Edited by FluffyGoblyn

After Xu Qi returned to his room, he cleaned himself first. After all, he got himself dirty earlier while training. He was in no condition to meet others. When he was done grooming himself, he rubbed his protesting belly and smiled. A blue light flashed for a moment in the room, and Xu Qi was no longer to be found there.

In a room located in the inner yard of Xu Clan, a depressed Xu Pingfan was having his meal alone. His mind was full regarding his clan’s young master, He disappeared just like that. He gave not even a word of where he was going. This guy is such a headache. Xu Pingfan shook his head, then downed a glass of wine. Next, he went on to grab a chicken drumstick from the table and moved it towards his mouth. At that moment, he felt his hand loosen, and his eyes widened – the drumstick was gone!

“Uncle Mang, this drumstick of yours is a little salty,” the one who snatched the drumstick was none other than Xu Qi. He sat across the table from him, eating the stolen chicken drumstick and muttering.

Just as Xu Pingfan frowned at the unexpected visitor, he realized the identity of the person and relaxed his face. Xu Pingfan looked at his young master with a smile. He couldn’t get angry with the latter; he treated Xu Qi like his own child. Of course, he wouldn’t mind his ‘son’ snatching a chicken drumstick away from him.

Although Xu Pingfan didn’t mind in his heart, he feigned anger, saying, “Young Master, where have you run off to? It must be nice having someone else doing everything for you. What’s more, now you even snatch my food.”

Xu Qi ignored Xu Pingfan’s words. He quickly finished the drumstick in his hands. Then, he stood up and used his bare hands to stuff more food into his mouth without stopping. His mouth was completely packed full of food.

Seeing his young master’s unsightly manner, Xu Pingfan couldn’t bear teasing Xu Qi any longer. He said, concerned, “Slow down, Young Master. Be careful of choking. I will ask the servants to bring more if there’s not enough food here.”

In a short while, all the food on the table was swept clean by Xu Qi. As a result, Xu Qi now sat with a satisfied face, burping. He said to Xu Pingfan, “Uncle Mang, this is the first time in my life I’m this full!”

“How could you not be, Young Master? That was a table full of dishes! Not even I could finish them all by myself; yet, you devoured it all. This was my meal, which I haven’t helped myself to.” Xu Pingfan’s head was full of black lines as he said this, but he was not annoyed in the least.

“Haha. I was too hungry after cultivating, Uncle Mang. That’s why I ate your meal. Come on, don’t blame me. What adult would be nitpicky towards a child,” Xu Qi smiled craftily.

Having said that, Xu Qi wiped away his smile, saying, “Uncle Mang, you told me about Xu Clan’s storage of monsters’ inner cores previously. Where are they? Can you bring me to have a look? I am very much in need of them.”

Seeing Xu Qi talk about serious business, Xu Pingfan immediately turned serious as well. The latter stood up and said, “Please come with me, Young Master.”

The two quickly arrived outside the bedroom of the deceased patriarch and lady. Xu Pingfan sighed, then gently opened the doors while Xu Qi kept his silence and followed into the room.

After entering, Xu Qi looked at the furnishings, and a slight feeling of sadness rose in him. He’d only been in this world for six years, but Xu Yingzhou and his wife were his closest kin. Now that both of them were gone, he couldn’t help but feel sad coming into this room once more.

“This way, please, Young Master.” Xu Pingfan pointed towards the bed by the wall. When he spoke, his lips could be seen trembling, his eyes full of sorrow. No one could understand exactly how close Xu Pingfan and Xu Qi’s parents were.

Xu Pingfan finished his words and went next to the bed. He gave a bow, then opened a wooden box on the headboard. Xu Pingfan turned the porcelain vase, then retreated.

At the same time as Xu Pingfan stepped back, the bed slowly moved along the wall, opening up to a staircase leading underground.

Xu Qi was somewhat shocked; he lived in this room for quite some time but never realized there was such an underground passage.

“Let’s go, Young Master.” Xu Pingfan led the way down the passage while Xu Qi immediately followed.

In the passage, many luminous gemstones were embedded on both sides of the wall, lighting up the place. After a short walk, the two reached a stone door. Xu Pingfan pressed down on a red gemstone in the side wall, causing sound from the stone door which slowly opened itself.

Just as the stone door opened, an aura familiar to Xu Qi spilled out from the room. As for Xu Pingfan, he felt nothing out of the norm.

“Uncle Mang, don’t go in yet,” having felt the aura, Xu Qi stopped Xu Pingfan as he noticed the latter trying to make his way in.

As for the halted Xu Pingfan, he was a little shocked and asked, “What’s the matter, Young Master?”

“Uncle Mang, what else is in there, other than monsters’ inner cores?” Xu Qi asked.

Xu Pingfan was baffled at the question. He replied, “Young Master, there are only inner cores of monsters kept in here. All of them have been stored here since your ancestors were around. Why?”

“Oh,” Xu Qi trusted the words of Xu Pingfan, but what was it that’s giving him such familiar sensation?

The confused Xu Qi stepped past the stone door before Xu Pingfan, who immediately followed behind.

The area beyond the stone door wasn’t very spacious; it was about the same size as Xu Qi’s room. However, this room was full of shelves, with many wooden boxes on them. Xu Qi’s eyes swept across the room, estimating about 200 wooden boxes total.

“Uncle Mang, do all these wooden boxes contain inner cores of monsters?” Xu Qi asked.

“That’s right, Young Master. All these wooden boxes contain the inner cores. These boxes are made using Violetcloud Wood from Fallen Gods Mountain Range; they can preserve the inner cores for a long time and prevent damage to the inner cores,” Xu Pingfan explained.

After entering the hidden room, Xu Qi felt a stronger sensation coming from the familiar aura. However, he couldn’t tell where the source was. He asked, “Uncle Mang, what’s the highest grade inner core stored here?”

“From the time of Xu Clan’s ancestors till now, there are 20 inner cores at the grade equivalent to a human’s Spirit realm cultivation stored here, Young Master. There aren’t any higher-grade ones here,” Xu Pingfan answered.

“Then can I trouble you to bring me the 20 Spirit grade inner cores, Uncle Mang?” Xu Qi asked.

Hearing these words, Xu Pingfan walked towards the innermost shelf, busying himself.

Spirit grade inner cores? Wasn’t our Xu Clan afraid of inviting trouble by trading such high-grade inner cores? And what is giving me this feeling of familiarity? Xu Qi was full of doubt in his heart. The reason he asked Xu Pingfan to retrieve the Spirit grade inner cores was that of the aura. To be able to cause a reaction in him was proof that its grade shouldn’t be low; the cultivation method he practiced was from the ancient times, after all.