Su Ping hadn't expected it.

This year's New Year's Eve celebration actually brought him such a big surprise.

Over the past few days, the Sea Core Spirit Turtle and Little Crow had both been in the Heart of Woods, but their intimacy had never met the standard. Now, they finally met the condition.

Two new Pet Beast Compendiums were directly lit up, granting him two brand-new Talents.

Moreover, just by their names, these two new Talents seemed quite different from the previous ones.

The next moment, the specific information of these two Talents appeared in the depths of Su Ping's mind:

"[Floating: Utilize spiritual power to make oneself float slightly and glide.]"

"[Underwater Breathing: Move and breathe freely underwater, with underwater vision enhanced to a certain degree.]"

The clearly defined Talents filled Su Ping's eyes with joy.

These two Talents represented the sky and underwater.

One thing Su Ping had wanted to do for a long time was to enter the area beneath the Heart of Water and make closer contact with the Rainbow Coral Worm behind the water element barrier.

Such a rare and special Water Element Pet Beast, serving as the pillar of Su Ping's own Heart of Water, probably didn't even realize it was essentially working for Su Ping.

However, if such a rare and magical Pet Beast could have its Illustrated Handbook lit up and be further understood, identifying its magical aspects, and even evolving it completely, the benefits it could provide the Heart of Water would be beyond measure.

But before, Su Ping had an inherent resistance to going underwater, even more so than his aversion to the sky.

Now, with the ability to breathe underwater, he could perhaps give it a try.

Excitement bubbled up in his heart, and he gave a round of applause for the performances of these two little ones.

Subsequently, the crowd of 'little ones' expressed high praise for the New Year's Eve feast.

Only the Little Crow and the Flame Morning Glory seemed somewhat peckish and unsatiated.

The reason was simple: the Flame Fruits were really popular.

However, what confused Su Ping was that he distinctly remembered having ten Flame Fruits formed in the Beast Taming Space over this period. He had the same count when he was preparing the New Year's Eve feast. But, in such a short time, after taking them out from the Beast Taming Space, there were only eight left. This led to some suspicion and confusion in Su Ping.

Regardless, this special New Year's Eve had quietly passed in such an environment and process.

With the midnight bells ringing, the last day of the lunar calendar concluded, and time finally approached the early morning, on the verge of welcoming a brand-new year.

"New Year's here! The bell has rung! Everyone, come gather!" Su Ping shouted.

The little ones, satiated from the New Year's Eve feast, also gathered in front of him, eagerly anticipating as Su Ping took out a stack of red envelopes from the Beast Taming Space.

Of course, they didn't know what red envelopes were or even what the celebration of New Year's Eve meant. They understood very little. They just knew that it was a very nice, interesting day, and wished that New Year's could be celebrated every day.

And these red envelopes were their rewards for just having performed.

Thus, they looked forward to this part of the event with anticipation.

"Now, each little one come forth and draw your red envelope! Inside, there are various New Year gifts, and what you get is entirely down to luck! There are three major prizes!"

"AWOO!"

"WAAH!"

"GAGA!"

"..."

"Good, now line up and come get your red envelopes. The highest scoring ones from the performance get to go first, in order!"

The first one was none other than Qian Yi, the little Paperman, who had demonstrated the swordsmanship it had newly grasped, thus securing first place at the Heart of Woods' New Year's Eve celebration.

The little one excitedly stood at the very front, looking at the myriad red envelopes spread out like a bloom, and eagerly rubbed its hands together.

Then, it closed its eyes, only to be immediately scolded by Su Ping, "No using Abilities to sense!"

"WAAH!"

Qian Yi looked somewhat aggrieved, but still, after pondering for a while, chose a red envelope and couldn't wait to open it under the watchful eyes of all the little ones.

It was a piece of paper, and written on it in black against white were a few big characters:

"[A piece of resource of corresponding level!]"

Su Ping clarified with a smile, and Qian Yi's eyes suddenly lit up.

More resources!?

Su Ping certainly didn't deceive it, taking out a prepared resource from the Beast Taming Space:

Elite Level Dark Proclamation Paper.

Qian Yi excitedly received it, showing off triumphantly to the other little ones still queued up, only to doubt life itself the next second.

The next to go, among all the Pet Beasts, was the rather low-profile Laurel Tree.

The Laurel Tree's earlier performance was simulating moonlight. It imitated the moon's rays on this New Year's Eve, appearing as if a full moon hung high, magnificent and splendid. This won the unanimous praise of the other participants and the sole judge, Su Ping.

As a result, it secured second place.

The content of the Laurel Tree's red envelope was similar to Qian Yi's, also a resource reward.

However, unlike Qian Yi's, the Laurel Tree's read:

"[A resource one level higher than oneself!]"

The Laurel Tree's Level was Commander Level.

Therefore, a resource one level higher...

Qian Yi stared wide-eyed as the cool and detached Laurel Tree took away a Monarch Level resource, suddenly rendering the Dark Proclamation Paper in its grasp a lot less enticing.

How did this happen? Why had it turned out this way?

Qian Yi couldn't understand. Quite confused indeed. But that was the fact.

And, as one after another, the little ones continued to claim their red envelopes, it was proven that what Qian Yi had drawn was, in fact, the least valuable of the lot!

How could this be? Is this reasonable?

The little Paperman thought it was unfair.

