Growing Stronger, Surviving, Finding the Way Home, Then Going with the Flow and Waiting for the Right Moment!

Tap, tap... tap...

The rhythm carried a hint of hesitation, yet also a measure of resolve.

Lu Jing gathered his thoughts, turned, and walked to the door, pulling it open.

The person standing outside was not Qian Renxue, who had returned after leaving, but Wang Dong'er.

Under the bright corridor lights, the girl had clearly just finished bathing. She had changed into a soft, close-fitting moon-white silk nightgown. The thin fabric outlined her body, which was only just beginning to develop—still somewhat immature, yet already possessing the first hints of graceful curves. Her damp pink-blue hair hung loosely over her shoulders, tiny crystalline droplets still slowly falling from its tips and glittering like crushed diamonds under the lights.

The lingering mist lent a blush to her jade-white skin, like fine rouge spreading across it.

She seemed to have come in a hurry. The flush on her cheeks had yet to fully fade, though it was impossible to tell whether it was from the hot bath or her slight nervousness at facing Lu Jing.

Those beautiful pink-blue eyes clearly reflected Lu Jing's figure. Her gaze held undisguised curiosity and a barely perceptible... wariness? At that moment, she was like a begonia flower dampened by night dew, exquisitely lovely yet possessing a delicate fragility that stirred one's sympathy.

"Dong'er?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Lu Jing's eyes. He stepped aside to make room for her and said, "It's so late. Is something wrong? Come in."

Wang Dong'er nodded and stepped inside. Lu Jing casually shut the door behind her. As the door that blocked prying eyes closed, it seemed as though only the two of them remained in the room, along with the quiet moonlight filtering in through the window. The air still seemed to carry the scent of roasted meat and Qian Renxue's faint, crisp fragrance.

Wang Dong'er did not speak immediately. Instead, she walked to the chair Lu Jing had been sitting in and gracefully took a seat. The hem of her nightgown slipped down, revealing a section of slender, smooth calf. Her legs were slightly bent, naturally pressed together and angled to one side, while her hands rested neatly atop her knees. Every movement reflected the fine upbringing of a noble young lady. Yet her eyes were like searchlights, fixed directly on Lu Jing's face. Her red lips parted as she bluntly asked:

"What did Qian Renxue come to see you for just now?"

Unlike Qian Renxue's cool voice, hers carried the soft warmth of someone fresh from a bath, but the probing note in her tone was no less direct.

Lu Jing sat in the chair opposite her. Rather than answering immediately, he picked up a clean towel from nearby and handed it to her. "Dry your hair. Don't catch a cold."

Wang Dong'er froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting that to be his first concern. After hesitating for half a second, she accepted the towel and symbolically pressed it against the ends of her hair. Yet her gaze remained stubbornly fixed on Lu Jing, silently urging him to answer.

Droplets slid down the line of her delicate jaw and fell onto her silk nightgown, spreading into a small dark patch.

"It wasn't anything major,"

Lu Jing said calmly, his voice carrying a soothing quality as though he were discussing something entirely ordinary. "She had just returned from a mission and brought back some famous roasted meat from Spirit City, so she shared some with me. And while she was here..."

He paused, meeting Wang Dong'er's scrutinizing gaze. "She asked me a few things about the future."

"The future?"

Wang Dong'er's hand paused as she dried her hair. Her brows drew together slightly. "What exactly did she ask?"

She had keenly caught the key point. Qian Renxue would never have visited in the middle of the night merely to deliver food. Roasted meat? That was nothing more than a respectable excuse. What she truly cared about was probably the same thing they did—that distant yet deeply relevant "future."

Seeing the light suddenly flare in her eyes and the tension in her jaw, Lu Jing understood. In this completely unfamiliar world of ten thousand years ago, fraught with danger at every turn, any fragment of information about the future was as precious as a faint starlight guiding one through the fog.

Wang Dong'er appeared to be concerned about Qian Renxue's movements, but in truth, she was worried about their own situation and... the possibility of returning home.

Qian Renxue's actions likely represented the attitude and plans of Spirit Hall's higher-ups toward the two of them, these "visitors from another time."

