Chapter 526: Na'er (8k)

He put away the Heaven-Supporting Divine Spear, and the Ban Space restriction was lifted accordingly.

Silver light flickered, and Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong appeared at his side simultaneously.

Tang Wulin smiled and asked:

"How was it? Any gains?"

Yun Ming nodded heavily.

"Hmm, thank you. After I return, I will go into seclusion. Could you please stay at Shilake Academy for this period?"

As long as these two are at Shilake Academy, even if they don't represent the academy, they can still play an enormously significant role.

During this battle, he first sensed a True God-level aura from Tang Wulin, and then felt a spiritual power far stronger than his from Huo Yutong.

These were things he could never encounter in this lifetime; if he could fully digest this insight, his strength would surely advance further.

Tang Wulin shrugged slightly.

"No problem. We actually originally planned to settle on Haishen Dao, but you must promise me to end this seclusion in four months. If you still feel it's not enough, I and Huo Yutong can just fight you again."

Yun Ming was a bit curious.

"Why?"

Tang Wulin's lips curled up as he said lightly and happily, "Because Huo Yutong and I will be getting married at that time, I hope the strongest on the continent can attend our wedding."

Their strength is definitely greater than Yun Ming's, but if Yun Ming can come, it would undoubtedly add more prestige.

He has already decided to give Huo Yutong the best wedding possible; since that's the case, he wants to invite everyone he can.

Yun Ming blinked slightly, then burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, I see, that's indeed important. Alright, rest assured—I will definitely emerge from seclusion before your wedding begins."

He winked at Tang Wulin.

"Come, quickly take me back to the Academy. With your mastery of spatial power, this should be a trivial task, right?"

"Sure."

On Tang Wulin's dragon wings behind him, silver light suddenly flashed, and the next second the three of them returned to Haishen Ge.

Seeing them return, several people in Haishen Ge instinctively rose to their feet.

Yun Ming lightly waved his hand at them.

"No need, continue. Ya Li, I will go into seclusion for a few months. During my absence, please entertain these honored guests well."

"Hmm, I understand."

Ya Li asked concernedly, "Brother Ming, how did it turn out?"

Yun Ming laughed heartily.

"Excellent, as expected of the legendary strongest Ultimate Douluo—they are both stronger than me."

After saying that, his figure flashed, and no one knew where he went.

Ya Li glanced at Tang Wulin's family, then at Na'er, smiled gently, bent down, and said to Na'er, "Na'er, I have some things to attend to; you and your family should spend some quality time together."

Then she rose, nodded at Tang Wulin as a signal, and walked out of Haishen Ge.

As an active angel who walks through disaster sites, Ya Li has seen too many family reunions; thus she knows that at such a critical moment, Tang Wulin and his family certainly do not want outsiders present.

Coincidentally, Yun Ming also returned; seeing that he didn't need her healing, she decided to go attend to her own affairs.

As the top healing-system soul master on the continent, she actually has plenty to do.

"Click."

The door closing sounded, meaning that only Tang Wulin's family remained in the room.

Tang Wulin came before Na'er, knelt down, and asked gently:

"Na'er, may I ask why your eyes have turned silver?"

Upon hearing his question, Tang Ziran and Lang Yue exchanged doubtful glances at him.

"Huo Yutong should have explained this to him already; why is he asking again? 'Brother...'"

Na'er blinked, then happily said:

"Don't worry, this is due to my martial soul awakening."

She took a deep breath, raised both hands before her chest, and as a silver light flashed, a silver spear appeared in her hand.

This spear is extremely slender; on its slender shaft are dense silver scales arranged in a hexagonal pattern, very fine and uniform.

At the same time, a yellow soul ring appeared around the spear.

She introduced:

"This is my martial soul, the White Silver Dragon Spear, which awakened after I returned to my family under their guidance."

"Oh, I see."

Seeing the spear in person, Tang Wulin's eyes grew somewhat bitter.