But as Xiao Qing claimed a prize that was not only a level higher than its own but also consisted of two resources, Qian Yi, the little Paperman, began to doubt its life.

Was its luck really that bad?

Indeed, it was, because soon the Second Prize Su Ping had spoken of appeared!

And the winner of this Second Prize was none other than a very ordinary Forest Wolf.

However, Su Ping was quite familiar with it.

And the Second Prize was:

"[Little One, the Forest Wolf, you have won the Second Prize in this lottery draw and will receive a Skill Cultivation suited for yourself!]"

Skill Cultivation!

Qian Yi, the little Paperman, with tears in its eyes, looked at Little One, the Forest Wolf, and then at the Dark Proclamation Paper in its hand, speechless and choked for a moment.

Little One shook its head and wagged its tail. This little fellow, who had grown up with Xiao Qing, had now become an Elite Sixth Rank Forest Wolf in just half a year.

About a few moments later, the First Prize was hotly announced.

And, to everyone's surprise, the winner of the First Prize was also an inconspicuous little fellow from the Forest Heart:

"[Mist Pine, you have won the First Prize in this lottery draw and received the privilege of being prioritized for Cultivation and Evolution!]"

Priority for Cultivation and Evolution!

All the little creatures present were stunned, especially Mist Pine. The usually cool and detached little fellow was now exhaling wisps of chilly mist—clearly excited upon hearing about the prize.

Su Ping offered a faint smile; he was quite fond of this little one.

He was particularly fond of it when it stayed by the water bridge connecting the Forest Heart and the Heart of Water. The misty water bridge it created was a beautiful scene. Moreover, the cool mist it emitted was extremely refreshing and could potentially serve as a divine artifact to stave off the summer heat.

However, just when all the little ones thought that with the First, Second, and Third Prizes announced, the grand prizes were all gone, the Little Crow, who was towards the back, pulled a big surprise.

"Congratulations to the Little Crow for winning the Special Prize of this lottery draw! The Special Prize allows you to make any request! I and everyone at the Heart of Myriad Spirits will do our best to help you fulfill it!"

Upon these words, the whole group of Pet Beasts seemed to boil over.

A cluster of Pet Beasts looked enviously at the Flame-Eating Crow.

The Little Crow also realized then that it had hit the jackpot.

"GAGA GAGA?!!!"

Seeing Su Ping's confirming nod, the Little Crow flapped its wings excitedly and soared in circles around the sky.

It seemed this was the only way to express its elation.

"Alright, hurry up and think of your request. We won't wait forever!" Su Ping said with a smile.

He honestly hadn't rigged the draw; the Little Crow simply had good luck, having hit the nearly one percent chance.

He was also somewhat eager to see what the little one would request.

Unexpectedly, after circling twice under the envious, jealous, and resentful gazes of the other Pet Beasts, the Little Crow pondered for a moment and finally let out a sound:

"GAGA (My home... I wish for it to be safe...)"

Su Ping was taken aback, while the other Pet Beasts didn't quite understand, waiting for Su Ping's response.

Then Su Ping replied with a smile, "Little fellow, there's no need to wish for that. Everyone at the Heart of Myriad Spirits will be together already, so that condition doesn't count. Think of something else."

The Little Crow blinked and flapped its wings before falling into thought again. Then quickly, it finally stated a new condition:

"GAGA (I want... a name...)"

A name? Su Ping paused for a moment, then fell into contemplation. In a way, this request wasn't asking for much, but to him, it was indeed not an easy task. For a name… Hmm, how about Toothy?

"GAGA!"

Judging by Little Crow Toothy's jubilant reaction, the little fellow seemed quite satisfied with the name.

As for Su Ping, he felt somewhat guilty for appeasing such an easily contented little creature with such simplicity. But since the Little Crow asked for it, what else could he say?

With that thought, Su Ping took a long breath and, looking up at the huge red lanterns in the dark night sky, finally suggested, "Come on, let's set off fireworks!"

"GAGA!"

"AWOO!"

"..."

Amidst the sharp noises and the ignition provided by the Flame Morning Glory, streams of fireworks shot towards the sky from the open space of the Heart of Woods.

The dark night sky was completely lit up, the colorful lights reflecting on Su Ping's cheeks, equally radiant.

New Year's Eve night, as the fireworks illuminated the dark sky, finally came to an end.

At last, Su Ping stood in a shrine room within the Heart of Woods, a place not many people had visited.

After respectfully washing up, he lit several sticks of sandalwood with care.

He placed them before the two central spirit tablets.

On these two tablets, one, needless to say, bore the name 'Spirit Tablet of the Late Father Su Zhongguang.'

And the other, a name Su Ping barely remembered, 'Beloved Wife Chun'er's Spirit Tablet.'

The blue smoke of incense drifted gently into the air. In contrast to the previous clamor, the place was now particularly quiet and solemn.

Su Ping took a deep breath, inserted the incense sticks into the incense burners in front, neatly arranged the prepared offerings, and knelt on the cushion below.

"Su Ping and his father Su Anyong pay New Year's respects to Mom and Grandpa! May your spirits rest in peace in heaven, and please bless us."

Su Ping bowed his head and enunciated his words, "On New Year's night, your descendants greedily make three wishes:

First, may Jiuzhou prosper forever, the nation thrive in peace;

Second, may the family be harmonious, the father prosper, friends and relatives healthy;

Third, may I have longevity, and my martial fortunes soar."

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