Meng Hongchen looked at the Treasure Pavilion, a sly smile appearing on her delicate, pretty face.
Brother Wang Chen often bought and sold various items in the Treasure Pavilion, and she had even given him one of her VIP tokens for the private room.
As long as she left a letter in the VIP room, then when Brother Wang Chen came, he would definitely find it. That way, they could communicate through letters.
Meng Hongchen: As expected of me, to come up with such a good idea, hehe~
Meng Hongchen secretly glanced at No. 3 following behind her, thinking to herself, If they won't let us meet, then fine. I'll just communicate through letters, hmph~
Feeling pleased, Meng Hongchen walked into the Treasure Pavilion. The moment she entered, she was treated with the highest level of reception from the staff.
Outsiders might not know who stood behind the Treasure Pavilion, but how could the staff not know?
Behind the Treasure Pavilion were those few Rank Nine Soul Engineers of the Mingde Hall, and naturally, the most powerful in status and strength—the Hall Master, Jing Hongchen—was their greatest backing.
As Jing Hongchen's granddaughter, Meng Hongchen received treatment like a princess whenever she came here.
——
While Meng Hongchen was leaving the letter in the Treasure Pavilion,
Wang Chen, after walking out of the great hall full of exotic flowers and plants belonging to Wang Yan, was heading home.
He had just been in the middle of his meal when that lunatic Wang Shan dragged him away to meet Wang Yan. Now, his stomach was growling with hunger.
As the saying goes: The day's plan begins in the morning. If you don't eat your fill in the morning, how do you have energy to cultivate for the whole day?
Walking along the small paths of the Wang Clan grounds, Wang Chen encountered many clansmen who had just finished eating and were either going to work or cultivating.
Because the Wang Clan had so many people, they had purchased over a thousand acres of cheap land on the outskirts of Mingdu to build their clan estate.
With hundreds of households, the Wang Clan was always bustling with activity.
"Yo, isn't this little Chen? I heard you went to the Heavenly Soul Empire a month ago to watch the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. How was it, good?"
"Brother Chen, you're too much. You went to watch the Soul Dueling Tournament and didn't bring me along."
"Brother Chen, come play with us!"
As a genius born with Innate Rank Nine Soul Power, Wang Chen was quite popular within the Wang Clan.
After all, he was a future powerhouse. If one didn't build good relations with him while he was young, it would be much harder once he became strong.
The only one in the entire clan who seemed cold toward Wang Chen was probably the clan head, Wang Yan.
Wang Chen greeted everyone along the way, his face full of smiles, replying:
"It was great, really great."
"Next time, I'll take you with me to the Soul Dueling Tournament."
"As for playing, another day. I'm heading home to eat right now."
While chatting and quickening his pace, some clansmen who overheard that Wang Chen hadn't eaten yet even warmly invited him over for a meal.
But Wang Chen politely declined all of them. Just this walk home took him a full quarter of an hour.
The moment he arrived home and had barely sat down, his father and mother surrounded him.
"Dear son, what did the clan head want with you?"
Not wanting to make his parents worry, Wang Chen smiled, "The clan head just wanted me to get along well with a young girl."
Father Wang: Could it be that the clan head wants to introduce my son to a match?!
Mother Wang: Could it be that the clan head wants to drag my son into a political marriage?!
Seeing his parents' wild thoughts, Wang Chen couldn't help twitching at the corner of his mouth, but he didn't explain further. Instead, he quickly changed the subject: "Mom, Dad, I'm hungry. Is there still food at home?"
The moment they heard their precious son was hungry, Father Wang and Mother Wang immediately replied, "Yes, yes! The dishes are all kept warm in the Soul Tool food container, still hot!"
A quarter of an hour later, Wang Chen had eaten his fill. After washing his bowl, he went back upstairs to his room.
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Wang Chen meditated and cultivated. He trained for several hours straight, right until noon.
When he slowly opened his eyes, he felt pain and swelling in his meridians.
He knew he couldn't keep cultivating, or else he'd risk damaging his meridians through overtraining, which would hinder future cultivation.
So he immediately got up and started eating lunch. As strange as it might sound, eating was extremely important in the growth of a Soul Master's cultivation.
One had to eat soul beast meat rich in nutrients, take various pills, consume heavenly treasures, and all sorts of beneficial things.
Only then could the body grow strong, the blood and energy flourish, and soul power cultivation advance quickly, leading to becoming a peak powerhouse sooner.
Otherwise, if one waited until old age, when vitality declined, it would be too late to reach the summit.
With the high-nutrition soul beast meat delivered by the clan entering his stomach, warm currents constantly nourished Wang Chen's body.
He felt the soreness in his meridians ease somewhat, and estimated that by midnight, he'd be able to resume cultivation.
By the time Wang Chen finished eating, it was already afternoon.
Originally, he had planned to use the afternoon to practice his secret art. Although he had already mastered the Ring Tempering technique, there was still room for improvement.
At present, using the secret art required preparation time—in other words, a casting delay.
That was fatal. In a real battle, the enemy wouldn't give you time to prepare, but would do everything possible to interrupt you.
Therefore, Wang Chen needed constant practice: to stimulate his soul rings faster, to better control the energy released from them, until he could use the Ring Tempering technique instantly, in the blink of an eye, to strengthen himself.
Although the plan sounded great, … in the morning, Clan Head Wang Yan had told him to spend more time at the Hongchen Family, to interact with Meng Hongchen and deepen their bond.
This gave Wang Chen a real headache. It wasn't that he disliked Meng Hongchen—on the contrary, he liked this little rich girl very much.
Meng Hongchen treated him so well. He wasn't stupid—how could he not like her?
But in the current situation, if he went to the Hongchen Family, Jing Hongchen would probably break his legs.
Jing Hongchen: ψ(｀)ψ Damn brat! At this time you still dare come looking for my granddaughter? Watch me break your legs!
Wang Chen shook away that image from his mind.
In truth, if Jing Hongchen only broke his legs, that would already be because he didn't want his granddaughter Meng Hongchen to hate him as a grandfather.
Otherwise, if Jing Hongchen slapped him dead on the spot, Wang Chen wouldn't even be surprised.
This left Wang Chen with a toothache-like feeling. Wang Yan's task was really hard to carry out.
Maybe… just muddle through?
Thinking of Wang Yan's unconcerned attitude, Wang Chen decided that muddling through would be best.
Otherwise, if he actually went to the Hongchen Family, he genuinely feared Jing Hongchen might break his legs in a fit of rage.
And so, a rather amusing scene was born: Wang Chen muddling through Wang Yan, while Wang Yan muddled through the Second Prince.
It could be said: there's a policy above, and a countermeasure below. Absolutely perfect.