Princess Li

“Haha, thank you, Little Mountain Boy!” Ding Shuang built the house under Little Mountain Boy’s guidance and knows the interior layout very well.

“Big brother, can you teach Shanwa cultivation now?” Shanwa was very excited, as Ding Shuang had promised before.

“Don’t worry, Shanwa. Your family must be anxious because you haven’t returned for two days. I’ll send you down the mountain on a flying sword. Bury the sword, and after everyone in the village is asleep at night, dig it up and tap it three times. I’ll bring you here. Remember, you’ve never seen me before.” Ding Shuang wasn’t unwilling to teach Shanwa cultivation early on, but he didn’t know how to teach him and needed to discuss it with the system.

“Okay, big brother! Dad and Mom might be worried, Shanwa will go home first and come to see you tonight!” Shanwa nodded, a little reluctant, but he still suppressed his expectations and agreed to come back tonight.

Shanwa often listened to stories told by the old people in the mountains. His favorite stories were about mortals meeting immortals. He knew that immortals would test mortals before passing on their skills.

Shanwa often fantasized about becoming an apprentice of an immortal, but unfortunately, the immortals of the Azure Sky Sect had already chosen Shanniu. Shanwa wasn’t jealous of Shanniu; he was only afraid that she would be bullied.

Ding Shuang took Shanwa to the foot of the mountain, where Shanwa found a secluded spot and buried the flying sword. The experience of riding the flying sword had filled Shanwa with excitement; he had never flown before.

The excited little boy returned home and saw his anxious parents. Even when his father beat him, he still had a smile on his face.

Shanwa got a beating when he got home, while Ding Shuang discussed with the system how to teach him. The system suggested that Ding Shuang use an E-grade cultivation scroll to exchange for a Body Refining stage cultivation technique to help Shanwa build a solid foundation, so that he could enter the Azure Sky Sect with a high starting point.

The highest level of an E-grade cultivation scroll can be exchanged for a cultivation technique that leads directly to the Nascent Soul stage; however, the higher the attainable realm, the lower the cultivation technique’s level. The reason for not giving the SS-grade cultivation technique to Shanwa was to protect him; after all, “a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.”

That night, Ding Shuang picked up Shanwa on the mountain with his flying sword, intending to help him refine his body. The cultivation technique Ding Shuang exchanged for was called “Fire Element Body Building Record,” originally a technique to help fire-attribute mortals build a foundation for body refinement.

Xiao Shanwa is not of the fire element, but Ding Shuang possesses a different kind of fire that can not only change Shanwa’s physique but also make his foundation more solid! If Ding Shuang handles it well, when Shanwa reaches the peak of body refinement, he may even possess a body with innate fire virtue.

The cultivation method provided by the system was very easy to learn. In Shanwa’s view, Ding Shuang simply pointed a finger at his forehead, and a body-refining cultivation method appeared in his memory, which he was able to fully understand.

Shanwa couldn’t understand how amazing Ding Shuang’s method of transferring power was until he became a disciple of Tianqing Zong. Only then did he realize that only true immortals could do this kind of power transfer!

Ding Shuang certainly didn’t possess the strength of an immortal; he merely used the system’s abilities to pass on the cultivation technique to Shanwa. After learning the technique, Shanwa could circulate his energy and absorb spiritual energy for cultivation. However, before that, Ding Shuang needed to perform his first physical modification on him.

Body refinement is divided into external refinement and internal refinement. As the name suggests, external refinement is the process of refining the body from the outside in. Like the martial arts masters in Ding Shuang’s world, they all practice external refinement, which mainly involves improving one’s blood and qi, strengthening one’s muscles, bones, and veins, and ultimately forming a primordial qi within the dantian. External refinement does not require spiritual energy, but it takes a very long time.

Internal cultivation involves strengthening oneself from the inside out using spiritual energy. 5.2 billion years ago, spiritual energy was abundant, making internal cultivation the best choice. Just like Xiaoshanwa, with Ding Shuang’s help, he could reach the peak of body refinement in a maximum of ten days.

