Chapter 40

Bai Fang's home was in the Bai family community in the inner city. 

This was the residence of the branch family, and there were many small buildings. The closer it was to the inner area, the larger the area of the courtyard. The innermost few were large courtyards with three or four entrances. 

The branch family was actually not weak. After all, no matter how fertile the Bai family's direct line was, it was only a family of two or three men. There would never be such a flourishing branch family. 

Bai Fang's home was not in the inner courtyard. It was in a small building on the outside. He was only the son of a concubine. His mother did not even have a title. He might not even see his father, who was related to him by blood, once a month. 

When he returned home, the sky was already dark, but Bai Fang's heart was burning. 

When he opened the door, there were two dishes, a soup, and a bowl of rice covered by a net on the square table under the grape rack in the courtyard. 

Beside the square table, a woman who was not even forty years old was reading a book under the light of the lamp under the grape rack. The woman was seventy percent similar to Bai Fang, and she took good care of herself. Even at this age, she would still make many people stop and look at her, their hearts beating fast. 

"Mom, I'm back." 

After Bai Fang opened the door, he shouted and quickly ran to the pool to wash his hands. Then, he took a stool and sat beside the square table. 

"Fang Fang, you're back? Why are you so late today?" 

His mother looked up at him, and her voice was clear and gentle. 

"Hehe, I had something to do at school today," Bai Fang said with a smile. His expression was a little unnatural. 

"Your lecturer has already sent over the midterm results. Didn't you get first place in this practical combat exam?" 

"No, a student named Sun Ming from the outer city had a stroke of luck and met a professional who improved his technique. The power of that technique was a little stronger than I expected, so I lost. But even if I was second, my written exam result was still first. If I added them together, I would still be first." 

As Bai Fang spoke, he picked up the bowl beside him and filled it with rice. 

"Mom, have you eaten? Do you want to eat some more?" 

"I've already eaten, you can eat." 

His mother waved her hand and continued to read. She spoke casually. 

"I also received a transaction message from the bank today. You spent 250 crystals. What did you do?" 

250 crystals were not a small number. Ms. Bai herself went to work in the Bai family's factory during the day. In addition to the crystals transferred by Bai Fang's father every month, she only earned 400 crystals a month. 

Bai Fang's hand that was holding the chopsticks stopped subconsciously, but soon, he smiled and said, "Hehe, mom, I was just telling you. I'll show you when I'm full later. I found the person who improved Sun Ming's techniques. Today, I also begged him to change my techniques." 

Hearing her son's words, Ms. Bai's angry expression gradually disappeared, but her brows still furrowed. 

"Fang Fang, you're still young and haven't experienced much. Could it be that you've been deceived?" 

Hearing her mother's words... Bai Fang didn't mind. "Mom, I'm not stupid. I've personally experienced Sun Ming's tactics. Previously, he couldn't even break my defense. Who knew that today, he actually displayed his might and directly crushed my shield tactics in a few breaths. I've also paid attention to it before. That person is opening a shop in the outer city. The quality of the shop is not a problem. If he really wants to cheat, who would be stupid enough to open a shop?" 

"Eat. After you're full, go to the cultivation room to try out the technique." Ms. Bai didn't say anything else. "Tonight, your father said that he would come to see you so that he could show your father." 

"Oh." 

Bai Fang respected his father. 

He also knew that he and his mother had to rely on this father to survive in the inner city of the Bai family. 

It was also because of this that he had worked hard since he was young. As long as he could show enough talent, he would be able to make a name for himself in the Bai family, and he would be valued by the elders of the direct and collateral branches. Then, he and his mother would be able to live a better life. His mother would also have the chance to get a title and be taken to live in the mansion by his father. 

As it was a cultivation technique that was improved on the basis of the original cultivation technique, Bai Fang did not encounter many difficulties when he practiced it again. In just half an hour, he had mastered most of it. Although he was not very familiar with it, it was still much smoother than when he used the cultivation technique to control the flying needles. The flying needles turned nimbly in the air, and in the end, with a thud, they completely disappeared into the dummy used for training... 

The next day was the weekend. 

[Hundred Blade Wind Manipulation Technique] 

[(Blue) increased casting speed by 100%.] 

After completing a spell creation yesterday, Zhou Ji directly obtained more than 20 magic points. Zhou Ji also took advantage of the time when he woke up in the morning to convert the magic points into strength, filling in the fourth entry of his wind manipulation technique. At this point, the wind manipulation technique was already a top-tier intermediate spell. The effect of doubling the casting speed allowed Zhou Ji, who originally needed one breath to release five wind blades, to complete it in half a breath. 

Xiao Rui still did not have a nightmare last night. After entering the path of cultivation, the nightmare did not appear again, which made Zhou Ji very gratified. 

It was just like the usual dull life. However, after coming here, there was an additional task of walking the dog. This was usually the homework that father and daughter had to do in the morning. The trip in the afternoon could only be considered as Xiao Rui taking Little White out to play by herself. 

However, after cleaning the table today, Zhou Ji heard a noise outside the door. 

What was going on? Was there a queue for the promotion next door? 

Zhou Ji looked out of the window on the second floor and saw that there were more than ten thirteen or fourteen-year-old teenagers surrounding the door of his store. 

He was familiar with one of them, which was Sun Ming. 

"Good morning, Boss Zhou! I have found a classmate for you!" When Zhou Ji poked his head out of the window, Sun Ming also noticed him and waved at Zhou Ji with a smile. 

"Daddy, is he calling you?" Xiao Rui, who had just put on her shoes and tied a dog leash for Little White, turned around and "looked" at Zhou Ji. 

"Yeah, it looks like I'm going to be busy today." 

Zhou Ji rubbed his daughter's hair and said with a smile. Under the influence of the Perception Spell, Xiao Rui's performance was basically the same as a normal person, except that her eyes were still gray, without a trace of a child's intelligence. 

"Hehe, then I will take Little White out by myself today. Daddy, be good." Xiao Rui patted Zhou Ji's forearm like an adult and then hopped down the stairs with Little White. 

"Take the jade token and the jade pendant that Uncle Wu gave you. Be careful." Zhou Ji looked at Xiao Rui who was about to go downstairs and hurriedly said. 

"Got it." Xiao Rui turned her head and pointed at the jade pendant on her neck in Zhou Ji's direction, then put it back into her clothes and put it on. 

Zhou Ji was confident in the safety of the city during the day. Besides, Xiao Rui wouldn't go far by herself. Even if she ran into any danger, Xiao Rui, who was at the third level of the Qi Cultivation Realm, was now able to protect herself, not to mention that she had the help of the marking technique, if there really were any problems, Zhou Ji could arrive within a minute.