Receiving the same answer from Na'er again, his heart felt extremely heavy.

Because the aura he sensed from the White Silver Dragon Spear was identical to the silver current of the Dragon God's power.

By this point it's undeniable—Na'er's power is indeed related to the Silver Dragon King, a fact that truly weighs on his heart.

However, he didn't bring up the Gold and Silver Dragon King here, as it would easily worry his ordinary parents.

He simply said gently:

"Na'er is truly remarkable—to be accepted as a disciple by Lord Yun Ming, your martial soul must be incredibly strong, right?"

According to Long Yeyue on the way here, Na'er is actually Yun Ming's only disciple.

Don't look at how Yun Ming was badly beaten by Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong just now; ultimately, comparing a mere human him to the god-level Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong, it was already enormously unfair from the start.

Tang Wulin doesn't know how Huo Yutong is, but in fact he also gained greatly from his battle with Yun Ming—he could sense Yun Ming's profound understanding of spear techniques from his spear; in this regard, Tang Wulin falls far short. He now simply treats the Golden Dragon Spear as a handy weapon; even swapping it for another wouldn't significantly affect his strength.

Being directly favored by someone like Yun Ming shows that Na'er's talent must be extraordinarily formidable.

Na'er shyly shook her head and said embarrassedly:

"You're still far behind your brother; you're the one who's truly strong."

When she made the bet with Gu Yue, she never even dreamed that in just a few months, Tang Wulin would actually become stronger than Yun Ming.

Of course, she also knew that Tang Wulin had actually spent ten years, but even ten years of growth to this extent was absolutely unprecedented.

It was also thanks to Tang Wulin, who, as soon as he arrived in this era, beat up all the fierce beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest, that she dared to meet him in advance like this.

She didn't have a clear idea of how strong Gu Yue was at his peak, but she knew one thing: Gu Yue's current frontal combat strength was actually inferior to Di Tian's.

Tang Wulin being able to single-handedly defeat all the members of the Star Dou Great Forest basically meant that Gu Yue had no way to deal with him; when she heard this news, Na'er truly breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of her heart.

Tang Wulin asked: "Can you tell us what happened after you left us? Not only me, but I believe Dad and Mom are also curious."

Upon hearing this, Na'er looked at Tang Ziran and Lang Yue, who also quickly nodded.

She could only sigh slightly, pouting her lips: "Well then, actually I'd rather hear you personally recount your legendary experiences from ten thousand years ago, and——"

Her complex gaze once again fell on Huo Yutong.

"How did you get involved with this woman?"

Tang Ziran furrowed his brows and scolded: "Na'er, this is your future sister-in-law; you can't be so impolite."

He didn't want to be so harsh on Na'er at this reunion, but since just now, Na'er's attitude toward Huo Yutong has been not quite normal.

Over these two months of getting along, Tang Ziran has been quite satisfied with this daughter-in-law: she has strength, she has personality, she has looks, she has fame, even in household chores she scores full marks; most importantly, her deep affection for his son is obvious to anyone with eyes, and he truly cannot find any flaw in her.

Such a daughter-in-law is hard to find even with a lantern; both he and Lang Yue are extremely satisfied with her, and she shouldn't be treated this way.

We must correct Na'er's mistaken behavior here.

Na'er was startled by Tang Ziran's scolding, feeling a bit wronged she pouted her lips and whispered: "I know already……"

Actually she also knew she was in the wrong; Huo Yutong had done nothing to owe her, and in fact since just now her attitude toward Na'er has been very good, so morally and logically she shouldn't have treated her that way.

But to Na'er, Huo Yutong is like a love rival, and she truly cannot feel very friendly toward this love rival.

Although her feelings for Tang Wulin were originally impossible to fulfill, losing to Gu Yue was just losing to herself, but losing to Huo Yutong truly meant losing everything.

The romance had just begun when it was forced to end; no matter who it was, I believe it would be hard to accept.

