Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

"Father, something is touching me..."

"It's okay, it's okay, I was just secretly touching your cheek."

After Chu Mingkong finished responding to his daughter, he also communicated with the system mother telepathically:

"Even if I switch to Buddhist teachings, it won't work. That would just be promoting Buddhism. I'll keep it for myself to accumulate merit."

Chapter 182 Daughter's Dependence

"What's the use of this thing? Is it really just to accumulate merit?" Chu Mingkong really wanted to take it out and try tapping it a few times.

Practice makes perfect, but with the babies around, it's too dangerous to take out the things the system gave us without permission.

"The sound of the wooden fish can temper the mind and can be considered as a way to train the soul. Once the wooden fish stops, it loses its effect. It can be used as music to entertain Qingse's training hall."

Hearing the system's words, Chu Mingkong re-examined the wooden fish. It was made of white walnut wood, which looked milky from a distance, but only revealed a few wood grain patterns upon closer inspection. It shimmered with a bright luster under the light.

Everyone else's wooden fish is for relaxing the mind, so why does yours become a distraction? And this thing looks like something the system girl created after reading about his recent experiences...

However, this kind of thing is indeed suitable as background "yin" music for Qingse's cultivation and stress relief hall, and if there are extras, they can be sold.

Chu Mingkong's attention was quickly drawn to the babies in his arms, because the system girl would touch their little faces from time to time, and the babies actually felt the touch, looking around to find out what was touching them.

The little head kept turning around on him.

This reaction made Chu Mingkong realize that the system girl could not only touch him, or rather, the system girl could touch whoever she wanted.

It all depends on her wishes. Previously, when the system touched Yun Nongyu, it didn't want her to know, so Yun Nongyu was unaware that she had been touched.

“His hands don’t look like Daddy’s,” the cat suddenly said.

After having her face touched several times, the cat noticed the difference in texture; Chu Mingkong's hands weren't as delicate and soft as she thought.

"...Uh, it's because of the cultivation technique."

In a moment of inspiration, Chu Mingkong used Zuo Donglu's sword control technique to touch the babies' smooth, tender faces.

This sword control technique was stolen directly from Zuo Donglu. When this aunt played with the sword control technique before, the feeling was the same as her own hand. Chu Mingkong had personally experienced this.

The baby girl's cheeks were pinched again. These invisible hands felt almost the same to her, so she finally accepted Chu Mingkong's explanation. However, the kitten wasn't happy about being touched so much. She covered her cheeks and muttered:

"Don't keep pinching my cheeks."

Just as Chu Mingkong was about to reply with "okay," he saw the system girl's deep and beautiful eyes staring at him, exerting invisible pressure, indicating that she wanted to pinch him again.

"Mommy, why don't you just show yourself and get to know the babies? It would be so much better to openly pinch them. Cats are easy to bribe; as long as the food you give them is delicious."

He mentally cursed the system, but physically tried to appease the cat. Chu Mingkong continued gently to his eldest daughter:

"Kitty, let's keep drawing for treats. Hold my paws so I can pinch your cheeks to draw for treats."

Chu Mingkong held his eldest daughter's delicate hand and pointed randomly at the air, while the system took the opportunity to play with her face.

This made the older child very resentful. He started to think about his father's far-fetched reason and prepared to argue with him: what does pinching cheeks have to do with getting food?

However, when Chu Mingkong actually brought out a bunch of snacks that were either his favorites or ones he had never seen before, the cat had no objections.

She's such a realistic girl.

The random clicking just now, besides bringing a bunch of food to the cat, also earned Chu Mingkong quite a few blind box gifts.

Chu Mingkong opened the package and was surprised to find something new among the gifts—preserved flowers.

The herbal film on the flower's appearance is the same as that on the tip of a tuberose, but there are also some other flower varieties.

This could also be used by Qingse to sell as merchandise. As for how to explain the product, that's for Qingse to figure out.

Chu Mingkong was certain that this unconventional preserved flower would sell, and his mindset was similar to that of "if I have a good knife, I have to find a way to match it with a good handle and a good sheath."

Those high-ranking officials and noblewomen, after buying a jade toy, would mostly not mind getting some kind of accessory cover to wear it out of their desire to collect it. Otherwise, why was Qingse able to expand into that mold-making business in the past?

"Matching accessories, it's just a case of adding a cover."

In addition, Chu Mingkong also discovered a new type of jade toy, whose name had changed slightly...

"Holy crap, what's with these ice and fire sticks called 'Slaanesh Frostmourne' and 'Slaanesh Excitement of Fire'? They're even part of a series now?"

The system girl picked up Little Gugu, held him up to her face and kissed his cheek, leaving Little Gugu looking bewildered. The woman then explained:

"We can arrange them together to further enhance the effectiveness of cultivation!"

...How do you set up an array with this thing?!

A bizarre scene flashed through Chu Mingkong's mind: a dozen jade oxen were arranged in a special formation.

What woman dares to challenge this formation?

"Is it possible to communicate with each other's senses or something?" he pressed.

"Yes." The system girl switched to holding her baby again, pecking and kissing her little horns.

Chu Mingkong could only stare silently at the system girl; the more he looked at her, the more mysterious and powerful she seemed.

Is this the aura of the Seraphim Immortal infused into it?

"My goodness, could you apply Qiuchi and Donglu's sword intent to jade toys? These sticks with built-in sword intent sell very well."

"That won't do. That belongs to the Dao and intent that someone else has comprehended. Your sword intent, however, is acceptable."

"..."

Chu Mingkong could no longer tell whether the system girl was joking or serious.