First, Shanwa’s meridians and dantian need to be modified. The “Fire Element Body Building Record” is an extremely powerful fire-attribute body-refining technique. After spiritual energy enters the body, it will transform into fire-attribute spiritual energy as the technique circulates. Shanwa’s current meridians and dantian are unable to withstand the fire-attribute spiritual energy transformed by the “Fire Element Body Building Record,” and Shanwa will be instantly burned to ashes.

“Shanwa, I’m going to start modifying your meridians and dantian now. This will be very painful. If you can’t help it, you can scream out. During this time, you can’t faint. If you do, your body will naturally retaliate, and the modification will fail.” The Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame appeared in Ding Shuang’s hand.

Ding Shuang can only use the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame at present. The Bone Spirit Cold Flame was left in Yao Lao’s ring on the Dou Qi Continent. However, the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame is also the most suitable flame for modifying Shanwa’s body.

“Yes, big brother, don’t worry, Shanwa can endure it!” Shanwa looked at the strange fire in Ding Shuang’s hand, nodded firmly, and showed no fear whatsoever.

Ding Shuang waved his hand, and the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame transformed into a long thread that burrowed into Shanwa’s meridians. Shanwa instantly let out a painful howl; the intense pain was so great that he couldn’t help but cry out.

Ding Shuang couldn’t bear to listen to Shanwa’s wails, so he sealed his ears with his true essence and focused on observing Shanwa’s condition. Once Shanwa couldn’t hold on any longer, he would withdraw the strange fire.

If the people of Dou Qi Continent were with Ding Shuang at this moment, they would be very curious as to why Ding Shuang did not give Shanwa any pills, but instead used this seemingly primitive method to cleanse Shanwa’s meridians and marrow.

Ding Shuang was a master alchemist; how could he not know that pills were the best choice? However, he only had pill formulas from the Dou Qi Continent, and the medicinal herbs he used were also only from the Dou Qi Continent.

The pills that aid cultivation are different from the beauty pills that Ding Shuang gave Qiu Xueliu before. The potency of the pills that aid cultivation is too violent for ordinary people in the present world. If Xiao Shanwa ate them, he would explode and die in no time.

Ding Shuang wasn’t incapable of researching pill formulas, but his experience and skills all stemmed from the Dou Qi Continent. A slight mistake could ruin Shanwa. On the contrary, this seemingly primitive method of modifying strange fire was the best and safest.

Driven by his thirst for cultivation and his determination to protect his younger sister, Shanwa endured Ding Shuang’s modifications to his meridians and dantian. He felt a round pill enter his mouth, and immediately a cool sensation enveloped his entire body, making him groan with pleasure.

Shanwa slowly fell asleep under the healing effects of the elixir. When he woke up, they were already at the foot of the mountain. Shanwa got up and hid the flying sword beneath him. He remembered Ding Shuang’s words before he fell asleep, telling him not to rush into cultivation and to come back in the evening.

In the following days, Shanwa was taken up the mountain by Ding Shuang every night and trained under Ding Shuang’s supervision. Ding Shuang modified other parts of Shanwa’s body according to Shanwa’s training progress.

On the ninth day, after Ding Shuang’s final transformation, Shanwa reached the peak of Body Refinement! The lucky Shanwa also possessed an innate Fire Virtue Body! With such talent, entering the Azure Sky Sect was more than enough.

“Shanwa, you don’t need to come anymore starting tomorrow. Go to the Tianqing Sect to find your sister.” Ding Shuang looked at Shanwa with affection. Although he hadn’t taken Shanwa as his disciple, he already treated him as his own.

“Big brother, Shanwa doesn’t want to leave. Shanwa wants to stay with you and continue your cultivation.” Shanwa was very reluctant to leave when Ding Shuang told him not to come again.

Although Shanwa and Ding Shuang had only spent nine days together, Shanwa could clearly feel Ding Shuang’s care and love for him.

“Shanwa, don’t forget the purpose of your cultivation. Shanniu is still waiting for you to protect her at the Tianqing Sect. If you follow me, you won’t even know if Shanniu is bullied.”

“Can Shanwa come to visit big brother in the future?” Shanwa looked at Ding Shuang with tears in his eyes.