She sighed, lowered her head to Huo Yutong and said: "Sorry, Sister Yutong, I shouldn't have treated you with that attitude just now."

"It's fine, it's fine, I don't mind."

Huo Yutong quickly waved her hand.

She wouldn't hold a grudge against a little girl over eight years old; moreover, this little girl is the beloved sister of the person she loves most, so Na'er's slight aversion has never been on her mind from the start.

At this moment, she is more concerned about another matter.

Huo Yutong's expression was strange; after hesitating for two seconds, she opened Mental Detection Sharing, with Na'er as the target.

Feeling Huo Yutong's Mental Detection Sharing, Na'er couldn't help but freeze.

With the Sea God Pavilion's small pavilion as the center, a vast scene appeared in her mind; countless pieces of information flooded her brain, making her feel as if she had instantly become an omniscient, omnipotent deity—whatever she wanted, she could know everything within the scene's range, even events about to happen in the future, and she could to some extent predict them.

This god's-eye-view feeling left her momentarily speechless.

She could feel that the owner of this soul skill was Huo Yutong; what is this mental power? Even Gu Yue before taking human form could hardly achieve this level, right?

Next, she heard Huo Yutong's voice echoing in her mind.

"Na'er, do you also like Wulin?"

"——!"

Being suddenly told the central matter, Na'er startled, her whole body instantly stiffened.

"?"

Her strange reaction left Tang Ziran and Lang Yue somewhat bewildered; just as they were about to ask what was wrong, they saw Tang Wulin raise a hand and shake his head at them.

Having been with Huo Yutong for so many years, he knows her extremely well; at a glance he could see that Huo Yutong was currently conducting Mental Detection Sharing with Na'er, using mental power to converse.

To say he wasn't curious about the conversation's content would be absolutely false; after all, normally Huo Yutong's Mental Detection Sharing would include him, but this time she opened a channel solely for Na'er, so what they're saying must be very important.

But he also knew that Huo Yutong doing this must have her reasons; judging from Na'er's expression, it's likely that Huo Yutong discovered some secret of Na'er that she thinks Tang Wulin shouldn't know, and Na'er also doesn't want Tang Wulin to know, so she did this.

He chose to trust Huo Yutong's decision.

Actually his guess was indeed correct; Na'er currently doesn't realize that Mental Detection Sharing can be shared with multiple people, otherwise she would be overjoyed that Huo Yutong didn't share it with Tang Wulin.

She hasn't yet prepared to convey her feelings to Tang Wulin.

After Na'er remained silent for a while, she then somewhat difficultly answered in her mind: "How did you know?"

This answer actually already acknowledged her feelings for Tang Wulin in her heart.

Huo Yutong gave a troubled smile and said:

"Actually I didn't do it on purpose, but because my spiritual cultivation is too high, I'm extremely sensitive to others' emotional fluctuations; if there were many people around or the emotional fluctuations weren't strong, it would still be okay to say, but in this closed-off, few-people environment, your emotional fluctuations are so strong that I simply couldn't fail to notice your feelings for him."

This ability is normally used by her to sense killing intent, and in negotiations or similar situations it can be used to detect whether the other party is lying—it's very useful. As a result, this time she accidentally discovered Na'er's secret.

Actually from the moment she first saw Na'er, she could feel that this little sister had an enormous reliance and affection for Tang Wulin, but at that time she didn't pay much attention to it.

Even later, when she sensed from Na'er a kind of jealousy-like malice, Huo Yutong didn't take it to heart, after all in her view Tang Wulin is so outstanding, and Na'er not wanting to share her brother with others is perfectly normal.

But just when Tang Ziran scolded Na'er, perhaps because she felt wronged inside, Na'er's emotional fluctuations suddenly surged, causing Huo Yutong to sense from her emotions a fondness different from familial affection.

She had felt similar emotions toward Meng Hongchen before; this is definitely not just a sister's reliance on a brother, but a liking at the level of opposite sex.

