"Since you are the direct heir of the Dongbo family, it's fine if you didn't get a share, but you should at least know how much wealth your parents left behind, right?" Ji Rong shook her head. "But you know nothing. Perhaps I am being petty, but it's always better to be cautious!"
"Enough, stop talking." Qing Shi was somewhat angry. "You don't understand the bond between my brother and me!"
"When your brother kicks you out, you'll be in for a shock." Ji Rong shook her head.
"You woman, shut up!" Qing Shi's eyes turned red, tears welling up. "He is my brother, my most important family member! Do you understand?"
Ji Rong was somewhat taken aback.
She looked at the red-eyed young man in front of her and lowered her head, reaching out to grab Qing Shi's hand. "I'm sorry, I was wrong."
"You don't understand the bond between my brother and me. Don't say such things again; it makes me very uncomfortable." Qing Shi's voice trembled.
"Okay, okay." Ji Rong nodded and said softly, "You know, my father was once kicked out of the family. We had nowhere to live and had to stay with my mother's family. My father, my mother... we were always looked down upon and oppressed in my mother's family. Those days are the ones I least want to remember. Fortunately, my father managed to turn things around and started a new business. Otherwise, I wouldn't even have the chance to learn magic..."
"I understand you." Qing Shi said, "But our family is different from yours. Alright, go back, I'm going back too."
Qing Shi turned and walked toward the castle.
Ji Rong watched Qing Shi's retreating back in silence.
"I didn't expect his brother to hold such a high place in his heart." Ji Rong frowned slightly. "I've been learning magic with Dongbo Qing Shi for nearly half a year and only now found the opportunity to naturally bring it up. And what I said was just common sense, but I didn't expect it to affect him so much."
"What exactly did the Dongbo family inherit?"
"If I can find out..."
Ji Rong smiled lightly, a hint of malice in her eyes. "Although he and his brother have a deep bond, today I've opened a crack. It will bloom and bear fruit. Dongbo Qing Shi is too naive, too innocent. His brother's protection is too excessive. If I can't handle such a young man, it would be a big joke."
...
Dongbo Qing Shi was on his way back to the castle.
"My brother has never lied to me." Dongbo Qing Shi kicked a stone fiercely, sending it flying and rolling down the hill.
"When I first became my teacher's disciple, the conditions were 50,000 gold coins or the heart of a Silver Moon Wolf King." Dongbo Qing Shi's eyes suddenly brightened. "My brother told me he would have news within a month, and then he went to the Ruin Mountains with Uncle Zong... and successfully eliminated the Crescent Blade Alliance, killing the Silver Moon Wolf King, which made him the top expert in Yishui City."
"Right, I remember..."
"When I accompanied my brother to buy the Flying Snow Divine Spear, he even wrote an IOU for 10,000 gold coins!"
Dongbo Qing Shi's eyes grew brighter. "Yes, that's right. If my parents really left behind a huge fortune, how could my brother not have given 50,000 gold coins but instead risk his life in the Ruin Mountains? How could he have written an IOU for 10,000 gold coins?"
As he grew older, he realized how dangerous the Ruin Mountains were.
He also later learned about the strict conditions for his teacher to take on a personal disciple—50,000 gold coins or the heart of a Silver Moon Wolf King. Although Dongbo Xueying didn't say it, it wasn't a secret, and since Qing Shi was a personal disciple, he naturally found out quickly. Combining this with his brother's trip to the Ruin Mountains to kill the Silver Moon Wolf King, he could easily deduce the truth.
So he was deeply grateful.
He felt...
His brother was like a mountain, always protecting him.
They say a father's love is like a mountain.
But in his memory, his parents were very vague and hard to recall. He only remembered his brother's years of devoted care.
"Precaution is necessary, but my brother would never do that."
"Even if my brother did something, even if he kicked me out of the Xueying Territory, I would be willing."
Dongbo Qing Shi gritted his teeth.