"She asked a tentative hypothetical question,"

Lu Jing chose his words carefully. He did not want to reveal too much of Spirit Hall's core secrets, but neither could he completely brush Wang Dong'er off. "She asked whether she would ultimately succeed if she undertook an extremely difficult mission."

"Testing us?" Wang Dong'er savored the phrase, her pink-blue eyes narrowing slightly. "It seems she doesn't completely believe us."

This confirmed her inner suspicion. Qian Renxue—or rather, Spirit Hall—had always remained wary and watchful of them.

"That's understandable."

Lu Jing shrugged indifferently, his tone carrying an almost detached calm. "Even if it were us, we would have doubts if two strangers suddenly appeared and claimed to be from ten thousand years in the future. We would try every possible way to verify it. Her test proves that we've come into contact with the core of things, and that our 'origins' have drawn enough attention."

He looked at Wang Dong'er, his gaze clear. "That may not be a bad thing for us. At the very least, we're currently in the Worship Hall, so we're temporarily safe and have access to information at the heart of this era. And what we need to do—"

He stressed the next words. "—is continuously strengthen ourselves, gain a firm foothold in this era, and... remain alert for any clue or opportunity that might allow us to return."

Lu Jing's words were like a calming pill. Wang Dong'er's tense body relaxed slightly, and the furrow between her brows eased. She casually draped the towel over the back of a nearby chair. Her wet hair no longer dripped, but the fresh scent of her bath grew even stronger. She fell silent for a while, seemingly digesting Lu Jing's words and their current circumstances.

"Then... do you think she can succeed in her mission?" she finally could not help asking, though she changed the angle of the question. Through the "possibility" of Qian Renxue's mission, she wanted to indirectly gauge Spirit Hall's "fortune" in this era—whether it was truly destined to decline, as the historical records from ten thousand years later claimed. This concerned the risks of tying themselves to Spirit Hall's ship.

Lu Jing did not answer directly. He merely looked deeply at Wang Dong'er and repeated what he had told Qian Renxue earlier, though his tone was even firmer this time. "Dong'er, remember what I'm about to say. The future is not unchangeable. Every person's fate and the direction of the world are tied to the choices and actions of the present. What matters is ourselves—what strength we accumulate in this era, what information we grasp, and... whether we can find the road home."

He stood and walked to the window, looking out at the still night and the solemn outline of the Worship Hall.

"As for Qian Renxue's future, or Spirit Hall's future..."

With his back to Wang Dong'er, his voice was low and powerful. "That is not something we need to focus on excessively right now. Our goal is to grow stronger, survive, and find our way home. As for everything else, we'll go with the flow and wait for the right moment."

As long as he could grow stronger, then whether here or after returning to ten thousand years before, he would no longer need to fear anyone. After all, how could those so-called Spirit Masters of Evil from ten thousand years later possibly compare to his World-Annihilating Black Lotus in terms of martial souls?

Wang Dong'er watched Lu Jing's small figure, which appeared exceptionally upright beneath the lamplight. Listening to his clear analysis and firm sense of purpose, the last trace of inexplicable irritation brought on by Qian Renxue's visit vanished from her heart.

That was right. In this unfamiliar era, there was no point in agonizing over the future fate of others, or even that of some enormous faction.

They were like a lone boat adrift upon the sea of time. Their foremost task was to reinforce the hull, build up their strength, and then—find the star chart that would guide them home.

"I understand."

Wang Dong'er also rose to her feet. Her voice regained its usual bright clarity, carrying a trace of resolve as she nodded in agreement. "You're right. Grow stronger, survive, and find a way home. That's what we should be thinking about."

She walked to Lu Jing's side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, gazing together at the deep, unknown night sky that belonged to ten thousand years ago. Pink-blue strands of hair brushed lightly across her cheek in the night breeze, and her profile looked especially resolute beneath the moonlight.

Within that small room, two souls from the future silently reached an understanding deep within the ancient Spirit Hall.

The lamplight stretched their shadows across the wall, as if foretelling that they would carve out a place for themselves in this magnificent and turbulent era.

Outside the window, the Douluo Continent of ten thousand years ago continued to surge along the predetermined course of history, yet because of these two "unexpected" pieces that had fallen onto the board, unknown changes quietly began to brew.