by Dragon King
Hao Ren used to create openings on his dragon core using brute force. Even though it could increase the volume of the reservoir quickly, the reservoir may end up cracking and collapsing one day.
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! The birds sang outside the window, waking up Hao Ren who was immersed in cultivation.
It was another sunny morning.
Hao Ren sorted his clothes and put them in his small luggage before walking outside of the room.
Downstairs, Xie Yujia was making breakfast with her mom.
“Hao Ren!” Seeing Hao Ren coming down the stairs, Xie Yujia waved enthusiastically.
In shorts, a cartoon t-shirt, and slippers, Xie Yujia looked casual and cute.
Cheng Qian saw Hao Ren and smiled as well.
Xie Wanjun was practicing boxing outside. In front of the garage hung a huge sandbag, and Xie Wanjun would practice for two hours to maintain his strength every morning.
A moment later, he came in full of sweat, and he nodded at Hao Ren. “Want to try?”
“No thanks.” Hao Ren rejected with a smile.
“Look at your physique. You can jump, but you lack strength.” Xie Wanjun slapped Hao Ren’s shoulder with his strong arm and said.
“Hey…” Xie Yujia rolled her eyes.
She clearly knew Hao Ren’s capabilities. Xie Wanjun thought he himself was strong, but he couldn’t take on Hao Ren even if there were 100 of him. Therefore, Xie Yujia tried to stop Xie Wanjun from embarrassing himself.
“Haha! Just kidding! Just kidding!” Xie Wanjun thought Xie Yujia didn’t want him to tease Hao Ren, so he wiped his face with a towel and shut his mouth in a hurry.
After they had breakfast, Xie Wanjun drove Hao Ren and Hao Zhonghua to the John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The best of friends must part. Hao Zhonghua’s career was in China, and Xie Ming’s was in the U.S. Their gathering could only be brief.
“Yesterday when I called Zhao Jiayi, he said that the finals would be pushed back to mid-August because of issues with the venue. If I have time, I’ll go over to see him play,” Xie Wanjun looked at Hao Ren and said.
“Okay.” Hao Ren nodded, expecting Xie Wanjun to return to China again.
“If you play basketball, you would be a superstar,” Xie Wanjun said.
“Haha…” Hao Ren laughed but didn’t speak; his ambition wasn’t in basketball. Zhao Kuo and Su Han both pursued after the Heavenly Dragon Realm, and Hao Ren was silently aiming toward the same goal.
Zhao Hongyu appeared with Zhao Yanzi at the airport, and they were seen off by Zhao Kuan’s family. When Zhao Yanzi saw Hao Ren, she immediately ran over. However, she suddenly came to a halt and ran back to her mom’s side.
Xie Yujia saw Zhao Yanzi’s family and peeked at Hao Ren. After all, she was reluctant to see Hao Ren leave.
“Mr. Hao.” Zhao Hongyu gently waved her hand and walked over.
Zhao Yanzi followed her mom tightly. It seemed like she was unwilling to see Hao Ren, but she had to come over.
“The plane tickets are booked, and there is only one hour before boarding.” Zhao Hongyu handed the plane tickets to Hao Zhonghua. Booking plane tickets through Mingri Group was effortless.
“Take care.” Xie Yujia looked at Hao Ren. The thousands of words on her mind could only be condensed into two.
“Eh.” Hao Ren nodded, peacefully looking at Xie Yujia.
“Humph…” Zhao Yanzi put her hands on her waist and snorted.
She was Hao Ren’s fiancée. “How is it Xie Yujia’s turn to care for Hao Ren?” she thought.
But then again, she didn’t seem to care about Hao Ren this way…
Hao Zhonghua waved goodbye to Xie Ming, and Hao Ren took one last look at Xie Yujia. Zhao Yanzi couldn’t hold it anymore, so she reached over and dragged Hao Ren over to the security check.
Standing beside Xie Yujia, Cheng Qian looked at Zhao Yanzi and said to Xie Ming jokingly, “That little girl’s relationship with Ren is not bad.”
“Eh, Zhonghua got me another big contract. It’s going to be busy.” Xie Ming looked at his daughter and then at Hao Ren at the security check. Then, he looked down and chuckled.
Xie Ming thought about his business, and then his daughter. However, Cheng Qian from was thinking about her daughter’s happiness from the beginning to end.
