Chapter 91

Chapter Eleven: The Heavenly God Has Descended

Yuan Xiaoling walked on the path leading to the forest, looking back. The ancient back gate of the Yuan Family Compound was partially hidden among the bushes, resembling some countryside agritainment spot.

Turning around and looking ahead again, the road to the forest was rather simple—just dirt all the way, with barely any stone bricks. It didn’t look at all like a path leading to the core area of a prestigious family.

“Are there really treasures and secrets in here?” Yuan Xiaoling muttered quietly to herself. “Is this for real or just a scam?”

But what would be the point of scamming herself? Just to make her walk a few extra steps?

The bushes on either side of the road swayed as if wagging their beards, criticizing the girl for judging by appearance.

‘You’re still as dumb as when you were little. How did you even find a partner? Did she trick you into it?’

Though unsure who or what was speaking, Yuan Xiaoling heard it again. This voice was peculiar—without any specific sound, so it was impossible to tell if it was male or female, old or young. It was completely different from the mechanical tone of a system.

Rather than calling it a voice, it felt more like a form of direct communication.

But regardless, calling her stupid was going too far, and Xiaoling couldn’t let that slide.

“You underestimate me too much. What I display is wisdom hiding in simplicity—I can compensate for my lack of strength with intelligence. Between her and me, we’ve fought countless battles where the weak triumph over the strong. Your understanding simply can’t grasp the extent.”

Yuan Xiaoling was about to boast further, mentioning things like the craziest labor during Labor Day, cheerleader comebacks against basketball players, and the first appearance of the Tidal Thirteen Styles on Children’s Day… Suddenly, the nearby bushes rustled, and a beautiful young woman appeared before her.

“How did you get here? Are you…”

She questioned briefly, then her gaze fell on Yuan Xiaoling’s face and figure, especially those proud Dabeitùs, as if recalling something.

“Are you Cousin Xiaoling?”

Yuan Xiaoling blinked. “Who are you?”

This girl looked to be about her age, yet how could she call her ‘younger cousin’?

“I’m Yuan Ying, your elder sister.”

[Ding dong, member of the main Yuan family, the host’s relative, currently fresh out of university.]

“How do you recognize me?” Yuan Xiaoling asked.

If she was one of the main house’s young ladies, they probably hadn’t met before since Xiaoling hadn’t returned to the compound for several years.

“Well,” Yuan Ying hesitated, “there have been a lot of recent updates about you. I occasionally hear them mention you.” She glanced once more at her younger cousin’s prominent Dabeitùs. “I remember some… um, advantages of yours.”

It was unclear how she had grown so excellently.

In return, Yuan Xiaoling also checked her out, slightly curling her lips. “Maybe it’s not that my advantages stand out, but rather because…”

Let’s keep it polite, no need to say it outright, after all, they’re relatives.

“… Let’s get back to the main topic. How did you end up here?” Yuan Ying pretended not to notice Xiaoling’s impolite look. “It’s dangerous here. I’m heading to seek reinforcements.”

She doesn’t get mad, does she? Yuan Xiaoling thought. The upbringing of the young miss must be good; if it were Bai Ling, she’d already have pounced and pinned her down.

“I haven’t heard of any danger. Anyway, I came because I was told to.”

“Then you should leave quickly and go back with me.”

As Yuan Ying moved to pull her, she heard Yuan Xiaoling say,

“But what if I am the reinforcement you called for?”

Xiaoling thought it made sense. Why else would she be woken up suddenly and brought here?

“You…” Yuan Ying hesitated.

It sounded logical, but Yuan Xiaoling was just a younger cousin, a few years younger than herself… well, older cousin, could she handle the situation?

“Don’t think too much,” Yuan Xiaoling urged her. “Show me first.”

“Alright, follow me.”

With someone leading the way, the girl’s pace quickened as they headed deep into the dense forest.

“Cousin Xiaoling, here’s the situation. Today, while practicing in the forest, we accidentally disturbed the nest of the Wood Spirit Imps, resulting in enemies stronger than expected. Normally, grandfather would intervene in such dangerous situations. But today, he hasn’t acted, so I rushed back to try and seek help.”

Yuan Xiaoling blinked. “What are these Wood Spirit Imps?”

Yuan Ying paused slightly, surprised that she didn’t know, but quickly explained.

“The Wood Spirit Imps are creatures born from excessive wood-elemental energy concentrated in this special place. The exact details involve many secrets which I don’t fully understand. All I know is that after discovering this place, our family has us frequently come here for practical combat training.”