“Don’t come here unless it’s absolutely necessary. If someone bullies you, you can take refuge here. Keep this small sword close to your body around your neck, so no one can see it. Once you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, you can use your true essence to unleash this small sword to attack once. Anyone who hasn’t reached the Fusion stage will surely die.” Ding Shuang took out a sword-shaped pendant and put it around Shanwa’s neck.

This treasure is an attack sword talisman prototype that Ding Shuang exchanged for from the system shop using 1000 travel points. The prototype must be infused with sword energy by Ding Shuang to become a sword talisman.

The original embryo can only be infused once in one go. Even if the sword energy is interrupted for a moment during the infusion, it cannot be infused again. Not only can it not be continued, but the infusion time is also limited, and Ding Shuang cannot infuse it slowly and continuously.

Ding Shuang poured all the sword energy in his dantian into the embryo in one go, filling it to two-thirds full. However, Ding Shuang was cultivating the Azure Heaven Sword Manual, and the quality of his sword energy was so high that it could kill even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

Of course, if Ding Shuang’s sword energy could fill the blank, it might be able to kill a cultivator in the early stage of fusion. After all, this is only an item worth 1000 travel points. If it were a blank made of higher-grade materials, it could hold a larger amount of sword energy and could be infused for a longer period of time.

Just as Shanwa was about to say something, Ding Shuang waved his hand and soared into the air, returning to the foot of the mountain in the blink of an eye. The flying sword was pulled from under his feet and disappeared in an instant.

Looking at the mountains and forests before him, Shanwa knew where Ding Shuang was. Although young, Shanwa was very sensible and knelt down. He kowtowed three times in the direction of Ding Shuang before getting up and returning to the village.

Time flies, and the villagers at the foot of the mountain discovered Ding Shuang’s residence. Some villagers saw Ding Shuang’s villa while hunting, and when they tried to approach it, they were sent back to the village by a flash of sword light.

From then on, everyone in the village knew that a deity lived on the mountain. Most villagers held cultivators in awe and dared not go up the mountain to disturb Ding Shuang. However, there were some bolder ones, but whenever a villager approached within 10 kilometers of his villa, they would be sent back to the village by a beam of sword light.

After several such incidents, none of the villagers dared to approach within 10 kilometers of Ding Shuang’s villa. After all, they were afraid that if they angered Ding Shuang, he might lose his life with a single use of his flying sword, and could even implicate the entire village.

Twenty years have passed. Ding Shuang has spent most of his time meditating and cultivating, reaching level 71, equivalent to the early stage of the Golden Core realm. During this time, while wandering around the area, he unexpectedly discovered a metal mine. Ding Shuang collected some metal ore and used forging techniques to create weapons.

These weapons would be divine weapons for ordinary people, but for Ding Shuang, they are only disposable items, and their power is barely enough to severely injure a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stage.

Ding Shuang’s forging skills have been upgraded from E-level to B-level, but the highest level of weapons he can forge is only D-level. After all, forging is not the same as weapon crafting, and no matter how well he forges, it cannot be called a spiritual weapon.

Hundreds of sword-shaped weapons, long and short, were scattered in the courtyard. These were the fruits of Ding Shuang’s labor over the past twenty years. The oldest of these weapons had been stored for nearly twenty years, yet not a single one had rusted. After all, Ding Shuang was a sword cultivator, and these long and short swords all carried a trace of his sword energy. Even though they were far from being of spiritual quality, they were still guaranteed to remain intact for a hundred years.

Twenty years was not difficult for Ding Shuang at all. He discovered the benefits of cultivation. Whenever he focused on cultivation or forging iron, he could not feel the passage of time.

If it weren’t for the system keeping track of his time, Ding Shuang felt he’d only lived here for a little over a year. Truly, time has no bearing on cultivation!

The old monsters in novels who have cultivated for hundreds or thousands of years don’t seem to have particularly high intelligence; it seems that this is due to their long-term seclusion and cultivation.

Ding Shuang finished his meditation and prepared to begin his blacksmithing work. Although the weapons he forged could only reach the highest grade of D, it was still a welcome change from his training.

