by Dragon King
After the devastating demolishment, all the buildings in the West Ocean Dragon Palace turned into ruins; not even a single beam survived.
It wasn’t hard to imagine the look on Oldman Zeng’s face when he comes back to his home base with his defeated troops.
Dawn arrived slowly.
Hao Ren opened his eyes, and his shoulder was sore.
Stuffing herself under Hao Ren’s arm, Zhao Yanzi was pouting and sleeping well while laying her slim arms on Hao Ren’s shoulder.
Her own pillow and blanket fell off the bed already. Therefore, she pulled over half of Hao Ren’s blanket in her sleep and used Hao Ren’s arm as a pillow.
Hao Ren looked down at her small face and touched her eyelashes with his fingers.
Zhao Yanzi slightly shook her face, still immersed in her dream.
“Hmmm, you have been taking advantage of me all night…” As he murmured to himself, Hao Ren looked outside the window.
It was surprisingly nice and sunny outside. The sun in the morning shone brightly, and fishes were jumping into the ocean…
“Fish?”
Hao Ren suddenly sat up.
Like a soft octopus, Zhao Yanzi slid into the empty space left by Hao Ren.
Hao Ren walked up to the window and saw Xie Yujia busy working in the yard.
Faint lights were coming out of her palms, and she picked up all the fishes that were carried out of the ocean by the hurricanes last night. After energized them with the power of her Life Note, she threw them back into the ocean.
The dying fishes turned lively again under the stimulation of her nature essence, and they jumped into the ocean after making an elegant curve in the air.
This kind and loving scene touched Hao Ren.
Hao Ren looked back at Zhao Yanzi in the room; she was still sleeping.
Xie Yujia, who was standing in the yard, didn’t realize that Hao Ren was looking at her. She caressed the last three fishes in her hand before smiling happily and saying to them, “Well, you guys are the biggest. So, I’m sorry to tell you that you will be our lunch today.”
“Em…” Standing by the window, Hao Ren suddenly felt like there was something stuck in his throat.
Carrying three fishes, Xie Yujia ran inside the house happily while whistling. Obviously, she was going to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
“Women… well… are such strange creatures…” After marveling for a second, Hao Ren put on a jacket and went to the first floor.
In the kitchen, Xie Yujia was scraping the scales off of the fishes while humming.
“Zi hasn’t gotten up yet?” Seeing Hao Ren walking downstairs, Xie Yujia asked.
“Probably soon.” Glancing at Xie Yujia who had a white apron on, Hao Ren asked, “Are we going for a picnic today?”
“Yeah, it’s a really nice day today. I’ll hurry up and cook some meals so that we can take them on the picnic,” Xie Yujia nodded and answered.
Hao Ren stood beside Xie Yujia and watched her cook.
Xie Yujia felt warm in her heart. Although Hao Ren didn’t help her with the cooking, she was still motivated.
“It was incredible how you defeated so many hurricanes by yourself last night,” Xie Yujia said as she pulled her hair into a bun and boiled some water.
She looked like an understanding wife and a loving mother when she put her hair up.
“I’m at Gen-level now,” Hao Ren said calmly.
Xie Yujia turned around and looked at Hao Ren in surprise. “That was so quick! You reached Gen-level already?”
“Yes, I broke through during battle. Little White seems stronger as well,” Hao Ren continued while facing the surprised Xie Yujia.
Xie Yujia was excited at first, but her face darkened slightly after. “Em, I’m the worst; even Zi is stronger than me.”
“Old Grandma… is probably above Fifth Heaven,” Hao Ren said and changed the topic.
“How do you know?” Xie Yujia asked in a hurry.
She was standing very close to Hao Ren, and she almost bumped into Hao Ren’s chin when she turned around excitedly and looked up at him.
“I’m not too sure, but I felt like a familiar energy helped me to break through,” Hao Ren pushed down on Xie Yujia’s shoulder and said.
“It might be possible for me to see old Grandma again if she is on Sixth Heaven,” Xie Yujia said after a while of pondering. She missed the old Grandma a lot, and she hoped that she could meet her again.
In Xie Yujia’s heart, she understood the reason why the old Grandma said that they would probably never meet again; her body type and cultivation talent were too poor.
