Time Flew By

Children's moods were always as changeable as the weather, quick to come and quick to go.

It had taken so long to get out of the house, and she didn't even have to go home afterward. The little bit of reluctance Yuanen Yehui had felt about parting from her parents soon vanished without a trace.

She excitedly took her mother's hand and introduced her good friends to her parents.

First, she pointed to An Lan beside her and said in a clear voice, "Dad, Mom, this is my good friend, An Lan."

"Hello, little An Lan. I'm Huihui's mom." Yehui smiled warmly, looking at An Lan with particular friendliness.

She knew her husband better than Yuanen Zhentian did, so she understood that An Lan's two masters had done their family a great kindness, giving them a new lease on life.

Yuanen Tiandang stood off to the side. Though he felt the boy was showing signs of "stealing his family's cabbage," the other party was still just a child. There was no need to nitpick, so he could only force a stiff smile as a greeting.

An Lan politely said, "Hello, Uncle and Auntie."

Yuanen Yehui pointed to Na'er beside her and introduced her. "This is my new friend, Na'er. I just met her today."

"Hello, Uncle and Auntie. I'm Na'er." Na'er lifted her sweet little face and greeted them in a soft, gentle voice, looking both well-behaved and lively.

"What a pretty little girl."

Yehui looked at Na'er's delicate face, a sincere note of admiration in her eyes. Then she smiled and replied, "Hello, Na'er."

Yuanen Tiandang thought more deeply about it. His gaze narrowed slightly as he immediately noticed that Na'er's Soul Power was at level thirteen, just like An Lan's. He understood at once: here was another genius with Innate Full Soul Power.

Yehui looked at An Lan and Na'er, her voice full of earnestness. "Little An Lan, little Na'er, I'll be troubling you to look after Huihui for the next couple of days."

An Lan patted his chest and promised solemnly, "Auntie, you can leave Huihui in my hands without worry. I'll take good care of her."

Yuanen Tiandang's eyelid twitched at those words. Somehow, they just didn't sound right.

Yehui didn't think much of it. Taking it as an innocent promise between children, she reached out to pat An Lan on the head and smiled her thanks. "All right. Thank you, An Lan."

Seeing this, Yuanen Tiandang could only sigh inwardly and console himself: It's only a few days apart. She'll be back soon. There's no need to overthink it.

After a few simple pleasantries, Yehui and Yuanen Tiandang left.

Once they were out of sight, Na'er immediately dropped her well-behaved act and went back to being herself.

She took out her Soul Guidance Phone and waved it around, proposing eagerly, "An Lan, Redhead, let's play as a team! I'll use Bo Saixi and carry you both."

That evening, Yuanen Tiandang and his wife set off with Le Lingzhao, flying straight to Shengtian City.

The current Angel Douluo, Yue Zhengen, was Le Lingzhao's father.

In recent years, Evil Soul Masters had all but vanished from the mainland.

Yue Zhengen had been fretting that without this "cultivation accelerator," the younger generation of the Angel Family was making far slower progress than before.

When he heard about the existence of the Demon Plane, he was immediately tempted. He joined the Anti-Demon Counterattack Alliance on the spot and agreed to use the Angel Family's sacred artifact, the Angel Holy Sword, to temporarily seal Yehui's Martial Soul with the Angel Divine Power lingering in the family's ancestral grounds.

However, the sealing array that drew on divine power was exceedingly complex and required a full three months of preparation.

What's more, Yehui, who would serve as the seal's target, had to stay behind and cooperate with the array's setup.

Yuanen Tiandang had no other choice. He could only stay in Shengtian City with his wife.

The next morning.

An Lan, Na'er, and Yuanen Yehui were sitting around the dining table, enjoying breakfast, when Yuanen Tiandang's video call suddenly rang.

Yuanen Yehui caught sight of her father's name on the Soul Guidance Communicator, quickly swallowed the crystal shrimp dumpling in her mouth, and tapped to answer.

She called out sweetly, "Dad."

"Ah, my good girl." Yuanen Tiandang's face on the screen was full of affection, his gaze tender enough to melt stone.

Yuanen Yehui picked up a shrimp dumpling and held it up to the camera, her eyes curving into crescents. "Dad, I'm having breakfast. Have you and Mom eaten yet?"

"We have, we have. Your mom and I have both eaten," Yuanen Tiandang replied.

It was actually a well-intentioned lie.

With his and Yehui's level of cultivation, they had long since transcended the need for food and gone years without eating grains. But to keep his daughter from worrying, he had no choice but to answer that way.

After exchanging pleasantries, he changed the subject, guilt in his voice. "Huihui, there's some not-so-good news I have to tell you. Your mom and I can't come back to be with you right away. We won't be back for another three months."

"Really?" Yuanen Yehui's eyes lit up at once.

After experiencing a carefree life without her parents keeping tabs on her, she had already fallen in love with it.

Besides, three months wasn't all that long, so her first reaction was delight.

Noticing her father's face freeze on the screen, Yuanen Yehui's heart tightened. Then she tilted her head back and wailed theatrically, "Mom, I want Mom—"

Watching his daughter make thunder without a drop of rain, Yuanen Tiandang felt his heart turn ice-cold.

He'd foolishly assumed his daughter couldn't bear to be without him and would need comforting. In the end, it had all been wishful thinking.

He forced a strained smile and, still unwilling to give up, asked, "Sweetheart, how many days are you planning to stay at the Spirit Pagoda? When the time comes, I'll have your grandfather pick you up."

To him, being apart for three months and being apart for just a few days were two completely different things. He desperately wanted his daughter to stay away from An Lan.

Yuanen Yehui said nothing. She just kept asking for her mom.

Yuanen Tiandang felt utterly drained and finally gave in. "Fine, stay there if you want. You can play at the Spirit Pagoda for three months."

The moment he finished speaking, Yuanen Yehui abruptly stopped crying.

Yuanen Tiandang saw this, gave her a few more brief reminders, then ended the call with a heart full of sorrow.

Although they couldn't return for the time being, he couldn't neglect his daughter's cultivation.

He had already picked out a Blacksmith teacher for Yuanen Yehui, but he would have to wait until they returned in three months to take her to become the teacher's apprentice.

For now, he could only entrust Leng Qingning with finding a level-six Blacksmith at the Spirit Pagoda to guide his daughter in the basics of Blacksmithing.

While Yuanen Tiandang and his wife were held up in Shengtian City, An Lan's cultivation also settled into a proper routine.

As for his secondary professions, he had not only Leng Qingning and Le Lingzhao personally guiding him, but also the two "nearly level-seven" sisters, Bai Zhicen and Bai Haoze, giving him close instruction. His progress was astonishingly swift, improving by leaps and bounds each day.

After carefully learning about the four secondary professions—Blacksmith, Mecha Designer, Mecha Manufacturer, and Mecha Repairer—Na'er predictably chose Mecha Repairer. She even declared arrogantly, "With Battle Armor, there's no need to fix little scratches and dents. If it's badly damaged, just replace it. My Mecha Repair skills are already no worse than a level-nine Mecha Repairer's, so there's no need for me to keep studying."

Still, after maxing out her Mecha Repairer experience, King Na'er ultimately changed classes into a Mecha Manufacturer automatically, under the influence of an irresistible force.

The Lan-Na-Hui Trio had a full schedule every day.

As the three of them steadily grew, time quietly flew by.