The Abandoned Daughter's Second Chance

The next day, Gu Shaojun still left early in the morning and didn’t come home for lunch. Unlike the day before, however, he returned a little after five in the afternoon. Just as he had asked, Xiao Man had already prepared dinner and set the table, so he could eat right after a quick shower.

Wei Zhenqing showed up right on time. Gu Shaojun was already numb to it, knowing that as long as Xiao Man was around, the guy was bound to come mooch a meal. Wei Zhenqing shamelessly claimed that Xiao Man’s cooking was just like his mother’s, which annoyed Gu Shaojun enough to punch him. "Does that mean you think of me as your dad?"

Only after saying it did he suddenly remember that Mr. Wei was a total scumbag. That wasn’t a connection he wanted to claim. He quickly spat, "You’re your dad’s son, so *you’re* the one who’s like him!"

Wei Zhenqing rubbed the back of his head, confused, but that didn’t stop him from being amused. Seeing Gu Shaojun trying to be funny, of all people, sent Wei Zhenqing into a fit of laughter he couldn’t stop. After dinner, Gu Shaojun dragged him off to a meeting and didn’t let him tag along when he returned that night.

When the ten o’clock lights-out bugle sounded, Gu Shaojun and Xiao Man washed up and lay down. They didn’t whisper to each other but quietly closed their eyes and fell asleep. At two in the morning, they both got up and changed into black night gear. Gu Shaojun cast the Hidden Breath Technique on both of them, and they walked hand-in-hand out the main gate of the military camp, completely unnoticed by the guards.

Xiao Man couldn’t help but sigh to herself. ’Thank goodness this Hidden Breath Technique isn’t some common technique anyone can use. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable!’

The Hidden Breath Technique was a secret technique passed down through the Gongsun Family. Its miraculous properties were likely a deliberate design by an Elder Gongsun from long ago: those with low cultivation could only use it to conceal their own aura and cultivation level from being detected, but those at Foundation Establishment or higher could conceal their physical form and even their shadow, achieving complete invisibility. The effect could last for up to two traditional hours.

Two traditional hours is equivalent to four modern hours.

A typical Invisibility Talisman only lasts for half an hour. Four hours of invisibility was more than enough to do anything!

Before Gongsun Ruxue’s wolfish ambitions were exposed, Xiao Man once closed her eyes in class to use her Divine Sense. Even though Gongsun Ruxue was sitting not far in front of her, Xiao Man’s scan showed an empty seat. She knew then that Gongsun Ruxue possessed some kind of abnormal technique, but she didn’t know what it was.

Later, she learned that it was indeed the Gongsun Family’s inherited secret technique, the Hidden Breath Technique, but its effects varied depending on the user’s cultivation. Gongsun Chongshan, at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, could only hide his aura but not become invisible; in a desperate moment, he could only stir up a layer of thin white mist. Gongsun Ruxue’s cultivation was even shallower, making her use of the Hidden Breath Technique more unstable. Furthermore, continuous use would drain her spiritual power, so she sometimes had to rely on talismans. The talismans she carried were likely made by her grandfather, Gongsun Li. With his Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, he could craft more than just First and Second Rank Talismans. As a result, when Gongsun Ruxue used them, she could occasionally and unintentionally achieve an invisibility effect.

Xiao Man was now at Qi Refining Perfection, but using the Gongsun Family’s Hidden Breath Technique, she could only conceal her aura, not her form. She needed Gu Shaojun to cast it for her.

About thirty meters from the military camp, the two activated their Godspeed Talismans and shot off as if riding the wind. Gu Shaojun held Xiao Man’s hand, leading her directly across the national border and into a dense, ancient forest.

Xiao Man looked around curiously. "This foreign forest doesn’t look any different from the ones in our country!"

Gu Shaojun flicked her on the forehead. "What did you expect? What do you think a foreign forest should look like? This area is actually part of the same mountain range as the one in our country, just separated by a border. If we could move it, we’d just move it over to our side."

"Don’t tell me you picked this place as your training ground with that in mind? Look at your Wind Blades, you Foundation Establishment Cultivator... you’ve destroyed so many trees... Wow, is that a Red Sandalwood? And that must be a Golden-Thread Nanmu, right? Top-grade stuff!"

Gu Shaojun chuckled. "There are a few more precious trees over there, over a thousand years old. It would’ve been fine if they could just keep growing, but unfortunately, an exploration team discovered them a while ago. Someone left marks on the trunks, and I figure they’ll come back to chop them down and sell them as soon as they build a simple road. My Wind Blade technique had just leveled up, so I was testing its power. I originally planned to fell them and move them somewhere else so those people wouldn’t get their way. But since you’re on summer break now, why don’t you take them? They should be useful in the future."

’Of course they’re useful! This kind of lumber would be worth a fortune in any era!’

Gu Shaojun used his Wind Blades to trim the felled trees, and with a wave of her hand, Xiao Man collected them all into her Treasure Pearl Space.

This part of the forest likely had a jade vein underground, as faint wisps of Spiritual Energy lingered in the air. Gu Shaojun used a Spirit Gathering Array to collect it, forming a large vortex of Spiritual Energy that made his Cultivation smooth and beneficial. He had thus turned this place into his personal training ground, sneaking over every now and then. He was familiar with the hundred-mile radius around the area and took Xiao Man on a tour, letting her collect the rare herbs, exotic wild fruits, and saplings he had discovered.

Afterward, Gu Shaojun led Xiao Man out of the deep forest and up the mountainside. Halfway up, there was a hidden cave. Xiao Man took out two flashlights, handing one to Gu Shaojun, and they followed one another into the vast, empty cavern. Gu Shaojun explained that forging a Magic Artifact—especially for someone like him who was out of practice—would definitely cause some earthquake-level "side effects." To avoid harming any innocents, it was best to find a canyon or a large mountain cave, ideally one with a water source. He couldn’t think of a suitable canyon at the moment, but this cave was perfect. It was hidden and deep, and a small spring trickled from its depths, pooling in a large pit inside to form what looked like a lake.

Xiao Man agreed that the place was suitable. They picked a relatively flat and open spot, and Xiao Man took the large, cylindrical piece of Xuan Iron out of her Treasure Pearl Space. Gu Shaojun went up and tried to move it, finding it to be incredibly heavy—he estimated it must weigh over a hundred tons.

They left the Xuan Iron in the cave for Gu Shaojun to work on when he had free time later. A Magic Artifact couldn’t possibly be forged in just one or two nights. Once Gu Shaojun finished making the Storage Ring, he could just store the leftover Xuan Iron and take it with him.

They returned to the military camp and entered their dorm. Just as they closed the door, the wake-up bugle sounded. Xiao Man stuck out her tongue. "Good thing we made it back in time! If we had listened to me and searched the forest for treasures a little longer, we would’ve been late."

Gu Shaojun gave her nose an affectionate scrape. "I was watching my watch. Even if we weren’t worried about being late, we had to worry about becoming visible again, didn’t we?"

"Huh? We were out for four hours already? That went by way too fast!"

"Of course. It’s six o’clock. You think the bugler read the time wrong? Would he dare?"

Xiao Man wrapped her arms around Gu Shaojun’s waist and nuzzled against his chest like a kitten. "I’m not happy! Time passes so quickly when I’m with you. When I go back, every day will feel like a year!"

Gu Shaojun’s heart instantly melted like water—or rather, like sugar water mixed with several large spoonfuls of honey. "Sweetheart, I’ll work hard. Once we’re married... maybe we won’t even have to wait that long. We’ll be able to be together all the time!"

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