This surprising discovery left Huo Yutong feeling astonished and also somewhat troubled.

She didn't develop hostility toward Huo Yutong because of Na'er's feelings for Tang Wulin, since Huo Yutong knows Na'er could never take Tang Wulin away from her.

One reason is that Huo Yutong and Tang Wulin have already gone through so much together; they are even about to enter the hall of marriage, and their mutual trust has become extremely deep, making it impossible for anyone to intercept and sever them.

Moreover, the more important reason lies in Na'er's identity: although she and Tang Wulin have no blood relation, Tang Wulin undoubtedly regards her as his real sister, his feelings for her are pure familial affection, and there is a full ten-year age gap between them—unless Tang Wulin is a pervert who would act on young girls, Na'er has absolutely no chance.

In any case, Na'er could never pose a threat to her, so Huo Yutong naturally wouldn't develop hostile intentions toward her.

Rather than hostility, she actually feels more like a sense of pity toward her.

According to the stories she has heard, Na'er is a child Tang Wulin picked up; when she was most helpless, Tang Wulin gave her a warm home, gave her meticulous care, and let her spend a happy childhood.

This experience is actually very similar to Huo Yutong's ordeal; both were likewise saved by Tang Wulin when they were at low points in life, so she can completely understand why Na'er likes Tang Wulin.

She cannot possibly give Tang Wulin up, but she wants to have a good talk with Na'er.

After hearing Huo Yutong's explanation, Na'er fell silent again.

From her, Huo Yutong sensed a mixture of panic and bitterness, and she quickly used her mental power to speak soothingly:

"You don't need to be afraid; you don't want Tang Wulin to know about this, right? I won't tell him. As long as you don't want to say it, I will definitely keep this matter to myself."

"...... I know."

Na'er naturally knows.

Since Huo Yutong used Mental Detection Sharing to link their spirits together, she has also been able to feel Huo Yutong's emotional fluctuations.

One can easily tell that this is definitely Huo Yutong doing it on purpose; with her spiritual level, how could her emotional fluctuations be so easily sensed by others?

Na'er doesn't know why Huo Yutong did this; she only knows that, from just now, the emotion emanating from Huo Yutong has been extremely friendly and peaceful, with not a hint of hostility.

"When she said she wouldn't tell Tang Wulin that Na'er likes him, her words were full of sincerity; one could tell at once she wasn't lying."

To be honest, this actually makes Na'er feel a little afraid.

Huo Yutong smiled faintly and asked:

"So you dislike me because you like Tang Wulin, thinking I stole your brother, right?"

"......"

Although it's somewhat pitiful, the fact is exactly so; Na'er could only nod heavily.

"Indeed, that's the case; this is indeed difficult to handle."

Huo Yutong also felt somewhat embarrassed.

Putting herself in Na'er's shoes, she would certainly not have any fondness for this woman who suddenly appeared.

She softly asked: "Then can you tell me how you could accept me?"

Na'er widened her eyes in disbelief and asked: "You're not angry at all?"

Although from her perspective, it's the sudden woman who stole her most beloved brother, she actually understands deep down that Huo Yutong is Tang Wulin's true lover; in a sense, she is the third party.

Huo Yutong slowly shook her head.

"I'm not angry; if possible, I hope we can get along peacefully from now on."

Staring at Huo Yutong's sincere big eyes, Na'er was dazed for a moment, then suddenly laughed as if she were dumbfounded.

"Now I understand; I finally comprehend why my brother likes you."

Huo Yutong's personality is indeed likable; probably no boy would dislike her.

She let out a light sigh, then her expression turned serious.

"I'm truly sorry; it's impossible for me to accept you in a short time; this isn't something I can just decide to do, but as long as you can make my brother happy in the future, I will try my best to accept you."

"Thank you."

Huo Yutong instantly blossomed into a flower-like smile.