“Got it,” the Blonde-haired Maiden nodded. “This place is like a training room. Today, everyone was practicing when they accidentally pulled too many monsters, unable to defeat them, almost becoming the legend of ‘Yuan Ying pulling too many mobs and never returning.'”

Yuan Ying’s face turned red as she softly defended herself. “It wasn’t me who pulled… it wasn’t me who provoked them.”

“All the same, you guys can’t handle it anyway,” Yuan Xiaoling said. “Why hasn’t grandpa intervened? Maybe he’s not home today.”

“Grandpa… wouldn’t be absent,” Yuan Ying’s expression became somewhat strange. “This involves some secrets. In short, I don’t know why he hasn’t acted. We can’t hold out much longer and need reinforcements quickly.”

Yuan Xiaoling thought for a moment, then looked at her strangely.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, I’m just curious about your request for reinforcements.”

The Blonde Busty Girl stopped walking, tilted her head, and seriously asked, “Do you guys not have mobile phones?”

Yuan Ying’s eyelids twitched, and her steady pace faltered.

Is this really an issue to worry about in such an urgent situation?

“… Actually, we used to have them, but some people slacked off inside, neglecting their cultivation to play on their phones instead. Grandfather got angry and made us hand over our phones every time we entered.”

She adjusted her emotions and explained.

“That just shows bad timing, letting you guys play on your phones all day,” Yuan Xiaoling lectured earnestly. “Young people should be more active.”

“…” Yuan Ying’s pretty face tightened a bit.

She didn’t understand why her formerly gentle and quiet younger cousin had transformed into a… manga-style tsundere within just a few years.

Miss Yuan didn’t read these kinds of things, but they were very popular recently. She often saw them online, and some of her siblings in the family loved sharing them in the family group chat.

She always thought girls like that were artistic creations, fictional characters, until today when she reunited with her long-lost younger cousin.

“Fine, I guess you’ve learned your lesson,” Yuan Xiaoling asked, “So what level are these Wood Spirit Imps?”

Finally, a sensible question. Yuan Ying quickly replied, “Most of the ones surrounding us today are above the late second-tier, with quite a few third-tiers, even some late third-tier beings!”

After hearing this, she noticed Yuan Xiaoling blinking innocently.

“You can’t even handle third-tier rookies?”

“?!”

[Ding dong, detected sudden task: Boss Arrives.

How can a great villainess not have followers?

Task Requirement: Use your power and charisma to impress the younger generation of the clan.

Task Reward: A new skill set.]

…

Meanwhile, deep in the forest, the fierce battle continued.

The Wood Spirit Imps came in all shapes and forms. As products of excessive wood elemental energy, their appearances were highly random.

When the energy gathers on big trees, they become tree-men, using branches as arms and roots as legs. On vines, they transform into snake-like vine spirits. On weeds, they turn into trap monsters emerging from the ground.

In short, various plants have gained consciousness.

The strongest late third-tier entity among this wave was a giant pitcher plant spirit. There were also several other third-tier entities—unknown fungi, enormous tree-men, and countless second-tier lesser spirits.

Trapped in this predicament were five young men and women, all outstanding members of the younger generation of the Yuan family. The oldest, Yuan Ye, was only 24 years old but already possessed late third-tier capabilities.

However, he had to contend with the equally ranked pitcher plant, managing only occasional interference with the tree-man. The others faced overwhelming numbers.

The mid-third-tier fungus monster posed the greatest threat. Every spore cloud it released caused chaos, and just as they managed to resolve one crisis, the smaller monsters would seize the opportunity to charge forward.

“I’ve told you countless times to focus during cultivation. You always lose concentration, pulling monsters while muttering about your cousin. Now what will you do?”

Yuan Ye struck the pitcher plant’s leaf with a punch, turning back to glare disapprovingly at a boy.

That was his younger brother, Yuan Tong, a perception-type spiritual energy manipulator. Usually reliable in finding practice targets, today he was unusually distracted, constantly mumbling about “hearing that his cousin was finally coming,” causing him to lose focus and create trouble.

Even worse, when the terrifying Wood Spirit Imps swarmed out, he screamed, “Cousin Xiaoling!!” as if expecting to die and wanted to leave a last word.

Now glared at by everyone, Yuan Tong blushed furiously and dared not utter a single word.

“Grandpa isn’t helping, and there’s no external support. We won’t last much longer,” the youngest, Yuan Lingling, her eyes glistening with tears. “Someone please come save us.”

