Chapter 31: She’s Nothing But a Temptress

Thanks to the fact that this was the adaptation period for the dungeon, this brood of Qu Ru could only exert ten percent of their full power. Coupled with the fact that their lair had been infiltrated and there was a newly hatched Qu Ru chick to care for, Yu Yan had managed to secure these Qu Ru materials by a stroke of luck. While scavenging the Qu Ru nest, she dug out a Qu Ru egg from its depths.

It was then that Yu Yan understood why those two adult Qu Ru, when fighting, always seemed so restrained. Even as they were killed, they never unleashed any devastating moves like “Whirlwind”—they were afraid of harming the Qu Ru egg deep within the nest.

Yu Yan snapped out of her reverie and took another fierce bite of the grade-nine Qu Ru meat.

You once left me riddled with wounds, bathed in blood! Now, you can do nothing but obediently be refined by me, become my foundation for traversing the dungeon world. Perhaps it was a way to transfer her pain for her daughter’s sake—as if every ounce of pain she endured herself could lessen what her daughter had suffered.

This time, refining the grade-nine Qu Ru meat, Yu Yan did not feel much pain. Perhaps it was because she had undergone the refining of the twelfth-grade Spatial Phantom Lotus plant-spirit, and her tolerance for pain had multiplied geometrically. One was a top-tier heaven-grade, the other at the peak of earth-grade—the difference between heaven and earth!

“Haven’t eaten enough? Put more effort into it.”

Yu Yan smacked her lips and, in just two hours, finished refining the entire piece of grade-nine Qu Ru meat. She saw her daughter curiously exploring the plant-spirit miniature world, even jumping into the stream for a bath—ever since she’d advanced to fourth-grade Profound level, the plant-spirit world had changed considerably.

No longer a flat, plaza-like expanse, it now had varied elevations and a sense of layered arrangement.

In this three or four hundred square meter world, the height also reached three or four hundred meters. A miniature mountain, occupying thirty to forty square meters, rose at the world’s edge. Most of the land was barren, with no living things planted. The Purple Star Bamboo Yu Yan had planted sparsely dotted the mountain’s left foot.

A gentle mountain spring flowed down, wove through the bamboo grove, and gathered into a stream.

The stream circled the world and finally emptied into a saltwater pool nestled against the mountain’s right side.

Freshwater fish and shrimp Yu Yan had collected swam happily in the stream, blowing bubbles. The saltwater pool was even more lively, teeming with fish, shrimp, crabs, and shellfish—all species she’d brought from the “Mangrove Forest” dungeon. Near the mountain and the saltwater lake, she had planted the precious feather-leaf fig saplings she’d painstakingly acquired.

No, they could no longer be called saplings.

Without her noticing, several tender branches had sprouted. Their roots gripped the soil densely, growing into upright young trees.

Lost in thought, Yu Yan watched as Yun Duo’er finished her bath, changed into clean clothes, and then, barefoot, happily skipped toward the saltwater pool.

Yu Yan couldn’t help but laugh.

Looking at her daughter now, who could tell she had only recently endured torments worse than death? Perhaps this was the limitless potential only children possessed—give them trust and support, and their growth would astonish you!

With no more need to worry about her daughter, Yu Yan took out another large piece of Qu Ru meat and began her second round of refining.

She was determined to squeeze every last skill out of the grade-nine Qu Ru!

Night fell, and the villa was ablaze with light.

It had been two full days since Yun Duo’er ate the unicorn rhinoceros meat and began refining the thunder ability.

“Chirp, chirp-chirp!”

On Yu Yan’s shoulder perched a petite palm-sized bird. Its feathers were a dusky blue, its beak transitioning from deep blue to black, gently grooming itself and occasionally nuzzling Yu Yan’s neck affectionately.

This was the Qu Ru chick that had hatched from the egg Yu Yan had “conveniently acquired.”

Yun Duo’er was utterly smitten.

She glanced at her mother with envy, then at the golden spirit on her own arm—oh, forget it.

Mother had explained that most ability users could only have one spirit companion. If she wanted an adorable bird spirit like “Little Azure,” she would have to give up her own Golden Gold. Though Golden Gold couldn’t act cute like Little Azure, after so long together, she was attached.

Besides, Golden Gold was quite attractive—obedient and sensible!

The golden spirit clinging to Yun Duo’er’s arm, as if sensing its little master’s thoughts, gently swayed the two tender leaves atop its vine. “Master, I’ll be even more obedient and sensible in the future.” Through the mysterious bond between master and pet, this thought was conveyed, and the spirit felt a surge of anxiety.

Who knew even the world of spirit companions was so fiercely competitive?

Ah, this wretched sense of crisis!

“Come on, Duo’er, let’s go swap Uncle Tang back.”

Tang Yan had stood guard outside for two days; it was time for him to refine the grade-seven fire rhino blood crystal. As for why she didn’t give him the grade-nine crystal she possessed… What are you thinking? He was just a little follower, after all—the best things were, of course, reserved for family.

She wondered how Lin Zhe was faring, whether he was being bullied by dungeon monsters.

Yu Yan sighed quietly.

“Mom, are you thinking about Uncle Lin?” Yun Duo’er almost blurted out the question, but then thought better of it—it would only make her mother sad. These days, even finding Grandma was difficult, let alone Uncle Lin, who was thousands of miles away. Yun Duo’er swallowed her question in silence.

To be honest, she missed Uncle Lin a little, too.

Uncle Lin had always been kind to her, bringing her delicious treats and fun toys every time he visited.

Most importantly, when Uncle Lin was around, her mother always smiled so happily—not like before, when she always made her mother angry, or after the dungeon world arrived, when her mother was hurt so many times. If Uncle Lin were by their side, her mother would surely have a much easier time.

Meanwhile, far away in the outskirts of County S…

The very Lin Zhe on Yu Yan and her daughter’s minds impatiently shoved Jiang Xinping away.

“Mom, can you stop?”

“Before the dungeon world arrived, you were always threatening me with suicide, keeping me from seeing Yan Yan one last time. Now that the dungeon world is here, we don’t even know if we’ll survive another day, and you’re still making jokes about dying?”

“Lin Zhe!”

Jiang Xinping’s face twisted with rage. “Your father died young. After all these years of raising you alone, do you think it was easy for me? Now you meet a woman and can’t think straight. What’s so great about her that you’d even ignore your own mother?”

If she hadn’t stopped Lin Zhe back then, would she never have seen her son again? What did it matter if he got to see that woman?

She was his mother, after all! Jiang Xinping, furious to the point of heartbreak, began to sob. “She’s nothing but a vixen! I’ll never agree to the two of you being together, Lin Zhe, not in this lifetime.”

“Mom…”

Lin Zhe said helplessly, “Your son is bleeding to death and this is what you care about?”

“That’s only because you’re obsessed with that woman…” risking your life to rush into the dungeon for her. It was a D-rank dungeon—so many never made it out. Jiang Xinping silently resented him.

Meeting her son’s disapproving gaze, she finally swallowed her words.

“All you do is bully your mother—just because I love you, you think you can do whatever you want?” she grumbled, yet as she spoke, she sprinkled Yunnan Baiyao onto her son’s wounds. Spurts of blood washed away most of the precious powder, and this time Jiang Xinping truly cried. “I told you not to rush—why couldn’t you just listen?”

“Does that woman even know how hard you’re fighting for her?”