This time seeing Hao Ren after many years, she was extremely satisfied with this boy, such that she wanted her daughter to marry him tomorrow.
She thought to herself, “My dumb daughter is in the same class as Hao Ren, but she still hasn’t gotten him. She isn’t like me at all when I was chasing after her dad.”
After about a dozen hours of airtime, the plane landed in East Ocean City.
East Ocean City was not as busy as New York, but Hao Ren felt exceptionally comfortable when he returned to the land that spoke Chinese since he wasn’t that great at English.
“Mr. Hao, in the following month, I’m going on a vacation to an island with Zi. Ren is coming with us as well. I talked to Yue Yang about this already,” Zhao Hongyu said to Hao Zhonghua as they walked out of the airport.
“Yue Yang mentioned it to me,” Hao Zhonghua responded.
He initially intended to let Hao Ren stay at Xie Ming’s place and experience the American life, but he also had no issue with Hao Ren going on vacation with Zhao Yanzi’s family. With Hao Ren away, Grandma taking a summer vacation at the countryside, and Zhen Congming staying at the Mayor’s home, he could finally work on his science research project day and night, and Yue Yang could work with 100% focus as well.
If Hao Ren knew that his parents wanted to work on scientific research projects and were more than happy to leave him to Zhao Yanzi’s family, he would puke up blood.
“Ren, follow your auntie, Hongyu, and behave!” Hao Zhonghua said before jumping on a taxi and going to the Ocean Research Institute.
Zhao Hongyu turned to look at the stunned Hao Ren and smiled gently. “Ren, let’s go!”
Boom! Boom… Suddenly, rain poured from the sky.
The crowd outside the airport went into hiding, and the rain turned the streets white while quickly decreasing visibility.
Zhao Hongyu raised her hand, and the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting was laid out beneath the three. A red energy sphere was created, and they soared toward the ocean in the rain.
After a few moments, they flew out of the rain zone, crossed the coast, and went deeper into areas of the ocean.
Soon, a large island appeared in Hao Ren’s vision.
At the center of the island stood a palace, and a red energy sphere surrounded the island with waves crashing against it.
Zhao Hongyu drove the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting straight into the island.
“Your humble servant meets you, Dragon Queen!” Premier Xia performed a full-body bow.
“Get up.” Zhao Hongyu put away the painting and asked, “Are Elder Lu and others here yet?”
“Dragon Queen, everyone including Elder Lu, Elder Sun, and Elder Xingyue have already arrived on Purple Bamboo Island. They are now patrolling East Ocean with Dragon King.”
“Good!” Zhao Hongyu waved her hand. “Premier, you may mind your business.”
This Purple Bamboo Island was one of the secret islands of East Ocean Dragon Clan that had palaces on them, and it got this name since purple bamboos growing all over the island.
Different from Coral Island, Purple Bamboo Island was in the red energy shield and couldn’t be discovered by mortals.
Every Summer, Zhao Guang would stay here for a month or two. He managed all affairs of the dragon clan on the island and supervised the training of the soldiers; this was called, Summer Patrol.
During Summer Patrol, Zhao Guang usually took with him Elder Lu, Elder Sun, Elder Xingyue, and Premier Xia.
“You’re finally here! I’ve been waiting for a long time!” A loud voice suddenly sounded.
Zhao Kuo in a grey robe flew down from the palace on the mountain, and it took
him just a moment to reach Hao Ren. The, he punched toward Hao Ren’s chest.
Hao Ren sidestepped and used the fundamental boxing techniques to counter it.
After blocking Zhao Kuo’s iron fist and leaving a dozen footsteps on the beach, Hao Ren immediately chopped at the back of Zhao Kuo’s head.
“Not bad!” Zhao Kuo groaned and released a strong aura from his body, directly pushing Hao Ren away.
Five-elemental essences gathered on his fist and went straight toward Hao Ren’s face.
“Third Uncle!” Zhao Yanzi shouted in a hurry.
She did ask Zhao Kuo to train Hao Ren in the cruelest way possible in private, but how could they fight when they just met?
“Would Third Uncle’s fist deform Hao Ren’s face?” she thought.
Hua! Hua!
Hao Ren took two steps back and was prepared to use one technique from the fundamental boxing techniques. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind.
