memories, she quickly found the courtyard where the storeroom was located.

She spotted two guards sleeping at the door, heads nodding as they dozed off. Moving quietly, Su Wan approached. She didn’t need a key—just poking a hole in the paper window would allow her to collect everything inside into her life-bound spatial artifact.

Luckily, her small figure made it easy for her to slip inside unnoticed.

One of the guards only glanced around lazily, pretending to be alert before resuming his nap.

Back in her room, Su Wan couldn’t wait to enter the spatial space. To her surprise, the Ning family’s storeroom actually contained Spirit Gathering Stones.

“Oh my! This jade cabbage sculpture contains a Spirit Gathering Stone, so does this jade Buddha, and even this jade horse!” Su Wan examined the three jade pieces closely, her excitement overflowing.

All three jade items were about the same size as the jade cabbage and could last for a long time. She recalled that one of them was a gift from the Rong Guogong Mansion, the jade Buddha was a personal gift from the Eldest Princess, and the origin of the third one was unclear.

Since these items had prominent origins, it was best not to use them openly. Fortunately, they would be perfect for setting up a Spirit Gathering Formation.

With this in mind, Su Wan placed the three jade pieces in a triangular formation and arranged some crystals as supplementary materials. She then bit her finger and, using her own blood as the core, drew a diagram that linked all the items. Finally, she marked each jade piece with a drop of blood.

At the moment the formation was completed, she saw spiritual energy begin to…

At a speed visible to the naked eye, the spiritual energy gathered towards the center of the array.

And the center of the array was none other than herself.

Seeing this, Su Wan was overjoyed and quickly closed her eyes to focus on cultivation.

She could feel that this time, the cultivation effect was completely different from before. The spiritual energy flowed into her body like a trickling stream, continuously pouring in and slowly flowing along her meridians. Wherever it passed, the flexibility and strength of the meridians steadily improved.

In just one hour, she successfully drew the energy into her body.

At dawn, she finally reached the full state of the first layer of Qi Refining, just a step away from the second layer. It could be considered a successful cultivation.

At this moment, she could internally visualize that her dantian had already accumulated some spiritual energy, which could be used in combat. To maximize the effectiveness of her cultivation technique, she would need to transform the spiritual energy into spiritual power. During battles, spiritual power could be infused into techniques to enhance their destructive power.

When spiritual energy is compressed and refined to a certain degree, it can form a spiritual foundation.

Once the spiritual foundation is established, the amount of spiritual energy that can be stored undergoes a qualitative leap—from a small stream to mighty rivers and eventually to an ocean.

As her cultivation level rises, both the destructive power and the range of her attacks will become terrifyingly immense.

By morning, nourished by spiritual energy, she felt energetic despite not sleeping all night.

When Su Shi opened the door to call her, Su Wan was already packed and ready. “Mother, let’s go.”

“Alright, let’s leave and never come back.” As Su Shi said this, her eyes reddened again.

Su Wan knew that her mother wasn’t sad about leaving the Ning family, but rather because of all the unconditional efforts she had made in the past.

The mother and daughter walked out of the courtyard, planning to say farewell in the main hall when they saw Chen Mama, a servant close to Madam Zhou, hurriedly approaching.

“There are guests in the main hall. Miss, take the young lady out through the back door,” Chen Mama said urgently.

However, Su Wan suddenly stopped and looked up at Su Shi, speaking softly, “Mother, we should still go to the main hall to say goodbye. Leaving silently like this might make it seem like our fault if something happens.”

Reminded by Su Wan, Su Shi immediately understood and, ignoring Chen Mama’s obstruction, pulled Su Wan towards the main hall.

She couldn’t let the Ning family have any excuse to openly take action against the Su family.

“Let’s go, and bid farewell to your uncle.”

Startled, Chen Mama hurriedly tried to block them, but Su Shi walked quickly and couldn’t be stopped. All she could do was follow behind, shouting loudly, “Miss, don’t make it difficult for me! The guest is the young lord!”

Hearing this, a glint flashed in Su Wan’s eyes. Instead of slowing down, she quickened her pace.

Upon reaching the front courtyard, Su Wan broke free from Su Shi’s grasp and rushed into the hall.

Seeing that the person running in was Su Wan, Ning, who had been chatting with the young lord, stopped speaking.

Yu Mo’s expression suddenly changed. He was afraid that Su Wan would shout something inappropriate, so he hurriedly got up and pulled Su Wan back.

“Wanwan, this is not a place where you should be…”

Unexpectedly, Su Wan moved a step ahead, hugging his thigh and, with a soft and childish voice, said, “Uncle, Wanwan and mother are going back to our hometown to visit relatives. Can Uncle send us with a carriage?”

With outsiders present, there was no way he could refuse the carriage, so he had no choice but to agree.

Ning Yumo had been panicking in his heart, but when he heard Su Wan call him “Uncle,” he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Sitting on the side, Song Wenzhi watched the scene unfold with great interest.

Ning Yumo pretended to sigh helplessly and said, “Of course, it can be arranged. Wanwan, let go first.” Only then did Su Wan let go, obediently standing to the side.

If he could pretend, so could she.

Song Wenzhi spoke up, “I didn’t expect Lord Ning to have such a cute and well-behaved niece.”

Ning Yumo felt fortunate that Su Wan took after her mother in appearance; otherwise, he wouldn’t have remained this calm.

Ning Yumo forced a smile and said, “You flatter me, young lord. The child is naive and ignorant, forgive her.”

However, Su Wan raised her head, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the young lord and said in a sweet, childish voice, “Young lord, you look really handsome, more handsome than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

Song Wenzhi burst out laughing at her straightforward compliment, “What a sweet little mouth you have.”

“Come here, since it’s our first meeting, I’ll give you a little gift.” Song Wenzhi took a jade pendant from his body and handed it to Su Wan.

Su Wan’s eyes lit up—it was spirit jade. She didn’t hold back, “Thank you, young lord.” She carefully held the spirit jade in her hands and cautiously stored it away right in front of Song Wenzhi.

At this moment, Su Shi also entered the hall, paying respects to Ning Yumo and the young lord.

Ning Yumo, putting on a show, said, “Cousin, since you’re returning to your hometown to visit relatives, I will arrange a carriage and prepare some things for the journey.”

Ning Yumo secretly resented Su Shi. How could he not know that she deliberately appeared in the front hall when there were guests just to ask for a carriage?

Oh well, this could also let the young lord know that Su Shi was merely a cousin staying temporarily at the Ning residence. Later, the young lord could convey this news to the County Mistress of Pingle, saving Ning Yumo from mediating the matter himself.

Su Shi nodded slightly, her expression indifferent, “Thank you, cousin.”

“Let’s go, Wanwan. We have to leave before it’s too late.” Su Shi came over to take Su Wan’s hand.

Just then, the loud cries of a servant could be heard from outside: “Something terrible has happened! My lord, everything in the warehouse is gone!”

“Bang—”

Heading in that direction, they heard the noise…

As Zhou Shi walked over, she suddenly collapsed to the ground.

“Madam! Madam…!” The maid hurriedly supported her, panic evident in her actions.