In the ancient martial arts world, news of Gu Xiqiao’s return spread in an instant. All the youth who had trained in the Mountain Range of Death were all gathered there now, vibrating in excitement as they waited for her to arrive.

It had only been two weeks, but this group of youngsters looked completely different and seemed to have been through a drastic change.

There was a hardened look on their faces, and the aura they exuded were silently imposing. No one would be able to doubt the strength in their bodies, and even the elders who had just arrived in a rush were shocked by the aura that they could feel coming from them.

Shu Chen and Jiang Han both stood where they were, until a familiar black car pulled up, and an expression of joy appeared on the older woman’s face. She raised her hands to wave at them.

“You’re finally back.” Shu Chen looked at Gu Xiqiao, studying her from head to toe, and seeing that she hadn’t become thinner in the short time she was gone, finally let out a sigh of relief. Then, she hooked her arm around the younger girl’s, pulling her along. “I was so anxious when I saw the news, the volcano eruption happened in Japan coincidentally at the same time you both were there.”

Though she knew the two were fully capable of taking care of themselves, Shu Chen still couldn’t help but worry.

Yao Jiamu and everyone else who were following behind had heard the words that Shu Chen had said to Gu Xiqiao, and they couldn’t help the thoughts that surfaced in their hearts, ‘Of all the people you’re worried about, you’re worried about those two? Those two had scared the pants out of everyone in Japan’s power world, what the heck could happen to them?’

“Miss Gu.” At this time, the group of youngsters from the ancient martial arts world finally spoke, and they were all looking at her with excitement in their eyes.

Gu Xiqiao glanced at them, her eyes narrowing slightly. She sent out a probe at their strength with her mental powers, and said, “You’ve been working hard in the past days that I wasn’t around, not bad.”

At this moment in time, what was more exciting and thrilling than getting recognition from Miss Gu?

The youngsters were practically vibrating in the spot, trying hard to restrain themselves.

Shu Chen and Jiang Han exchange glances, seeing the pride that lurks in each other’s eyes. This person, who had the undying faith of everyone here, this was their daughter-in-law!

“Come on, let’s go home. The butler has already prepared food and is waiting for your arrival.” Shu Chen tugged on Gu Xiqiao’s arm.

Jiang Shuxuan glanced at Shu Chen, seeing the mirth in her eyes. He paused, but chose not to speak in the end.

“Miss Gu, Young Master Jiang, you’re back?” The great elder and others came rushing up. Seeing the both of them, they smiled. “The ancient martial arts world…”

“Great Elder, the two have just arrived back, let’s talk about things later on in the afternoon.” Shu Chen eyed the great elder, knowing that the expression on his face spoke volumes about wanting to just grab these two away.

The great elder’s mouth slammed shut immediately, he had initially just wanted to heap some praises onto Gu Xiqiao only though?

“Let’s go, back to Peace Manor.” Yao Jiamu waited for Gu Xiqiao to leave before taking the others back to their own place.

Cecily and Cecil looked at the group of youngsters from the ancient martial arts world, and the two were hard-pressed to react for a long while. Though they hadn’t personally known any of them, they could tell that the aura coming from them was clearly surprising.

“Sis…” Cecil could feel his voice breaking as he tried to form words. “It has only been a month since we were here, when did the ancient martial arts world gain so many extraordinary talents?”

He felt like his body was floating in the skies, as though this was not real.

Shocked!

Extremely dumbfounded!

Although the ancient martial arts world was more powerful than the power worlds, you could say they were only stronger by a couple of points. Other than Jiang Shuxuan, the others were more or less on equal footing, but now… when did so many extraordinary talents appear? It had just been a month, and they had grown to such terrifying heights?

Looking at each one of them, it was as though they had been through a baptism of blood to gain such an aura.

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know either.” Cecily was also in the same dazed state, feeling the entire situation was just so unreal.

At this moment, she suddenly recalled the words of their leader, If she wanted to, she could create a force that was a hundred times stronger than us at any time.

“I’ve never once felt that our leader was a wise person,” Cecily muttered. Though she had expected it, to see it in person was a completely different thing.