A sword energy appeared on the tip of his finger, and he used the first variation of the first sword technique from the Mystic Water Sword Techniques.
Nature essence went through Hao Ren’s acupoints in a unique pattern, and the sword energy drew a bright arc along Hao Ren’s finger.
“What…?” Zhao Kuo was somewhat surprised, and that moment of hesitation made his fist wounded by Hao Ren’s sword energy.
Blood instantly gushed out.
“Hao Ren! You dare to injure my third uncle!” Zhao Yanzi who was worried about Hao Ren suddenly took Zhao Kuo’s side after seeing Zhao Kuo being injured.
Zhao Kuo retracted his fist and covered the injury with his nature essence. The bleeding immediately stopped.
He glared at Hao Ren and said, “No rest. Run 20 laps around the island, now!”
“Good! Good! Third Uncle should teach him a lesson like this!” Zhao Yanzi clapped happily.
She had been jealous of how intimate Hao Ren and Xie Yujia were at New York, and she couldn’t wait for Zhao Kuo to put Hao Ren through a hell-level training.
“You too! Follow him!” Zhao Kuo stared at Zhao Yanzi and shouted.
496 Preparation Before Having Children!
“Ah?” Zhao Yanzi was so surprised that her mouth opened wide.
“Now! Go!” Zhao Kuo said.
“Mom…” Zhao Yanzi looked at Zhao Hongyu for help.
However, Zhao Hongyu ignored Zhao Yanzi’s plea as she stepped to Zhao Kuo’s side.
“Go!” Zhao Kuo shouted again, and he released a sword energy from his fingertip, striking the sand near Zhao Yanzi’s ankle.
Bam! Yellow sand grains splashed and prompted Zhao Yanzi to run in a hurry. After all, Zhao Kuo’s sword energies were stronger than bullets.
Hao Ren took a deep breath and put strength into his legs, catching up to Zhao Yanzi’s side.
Zhao Yanzi was a marathon champion at school, but 20 laps around Purple Bamboo Island was too much even for her.
The coastline of Purple Bamboo Island was around 12 kilometers, so 20 laps were 240 kilometers! Even if it took 4 minutes to complete a kilometer, it would take 16 hours!
“Is this a joke? I just got off the long flight, and I haven’t even rested yet!” Zhao Yanzi thought.
Thinking of this, she felt wronged…
Before, Third Uncle would spoil her on every occasion. Why did he suddenly become so strict…
Hao Ren didn’t think as much as she did, and he was only quietly adjusting his breathing and firmly running on the soft sand.
When he was in middle school, he was also on the field and track team. All his old habits were coming back.
“Hey!” Zhao Yanzi saw Hao Ren running in front of her and couldn’t help but shout.
She increased her pace and caught up with Hao Ren. She looked at Hao Ren aggrievedly and ran shoulder to shoulder by his side.
It seemed now that Third Uncle was not going to take care of her. Only Hao Ren would go through thick and thin together with her.
Hao Ren turned to look at her and smiled helplessly. He adjusted to Zhao Yanzi’s rhythm and ran at her pace.
At this moment, the blazing sun was high in the sky.
Only a few hundred meters in, Zhao Yanzi was already sweating all over her body. The sand grains were burning, which didn’t make stepping on them any easier.
They finished one lap on the beach around the island, which took them almost an hour. This was already far beyond an ordinary person’s endurance and speed. If Zhao Yanzi didn’t reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, she would have collapsed in only half an hour.
“Let’s take a break, take a break!” Zhao Yanzi gasped. She saw that Zhao Hongyu and Zhao Kuo were out of sight and shouted toward Hao Ren.
As Hao Ren was going to slow down with her, a sword energy suddenly shot down from the high ground.
Bam! It landed by Zhao Yanzi’s foot.
Zhao Yanzi was ready to sit on the beach but was forced to jump up
Bam! Bam!
Two more sword energies hit Zhao Yanzi’s left and right side. The smoldering craters were only a few centimeters away from her feet, and Zhao Yanzi clenched her teeth and ran again.
Bam! Bam! Bam! A few more sword energies landed behind her, making her unable to slow down. She was literally about to cry. She had never been treated like this.
“Come…” Hao Ren who was half a meter in front of her reached out his hand.
Zhao Yanzi clenched her teeth.