Just as Ding Shuang was preparing to heat the metal ore to refine it, he sensed someone approaching him on a flying sword in the distance. Ding Shuang scanned the area with his divine sense and discovered that the person was none other than Shanwa!

Ding Shuang recognized Shanwa because Shanwa had visited several times before, including seven years ago when he brought his younger sister Shanniu with him. Since Shanniu was getting married, Shanwa felt that he should inform not only his parents but also Ding Shuang.

After Shanwa joined the Azure Sky Sect, he immediately received special training from the entire sect, and his name was changed from Shanwa to Qingshan. His younger sister, Shanniu, also lived well in the Azure Sky Sect under his protection and changed her name to Qingnu.

Shan Niu’s talent for cultivation was limited; she barely met the requirements to enter the Tianqing Sect. During her cultivation, she fell in love with Prince Chu from the Qushui Kingdom, and the two eventually decided to return to Qushui Kingdom to marry. According to Shan Wa later, Prince Chu became the emperor of Qushui Kingdom, and Shan Niu became the empress.

Ding Shuang extinguished the flames in the furnace and smiled as he looked at Shanwa flying in from the horizon. But the more he looked, the more something seemed off. Shanwa’s swordsmanship seemed to have regressed; he was flying crookedly.

“Damn! Who hurt Shanwa like this?” Ding Shuang had only casually scanned Shanwa with his divine sense to confirm his identity before, without noticing Shanwa’s condition. When he realized that Shanwa seemed to be in some kind of bad state, he carefully observed him with his divine sense and found that Shanwa was seriously injured and was holding a little girl in his arms.

Ding Shuang immediately released a flying sword, scattering Shanwa’s sword light and bringing Shanwa back. Seeing the wounded Shanwa and the sleeping little girl in his arms, Ding Shuang immediately took out a pill and put it into Shanwa’s mouth.

Under the healing effect of the medicine, Shanwa quickly woke up. Upon seeing Ding Shuang in front of him, he burst into tears, which also woke up the little girl in his arms.

“Shanwa, don’t cry, tell me what happened!” Ding Shuang was furious. Although he and Shanwa weren’t officially master and disciple, Ding Shuang had always considered Shanwa his apprentice. Seeing Shanwa so badly injured, Ding Shuang felt an urge to kill him.

“Brother Ding, Shan, Shan Niu, she, she’s dead. I, I couldn’t protect her.” Shanwa cried as he recounted his ordeal, while the little girl beside him also wept.

Seven years ago, Shan Niu married Prince Chu, and a year later she gave birth to their first son. In the same year, Chu ascended the throne as the emperor of the Qushui Kingdom. Two years later, Shan Niu gave birth to her second child, the one Shan Wa is now in, the ninth child in the family. In this era, it was quite normal for men to have multiple wives and concubines, especially emperors.

However, among Emperor Chu’s concubines was a spy from the Qi Huo Sect, whose aim was to obtain the national treasure of the Qu Shui Kingdom. Just ten days ago, the Qi Huo Sect spy discovered the location of the Qu Shui Kingdom’s national treasure and notified the Qi Huo Sect to attack the Qu Shui Kingdom’s imperial city. Shanwa received the distress call and rushed to the scene, but by the time he arrived, the imperial city’s defenses had already been breached by the Qi Huo Sect.

Shanwa charged in and found Shanniu, who was on the verge of death. Shanniu lay beside Chu, who had died in battle, and entrusted her daughter to Shanwa before passing away. Finally, escorted by the retainers of the Qushui Kingdom, Shanwa led Shanniu out of the encirclement and fled towards Ding Shuang. To cover Shanwa’s escape, the retainers of the Qushui Kingdom collectively self-destructed, blocking the pursuers.

From Shanwa’s fragmented account, Ding Shuang pieced together the events and asked through gritted teeth, “What about the Tianqing Sect? Are they just going to stand by and do nothing? Qushui Kingdom is still under their rule, after all. Doesn’t anyone else offer support besides you?”

