Chapter 182: The Heart Demon's Thunder Tribulation
"I..." Mu Xiaoxiao was taken aback, quickly saying, "Taoist Friend Jun misunderstood, it's not what I meant. I..."
The girl hesitated for a while, unable to give a proper explanation, and her eyes turned red. "I just..."
Jun Caiwei scratched his head, "I understand now."
"Well... to become closer..." Jun Caiwei pondered for two seconds, then said, "How about you call me 'Dad'?"
The man smiled brightly, his eyes shining. His smile was a bit mischievous. "Call me Dad, would that be close enough?"
Qiao Wan, who was watching from the side, and the others were completely stunned.
Mu Xiaoxiao was also stunned. After a brief moment, her face felt like it had been slapped hard, and she felt hot. She was at a loss, her dark eyes filled with a layer of mist of grievance. "Brother Jun, why would you make such a joke? I just... I just thought calling you 'Brother Jun' would be more intimate."
"I wasn't joking. So you think calling me 'Dad' isn't intimate enough?" Jun Caiwei said in a drawn-out tone, completely unaware that he had made the little girl cry. He rubbed his chin, pondered for another two seconds, and said, "Alright then, I'm in my forties this year. How old are you, miss?"
Mu Xiaoxiao was stunned again, tears swirling in her eyes. "Xiaoxiao... I've passed more than fifty years."
In these fifty-plus years, she... she had never experienced such grievance.
Jun Caiwei was shocked, his eyes widening. "Wow! Over fifty! That's impressive!"
"Oops, my mistake," the man quickly made a "stop" gesture with his hand. "I called you wrong, I'm only a little over 40 this year. Lady, you're in your 50s, you could have two chubby grandchildren in the mortal world, but you still call someone 'big brother'. No need for that, I can't handle it."
Forty...forty?!
On the other side, Qiao Wan, a woman in her forties, silently suffered from unparalleled torment.
Jun Caiwei. was just in his early forties, almost the same age as her. But his cultivation clearly seemed to be close to reaching the level of Golden Core.
It's annoying, there are too many people in the cultivation world who cheat and act like they're something special.
She hadn't even fully digested the Immaculate True Crystal in her belly, she also needed to work hard!
The man smiled and the high ponytail on the back of his head was blown by the wind. "How about this, I'll call you 'big sister', alright? Sister Mu?"
Even Xiao Boyang couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Although everyone in the cultivation world had grown old like old demons, who would really call someone 'big sister'?
Big sister? Sister Mu?!
Mu Xiaoxiao was completely shocked, her face turning pale and then green. She blinked her eyes and tears started rolling down her long, curly eyelashes.
Jun Caiwei, completely oblivious to Xiaoxiao's reaction, smiled and said, "Don't be shy, let's get closer, right Miss Mu?"
"To be honest, when I see you, it reminds me of my mother who passed away many years ago. You are beautiful and kind-hearted, and you're much older than me. It wouldn't be inappropriate to call you 'Mother'."
Mu Xiaoxiao couldn't hold back anymore. Her eyes turned red and tears streamed down her face. "Xiaoxiao... Xiaoxiao did not mean to offend you. Why do you deliberately humiliate me, Jun taoist friend?"
The man panicked and exclaimed, "Wow! Why are you crying, Miss Mu? I can just not call you that. You cry so easily, even though you're over fifty. That's a bit too sensitive, isn't it?"
"How did your elders teach you at home?"
"Don't cry, don't cry. Crying can easily cause wrinkles, especially for Miss Mu, who is already in her 50s. You should take good care of yourself."
Mu Xiaoxiao had tears streaming down her cheeks. The young girl was naturally beautiful, and her tears made her look even more innocent and lovely.
Jun Caiwei said, "Stop crying, my dear. Women age faster when they get angry. Let me give you some advice. You're already in your 50s, so you shouldn't cry like a little girl and make your eyes red."
Jun Caiwei waved his hand and said, "We're all getting older, so why pretend to be young? Come on, smile, just a little smile can make you look ten years younger."
The man's words came out like a rapid-fire, shutting down any chance for others to interrupt.
With a sigh, Jun Caiwei said, "Miss Mu, didn't you call Mu Xiaoxiao? Xiaoxiao, just by smiling, you can look ten years younger."
"Everyone here is a skilled practitioner, with hundreds of years of experience as ancient spirits. Let's not indulge in playing games with the innocence of young girls. Age is not a problem." Brother Jun encouraged with a smile on his face. "As humans, we must learn to face our own age, don't you think so, Shanshan?"
Caught off guard, the kind-hearted little white dragon was taken aback. He saw the girl wiping away tears, looking so sad and helpless. Her eyes were red from crying. Feeling a bit flustered, he stuttered in agreement, "Y-yes! Brother Jun is right! We should learn to face our own age. Miss Mu, you're only in your fifties, there's nothing to be ashamed of!"
The young man's eyes were bright, and his expression was sincere. The encouragement on his face was completely genuine.
This made Mu Xiaoxiao cry even harder.
Xiaoxiao looked around subconsciously, and saw that the people around had different expressions. Being humiliated in public by the man, she felt extremely ashamed and almost wanted to die. Taking a deep breath, the girl wiped away her tears and bowed deeply towards Jun Caiwei, with tears shimmering in her eyes and her voice trembling.
"Xiaoxiao knows now, she brought this humiliation upon herself today."
After saying that, she held up her skirt, bit her lip, and turned around to run away. Pei Chunzheng's brows furrowed instinctively, and he reflexively wanted to chase after her. But in an instant, he forcibly stopped himself and clenched his fists.
