The King of Black Fog

After returning to Ming City, the three resumed their daily routine.

In the mornings, they practiced martial arts; during the day, they attended classes (reflecting, summarizing, gathering intelligence, and if tired, just listening to the class or sleeping); in the evenings, they practiced Visualization.

A fulfilling and satisfying five days.

During this time, Yang Qinglan, after mastering "Thorns" and "Call the Wind and Rain," also learned the "Giant Beak Bird Style · Temperature Control." Even Li Changzhou was afraid of her natural talent for learning skills related to nature.

It was hard to imagine what her achievements would be like if she lived in an ancient sect.

After mastering "Giant Beak Bird Style · Temperature Control," she switched the skill for "Shadow Cat," while keeping "Call the Wind and Rain" to see if she could upgrade it to level B.

"Suddenly I have a premonition that my future nephew or niece might be a monster." On Friday, during the last class, Li Qianxia said seriously in the [Three Sisters] WeChat group.

"@Changzhou, someone's cursing your kid"

"My brother is up there presenting a PPT. With you as a mother, it's inevitable your child would be called a monster."

Yang Qinglan sent a smiling emoji.

...Li Qianxia thought she was a bit scary.

In fact, she herself had performed exceptionally well this week, quickly adapting to fighting with the "Instantaneous" movement, and her progress with practicing the "Divine Fire Map" was nothing short of rapid.

At her rate, she wouldn't need a month to unlock her potential for the first time—something that took Li Changzhou nearly two months with the "Thunder Map."

After class, the three put away their books and headed to the subway entrance on Huaihai Street together.

"We could do like the little radish, right? Sneak in and save the ticket money." Li Qianxia walked down the stairs, step by step.

The woman in front of Yang Qinglan and Li Changzhou looked back at her.

"We still have the tickets from the reward, consider dodging the fare when those run out." The woman took a step down, seemingly disdainful to stand with Yang Qinglan who made such a suggestion.

Two such beautiful girls, how could they do such a thing!

Li Changzhou took a step back, pretending not to know the two of them.

Li Qianxia stood in place for a second, then after he caught up, she looped her arm around his neck, leaning on him, to prove to everyone that their quality was just as bad.

"Doesn't this feel awkward?" Yang Qinglan asked, looking at the two of them.

She and Li Changzhou were on an escalator, while Li Qianxia opted for regular stairs, so the brother and sister hooking arms were in an odd setting, one stationary and the other moving.

"Hmm—" Li Qianxia gauged the difficulty of the action, "Not bad, it's a piece of cake for an athletic beauty like me."

Yang Qinglan crossed her arms—in resignation and irritation.

Was this a matter of the difficulty of the action?

It's the behavior itself that was uncivilized, not just the risk of walking like this, but also the act of leaning on each other.

Of course, the reason she was angry was completely because it was her friends engaging in uncivil actions, and the person being leaned on was her... prospective marriage partner.

If it had been someone else, she wouldn't have even noticed, let alone get angry.

Upon entering the subway station and swiping their tickets, the three reemerged in the vast waiting hall.

"I always feel like this should be an enlarged version of a high-speed train station." Li Qianxia looked at the huge space in front of her.

"I've never taken a high-speed train." Yang Qinglan surveyed the players in the waiting hall.

"Come back with me during the New Year, I'll take you on one." Li Changzhou suggested.

"Yikes—" Li Qianxia made a shivering sound.

Yang Qinglan pursed her lips and smiled, like a snow lotus swaying in the wind atop a snowy mountain, breathtakingly beautiful.

Indeed, with 9 points in Charm, Li Changzhou admired internally while also surveying the players before him.

The usual surreal sight, everything from elves, centaurs, snake women, mermaids, spider spirits, toads with centipedes' bodies (or centipedes with toads' heads)...

All the creatures from fables, folktales, mythology, and legends that one could think of could be seen here.

A creature resembling a dragon was spiraling in the hall's ceiling, and a group of creatures (not just humans, hence, creatures) were taking pictures of it with their phones.

"So cool!"

"Definitely a strong one in the First Stage!"

"How many genes has it integrated!"

"Why don't people from Xia Country kowtow?"

"I kowtow for nothing, who knows if it's fish, donkey, or snake—hey, buddy, please pose like this, go 'roar' for me."

Li Qianxia also took out her phone and snapped away at the dragon.

The dragon seemed to enjoy the attention, allowing people to take photos and occasionally posing in various postures.

"Someone bought a 'Duel Token,' targeting the 'Chief'!"

The sudden announcement shifted everyone's attention.

Six people happened to be walking out of the store that sold 'Duel Tokens.'

"Who is it?"

"They actually dare to trouble the 'Chief,' aren't they afraid to die?"

"So that's why there are six of them in a team."

"Six people are no use, they still have to meet, with such a distant past, who knows to which time period they'll return."

"If they fail the challenge, it should be reported in the paper, right? No, they might even get interviewed."

"If they actually encounter the 'Chief' and survive that is."

Li Changzhou was also watching this group of people.

"Scared?" Qing Lan leaned in and whispered.

"Yeah," Li Changzhou leaned in a little closer, "so Miss Yang, you'll have to protect me."

He purposefully blew the breath on her delicate ear that seemed as soft as if it had just been born.

Yang Qinglan elbowed him.

"Oomph!" Li Changzhou exaggeratedly clutched his belly, "Qing, Qing Lan, from now on, No Taboos is all yours, you must live well—hisss!"