“Tianqing Sect is only a C-rank sect, and a lower-ranking one at that. Faced with the attack from Qihuo Sect, they dared not send anyone to support them, fearing that Qihuo Sect would use this as an excuse to attack them. After all, Qihuo Sect is a top-rank sect among the C-rank sects, and is about to enter the ranks of B-rank sects.” Shanwa slowly calmed down from his grief, explained to Ding Shuang, and began to comfort the little girl beside him.

Ding Shuang knew that the strength of sects in this era was divided into four levels, from highest to lowest: A, B, C, and D. For example, Pinyin Sect belonged to the middle level of the A level, while Zimu Sect belonged to the lower level of the A level. Sects below the D level were all unranked sects, mostly existing as kingdoms or families. There were also sects above the A level, known as the Upper Three Sects. The four sect levels of A, B, C, and D were established by them.

Ding Shuang gradually calmed down. According to the three upper sects’ definitions of sect ranking, the fact that the Qi Huo Sect was about to enter the B-level sect category meant that they had at least three Fusion Stage cultivators, and one of them was about to break through to the late Fusion Stage.

With Ding Shuang’s current strength, he can barely fight to a draw with a cultivator in the early stage of Fusion, and he can barely escape from three cultivators in the early stage of Fusion. If one of them is in the late stage of Fusion, Ding Shuang will definitely die.

Damn it! What kind of mess is this? Fortunately, this place is still within the territory of the Azure Sky Sect, which has at least two early-stage Fusion Realm experts stationed there. Due to the rules, the Qi Huo Sect doesn’t dare to invade on a large scale, at most sending some Nascent Soul elders to sneak into the Azure Sky Sect’s territory.

Just like the cultivators sent by the Qi Huo Sect to attack the capital of Qu Shui Kingdom, the highest level among them was only the late Golden Core stage, which gave Shanwa, who was also in the late Golden Core stage, the opportunity to rescue people.

Shanwa is different from Ding Shuang. Ding Shuang can only cultivate by absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy. But Shanwa is a key talent cultivated by the Tianqing Sect. His cultivation not only has the help of the Spirit Gathering Array to gather spiritual energy, but also various elixirs and medicines to assist him. That’s why he was able to surpass Ding Shuang in just twenty years.

“Shanwa, what are your plans next?” Ding Shuang suppressed the urge to rush out and avenge Shanwa, after all, he was not strong enough at the moment.

“Brother Ding, I definitely can’t go back to the Azure Sky Sect. I can’t bring danger to the sect. If I return, it will give the Fire Spirit Sect an excuse to attack. I know you can’t leave here, Brother Ding, but I want to ask you to take care of A-Li for me. I’ll come back for her when I have the strength to take revenge. This box contains the national treasure of the Qu Shui Kingdom, and this storage bag contains the collection of the Qu Shui Kingdom’s royal palace. Please keep them safe for me, Brother Ding.” Shanwa didn’t know Ding Shuang’s true strength, but he misunderstood Ding Shuang’s methods and thought he was a true immortal. Therefore, he felt completely at ease entrusting A-Li to Ding Shuang.

“Three days. You can leave after three days.” Ding Shuang did not refuse, but only took the storage bag and turned back to the villa.

Three days later, a weary-looking Ding Shuang knocked on Shanwa’s door. Ding Shuang had always reserved a room for Shanwa in this villa.

Shanwa led Ali out of the room and was taken aback when he saw Ding Shuang looking exhausted. He asked, “Brother Ding, what happened?”

“It’s nothing. You’re leaving today, so take some things with you.” With that, Ding Shuang tapped Shanwa’s forehead with her finger.

Shanwa was very familiar with this scene; it was this very finger strike that started his cultivation journey twenty years ago. In his mind, a cultivation technique called “One Fire Creates Wood” came to him. The technique was extremely profound, but he completely understood how to cultivate it, as if he had practiced it once before.

Shanwa immediately sat down cross-legged and began to transform his cultivation technique into the “One Fire Creates Wood Technique.” This was an unconscious action, after all, such a powerful technique could not be allowed to coexist with other inferior techniques.

