"Xiaotao."
"Did you find this little one in the Star Dou Great Forest?"
Yan Shaozhe looked strangely at the child, not yet six months old, in Ma Xiaotao's arms. Where in the Star Dou Great Forest was there a child to be found? Who would give birth in the middle of the Star Dou Great Forest?
Could it be a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that had taken human form?
Ma Xiaotao wore a red dress, and a light red veil concealed her face. Her pink eyes seemed to hold a bewitching charm.
Her expression was just as unpleasant.
The child in her arms was groping all over her.
She had tried holding the little one farther away, but the moment she moved, that unbearable crying started up, making her even more irritable.
"Mm. Elder Cai and I found him in the inner reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest."
"For some reason, the moment he saw me, he crawled right onto me and refused to let go. Even Elder Cai couldn't hold him."
"He's given me no end of trouble on the way here."
Ma Xiaotao was about to pass the child in her arms to Yan Shaozhe, but the moment she reached out, the little one's hands began flailing wildly, gripping her clothes tightly and refusing to let go.
Yan Shaozhe glanced at the child but didn't take him. Instead, he swept his Spiritual Power over the child again and again, trying to see whether a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's soul was hidden beneath that little body.
But after examining him for a long while, probing him several times, Yan Shaozhe found no clues.
Aside from the immense energy he could sense beneath that little body,
the child was almost indistinguishable from an ordinary human baby!
"So he isn't a Soul Beast in human form?"
"Did someone really abandon a child in the Star Dou Great Forest?"
The suspicion in Yan Shaozhe's eyes didn't diminish. If anything, his curiosity grew. What kind of person would bring their child into the inner reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest, then lose him?
Ma Xiaotao patted the child awkwardly. It looked as if she had just learned how from Cai Mei'er on the way here. For someone who wasn't even twenty, looking after another child was clearly difficult.
"Elder Cai checked several times."
"This child really isn't a Soul Beast in human form."
"And..."
Ma Xiaotao pulled a small, exquisitely crafted nameplate from her Soul Tool. Even Yan Shaozhe couldn't tell what it was made of, but just looking at it, he could tell it wasn't ordinary.
The inscription on the nameplate was simple. It had only three characters:
Lu Heqiu.
Yan Shaozhe took the nameplate and scanned the three characters engraved on it, silently mouthing them once before handing it back to Ma Xiaotao. His expression relaxed considerably as he listened to her continue.
"And... he's a little strong. Not just a little—really strong."
"Elder Cai suggested the academy take him in. She said his parents definitely aren't ordinary, and even if we can't find them someday, this child's Martial Soul won't be weak either."
Yan Shaozhe nodded when she finished. Cai Mei'er's reasoning was sound. When parents had powerful Martial Souls, their children's Martial Souls were usually no less impressive. And Yan Shaozhe had taken in quite a few children himself; even Ma Xiaotao had been one of the children he found.
Now that this child named Lu Heqiu had been found by Ma Xiaotao, they were clearly fated to meet. Even if he turned out to lack talent, they could always send him elsewhere later, somewhere he could make a living. The academy could certainly afford to raise one child.
"Then we'll take him in."
"At least raise him until he's a little older before deciding what to do."
In Ma Xiaotao's arms, Lu Heqiu listened to all this and finally relaxed. He drifted into a deep sleep against her.
He wasn't from this world.
In his previous life, he had been an immortal official in a cultivation world. Thanks to his extraordinary body and the merit he had earned by subduing demons and vanquishing evil, he should have ascended to the Immortal Realm and become an official on the Immortal Path. But as he ascended, the Heavenly Dao fell into turmoil and a spatial portal opened. Somehow, he had ended up in this world.
His once-powerful abilities had been sealed by this world. His body had turned into an infant's and fallen into the forest. Not only was less than a tenth of his power left, but his consciousness was also affected by this body. Most of the time, he could only instinctively make the movements expected of a baby.
He couldn't even walk. To anyone watching, aside from his astonishing strength, he was no different from an ordinary child.
Only by following this world's cultivation path and ascending to its Divine Realm might he be able to borrow its power to return to his original world—or even go straight back to Blue Star.
For Lu Heqiu,
that was certainly not something he could accomplish in just a few years.
"Mm, then... who's going to raise him?"
Ma Xiaotao nodded, looked down at the sleeping Lu Heqiu in her arms, and asked the most crucial question. The child would only let Ma Xiaotao hold him. He wouldn't even go to Cai Mei'er, who looked much gentler.
Surely they weren't expecting her to raise him?
She was only an eighteen-year-old unmarried young woman. What did they mean, saddling her with a baby?!
"...Let's see if there's anyone else in the Inner Academy who can take him."
Yan Shaozhe looked troubled too. Ma Xiaotao was a top-tier genius, the kind Shrek produced only once every few centuries. Having someone like her look after a child would indeed be a waste.
Some of the tension left Ma Xiaotao's face. She looked toward the few people who had just finished sparring not far away and waved them over, her voice carrying a hint of excitement.
"Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochеn!"
"Come over here!"
Dai Yueheng had just finished a fight. The dust was still on his face, and the blood in his veins hadn't yet settled. When he saw Ma Xiaotao beckoning, he headed her way.
"You want another match?"
"I need time to recover my Soul Power."
Ma Xiaotao really wanted to fight him, but the child clinging tightly to her chest was still asleep. She couldn't move freely at all, so she snapped at Dai Yueheng in an impatient voice.
"Fight, my ass!"
"Can't you see I'm holding a child?"
"Come over and see if he'll go with you. If he does, he's yours from now on!"
Dai Yueheng's face darkened. He turned toward the Soul Dueling Arena and didn't give Ma Xiaotao the slightest chance.
"Not interested. Taking care of a child is your problem."
Ling Luochеn, standing beside him, walked over faster than he did. As she spoke, she had already placed her jade-like finger on Lu Heqiu's cheek and gently prodded him twice, looking intrigued.
"Where did this little guy come from? He's so cute!"
The moment she finished speaking,
Lu Heqiu grabbed Ling Luochеn's finger and gave it a light squeeze. She instinctively yanked her hand back, surprise flashing in her eyes.
"This little guy... he's so strong!"
Her jade-like finger trembled, as if Lu Heqiu's squeeze had hurt quite a bit. She might not have been as strong as Dai Yueheng or Ma Xiaotao, but she was still a Soul King. Even if her physical strength was somewhat lacking, an infant shouldn't have been able to squeeze her finger!
Yet the baby in Ma Xiaotao's arms had made her finger turn red. And judging by the look of it, the little one hadn't even meant to—he'd just happened to touch it!
Yan Shaozhe was just as surprised. He could sense the immense energy inside Lu Heqiu, but he hadn't expected the child to be able to use it at such a young age!
Was his body even stronger than a Soul King's?
"Yueheng!"
"Come over and see if this child likes you!"
Dai Yueheng had already stopped when Ling Luochеn's finger was squeezed. Hearing Yan Shaozhe call to him, he headed over without further hesitation, his eyes fixed on Lu Heqiu the entire time.
"He's really strong?"
"How strong could he be?"
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