Ye Lingling quickly shook her head and said:
"Su Chen, there's no need."
"The strength you just demonstrated is already very powerful, and you're only eighteen. Your future strength will be even greater—I believe in you."
Su Chen looked puzzled and a bit suspicious:
"How do you know I'm eighteen?"
"Did I ever tell you my age?"
Ah, crap.
Ye Lingling instantly panicked. She accidentally let something slip from the diary. Dugu Bo was right next to her—could this be a problem?
Dugu Yan also became nervous on the spot, worry filling her heart.
Would Lingling be in trouble?
Luckily, nothing happened.
Ye Lingling waited a moment and finally breathed a sigh of relief. She figured she must've just casually said it—nothing revealing from the diary was exposed.
With a serious face, Ye Lingling said:
"I figured it out just by looking!"
Dugu Yan chimed in, agreeing: "Yeah, I saw it too. Su Chen, you look around eighteen."
The two of them now confirmed one thing: Su Chen had no idea about the diary copy—at least not on the surface.
Su Chen nodded and said nothing, then turned to Dugu Bo:
"That won't do. We still need to fight. I need to test my actual strength with a Title Douluo battle."
"Huh?"
Dugu Bo nearly slapped Su Chen off the cart in anger.
So basically—
You're using me as a walking power-level gauge?
Nighttime.
After arriving at Sunset Forest, the four didn't enter immediately. They chose to camp on the outskirts and rest for the night, departing at dawn.
Even though Dugu Bo and Su Chen were both strong, they were still entering a soul beast forest—caution was a must.
At this moment—
All four sat around the campfire.
Dugu Bo was preparing food for his granddaughter.
Ye Lingling was preparing food for Su Chen.
Then—
Ye Lingling watched Su Chen eat heartily, and a gentle smile appeared on her face as she asked:
"Is it good?"
Su Chen smiled and nodded: "You're eating it too—don't you already know?"
Even though Dugu Yan had her grandfather helping her, the meat in her hands just didn't taste good!
Dugu Yan muttered grumpily:
"Not good. Not tasty at all."
Wait, what?
Dugu Bo was stunned.
He was experienced enough to realize: his granddaughter was feeling a little jealous of that girl Ye Lingling.
He could only shake his head helplessly. With Su Chen's looks, charisma, and strength, he was bound to confuse this girl's young heart.
Sigh.
So young, not the right time to meet someone this dazzling!
Dugu Bo couldn't help but sigh.
Dugu Yan was immediately displeased and shouted:
"Grandpa, what are you sighing for? If it's not good, it's just not good!"
Dugu Bo dotingly replied:
"Alright, alright. Then in the future, you find a man to roast meat for you."
"Hmph!"
Dugu Yan snorted coldly and glanced involuntarily at Su Chen.
Damn that bastard!
I seriously hate you. You said you came looking for me—if I'd known it'd be like this, I would've preferred you beat me up.
Su Chen noticed something and asked Dugu Yan:
"Based on my Eight Trigrams calculation, it seems you and that Yu Tianheng have a pretty decent relationship?"
Dugu Yan rolled her eyes at Su Chen and mumbled:
"He's alright. He's been pursuing me for a while, but I don't like him."
After she said that, she thought to herself—without Su Chen's diary, without ever meeting Su Chen, Yu Tianheng would probably be the most outstanding guy she knew. She likely would've chosen him.
But now—
Dugu Yan looked down, suddenly feeling a bit downcast.
Ye Lingling scooted closer to Dugu Yan, tore off an uneaten piece of meat, and handed it to her with a gentle smile.
Dugu Yan smiled too, took a big bite, and said:
"This is way better than Grandpa's!"
At night.
Ding![Diary: Recording the wonderful transmigration life.]
[Reward distribution in progress…]
[Congratulations to the host for receiving: +1000 years to all soul ring ages.]
[Congratulations to the host for a random reward: +1 Soul Power level.]
Su Chen looked delighted. That random reward was excellent—one level of soul power a day, ha!
Level 18 now.
If it weren't for his unique martial spirit and Kun transformation, his internal foundation alone from centuries of cultivation would've made him fast at soul power training.
But this was even better—backed by the diary, his soul power progressed slowly but powerfully.
Inside the tent.
At this moment, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling were still awake, waiting for their rewards.
Ye Lingling whispered in Dugu Yan's ear:
"Congrats, Yanzi. I checked again—yesterday's content was unusual. Names were mentioned very few times. You had the most—three times."
Dugu Yan looked smug, turned over, lay on Ye Lingling's body, and whispered:
"Of course. I'm the lucky viewer."
[Replica reward distribution in progress…]
[Congratulations to Dugu Yan for being mentioned the most times in the diary: +1000 years to all soul rings.]
[Congratulations to Xiao Wu for being randomly selected in the diary: Random reward—A crate of Juicy Carrots.]
[Congratulations to Qian Renxue for becoming the lucky viewer: You may customize one diary topic.]
Dugu Yan was originally happy about the reward, but when she saw Xiao Wu's reward, she immediately burst into laughter.
"Pfft!"
That warm breath hit Ye Lingling's ear, making her instantly blush and flush.
"Aiya, that tickles!"
Ye Lingling shoved away Dugu Yan's massive chest in frustration.
Dugu Yan chuckled:
"I'm dying! Carrots, really?"
Ye Lingling, annoyed: "Even the carrot got something. I got nothing at all!"
"Tch!"
Dugu Yan leaned in again and whispered:
"You'll have the man in the future—what else do you want, carrots?"
"Aiya, you're the worst!"
Spirit Hall.
Bibi Dong's expression suddenly darkened.
Crap!
There's a mole!
She never imagined a little rabbit would sneak into the diary replica group—this was bad.
That meant everything she knew, that rabbit knew too. This was extremely detrimental to the plan against Tang San.
Still, at least the diary content couldn't be revealed to others in any way, so Tang San wouldn't find out.
However—
Bibi Dong was worried. If that little rabbit ran off with Tang San, things would get tricky.
Hmm?
Dugu Yan has a diary replica too? Looks like, over time, more diary holders will start showing up.
Next step—recruit Dugu Yan into the Spirit Hall. The more diary holders we gather, the better. Even if that rabbit hides Tang San, we can ask Su Chen questions directly.
Thinking of this, Bibi Dong's mood grew even more complicated. And of course, Qian Renxue had to be the lucky viewer again.
Let's just hope she doesn't waste the opportunity asking useless stuff like last time!
Right now, what we need most is sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate—get some gunpowder going and blow our enemies to hell!!
(End of Chapter)