She hesitated for a few seconds and finally reached out her hand to grab Hao Ren’s.
Hao Ren held her hand and sprinted.
Bam! Bam! Bam! A dozen sword energies tightly followed their ankles.
On the mountain peak, Zhao Hongyu and Zhao Kuo stood in a pavilion as they looked at Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi.
“To reach higher realms, strong bodies are basic requirements,” Zhao Kuo said.
“Eh. In this coming month, you should not spoil Zi,” Zhao Hongyu looked at the two small black dots far away and said faintly.
“I know. I only have a month before I go anyways,” Zhao Kuo said.
Zhao Hongyu turned to look at him. “What about Elder Xingyue?”
“I will come back and marry her after I reach the Heavenly Dragon Realm,” Zhao Kuo said.
“You confessed?” Zhao Hongyu asked immediately.
Zhao Kuo’s dark face faintly blushed. “No… Not yet.”
Zhao Hongyu sighed helplessly.
Hao Ren didn’t want to choose, and Zhao Kuo didn’t dare to face his feelings. Zhao Hongyu suddenly thought that the two were quite similar.
Zhao Kuo saw Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi slowing down and shot another dozen sword energies. He switched the topic and said, “This kid Hao Ren; I think he’s not bad.”
“Indeed, it is only that Zi’s realm is too low compared to Ren.” Zhao Hongyu looked at Zhao Yanzi by the shore in worry. “One day, she is going to have a child.”
“You’re afraid that her realm is too low and might face danger during childbirth?” Zhao Kuo asked.
“I certainly have this worry.” Zhao Hongyu nodded. “You know, Zhao Guang was afraid that something might happen to me, so he wouldn’t let me have another child.”
“This I know. My brother loves you very much. When my dad asked him to marry another woman, he didn’t do it,” Zhao Kuo said frankly.
“It was not only for me but also for Zi. If Zi has a half-brother, it would be hard to tell whether she could live happily,” Zhao Hongyu said.
Zhao Kuo thought about it and nodded.
Zhao Yanzi was the princess of the East Ocean Dragon Clan, so all elders in the Palace surrounded her. If she had a brother who would inherit the throne and become the future dragon king, and the mother of the future dragon king was not her biological mother…
“So, you are taking care of Xie Yujia for Zi’s sake as well?” Thinking of this, Zhao Kuo asked Zhao Hongyu.
Zhao Hongyu smiled but didn’t answer.
By the shore, Hao Ren and
Zhao Yanzi were getting tired. Hao Ren was still ok, but Zhao Yanzi was almost dragging her feet across the sand.
If they weren’t forced to run fast, 20 laps wouldn’t be too difficult. However, Zhao Kuo’s sword energies forced Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi to stay at the same fast pace, which challenged their bodies’ limits.
The bodies were like containers for storing nature essence. The sturdier the bodies were, the more nature essence they could store. Challenging one’s body to the extreme could temper the body and also work the mind.
The sun gradually set into the ocean in the West, but Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi were still running. Zhao Yanzi had never suffered so much before. Her cultivation path in the past was relaxed and easy, and it was nothing like this.
She was deceived by Third Uncle and forced to train this hard.
Hao Ren’s footsteps were still calm and stable. He held Zhao Yanzi’s arm and continued to run along the coastline.
On the mountain, Zhao Kuo stood still and supervised them. If they slacked slightly, unrelenting sword energies would land by their feet.
The moon was bright, and the stars began to fade. It was almost morning again.
“Third Uncle! I can’t run anymore!” Zhao Yanzi couldn’t help but beg for mercy.
She wanted to reach the Core Formation Realm to defeat Duan Yao, but she would instead give up this thought after this torturous experience. Third Uncle’s training method was too difficult!
On the peak, Zhao Kuo didn’t answer. Three sword energies arrived and wrecked Zhao Yanzi’s shoes.
“I can’t run anymore!” Zhao Yanzi sat on the beach, determined to make a scene.
She knew Zhao Kuo cherished her and wouldn’t really hurt her.
“If you don’t finish running, don’t call me as your uncle in the future!” Zhao Kuo roared toward Zhao Yanzi fiercely.
Zhao Yanzi was so scared that she trembled all over. She had never seen Third Uncle being so cruel to her, so she knew Third Uncle was not joking. She held tears in her eyes and finally got up and continued running.