“Well said, ‘no different than courting death,’ Dad, you really are like an old sow wearing a bra, one set after another!” Qiao Yu gave him a thumbs up.

“You’re too kind, you’re not bad yourself. As the saying goes, ‘raise children frugally, indulge oneself,’ I also need to build up my strength. Your chances of success are indeed higher than mine. Your mom should almost have dinner ready, let’s go eat.”

Qiao Anqing raised his head, looking at the gray mist covering the skies of the Reverse World.

“You probably haven’t condensed your symbiotic artifact yet, right? Once you have your own artifact and split open the sky above, your mother and I will be free.”

Qiao Anqing chuckled. After all these years of planning, wasn’t he waiting for this very moment?

But then, Qiao Anqing suddenly seemed to remember something and glared at Qiao Yu.

“Speaking of which, you’re really disappointing! I thought I’d find you a few more girlfriends to carry on the Qiao family line.”

“But what did you do? I arranged so many romantic encounters for you, and you failed to seize any of them! Are you a blockhead or what?”

Qiao Anqing poked Qiao Yu’s forehead in frustration.

Qiao Yu’s lips couldn’t help but twitch. No wonder he had such good luck with the ladies; turns out there was an old geezer pulling strings behind the scenes.

They quickly returned to the wooden house, and Bai Shixia had already removed her gas mask, revealing a face weathered by time.

Time never defeats a beauty. Even now, it wasn’t hard to see that Bai Shixia must have been an absolute stunner in her youth.

“You’re back! Go wash your hands and eat.”

Bai Shixia’s voice made Qiao Yu feel like he’d stepped back in time, as if he were a child again.

“Okay!”

Qiao Yu nodded, but when he looked at the dishes on the table, he instantly froze.

Um… there were four dishes on the table, all of them mashed together, unrecognizable in type, and you couldn't even tell if they were meat or vegetarian.

Bai Shixia happily picked up bowls and chopsticks and handed them to Qiao Yu and Qiao Anqing.

“Mom… what are these dishes?” Qiao Yu couldn’t help but ask.

“This? The first dish is strawberry stir-fried with pork belly, the second is durian stewed with watermelon, the third is steamed kiwi mixed with mutton leg, and the fourth is braised apple and beef brisket, drizzled with squid ink.”

“These four dishes are all Mom’s original creations. Mom’s amazing, right!”

Bai Shixia looked proud.

Qiao Yu: “…”

“Thanks, Mom. Judging by your cooking skills, my dad must be hard to kill.”

Bai Shixia was stunned for a moment, then her smile slowly faded.

“Son… after we left, during this time you were outside, you must have been beaten up a lot, right?”

“It’s okay, not many people can beat me. Don’t worry, Mom, even if I get beaten up, I won’t tell you. I’ll just rub some Honghua oil on it myself.” Qiao Yu was experienced this time and answered immediately.

“How can that be! If you get beaten up or bullied outside, you have to tell Mom!” Bai Shixia said firmly.

A flame ignited in Qiao Yu’s eyes. Was this maternal love?

Indeed, there’s no one like Mom in the world… a child with a mom is like a treasure…

Just as Qiao Yu was feeling touched, Bai Shixia’s next sentence immediately silenced him.

“If you don’t tell Mom when you get beaten up, what will Mom have to enjoy during her leisure time?”

Alright!

Qiao Yu now understood that people in the same family are really all alike.

They were true love; he was just the accident.

After the family sat down at the table, Qiao Anqing filled a large bowl with half-cooked rice and began to devour the dishes on the table.

He even praised Bai Shixia’s cooking skills for improving.

His speed of gobbling it down made Qiao Yu suspect that he had lost his sense of taste long ago.

Unable to resist Bai Shixia’s expectant gaze, Qiao Yu picked up a piece of pork belly and put it in his mouth, chewing it carefully.

“How is it, son? Delicious? Delicious?” Bai Shixia looked at Qiao Yu expectantly.

Qiao Yu’s face slowly turned green, then he forced out a smile that was worse than a cry.

“You can taste that this pig was alive before it was cooked, delicious.”

Hearing Qiao Yu say it was delicious, Bai Shixia breathed a sigh of relief, a sincere smile on her face.

Qiao Yu cast a look of help at Qiao Anqing. He really couldn’t understand how Qiao Anqing could eat this stuff with such relish.

Qiao Anqing glanced at his son and then secretly transmitted his voice.

“Don’t chew, don’t let your tongue touch it, just swallow it directly down your throat, and you won’t taste anything.”

“With our current strength, we won’t even die if we drink pesticide, so eat with confidence!”

Qiao Yu’s eyes widened instantly.

The old ginger is still spicier, how could he not have thought of such a good method!

My dad is indeed my dad!

With Qiao Anqing’s reminder, Qiao Yu also opened his stomach and began to eat like crazy. The four dishes were quickly swept away by the father and son.

The meal was eaten happily. Seeing the father and son eating so heartily, Bai Shixia’s eyes narrowed with joy, feeling that her hours of hard work were worth it.

“Alright, we’ve eaten, I’ll take the child out to take care of some things.”

Qiao Anqing pulled Qiao Yu outside.

“Full yet? If you don’t want to eat your mom’s cooking every day, it’s time to get to work.”

“Don’t mention it, I didn’t have any motivation at first, but hearing that, I’m full of energy!” Qiao Yu’s face immediately became serious.

“Well… I can’t help you with condensing your symbiotic artifact, you can only comprehend it yourself, because before you, there was only one person who mastered the Law of Force, and that was Pangu, whose symbiotic artifact was the Pangu Axe.” Qiao Anqing nodded.

“Don’t worry, I already have a rough idea in my mind.”

Qiao Yu looked at the sky, the smile on his face growing richer.

“I have always been a necromancer, even though I have become the master of the Law of Force, it is no exception.”

“What weapon could be more suitable for a necromancer than this?”

Qiao Yu raised his hand, and the threads formed by the Law of Force began to surge, those spider silk-like forces of law slowly building the outline of a weapon.

It was a large saber nine chi five cun (Chinese feet) long. The blade was inlaid with a pattern of Zhulong (Torch Dragon) soaring, the dragon's mouth located above the hilt, facing the blade. The back of the blade was serrated with barbs, and the hilt was covered with embossed dragon scales.

Seeing this, Qiao Anqing nodded in satisfaction.

“Not bad, worthy of being my son, Qiao Anqing. Only second-rate mages use magic, the real masters should use a blade.”