"Annoyed... annoyed... so annoyed..." Jill Young grumbled at home. It had been two days since she returned from Jinan, and several days since she got back from Hong Kong. Now it was early August. The best thing lately was finally putting her biggest worry to rest—her parents hadn’t disowned her, so a heavy burden was lifted from her heart. She believed that when she returned to her Jack persona, she’d find that her inner demons had faded quite a bit. But right on the heels of that relief came a new emotion: boredom.
Looking back, ever since Jill Young appeared in the world, she’d smashed Black Dragon Village, stormed the underground, dominated the underground fight scene, torn down the SD Syndicate’s base, and ruled Steelbull City. It was all running around, fighting, doing things ordinary folks couldn’t even dream of. And Jill loved every minute of it—she thrived on the chaos.
But now, with her worries gone and life settling down, Jill found herself restless and itching for something to do. There really wasn’t much to keep her busy—she’d handed off all the planning and scheming to Jonathan, and stuff like construction, research, and espionage wasn’t her thing. As for cultivation, she’d hit the ceiling with the Titan Spirit Method’s sixth level—ordinary life essence just couldn’t push her any further. Unless she found some higher-grade essence, all she could do now was grind away at slow, tedious training.
And as for grinding away... honestly, with Jill’s current strength, any training equipment that could actually challenge her would have to be gigantic. The sixth level of the Titan Spirit Method—her own name for it was "Angry Table Flip"—was supposed to give you the power to flip a thousand pounds with one hand. Maybe it was all the top-notch essence she’d used, or training alongside the Wisdom Art, or something else, but her sixth level was even stronger than the classic seventh. Way stronger.
If you compared her to the likes of the Golden Wheel King and those other monks with their watered-down versions, Jill’s raw power right now was at least on par with the Golden Wheel King at the eighth level. If she went all out, she could flip something over three thousand pounds—a regular family sedan, basically.
With that kind of strength, any training gear would have to be both massive and complicated. At the Dingcheng Group, that was doable, but at home, there was no way she could train without tipping off the normal folks.
Of course, one of Jill’s trophies from Steelbull City was a set of magnetic rings—the very thing Ghost Player invented to restrain hulking brutes. But even that didn’t solve her problem. For one, Ghost Player hadn’t anticipated humans getting this strong, so the rings barely made a dent for Jill now. For another, flip the switch and every metal thing in the house would go flying—her mom would lose her mind.
Since grinding away at training was out, chasing new life essence was even more of a pipe dream. Jill’s only hope was to dive into another dream world and go hunt some weird magical beast or whatever. But unfortunately, last time she dream-traveled, she spent months in the dream, and time there matched real time—so there was no way she could count on another trip soon. For now, she was stuck at home, bored out of her mind.
"Man... suddenly the Killing Fist’s shockwave seems like a great idea. Too bad I’ve tried a million times and just can’t pull it off..." Wearing a T-shirt and denim shorts, Jill sprawled across the sofa like a bored goddess. She absentmindedly watched Cang Cang darting around the house, her lips curling. "You’re way too hyped up..." Wherever Jill went, Cang Cang followed. Ever since settling in, Cang Cang had taken on pest control duties—chasing out bugs and creepy-crawlies. The past few days, it had done a bang-up job and won her mom’s heart.
"I’m bored out of my mind, and you, you stupid rodent, have the nerve to be so energetic!" With a grumpy shout, Jill’s elegant foot came crashing down, pinning poor Cang Cang under her heel. Jill sprang up and declared, "Nope, I need a game! To my room—let’s go!"
The next moment, Jill struck a pose worthy of a ballet dancer—elegantly balancing on one foot and stretching out her body. Under her foot, Cang Cang scurried forward like Nezha on his Wind Fire Wheels, its four stubby legs spinning at top speed. The size difference was so extreme—like the Monkey King and the Buddha—that Jill seemed to glide into the living room. Soon after, she appeared again, arms waving like Dunhuang Flying Apsaras, her heel perched on a bulky PS3 console.
Her sense of balance would make any circus performer faint with envy.
"Huh? This is actually kinda fun..." Jill, who was just about to play God of War 3, suddenly felt like she’d discovered a whole new world. Like a kid with a brand-new toy, she pinched her chin and stared at Cang Cang, her eyes gleaming so much that Cang Cang nervously backed away a couple of steps.