“Manor Master Yao, you’re all finally back!” The same group of youngsters had rushed over to the others once Jiang Shuxuan and Gu Xiqiao had left. They all looked at the people from Peace Manor with respect and admiration in their eyes, and someone suddenly said, “I heard from Baili Wen that Miss Gu has recruited someone into Peace Manor?”

In the entire group, there were only four people who were unfamiliar to them.

Cecily, Cecil, Alang, and Joyner.

Cecily and Cecil were still more well known than the other two in the ancient martial arts world, and the only real new faces were Alang and Joyner. Joyner was too young, so it wasn’t possible for it to be her, and so all eyes turned to Alang immediately.

Alang: “…” I’m probably going to die.

“Bro, condolences.” Wu Hongwen held back the grin that threatened to stretch across his face as he patted Alang on the shoulder. “Didn’t Qiao Qiao have you practicing hard the past few days? It’s time to test that strength of yours.”

Cecily and Cecil finally gathered themselves at this time, and they shot Alang a sympathetic look before slowly leaving the area.

***

At the Jiang family residence.

“Butler Jiang, you’ve prepared so much.” Shu Chen couldn’t help but laugh lightly as she sat Gu Xiqiao down at one of the chairs, watching as dish after dish was carried out and placed on the table. “When it was only Jiang Han and myself at home, we’ve never seen such a rich variety of dishes.”

Jiang Han also eyed the butler silently at that.

Butler Jiang’s face remained unchanged, and he merely bowed slightly and said, “I will pay attention to that next time.”

“The great elder seems to have something going on.” The dinner table of the Jiang family had long since stopped being a place where they ate in complete silence. Gu Xiqiao glanced at Jiang Shuxuan, saying softly, “Go on ahead to the Elders’ Pavillon later.”

Jiang Shuxuan didn’t reply, staring at her with a hint of questioning in his eyes.

“I want to bring Joyner to the labs. Her illness is not completely healed yet.” Gu Xiqiao explained in a low voice.

The man turned away at her words, nodding slightly. His thin lips were pressed tightly, showing his understanding of the situation.

However, his brows were still furrowed tightly.

After they had finished eating, they didn’t linger a moment longer and left to be busy once again. Gu Xiqiao had wanted to leave right away, but her legs were suddenly heavier and she looked down into what seemed like a pile of snow. She leaned down immediately to pick Haha up in her arms.

Shu Chen and Jiang Han came back into the house after seeing the two younger people off. Butler Jiang was sitting on the sofa, watching the news with a grave expression on his face. Seeing the two come back in, he stood up immediately.

“They’re still broadcasting the same news?” Shu Chen sighed, seeing the news about the volcanic eruption in Japan. “How could this extinct volcano just suddenly rise and live again? It’s fortunate that there were no casualties.”

“For these types of mountains to erupt after hundreds of years of silence, every eruption equals a worldwide disaster,” Butler Jiang also spoke his thoughts. “But it looked like the people of Japan handled it well.”

It was handled well indeed. The power world of Japan had thought that after this disaster, everyone would be panicked and unstable, giving into despair. But they didn’t think that none of those would happen, and instead they seem to band together more tightly, having unprecedented courage and looking forward instead.

Shu Chen continued reading the headlines, and sighed again. “The earthquakes in America previously have also been handled well. Technology has really developed a lot over the years, and they are able to predict earthquakes and volcanic eruptions so accurately. It would be great if our country could also be that advanced.”

“You can’t possibly believe what the news is reporting?” Jiang Han said to his wife, smiling suddenly.

Even the technology to predict earthquakes wasn’t that accurate nowadays, how could they predict a volcanic eruption, much less an extinct volcano? And they had even calculated and predicted the range of the damage?

You have to know that the hardest thing to predict in this world was nature.

Shu Chen turned her glance to Jiang Han, her expression confused. “What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you realize the similarities between the two incidents?” Jiang Han asked instead.

Similarities? What similarities? Shu Chen thought about it for a while, but she couldn’t pinpoint it, turning to look at Jiang Han again.

Jiang Han’s attention was on the news, with a mysterious expression on his face.