After playing with the babies for so long, Chu Mingkong was about to hand them over to the elders to take care of, but the cat started yawning.

The eldest sister yawned, and Jiao'er and Gugu followed suit, their sleepiness spreading like wildfire.

Seeing this, Chu Mingkong put aside his plan to return the baby:

"If you're sleepy, go to sleep first. When you wake up, go play with the little sheep. Today is the first day the sheep has arrived."

Big Cat nodded, but she was a little worried and said with her lips pursed:

"After I wake up, will Father be gone for a long time again?"

"You haven't been gone for long this time, have you? When I went to the East China Sea before, didn't we also part ways for quite a while?"

“But at that time, I could sense you…” the cat argued.

Chu Mingkong was stunned for a moment, then remembered that this girl seemed to be able to locate his aura. Feng Ying had previously asserted that he had the scent of a cat because this girl had secretly peed on him.

When they went to the East China Sea, they could still sense the aura, but when they traveled to the Heavenly Realm, the aura disappeared, and the cat became anxious.

If one were to wander into the heavens, would they take their aura with them...? All these questions were forgotten by Chu Mingkong in the face of the cat's dependence on him, since he didn't really care about understanding the use of these powers anyway.

"You won't disappear for now. I'll let you know what's going on next. This time I went to the Heavenly Realm to make some preparations to find your mother. Daddy will definitely be able to bring your mother back in the future so she can play with you~"

The cat responded softly with an "Mmm," sat up, gently placed her little sisters to the side, and then lay down herself, hugging Chu Mingkong's neck as she took a nap.

Chu Mingkong, who was planning to deliver the goods to Xianzhen Pavilion, looked at his eldest daughter beside him and thought that he should find Qingse later.

It's not easy for a cat to be well-behaved and affectionate for a while, so we have to cherish the moment, otherwise we'll have to look at him with a stern face again in a few days.

......

After a pleasant afternoon nap, Chu Mingkong went straight to the Immortal Treasure Pavilion.

Besides delivering the new goods to her, there are even more important things I need to ask her to do, and the sooner the better.

Stepping into the landlady's private room, Qingse was still doing the accounts.

She sat at her desk with a worried expression, wearing a black cheongsam that accentuated her figure, paired with black stockings that went past her knees with trim. Against this contrast of dark clothing, her red lips appeared even more vibrant, eye-catching, full, and alluring.

Her worries weren't due to poor financial results; on the contrary, it was because the business performance was so outstanding that she was worried about being targeted and possibly getting into some kind of business battle.

Ordinary price wars are minor matters; what's truly worrisome is encountering situations where "high-end business battles often involve ruthless and brutal tactics."

Chu Mingkong initially thought she had encountered something wrong, but upon seeing the dazzling ledger, he assumed she was simply worried about having nowhere to show off and went straight to the point:

"Qingse, there's something I'd like you to buy. Could you use your Immortal Treasure Pavilion's internal channels to get some teleportation treasures? It doesn't matter what they are, as long as they can shorten the travel time. I don't want to spend another year or two flying around in this flying house at the Immortal Treasure Pavilion."

Qingse put away the ledger, her thoughts quickly returning to Chu Mingkong's topic, without any hesitation, demonstrating competence and trustworthiness.

"This will cost a lot, but I'm afraid we still won't be able to bring my Immortal Treasure Pavilion with us."

"Then let's build another one, or go back and buy another island? You can use my share of the money yourself, you don't need to hoard it for me. I don't need the money for many things."

Buy a fairy island...

Qingse took a deep breath, her longing evident on her alluring face, but she didn't dwell on her own thoughts and continued:

"Your Highness doesn't spend much money, but when it comes to spending money, he can spend quite a lot at once. I'll inquire about things like teleportation treasures."

"Alright, then let me tell you about my plan. I want to invest heavily in building a teleportation array between the Sword Dynasty and the Daoist sect..."

This idea arose from an urgent desire after returning from his travels in the Heavenly Realm. It would have been difficult to generate such thoughts without actually traveling for more than a year.

Chu Mingkong could understand why there were no similar teleportation arrays in this world.

Secular dynasties lack the capability, and sects are unlikely to spend huge sums of money to build a large array for secular dynasties just for recruiting disciples every few years.

In addition, the limitation of the Divine Soul Realm is also a major factor. The Physical Body Realm strengthens one's own body, while the Divine Soul Realm can help craftsman-type cultivators to perform more precise operations in setting up arrays and engraving patterns.

But now that Chu Mingkong can afford the money and provide the capability, he definitely has to get started on this matter, otherwise it will be inconvenient to travel to and from the Sword Dynasty in the future.

Upon hearing this idea, Qingse didn't say anything, but simply focused on what materials and resources she needed to acquire.

"Also, I've got a new batch of goods for you. Your training and stress-relief center needs an upgrade, right?"

"What new stuff?" Qingse asked in surprise.

Chu Mingkong hasn't given us anything new in a long time. He's basically only given us clothes that use less fabric and jade toys of various qualities. How can he possibly have anything new?

Before long, Qingse was stunned to see a huge pile of new goods that Chu Mingkong had pulled out.

She picked up the large wooden stick, bewildered, and tapped the uniquely shaped wooden fish. The sound sent a strange sensation through her body; she shuddered and looked at Chu Mingkong suspiciously.

"Your Highness, during the time Ning disappeared, did he go to make a baby, or did he go to study these new things?"

Chapter 183 Buying the Immortal Island

The matter of these new goods will be put on hold for a while. Qingse asked Chu Mingkong to stay here and discuss the acquisition of teleportation magic treasures with her.