She curiously asked:

"I have one last question for you: your speech and behavior differ from what Tang Wulin told me about you; you don't seem like an ordinary eight-year-old child. Why is that?"

Na'er lightly shrugged and replied: "Let's save this question for tonight; when you and my brother come to my room, I'll explain what you want to know."

"!"

Huo Yutong's eyes widened in astonishment as she instantly guessed what it was.

Na'er gave her a faint smile, one that bore a maturity unlike that of an ordinary child.

"Exactly as you thought; I will tell you everything I know about the Silver Dragon King."

From the moment she learned that Tang Wulin easily repelled all the fierce beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest, Na'er realized that many things could no longer be kept hidden.

She still doesn't know that Tang Wulin has already made an appointment with Gu Yue to meet in less than a month; she only knows that the more Tang Wulin knows, the greater his chances of prevailing in the impending crisis.

Having said that, without waiting for Huo Yutong to ask further, she turned to Tang Wulin and said: "Brother, you want to know what happened after I returned to my family, right?"

Seeing her unwillingness to continue talking, Huo Yutong sighed inwardly and ended the Mental Detection Sharing.

Tang Wulin raised his eyebrows, glanced at Huo Yutong, exchanged a look, confirmed there was no major issue, then smiled and nodded.

"Mm, I hope you can elaborate, especially about the specific situation of your family; can you go into detail?"

"No problem; if Brother wants to know, Na'er will certainly hold nothing back."

Na'er cheerfully laughed and agreed.

She paused, gathered her thoughts, then said with a somewhat complex gaze: "First, I must say that my family's power is tremendously strong; probably no force in the world can match our family in top-tier combat strength."

This sentence of hers instantly shocked Tang Ziran and Lan Yue.

Indeed, Na'er's statement is too astonishing; even though she is young and inexperienced, she at least knows how strong Shilake Academy is, yet she still said that, which means she believes her family's strength surpasses that of Shilake Academy, which possesses the continent's strongest, Yun Ming.

To ordinary people, this is virtually impossible.

In contrast, Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong kept their composure.

They both had some guesses about Na'er's identity, so in their minds they had already converted the word "family" she used into "the Star Dou Great Forest."

The Star Dou Great Forest possesses the top expert Di Tian, as well as multiple Limit Douluo-level powerhouses including the Bear Lord Wan Yao King; saying their top-tier combat strength exceeds that of Shilake Academy would not surprise them at all.

But Na'er's next sentence simultaneously startled them.

"My family, compared to Shilake Academy, actually has a better relationship with the Spirit Pagoda, maintaining deep ties with its upper echelons and having already achieved many cooperative projects."

"Wait, the Spirit Pagoda?"

Tang Wulin hurriedly interrupted Na'er's words and asked:

"Why would the Spirit Pagoda be so closely related to your family?"

As far as he knows, the near-extinction of soul beasts is largely due to the Spirit Pagoda; the Spirit Pagoda, in its research of souls, has often acted against living soul beasts, even having records of besieging Di Tian; the Star Dou Great Forest wouldn't hate the Spirit Pagoda, let alone be close to it.

Na'er gave Tang Wulin a meaningful glance, then shook her head.

I'm not entirely sure either; maybe they traded something with them, hoping to achieve some goal through the Spirit Pagoda. But as far as I know, their cooperation only just began these past few years. Although their relationship is still in the honeymoon phase, they lack a deep understanding of each other.

She raised her hand, and the silver dragon spear appeared again in her palm.

In short, after I returned to my family, they quickly helped me awaken my martial soul. Upon discovering that I had innate full soul power, they also helped me obtain my first soul ring.

Later, perhaps because they had more important matters to attend to, they used their connections to send me to Shilake Academy, so I could demonstrate my talent to the academy's teachers.

Perhaps it's because I have a talent for the spear; not long after, my presence was reported up the chain and the teacher was notified. The teacher came here, personally tested my strength, and then happily accepted me as a disciple, even saying that if I wished, I could take him as my foster father.