“Madam,” Butler Jiang said from where he stood at the side, a chuckle coming from his mouth. “The similarities are easy to find. Didn’t you realize that the two places were also the places that the Young Master and Miss Gu visited?”

Shu Chen nodded her head, that’s right, it had indeed been the same two places that Jiang Shuxuan and Gu Xiqiao had been, and that was why she had been worried and anxious when the news came.

Wait?!

Something didn’t seem right?!

Shu Chen raised her head, looking at Jiang Han again. “You… Are you saying that, Qiao Qiao…”

Jiang Han turned his eyes to her. “Now that the leader of Japan has changed, their new leader, including those from the power world, hold respect and admiration towards Qiao Qiao, even to the point of worshipping her. Why do you think they suddenly turned like this?”

He didn’t bother saying anything else, because Shu Chen seemed to have reached the correct conclusion.

Oh my god! This daughter-in-law, as expected… The next time those two went somewhere, she would make sure they brought her along!

Jiang Han was calmed all the way. The things that Gu Xiqiao had done in the ancient martial arts world had already been enough of a shock to him anyway, this was nothing that could shake his heart.

***

After Gu Xiqiao and Jiang Shuxuan went their separate ways, she came to Peace Manor.

She was holding a snow-white dog in her arms, followed by a colorful Jiji behind her.

“Miss Gu,” Alang greeted when he saw her. He felt a sense of grievance towards the group of people from the ancient martial arts world at the sight of her. “Am I going to be training with Wu Hongwen and the others from now on? I should be able to help them increase their strength level by 0.5.”

Though it wasn’t as terrifying as tripling it, it was still terrifying if you thought about how strong the Peace Squad was in the first place.

“No.” Gu Xiqiao shook her head. “Don’t expose your abilities right now.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” Alang asked, his eyes wide.

“The most important thing for you now is to have the ability to protect yourself. Have you forgotten your original intention?” Gu Xiqiao turned towards him. “I hope that you get stronger, so that you don’t drag the Peace Squad down. Your first goal now is to go and accept all the challenges from those juniors from the ancient martial arts world.”

“Challenge?” Alang shrank into himself at that word, instantly terrified at the thought of fighting those scary people that he had met earlier in the day.

“Good luck.” Gu Xiqiao patted his shoulder. “When you’re able to defeat them all, come and find me again.”

“Joyner, I’m bringing you out to play.” Gu Xiqiao smiled at Joyner, who was standing beside her brother.

Joyner immediately ran over, grabbing Gu Xiqiao’s hand.

Alang, who had been worried about his own life, only asked when he saw his sister bouncing over. “Miss Gu, then what about my sister?”

“I’m bringing her for treatment.” Gu Xiqiao held Haha in one hand, and one hand held Joyner’s hand. “Don’t worry.”

“Worry, why would I be worried!” Alang immediately waved his hands. He now finally understood a little, at Gu Xiqiao’s side, his sister was way safer than being by his side!

“That’s good.” Gu Xiqiao glanced at Alang. “There’s a challenger outside already, good luck.” Then left after saying those words.

“Pft!” Wu Hongwen walked out from behind Alang, a knife in his hands as he laughed. “Alang, make sure you don’t embarrass Peace Manor.”

Alang: “…” Can you please let me die in peace?

***

Gu Xiqiao took Joyner and left the ancient martial arts world, and the little pink car finally came to a stop at the gates of the medical laboratory.

“Miss Gu?!” It was Wei Xi who caught sight of her first. “Miss Gu, you’re finally back?!”

“Yeah, how is Mr. Zhuge?” Gu Xiqiao nodded her head in greeting.

Hearing her ask about the man, Wei Xi’s straightened up, and if possible, the admiration in her eyes increased as she replied, “The young master’s body is doing much better. By the looks of it, it seems that it won’t be a problem to live another seven to eight years.”

“It won’t only be seven to eight years in the future, but many more.” Gu Xiqiao replied, a smile on her face.

