Ye Xingxuan nearly burst into tears from Jiang Nan’s single sentence.
Who knows how I survived that week of devilish training.
Extra practice would genuinely kill someone.
She quickly said, “No, no! We came to ask the instructors if you all want to go to the Mandarin Duck Pot together.”
As soon as she finished, the faces of the seven girls flushed red.
Only then did Jiang Nan realise that these seven girls were the ones who had once made him bleed.
He knew them inside out now, understood them completely.
Jiang Nan rolled his eyes. “What’s so great about hotpot? I still need to set up my stall to earn money. Not going, not going.”
Asking me to join you for hotpot?
I reckon you just want me to pay for the taxi.
Do you think I’m daft?
At these words, Ye Xingxuan and the others stared at Jiang Nan in shock, then held back laughter until their faces went scarlet.
(⑉ԾжԾ⑉)
“Pfft hahaha! South God, you didn’t actually think Mandarin Duck Pot was hotpot, did you?”
“Mandarin Duck Pot is the volcanic hot spring in the Holy Flame Spirit Ruin. It’s an amazing place.”
“Yes, yes! Kyoto’s Mandarin Duck Pot is on par with Jade Dragon Spirit Pool. Normal tickets are hard enough to get with money, let alone top-tier ones.”
He Jia covered her face. (ﾉ)﹏(ヾ)
“Otherwise, did you think we’d go to such lengths just for a hotpot meal?”
Xia Yao’s fluffy wolf ears shot upright the moment she heard. She scrambled up from the sofa, eyes sparkling.
“Hot spring? We’re going to the Holy Flame Spirit Ruin today?”
Jiang Nan looked stunned.
“Big Bad Wolf? You knew about Mandarin Duck Pot all along?”
Xia Yao giggled mischievously. “Of course. It’s introduced in the Spirit Ruin Compendium.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought you already knew. Don’t you ever pay attention in class?”
Jiang Nan was dumbfounded. Blimey.
Why give a perfectly good hot spring such a misleading name? Anyone would misunderstand, wouldn’t they?
Only after Ye Xingxuan’s explanation did he understand.
The Holy Flame Spirit Ruin was in the Kyoto suburbs, a semi-open ruin.
The Mandarin Duck Pot hot spring was actually the volcanic pool at the summit. Unlike Jade Dragon’s rune-gathered spirit energy, it formed naturally.
The water was saturated with astonishing spirit energy that could sharply raise levels in a short time.
It also contained natural components that improved physical fitness, increased bone density, enhanced flexibility, and offered a whole range of remarkable effects.
For girls, the most irresistible draw was the whitening and skin-softening effect.
Though the improvements were limited, a 24-hour top-tier Mandarin Duck Pot ticket could raise even a gold-level cultivator by one star, provided their talent wasn’t too poor.
Jiang Nan’s eyes lit up.
“Go, go, go. Pack your things. We’re leaving now.”
Mandarin Duck Pot is a hot spring?
This is practically heaven.
Mandarin duck? Hehe.
Ahhh!
Why didn’t you say so sooner!
Jiang Nan: (๐❛ั﹃❛ั) Hehe, hehe.
Xia Yao: (≖̫≖๐)
“Little Nan, you’ve shown your true intentions. Wipe your drool.”
Jiang Nan straightened his face. “Nonsense. The reason I’m so excited is mainly for the level boost.”
“It’s definitely not because of any weird thoughts.”
Xia Yao grinned wickedly and leaned close to whisper in his ear.
(๐◔з◔ิ)ฅ(๐･᷄口･᷅๐)
“Listen. Snowy and I specially bought new swimsuits for this trip to Mandarin Duck Pot before leaving the academy.”
“They’re styles you don’t even have in your Hulk shorts collection. Want to see? Are you looking forward to it? Hmm?”
“Super daring. Phew.”
She gently blew into his ear as she spoke.
Jiang Nan shivered, nodding like a woodpecker, eyes gleaming.
“Looking forward to it!”
Who could resist that?
New swimsuits?
Styles so bold they aren’t even in my Hulk shorts stock?
Hiss. How explosive must they be?
Jiang Nan turned to Zhong Yingxue and quickly asked, “Snowy? You bought a new swimsuit?”
Zhong Yingxue’s pretty face flushed, even her delicate earlobes turning hot red.
“Mmm. I spent ages choosing it. I… haven’t worn it yet.”
Jiang Nan: !!!
“Jiang Nan says the whole team!”
Instantly, Zhong Yingxue and the four others including Little Dimple stood to attention.
Jiang Nan: “Destination: Holy Flame Spirit Ruin Mandarin Duck Pot hot spring! Everyone prepare to stop being human! Depart!”
Xia Yao, Wu Liang, and the others looked thrilled.
“Roger!”
Only Ye Xingxuan and her group looked baffled.
Huh? You stop being human just to soak in a hot spring?
He had already arranged in advance with Uncle Da for ten 24-hour top-tier Mandarin Duck Pot tickets and made all the preparations.
Little Dimple carried everyone at terrifying speeds over twice the speed of sound straight to the northern suburbs Holy Flame Spirit Ruin.
