Please support the novel with your power stones, it motivates me. Thank you! Every 10 power stones = an extra chapter!! Join my Patreon for more chapters and to support me.
https://patreon.com/Absolute_Winter
"Huh? So big brother, you're going away on a long trip again starting the day after tomorrow?"
At the dinner table, the moment Na'er heard about Bai Chen's upcoming plans, her face fell into immediate reluctance.
Bai Chen said helplessly:
"Mm, sorry. Big brother will spend the whole day with you tomorrow to make up for it."
"I know..."
Na'er's expression was visibly downcast, but she clearly understood why Bai Chen was working so hard, and she still nodded obediently.
Yuan En Yehuī ate in silence, watching their interaction — even Bai Chen couldn't quite tell what she was thinking.
But soon, her expression was replaced by bewilderment.
Looking at the bowls piled up in front of Bai Chen and Na'er, she couldn't hold back and spoke up:
"Um... is today some kind of special occasion?"
"Hm? No."
"Nope."
Hearing both their answers, she grew even more confused.
"Then why are you eating so much? Binge-eating is bad for your health, you know."
"Oh, come on, you scared me for a second."
Bai Chen explained:
"Na'er and I just naturally eat this much. You'll get used to it."
Na'er's appetite was enormous because she was, in essence, a great Sovereign Dragon. As for why Bai Chen ate so much, that was a function of his martial soul.
Through the power of Devour, he could rapidly extract energy from food to strengthen his body. The gains weren't enormous, but as the saying goes, constant dripping wears through stone. Since the Bai family had no need to worry about affording food, he simply ate as much as he wanted.
Yuan En Yehuī was silent for a long moment before she finally managed a single sentence.
"I believe you two are siblings now."
After all, with appetites like that, how could they not be related by blood?
After dinner, Bai Chen and Xue Ni helped Yuan En Yehuī get her room sorted out, then both retreated to their own rooms to attend to their own affairs.
When Bai Chen pushed open his door, he found Na'er sitting cross-legged on his bed in her pajamas, deeply absorbed in reading a book.
At the sound of the door opening, she looked up — her large violet eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Ah, big brother, did you get Sister's room set up?"
"Mm."
Bai Chen walked over to Na'er and asked curiously:
"What are you reading?"
"Still that same book — Introduction to Mecha Design."
Na'er grinned brightly and said:
"After all, I don't have any soul power, so this is the only way I can help big brother."
A few months ago, during the two days when Na'er had failed to successfully awaken her martial soul, she was visibly devastated.
So Bai Chen had made a point of sitting down with her for a long talk, telling her that even without a martial soul, as long as she chose the right path, a person could still live a brilliant and fulfilling life.
And so Na'er had chosen the path of mecha design.
By her own account, she had originally hoped to awaken a powerful martial soul so she could protect her big brother. Now that awakening hadn't been possible, she simply changed her approach — to support him from behind in this way instead.
From that day on, she had been continuously finding ways to self-study and learn what she needed.
It was worth saying — perhaps because she didn't have to worry about soul cultivation, her learning pace was remarkably quick. She was already at a beginner's level of competency.
"That's wonderful, Na'er. You're doing great."
Bai Chen said warmly.
"But it's bedtime now. Na'er, you should head back to your own room to sleep."
"Ugh..."
At those words, the smile on Na'er's face dimmed considerably.
She said in a small voice:
"But I want to sleep here in big brother's room tonight..."
"This..."
Seeing her face full of longing, Bai Chen's heart softened.
He let out a quiet sigh.
"Fine then, but only for tonight."
"Yes! I knew big brother was the best!"
Na'er's face instantly bloomed with joy. She flung herself into Bai Chen's arms and pressed her ear happily against his chest.
"Alright, alright."
Bai Chen laughed despite himself, gave her head a pat, then raised his hand and flicked a finger toward the doorway. An invisible gust of wind shot out, struck the light switch, and the room plunged into darkness.
"It's getting late. Time to sleep."
"Mm!"
Na'er nodded quickly, wrapped her arms around Bai Chen's and lay down beside him.
The room grew quiet, filled only with the steady breathing of the two of them.
Ten minutes later, Bai Chen suddenly said with resignation:
"Na'er, stop staring at me. Go to sleep."
With the steady improvement of his spiritual power, his perceptual ability had grown considerably stronger than before. Being stared at from this close of a range — there was no way he wouldn't sense it.
"Hehe..."
Na'er laughed softly, a little embarrassed.
She asked in a quiet voice:
"Um... big brother, what exactly is your relationship with that Sister Yuan En today?"
"What do you mean?"
"Um..."
Na'er seemed a bit shy. She said bashfully:
"I heard from some classmates at school that when a boy brings a girl home, it means he has feelings for her. Big brother, you'd never brought a girl home before, so..."
"What are you talking about." Bai Chen couldn't help but laugh. "Sister Xiao Yan has been to our house before too — have you forgotten?"
"Oh, that's right!"
Hearing him say so, Na'er remembered, and she asked in slight surprise:
"So big brother, do you have feelings for both of them? Two-timing?"
"No — what on earth have your classmates been filling your head with?"
Bai Chen was a little exasperated.
But this was also just a stage that children inevitably go through sooner or later. It was just that children on the Douluo Continent seemed to mature a fair bit earlier.
He said evenly:
"She and I are simply friends. The reason she's staying at our place is just that something came up at her home and it's inconvenient for her to go back for now. That's all."
"Really? You don't like either Sister Yuan En or Sister Xiao Yan?"
"At least not in the way you're imagining."
"Hehe, good."
Na'er let out a breath as if a weight had been lifted, and broke into laughter.
Bai Chen gently patted her on the back.
"Alright, stop overthinking things. Go to sleep."
"Okay."
Na'er's quick reply came, and before long, her breathing evened out and she drifted off to sleep.
Once he was sure she was asleep, Bai Chen took out a book from his storage soul tool and began reading by the moonlight.
He had to make the most of every moment to learn more.
Unlike in the other two eras, he carried a sense of genuine urgency in this one.
Because he knew: Tang San's ten-thousand-year plan, however laughable it might have seemed, had ultimately succeeded. In theory, as long as he didn't interfere with the main storyline, the Douluo Continent would eventually and successfully devour the Abyss Plane and evolve into a higher-order world.
But because he had interfered with the main storyline, the future had become completely murky. What the final outcome would be, nobody could say.
Since he was the one who had brought about this situation, he had to take responsibility for it — he had to at least ensure that the ending would be no worse than the original story's good ending.
This was his duty. He could not shirk it.
By the light of the moon, Bai Chen turned the pages of the book, his eyes gleaming with quiet intensity.