The Liu family residence was a sprawling compound filled with many luxurious buildings. In one area, the scene was very lively with numerous horse carriages arriving and people streaming in, entering a grand mansion. One of the Liu family elders had just welcomed his first grandson and was so happy that he immediately returned from Fengxian to host a banquet and invite many guests.

Inside the mansion, the atmosphere was busy with people. Liu Yang had been greeting guests non-stop and decided to take a short break. He headed to a room where Liu Ming was seated, drinking tea at a table. Liu Yang sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, drank it, and then set the teacup down.

"So, how was it?" Liu Yang asked seriously.

Liu Ming didn't reply immediately. He just looked at Liu Yang, smiled slightly, and then sipped his tea.

"Fufufu, is that so? That's great! Our Liu family will rise to new heights. Not even the Chen family can threaten us now," Liu Yang said, laughing. Even without Liu Ming saying anything, he could guess that Liu Xinyi had successfully broken through to the Nascent Soul realm.

"We decided to keep it a secret," Liu Ming said, setting down his teacup.

Liu Yang looked at Liu Ming and nodded. "I see. Well, that's a wise decision."

"Make sure you keep it a secret and everything related to Mr. Orion as well," Liu Ming added.

"Don't worry about that," Liu Yang assured him.

"So Uncle Yang, why did you only bring a small amount of MSG? There are other elders, you know. Even I want to taste it myself. Don't tell me that Mingzhen is hoarding it for himself?" Liu Ming inquired.

"How could you think like that?! Mr. Orion indeed only gave us a small amount for now. Later, he will provide more. Even Mingzhen and I have only tasted a little. The rest, I immediately brought back. We wasted most of it during testing on animals and mortals. Animals and mortals, you hear me?!" Liu Yang complained bitterly, expressing his frustration and regret as he recalled the experience.

"Okay, I was just asking. No need to get agitated. Do you think Mr. Orion made the MSG himself, or did he obtain it from somewhere? Have you probed for any information?" Liu Ming questioned.

"Both Mingzhen and I don't dare to offend Mr. Orion, so we haven't investigated. But we speculate that Mr. Orion made it himself," Liu Yang replied.

"Oh? That would be quite something if he can make the magical medicine himself. Do you have any leads or information about how it's made?" Liu Ming asked.

"Well, Mr. Orion asked us for many things, from tools and equipment to ingredients, from common to expensive and unique ones. We think that they may be used in making the MSG. However, there were so many things that Mr. Orion asked for, that we don't know which are used for making MSG and which aren't. We completely have no clue how it's made," Liu Yang admitted.

"I see. Then there's no need to pry further," Liu Ming concluded.

A servant knocked on the door. After Liu Yang gave permission, the servant entered the room, bowed, and informed them that Luo Fengwei had arrived. Then, the servant left the room.

"To think that someone like Mr. Luo is willing to come," Liu Yang remarked. He knew that Luo Fengwei was the type who disliked attending banquets and preferred to spend his time in his workshop. Luo Fengwei could easily be called a blacksmithing maniac.

"Fufufu, you don't know, but because of Mr. Orion, our relationship with Mr. Luo has grown closer," Liu Ming said.

"Well, that's good. Let's go out to welcome him," Liu Yang suggested.

Liu Ming and Liu Yang then went out to greet Luo Fengwei. After some pleasantries, Luo Fengwei congratulated Liu Yang on having his first grandson. Liu Yang then led him inside. They went to a table and sat down, and a servant served tea.

"Is your father in secluded cultivation?" Luo Fengwei asked as he sipped his tea and looked around, not seeing Liu Xinyi.

"That's right, Father is currently in secluded cultivation, trying to break through to the Nascent Soul realm," Liu Ming replied.

"Mmm," Luo Fengwei nodded. He had known Liu Xinyi for a long time and was aware that Liu Xinyi's chances of breaking through were rather slim. "May he succeed in his breakthrough," Luo Fengwei added.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Luo," Liu Ming said gratefully.

