NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: Have a Quick Meal
The three things I need to do recently.
1. Go to Pingjing to attend the award ceremony.
2. Visit the location given by the old Longbrow.
3. Prepare to go home for the New Year.
The first matter is the most urgent but also the least important.
The military medals and honorary titles for everyone have been decided, called "Divine General Dinghai".
In addition, Yan Yu, due to his outstanding performance at Inferno Pass and finally at the gate of Li Palace, has a different honorary title from others, called "Divine General Dinghai"… It seems that someone high up wants to create a "series of famous general titles" for him.
First of all, rule out Chen Tianming; Old Tai Shan isn't the type to do meaningless things. As for who it actually is, Yan Yu is clueless, and too lazy to clarify, so he simply doesn't bother to ask Chen Lingyun.
After the awarding ceremony, there was a monetary reward.
To be honest, for the people of Dragon Soar Team and Zhenghai today, tens of millions in cash didn't mean much; in Lord Master's words, it was just "accepting a gesture"…
We, top cultivators, treat tens of millions of cash just as a little token.
Taking off from Pingjing via Sword Flight, the ladies were still gossiping with sound transmission.
Zhao Yuanzhen was talking about which dishes were the tastiest at the state banquet, Lin Ning disagreed, saying she could cook those dishes too, then Chen Lingyun egged on the bet, saying if Ningning could recreate the banquet dishes, Sister Zhao would have to accept the wager and so on and so forth…
"What is the captain thinking about?" Su Yunjin suddenly asked through sound transmission.
"I have to make a trip to Nanjiang soon," Yan Yu saw no need to hide it from her, "The old man who gave me the treasures in Li Palace and taught me the Two-handed Sword Control Technique also left an additional divine sense, directing me to seek his Lineage Succession there."
"Oh," Su Yunjin pondered for a moment and said, "But going to Nanjiang doesn't necessarily mean you'll find it, right?"
"If the Mysterious Realm is a reflection of another world in ours, then even if we know the location of a cultivator's treasure-filled cave, we have to wait until this cave becomes a Mysterious Realm and the entrance appears in our real world before we can enter it to explore and search."
"Exactly," Yan Yu said, "but it's just a look-around. If I find nothing, so be it."
"That's true," Su Yunjin smiled and said, "then I can accompany the captain…"
"Have you finished finding all your Rootless Water?" Yan Yu glanced at her sideways.
"I can accompany the captain while collecting the Rootless Water I need along the way," Su Yunjin replied unfazed.
"Forget it, it doesn't snow all year round in Nanjiang," Yan Yu earnestly advised her, "At your age, you should focus more on your cultivation and not waste time and energy on trivial matters. Otherwise, you'll regret it later in life."
A girl's pure first love is hardly a trivial matter. Besides, if the captain is pursued by another girl, that would truly lead to lifelong regret and remorse for me…
Thinking about the Illusion Realm stage in the Secret Realm of Li Palace where she had to attend Ling Yun and the captain's wedding as a bridesmaid, Su Yunjin felt another surge of heartache.
But she was, after all, a well-bred young lady from a respectable family, and did not rashly express her emotions. Instead, she smiled innocently and said:
"Then, when does the captain think would be the appropriate time to consider this kind of thing?"
"Uh…" Yan Yu pondered for a while, "At least until the third year of the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, I suppose?"
Taking into account that the first year of Spiritual Energy Resurgence happens to be the year I graduate from high school, does that mean the captain wants to wait until my junior year of college to start dating?
After everyone returned to the Jinling Villa, Zhao Yuanzhen started urging again:
"So what are we eating tonight?"
"You ate all of my Bazhen Duck last time; I haven't settled the score with you yet!" Lin Ning said angrily.
"Yan Yu doesn't have much of an appetite to begin with, and I saved you from wasting food, isn't that a good thing?" Zhao Yuanzhen patted her flat stomach and said proudly, "I don't expect you to replicate the state banquet dishes today; just make another duck like last time."
"No stewed duck," Lin Ning replied expressionlessly. "If you want some, go buy saltwater duck yourself."
Seeing that she was impervious to persuasion, Zhao Yuanzhen surreptitiously sent a telepathic message to Yan Yu:
"Yan Yu, I want the Eight Treasures Duck we had last time."
"Then let Ningning make it for you," Yan Yu said.
