Chapter 136: The Shangguan Family's Preparations

The three members of the Holst family rode back on a hover-bike, while Shangguan Yudie and Alice took the earlier train.

Along the way, Huoye wanted to ask Eddie and Vivienne why they were actually heading back. Although he had a vague premonition in his heart, he could not connect that kind of matter with anything urgent, no matter how hard he tried.

The couple, however, remained tacitly silent on the subject, leaving Huoye with no choice but to drop it and instead ask some questions about supernatural powers.

"Previously, during a battle, I felt the surrounding environment shift, and then I felt the air flowing in through my pores. It must have been touching the threshold of skin breathing. Dad, can you explain this to me in detail?" Huoye brought up his doubt. He had not experienced that feeling ever since those days, and had gradually cast the technique to the back of his mind. Now, bringing up the topic with Eddie made him remember it again.

As Huoye thought about this, he suddenly realized: why did his conversations with his old man always end up mentioning the training of Esper abilities? Was this the proper relationship between a father and son? They were not coach and student after all.

Though he thought this, Eddie had already begun explaining to him. "Skin breathing is harder to detect than normal breathing, but its uses are much more extensive. Once you master skin breathing, not only does the total amount of supernatural energy generated at any one time increase, but the supernatural energy training generated by the whole body's cells through skin breathing can also be greatly enhanced. Basic physical fitness, defensive power, strength, speed, and other attributes can all be boosted. Moreover, if you are trapped in a place like a water prison and unable to breathe through your mouth, although nitrogen and oxygen are both poorly soluble in water, there is always a little bit, and skin breathing can help prolong the time you can hold your breath while you look for an opportunity."

"Wanting to train skin breathing is very difficult. You need to first perceive your existing breathing, then gradually open your pores, increase your breathing volume, and make your blood circulation accelerate along with it. Usually, skin breathing shouldn't be too fast, otherwise it will affect the body. Because the generation of a large amount of energy will lead to an elevated body temperature, affecting the reaction speed of biological enzymes in the body."

Eddie explained it just like that, and Huoye listened carefully. To him, this was all precious knowledge—experience summarized by his old man over nearly thirty years. He was a person standing on the shoulders of a giant, determined to absorb all of Eddie's knowledge and then sublimate it, aiming to become humanity's new strongest being.

When Eddie finally finished explaining the knowledge of skin breathing, Huoye suddenly spoke up: "Dad, am I your pride?"

Eddie paused. They were traveling across the Gobi Desert, the fierce wind scraping past their ears like knives, yet their conversation had remained clear all along. But this time, it was as if Eddie had not heard it for a very long time, until after a long while, he calmly said: "You are still far from it. Go kill the Twelve Calamities first."

Huoye pursed his lips, his cheeks stiffening involuntarily. He just casually muttered, "Understood, Commander!"

Ahead of them lay a pack of disasters—not strong, just minor Class B disasters. The three of them casually wiped them out and then continued driving toward Sola City in the Sola Colony.

Shangguan Yudie sat in the carriage, casually flipping through a book—*The Language of All Flowers*, Huoye's new book.

To understand a writer, one can start by understanding his works. Because no matter what his characters are like, from the emotional tendencies between his lines and the arrangement of the plot, one can more or less discern his worldview and values. Huoye's worldview was upright; Shangguan Yudie knew that. But what Shangguan Yudie wanted to know was Huoye's view on romance.

*The Language of All Flowers* was a love story primarily depicting various maidens transformed from fresh flowers. The stories inside all tended toward a happy-ending resolution. This showed that deep down, Huoye still yearned for a consummate love. But as for the process of these stories, one could say they were more miserable than the last. There were even endings where both the hero and heroine ended up crippled, retreating to the mountains and forests together. It couldn't be said not to be a happy ending, but it was essentially smearing syrup over razor blades.

Furthermore, the very first story at the opening featured a heroine who was the flower spirit of a white cluster amaryllis. She alone was the only heroine in the entire book who died, leaving the male protagonist with lifelong regret. Her single-character name was "Xue".

