Chapter 27: My Good Son Keeps Delivering, and the Trouble of Happiness
Han Li, having roughly laid out his plan, did not immediately put it into action after all, it was never something that could be executed overnight. Having finally earned a day off, he first checked on Xiu'er's progress. Seeing that she had already enlisted the help of the household staff to set up the basic framework of the garden, he promptly summoned the affiliated families under his master's banner and had them take temporary responsibility for caring for the plants.
After lunch, he informed Guang Ling of his plans and, accompanied by several attendants, took Xiu'er down the mountain for the first time to explore Wuhun City.
Last time, Guang Ling had taken him around, but most of that tour had been about introducing the structure of the Spirit Hall rather than the city itself, and at the time, Han Li hadn't been in the mood to pay much attention. Now, he wanted to see it with his own eyes and get a feel for its atmosphere perhaps even try to integrate into it.
This was one of his favorite ways to relax in his past life. Whenever he was bored, he enjoyed wandering around, soaking in the essence of daily life. Of course, things were different now he had money, which made everything feel even better.
Most of the city's residents were spirit masters, albeit low ranking ones, yet they all appeared content, their quality of life seemingly quite good. Even the non spirit masters were typically the families of spirit masters, meaning they had at least some understanding of the profession. There was no deep seated fear of spirit masters among them, and naturally, no one cast strange looks at Xiu'er's crystal bear ears.
Overall, the city left a good impression on him. The attendants guided them through the streets, introducing key locations while he and Xiu'er went on a shopping spree. Thankfully, both of them had storage space, so they didn't have to worry about carrying too many bags. It also gave Han Li a firsthand taste of just how powerful gold spirit coins could be.
They played around until dinner time. It was only when the attendants reminded him that he reluctantly dragged an equally reluctant Xiu'er back up the mountain. The household's personal chefs and food type spirit masters had already prepared a specially designed meal for them, so dining out was unnecessary.
After dinner and his medicinal bath, Han Li sent Xiu'er off to cultivate while he retreated to his own room.
Instead of immediately meditating, he retrieved two items from his storage wristband with an amused expression a single gold spirit coin and a dark brown gelatinous lump.
The gold spirit coin had been something he found on the street that afternoon yes, found. He hadn't done anything special, just walked down the road, when a coin inexplicably rolled to his feet.
As for the gelatinous lump, it was none other than whale glue, something he had intentionally been looking for. He had spotted it in a luxury goods store not a medicinal shop or an auction house, but a luxury store, where it was being sold as an aphrodisiac.
This particular "millennium aged whale glue," despite being slightly older than the others on display, had poor texture and was thought to have degraded over time. The shopkeeper had left it in the store purely as a decorative sample, fearing it might be unsafe for consumption.
When Han Li offered to buy it, the shopkeeper even gave him a discount, letting him have it for a mere thousand gold spirit coins. The store owner even kindly suggested he take a younger, higher quality piece instead.
Of course, Han Li refused, and in doing so, he endured some rather… peculiar looks. After all, a six or seven year old boy insisting on buying such a thing? It was hard to comment on. The glances he received from both the attendants and Xiu'er were not reassuring.
But Han Li was unfazed. He had faced worse this was nothing compared to shamelessly latching onto Guang Ling after his awakening. A few weird looks? Please. In the end, he firmly stuck to his decision and even reassured the store owner that he would never return to complain about any side effects.
Of course, Xiu'er's face remained flushed for the rest of their shopping trip, which was the price he had to pay for his actions.
"A gold spirit coin conveniently rolling to my feet and 'ten thousand year' whale glue falling right into my hands… My good son really is thoughtful. Let's hope he keeps up the good work." Han Li played with the two items for a moment before tossing them back into his wristband and beginning his meditation.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, Han Li woke up as scheduled. Despite staying up late to cultivate, it did not affect his sleep quality. After three months of rigorous training, he had become accustomed to it falling into deep sleep in record time was now as effortless as using a spirit skill.
After a simple morning routine, he headed straight to the training grounds. Seeing that Guang Ling had yet to arrive, he began his warm up exercises on his own.
Upon completing a full routine, he turned around just in time to see Guang Ling gracefully land.
"You actually noticed my arrival? Impressive," Guang Ling commented, genuinely surprised. He had deliberately suppressed his soul power fluctuations.
"Teacher, have you forgotten? This allows me to sense my surroundings." Han Li tapped his head, causing two antennae to pop out and sway gently in demonstration. "My spiritual power didn't detect you, but the air currents from your flight and landing, as well as the temperature changes, were clearly transmitted to me."
"External soul bones are truly amazing… At this rate, once your rank is higher, no one will be able to sneak up on you." Guang Ling sighed enviously. As a long range attacker, he wished he had a similar ability himself.
"That's all thanks to you for picking the right spirit beast for me, teacher. Without that, I wouldn't have gotten such a useful ability." Han Li grinned.
"Alright, enough flattery, you little bootlicker."
Guang Ling chuckled, then straightened his expression. "Let's get started. Show me your basic archery skills first. I want to see what they've taught you so far."
Han Li immediately got serious. His Ice Fire Bow materialized in his left hand, his posture straightening. In a smooth motion, he spun around, summoning both the bowstring and arrow in an instant, then released the shot without even looking.
"Whoosh "
A sharp sound cut through the air. In the distance, a target exploded from the center outward, its shattered fragments scattered by residual ice and fire energy.
Guang Ling raised an eyebrow at first, but then his brow furrowed.
"Not bad. But there's definitely an issue here."
Han Li nodded without hesitation. He had been training for three months of course, he was aware of his own shortcomings.
"I still can't fully control the elemental energy. While my accuracy is decent, I have no real control over the power of my shots. The damage is considerable, but in terms of precision… not so much."
Guang Ling nodded approvingly before asking, "Have you tried separating the elemental energy, shooting arrows made purely of ice or fire?"
Han Li nodded again. Without speaking, he immediately demonstrated. Two consecutive shots one of pure ice, one of pure fire. Though their raw power was slightly weaker than his fused elemental arrows, the resulting area of effect destruction was still far greater than intended. Even when aiming at a specific spot, the surrounding terrain suffered from residual energy. The fire arrow, in particular, left a wider radius of destruction than his earlier fusion shot.
"Within the range of my spiritual control, it's manageable. But beyond that range, I lose control. If I were fighting at my level, it'd be fine. But in a sparring match? I wouldn't be able to hold back." Han Li summarized.
"And regular arrows? Ones without elemental energy?" Guang Ling asked.
"Tried those too. Didn't work. One took too long to form, making it useless in combat. The other gets infused with my martial soul's power and shatters the moment it leaves my control." Han Li shook his head.
"Then the only solution is to keep refining your control and improving your spiritual power." Guang Ling sighed. Han Li's Ice Fire Bow was far more domineering than his own martial soul.
"Yeah, that's all I can do for now."
Han Li sighed as well, though his troubles were the good kind of troubles. The downside he had worried about was finally manifesting. But in a way, it also reaffirmed just how strong he was becoming.
As for sparring? He was just being polite. For now, he had no intention of competing with kids his age.
Fighting against stronger opponents was still sparring, wasn't it?
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