One day, when Huimei was finally able to fluently recite and play a few tunes on her flute, Wu Ying exceptionally granted the young girl half a day off.
This made Huimei overjoyed.
Instead of letting her go outside, Wu Ying pulled her to his side and asked about her birthday.
He had only remembered it because Karin’s birthday was approaching.
Wu Ying looked at Huimei tenderly, his eyes full of care and affection.
After spending these days together, Wu Ying had truly and completely accepted Huimei as his younger sister.
The girl had not disappointed him either.
While her strength had grown, her personality had also become much livelier.
She was now a full-fledged, graceful young girl, though still retaining a hint of innocence, much like a flower bud waiting to bloom.
"Little girl, I suddenly thought of a very important matter. I still don't know when your birthday is."
Huimei froze slightly, a flash of surprise and deep emotion crossing her eyes.
She lowered her head and whispered softly, "Brother, actually I don't really remember. Nobody ever cared about it before."
Hearing this, Wu Ying was slightly taken aback, clearly remembering that in his mind, this girl was about to turn fifteen.
Pulling his thoughts together, he gently took her hand, pulled her into his embrace, and spoke in an even gentler tone: "Girl, can you think back and see if there are any special clues or memories that can help us figure out roughly when it is?"
Huimei pondered for a long time, then raised her head, tears glittering in her eyes: "Brother, I really can't remember."
Wu Ying smiled and gently wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes: "Don't worry, we'll slowly look for it together. I believe we'll find out one day. Even if we can't find the exact date, we'll just treat my birthday as yours, and celebrate it properly every year from now on."
Huimei burst into tears and smiled, nodding vigorously: "Mhm, Brother, it's so good to have you."
Wu Ying stroked her hair: "Silly girl, you're my sister now, of course I have to treat you well."
After comforting Huimei, Wu Ying decided to give himself a break as well.
He then took the girl out for a stroll.
Although the Land of Tea was not large, it was a commercial nation.
Wu Ying didn't feel particularly heartbroken about disposing of his family's fishery anymore.
That sum of money had at least turned into his own strength now.
After accompanying young Huimei for a short walk, Wu Ying felt exhausted.
Was this some kind of common affliction among men?
If he were to be with Lady Tsunade in the future and go shopping with her, the mere thought of it gave him a headache.
Pushing these messy thoughts aside, he decided to simply focus on accompanying the cheerful Huimei on their stroll.
Along the way, they ate quite a few snacks, but Wu Ying couldn't muster any real interest.
He wondered if he should also improve his culinary skills.
After taking half a day to rest, Wu Ying led Huimei back to her rigorous cultivation.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
Steward Uesugi came looking for him, saying that the warehouse was almost piled high with wine and clothes.
Wu Ying had no choice but to consult with the old steward once again.
Finally, they decided to wait another half a month.
When those three energetic young fellows set off for the Land of Grass, he would have Instructor Yamada lead some people to open a shop in the Tanzaku Quarter.
After dismissing the old steward, Wu Ying stared blankly at his status panel for a while.
His proficiency in Basic Swordsmanship was almost maxed out, and he could now release a foot-long blade aura.
Still, it didn't matter if he lacked specific moves; brute-forcing everything with pure power was enough.
His Eight Trigrams Wandering Dragon Steps was also close to reaching full proficiency.
The Hunyuan One-Qi Formula was only lacking a little over 500 points of experience.
In the days that followed, Wu Ying spent even his two hours of sleeping time in seated meditation.
He used the time he usually spent resting during the day to practice the Hunyuan One-Qi Formula as well, yet his mental state remained surprisingly good.
After nearly ten more days, Wu Ying finally saw all his various experience values break through.
【Character: Wu Ying】
【Physique: 20】
【Spirit: 35】
【Cultivation Formula: Hunyuan One-Qi Formula (First Layer): 1990/2000, Nine Character mantras Incantation (First Layer): 333/1000】
【Skills: Painting (Intermediate): 111/1000, Basic Swordsmanship (Intermediate): 1/2000, Eight Trigrams Wandering Dragon Steps (Intermediate): 5/1000...】
Purchasing that Nine Character mantras Incantation was made possible because the old steward had brought yet another sum of money a few days prior.
Wu Ying hadn't expected that practicing this mental cultivation formula would actually increase his experience so quickly.
Clearly, when he was first refining Chakra, he hadn't felt a thing for half a day.
On this day, Wu Ying finally watched the three energetic young fellows and Instructor Yamada depart.
He truly felt like he could barely suppress his restless heart, but in the end, he held back.
It was just that his strength still didn't permit it.