If it was in the past, how could Wei Xi believe those words, believe that there was someone out there who would be able to take the life of her young master back from the claws of death? But she had witnessed the miracles that Gu Xiqiao had brought, and there wasn’t a single doubt towards her words, and she only nodded her head fiercely.

She and Wei Xu finally fully comprehend the extraordinariness that was Miss Gu.

She could even exploit the loopholes of the heavens, what else couldn’t she do?

Zhuge Yan was reading a book, with Zhu Yuan beside him, scanning his body. He felt somebody approaching them, and he raised his head suddenly, his clear eyes meeting Gu Xiqiao’s. “You’ve found that person?”

“Yeah.” Gu Xiqiao nodded her head. “You seem to be in much better shape.”

“It’s all thanks to your exceptional medical skills.” Zhuge Yan laughed lightly.

“No, this is all thanks to Dr. Zhu.” Gu Xiqiao waved her hand immediately, then turned to Zhu Yuan. “By the way, there’s another case here…”

Zhu Yuan, who initially didn’t want to talk to Gu Xiqiao at all, immediately put down the instrument in his hand, raising his head to look around. His eyes landed on Joyner, who was standing beside Gu Xiqiao. “Is this the one?”

“Yep. Take her for a full body scan first, I’ll give you the report a bit later. There’s something else I haven’t figured out yet.” Gu Xiqiao touched Joyner’s head gently, then lowered herself to speak to her. “Joyner, will you please follow this big brother here to check your health?”

Joyner nodded her head obediently, then left with Zhu Yuan.

Gu Xiqiao picked up the report that was beside Zhuge Yan, beginning to read. This was the detailed report that Zhu Yuan had done in regards to Zhuge Yan’s health.

She flipped through the report at a fast speed. Zhu Yuan had sorted out a lot of matters, so the report was at least ten pages long, but she was done with it in ten seconds. This was the first time Zhuge Yan and Wei Xi had seen her flip through documents, and like everyone else, they were stunned for a long time.

“Left hand.” Gu Xiqiao looked towards Zhuge Yan once she was done with the report.

It took a moment before Zhuge Yan came back to himself, and raised his left hand.

She quickly used her right hand to touch the pulse on his left hand. Seeing the two slender, crystal fingers on his pulse, he thought that Gu Xiqiao was checking his pulse. But then he realized a moment later that it wasn’t what she was doing, he could feel a warm flow coming from her fingers and spreading through his body.

“Wei Xu, bring your young master back to rest.” Seeing that Zhuge Yan had fallen asleep, Gu Xiqiao retracted her fingers.

Wei Xu responded with an affirmative answer immediately. He, who had always only listened to Zhuge Yan’s words, now had no objection listening to Gu XIqiao’s instructions. He and Wei Xi worked together and brought Zhuge Yan back to rest without another word.

Gu Xiqiao went back into the laboratory once the two had left, finding an unoccupied computer and started typing away.

“Miss Gu,” Mark greeted, not believing his eyes when he saw Gu Xiqiao sitting and typing at a computer.

“Dr. Mark.” Gu Xiqiao smiled at him. “Have you gotten used to staying here?”

Used? How could he not be? Mark’s eyes lit up, this laboratory had far more beyond his imagination. Everything here was far beyond their time, even their medical equipment. He had thought the laboratories in America were already top of the world, but he didn’t expect to find that it was nothing compared to the one here.

Mark suddenly understood how Zhu Yuan, who had been known to be unruly, could stay here permanently, because every day was a surprise here.

Gu Xiqiao seemed to have endless amounts of matters in her mind that were futuristic, and every research that came out was shocking.

“Governor,” Mark suddenly received a video call in the middle of his thoughts, and he straightened up. “This is the research report that I’ve sent back to America with Miss Gu’s approval, however, I don’t wish to leave this lab. Please don’t force me…”

“Mr. Mark, why would I do that? If you wish to continue under Miss Gu, it’s a blessing to our country indeed, why would we force you to leave?” The governor’s expression softened. “Mr. Mark, I implore you to do your best under her. If she requires any other manpower, feel free to come back anytime to pick anyone you need. We’ll always be on standby should the need arise.”

Mark: “…” Miss Gu, what in the world have you done to these people?