Cultivation System: Stronger with Age Chapter 22 - 21 This Bewitching Husband

"This time you didn’t use my handkerchief to blow your nose. That really touches me!" A crisp, melodious voice rang out.

Lin Xuankong’s steps halted, and a look of surprise and delight appeared in his eyes. He quickly turned around and walked a few steps to the Old Willow Tree, staring intently at the bright and beautiful Lii Xiaolan in front of him. "You’re back!"

Lii Xiaolan saw his joyous expression and couldn’t help but feel touched, a hint of tenderness appearing in her eyes. She blinked her bright eyes and said with a smile, "I always keep my word. I said I’d be back within fifteen days, so how could I not return! Besides, I couldn’t eat well while I was away. If it weren’t for some unexpected incidents, I would have been back sooner!"

Lin Xuankong laughed. "It’s good you’re back!"

Lii Xiaolan rubbed her small stomach with her slender, fair hands. "I really want to eat chive pancakes. Ah, I’m starving!"

Lin Xuankong shook his head speechlessly.

「...」

「Outside the wooden building,」

Lin Xuankong placed the braised pig’s knuckle, oil-braised prawns, braised pork tenderloin, and chive pancakes he had bought on the table.

Lii Xiaolan was somewhat surprised to see such a luxurious lunch. However, her attention quickly shifted to the chive pancakes. She ate a few, then moved on to the braised pig’s knuckle. It wasn’t until she started on the oil-braised prawns that this little foodie realized Lin Xuankong hadn’t eaten anything and was just watching her from the side!

Her face suddenly turned somewhat red. She sneaked a peek at Lin Xuankong and thought to herself:

After thinking for a while, she decided to chat to ease the awkward atmosphere. "When I came back, I ran into the Eldest Young Lady. She said a lot of things happened in the West City during this time. Tell me about it."

Lin Xuankong smiled. "It’s not just the West City..."

He then briefly recounted how Ma Xiong had tried to rob and kill him, how Wang Po had troubled Little Hu, and how he himself had advanced to the Second Layer.

"Advanced to the Second Layer?" Lii Xiaolan was so incredulous that her mouth fell open, the prawn she had just put in almost falling out. "You... you said you’ve advanced to the Second Layer of Transcendence? Your Cultivation Speed..."

Lin Xuankong was a bit taken aback.

He couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong with my Cultivation Speed?"

Lii Xiaolan paused, her eyes darting around. "Uh, well, your Cultivation Speed is... fine!"

She fidgeted, her little toe tracing patterns on her beautiful embroidered shoes, and continued, "Actually, the Cultivation Speed is fine. But didn’t you encounter any bottlenecks when advancing from the First Layer to the Second Layer?"

"What bottleneck? There’s a bottleneck advancing from the First Layer to the Second Layer?" Lin Xuankong was puzzled.

Looking at Lin Xuankong’s expression, Lii Xiaolan suddenly felt the prawn in her mouth had lost all its flavor!

"Why aren’t you saying anything?" Lin Xuankong asked.

Lii Xiaolan thought, seething. She furiously ate seven or eight oil-braised prawns to vent her frustration.

But then, thinking about how worried Lin Xuankong must have been these past few days, coupled with the comfort from the oil-braised prawns, she felt a little apologetic. "These days... if I hadn’t gone out to hunt Demons, you wouldn’t have faced so much danger!"

Lin Xuankong shook his head. "You were just trying to earn more silver taels. But don’t take such risks in the future. I got more than three hundred taels of silver from Wang Po and Ma Xiong. That should be enough for a while!"

Hearing this, Lii Xiaolan felt even more dejected.

Lii Xiaolan pondered for a moment and decided she definitely needed to rethink her money-making strategies for the future!

Soon, Lii Xiaolan declared righteously, "That Zhang Wu actually dared to plot against my husband! I’ll go take his life tonight!"

Hearing this, Lin Xuankong shook his head decisively, a cold glint in his eyes. "Zhang Wu made me live in fear for two months and has committed countless evil deeds. How can we let him off so easily by just killing him? He has to suffer in fear for two months as well!"

Lii Xiaolan pondered for a moment. "That works too. Just remember to confiscate all his assets when you deal with him!"

Lin Xuankong couldn’t help but look at Lii Xiaolan upon hearing this. Then, they looked at each other and smiled.

Lin Xuankong then said, "Tell me about your trip hunting Demons. Why were you delayed for several days? Did you run into any danger?"

Lii Xiaolan nodded, munching on a prawn as she began her story.

It turned out that because she couldn’t borrow the Exorcism Armor, Lii Xiaolan had to find a Low Tier Demon to hunt outside the city.

In Li Yang Town, located on the outskirts, she encountered an Evil Sheep Demon that was terrorizing the townsfolk. After ambushing it for a few days, she prepared to slay the Evil Sheep. The battle initially went smoothly, and she managed to cut off one of its Evil Sheep Horns. Unfortunately, the Evil Sheep was very cunning and escaped using a Demon Technique. That wasn’t a major issue, as a single Evil Sheep Horn was still worth about two hundred silver taels.

Unexpectedly, on her way back, she ran into thousands of Demon People controlled by a High-tier Evil Sheep. They trapped her for several days, putting her in grave danger. Fortunately, she was rescued by the Huang Family’s Eldest Young Lady, who was leading a team of Huang Family Martial Cultivators.

"The Eldest Young Lady has been very kind to me since I was a child, teaching me martial arts, literacy, and how to be a good person. Without her protection, I probably would have been... And now she’s saved my life again!" Lii Xiaolan said with deep emotion.

Lin Xuankong laughed. "If you get the chance in the future, make sure to repay her kindness!"

Lii Xiaolan nodded. She seemed to recall something, then suddenly frowned and said, "Sister Rongshang has encountered a lot of trouble recently! Lady Huang, that old witch, failed to break through her bottleneck a while ago and suffered severe Primordial Qi damage. Patriarch Huang took the old witch to Liang City for treatment, and it’ll probably be several years before they return. Although the Huang Family has many Martial Cultivators, the only one who can hold things together now is Sister Rongshang.

"I heard from Sister Rongshang that the Black Tiger Gang Leader, under instructions from his Prefect cousin, has formed an alliance with the Spirit Snake Gang and the Guo and Feng Families. They’ve taken over the transportation and sale of medicinal herbs in Great Marsh Prefecture! The Black Tiger Gang and the others have always been at odds with the Huang Family and the Yin Talisman Sect. It looks like the Huang Family and Yin Talisman Sect are going to face even more pressure! Actually, it’s not just the Huang Family and Yin Talisman Sect who will suffer. Without medicinal herbs, our Cultivation will also be affected!"

Lin Xuankong frowned upon hearing this.

"Let’s not dwell on these troublesome things for now," Lin Xuankong said. "Since you’re back, eat your fill and get some good rest!"

Lii Xiaolan clapped the prawn shells off her hands. "I just broke through a bottleneck recently, so of course, I need to focus on Cultivation! There’s no time to rest!"

After saying this, she looked at Lin Xuankong.