Allen invited the three of them inside to sit down.
At the same time, a quarrel erupted from the courtyard across the wall!
The noise grew increasingly intense, soon devolving into a fight.
Allen and Caroline ignored the conflict next door, acting as if nothing had happened.
Spanna winked at her sister, stuck out her tongue, and pretended not to hear.
Caroline took the hot tea Allen offered her and took a sip.
She set down her cup and shook her head gently.
"Fine black tea, when sugar is added, loses its richness and becomes bland and vulgar."
"Mom! This is just a matter of personal taste, right?"
Spanna wasn't sure if she was trying to ease Ellen's awkwardness, or if she was just like that in front of her mother, saying whatever she wanted to say.
"Actually, most people add sugar to their black tea, and some even add milk or lemon juice!"
Caroline rolled her eyes at her daughter and said calmly, "I'm afraid those people you're talking about haven't had any good tea."
"In fact, only average-quality black tea needs flavoring."
"Fine black tea shouldn't be flavored with these random ingredients. Otherwise, it's a waste of a good thing. It's just a barbarian way of drinking."
"Auntie, you're right. My taste is lacking. I'll need your advice in the future."
Allen took over the conversation, performing a "flavoring trick" to eliminate the sweetness from the Spider Queen's cup.
Caroline took another sip of tea from her cup, a smile playing on her lips.
"You, boy, are incredibly gifted in your intellectual, intellectual, and understanding qualities. No one can match you."
Putting down his teacup, he turned to his eldest daughter and said, "Aslan, your looks, family background, and cultivation are all excellent, but your interest level isn't quite up to par with Allen's."
"So when it comes to attracting women, a noble son of the Blue Dragon family isn't necessarily better than a clever young man from the lower classes!"
"Your sister likes this guy, and you can't understand why you're angry. That's your own problem."
Spencer was already furious at being teased by her mother in front of others.
What made her even more upset was that her mother actually compared Allen to her boyfriend!
Spencer was practically furious!
How could Allen, a smooth-talking, sleazy gigolo, be compared to the upright and proud Aslan?
Aslan simply dislikes sweet talk and disdains the cunning attempts to please women. What's wrong with that?
If Aslan, who is honest, self-respecting, and quick to act, isn't as popular as a frivolous playboy like Allen in relationships, it's definitely not Aslan's fault!
It's this world, this corrupt culture, that's wrong!
Spencer, unable to contain her anger, blushed and defended her boyfriend.
"Mother, please forgive me for being blunt!"
"A real man shouldn't just be superficial; character is what matters most!"
"How can Allen's character compare to Aslan's?"
"That boy is a traitor, you can tell at first glance!"
"No!" Spantha interrupted her sister. "Alan isn't a traitor, he's... a jester!"
She was so proud of herself for having the rare opportunity to correct her top-student sister!
Spantha ignored her sister and continued to fire at Allen.
"I'm so utterly defeated in that battle at the mushroom garden!"
"Do you dare to fight me again?"
"If you lose, return what you stole from me!"
"That's not necessary. I admit defeat," Allen said with a wry smile.
Spanna curled her lips in disdain, turned to her mother and sister, and said, "What did I say? This guy is a wimp!"
"Spanna, that's enough!"
Spanna's face darkened.
"There are some things Allen can't say, to save your face."
"Please, could you please have a little self-awareness?"
"Back in the Mushroom Garden, you and Allen were both in the late fourth stage, and he still beat you to tears."
"Now Allen's cultivation has reached the early fifth stage, and you're still stuck. Where do you get the courage to challenge him?"
"Fifth, fifth stage...?!"
Spencer froze.
Her face flushed and paled, and she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
As the host, it's not good to put your guests in an awkward position.
Allen opened his storage bag and took out the silver sword, sapphire dagger, and the "heart amulet" he'd received from Marvin.
"Spencer, thank you for lending me your weapons. They were a great help against a powerful enemy earlier."
"I'll return the silver sword, but as for this dagger... I love it so much I can't bear to return it to its original owner."
"Can we make a deal? Trade this amulet, which blocks psychic attacks below level five, for your magic dagger?"
Spencer was stunned for a moment, her face hesitant.
"I think it's a good deal."
Caroline, holding her teacup, smiled and offered her eldest daughter some advice.
"Silence Dagger. I can make you another one later."
"A fifth-level Heart Amulet. The enchantment process is much more difficult than a dagger, the cost is higher, and its uses are more diverse."
"Alan, I'm trading with you at a loss, as a favor. Don't hold grudges about the mushroom garden against me anymore."
After her mother's reassurance, Spenza considered it and proposed a workaround.
"Alan! Give my sister the sapphire dagger and Heart Amulet in exchange for her ruby dagger, and my sister will give me the Heart Amulet."
"Why all the trouble?"
"It's because you have a reputation for promiscuity! If I trade directly with you, I'm afraid others will misunderstand!"
"Is my reputation that bad?"
Alan rubbed his nose, looking innocent. "You certainly don't have a good reputation in my sister's circle of prudish ladies," Spanna continued with a smile.
"But in my circle of hot girls, you're incredibly famous!"