“The One Fire Generates Wood Technique” was obtained by Ding Shuang from the system shop using an SS-level cultivation technique exchange voucher. It was the most suitable and powerful cultivation technique he could get for Shanwa. The most amazing thing about this technique is that it can reverse the five elements, turning the original wood-generating-fire principle into fire-generating-wood.

After Shanwa practices this technique, he will no longer be subject to the suppression of the Five Elements’ mutual restraint. However, he can use the Five Elements’ mutual restraint to suppress others, and he possesses two attributes.

Just as Shanwa sat down cross-legged, a shout suddenly came from outside the villa, “Qingshan, listen up! Hand over the national treasure of Qushui Kingdom, and we might spare your life!”

Shanwa, who was sitting cross-legged and changing his technique, did not hear the sounds outside. Ding Shuang then set up a soundproof barrier around Shanwa and went outside.

Little Ali glanced at her uncle Shanwa, who was sitting cross-legged, and then at Ding Shuang outside the window. Out of curiosity, she peeked out the window.

“Who are you all? Why are you disturbing my peaceful cultivation?” Ding Shuang stood on the ground, looking up at the thirty-odd people in the sky. The leader was at the peak of the Golden Core stage, the two on his left and right were at the late Golden Core stage and the middle Golden Core stage respectively, and the rest were all at the Foundation Establishment stage.

“Boy, stop talking nonsense! Do you dare to obstruct the Qi Huo Sect’s work? Hand over Qingshan and the little girl he’s with!” The leader, a peak Golden Core cultivator, roared. He saw that Ding Shuang was young and his strength and realm seemed to have just entered the Golden Core stage. If Ding Shuang dared to say a word of dissent, he would order Ding Shuang to be killed as well.

“Sigh.” Ding Shuang sighed, waved his hand, and nearly a hundred long and short swords scattered in the courtyard flew up quickly, killing all thirty-odd people in the sky in an instant, and falling to the ground along with the flying iron pieces.

Ding Shuang turned to look at the window, winked at Xiao A Li, and put her index finger to her lips, signaling her to keep his secret. Then she flew up on her sword and went to deal with the corpses.

After Shanwa finished switching his cultivation technique, he opened his eyes and heard Xiao A Li’s cheerful laughter coming from outside the window. Stepping out of the villa, he saw Ding Shuang leading Xiao A Li in performing various difficult maneuvers in the sky, with Xiao A Li laughing and shouting excitedly.

Just as Shanwa was about to speak, the environment changed, and he found himself at the foot of the mountain. The scene was still so familiar. Shanwa knelt down, kowtowed three more times towards the mountainside, turned around, mounted his flying sword, and left.

Suddenly, he felt a bulge in his arms. He pulled it out and found a storage bag. Inside were all sorts of pills—some to aid his cultivation, some to heal injuries, some to restore his health…

Ding Shuang hates parting. Her parents passed away suddenly, and her grandmother never woke up after collapsing. Before she passed away, she kept calling out her and Fei Fei’s nicknames.

Ding Shuang cannot keep Shanwa alive, after all, the feud with him could potentially escalate to the level of a second-tier sect, and Ding Shuang cannot protect him.

Shanwa, on the other hand, didn’t want to disturb Ding Shuang. He felt that Ding Shuang couldn’t leave this place because she must have suffered a very serious injury and needed to recuperate here, so he couldn’t bring danger to Ding Shuang.

The main reason Ding Shuang kept Shanwa for three days was not to choose a suitable cultivation method for Shanwa. The system could select the best cultivation method in an instant.

Ding Shuang originally intended to organize the items inside and give the useful ones to Shanwa, but unexpectedly she found a huge amount of medicinal herbs and a large number of prescriptions inside.

Ding Shuang was, after all, a master of alchemy. He thought that alchemy and pill refining should be the same. Since he had the pill formula, there was basically no pill that he couldn’t refine.

After seeing Shanwa off, Ding Shuang landed back on the ground with Xiao Ali. The two stared at each other, wide-eyed. Shanwa had told Xiao Ali over the past few days that she wanted to stay here, and Xiao Ali knew that following her uncle would only be a burden to him.

Children in this era mature earlier, and their intelligence develops much earlier under the nourishment of spiritual energy compared to Ding Shuang’s time. Although Xiao A Li is only four years old now, her intellectual level is at least seven or eight years old.