And the story did not simply end there. Xue, as the first flower spirit to descend to the mortal realm in search of love, met a tragic end, serving as a warning to all subsequent flower spirits. It was frequently brought up, reminding them never to be as miserable as Xue.

Huoye had once said: "There was a friend. She was someone who liked flowers... a flower-like girl. Later, she left. I miss her very much."

On Huoye's windowsill, a white cluster amaryllis had always been kept. The language of the white cluster amaryllis was endless yearning, despairing love, and letters from heaven.

He yearned to regain love, but feared the repetition of tragedy. While dearly missing that pure white flower, he found the story of its fate happening all over again. This was... Huoye's internal conflict.

At that moment, someone suddenly sat down opposite Shangguan Yudie. She looked up and saw Little Ai.

Alice brought two drinks, pushed one over to Shangguan Yudie, and then complained with a smiling face: "You guys are really something, each and every one of you sneaking off while I was sleeping and leaving me all alone at home. I haven't been home for almost two months, and you didn't even take me along."

Shangguan Yudie closed her book and smiled helplessly. "I suddenly received a subspace message from my father last night. There was nothing I could do."

"Eh?..." Alice drew out her syllable, looking at Shangguan Yudie with somewhat peculiar eyes. "My parents and my older brother also went back to Sola City. You guys just *had* to go back at this exact time. Are you hiding something from me?"

Shangguan Yudie shook her head vigorously. No, absolutely not.

"Really not?"

Shangguan Yudie nodded emphatically.

Meanwhile, in the Shangguan family's villa in the Sola Colony, numerous servants were meticulously decorating the place. The long carpets were spotless, and the frames of the famous paintings in the corridor were wiped as clean as new. The decorative fruit baskets on any random table were filled with local fresh fruits delivered straight from their place of origin. In the kitchen, master chefs who originally worked in major seven-star restaurants kept bustling about. The ingredients in their hands were rare delicacies hard to come by even during their previous employment; being able to cook them was an honor for a chef.

"Jing, are the preparations all done?" Shangguan Hong asked his younger sister.

"They're done. This is about our girl's affairs, after all. Little Ye has never been favored by the old man since he was a child. Now that the old man is finally willing to relent, we must give this child a grand reception. I heard that despite his young age, he happens to like tea. I pulled a lot of strings just to get this year's newly produced Qimen Black Tea. That child will definitely love it."

How much did Huoye like tea? Back in the VRF, because he almost knocked over a cup of virtual data-composed Qimen Black Tea, it nearly broke his heart with distress. Today, the real deal was right before his eyes; he would surely be wild with joy.

Shangguan Hong laughed heartily, "Good, excellent. I never expected that I, Shangguan Hong, would be marrying off my daughter so soon. But if it's that boy Little Ye, I am a hundred percent at ease. Eddie's true successor, the future Black Reaper—I'm afraid throughout the entire younger generation, there isn't a second young man as outstanding as him."

"Bulls*t!" At that moment, a resounding voice rang out from behind Shangguan Hong.

Cold sweat immediately broke out on Shangguan Hong's back. He was just casually expressing an emotion; how did the old man overhear it? He hurriedly turned around and smiled ingratiatingly at Shangguan Qingcai: "Hahaha, Father, what are you..."

Shangguan Qingcai glared and said, "What younger generation having no second one? That little punk picked up from the Wilds by that scoundrel Eddie—how good could he possibly be? If he dares to have that stubborn mule temper of his old man, forget about the old man's divine weapon—our family will immediately sever ties with the Holsts!"

Shangguan Hong smiled bitterly and cast fierce winks at Shangguan Jing. Shangguan Jing immediately stepped forward to support Shangguan Qingcai and said, "Dad, look at what you're saying. In my view, that child takes after Vivienne; he's a very refined boy. Why must you vent your grudge against Eddie on him? When they arrive in a while, you must be amiable. In my view, after today, we really will be one family. Facing your future granddaughter-in-law's husband, you shouldn't always look down your nose at him."