Even Ye Xingxuan’s group came along, sitting on Little Dimple’s back and screaming with excitement.
They charged all the way to the ruin entrance.
A building shaped like a teacup stood in the northern suburbs.
A plaque above the gate bore bold red characters: “Kyoto Holy Flame Mandarin Duck Pot Hot Spring”.
The entrance was packed with people. Jiang Nan even spotted several tour guides leading groups from coaches, waving little flags and passionately introducing the hot spring.
Jiang Nan was stunned.
“What’s going on? So many people? This is really the Holy Flame Spirit Ruin? Not some massive bathhouse?”
“I thought tickets were hard to get?”
Ye Xingxuan smiled and explained. “We have top-tier Mandarin Duck Pot tickets. Only the central volcano is the true top-tier one.”
“There are plenty of other volcanic hot springs, like high school, beginner level, and so on. Those tickets can be bought with money. Of course, the effects aren’t as wonderful as the top-tier.”
Jiang Nan was taken aback. So it’s still basically a bathhouse?
The people of this country are truly terrifying. They’ve opened bathhouses inside spirit ruins. Incredible.
As Little Dimple landed, gasps and exclamations rose, drawing everyone’s attention.
The moment Jiang Nan’s group arrived, a woman with wavy hair approached. She was diamond 9-star level.
Fair-skinned, stunning figure, always wearing a faint smile. Though nearly 40, she still radiated irresistible mature charm.
She was the manager of the bath… no, the hot spring ruin. Tan Ya.
“You must be Mr Jiang Nan? Please follow me to the VIP room. Uncle Da has already spoken to me.”
Jiang Nan’s eyes brightened.
VIP room? Top-tier really is different.
Everyone followed Tan Ya to the VIP room, handed over the tickets, and each received a wristband.
Jiang Nan stared blankly at his band marked 007.
“This… do you even offer bath scrubbing here?”
Tan Ya laughed. “We don’t have scrubbing services. I must remind everyone of one thing.”
“Absolutely do not rub off dead skin in the Mandarin Duck Pot. It’s strictly forbidden. Anyone caught doing so will be arrested and imprisoned.”
“Some people can’t resist rubbing a bit. Every day, someone gets caught and jailed for it.”
Jiang Nan’s eyes widened. Rubbing dead skin in a hot spring gets you jailed? This was the first he had heard of it.
So terrifying?
He wondered what those blokes jailed for rubbing dead skin must feel inside.
He even pictured the scene.
“Hey mate, what are you in for?”
“Me? Robbed a bank. I’m the outlaw Zhang San they talk about. What about you, bro?”
“Me? I got caught rubbing dead skin in the hot spring…”
How humiliating that would be.
Tan Ya smiled. “Because all the water in our Holy Flame Spirit Ruin comes from underground sources. Every volcanic hot spring shares the same water, circulated naturally by geothermal heat.”
“So if someone rubs dead skin in one pool, all the water gets dirty. That makes things very difficult for us.”
“There are dedicated changing rooms and shower areas at the summit. Please rinse thoroughly before entering.”
“That’s all the reminders. Girls, please go that way. Boys, follow me.”
Xia Yao waved as she walked. “Little Nan! See you at the summit!”
Little Dimple was carried off by Zhong Yingxue too. Males and females still needed to be separated properly.
Jiang Nan scratched his head. “Sister Tan Ya? Why separate paths? Aren’t we bathing together?”
Tan Ya covered her mouth and giggled. “We do bathe together. You’ll understand when you reach the summit.”
Only then did Jiang Nan relax. Together is good.
Otherwise the Mandarin Duck Pot would have no soul.
Seeing Jiang Nan sigh in relief, Tan Ya hid a smile. “What were you worrying about?”
“Oh, right. Uncle Da specially asked me, since we’re old acquaintances.”
“So we’re giving you the supreme full-service package. Normal people don’t get this.”
Jiang Nan: Σ(๐ﾟﾛﾟ)!!
“You don’t offer scrubbing, yet you have full-service?”
“This… this isn’t quite proper.”
Tan Ya: “Giggle. What’s improper about it? Besides, I quite like you. I’m even a little fan of yours.”
“Just relax. We’ll definitely make this trip worthwhile.”
Jiang Nan’s heart pounded. “Er, do we all get it?”
Tan Ya: (⁎⁍̴̛̫⁍̴̛⁎)
“Of course. Everyone gets it.”
At that moment, Wu Liang and Xiong Er both widened their eyes, looking nervous.
Wu Liang gritted his teeth. “No way, South Bro. I can’t betray Miaomiao.”
Xiong Er nodded. “Exactly. I can’t betray Qiqi. I’m not that kind of bear.”
Jiang Nan sighed. “Alas. I can’t betray the nine hundred million girls who like me either.”
But then he turned serious. “Yet I believe that as men, the one person we absolutely cannot betray is ourselves.”
Wu Liang stroked his chin, nodding in agreement. “South Bro makes sense.”
Xiong Er: (｡⁼̴̤̆㉨⁼̴̤̆｡)
“Makes sense, makes sense.”
Jiang Nan: (乛~乛◦)
“Hah. Phooey! Hypocrites.”