Therefore, she probably could only stay in the mortal world and could never see the old Grandma again.
In terms of cultivation, she was the weakest one as well as the most stressed one. Zhao Yanzi, Hao Ren, Zhen Congming, Lu LinLin, Lu Lili, and Su Han were all a hundred times better than her; she wouldn’t be able to get into their circle if she didn’t put in more effort.
“We’ll be leaving in an hour.” Hao Zhonghua’s loud voice suddenly resonated in the house.
Hao Ren and Xie Yujia turned around at the same time and saw Hao Zhonghua on the stairs. He was wearing sportswear and shaking the keys in his hand.
Beside him, Yue Yang was also dressed in sportswear of the same style but different color. Apparently, they were wearing couples’ sportswear.
Hao Zhonghua was worried that Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi might be going at it too fast, but he felt relieved when he went downstairs and saw Hao Ren talking to Xie Yujia intimately while laying his palms on her shoulders like a sweet couple.
He looked at Yue Yang provocatively, trying to tell her that Xie Yujia was the one whom Hao Ren liked, and there was no need for Yue Yang to get involved in their son’s relationship.
This kind of look really got Yue Yang mad. She whispered to Hao Zhonghua, “You’ll see; Hao Ren likes little Zi more.”
“I wasn’t trying to compete…” Hao Zhonghua answered submissively.
“My Zi isn’t inferior to your Yujia; don’t be so happy right now.” Yue Yang gave Hao Zhonghua a ‘vicious’ stare before stomping into the living room.
374 We Are All Mortals~
After everything was ready, Hao Ren’s family gathered in the living room. Hao Zhonghua drove the big car they rented ahead of time, and everyone was excited about the trip.
Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang used to be busy working. Therefore, they brought up the idea of the family trip as compensation.
However, Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang still had their own plans for the trip. Hao Zhonghua was going to take some butterfly samples in the fields while Yue Yang was going to do some research on the situation of the water source on the Golden Cattle Mountain.
To Zhao Yanzi, this was only a trip and picnic, one of her favorite things to do.
In accordance with the weather, Zhao Yanzi was dressed in an ocean-blue cardigan with a white Mickey Mouse t-shirt underneath. For the bottoms, she had on a pair of stretchy leggings with a zebra pattern, making her look cute and lively.
Xie Yujia was dressed completely differently from Zhao Yanzi. She was in a light indigo cardigan and also had on a white t-shirt on underneath. The differences were that her t-shirt was a bit loose and had a paragraph of an English poem by Shakespeare printed on it instead of a cartoon character.
One was excited while the other was calm; they looked just like cousins.
Grandma was sitting in the car while holding onto Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia on either side. She was so happy that she couldn’t stop smiling.
Hao Ren didn’t have to dress up like Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia. He just wore a grey sleeveless shirt and sports shorts.
He got this set of clothes when he first went to university. Although it was an old set, it made him look casually manly.
The muscles all over Hao Ren’s body got stronger since he practiced boxing every day. This set of clothes used to be quite loose on him, but it was now tight on his arm
s, thighs, and chest.
Moreover, as a Gen-level cultivator, Hao Ren had gained a domineering aura, which was something he never had when he first started his university life.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Yue Yang stared at Hao Ren through the rear-view mirror and wondered what her son had been doing in the past few months. “He has built strong muscles all over his body, and even his temperament is now calm and cool; what an incredible change for this young man…”
Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia were sitting on Grandma’s sides, but they were both looking toward Hao Ren who was sitting behind them.
Hao Ren maintained his determined expression as if he was a statue of a god; the expression on his face and the look in his eyes were particularly clear and calm. Seeing this, Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia were secretly shocked.
“Hao Ren is the most handsome when he is silent…” they both thought.
What they didn’t realize was also Hao Ren seemed like he was looking out the window, he was actually in a ‘self-oblivious’ cultivating mode.
Driving on the flat mountain road, the van arrived at the heart of Golden Cattle Mountain. Hao Zhonghua parked the van and yelled, “Alright, we can hang out here since this area has the best view.”