Liu Xinyi was already more than 700 years old and had only a few decades left at most. Cultivators who had neared the end of their lifespan were no longer in their prime; their vitality and strength slowly waned, and even their cultivation began to decline.

As a result, they needed to constantly remain in secluded cultivation to maintain their cultivation and, if possible, attempting to achieve a breakthrough in their cultivation to extend their lifespan. Thus, it made perfect sense and was perfectly normal for Luo Fengwei to believe Liu Ming's words, when in reality, Liu Xinyi had successfully broken through to the Nascent Soul realm.

"I really don't know what gift to bring. Here, give this to your grandson when he's old enough," Luo Fengwei said, retrieving a pendant from his storage ring. He had crafted the pendant himself.

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"On behalf of my grandson, I thank you very much, Mr. Luo," Liu Yang accepted graciously. "As expected, Mr. Luo, your craftsmanship is truly exceptional," he added, admiring the pendant. The pendant was a Rank-2 accessory artifact, boasting a simple design but exhibiting high-quality craftsmanship. Even the string attached was of remarkable quality, while inscriptions were delicately carved on the pendant's surface.

"It's just a trinket I made a while ago, nothing special," Luo Fengwei modestly remarked.

Inside the mansion, the atmosphere grew busier and livelier as more guests arrived. Tables filled with people dotted the room, and various foods were served. Liu Ming and Luo Fengwei continued their conversation, occasionally punctuated by laughter, while Liu Yang returned to greet the newly arrived guests.

...

A horse carriage stopped in front of Orion's residence. Wang Lingxin got out of the carriage and rang the bell on the gate. After a short while, Orion opened the gate.

"Master, I'm back," Wang Lingxin said as she entered.

"You're back early?" Orion asked, closing the gate.

"Yes, it's done. The Spirit Beast fried chickens are finished, and they also improved the normal fried chicken," Wang Lingxin replied as she walked.

"That's good. Which is better, mine or theirs?" Orion inquired as it walked beside her.

"Um... They are slightly better, just slightly, but yours is also good," Wang Lingxin answered, indicating a small gap between her index and thumb to emphasize "slight."

"Master, can I eat the purple fruit now?" Wang Lingxin asked.

"Sure, I'll prepare it for you. By the way, I will be going out for a while," Orion said.

"Mm," Wang Lingxin nodded.

In the small garden behind the house, Wang Lingxin was seated on a stone bench, happily eating a tray of purple fruit. Not far away, Chunhua was taking laundry off the clothesline and putting it into a rattan basket.

"Little Lingxin, why do you always wear these same few clothes? You have many others in your drawer, and they are better and more beautiful," Chunhua said as she took down the laundry.

"Mmm... mmmm... I like these clothes. Master made them for me. Nyam... nom... nom... Master promised to make a really beautiful dress for me, but for now, Master is still practicing and can only make these simple clothes. But I really like them," Wang Lingxin said as she ate the fruit. "Master even promised me to make armor like the one he wears."

"Oh, but you should also wear the other clothes too. I will help you choose your dress next time," Chunhua replied. She had wondered why Wang Lingxin always dressed simply and wore the same clothes. When Chunhua first met Wang Lingxin, she even mistook her for someone related to the servants in the Liu family. However, when she had put the laundry away before, she discovered that Wang Lingxin had many other, better, and more beautiful clothes in the drawers in her room.

"Big Sis Chunhua, here..." Wang Lingxin said, offering the purple fruit as she ate.

"I'm good, I don't really like sweet food," Chunhua replied. She had already tried it before and found it too sweet, especially since it was also covered with honey. Sweet food was not her favorite, so she only ate a small piece.

Chunhua then entered the house. After folding the laundry, she went to Wang Lingxin's room to put the clothes in the drawer. She planned to clean Orion's workroom next since he was out.