“Little Ali, you’ll be living with me from now on. Can you tell me your last name first?” Ding Shuang had never taken care of a child before and didn’t know how to deal with one.

“Big brother, what is a surname?” Fortunately, little Ali was very sensible and did not cry because of Shanwa’s departure.

“So, besides calling you Li, A-Li, or Little A-Li, what else do people call you?” Ding Shuang didn’t know how to explain to Little A-Li what a surname was.

“Oh, the maids usually call me Princess Li, my father and mother sometimes call me Xiao Li, and my older brothers and sisters call me Xiao Jiu…” Little A Li became more and more upset as she spoke, and it looked like she was about to cry.

“I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have reminded Xiao Ali of those sad things. Let me take you flying a few more times.” Seeing that Xiao Ali was about to cry, Ding Shuang immediately apologized to her.

“It’s okay, big brother, could you tell me what a surname is?” Little Ali blinked her big eyes at Ding Shuang, trying to hold back her sadness.

“Ahem, well, how should I put it? A surname is a clan name, which can be understood as representing one’s family, and it’s usually followed by a given name. A given name represents oneself, and the surname and given name are usually used together. For example, my name is Ding Shuang. Ding means that I come from the Ding family, and Shuang refers to me. Put together, it can be understood as someone from the Ding family named Shuang. Do you understand now?” Clearing her throat, Ding Shuang organized her thoughts and began to explain to Xiao A Li what a surname is.

“Hmm, Ah Li understands. Li is my given name, but Ah Li doesn’t have a surname. People in Qu Shui Kingdom don’t have surnames. Can Ah Li take big brother’s surname?” Little Ah Li understood the meaning of the name after hearing Ding Shuang’s explanation.

Surnames exist in this world, but not in the Qushui Kingdom. When men go out to make a living, they usually put their occupation or official title before their name.

Women stayed at home to support their husbands and raise their children, and most women only had a name in their lives. However, a few women had surnames; some were foreign women who already had surnames, while others married foreigners and took their husbands’ surnames.

Little A Li didn’t know why she said the last sentence. Perhaps it was when she saw the sword light flowing backward from behind the man in front of her, instantly killing the enemies that her father, mother, uncle, and palace officials could not face. Perhaps it was at that moment that she had this idea.

Xiao A Li could have such thoughts for several reasons: firstly, her intellectual development was much earlier than that of children in Ding Shuang’s era; secondly, girls are naturally precocious, and there was no concept of early romance in this era, with many mortals getting married at eleven or twelve; and thirdly, people in this era admired the strong, and Ding Shuang killed more than thirty powerful enemies in Xiao A Li’s mind with a wave of his hand, leaving his image firmly imprinted in Xiao A Li’s budding mind.

“Uh, okay, from now on you’ll be called… um…” Ding Shuang paused and thought for a moment. Originally, he wanted to name Xiao A Li Ding Li, but he felt it was a bit too plain. Just like his own name was Ding Shuang, his sister’s name was Ding Fei, and his clone’s name was Ding Shuang, all of which were two characters. Why not give it a three-character name?

“I’ve got it! From now on, your name will be Ding Jiuli!” Ding Shuang clapped his hands, confirming Xiao A Li’s name.

“Okay, big brother, from now on, A-Li’s name will be Ding Jiuli!” Ding Jiuli looked at Ding Shuang happily, with a hint of shyness in her eyes.

“From now on, I’ll call you Jiu Li. Little Jiu Li, are you hungry? What would you like to eat? Uh, sorry, you probably can’t order food. It seems I can only cook meat for you.” Ding Shuang suddenly realized that he didn’t know what edible wild vegetables were around here. Of course, this was because he hadn’t fully understood the God of Food’s special ability. With this special ability, even tree leaves could be turned into delicious dishes.

“Ah, that’s great! Jiu Li loves meat the most! Thank you, big brother!” Ding Jiu Li clapped her hands excitedly.

Ding Shuang’s divine sense covered the mountains and forests, and with a single leap, his flying sword brought back a wild boar.