Jun Caiwei scratched his head in confusion and said, "Ah, why did Miss Mu leave so quickly?"
"Ah, these middle-aged mortal women, acting like young girls, it's really embarrassing."
"Crying like a baby, so shy."
His other body, he had indeed used it for over forty years.
A group of disciples from Kunshan looked upset: "It was you who did it!"
Soon, the welcoming disciples from Kunshan came over, smiling warmly as they quickly led these two people to their accommodations. Although the Kunshan Fellow Practitioner Meeting was still some time away, in these past few days, disciples from various sects and independent cultivators had been gradually arriving at Kunshan, becoming familiar with the venue.
"Oh, I see," said Jun Caiwei, shaking the folding fan in his hand. He didn't forget to turn around and greet Qiao Wan and Pei Chunzheng. "Brother Niu, Miss Pei Achun, Shanshan and I will go ahead."
Gan Nan followed closely, obediently turning around to bow. "Goodbye, Brother Niu and taoist friend Pei. We shall meet again."
Once Jun Caiwei and Nan Zihan left, Qiao Wan immediately rushed to Wenshi Hall.
Thus, after spending several tens of days and completing the assigned task at Wenshi Hall, Qiao Wan looked satisfied as she saw the significant rise in her ranking below her name.
Great! No problem!
Qiao Wan silently clenched her fists.
As long as you keep trying! Soon you will have enough to brush over ten thousand! By then, you can go to White Tower and have a fight to the death with you!
After leaving Wenshi Hall, Qiao Wan hurried back to her own cave and continued the unfinished "chewing" plan in the mountain cave.
The cave and everything in it hadn't changed much since she left. She found her old notebook and bit the end of the pen, feeling a bit sentimental inside.
The notebook neatly recorded her previous plans.
From absorbing Qi, to cultivating Qi, and then to building a foundation, step by step.
She analyzed her strengths and weaknesses, resources, and background, and marked countless red circles in the notebook.
"Continuous Light", "Throw Your Thunder"...
These were her efforts, her down-to-earth youth.
Qiao Wan silently shed tears.
With Jun Caiwei leading the way, Qiao Wan, who silently fell victim, decided to continue to strive for excellence.
She stayed like this for a full five days and nights.
In these five days, Qiao Wan has been working hard to overcome the challenge of the Immaculate True Crystal. She would bite off a small piece and slowly chew and digest it.
The deeper she delved into the refining process, the heavier Qiao Wan's heart felt.
Cen Qingyou deceived her. This thing, when consumed, offered much more than the hundred years of cultivation he claimed it could provide.
This item was perhaps even more precious than she had imagined.
After each bite, as it circulated within her body, Qiao Wan could feel her cultivation growing stronger.
And by the third day, Qiao Wan couldn't believe it – she could sense that she was about to form a golden core!
The vital essence in her dantian became increasingly concentrated. With continuous meditation and focus over these days, the vital essence gradually gathered and condensed into a vague shape resembling a golden core.
As a result, Qiao Wan made up her mind. She decided not to go anywhere else for now, and instead chose to seclude herself temporarily. She would only come out after completely refining the Immaculate True Crystal.
In these past few days, Qiao Wan worked even harder than in her high school years, with 200% efficiency. She worked day and night without rest, and even when Xiao Boyang came to find her, she turned him away.
Xiao Boyang's face turned dark outside the door, scratching the wall in frustration.
"Why won't she come out? Feng Wangyan will come here right away!" even Yuqing Spiritual Master knew about this.
Although Zhou Yan felt guilty towards Qiao Wan, Xiao Boyang knew better than anyone how much Zhou Yan valued Mu Xiaoxiao. Zhou Yan might not blame Qiao Wan now, but he would definitely be disappointed.
As for Feng Wangyan, that Phoenix with so many tricks up his sleeve, when Mu Xiaoxiao was "insulted" at the gate, even if it had nothing to do with Qiao Wan, as her younger martial sister, she would probably be unfairly blamed in the end.
Looking at the jade plaque.
The jade plaque had already caused a stir on the Kunshan forum with messages like "heartless younger martial sister, intentionally humiliating elder martial sister."
Although Feng Wangyan had some minor setbacks in his cultivation in the Cen Manor, it would still be as easy as walking a dog for him to torment Qiao Wan.
Xiao Boyang watched in despair as Feng Wangyan waited for her outside, ready to attack as soon as she stepped out.
If you have the ability to cultivate in seclusion, then you should have the ability to open the door!
Don't hide inside and stay silent, I know you're in there!
By the time the sixth day dawned, Qiao Wan had unknowingly finished consuming the Immaculate True Crystal.
In this situation, Qiao Wan decided to begin her attempt at breaking through to the Golden Core stage.
Before starting her breakthrough, Qiao Wan felt a bit anxious. She didn't know if she could overcome the tribulations of the Golden Core.
She glanced at the nearby booklet and clenched her teeth without showing any expression.
However, since she had made up her mind to embark on this path, even if there was pain ahead, she could only grit her teeth and move forward.
She wanted to become stronger!
Qiao Wan pressed her lips together, her eyes burning with determination and shining brightly with intensity.
The Kunshan Fellow Practitioner Meeting is coming soon. She wants to compete with Meng Canglang, Xie Xingzhi, and Bai Shanhu on the same stage.
She also wants to show off her skills!
The inner demons and thunder tribulations arrived as expected.