Alan nodded, then suddenly had a sudden thought and asked Caroline:
"Auntie, are you in the ladies' circle or the hot girl's circle?"
"I'm not interested in little girl circles," Caroline rolled her eyes at him. "My social circle consists only of noble ladies and talented women."
"That suits your temperament very well," Allen said sincerely.
Caroline smiled slightly, seeming quite pleased.
"Okay, enough small talk, let's get down to business."
Caroline opened her storage bag and took out a prescription and various herbs.
Allen took the prescription and guessed it was the ingredients for a second-stage anti-aging agent.
He hesitated to make a definitive statement because he couldn't be sure Caroline had tampered with the formula.
The prescription contained many ambiguous points.
Caroline had no intention of explaining, only promising that she would personally handle the relevant steps and that there would be absolutely no mistakes.
Allen understood immediately.
The Spider Queen, indeed, had a hidden agenda.
That was understandable; she had her own secrets, after all.
Allen didn't mind Caroline's scheming.
Once the potion was refined, he could use the special abilities of his venom glands to reverse engineer the formula.
By then, everything would be clear, and Caroline wouldn't be able to hide it.
Putting the prescription aside, Ellen checked the herbs Caroline had prepared.
The quantity of each herb was sufficient, and if nothing was wasted, twenty bottles of finished potion would be more than enough.
However, the Spider Queen thought this was impossible.
The difficulty of refining potions was too great, and the waste rate of materials was extremely high.
If Ellen could refine two second-level aging agents from twenty herbs, it would be a great success!
After all, if she tried on her own, she wouldn't be able to refine even one.
Ellen carefully checked all the herbs.
During this time, she received two system prompts.
Allen remained impassive.
He caressed the herbs, checking their quality, and casually bit his finger.
Caroline, watching from the side, frowned slightly, observing his childish behavior.
She knew that biting one's finger was a common habit among children.
Some even couldn't break the habit even into adulthood.
For ordinary people, this wouldn't be a serious problem.
But for a pharmacist, it seemed incredibly unprofessional!
Pharmacists often deal with toxic herbs. Wouldn't it be embarrassing to accidentally ingest a toxin by biting their finger?
Reminding the young man directly would inevitably embarrass him.
Caroline thought for a moment, then pulled out a pair of thin, soft leather gloves and handed them to Allen.
"It's best to wear gloves when handling herbs to prevent contaminants."
"Oh, thanks for the reminder, Auntie!"
Alan felt a little embarrassed. After putting on the gloves, he stopped biting his fingers.
At the same time, two system notifications came in succession.
"Eat special ingredient: Smiley Mushroom!"
"Potential +2!"
"Agility +1!"
"Eat special ingredient: Dragon Turtle Kidney!"
"Potential +3!"
"Constitution +1!"
...
Current Attributes: Constitution 48, Agility 33, Spirit 54
Potential Reserve: 18 points
...
In the pharmacy, Allen and the Spider Queen exchanged alchemy techniques, and their conversation was delighted.
In the courtyard, across the wall,Ella's duel with the uninvited guest had reached a decisive moment.
Fighting Qi Transformed into a Net!
Fighting Qi Transformed into a Net!
Two vast webs of fighting spirit entangled in the air above the courtyard.
Ella had already activated her fourth-level Atavism, transforming into a cat-eared bee lady.
Her pretty face was sullen as she focused on remotely controlling the fighting spirit webs.
Across from her stood a half-man, half-bee man in a yellow robe.
His handsome face transformed into that of a drone, his compound eyes revealing a look of shame.
Grisa, the Beast Cult elder, had originally considered Ellen his imaginary enemy.
As for Sora and Ella, mother and daughter, he initially dismissed them completely.
He had assumed that with a single move, he could easily subdue them and force Ellen to intervene.
The result was a complete surprise!
After not seeing her for years, Sora's cultivation had reached the late third stage.
This level exceeded his expectations.
In his early impression, Sora, born into a declining family, was a woman of mediocre talent.
Logically, the late second stage should have been Sora's limit.
But today, upon seeing her, he discovered that Sora's sorcerer bloodline had evolved, rising from a thorn spirit to a high-level thorn spirit.
The power of the late third stage wasn't bad, but it wasn't enough to alarm him.
In fact, since arriving on Silver Moon Island, Sora had devoted most of her energy to handling internal affairs.
Allen's various undertakings, including New Gwent Town, the martial arts gym, the Panthers dungeon, the Swan Cave, and the Naga Mine on Moon Island, present a vast amount of tasks to attend to daily.
Allen himself was too lazy to handle minor matters, leaving them all to Teacher Sora.
Sora was busy from morning till night, and aside from routine meditation, he had no time to practice, let alone enter the secret realms for retreat.
Reaching the late third stage was already a significant achievement.
In contrast, Ella, single-mindedly focused on practice, made rapid progress, truly astonishing Grisha!
When he sent two disciples to provoke trouble, Ella's cultivation was only at the late second stage.
It had only been three short years, and even though Ella had been cultivating in the Silver Moon Secret Realm, her cultivation level was at most the early fourth stage.