When Susan Morrow came home, exhausted, she found her daughter gliding around the house in all sorts of dramatic poses. Jill was basically figure skating across the living room, with poor Cang Cang as her skates.
But Susan was used to it by now. She knew that, despite Cang Cang looking like an ordinary hamster, it was anything but. Never mind all the stomping—last time, Jill kneaded it under her foot like dough, and in the end, Cang Cang just staggered around dizzy, not a scratch on it.
Seeing her daughter so lively, Susan felt her own spirits lift. "You know, you’re all grown up but still act like a little kid." She scolded Jill with a smile. "You can play so hard all by yourself at home—I really don’t have to worry about you. Alright, let Cang Cang go now."
Cang Cang’s tiny eyes immediately welled up with grateful tears. Jill hopped off its back and looked Susan up and down. "Worked all night? Lie down, lie down—I’ll give you a massage."
(This chapter’s not over yet~.~ Click next page to keep reading the good stuff!)
Susan chuckled and lay down on the sofa as instructed.
Jill ordered Cang Cang, "Hey, don’t just sit there—use your meatball powers and pound her legs!" Cang Cang instantly sprang into action, swelling to rabbit size and rolling all over Susan’s legs. Its fuzzy warmth made Susan giggle, "Stop it!" She reached out and patted Cang Cang to calm it down.
Jill reached out and started her signature massage on her mom, beginning at the temples. Wherever Jill’s hands touched, Susan instantly felt better—no headache, no sore neck, just a magical cure-all effect.
“Hey, where’d you learn that? It really works!”
“Just figured it out myself.” Jill had never actually studied massage, but after her micro-sensing breakthrough, she naturally understood muscles and bones enough to master the technique. Compared to textbook apprentices, Jill’s hands-on approach was way ahead. She teased, “Feeling good, sir? Our shop’s girls are pale, pretty, and skilled—satisfaction guaranteed. Next time, be sure to ask for me by name!”
“Stop messing around,” Susan laughed, swatting Jill. “You’re just spouting nonsense.” But as a mother, she caught something deeper in Jill’s jokes. She opened her eyes, looked at Jill, and asked gently, “Still upset?”
“Upset? Of course I am!” Jill’s face fell. “That so-called Elite Singles Summer Mixer was just a gathering for trashy guys and girls. In any normal family, you sending your daughter there would be tossing her straight into the fire!”
“But for you, it’s just a little tickle powder.” Susan grinned, looking proud, like a kid who’d pulled off a prank. “Don’t be so stingy! A real man should have a broad mind.”
“Oh, so now you’re calling me out for whining? Broad-minded, real man, huh? Back when I was a kid, any brat who dared sprinkle tickle powder on me got a beating—lumps all over their head!”
After a few jokes, Susan picked up a strand of Jill’s platinum hair and sighed. “Still, I was hoping you’d bring home a man—any kind, really. At least then I could raise you as my daughter.”
“Give it up.”
“Not even one you like the look of?”
“Yeah, there’s one I actually like the look of. He’ll be coming to see me in the next couple of days.”
“What?!” This time it was Susan’s turn to gape in shock. She sat up, grabbed Jill’s hand, her eyes sparkling: “What’s his name? Where’s he from? What does he look like? Height, education, income?”
“There, on TV.” Jill pointed at the screen, which was replaying the Visiting Qilu Talk Show, with Jasper Xiao chatting away onscreen.
“Huh?! He’s pretty good-looking—not worse than my son…” All her worries forgotten, Susan perked right up, studying Jasper Xiao. “He seems well-mannered too. If it’s him, I wouldn’t object…”
“Hold it—I am your son!” Jill pulled her mom back down onto the sofa. “You can forget about being a mother-in-law. Just enjoy being a mom.” Then she leaned in and whispered, “He’s ‘special’—just like me. Got it? We just happened to meet, so we’re just friends.”
Hearing Jill’s explanation, Susan flopped back down, deflated. “I see…” Then her expression turned serious and puzzled. She looked at Jill and hesitated: “Speaking of ‘special’—last night, I ran into something strange near our house. I’m not sure…”
“Something strange?” Jill perked right up. “Hold on!” She dashed into her room, slammed the door—then opened it again to toss out the sneaky Cang Cang, and shut it once more. Less than a minute later, Jill strode out, decked in her Forged in Hatred suit. Instantly, she switched from homebody daughter to the decisive Bloody Queen.
“Let’s go—show me the scene!”