Chapter 657 - 408: Unable to Empathize with the Indigenous People of the Otherworld

Just as the group was about to leave the training grounds for lunch, an object in He Manyu's pocket suddenly vibrated. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, exquisite metal token.

The surface of the metal token was engraved with beautiful patterns, with a large character for "Li" in the center.

At this moment, the small, exquisite metal token stopped vibrating, but its surface would flash with a faint golden Spiritual Light every few seconds, and Spiritual Energy Waves emanated from it.

Clearly, this small, exquisite metal token was a Spiritual Artifact, though its specific function was unknown.

Lin Li watched He Manyu, his gaze fixed on the metal token in her hand. A few seconds later, she put the token back in her pocket and turned to look at Li Qian.

"Miss."

"Ms. Yu, what is it?" Li Qian asked.

"The Lady sent a message. She has something to tell us and wants us to return immediately," He Manyu said.

"Did Mom say what it was about?"

"No."

"All right!" Li Qian nodded, then said to Zhu Xinru and Lin Li, "I have to go back for something, so I can't have lunch with you. I'll come find you again when I have time."

"Okay, you should go. Don't keep my aunt waiting long," Zhu Xinru said.

Afterward, Li Qian and He Manyu quickly left the Zhu Mansion. They had a servant from their household bring their two fine horses, mounted up, and galloped toward the City Lord's Mansion.

"Mr. Lin, after that intense fight, you must be quite hungry. Let's go eat!" After the two had departed, Zhu Xinru invited Lin Li to join her for a meal.

'Finally, lunch...' Lin Li, whose stomach was already growling with hunger, nodded and followed Zhu Xinru out of the training grounds.

......

「City Lord's Mansion.」

After rushing home, Li Qian saw her mother and was left completely dumbfounded.

It turned out that her mother, Zhao Xin, had said there was something to discuss and made her rush home. But to her surprise, the matter wasn't a big deal at all—she had just been called back for some chicken soup.

"Mom, can you not be like this! It's just chicken soup, but you made it sound so mysterious. I thought it was something important that you needed me to rush back for!"

Zhao Xin, the Lady of Dongwu City, whose glossy black hair was coiled high, had a curvaceous figure and an air of graceful nobility. Her face filled with shock, and she quickly rose from her chair, went to her daughter, and asked urgently,

"What happened to your eye? Who did this to you?"

"Oh, it's nothing!" Li Qian said dismissively.

"He Manyu, what happened?" Seeing that her daughter wouldn't explain, Zhao Xin turned to He Manyu, who was standing to the side, and asked with a stern expression.

"My Lady, this is what happened. Earlier, the Young Miss went to the Zhu Mansion..." He Manyu then recounted in detail what had transpired at the Zhu Mansion.

"..." After listening, Zhao Xin fell silent. She was both surprised that someone dared to beat up her daughter and astonished that this person was about the same age as her daughter but possessed a superior level of cultivation.

Her own daughter had inherited her husband's talent for cultivation and was one of the few cultivation geniuses in all of Dongwu City.

To be so easily defeated by him now, it was clear his cultivation talent must be even greater than her daughter's.

As the wife of the City Lord, she was not a petty person. Since she knew her daughter was injured in a spar, there was nothing more to say about it.

'He saved my niece and easily defeated my daughter. A young man with such excellent cultivation talent is exactly the kind of person my husband needs, so...'

"Li Qian, when you see him again, ask this new friend of yours if he would be interested in a position at the City Lord's Mansion."

Upon hearing this, Li Qian immediately replied, "Xinru said Lin Li is a traveler exploring the world. He's going to leave Dongwu City after he's finished his business here..."

"Silly girl, people's hearts change. Just because he says he's a traveler now, does that mean he'll be a traveler for his entire life?

Even if you ask him now about a position in our mansion and he still says he wants to continue traveling, that's fine. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

One day, when he no longer wants to travel and is looking for a place to settle down, he might just return to Dongwu City because you told him we could offer him a position.

For someone his age to defeat you so easily, you can imagine how incredible his cultivation talent is.

With a talent like that, even if we can't recruit him right now, it's worth forming a connection. It might lead to unexpected gains in the future," Zhao Xin advised her daughter earnestly.

Although Li Qian had a carefree and direct personality, she was no fool. She was quite clever.

After hearing her mother's words, she nodded in understanding, deciding to mention the offer of a position at the City Lord's Mansion the next time she saw Lin Li.

"All right, enough about him. Come and have some soup. I stewed it myself for quite a long time."

Seeing that her daughter had taken her words to heart, Zhao Xin smiled in satisfaction and beckoned for her to sit down.

She reached out and lifted the lid of the clay pot on the table, revealing a pot of fragrant chicken soup. An enticing aroma wafted from it, enough to make one's mouth water instantly.

RUMBLE...

The intense fight earlier had consumed a lot of her energy, and she hadn't even had lunch yet. Gazing at the tempting chicken soup, Li Qian picked up her chopsticks and reached for a piece of chicken in the pot.

"Let me serve you." Seeing her daughter's eager expression, Zhao Xin picked up a bowl and began to ladle soup for her as she spoke.

Li Qian accepted the large bowl of chicken soup her mother had served her. She blew on it gently a few times before tasting it.

"How does it taste?"

"Delicious," Li Qian said. She then picked up a piece of chicken and ate it with relish.

Seeing her daughter eating so heartily, Zhao Xin's face broke into an affectionate smile.

"Huh?" After eating several large pieces of chicken and drinking a few mouthfuls of soup, Li Qian suddenly felt currents of Spiritual Energy appearing inside her body.

This spontaneously generated Spiritual Energy quickly began to replenish the Spiritual Energy in her Dantian, which had been nearly depleted from her spar with Lin Li.

Noticing the puzzled look on her daughter's face, Zhao Xin smiled and explained, "The chicken in this soup was a Seven-Colored Feathered Chicken, a Mutant Beast at the Peak of Tier Two."

"No wonder! I only had a few pieces of meat and a few sips of soup, but I could already feel several currents of Spiritual Energy appearing in my body," Li Qian said.

The stronger a Mutant Beast roaming the wilds, the more Spiritual Energy its body contains. When humans kill and eat them, they can absorb the Spiritual Energy within the meat for their own use.

"Where's my brother? Shouldn't we call him to eat too?" Li Qian asked after finishing a bowl of soup, seeing her mother ladle another one for her.

"He's not home. I've already saved a portion for him. Hurry up and eat! It won't taste as good if it gets cold..." Zhao Xin said, placing another large, full bowl of chicken soup in front of her daughter.

"Oh." Li Qian nodded and continued to feast on the meat and soup.

A little while later, Li Qian had eaten the entire clay pot of chicken soup clean. She let out a very unladylike burp and patted her stomach.

"I'm so full. Mom, I'm going to take a bath."

"Go on."

Li Qian stood up and left the dining room. This time, He Manyu did not follow her.

When only Zhao Xin and He Manyu remained in the living room, Zhao Xin turned to He Manyu and asked,

"That young man who sparred with Xiaoqian, what do you think of him?"

"My Lady, that young man is exceptionally strong," He Manyu said.

"Exceptionally strong? In all these years, no one from the younger generation of Dongwu City has ever earned such high praise from you," Zhao Xin said in surprise.

......