Time slipped away for another month amidst Wu Ying's frantic grinding.
Late one night, Wu Ying woke up from his meditation, looked at his realm on the status panel, and sighed.
"This cultivation improvement is simply too slow."
In nearly a month, the second layer of the Hunyuan One-Qi Formula was still at 2000 experience, having increased by less than 100 points.
Originally, he thought that based on the previous daily increase of 10-odd points of experience, he would progress faster, but looking at it now, he had purely been overthinking things.
Fortunately, the price for purchasing the second layer of the cultivation formula in the mall was still 9999, and it hadn't gone up.
The grain industry and the shop run by Instructor Yamada had already officially started operating, and their current funding was temporarily sufficient.
Actually, the income from his artbooks had already arrived in his account; he just hadn't found the time to go and withdraw it yet.
Otherwise, Wu Ying felt that even if he gathered all the wealth in the entire world, it probably wouldn't be enough to support him in cultivating to a higher realm!
Wu Ying lacked many things right now, but the single most scarce item among them was: all kinds of objects containing energy.
Should he simply go to Konohagakure and make contact with Naruto?
Could he absorb a bit of the Nine-Tails' Chakra to accelerate his cultivation progress?
Yet, the moment this thought popped into his head, Wu Ying forcefully snuffed it out.
After all, he didn't have much experience traveling outside in this world.
If he accidentally ran into some dangerous situations, he might even lose his precious little life.
Wu Ying muttered to himself: "No, no, it's way too dangerous outside. Now is not the time to go out and take risks. It won't be too late to make plans after I possess a certain degree of self-preservation ability. Preserving my own life is what matters most; everything else can wait."
Thinking of this, Wu Ying couldn't help shivering and ultimately decided to listen to his inner voice, putting the matter on hold.
The next day, Wu Ying got up early as usual to wake Huimei up for training.
Aside from morning exercise and swordsmanship, which the young girl had to follow along with, she was free to arrange her own studies for the rest of the time.
Time flies like an arrow, the years like a shuttle.
In the blink of an eye, it was already September.
Wu Ying looked at his maxed-out swordsmanship and wandering dragon steps, alongside the third layer of the Hunyuan One-Qi Formula and the fourth layer of the Nine Character mantras Incantation.
He decided to slow down for a bit, because he had previously promised to celebrate Huimei's birthday together with her.
There were only three days left until the 8th.
Wu Ying summoned Steward Uesugi.
He had him prepare some balloons and ribbons for decoration, along with a large cake.
By the way, he handed over a few clothing designs to the steward, specifically pointing out that two of the sets were not in a rush, but once made, they should be exquisitely packaged.
By the evening of the 7th, after they finished dinner, Wu Ying took out a Hanfu-style dress and handed it to Huimei.
This drew a puzzled look from the young girl, but Wu Ying simply told her to change into it tomorrow and sent her straight back to her cultivation.
The next morning, Wu Ying directly told the young girl she didn't need to accompany him for his workout.
After finishing his morning workout, washing up, and tidying himself, Wu Ying took Huimei out to inspect the winery and the clothing workshop.
After that, he accompanied the little girl to play by the seaside.
When they returned for lunch at noon, the old steward had already set everything up.
As soon as Huimei stepped through the door and saw everything, she stared at Wu Ying with wide eyes.
Wu Ying smiled, placed a birthday hat on her head, and lit the candles.
Then he began to sing the birthday song all by himself.
When he finished singing, Wu Ying told the young girl how to make a wish.
Huimei closed her eyes and made her wish, while Wu Ying just watched her happy face like this.
Seeing the young girl open her eyes and look at him with a hint of shyness, Wu Ying didn't ask what she had wished for.
As afternoon arrived, the young girl began showing an unusual level of closeness toward Wu Ying.
Throughout the entire day, laughter and a warm atmosphere permeated everywhere.
As night fell and Wu Ying was planning to begin his seated meditation as usual, Huimei quietly sneaked into his room.
At this moment, Wu Ying was sitting upright by the window, looking at the young girl who had suddenly grown somewhat shy.
He couldn't help letting out a helpless sigh, but still spoke in a half-joking tone: "What's wrong? Are you too happy to sleep?"
The young girl nodded softly, then stammered, "Um... I just... I just wanted to stay with you for a bit."
Wu Ying smiled and beckoned to her.
Huimei fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, hesitating for a good while before trotting over.
Then, she tightly hugged Wu Ying around the waist and said nothing more.
Wu Ying gently stroked her hair and spoke softly: "Alright, just for tonight, I'll make an exception and sleep with you. You're a grown young lady now—did you forget the things I taught you?"