It couldn't be denied that Ji Rong's words about "precaution is necessary" had some impact on him, making him realize that as he grew up, he would ultimately have to rely on himself. After all, always depending on his brother would make life boring.
"Damn, damn, really not feeling good!" Dongbo Qing Shi felt very uncomfortable. For years, he had been carefree, but Ji Rong's words had left him very troubled.
******
In the study of the Xueshi Castle.
Dongbo Xueying sat smiling, watching Uncle Zong and Uncle Tong testing the alchemical inner armor, boots, and other items.
"Xueying, you are really extravagant." Zong Ling couldn't help but say, "How much did you spend on all this?"
"Ha ha ha... It's nothing." Dongbo Xueying grinned. "During this mission, there were some twists, and I unexpectedly encountered a Titleholder."
"A Titleholder?"
Zong Ling and Tong San were shocked.
Heaven.
A Titleholder, in their eyes, was like the endless sky, unreachable. So when Dongbo Xueying's combat strength reached the Titleholder level, they were very proud and excited. But they also thought that Dongbo Xueying was too young and hadn't even achieved 'Harmony with Heaven and Earth,' so he was probably still weaker compared to the legendary Titleholder experts of the older generation.
They never expected that during the mission, there would be an unexpected encounter with a Titleholder!
"Although he was very powerful and had some extremely formidable abilities, I ultimately took him down." Dongbo Xueying grinned, quite pleased. "He died, I lived! I got his storage ring, which contained many treasures. Ha ha, buying these was quite easy."
Zong Ling and Tong San were both excited and proud for Dongbo Xueying.
"Xueying." Zong Ling was somewhat worried. "I didn't expect a Black Iron mission to have such an unexpected twist. You said you need to accumulate 20,000 merit points to save Dongbo and A Yu. But 20,000 merit points... even a Bronze mission, as you said, the simpler ones are worth 1,000 merit points, and 10,000 merit points are probably for more dangerous Bronze missions."
"Black Iron missions have twists and thrills, and the more dangerous Bronze missions are even more perilous. You need to complete two of them?" Zong Ling was uneasy. "It's too unsafe. Why don't you wait until you are stronger?"
"Don't worry, Uncle Zong, I will handle it well." Dongbo Xueying reassured him.
"Handle it?" Zong Ling was still uneasy.
How to handle it?
A Black Iron mission already had a Titleholder, and if a very difficult Bronze mission suddenly had an Extraordinary Life, even though the Longshan Tower wouldn't assign a mission that would certainly lead to death, accidents are hard to predict.
"Brother." Dongbo Qing Shi's voice came from outside.
"Qing Shi is here." Dongbo Xueying smiled, and the study door was pushed open. Dongbo Qing Shi walked in excitedly, "Brother, you said you would give me a gift, what is it? Wow, Uncle Zong, Uncle Tong, why do you look different? The inner armor you're wearing seems extraordinary, and these boots, I've never seen them before?"
"I had a big harvest this time, so I bought some gifts." Dongbo Xueying smiled. "I bought some for you too."
As he spoke, he waved his hand.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Various treasures appeared beside him, all of them high-quality Tier 10 magical items.
"This robe contains a complete 'Ice Water Armor' spell model, a simplified protective spell combining the Ice Armor and Water Ripple spells, both hard and soft, and can be instantly activated. Its power is about 50% of what a Stellar Rank mage can cast." Dongbo Xueying introduced each item with a hint of pride. "This bracelet contains a small Ice Frost Field spell model, with about 30% of the power of a Stellar Rank spell. This ring..."
Dongbo Xueying introduced each item one by one.
Qing Shi was both amazed and excited.
He finally understood why his brother had given Kong Youyue a magic staff and a robe. In the past few years, he had never given anything like that! This was because his brother had a significant harvest this time, and the value of the alchemical treasures on Uncle Zong and Uncle Tong far exceeded what he had given Kong Youyue. And his own gifts were even more valuable.
Each of these was a high-quality Tier 10 magical item, something he had never even dared to dream of in the past.