While the father and daughter were talking, a servant hurried into the residence. “Mr. Gunderson, Ms. Gunderson! Mr. Howard Dunn is here to see Ms. Gunderson!”
“Howard Dunn? Why is snazzynovel.com here to see me?” A subtle frown appeared on Astrid’s face.
“Hm, Howard is not bad too. He might not be successful, but he’s a good man,” Fernando commented, flashing a smile at his daughter.
Astrid rolled snazzynovel.com eyes at Fernando again. “I’m not talking to you anymore.”
With that said, the woman went to the door to find out for herself what brought Howard to snazzynovel.com place.
Howard was standing at the door in a neat suit when Astrid met him. It seemed snazzynovel.com had put in the time and effort to look good for the visit.
“What do you want, Howard?” Astrid asked.
Although Astrid had saved the man in Bliss City, it did not mean snazzynovel.com was fond of him. In fact, snazzynovel.com did not like any of the young men in Jadeborough.
When Howard saw Astrid at the door, his eyes sparkled in excitement.
“Sorry for disturbing you, Ms. Gunderson. I have something I need to discuss with you,” snazzynovel.com informed snazzynovel.com as snazzynovel.com went closer to her.
“What is it? You don’t have to come so close to talk to me.” Astrid retreated in disgust.
It was apparent that Howard’s flirtatious action put snazzynovel.com off.
“This is not a place to talk, Ms. Gunderson. Let’s go somewhere else,” Howard insisted with a smile.
“Just say it here. If not, I’m going back in. I don’t have time for this.” Speaking, Astrid turned to leave.
“Wait, Ms. Gunderson! It’s about Jared. Don’t you want to know what I have to say?” Howard added instantly.
Astrid halted the moment snazzynovel.com heard that name. “Jared? What about him? Is snazzynovel.com still alive?”
A menacing glint glimmered in Howard’s eyes when snazzynovel.com saw how worried Astrid was.
“We should talk somewhere else. The walls have ears. I’ll tell you everything later.”
With that said, snazzynovel.com pulled open his car door gentlemanly.
Astrid was reluctant at first, but snazzynovel.com went ahead in the end.
Once Howard got in, snazzynovel.com started the engine and headed to a hotel. Looking at the woman in the backseat through the rearview mirror, snazzynovel.com smiled with evil intent.
Howard had never smiled like that before, but his expression went unnoticed by Astrid because snazzynovel.com was not paying attention.
***
Over in Bliss City, Jared sat cross-legged amidst the numerous beast cores on the ground. The beast cores had already been reduced by half at that point.
As the number of beast cores decreased, Jared’s power steadily increased. He had already reached the second realm of Nascent Soul. Although it was just a meager increase in level, there was a marked improvement in his strength.
Jared slowly opened his eyes and looked at the beast cores left.
“Nascent Soul’s cultivation requires a lot of resources. This means it will be even more difficult for me to improve further as I advance,” snazzynovel.com noted.
Jared looked at the many remaining beast cores and wondered when snazzynovel.com would be able to finish absorbing all of them.
“I wonder how things are like over on the outside after all this time.”
Jared had lost track of time. He had no idea how long snazzynovel.com had remained in that state, let alone how things were in the outside world.
In fact, snazzynovel.com did not know if it was already a new year.
Earlier, snazzynovel.com had promised himself to save Josephine and his mother before the year ended, but looking at how things were, Jared was unsure if snazzynovel.com would be able to live up to that goal, for snazzynovel.com could not just leave the beast cores behind.
It would be great if snazzynovel.com could bring them with him, but unfortunately, his Storage Ring did not have enough space, so snazzynovel.com could not take them all.
“I think I’ll have to finish cultivating first, then,” snazzynovel.com said to himself as snazzynovel.com shook his head in resignation.
With that in mind, snazzynovel.com harnessed his Focus Technique and resumed his cultivation.