With that, Wu Ying took the young girl's hand and carefully carried her to the bed.
This action caused the young girl to let out a gasp of surprise.
Afterwards, Wu Ying sat at the edge of the bed, carefully tucking her in, and gently instructed: "Stop letting your imagination run wild and go to sleep like a good girl. In a few days, I'll take you out for a walk."
After some effort, he finally succeeded in coaxing the young girl off to dreamland.
Only then did Wu Ying heave a sigh of relief and resume his cultivation.
Early the next morning, Wu Ying carefully slipped out to train.
When he returned from his workout and saw Huimei looking a bit down, Wu Ying walked over, ruffled her hair, and said softly, "Go eat first, and help me draw some artbooks later."
After breakfast, Wu Ying took the young girl to the study.
Huimei watched Wu Ying skillfully mix colors, then took out some sheets of paper for her to paint.
Curiously flipping through them, she fixed her gaze on Wu Ying with a scrutinizing look.
Wu Ying wasn't too embarrassed and said, "That kind of outfit is called a swimsuit, and besides, the teacher I found for you will be your sister-in-law in the future."
With that, he pulled out Tsunade's drawing to show the young girl.
Huimei looked at it closely for a moment without saying anything, then curled her lips and got to work.
Wu Ying, on the other hand, felt a bit puzzled and didn't dare to press further.
Once they finished working together, he called the old steward over and ordered him to find people to print and sell them in the Tanzaku Quarter.
In the days that followed, Wu Ying added one more routine to his training.
He would blindfold his eyes, avoid using any spiritual energy, and let Huimei attack him with a wooden sword at full strength, however she pleased.
From initially taking a few hits, he eventually progressed to dodging them completely.
Wu Ying finally decided it was time to go out and take a walk.
...
Meanwhile, the Tanzaku Quarter on the other side was much livelier, all because of that artbook titled 《Men's Gas Station》.
It had suddenly burst onto the scene two days ago and become the primary topic of conversation among most men.
"Have you guys read the latest issue of that artbook?"
"Read it, read it! Lady Tsunade wearing a qipao is simply breathtaking! It perfectly showcases her figure."
"That's right, that outfit called a qipao makes them look even more elegant and charming."
"Mei Terumi's qipao outfit is pretty good too. Her temperament matches the qipao so well, she's such a mature-looking..."
"But I think Samui's qipao has more unique character. That vague, semi-transparent look above the chest... her hairstyle and accessories are also exquisite. Hehe..."
"Hehe... Actually, both of them are beautiful, just with different styles, and there are those other little beauties too..."
"Yeah, just like the unscrupulous master said: the mature royal sister style, the alluring and charming style, and the pure style."
"Although their qipao outfits gave us a real feast for the eyes, it's such a pity, what a pity!"
"What's a pity?"
"It's that there are no swimsuit pictures of Lady Tsunade in the book!"
"Mhm, mhm..."
"Konohagakure really has a lot of beauties, though!"
"Ain't that the truth."
...
Many people silently nodded in agreement.
Just as these men were discussing this in groups of three or five, two women and a pink, chubby little pig emerged from a casino.
The shorter one had pale golden hair tied into a large, high ponytail, with small locks haphazardly tied on either side of her ears.
She wore a loose, sleeveless tea-green top with a black cloth belt around her waist, paired with blue capri pants.
Especially prominent was that impossible-to-ignore voluptuousness.
She was one of the Sannin of Konohagakure—Senju Tsunade—and the person holding the little pig beside her was none other than Shizune.
As Tsunade's disciple and daily assistant, her figure was relatively slim and petite.
She gave off an impression of quietness and fragility.
Along the short walk to the tavern, Tsunade initially pretended not to care.
However, upon hearing those men emit lecherous chuckles and mention the word "swimsuit," the anger from losing her money was reignited.
She grabbed a passerby by the collar and demanded: "Where did those books you were just discussing come from?"
Someone recognized this woman as the famed Lady Tsunade and, seeing how furious she looked, feared getting caught in the crossfire, so they immediately pointed toward a nearby bookstore.
At that moment, a voice drifted over:
"Come take a look! Men's Gas Station, exciting and thrilling, alluring and captivating! Come take a look, come see! The unscrupulous teacher's newest complete collection is now on sale!"
Exciting and thrilling?
Alluring and captivating?
Tsunade's brow twitched as she strode over, stopping right in front of the bookstore.
She lowered her head and carefully looked at the flattering photo of herself on the cover.
Some of the men nearby were puzzled as to why a beauty would also come to read this kind of book.
Those who recognized her as Lady Tsunade quietly backed away.
What the hell?