Ning Xuan watched Chen Nan's subservient act. 'He's just putting this on,' she thought. His every move seemed respectful and docile, his etiquette impeccable, but it all felt rigid and repressed. To put it bluntly, his deference wasn't genuine.
Ning Xuan walked ahead, with Chen Nan deliberately half a step behind her. They soon arrived at a restaurant—one with a good reputation that Ning Xuan had spent a long time looking for the previous night.
However, when the signature dishes arrived, Ning Xuan's expression soured. Just by looking at them, she could tell the food was either burnt black or dry and hard. Compared to the pictures on the Star Network, it looked even more unpalatable.
Chen Nan keenly sensed the shift in Ning Xuan's mood. He had planned to stand and serve her, but she had insisted he sit. 'Why is she suddenly unhappy?' he wondered.
Chen Nan stood up, arranged the cutlery, and saw Ning Xuan frowning at the plate of roasted meat. He quickly cut it into small pieces and placed it before her. "Contractor, the meat of the Wind Thunder Beast is non-toxic, though quite tough. This restaurant's cooking technique is considered decent. Would you like to try some?"
Ning Xuan stared at the dark, charred meat, silently pushing the plate aside. She opened the table's ordering screen and selected a glass of crystal fruit juice and a three-color roasted egg. 'Even if they aren't signature dishes,' she thought, 'juice just needs to be squeezed, and an egg just needs to be cooked. Surely they can't mess that up, right?'
When the three-color roasted egg was served, Ning Xuan saw a palm-sized egg with a scorched, yellow shell and reached for it. But before she could touch it, Chen Nan had already risen, picked up the egg, and placed it in front of himself. "Contractor, the three-color egg contains a mild toxin that can cause nerve paralysis, and roasting doesn't remove it. It's not good for you to eat. You've just awakened your spiritual power and will awaken your Companion Spirit within the year. To ensure a smooth awakening, you cannot eat any food containing toxins during this time!" A faint blush crossed Chen Nan's face. He was an S-Class Spirit Controller; if he allowed his Contractor to eat toxic food during this critical period and she failed to awaken her Companion Spirit as a result, wouldn't that be a heinous crime?
And he wouldn't be able to answer to the Contractor Management Center.
"It's toxic?" Ning Xuan asked, perplexed. 'They can sell toxic food?'
"Yes, Contractor!" Chen Nan was inwardly confused. Three-color eggs were laid by the Long-tailed Peacock Bird. The bird had a tenacious Life Force, was abundant, and reproduced at an extremely high rate. As a result, the eggs weren't expensive and were a common food for ordinary citizens and low-Level Spirit Controllers. However, because the toxin couldn't be completely removed, young children, underage Spirit Controllers, and anyone within a year of their spiritual power awakening were all supposed to avoid it.
'My Contractor is majoring in culinary arts, so how could she not know this?' he thought.
"What about this juice?" Ning Xuan asked, pointing to the thick-looking green liquid the robot waiter had just brought over.
"Juice from the crystal fruit is non-toxic!" 'It just tastes awful,' Chen Nan thought, but he didn't say it aloud. Everyone had different tastes, after all; he couldn't let his own subjective opinion interfere with his Contractor's choice.
Hearing this, Ning Xuan picked up the glass. She couldn't detect any strange odor; in fact, a faint, sweet fragrance wafted into her nose. Feeling a bit thirsty, she took a sip. A bitter and astringent flavor shot straight to her head. Ning Xuan fought the urge to spit it out, forcing herself to swallow with a grimace. 'Gag...' It was vile, worse than the most foul-tasting medicine she'd ever had in her previous life. 'What kind of juice tastes like this?'
Ning Xuan pushed the glass toward Chen Nan and commanded, "You drink it."
Chen Nan shot Ning Xuan a reluctant glance, then picked up the glass and chugged it down in one go. The moment he finished, he immediately downed a large glass of water to wash the unbearable taste from his mouth.
In the end, Ning Xuan only ate a few dry short-tailed rabbit beast cutlets. Fortunately, this body was used to eating very little, so after a few pieces of meat, she was no longer hungry.
After dinner, Chen Nan followed Ning Xuan back to her residence. The once-empty living room was now piled high with all sorts of things. There were the Red Lantern Fruits, Purple Bamboo Wood, thorn fruits, and Fur Chestnuts she had looked at last night, as well as clothes she had browsed that caught her eye. But most numerous were the Exotic Plants, each priced at over 1,000 Star Coins. That stalk of Blue Flame Grass, she recalled, was priced at 30,000 Star Coins.
She also spotted a black box in a corner against the wall. It had a raptor emblem on it; that must be where Chen Nan had put his personal belongings.
Ning Xuan stared at the Exotic Plants. She had originally planned to find a way to earn money to buy them, or else figure out where they grew in the wild and go search for them herself. She never expected them to be delivered right to her doorstep like this. Honestly, she was tempted.
"Let's talk," Ning Xuan said bluntly. "You've obviously investigated my situation already. You suddenly changed your mind, so what is it you want from me? You might as well be direct."
"Contractor, your Spiritual Power Value is rising very quickly. I believe you can become a High-level Spirit Controller. Therefore, I wish to do more for you while you still need assistance. That way, I might earn more of your favor in the future," Chen Nan replied with practiced deference.
"I'll give you one chance. Tell me the truth," Ning Xuan said, her gaze cold.
Chen Nan fell silent for a moment. Then, he touched two fingers to the point between his eyebrows. "SCREEE!" With a sharp cry, a raptor over two meters tall, covered in golden feathers with piercing green eyes, emerged from his body and gradually solidified. This was Chen Nan's Superpower Body, the Green-eyed Golden Eagle.
"Today, when you were attacked, you released some of your spiritual power. Little Jin craves it. He's been poisoned and is in great pain. His pain is my pain. I've tried everything, but I can't completely remove the toxin. When I sensed your spiritual power today, the pain in my Spiritual Sea started to ease. Just being near you lessens the pain. I believe that if I could be soothed by your spiritual power, the effect would be even better. If your Level were higher, you might even be able to control and eliminate the toxin with it." Chen Nan had originally planned to wait until they had spent some time together and she had come to accept him before asking for her help. But since she had asked directly, he feared that hiding the truth would only make him seem more untrustworthy in her eyes.
"The Level difference between us is too great. I have no idea if my soothing would even work on you. But one thing is certain: it would be detrimental to the growth of my own spiritual power." 'I knew it,' Ning Xuan thought. 'There's no such thing as a free lunch.'
Chen Nan immediately dropped to his knees. "Contractor, please rest assured! We can wait until you turn eighteen. Until then, please just allow me to stay by your side and take care of you!"