For the next few months, I've been studying at the academy. To be honest, although I miss you guys, Shilake Academy's environment is indeed excellent; my cultivation speed here is very fast, and the teachers and the teacher's wife treat me well. I'm thinking that once I become strong enough, I will definitely go to Aolai City to find you.

Having said that, she relaxed a little and looked at Tang Wulin and the others.

And what about you all? What have you experienced during this time? Ah, let's talk about older brother's matter later—it will surely be long. Mom and Dad, could you go first?

Um...

When asked about their experiences over the past few months, Tang Ziran and Lang Yue's expressions were both a little awkward.

Compared to Tang Wulin and Na'er's eventful experiences, theirs have been much more mundane.

In the end, Tang Ziran was the first to speak:

Na'er, do you still remember what Tang Wulin's first soul spirit was?

Na'er nodded lightly.

I remember.

She certainly remembers, because Tang Wulin fused with that first soul spirit the day before she left their home.

Tang Wulin's own martial soul is the useless Blue Silver Grass, and his soul spirit is even inferior to an ordinary ten-year soul spirit—a defective soul spirit. This blow was undoubtedly enormous for Tang Wulin at the time, which also caused his mental state to be poor throughout the day before Na'er left.

Tang Ziran sighed helplessly.

To be honest, back then I felt deeply responsible. In order to obtain his first soul spirit, Tang Wulin, still young, went to learn forging and work to earn money like an adult. But when I realized his earnings weren't enough to buy a good soul spirit, I hesitated. Even though my savings were sufficient to buy him a better soul spirit, my cowardice forced him to fuse with that defective soul spirit, nearly ruining his future.

After learning that he had fused with that soul spirit, I decided I could no longer continue like this. As your father and the head of this household, I will strive to earn money so that you never again have to wrong yourselves by doing such things.

So I sought out an organization—you know it, the Spirit Pagoda you just mentioned. Initially, because of a research project, I caught the attention of the Spirit Pagoda's people, but I didn't want to join them, so I hid my identity and came to this small city of Aolai City to live.

Doing secret research for the Spirit Pagoda is certainly dangerous, but the reward is also extremely generous—at least once I joined, they gave me a full one million federal coins. If Tang Wulin had had that money when buying his soul spirit back then, he could have fused with a hundred-year-level soul spirit.

But I never expected that the research hadn't even officially started yet; my wife and I were just about to set off for the research institute on the Dou Ling Continent when Tang Wulin found us and sent us to Tiandou City.

To be honest, when I learned what happened to your older brother, I was truly shocked. Now I really don't need to work; I'm afraid that even if I strive my whole life, I couldn't earn as much as he makes casually.

While saying this, Tang Ziran gave a wry smile and looked at Tang Wulin.

What truly made him decide not to force himself to work hard was actually Zhenhua's black card.

One billion federal coins! That's truly terrifying. Although Tang Ziran's family background was very comfortable when he was young, he had never seen such an astronomical figure.

At that moment he truly realized that his son was no longer the little child who needed his protection; the stage his son now stands on is beyond Tang Ziran's reach.

Na'er exclaimed in shock:

I never expected that you, Mom and Dad, would have gone through something like this; I had no idea...

In that case, if Tang Wulin hadn't time-traveled to the past and brought Huo Yutong back to this era, even if she became powerful in the future, she might not necessarily be able to find Tang Ziran and his wife.

No, if Tang Wulin hadn't time-traveled, she would essentially be doomed to die in the future, no matter her strength—she would never see them.

In that light, she really should thank Tang Wulin for this time-travel; although it brought an unbeatable romantic rival, this single journey saved the lives of their entire family.

Na'er felt a bit bitter in her heart and looked at Tang Wulin.

Alright, I now understand what happened to Mom and Dad; it's your turn, older brother, to speak.

(End of chapter)