78: Chapter 78 Wang Qingyan's Path

When the Family meeting dispersed, the gloomy and dismal expressions from their previous argument over the Tier 2 Formation were no longer visible on anyone's face.

Although the earthly fire vein could not be directly exchanged for Spirit Stones, with stable earthly fire for Artifact Refining, multiplying the Family's Puppet production severalfold in the future would be effortless, and such a Foundation-level industry was far from being measurable by just over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

Wang Yaowu patted Wang Shouren on the shoulder and laughed heartily, while Wang Yaowen also rarely revealed a hint of a smile, and even Wang Yaofeng, who managed the treasury, leaned over and asked in a low voice about the specific location of the earthly fire vein, saying he wanted to plan out the route in advance.

Wang Shouren dealt with them one by one, yet his gaze involuntarily drifted towards the outside of the council hall doors.

Standing at the entrance was a little girl with two round buns tied up, her small mouth pouting enough to hang an oil bottle, and her two hands twisting the corners of her clothes back and forth. Her eye sockets were red, and it was unknown how long she had been standing there.

The moment Wang Qingcheng saw him look over, she immediately turned her face aside and let out a heavy huff, lifting her chin high, yet the corner of her eye still couldn't help but glance at him.

Wang Shouren walked past his uncles and elders to the door, looking down at the little girl who had already reached close to his chest.

After two years in seclusion, she had grown taller and thinner, her once round cheeks having thinned into a pointed chin, but those eyes were still the same as before, unable to hide anything.

He reached out, wanting to rub her head, but the moment his hand was raised, Wang Qingcheng stepped back to avoid it, pouting her mouth as she said something.

"You said you were going into seclusion and you just went, without even telling me a word! Mother said your seclusion was important and told me not to disturb you, and I was obedient. I didn't send you any voice transmissions for two years—no wait, I did send them, but you didn't reply to a single one!"

Wang Shouren's hand paused in mid-air, looking at the tears swirling in her eye sockets, and he said softly, "I listened to every single one."

Wang Qingcheng froze for a split second, her tears dropping patter-patter, yet she still stubbornly raised her head. "Liars, when you came out of seclusion why didn't you come find me? Later I heard Second Uncle say you were fighting people again, so I ran to find you, but you ended up chasing some evil cultivator. You've been back for three days and you haven't come to see me at all."

The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, her tears unable to stop flowing down, and her voice growing louder and louder.

Wang Shouren fell silent for a moment, extending that evaded hand out once more and gently pressing it on top of her head.

This time she didn't dodge, only crying even more fiercely, her small shoulders twitching as she mumbled something indistinctly, probably words like "Big Brother is a liar."

He called out her nickname, his voice very soft, yet it made her quiet down instantly.

Then he removed his hand from the top of her head, groping out a fist-sized fiery red crystal from his embrace—that was the one with the best quality he had specially kept.

Shoving the crystal into Wang Qingcheng's hands and closing her fingers, he said warmly, "This is for you. It's a treasure I discovered, and Sixth Grandpa said a single piece is worth several thousand Spirit Stones. Weren't you researching the energy core for attacking Puppets? Try using this; it's easier to use than Spirit Stones."

Wang Qingcheng lowered her head to look at the heavy crystal in her hand, then looked up at him again. Tears were still hanging on her face, but the corners of her mouth had already helplessly curled up.

She clenched the crystal tightly in her hand, but then felt that doing this seemed too spineless, so she put on a straight face and let out a huff, turning around and running out with heavy thudding steps. Only after running far away did she turn back to shout, "One piece is not enough! I want more!"

Wang Shouren stood at the entrance of the council hall, watching the figure with the double buns disappear around the corner of the corridor, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly.

A faint huff came from behind him. He turned his head, and behind a stone pillar outside the council hall door, another figure was cowering.

Wang Qingyan.

"Sister Qingyan, you're awake." Wang Shouren smiled, his gaze lingering on her pale face for a moment.

Wang Qingyan leaned against the stone pillar, her complexion much better than three days ago, yet deep within those eyes that had once been as clear as sword light, there was an extra layer of indescribable things.

