"You can't say that. After all, you risked your life to stop him."

Xu Shi said seriously, "Who else but you could do this?"

"Isn't this what we agreed on..."

Xia Xiaomao muttered, "I said I'd be the sword in your hand, and this sword will never rust."

As they talked, the two of them started kissing each other without any regard for others.

Seeing this, the old lady was so angry she wanted to burp.

Xia Wuyou! You...you're not even wielding a sword! What you're doing!

Everything was planned out beforehand. I was going to let this jerk have his fun and see how he behaved before deciding whether to have rice bowls for dinner. But you betrayed me in a second, didn't you?

Hello, yes.

This is the confidence that "the increase in the entropy of evil thoughts" brings her.

Having seeds and not having seeds are truly two different situations, not to mention Xia Wuyou, whose type is already deeply ingrained.

It's impossible to team up with her to control Xu Shi. It seems the white-haired older sister has forgotten who personally delivered her into Xu Shi's arms.

It's a case of remembering the good but not the bad.

Fortunately, the two of them hadn't really forgotten her as their "elder," and after a short while, the three of them happily started playing cards again.

"It feels so good to lie down."

Leaning lazily against the bed, Xia Xiaomao let out a sound of resignation.

"When did you become a lazy dog?"

Xu Shi could only laugh when he saw this.

"Just during this period of time."

Xia Wuyou said confidently, "My aunt used to be the one lying down, but now that I've been lying down for a while, I've realized that this kind of life is actually quite nice."

That's true. It seems that the roles of the Xia family aunt and niece have been reversed without anyone noticing. Xia Xiaomao is now lying on her sickbed, while Xia Ke'an is now full of energy every day.

"Not bad my foot."

The white-haired girl wiped the note off her face and snorted, "I was almost dying back then, okay? Xia Wuyou, don't you have even a shred of conscience?"

Xia Wuyou ignored her and just laughed to herself.

Seeing this scene, Xu Shi couldn't help but laugh, not only because of Xia Wuyou's sudden abandonment of life, but also because of her attitude towards herself.

The kitten always acts tough in front of strangers, and even when facing other girls, it often takes advantage of its seniority to naturally exude a serious demeanor.

But in front of me, she becomes soft and coquettish, like a spoiled little girl. This contrast is just too interesting.

This isn't an act; it's because he genuinely relied on Xu Shi to switch so smoothly.

"Waaah, it hurts here, Xu Shi, can you rub it for me?"

She can also act coquettishly like a green tea b*tch, grabbing Xu Shi's hand without warning and placing it on her heart while crying.

Xia Ke'an was dumbfounded. Shouldn't this be something she's better at? How come you seem to be more skilled than me?

That's enough.

So she immediately lost her temper, threw the cards in her hand onto the bed, and started to act serious, "I still have something important to say. What are your plans next?"

The Hualan Empire's year-long journey has come to an end, but the fight against "Heavenly Justice" is far from over.

"There's so much to do."

While roughly massaging Xia Wuyou's chest, Xu Shi said, "The first thing we'll do when we get back is interrogate He Yuxia and see if we can still get any secrets about 'Heavenly Principles' out of her."

Xu Ying was dumbfounded. Now she could only be used as combat power, but Xu Shi also learned more from her. He naturally wanted to know as much as possible about "Heavenly Principles".

In retrospect, the interrogation of He Yuxia was completely inadequate. We lacked experience at the time, and the other party was cooperative, so we only asked a few basic questions before stopping.

In retrospect, this may not have been a treacherous scheme of hers; she used information asymmetry to conceal many things.

It's probably still possible to uncover some secrets about her.

"Apart from that, it's all about doing scientific research."

He continued, "Now that we have so much liquid 'Rust Mist' ore, it's natural to upgrade the entire city again."

While developing and improving individual weapon components was no problem in the unfamiliar territory of the Hualan Empire, large-scale operations were not feasible. They could only carry out such projects back home, and then the technology would spread back to the Hualan Empire, creating a virtuous cycle.

Even something as simple as clearing away the "rust fog" can only be done in the City of Night Sin—its superior technology is an undeniable fact.

"And then there's our own level of capability..."

Xia Wuyou continued his words, adding a further explanation.

Becoming stronger is a never-ending pursuit, but it is undeniable that everyone's progress has stalled somewhat this past year since we went to sea.

The main problem is that once you leave your familiar environment, it's not so easy to engage in systematic training.

Take herself for example. She used to spend a lot of time in the training room. Now that she's out, she doesn't have that option anymore, and her focus has shifted quite a bit.

But her battle with Cheng Gujian ignited her competitive spirit. Losing once was acceptable, but she couldn't lose without realizing it. Catching up with and even surpassing her opponent was what she wanted to do.

Not to mention that this was even with Cheng Gujian holding back, which made her feel incredibly frustrated.

Only Xu Shi and Xie Qingyan encountered some extraordinary events; as for the others...

Or perhaps Xie Qingyan was the only one who had a fortuitous encounter. Xu Shi spent time inside the Sea God's belly, but he only managed to open up his Ren and Du meridians and use "United We Stand," without significantly improving his own ability level.

Xu Shi remained noncommittal. He was originally a proponent of the "planting medicine" faction, and if he wanted to actively improve his abilities, he had to rely on planting seeds for others. Unfortunately, he had only gained one such person, Dongfang Xiao, during this period. He could only say that he had improved, but not much.

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