"She won't. I can't do anything about it," the Demonic Sect Enchantress was quite clear on this point. "But, if you say you want it, she'll definitely make it for you."
"What's in it for me if I do this?" Yan Yu asked.
"If you tell her you want stewed duck, tonight a very powerful female cultivator will come to your room for some dual cultivation and to Circulate the Heavens with you," Zhao Yuanzhen said earnestly. "She'll also help you with the puppet maintenance and updates."
Yan Yu was immediately amused by her offer.
Enchantress! You actually dare to negotiate with me using something that already belongs to me?
However, the mention of puppet updating did remind Yan Yu that the Demonic Sect Enchantress indeed obtained a certain heavenly treasure from The Secret Realm of Li Palace, which seemed to be called "Qianling True Dusk Fire."
In recent days, everyone had been in Pingjing to attend the award ceremony, and all the gains from the trip to Li Palace had already been submitted to the department of science for recording and cataloging to develop corresponding research plans. Once those items were returned, he would use the Qianling True Dusk Fire for the puppet transformation.
Yan Yu and Zhao Yuanzhen's ownership of the puppets had already been reported privately to Chen Lingyun by Chen Tianming, who would "legitimize" the matter at the higher levels.
After Mei Yingxue decided not to pursue past grievances with the Demonic Sect Enchantress, there was no longer a need to hide the existence of the String-Pulling Technique, and it could gradually make its way into the public eye... As the intelligence was increasingly disclosed, the puppets' secrecy as a "secret weapon" would naturally fade, and more enemies would become cautious.
Therefore, the puppets needed constant upgrading to strengthen them. Your next chapter is on My Virtual Library Empire
Well then, he would have many future uses for this witch! He might as well fulfill her wish this time!
"Ningning," Yan Yu began, "do we still have the ingredients at home to make that stewed duck from last time?"
"Does the captain want to eat it?" Lin Ning first looked delighted and proud, but quickly became suspicious and glanced at Zhao Yuanzhen before telepathically asking, "The one who wants to eat is Sister Zhao, right?"
"Yeah," Yan Yu admitted openly. "After she tried your stewed duck last time, everything else she's eaten lately has tasted bland, so she secretly asked me to plead with you."
"Hmph." Lin Ning was completely unconvinced and snorted coldly. "Didn't she enjoy the feast last night? My cooking can't compare to that of a national chef. Let the banquet chef make it for her!"
"That's how your Sister Zhao is," Yan Yu said with a laugh. "All tough talk, but becomes incredibly soft when eating. Hey, why don't you do this? Make the dish again, put it in front of her... Make her admit that Ningning's culinary skills are unmatched, and she can't eat unless she admits it! Don't forget to record it with a voice recorder, and see how she keeps up her tough act after eating."
Lin Ning's mood immediately improved, and she smugly said:
"My cooking isn't the best in the world; I just know how to make some home-cooked dishes. Hmph, stewed duck takes too much time, I won't make it for her. But I carefully noted which dishes she liked at last night's banquet. I'll recreate them when I get back and see what she has to say!"
Seeing that Lin Ning had finally agreed, Yan Yu didn't say more and sat on the couch to watch TV.
"Captain," Lin Ning suddenly telepathically said again, "the New Year is coming next month."
"Hmm, so what?" Yan Yu asked. "You want to go home to spend it with your family, right? I know."
"Right, it's for the New Year." Lin Ning fell silent for a moment, then abruptly asked, "Do you have any time recently to accompany me on a trip to Qingyuan Prefecture?"
"What's the matter?" Yan Yu immediately became vigilant. "You're not trying to get me to pretend to be your fake boyfriend again, are you?"
"Of course not!" Lin Ning hurriedly defended. "And last time you refused anyway! I mean... my dad said you are the team leader, and he wanted me to build a good relationship with you, so I thought I'd invite you to have a meal at my place, especially since Sword Flight makes it very convenient to travel now... Right? Of course, if you don't want to come, that's fine too, I'll just explain to my dad..."
Although she repeatedly emphasized, "it's okay even if you don't come," Yan Yu could easily hear what she meant: it was an awkward way of saying "I really hope you can come." He responded directly:
"Sure. As the team leader, I don't mind going for a casual meal. When do you want to set it up?"
"Noon on New Year's Eve," Lin Ning replied quickly.
Yan Yu: ?