Cheng Xiaofan rushed back home from Luo Changsheng's place and found Bai Yiling had already returned from the construction site.
"Yiling, how were things handled at the construction site?" Cheng Xiaofan asked Bai Yiling while serving her a piece of preserved meat stir-fried with water celery during dinner.
Bai Yiling smiled and said, "There wasn't much to arrange for the site. My cousin is quite capable. With him there, I didn't have to intervene at all."
"I was idle all afternoon at the construction site!"
Hearing this, Miao Xiuhua chuckled, "That just shows how amazing my Yiling is. Having such capable people around you means you have good judgment!"
"Mom, you're praising me again!" Bai Yiling said a bit shyly.
After dinner, Cheng Xiaofan left home, heading for the back mountain. Just then, Bai Yiling's voice called out from behind him, "Xiaofan, wait up!"
Cheng Xiaofan turned around and saw Bai Yiling approaching him, carrying a bag.
He couldn't help but smile and ask, "Yiling, what's up?"
Bai Yiling reached Cheng Xiaofan and took out a golden sphere from the bag, holding it out to him. She said, "Xiaofan, a worker dug this up at the construction site. It seems to have flowing patterns carved on it and it's quite heavy. They didn't know what it was and gave it to me."
"Take a look and see what it is."
As Cheng Xiaofan's gaze fell upon the golden sphere, the blood and qi within his body surged like a tidal wave, as if it wanted to swallow the golden sphere into him.
Facing this anomaly in his body, Cheng Xiaofan felt a great shock.
Moreover, the golden sphere exerted a powerful attraction on Cheng Xiaofan.
Is this a Dragon Pearl?
When Cheng Xiaofan received the feedback from his mind, his eyes were filled with intense shock and disbelief.
How could a Dragon Pearl appear in the primeval forest of the back mountain?
Should I believe it, or should I believe it?
"Xiaofan, what's wrong?"
Bai Yiling noticed Cheng Xiaofan staring greedily at the golden sphere in her hand, his face displaying a dazed and innocent expression. She asked curiously.
"Ah!"
Hearing Bai Yiling's question, Cheng Xiaofan snapped back to reality and quickly made up a story, "Yiling, this is a shot put I used to play with as a child. It was coated with copper plating. I don't know how it got lost."
"What a strange coincidence, how did this shot put end up in the primeval forest of the back mountain?"
"Ah, so this is a toy you lost when you were little. It's back with its owner now!"
As if possessed by an actor, Cheng Xiaofan's performance was so convincing that Bai Yiling completely believed him. She immediately put the golden sphere back into the bag and handed it to him.
As for how this so-called "shot put" managed to bury itself underground in the primeval forest of the back mountain, who knows!
Cheng Xiaofan quickly took the bag and smiled, "Yiling, thank you. With this shot put, I can relive my childhood!"
After bidding farewell to Bai Yiling, Cheng Xiaofan returned to the attic in the back mountain and couldn't wait to take out the Dragon Pearl from the bag.
There were no carved flowing patterns on the Dragon Pearl. They were natural textures, and within these textures, an extremely dense Dao charm seemed to flow.
From this flowing Dao charm, he could deeply feel the magnificent aura contained within, the myriad of things, and the infinite profound principles.
In the blink of an eye, the Dao charm displayed on the Dragon Pearl became resplendent.
It was so beautiful!
Cheng Xiaofan cradled the egg-sized Dragon Pearl in his palm, mesmerized by the mystical colors it emitted.
With a ding, the entire Dragon Pearl vanished into his palm.
At the same time, Cheng Xiaofan clearly felt a mysterious power occupying his body. After a moment, it perfectly integrated with the Dragon Power he had been cultivating.
Once this newly born power was fully assimilated within him, Cheng Xiaofan lay on his bed with great satisfaction.
In his sleep, he transformed into a golden dragon again, flying into the sky. As usual, a dragon boat appeared in the depths of the vast starry sky.
Upon reaching the dragon boat, the golden dragon flickered and reverted to his human form.
However, this time, Cheng Xiaofan did not encounter Bai Yiling on the dragon boat.
Thinking about the passionate encounter he had with Bai Yiling the previous night... his heart couldn't help but skip a beat.
Why didn't Bai Yiling come to the dragon boat tonight?
What continued to puzzle Cheng Xiaofan was how Bai Yiling managed to appear on the dragon boat in his dreams that night.
Was it just a coincidence?
Or was Bai Yiling so shy because of what happened last night that she suppressed herself mentally and didn't dare to come here again tonight?
But!
In Cheng Xiaofan's eyes, Bai Yiling was still just an ordinary person.
This meant she couldn't possibly do these things.
For a moment, Cheng Xiaofan couldn't figure it out.
Since he couldn't figure it out, he stopped thinking about it.
As usual, Cheng Xiaofan stood at the front of the dragon boat, one hand behind his back, the other holding a brush, tracing various Great Dao patterns in the void.
His brushstrokes were like dragons and snakes!
Lightning flashed and thunder roared!
In the span of a breath, countless auspicious phenomena erupted from beneath his brush.
Cheng Xiaofan immediately felt that after absorbing the power of the Dragon Pearl, he was vastly different from before. The Great Dao patterns beneath his brush were immensely powerful.
The vast and boundless cosmic river, the brilliant silver waterfall cascading from the nine heavens, the majestic and ancient mountains, the ever-cycling sun and moon, all revolved around his brush.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Auspicious phenomena emerged one after another. The mysterious power manifested by the Dao charm collided with each other from time to time, producing deafening roars.
The blazing cosmic fire illuminated the dragon boat, making it appear glorious; at the same time, it illuminated Cheng Xiaofan, making him look like a golden sculpted divine being!
Boom!
Amidst a peal of thunder, Cheng Xiaofan abruptly woke from his dream.
He then realized that a bolt of lightning had just struck him through the window.
"Sizzling..."
Streams of blue electric arcs flickered across his body.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Bolt after bolt of lightning entered through the window.
Each bolt struck Cheng Xiaofan, sending him tumbling on the bed as if his bones were shattering into pieces, causing him immense pain.
It was strange!
After being struck by lightning, Cheng Xiaofan found that apart from the excruciating pain, his clothes and the bed were completely undamaged.
Did I, by absorbing the Dragon Pearl, defy heaven and earth, and is heaven trying to reclaim the Dragon Pearl from me?
If you want to take back the Dragon Pearl, just say so. Why put me through this torture?
After being struck by more than a dozen bolts of lightning without any resistance, Cheng Xiaofan lay limply on the bed, on the verge of losing consciousness several times.
Yet, he didn't fall unconscious.
Finally, the lightning stopped.
Outside the attic, a fierce wind raged.
Moments later, the wind turned into a torrential rain.
In summer, such fierce winds and heavy rain were very normal.
However, the storm tonight was far from normal.
Cheng Xiaofan took out two energy pills and swallowed them. The pain in his body finally subsided.
These energy pills not only helped restore internal energy, but they could also act as painkillers!