“Speaking of which, Yuling, how did Xiao Qi get involved in today’s supernatural incident?”
After confirming her precious daughter was completely unharmed and letting out a sigh of relief, Li Caifeng’s thoughts returned to the supernatural case Yan Qi had been involved in that day. She couldn’t help but ask her good friend for more details.
Regarding this question, Bai Yuling carefully considered her wording before speaking to Li Caifeng and Yan Zhenyi.
“This is what happened.”
As Bai Yuling explained, with occasional additions from Yan Qi, Yan Zhenyi and Li Caifeng’s expressions shifted from tense, to surprised, and finally to disbelief.
“I think I’ve explained the situation clearly. Caifeng, do you have any other questions?”
After explaining the whole story from beginning to end, Bai Yuling looked at her good friend Li Caifeng and asked.
Hearing Bai Yuling’s question, Li Caifeng, who had just recovered from the shock of the information she’d been given, didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she quickly crouched down, meeting her daughter at eye level, and asked, still seeming unable to fully believe it:
“Xiao Qi, is it really true, just like Auntie Bai said? You’ve become an Awakened?”
Hearing this, Yan Qi nodded and replied.
“Yes, Mom, I really am an Awakened now. If you don’t believe me, look.”
Knowing her mother was still having difficulty accepting the fact that she had become an Awakened, Yan Qi decisively used the auxiliary Dao Method she had employed against Feng Wu and the others during the day—the Wind Control Art—coalescing a small, rapidly spinning ball of wind in her hand.
After successfully forming the small wind ball in her hand, Yan Qi looked at her mother and said:
“So, Mom? Now you should believe I’ve become an Awakened, right?”
Hearing her daughter’s words and seeing the fast-spinning wind ball in her hand, which even stirred her own hair, Li Caifeng finally believed that her daughter had truly become an Awakened.
Having also seen what happened with his daughter, Yan Zhenyi quickly came closer. Remembering what Bai Yuling had said earlier, he asked his daughter a follow-up question:
“Xiao Qi, is it really true that Daoyan the Empress teaching you the cultivation method is connected to your sister?”
Hearing her father’s question, Yan Qi looked at him and replied:
“Well, that’s what Sister Daoyan said, at least. I’m not very clear on the specifics myself. Why don’t you call Sister right now and ask her?”
“Call her now? Hmm, indeed, at this stage, there’s no better or faster way to confirm. I’ll go call your sister right now.”
Hearing his daughter’s suggestion and thinking it over carefully, Yan Zhenyi found her reasoning sound. After saying this, he quickly left the living room, entered the room he shared with his wife, and called his eldest daughter, Yan Yu.
A short while later, having confirmed with his eldest daughter that Yan Qi’s acquisition of supernatural power was indeed related to her, Yan Zhenyi emerged from his room holding the phone, the call still connected, and returned to the living room.
Seeing her husband come out of the room, Li Caifeng, who had already sat down on the living room sofa with Yan Qi and Bai Yuling, quickly stood up and asked him:
“Honey, what did Xiao Yu say?”
In response to his wife’s inquiry, Yan Zhenyi promptly replied:
“Xiao Yu said that the reason Xiao Qi received instruction from Daoyan the Empress and gained supernatural powers to become an Awakened is because she [Xiao Yu] applied through her organization a few days ago and obtained permission for Daoyan the Empress to teach the Dao Method to her and her family—meaning us.”
“It really is connected to Xiao Yu.”
Hearing his wife’s words and realizing her mind was still struggling to process everything, Yan Zhenyi didn’t say more, giving her some time to digest this not-particularly-complex information.
Then, he walked over to Yan Qi, who was sitting on the sofa happily drinking juice, and handed her his phone.
Looking at the phone her father was handing her, Yan Qi, who had been blissfully sipping her juice, couldn’t help but show a puzzled expression.
She promptly put down her juice, looked up at her father, and asked:
“Dad, why are you giving me your phone?”
Hearing this, Yan Zhenyi replied:
“It’s your sister. She said she has some very important questions to ask you.”
“Oh, so you haven’t hung up on Sister yet.”
Hearing her father’s reply, Yan Qi’s face showed a look of sudden understanding.
She then reached out, took her father’s phone, put it on speakerphone, and asked her sister on the other end of the line:
“Sister, what did you want to ask me?”
Hearing her little sister’s voice come through the phone, and already knowing from their father what had happened to Yan Qi today, Yan Yu quickly asked in a concerned tone:
“Xiao Qi, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Why are you asking the same question as Mom did?”
“Uh, Mom asked the same thing? So, what was your answer, Xiao Qi?”
“My answer, of course, was that I’m fine and not hurt anywhere.”
“That’s good. Oh, right, Xiao Qi, did you just receive the teachings from Daoyan today?”
Relieved to know her little sister was safe and sound, a weight lifted from Yan Yu’s mind, and she quickly moved on to the question she most wanted answered.
Hearing this, and having already guessed why her sister was asking this, Yan Qi answered without much thought:
“Yes, I only received Sister Daoyan’s teachings today.”
Getting her sister’s confirmation, Yan Yu pressed further:
“Since you only received Daoyan’s teachings today, Xiao Qi, how did you manage to gain such powerful strength—comparable to a Two-Star Awakened—in such a short time? And how did you master several offensive Dao Methods in addition to the cultivation method?”
Faced with her sister’s persistent questioning, Yan Qi answered without a trace of embarrassment or a racing heart:
“Well, of course it’s because I’m exceptionally gifted! I grasped the cultivation method Sister Daoyan taught me right away, cultivated Fa Li effortlessly, and received extra rewards from her.”
Hearing Yan Qi’s answer, Yan Yu was stunned for a moment before asking:
“Exceptionally gifted? Xiao Qi, you’re not joking with me, are you?”
“Sister, does what I’m saying really sound like I’m joking with you?”