Until a disagreement erupted between the two, and a fierce fight ensued.
Grisha was shocked to discover that his biological daughter, in a biological sense, had the same cultivation level as himself, also in the late fourth stage!
Both sides had activated their ancestral forms, yet the outcome was still too close to call.
Grisha was filled with humiliation and rage!
He used all his might to remotely control the Dou Qi Net, aiming to envelop Ella and capture her alive, ending this humiliating duel.
Ella refused to yield, equally focused on controlling the Dou Qi Net.
Two invisible nets entangled in midair, tugging at each other.
A fine, drizzling rain, pulled by the Dou Qi nets, alternately swayed left and right, sometimes billowing up and down, like a curtain lifted by the wind.
This invisible, fierce confrontation unfolding in the air was presented in an indirect yet intuitive way.
The two Dou Qi nets, stretched to their limits, were on the verge of collapse.
Grisha and Ella simultaneously executed similar maneuvers!
Dou Qi Explosion!
Thunderous Explosive Wave!
Two streams of violent magic power were channeled along the Dou Qi threads.
Finally, they collided in mid-air, unleashing a terrifying explosion.
BOOM!
A deafening roar, like thunder.
A large swath of the rain curtain in the air instantly evaporated, transforming into a white mist.
Sora leaned against the wall, his fingers gripping the umbrella turning slightly pale.
His heart throbbed violently with the thunderous roar!
He peered through the white mist, desperately searching for his daughter.
A strong wind blew away the mist, revealing two figures.
Ella, shaken by the violent magic power channeled back from the Dou Qi threads, took three steps back, her face draining of color.
The stubborn girl bit her lower lip tightly, her hands snapping, weaving a dense web of fighting spirit.
A hundred feet away, Grisha also took a step back, finally absorbing the impact of the explosion.
His raised pale golden compound eyes flickered.
The head-to-head confrontation had already shown that Ella, after all, was young and not as powerful as he.
However, the gap between the two was not great.
If they continued fighting like this, in the end, he could barely win.
But Grisha could not accept such an ugly victory!
If he couldn't defeat Ella cleanly, how could he face the Beast Cult in the future?
Taking a deep breath, Grisha suddenly radiated golden light.
"Lord Rhea, please grant me divine grace!"
Grisha raised his arms to the sky and prayed loudly.
His body exploded, transforming into a swarm of wasps.
Blessed by the divine power and radiance, the swarm underwent a transformation!
Each thumb-sized wasp grew as large as a griffon!
Giant bees swarmed, buzzing and roaring!
From all directions, they swarmed towards the petite, cat-eared girl!
Ella remained calm, her arms waving rapidly, unfurling an invisible web of fighting spirit, intent on snaring the swarm.
"Duel Qi Transformed into a Net" is a bloodline tradition of the Beast Cult.
Ella was able to master this move because she inherited Grisha's bee-human bloodline.
Grisha, equally proficient in this unique technique, how could he not know how to break it?
Just as the sky-covering net was about to descend, the giant bees suddenly shrank.
From four meters in length, they shrank to less than an inch, effortlessly passing through the swarm of Dou Qi and closing in on Ella.
Grisha's embodied swarm spirit roared with ecstasy, its wings buzzing.
Countless venomous bees, their stingers raised, mercilessly pierced the girl's delicate skin.
However, in the next second...
A sneer played at the corner of Ella's lips.
The girl suddenly raised her left hand.
A round of moonlight surged from her palm.
The moonlight, which had been gathering momentum for a long time, suddenly erupted!
Swish!
In the rainy courtyard, the moonlight suddenly appeared.
Now!
The surrounding bee swarms, bathed in the bright moonlight, suddenly tumbled and screamed as if a bucket of boiling water had been poured over them.
Beastialized, reverting to their ancestral forms, they were instantly sealed.
The bees regrouped, revealing Grisha's terrified face.
Ella swung her right hand, and a fighting spirit net descended from the sky.
It firmly engulfed Grisha, who had been forced back into human form.
Followed by this, violent magical power flowed out along the silk threads.
It converged within the net, exploding violently!
Thunderous blast wave!!
By the time the explosions subsided, Grisha had been completely blasted to pieces.
He lay sprawled in the courtyard, his body covered in wounds from the rain, a crimson stain beneath him.
Ella raised her hand, pointing at the dying Grisha.
One final blow, and this despicable man would be completely wiped out from her and her mother's lives!
Resentment and anger alternated in the girl's eyes, eventually giving way to a hint of contempt.
"You scumbag! Kill you! You've stained my hands!"
Ella shouted coldly at Grisha.
"Get out!"
Grisha shuddered at the girl's furious outburst.
Suppressing his embarrassment, he struggled to crawl towards the courtyard gate.
Suddenly, an unusually strong surge of magical energy erupted from the air!
A "portal" swung open, and a beautiful young woman in a yellow robe emerged, walking through the air with her hands behind her back.
Grisha raised his head from the muddy water.
His gaze met the young woman in yellow, and he was instantly overwhelmed with delight.
A hoarse cry of joy escaped his throat.
"Lady Weiss!"