Dad and Mom

Very soon, the energy gathered into a cloud of blood mist that enveloped Su Chen.

When he opened his eyes again, Su Chen had already returned to reality.

"Are you in such a hurry to cultivate? You should adapt to your new body first."

Ziji, who had gone out hunting, had returned with a soul beast that had cultivated for a thousand years.

"To humans, this thing might not taste very good. But it had the nerve to provoke me, so I went after it."

Throwing the several-hundred-pound corpse in front of Su Chen, Ziji was clearly displeased by what had happened earlier.

This type of soul beast was known for its low intelligence and fierce fighting spirit.

But the thought of her, a mighty ninety-thousand-year soul beast, being provoked by a creature with only a thousand years of cultivation still irritated her.

"Thank you."

The soul beast had already been pounded into a bloody mess by Ziji, making it difficult to identify its original species.

But judging by its mangled body, it was probably some kind of wild boar soul beast.

"I should still heat it up with Soul Power. Forget raw meat."

He cut off a piece of meat from its belly and heated it with Soul Power.

Then he began tearing into it in huge bites.

With Soul Power and vitality sustaining him, Su Chen's life would not be in any danger.

But no matter what, he had not properly eaten a meal in three or four years.

Now that he had finally regained his freedom, he did not care that the meat was slightly sour and tasted rather bad. He immediately dug in with gusto.

"Eat slowly. Don't choke."

As she spoke, Ziji tossed him several fruits.

"Got it."

After answering, Su Chen still wolfed down his food.

"Ah, I'm finally full."

Stretching lazily in satisfaction, Su Chen stood up, intending to loosen his muscles.

"Want to go out for a walk?"

Seeing what Su Chen was thinking, Ziji took the initiative to suggest it.

"No problem."

"You are not allowed to leave my line of sight."

Ziji added. She did not want this interesting fellow she had finally acquired to run away.

Over the past few years, she had stayed in her cave the entire time.

Apart from the occasional Dragon Clan elder coming to see her, Di Tian was the only one who visited regularly.

Yet that fellow had never realized his mistake and managed to make Ziji fly into a rage every time he came.

Compared to him, the dignified Golden Eyed Black Dragon King was not nearly as interesting as this human who had been sealed inside a crystal.

"Fine, but where are my clothes?"

Suddenly remembering that he was still completely naked, Su Chen blushed and held out his hand toward Ziji.

"Why are you looking at me? How could I possibly have kept your clothes? Besides, so many years have passed. Even if I had kept them, they would be unusable by now."

"Then what am I supposed to do? You're not going to make me run naked through the forest, are you?"

Su Chen's face darkened.

Thinking about how he was still naked, he had initially felt that he ought to be embarrassed.

But on second thought, even if Ziji wanted to look, she had already seen everything for years.

Besides, they were not even the same species, so there seemed to be no need for embarrassment.

So he let it go again.

"There."

As she spoke, Ziji extended one of her claws toward Su Chen.

"That works, I guess. But you have to let me go to a human town to buy some clothes."

Climbing onto Ziji's claw, Su Chen spoke helplessly.

Having lived two lives, Su Chen was undoubtedly more accustomed to human ways of living.

Making him live naked like this was simply asking too much.

"That won't be a problem. I remember that I kept the gold coins from your clothes."

After picking Su Chen up onto her claw, Ziji turned around and began rummaging around.

At last, she found one Gold Soul Coin and three Silver Soul Coins in a corner.

"These should be them. Honestly, you humans are so boring. They're clearly called gold coins and silver coins, yet only the outermost layer is actually gold or silver."

Driven by her draconic nature, Ziji also enjoyed collecting shiny things.

But these gold and silver coins that were only plated on the surface were definitely not her preferred type.

"Actually, gold coins are usually gold-plated..."

Su Chen had wanted to explain the rules of human currency to Ziji, but seeing her lack of interest, he did not say anything.

"Want to look in a mirror?"

As she spoke, Ziji pulled out a full-length mirror.

She had seized it from a human soul master long ago, and it had remained stored in the cave ever since.

While looking for the Gold Soul Coins, she had accidentally found it again.

"Let me see."

The Su Chen in the mirror was much taller than he had been several years ago, and the lines of his muscles were far more distinct.

Perhaps it had something to do with his reconstructed body, but even his features had become much more handsome.

"Yah!"

The Second Soul Ring suddenly rose up. Under the blood-red glow, the little girl from before floated beside Su Chen.

"Hm? What is this little thing?"

This was still the timeline of Douluo Continent I. Beings similar to soul spirits had not yet appeared, since Electrolux had not descended upon this world.

So even Ziji could not possibly recognize it.

"Yah! Yah!"

The moment she saw Ziji, the little girl excitedly pounced on her.

Then she hugged Ziji tightly and began drawing Soul Power from her like an infant nursing from its mother.

"Su Chen! What exactly is this thing?!"

Even beneath her dragon form, Ziji's bashfulness was plainly visible.

Though she had lived for tens of thousands of years, her emotional experience was not much different from a blank sheet of paper.

As for nursing, she had absolutely no experience with it.

This left the powerful ninety-thousand-year soul beast utterly flustered.

"Fine, I'll give it a try."

Since coming back from the brink of death, Su Chen had not yet tested his current strength.

Much less tried controlling this mysterious little girl.

"Wah..."

Seeing that Ziji wanted Su Chen to drive her away, the little girl put on a pitiful expression.

A few tears actually squeezed out from her pale red eyes.

"Forget it. Let her stay a little longer."

The adorable appearance stirred Ziji's maternal instincts, making her hesitate for a moment.

The amount of Soul Power this little girl drew was not small. But Ziji was, after all, a powerful existence with ninety thousand years of cultivation who could break through to one hundred thousand years at any time.

Moreover, as a member of the Hell Demon Dragon Clan, Ziji's Soul Power was originally far more abundant than ordinary Soul Power.

This amount was completely within her tolerance.

"M-Mama!"

A full quarter of an hour passed before the little girl finally climbed down from Ziji in satisfaction.

During that quarter of an hour, her body had grown once more.

This time, not only Su Chen but even Ziji could understand what she was saying.

"What did she just... call me?"

Just as Ziji was feeling conflicted over the little girl's form of address.

The little girl skipped over to Su Chen and began babbling at him.

Though they still could not understand her words, the exchange through spiritual power let both Su Chen and Ziji understand that she was calling him Dad.