After concluding their business in the Extreme North, Zhao Ming and Bi Ji promptly left the region. The longer they stayed, the more likely trouble would ariseโwho knew if the disturbances they caused might attract the attention of the Ice Empress or the Snow Empress?
With the experience from their journey there, the two swiftly departed the Extreme North and arrived at the nearest city, Frost City, to rest. After spending so many days in the frozen wilderness, Zhao Ming felt thoroughly stifled.
Just imagine, being surrounded by endless white, with almost no other color in sight. In such an environment, even someone without obsessive tendencies might feel suffocated.
However, Zhao Ming had no interest in strolling around the city. He immediately found an inn and checked in, while Bi Ji, fascinated by the human world, went exploring. Knowing she might be curious, Zhao Ming generously gave her a few hundred gold coins, enough for her to buy any trinkets that caught her eye.
Host: Zhao Ming
Soul Power: Level 21
Martial Spirits: Puppet, Ancient Phoenix of Undying
Soul Bones: None
Puppets: Flame Spirit Ji (Life Force: 63), Tu Shan Yaya (Life Force: 1)
Check-in: No tasks available
Mission: Kill the Heaven's Chosen, Tang San (No time limit)
After leaving the Extreme North, Zhao Ming noticed that Flame Spirit Ji's life force had risen significantly to over 60. The rapid increase in her life force was due to the infusion of the Tianmeng Iceworm's spiritual energy. Zhao Ming had previously asked the system about Flame Spirit Ji's condition. According to the system, her current state was similar to that of a vegetative person.
While her consciousness had awakened, her body remained in a deep slumber.
Normally, puppets would first awaken their physical functions before slowly regaining their consciousness. However, in Flame Spirit Ji's case, the vast spiritual power of Tianmeng had prematurely stimulated her soul's revival, resulting in this peculiar state.
Zhao Ming released Flame Spirit Ji from her puppet form.
He immediately noticed that she had changed. Her skin was now a healthy, rosy white, and her eyes had become even more lively.
"System, didn't you say that once a puppet's life force reached 20, there would be a shortcut to quickly increase their life force? Tell me about it," Zhao Ming asked eagerly.
"Uh, yes, there is indeed a way to boost a puppet's life force quickly, and that's by nurturing their body," the system replied confidently.
"What? What did you say?" Zhao Ming's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Nurture her body."
"Pfft! Nurturing her body? I don't know how to do that. Isn't that something that belongs to a certain Xiao fellow? While I do appreciate it, I, Zhao Ming, have always acted with integrity and would never take advantage of someone in a vulnerable state, let alone my own puppet. I refuse to engage in such underhanded behavior!" Zhao Ming looked at Flame Spirit Ji's stunning figure, gulped, and quickly turned his head, resolutely declaring his stance.
"Ding! Congratulations, host, on activating a new mission: Nurture Flame Spirit Ji's body."
"Mission Reward: A mysterious cultivation technique."
The system notification sounded just as Zhao Ming finished speaking.
"I think I may have been a bit hasty in my judgment," Zhao Ming coughed, trying to cover up his earlier righteousness. "But how exactly do I nurture her body? I'm not Xiao Yan, so how am I supposed to know how to do this?"
"Well, you need to learn it, of course. I happen to have some precious, detailed materials on how Xiao Yan nurtured Gu Xun'er's body. I think the host might find it useful to study," the system responded in a sleazy tone.
"What? You have that?!" Zhao Ming's eyes widened in shock.
Soon, he couldn't contain his excitement.
In his previous life, the segment where Xiao Yan nurtured Gu Xun'er's body had caused quite the controversy. The process had been wildly misinterpreted by countless online readers.
Today, Zhao Ming would clear Xiao Yan's name once and for all!
He firmly believed that Xiao Yan was innocent! Xiao Yan had acted out of noble intentions, sacrificing his own reputation to save Xun'er from danger!
Now, with video evidence, Zhao Ming would vindicate Xiao Yan's name!
As a rush of profound information entered Zhao Ming's mind, he absorbed it all carefully. Wait, why did this feel so embarrassing? Was this the wrong approach?
"System, what kind of nonsense are you pulling?" Zhao Ming's face darkened as he figured out the issue.
"Ahem, sorry, wrong perspective. That was from Xun'er's point of view," the system awkwardly replied.
"Are you serious? You think you can just make that kind of mistake? I felt humiliated! You need to compensate me."
"Are you trying to blackmail me?" the system asked, stunned.
"What do you mean blackmail? This is just proper compensation for your mistake."
"Fine, fine. I'll add a small bonus reward to the mission," the system conceded, knowing it couldn't escape Zhao Ming's demands. It realized that without compensation, Zhao Ming wouldn't let it off the hook.
"Now that's more like it."
Satisfied with the system's promise of extra rewards, Zhao Ming continued studying.
"What a beast!"
"Where are your hands going?!"
"Try touching her again, I dare you!"
"My poor Xun'er!"
Brother Xiao, I never thought you were this kind of person!
"System, can I decline this mission? I'm not a beast like that," Zhao Ming said, but as he spoke, his body instinctively moved closer to Flame Spirit Ji.
"Sister Flame Spirit, your body is in a special condition. Although your soul has awakened, your body remains in a deep sleep. You should be able to sense that yourself. To wake up fully, I need to nurture your body. What do you think? If you don't agree, just shake your head," Zhao Ming said.
Now that Flame Spirit Ji's soul had awakened, Zhao Ming felt he needed to ask for her consent. After all, he was always a gentleman who respected women. If Flame Spirit Ji didn't nod her approval, he wouldn't do anything.
"Host, be reasonable. You know very well that Flame Spirit Ji is in a vegetative state and can't move, yet you're asking her to shake her head," the system scoffed.
Zhao Ming pursed his lips and ignored the system. "Since you didn't shake your head, I'll take that as silent agreement."
With that, he scooped Flame Spirit Ji up into his arms.
---
๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฎ. ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐!
๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ:
โข ๐ฝ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ๐๐ช
โข ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ
โข ๐ผ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐๐
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๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ป๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ:
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐: ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฑ+ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐.
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐-๐ข๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ!
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐. ๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐'๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐!
๐ ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ: ๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ค๐ฃ.๐๐ค๐ข/๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง