Xu Xiaoyan's Nightmare

Late at night, at the Xu Family home.

In Yun Chen's room, he sat cross-legged on the bed, faint fluctuations of Soul Power spreading around his body.

The instinctive reactions of his body in the Spirit Ascension Platform, as well as that fleeting sensation he had felt when facing a life-or-death crisis, remained fresh in his mind. So after returning home, he began meditating, hoping to grasp that feeling.

At that moment, Yun Chen's consciousness was immersed in his own Spirit Sea. The environment within it made him feel as though he were being gently enveloped.

Above the sea, a ball of light emitting a faint glow was slowly taking shape at an extremely gradual pace. Streams of pure energy gathered from the Spirit Sea and merged into the light sphere that had yet to fully form.

After an unknown amount of time, Yun Chen's consciousness surfaced. He slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was that faint glimmer above him. Though it was still tiny and its light weak, Yun Chen felt that it was like another sun within his Spirit Sea. One day, it would hang high above the Spirit Sea.

"A blazing sun destined to rise?" Yun Chen guessed to himself.

He had always felt that this small sphere of light in his Spirit Sea was extraordinary, but it had yet to fully condense, and he had no idea what it could bring him. Still, Yun Chen felt that he should pay more attention to it during his future cultivation.

Suddenly, Yun Chen sensed a disturbance. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Xu Xiaoyan sitting beside him, hugging a pillow.

"I'm a little scared. Can I sleep with you?" Xu Xiaoyan asked.

Seeing the look on Xu Xiaoyan's face, Yun Chen ultimately swallowed the words that had reached his lips. He took her pillow and set it aside before pulling back the covers and lying down with her.

"Do you want to tell me what scared you this time?" Yun Chen knew all too well how timid Xu Xiaoyan was. He remembered that when they were little, Xu Xiaoyan had been frightened by a flying bug and had not dared sleep alone for half a month, leaving Father Xu and Mother Xu both amused and exasperated.

But Xu Xiaoyan had only been four at the time, so it was normal for her to be frightened by a bug. Now she was already nine. Surely she had not been scared by a bug again?

"I just had a dream." Xu Xiaoyan curled up beneath the covers, with only half her head exposed. She slowly began explaining why she was afraid.

"I dreamed that you left the Xu Family and didn't want me anymore," Xu Xiaoyan continued softly.

Those words immediately dispelled Yun Chen's assumption that Xu Xiaoyan had dreamed of something terrifying. But on second thought, such a dream truly was a nightmare for her.

Yun Chen had been adopted by the Xu Family when he was young, and after Xu Xiaoyan was born, she had always been by his side. In her memories, the two of them had been inseparable. That bond had already left a deep mark on her heart.

Yet Father Xu and Mother Xu had never treated Yun Chen differently because he was adopted. They had truly raised him as if he were their own son. While he was growing up, Mother Xu had even jokingly said that if he and Xu Xiaoyan were still this close when they grew up, perhaps they might even end up together.

Yun Chen remembered Xu Xiaoyan's soft, childish reply back then. "I want to stay with Brother Chen forever."

At the time, neither Father Xu nor Mother Xu nor Yun Chen had taken her words to heart. But as she grew older, Xu Xiaoyan's dependence on him seemed not to have faded. If anything, it had deepened even further.

"It was only a dream." Yun Chen comforted Xu Xiaoyan.

Yun Chen knew that their visit to the Spirit Pagoda today had probably made Xu Xiaoyan feel that he might leave, which was why she had become like this. After all, when she heard that he had joined the Spirit Pagoda, her mood had become somewhat strange.

"Really? You won't leave me, right?" Xu Xiaoyan grabbed Yun Chen's arm. She still did not understand what love was. She only instinctively wanted to hold on to Yun Chen and not let him leave.

"Really," Yun Chen continued reassuring her.

With Yun Chen comforting her, Xu Xiaoyan gradually drifted off to sleep. Only after she had fallen soundly asleep did Yun Chen get up and carry her back to her own room.

The next morning, when Xu Xiaoyan woke up and discovered that she was in her own room, she pouted in dissatisfaction. However, she did not throw a tantrum over it. She quickly changed into her school uniform and went downstairs.

After breakfast, Yun Chen, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Xiaoyu were taken to Eastsea Academy.

However, just as Yun Chen and Xu Xiaoyan arrived at the first-year Class One classroom, they saw that cool and aloof figure standing at the door.

"Oh, good morning, Gu Yue. What are you doing standing here?" Xu Xiaoyan asked with a smile as she walked over to greet Gu Yue.

"I came to deliver something to your brother," Gu Yue replied indifferently. She then took a card from her pocket and handed it to Yun Chen. "This is your Spirit Pagoda identity card. Teacher asked me to bring it to you. With this card, you can collect your cultivation resources from the East Sea Spirit Pagoda and gain the right to enter the Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform."

Yun Chen accepted the card and placed it in his Storage Soul Tool. Leng Yaozhu had already told him about these things yesterday after he agreed to join the Spirit Pagoda.

Core disciples of the Spirit Pagoda could collect cultivation resources from the Spirit Pagoda every month and were likewise qualified to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform. This was also one of the Spirit Pagoda's methods for winning people over. For Soul Masters with average family circumstances but decent talent, such conditions were extremely enticing.

After all, aside from awakening one's martial soul, which was free, none of the Spirit Pagoda's other services came cheap. The price of a hundred-year Soul Spirit was something many families could not afford even after working hard for most of their lives. Not to mention the admission fee for the Spirit Ascension Platform, which was far beyond the reach of many people for their entire lives.

"Sorry to make you come all this way," Yun Chen said.

Gu Yue shook her head. After delivering the item, she had intended to leave immediately, but just as she was about to turn around, she seemed to remember something and abruptly stopped.

"Oh, right. Teacher said we should set aside some time over the next few days. She seems to have some arrangements for us," Gu Yue said.

Hearing that, Yun Chen raised an eyebrow in confusion. Leng Yaozhu was Gu Yue's teacher, so it was reasonable for her to make arrangements for Gu Yue's growth. But he had not taken her as his teacher, so there seemed to be no reason for her to put so much thought into him.

"Got it," Yun Chen replied.

Gu Yue nodded to the two of them, then turned and left. Once she rounded a corner and disappeared from Yun Chen and Xu Xiaoyan's sight, she stopped walking.

At that moment, Gu Yue's expression was somewhat blank, because her feelings toward Yun Chen seemed to have become rather strange.