“Yeah.” Zhao Yanzi rushed out of the van first.
Grandma shook her head and smiled. Then, she got out of the van with Xie Yujia’s assistance.
Taking back his nature essence, Hao Ren patted his knees and also got out the van to look around.
Unlike the tourist attraction, GreenStone Mountain, Golden Cattle Mountain was located 30 kilometers away from the ocean. It was unexploited, and it was the heaven for wild adventurers and paradise for scientists who researched the natural environment.
There were wildflowers and weeds everywhere on the roadside. Hundreds of butterflies danced as soon as Zhao Yanzi rushed into a cluster of flowers.
This area of Golden Cattle Mountain had the most beautiful scenery. It was called Butterfly Valley, and various types of butterflies gathered there
“Golden birdwing butterfly,” Hao Zhonghua suddenly shouted excitedly.
Golden birdwing butterfly was the biggest kind of butterfly in China as well as a famous type worldwide. The golden birdwing butterfly stood out incredibly among this group of ordinary butterflies; its black velvet wings had stunning speckles and were flaring rapidly.
Hao Zhonghua was about to go back to the van to get the sweep net, but the golden birdwing butterfly had already flown two meters high; there was absolutely no way to catch it.
As Hao Zhonghua felt pity for the loss, a shadow passed by him. Dressing in some casual clothes, Hao Ren jumped up high in the air, grabbed the golden birdwing butterfly steadily with two of his fingers, and landed in a cluster of flowers firmly.
Hao Zhonghua looked at Hao Ren in extreme shock; if he didn’t see Hao Ren land, he would believe that his son could fly.
His focus switched to Hao Ren’s palm again.
“Even if Hao Ren was fast enough to catch the butterfly, he probably has damaged it already,” he thought.
“Dad, is this the butterfly you wanted?” Hao Ren walked up to Hao Zhonghua and showed him the butterfly.
Staring at the butterfly that Hao Ren grabbed, Hao Zhonghua nodded and felt a bit of pity. To not damage the delicate butterflies, a sweep net was necessary when catching them.
Even a butterfly caught by one’s fingers would likely have its wings damaged.
Seeing this precious golden birdwing butterfly staying absolutely still, Hao Zhonghua thought the butterfly died from being crushed by Hao Ren’s fingers. Therefore, he grabbed a paper bag and was about to put it in there.
However, the butterfly flew away unexpectedly as he wasn’t paying too much attention to it.
Hao Zhonghua didn’t expect that the butterfly could still fly. Hurriedly, Hao Ren reached out his hand as fast as a flash and grabbed the butterfly again.
Hao Zhonghua saw it clearly this time; Hao Ren grabbed the butterfly by its wings using two of his fingers. There was no doubt that the butterfly’s wings would be damaged under such speed and strength.
“Put it in the glass jar,” Hao Zhonghua took out a jar from the van and said to Hao Ren.
“Ok.” Hao Ren put the butterfly in the glass jar.
Hao Zhonghua quickly put the lid back on. At the same time, the butterfly that had been caught twice started to fly up and down energetically in the jar.
Hao Zhonghua carefully observed the butterfly through the glass jar and found that its wings were entirely unaffected.
“What…” Hao Zhonghua couldn’t believe what he saw.
“How precise does one’s control have to be to catch the butterfly by its wings at such fast speed without hurting it or even rubbing off the fine material on its wings?’
As Hao Zhonghua stared at Hao Ren in shock, Zhao Yanzi shouted from the cluster of flower, “Uncle Hao Ren, come here and help me catch the butterfly.”
“Coming.” Hao Ren smiled and ran toward her.
Hao Zhonghua held the glass jar in a daze while looking at Hao Ren who was running to Zhao Yanzi. He took a breath and doubted, “Is this really my son?”
“This yellow one looks so pretty, so does this black one,” Zhao Yanzi shouted from within the cluster of flowers.
Zhao Yanzi looked extraordinarily beautiful in the flowers. As for Hao Ren, he had already caught five to six butterflies for Zhao Yanzi.
Zhao Yanzi was overly excited. When she reached for the butterflies, Hao Ren let go, and they just flew away again.
