Night.
Su Ping lay on his bed, tossing and turning. In the end, he sat up abruptly.
Although he carried experience from both this life and the previous one, what had happened tonight was simply too bizarre.
He was certain of one thing—the paper effigy had definitely mutated.
Otherwise, how could it possess metal-attribute abilities?
But compared to those spatial ripples, that possibly mutated little paper effigy didn't even seem like the main issue anymore.
What the hell was that thing, exactly?
Unable to sleep, and having found nothing useful after searching online, Su Ping directly opened his contacts and dialed a number.
Not Qin Xiaoxue, nor anyone else.
But the person closest to him in this world, bar none.
His old man—Su An'yong.
Ever since his father had gone to Northhan City, he would occasionally send a message or two, but there was never much follow-up.
It was as though Su An'yong had forgotten he even had a son, as well as a family business back home.
That said, after all these years, Su Ping had long since grown used to his unreliable father.
Still, with what had happened today—and now being tangled up with the Tianyun Group—Su Ping genuinely didn't know where to start.
Unfortunately, the phone rang for a full minute without anyone picking up.
If it were anyone else, they might have assumed the other party was asleep—or worse, that something had happened.
Su Ping, however, clearly didn't think much of it.
Not long after, the call didn't come through, but a message did.
Su An'yong: [What's up?]
Su Ping: [Can't we talk on the phone?]
Su An'yong: [Not convenient.]
Su Ping: [?]
Su An'yong: [Just fell asleep. Waking her up wouldn't be good.]
Su Ping: [6]
Su Ping: [You really went and found me a stepmom?]
Su An'yong: [Nonsense. Your Second Granduncle actually came through this time—she's a rich woman! From now on your dad's loaded. If you want to buy anything, just tell me!]
Looking at his father's messages, Su Ping felt suspicious.
"Really?"
Was that for real?
Thinking about it, although his old man was unreliable, he didn't seem like the type to mess around.
Still, judging by how confidently he was talking, Su Ping didn't hold back.
Su Ping: [The Breeders' Association has a mechanical core compression extractor. Our family's alchemy furnace should've retired ages ago—I want to replace it. Not expensive. Just three hundred million.]
Su An'yong: [?]
Su An'yong: [You brat, aren't you afraid of shortening your lifespan using that thing? Besides, you're not even a breeder—what do you want that for?]
Su Ping: [Who says I'm not a breeder? I'm now a Jianghai Province Breeders' Association–certified, registered Intermediate Lin Wolf Specialist Breeder. I've mastered the breeding of the Wood Heart skill.
A vice chairman personally delivered my certificate! Su An'yong, for your son's path to becoming a breeding master, bleeding a little now will bring unimaginable returns in the future!]
Su An'yong: [Alright, alright. Intermediate breeder, right? Breeding master path, right? Mastered Wood Heart skill breeding, right? A vice chairman personally delivered it, right?
No, that's not enough. It should be the president of the Imperial Capital Breeders' Association delivering it personally—that would better suit my son's talent and ability!]
Su Ping: [True enough. Didn't expect us to think alike. But it's fine—there'll be opportunities in the future.]
Su An'yong: [You little bastard, you're still blowing smoke with me. Just you wait until I get back—I'll have you show off in front of your grandpa.
Let's see whether the old man's lifelong dream being fulfilled by his eldest grandson will make him so mad he comes back to life, just to drag you down with him and show you around below.]
Su Ping: [I'm serious this time. And I really do have something else going on.]
Su An'yong: [Whatever it is, we'll talk later. Damn it, she woke up again—my poor waist. That's it for now. I'll be back in a while. Watch the house.]
Staring wordlessly at the final message, along with Su An'yong's grayed-out avatar, Su Ping fell silent.
He'd said it before—three sentences into chatting with that old man and he'd be led completely off track.
In the end, the serious matter never got discussed, and he hadn't even managed to show off properly.
Now he also had to worry about his father accidentally producing a half-brother or half-sister for him.
Damn it!
His already complicated state of mind only grew worse, and sleep became even more impossible.
If he couldn't sleep, then he'd train. He'd meditate!
As long as his own strength was sufficient, all obstacles would cease to exist.
Late at night, Su Ping stood at the edge of the forest.
Clearly, he'd come out simply because he couldn't sleep, intending to check on how the little ones' training had gone today.
At this hour, all the wolf pack had already stopped training.
But they hadn't dispersed.
The ground was covered in twisting vines, pockmarked with countless craters—clear proof of how far the Forest Wolves' training had progressed over this period of time.
Qin Xiaoxue's Forest Wolf, Mutou, was among them.
Although Mutou's self-healing ability had already met the standard, its innate talent was also exceptionally good.
As a member of the linked sharing system, having strong talent meant that when it practiced skills, it could also benefit the other Forest Wolves.
It allowed the others to break through faster as well.
Unfortunately, over this stretch of time, Su Ping had been busy researching wolfsmoke grass and breeding matters. His own meditation had fallen behind.
As a result, his personal cultivation realm hadn't improved.
That said, it was worth noting that after so long, Xiao Qing's realm level had once again caught up to Su Ping's.
It had reached Normal Tier, Stage Seven.
The reason was simple. After waiting for Xiao Qing to fully digest the previous dose, Su Ping had let it consume another poison-type resource a few days ago.
The Heart-Slaying Fruit.
The effects this time were excellent. After consuming it, Xiao Qing's realm rose by one stage.
Although the level of Poison Vine Strangle hadn't increased this time, experiments conducted using "San Ha"—the only Forest Wolf in Su Ping's pack to have raised its self-healing skill to the Proficiency tier—had confirmed something.
The toxicity of Xiao Qing's Poison Vine Strangle had increased yet again.
At the same time, the experience consumption required for the Ten Thousand Spirits Codex to analyze poison-type mutations had decreased further.
And just as Su Ping was making his rounds, he suddenly froze and looked toward one of the Forest Wolves.
It was none other than Qin Xiaoxue's Mutou.
At this very moment, Mutou's condition was clearly off.
Even in the night, faint green points of light seemed to drift around its body, like fireflies swirling nearby.
At this moment, Mutou looked as though it truly belonged to this forest. The plants and trees seemed to be calling out to it.
That sense of intimate fusion made Su Ping keenly aware that Mutou had undergone a special advancement.
And the truth was exactly that.
The Eye of Truth activated instantly.
Su Ping quickly saw what was going on with this top-tier rich second-generation Forest Wolf that had been staying at his place for half a month.
[Wood Heart (Proficient)]
Looking at the upgraded Wood Heart skill, Su Ping immediately understood—
This kid couldn't be kept!
He had to notify Qin Xiaoxue to come pick up her wolf.
Otherwise, if it suddenly broke through another skill or something, it would be really hard to explain.
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