"Could it be that I missed Xiao Nai too much, so I started hallucinating?"
After touching "Xiao Nai's" fair, adorable cheek again, Zheng Li decided to put "Xiao Nai" away. Right, stay calm.
"Looks like you're not dead, but something's wrong with your head." The female voice spoke again. "Judging by the look of you, something's happened to your body, too."
She was referring, of course, to Zheng Li's shrunken form.
"!!" Zheng Li's eyes widened. "X-Xiao Nai!!!"
He'd seen it. He'd seen "Xiao Nai's" lips move.
"You don't have to shout. I can hear you." Xiao Nai looked at Zheng Li calmly and spoke in an equally calm voice.
"You, you, you! System!! What's going on?!" Zheng Li hurriedly asked.
"System?" Though it was phrased as a question, Xiao Nai's voice remained flat. She looked at Zheng Li and said, "Looks like you've been through something extraordinary."
Zheng Li: "..."
She was so calm even after learning about the system. So it really was Xiao Nai...
"Ding! Host, surprised? Delighted?"
"Delighted? Surprised? What the hell are you talking about? Explain!"
Xiao Nai: "So you're not delighted to see me."
"No, no! That's not it, that's not it!" Zheng Li hurriedly waved his hands as he explained.
Xiao Nai stared at Zheng Li without saying a word. There was no emotion in her expression or her eyes.
Seeing Xiao Nai like this, Zheng Li shivered. "Xiao Nai, could you please stop staring at me like that? It's scary."
Xiao Nai didn't react.
Just then, the system explained: "Host, your earlier guess was correct. When Martial Soul Fusion takes place, even if the host thinks of a sentient life-form, it won't have intelligence after becoming your Martial Soul. Even if you'd thought of Sea God Tang San, the same would apply."
"Of course, this doesn't affect the existence of the original. In theory, the process copies it and then converts the copy into the form of a Martial Soul."
"Copies it?" Zheng Li had an idea. "Then if I copied something like the Ancestral Dragon and didn't convert it into a Martial Soul, but just got it directly, wouldn't that make me invincible?"
"Host, that's not how it works. Each World Gift Pack contains only items from its corresponding world. Even if it doesn't, it will take the form of an item from that world."
"Take a phoenix, for example. If the host doesn't choose it as a Martial Soul, it will become a Spirit Beast and then your contracted Spirit Beast. After that, one of two things will happen. First, the contracted Spirit Beast's strength will grow alongside the host's. Second, its strength will be restricted to Level 100 and recover to its original strength at the time of copying as the world's level rises."
Zheng Li's eyes brightened. "The second option sounds great! Then, if that's how it works..."
"Host, please don't try to exploit loopholes. A contracted Spirit Beast's strength doesn't count toward your own! You must reach Level 100 yourself."
Zheng Li rubbed his chin. "That still sounds pretty good. It could act as a guardian, find rare treasures and the like, and help me reach the peak..."
"Reach Level 100 and become a god, with the combat strength of a Divine Official? Host, are you sure a Spirit Beast with divine strength could appear in the lower realm without the Divine Realm intervening? Even if they didn't kill it, they'd take it away! Warning from the God Realm Enforcer!"
Zheng Li: "...Then what good are you, system?"
"After the World Gift Pack is issued, the system only protects the host's soul from being destroyed. Contracted Spirit Beasts and the like have nothing to do with the system."
"Right... I guess so..." Zheng Li shook his head and said no more. He looked at Xiao Nai gently, his heart on alert.
From what the system said, it would only protect him. What happened to Xiao Nai was none of its concern, so he would have to protect her himself.
Wait.
"By the way, what happened to Xiao Nai?"
"When the system copied and created her, it discovered that the Xiao Nai the host had been thinking of was already dead, and her soul would soon dissipate. So the system brought her soul over as well, making her your Martial Soul."
"Xiao Nai was dead?" Zheng Li couldn't believe it. "How could that be?"
He wanted to see Xiao Nai again, but not like this!
Since he'd started talking with the system, Zheng Li hadn't been holding back. Xiao Nai could hear him clearly. She couldn't hear the system's voice, but she could work out roughly what it had said.
"I really am dead." Xiao Nai confirmed the system's words.
"Xiao Nai..." Hearing her say that, Zheng Li's thoughts and mind fell into chaos. He thought of so many things—even that Xiao Nai might have been murdered!
Anger surged through him!
"Xiao Nai, what happened? Did someone hurt you?"
Xiao Nai seemed not to hear the anger in Zheng Li's voice. She answered calmly, "Yes."
Zheng Li erupted in fury. "Who?"
His anger blazed. He wanted to go back right then and kill whoever had hurt Xiao Nai!
Xiao Nai watched Zheng Li, who seemed on the verge of losing control. Her calm blue eyes wavered slightly.
"It was a bastard! A bastard everyone thought had run away from our wedding! I didn't believe it! I knew he wouldn't! I went looking for him, and then... a car accident..."
"..."
Xiao Nai's words doused his anger like a basin of ice water.
"It was... me." In an instant, Zheng Li's voice turned hoarse.
Self-blame and guilt flooded his heart.
Not many people approved of his relationship with Xiao Nai. His parents were fine with it, but some of his relatives had plenty to say. Even his older brother and younger sister felt the same way.
Because of Xiao Nai's emotionless face and flat voice, she acted the same way around his family and relatives. From their first impressions, the gossip had gradually started, and people even made comments about the difference in their heights.
And then he'd disappeared three days before their wedding. Some people must have thought he couldn't stand Xiao Nai either, and had run away from the wedding.