“Uncle, you are such a jerk.” Zhao Yanzi punched Hao Ren hard.
On the side of the road, Yue Yang went up to Hao Zhonghua, looked at Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi in the flowers, and bumped Hao Zhonghua with her elbows. “Look at them, don’t they look sweet together?”
Hao Zhonghua smiled. Then, he turned to look at Xie Yujia, who was keeping Grandma company, and didn’t know what to say.
Didn’t matter what Yue Yang said, he still preferred Xie Yujia as his daughter-in-law.
“Purple speckle butterfly…”
A butterfly with blue speckle and brown wings flew by in front of Hao Zhonghua.
Hao Zhonghua was debating whether to catch the butterfly by hand since he didn’t have time to get the sweep net. At this moment, Xie Yujia came up slowly. She lifted her perfect hand and stopped the butterfly gently.
The butterfly bumped into Xie Yujia’s soft hand as if it didn’t notice it. Afterward, it just dropped onto the grass foolishly.
Hao Zhonghua picked up the butterfly immediately and put it in the glass jar. A purple speckle butterfly was the ultimate favorite of all the specimen collectors. Hao Zhonghua had been here several times but always went back with nothing. However, he was extremely excited today since he got two precious butterflies in a short time.
Beyond excited, he looked at Xie Yujia in amazement.
“What she did was just slightly lifting her hand, and the butterfly hurled itself willingly. How did that happen?”
“Do you need any other butterfly, Uncle? I can help you with that,” Xie Yujia said with a relaxed smile.
Her Life-Death Notes could control anything between heaven and earth, including the delicate butterflies. What Hao Zhonghua wanted were only one or two butterflies; he didn’t know that Xie Yujia could help him within a second even if he wanted all the butterflies in the valley.
She could make all the butterflies in the valley fall on the ground by simply waving her hand.
Obviously, Xie Yujia wouldn’t do that, and she didn’t want that either.
“No, thank you. You can go hang out with Ren now. I’ll go to the valley with your auntie.” Hao Zhonghua nodded and smiled at Xie Yujia.
He was quite confused by Hao Ren’s incredible improvement in his athletic abilities. Even Xie Yujia seemed strange to him. How could Hao Ren and Xie Yujia become martial arts masters within such a short period of time?
In the valley,
butterflies were flying joyfully.
Holding the sweep net, Hao Zhonghua went deep into the valley with Yue Yang. Yue Yang had some tubes in her hands as she was going to take some samples of the water in Golden Cattle Mountain.
Standing by the van, Zhen Congming put away his PSP and took a deep breath.
The essence intensity in the valley was more concentrated compared with the city, which was almost 1.2 times more. However, compared to Fifth Heaven, it was still not high enough.
Seeing Grandma lying against a big rock and enjoying the sun with her eyes closed, Zhen Congming yelled to Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi, “Hey, you two, how about going to Fifth Heaven?”
Zhen Congming came up with a crazy idea; he wanted to bring Grandma to Fifth Heaven while she slept.
The essence intensity was a lot more concentrated there, and any mortal would benefit more from taking a rest on Fifth Heaven for even half an hour than taking any cure-all medicine.
It was time to go to Fifth Heaven to prolong lifespan.
375 Mordern Agriculture Techniques
A dark red energy sphere rose while an ugly black disk appeared under Zhen Congming’s feet. Grandma, who was dozing off on a rock, entered Zhen Congming’s energy sphere with the rock.
Seeing Zhen Congming taking Grandma up to the sky, Hao Ren froze for a moment before summoning Little White in a hurry.
“Roar!” Little White shook its body and turned into its huge snow lion form.
After reaching level 2, Little White was now even bigger. It carried Hao Ren, Zhao Yanzi and Xie Yujia with ease.
With a swoosh, two red energy spheres shot up into the high sky.
Little White’s golden fur now covered the lower parts of its legs instead of its paws, and it looked especially magnificent while it dashed into the sky.
In Zhen Congming’s energy sphere, Grandma woke up from her nap and found herself in the high sky, almost 10,000 meters from the ground!
“Congming, get down! Don’t startle Grandma!” Chasing after Zhen Congming’s flight dharma treasure, Hao Ren yelled.