She did not pick up on his words, only gazing in the direction Wang Qingcheng had run off to, her voice very soft.

"That little girl Qingcheng has been waiting for you for a long time. You don't understand a girl's thoughts; she has worked quite hard these past two years. Uncle buried himself in Family affairs, and you were in seclusion, yet she fussed over those Puppets all by herself, staying up deep into the night."

She paused, withdrew her gaze to look at Wang Shouren, and said, "You should accompany her more."

Wang Shouren's expression was somewhat awkward as he rubbed his nose. "It was my negligence. Once I finish dealing with the matters at hand, I will go check on her Puppets."

Wang Qingyan walked out from behind the stone pillar. Her steps were not fast, yet she walked very steadily.

She did not deliberately conceal the empty aura on her body.

Yet her expression was surprisingly calm, and there was even a faint smile hanging at the corners of her mouth.

"Don't mind me. With your lesser guyuan pill, my cultivation will be able to recover soon."

She walked up to Wang Shouren, looked up at him, and her tone was like she was speaking of the most ordinary matter. "However, I've also figured it out. All my previous time was spent on Cultivating—practicing the sword, Breakthrough, practicing the sword again, and Breakthrough again. I never flipped through those miscellaneous book Jade Slips. Now it's good; I finally have plenty of time."

She smiled, and within that smile, there was not the slightest bit of self-pity, but instead it exuded a calm open-mindedness.

"I plan to read some miscellaneous books, Formations, Artifact Refining, and things like that. Where can one not contribute to the Family? I certainly can't waste your lesser guyuan pill."

Wang Shouren looked at the smile blooming on that pale face, his chest feeling as if it had been gently twisted by something.

She was once one of the leaders of the Shou generation, holding dual swords in hand and never losing to any male cultivator of the same realm. Now her Dantian was shattered and her cultivation completely lost, yet she turned around to comfort him instead.

"What are you saying, Sister Qingyan? We are all Family." His voice was lower than usual by a few fractions, and his fingers brushed gently across his Storage Pouch, causing a pile of Jade Slips to appear in his hand with a rustling sound.

He lowered his head to look, seemingly feeling it was not enough, and took out another blank Jade Slip, pressing it against his forehead. He closed his eyes and concentrated for quite a while before releasing his hand.

Amidst Wang Qingyan's curious gaze, he held that large handful of Jade Slips out before her.

"Sister Qingyan, these are the Jade Slips I've accumulated over the years. Most of them are miscellaneous books, but there are also a few unranked Cultivation Techniques, as well as some basic introductory guides for talisman-making, Artifact Refining, and Formations. Anyway, they're just gathering dust with me; you keep them to pass the time."

He handed the Jade Slips slightly forward, quietly blending the newly engraved blank Jade Slip right at the very top.

Wang Qingyan took that heavy handful of Jade Slips, lowered her head to flip through them, and a flash of brightness crossed her eyes, the smile at the corners of her mouth deepening by a few fractions.

Such a pile of Jade Slips—miscellaneous books, Cultivation Techniques, and introductory guides for talisman-making, Artifact Refining, and Formations—was all-encompassing and varied. Although their grades were not considered high, when added up altogether, they were practically comparable to a miniature version of the Family's Scripture Pavilion.

She put the Jade Slips away into her Storage Pouch at a leisurely pace. When she reached the very last blank Jade Slip, she looked up at Wang Shouren once more, not asking what was carved inside that Jade Slip, and simply expressed her thanks in a soft voice before turning around to walk along the corridor toward her own residence.

Wang Shouren watched her figure disappear at the end of the corridor, saying nothing more.

Carved within that blank Jade Slip were the Formation fundamentals and Artifact Refining insights stripped from the centuries of memories of the Blood Demon Immortal.

He completely destroyed the evil Cultivation Techniques, but these orthodox miscellaneous scholarly attainments were genuine things accumulated by that old monster through plundering everywhere for centuries. Among them were many long-lost ancient methods, enough to save a beginner from taking ten years of detours.

He did not tell Wang Qingyan the origin of these contents, nor did he need to tell her.

What she needed was not sympathy and pity, but a path that would allow her to stand back up.