Gossip spread easily. He could imagine how Xiao Nai must have felt when she found out...
"Xiao Li," Xiao Nai called calmly.
"Mm?" Zheng Li hurriedly answered.
Xiao Nai didn't speak at once. Instead, she drew the shrunken Zheng Li into her arms, lowered her head slightly, and whispered in his ear:
"You were always the one who held me. Now I finally get to hold you, too. Do you know what I wished for the last time I closed my eyes? To see you again... And now that wish has come true."
As she spoke, Xiao Nai's voice was no longer flat. It even trembled a little.
Her expression simply lacked emotion; that didn't mean she was heartless.
That moved Zheng Li, but also surprised him. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then stopped. He didn't want to ruin the mood.
"It's so good to see you again..."
Xiao Nai closed her eyes, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly.
Xiao Nai looked beautiful in that moment, but Zheng Li didn't see it.
He stroked Xiao Nai's long white hair and said, "I feel the same. It's so good to see you again!"
Chapter 5: Xiao Nai: Your Wish Has Come True
After a long while, the two finally let go of each other.
Once they had calmed down, Xiao Nai asked first, "Xiao Li, did that so-called system turn you into this?"
"Yeah. It reduced my age to ten, so my body changed along with it." Zheng Li nodded.
Xiao Nai examined him closely. "I didn't expect you to be so cute at ten."
"I don't mind you saying that, but..." Zheng Li paused, then continued, "Could you put some feeling into it?"
"Why are you asking that as a question?"
Zheng Li smiled. "I'm asking what you think, so does that mean you agree?"
"No."
"Uh... I knew it."
"But speaking of that, my appearance has changed to what I looked like at ten. I didn't expect you to recognize me, Xiao Nai," Zheng Li said with a sigh.
"Even if you were smaller, I'd still recognize you..."
"Xiao Nai..." Zheng Li was moved again, despite himself.
"You don't look much different now from the way you looked when you were grown up."
"..."
Even heartfelt moments could be ruined without warning.
Zheng Li touched his face. It seemed that "boys change a lot as they grow up" didn't apply to him.
Then Xiao Nai looked around. "A cave... This should be another world, right?"
"Yeah." Zheng Li nodded. "Do you know Douluo?"
"I've heard of it."
"This is the Douluo World. By the way, Xiao Nai, how are my parents? How many days have I been missing over there? From what you said earlier, it sounded like more than a day had passed."
"I was on my third day when I died. Afterward, my consciousness was hazy, and I don't know how many days went by. When I became conscious again, I saw you, shrunk down, reaching out to touch my face."
"Ahem..." The way Xiao Nai said it so calmly made Zheng Li feel inexplicably awkward.
But still...
"Three days..." Zheng Li frowned. "Could the time flow between the Douluo World and my original world be one to five or six? Or even..."
Xiao Nai's heart tightened slightly. She was an only child. Without her, what would happen to her parents?
"Host, don't overthink it. The ratio is two to one. Two days pass in Douluo for every day in your original world. The journey between worlds took some time."
Zheng Li: "...Why would traveling between worlds take time?"
In his mind, wasn't traveling to another world as quick as closing and opening your eyes?
"Host, doesn't it take time to travel from one place to another by car? It's the same principle. The only difference is that I kept you asleep throughout the journey."
"Okay." Zheng Li didn't dwell on it. Then he told Xiao Nai, "Don't worry. The ratio is two to one—two days in Douluo for every day back home. If I reach the peak quickly, I'll still be able to see our parents again. Oh, right..."
As he spoke, he felt a growing sense of urgency—not only because he wanted to see his own family again, but also because of Xiao Nai's family.
Then he explained the system's functions to Xiao Nai and gave her a general overview of the Douluo World.
After listening, Xiao Nai nodded to show she understood. She didn't tell Zheng Li to train hard or anything like that, afraid of putting more pressure on him.
"Tell me the plot from beginning to end."
"Okay."
Since Zheng Li only recounted the key events, it didn't take long.
In truth, he didn't remember many of the details.
After listening attentively, Xiao Nai said with unusual seriousness, "Xiao Li, let's go get the resources!"
Zheng Li: "Hmm? What resources?"
Xiao Nai: Stare~
"Really, nothing comes to mind? The Ice Empress, for example—though there's no way around that silkworm. Then there's the Golden Radiance Left Arm Bone, Gold of Life, Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone, Dark Gold Dreadclaw, Snow Empress, Ice and Fire Yin Yang... Even smaller things like the Mysterious Water Pill and Soul Ascension Pill."
Zheng Li: "...You're going to snatch all of Huo Yuhao's cheat items!"
"No, that's not snatching. Those things haven't ended up in Huo Yuhao's hands yet, so it can't be called snatching," Xiao Nai said calmly.
Zheng Li nodded. "That's true, but it's still best to choose what suits you."
At that, Zheng Li hesitated, then glanced at the golden halo behind Xiao Nai's head and said nothing more.
Xiao Nai was his girlfriend, his fiancée, and now, though he didn't want to say it, also his Martial Soul. Naturally, he could sense the attributes of his Martial Soul.
Xiao Nai's attribute was light, which didn't match ice...
Could quality make up for an incompatible attribute?
The Golden Radiance Left Arm Bone did seem suitable.
As for the Heart of Spirit... Zheng Li reached up and covered his chest. It felt strange, yet comfortable. If he didn't pay close attention, he wouldn't notice it.
He felt that every beat of the Heart of Spirit sent a special kind of energy through his bloodstream and into every part of his body. He didn't feel as if his body had grown stronger, though. He'd have to look into it further!
Before you continue