Over the next few days, the three versions of Bai Chen across the different eras didn't encounter anything particularly unusual. Life passed in a rare period of calm.
In the Douluo I era, Bai Chen spent his time inside the Star Dou Great Forest, alternating between cultivation and contemplating the situations faced by his other two selves.
In the Douluo II era, Bai Chen continued traveling toward the Sun Moon Empire. Because Ning Tian was with them, their pace slowed somewhat. However, they were not in a hurry—there were still two full months before the enrollment deadline for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
As for the Douluo III era, Bai Chen spent most of his time in his room studying the Soul Spirit Contract ritual.
By the Douluo III era, forming contracts with soul spirits was no longer a secret. As long as someone was an adult soul master, they could usually construct a soul spirit contract themselves.
The Spirit Pagoda mainly controlled the technology for creating artificial soul spirits, and they didn't particularly care if this minor technique spread.
With Bai Chen's talent, learning this skill wouldn't take long.
However, before he fully mastered it, the people Bai Jiaming had mentioned a few days earlier finally arrived.
"Brother Bai Chen, did you really get a new little sister?"
In the living room of the Bai family mansion, a blue-haired girl asked excitedly.
Bai Chen nodded calmly.
"Yes. Do you want to meet her?"
"Of course!"
The girl answered immediately.
"I want to see what qualifies her to be Brother Bai Chen's sister!"
"Hey, hey, Xiaoyan. What does it matter to you whether she's qualified or not?"
The boy beside her seemed unable to tolerate her attitude and interrupted.
"It's fine."
Bai Chen waved to the boy and stood up.
"If you want to meet her, follow me. She's in her room studying arithmetic right now."
"Okay!"
The girl quickly stood up and followed Bai Chen upstairs to Na'er's room.
Bai Chen gently knocked on the door.
"It's me, Na'er."
Soon, hurried footsteps sounded inside.
The door opened suddenly, revealing Na'er's delicate face.
"…"
Even without looking, Bai Chen could feel the girl beside him stiffen instantly.
Na'er blinked her large purple eyes and asked in confusion:
"Brother, she is—"
"She's so cute!!!"
Before she could finish speaking, the blue-haired girl shouted in excitement.
Bai Chen sighed helplessly.
"You're only reacting now? Your reaction speed is way too slow."
"B-because…"
The girl seemed completely flustered.
After hesitating for a moment, she leaned closer to Bai Chen and whispered:
"Um… Brother Bai Chen… can she be my sister instead?"
"Hey."
"Sorry! But she's just too cute!"
"Well, I wouldn't object…"
"Um… Brother…?"
Na'er looked confused by their conversation and glanced at Bai Chen for help.
After spending several days together, she hadn't completely opened her heart to him yet.
But in her eyes now, Bai Chen was already one of the most reliable people she knew.
Bai Chen pointed to the blue-haired girl.
"Her name is Xu Xiaoyan. She's the daughter of our father's friend, and we grew up together."
Then he pointed to the boy who had just followed them upstairs.
"This is Xu Xiaoyu, Xiaoyan's older brother. He's already a Great Soul Master."
Bai Jiaming, as a major figure in the shipping industry, naturally maintained close relationships with various government officials.
The siblings' father, Xu Zhiguang, was one of his closest friends.
Their relationship wasn't quite as close as Bai Jiaming's bond with Xue E, but they had known each other for decades.
While Bai Jiaming's success relied heavily on his own abilities, Xu Zhiguang—who served as the finance director of East Sea City—had also played an important role in supporting him.
Because the two fathers were so close, their children naturally grew up familiar with one another.
Although Bai Chen and Xu Xiaoyan didn't live in the same city, Xu Zhiguang often brought his children to Tianhai City to visit the Bai family.
At some point, Xu Xiaoyan had begun sticking to Bai Chen constantly.
The reason Bai Chen dared bring her to meet Na'er despite her earlier hostility was simple.
He knew her personality very well.
She had zero resistance to cute things.
And Na'er—who looked even more delicate than a porcelain doll—perfectly matched her preferences.
Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, Xu Xiaoyan was already pulling Na'er aside to chat.
There wasn't even a trace left of her earlier aggressive attitude.
"Sorry about that. My sister caused you trouble."
Xu Xiaoyu walked over to Bai Chen and apologized.
Bai Chen shook his head.
"You came to Tianhai City this time just for a visit?"
"Of course not."
Xu Xiaoyu shook his head.
"We came here for something important."
"To help Xiaoyan obtain a soul spirit?"
"You really can't hide anything from you."
Xu Xiaoyu smiled wryly and nodded.
Having known Bai Chen for years, he understood his personality quite well.
This boy, who was roughly the same age as his sister, possessed a level of maturity that was almost frightening.
At least Xu Xiaoyu himself felt he couldn't compare.
He explained:
"Xiaoyan has innate full soul power, so she can obtain a soul spirit right away. We originally came to Tianhai City to see if we could find a suitable one."
"But then we heard that you also awakened with innate full soul power and are planning to go out to sea to hunt a soul ring."
"So you're planning to hitch a ride with us?" Bai Chen asked.
"Exactly."
Xu Xiaoyu grinned.
"Don't tell me the Bai family can't even get a few free ship tickets."
For a coastal city like Tianhai City, the shipping industry was one of the most important economic pillars.
As one of the industry's leaders, the Bai family was constantly courted by the city's upper officials.
So Xu Xiaoyu wasn't wrong.
For Bai Jiaming, obtaining a few extra tickets would be extremely easy.
Bai Chen shrugged.
"I don't mind."
For him, Xu Xiaoyan wasn't just a childhood friend.
She was also destined to become a future teammate.
In the original story, her absolute control abilities were extremely impressive.
In the Douluo III era where brute-force powerhouses dominated, she was one of the few characters who relied on mechanics rather than raw stats.
"The strongest controller under the starry sky."
In Bai Chen's opinion, she fully deserved that title.
Compared to teammates like Yuanen Yehui or Ye Xinglan, who mainly relied on overwhelming strength, Xu Xiaoyan's abilities were far more irreplaceable.
After all, someone like Yuanen Yehui could theoretically be replaced by another powerful Ultimate Douluo.
But a controller as outrageous as Xu Xiaoyan was extremely rare in this era.
Helping her grow stronger would bring nothing but benefits.
And besides—
given the close relationship between Bai Jiaming and Xu Zhiguang, Bai Jiaming would definitely agree to the plan anyway.