She wasn’t crying exactly, maybe a little choked up, but mostly due to the flower pollen and spores attacks from the spirits.

“There’s no time to wait. I’ll count to three,” Yuan Ye gritted his teeth. “We’ll break through with full force towards the direction we came from!”

“Three…”

Just as he started counting, everyone tensed, suddenly hearing a crisp croaking sound on the battlefield—

“Gwa!”

Gwa? What gwa?

Subsequently, various sounds echoed one after another—

“Cluck cluck~”

“Oink oink.”

“Quack quack!”

“Deer~!”

Seven massive water creatures appeared around the battlefield’s perimeter, swallowing the nearby second-tier spirits in one bite. Their water bodies gradually expanded—

Yuan Ye’s eyelid twitched, shouting loudly, “Get down!”

BOOM!!

The seven water constructs exploded simultaneously, the life-giving water instantly transforming into lethal water blades. Arc-shaped waves swept across the battlefield, cutting most of the spirits in half.

Not even the tree-man escaped unscathed, its massive body frozen in place. A few seconds later, the severed upper half collapsed, revealing smooth concentric rings on the cut surface.

“… So powerful.”

The elite youths of the Yuan family were stunned.

“Hold on, there are still a few left!” Yuan Ye reminded them.

The strongest spirits hadn’t died; they were merely injured. At that moment, the late third-tier pitcher plant opened its pelican-like mouth, approaching the group like a man-eating flower.

There was no time to dodge!

In this life-or-death moment, Yuan Ye, Yuan Tong, Yuan Lingling, and the other two, as if hearing an illusion, caught the sound of a soft feminine shout—

“Heavenly Dragon Manifestation!”

All the water elements that had burst forth earlier, whether pooling on the ground, seeping into the earth, or already evaporating into the clouds, converged back together upon this cry. Within moments, a roaring vortex formed.

Excess water was thrown off during the spin, while the main body gradually took shape like intricate carvings.

“Roar——!!!”

With a thunderous roar, a water dragon the size of a building stood tall on the land, crushing the injured pitcher plant with sheer pressure at its base.

The young elites of the Yuan family involuntarily looked up. The previous dragon’s roar was so loud that their ears rang, and their heads buzzed.

But they all saw clearly—the mighty dragon’s head held a charming, curvaceous silhouette.

Yuan Lingling trembled, murmuring:

“The heavenly god has descended.”

Equally astonished was Yuan Ying. She had been lifted up by Yuan Xiaoling to observe the scene from above, unable to suppress a shiver.

Since Yuan Xiaoling joined the battle, everything became effortless. The army of Wood Spirit Imps vanished into thin air, the world burning beneath her feet… no, drowning.

“See? I told you.”

The Blonde Busty Girl innocently shrugged her fragrant shoulders, causing her prominent Dabeitùs to bounce twice.

“How could anyone fail against third-tier rookies?”

Yuan Ying’s mouth twitched, unable to speak for a long time.

Yuan Xiaoling didn’t care, letting the gentle breeze caress her golden tresses.

Lies don’t hurt; the truth is the sharp blade. Perhaps this is why tsunderes are often misunderstood… she thought.

The water dragon lowered its head, and Yuan Ying went down first to check on her companions.

“Sister Ying!”

“Great! You brought reinforcements.”

Yuan Xiaoling slowly descended, taking a brief look around. Besides Yuan Ying, there were five people here—three men and two women. Except for a tearful little loli, the others seemed a bit older than her, though only in age.

“Yuan Ying, thank goodness you returned in time,” Yuan Ye happily said. “Whose senior did you manage to bring?”

Such a formidable water-based ability, he had never seen it in the family before.

“She is…”

Before Yuan Ying could speak, her leg-injured cousin Yuan Tong suddenly widened his eyes and sprang up from the ground.

“S, S, Sister Xiaoling!!!”

Everyone followed his voice and stared, shocked.

Was it a hallucination caused by the spores of the fungus spirit? Could it be true that the purest, cutest, and most beautiful cousin in the family, also boasting the best figure, was the master of this supermassive water dragon?

Pinching her thigh, it hurt—it wasn’t a hallucination.

“Sister Xiaoling,” Yuan Ye exclaimed, most astonished. “I never expected you to save us.”

He thought himself at 24 years old with late third-tier abilities to be quite excellent, but now realized there were even more impressive talents within the family.

Yuan Xiaoling approached the group, crossing her arms, and coldly ordered, “Call me Big Sister.”

“Cousin Big Sister!” Yuan Tong excitedly shouted without hesitation.