"KYAAAAAA!" Chunhua screamed in horror as soon as she entered the room, falling backward onto her butt. The scream echoed through the residence, even reaching Wang Lingxin in the garden.

"Big Sis Chunhua, what happened?" Wang Lingxin ran inside the house.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Several black figures moved swiftly toward Orion's residence from different directions. They quickly surrounded the house, hiding behind bushes, in treetops, and on rooftops. Some of them entered the house with weapons drawn.

A masked figure in black clothing entered the house swiftly, heading directly to Orion's workroom with his sword drawn, ready for battle. He stood alone in the room, his eyes darting around as he used his spiritual sense to scan the area, worried that the enemy might be hiding. Meanwhile, Chunhua had already crawled out of the room, her expression filled with fear.

"Big Sis, are you okay?" Wang Lingxin asked, helping Chunhua stand.

"Little Lingxin, help... there's a... a very big bug inside the room," Chunhua said, still horrified.

"Bug?" Wang Lingxin asked. "Oh, those are the bugs that Master keeps. They should be in a cage; one must have escaped."

"Can you put it back in the cage? I'm very afraid of bugs," Chunhua pleaded.

"Yeah, sure," Wang Lingxin replied.

A bug? Liu Jin thought inwardly upon hearing Wang Lingxin and Chunhua. He also noticed the bug the moment he entered the room but chose to ignore it, focusing more on searching for enemies. He never imagined that all this commotion was caused by a mere bug. He had thought there were enemies infiltrating the residence.

Liu Jin looked at the squirming bug on the table. Damn it, just a bug. Why did you have to scream so loud? Liu Jin complained inwardly about Chunhua's reaction.

"False alarm, everyone. Return to your positions," he ordered his subordinates via Voice Transmission. Many black figures then quickly moved out from the residence and disappeared into the distance.

Liu Jin then approached the table, flicking the bug on its head until it became stunned and no longer moved. He had only wanted to immobilize it so Wang Lingxin could take care of it. He didn't dare to kill it because the bug belonged to Orion, and he didn't know what Orion was doing with it.

With that done, he disappeared from the room. Wang Lingxin peeked inside to check and saw the bug on the table. She then entered the room, grabbed the broom that was resting in the corner, and used the end to poke the bug for a while, but the bug didn't move.

After making sure that the bug was not moving, Wang Lingxin grabbed it and put it back into its cage.

Wang Lingxin then left the room, saying, "It's done, Big Sis Chunhua."

Chunhua exhaled in relief. "Thank you. I really can't handle bugs and I'm really scared of them. Are you okay? Did you get attacked?" she asked.

"No, the bug isn't even moving. Maybe it's dead. You don't need to be scared," Wang Lingxin reassured her.

"Phew... What is Master doing with bugs?" Chunhua inquired.

"I don't know, but Master has been experimenting with them. He cuts them into pieces and takes something from inside their bodies, then squeezes out the liquid and stores it in a jar," Wang Lingxin explained, recalling Orion's experiments during their boat journey to Fengxian.

"Ughh... you don't need to explain further," Chunhua said, feeling queasy at the thought of Orion's experiments.

Both Wang Lingxin and Chunhua then left the room, unaware of the many black figures that had surrounded and entered the house. Even as the black figures departed, Wang Lingxin and Chunhua remained oblivious to their presence, having not noticed them upon their arrival or departure.

Meanwhile, Orion, who was currently in the commercial district, was alarmed by the commotion at the residence. Many inscriptions were triggered, and the microcontroller controlling the house defense and surveillance system then sent detailed warning messages via radio to Orion about cultivators attempting to infiltrate the residence, specifying which inscriptions were triggered. However, after checking the camera feeds from the residence via radio communication, it turned out it was just Chunhua getting scared of a bug.

"It seems that I can't ask Chunhua to help me with the bug," Orion thought internally.