Morning sunlight spilled across the earth.
Chen Zhou sat there, as usual with just four simple dishes in front of him, and began wolfing them down. The only difference was that a cute little girl was sitting beside him.
The little girl clutched a big spoon and shoveled rice into her mouth like mad.
She ate even faster than Chen Zhou, and could put away even more.
Watching this, Su Xin looked surprised. She had seen how much the girl could eat last night, but she hadn't expected her to eat quite this much.
Chen Zhou had ordered four dishes. With the rice, that was enough for three adults to eat in one sitting, yet the little girl in front of him clearly still wasn't full.
Seeing Na'er gaze at him pitifully, Chen Zhou waved a hand. "Now that you're my little sister, of course I'll make sure you're full. Come on, bring me five more dishes!"
At Chen Zhou's words, a fresh round of dishes was brought out, and the girl continued eating.
In class, the teacher frowned as he watched the well-behaved little girl sitting beside Chen Zhou, but in the end, he said nothing.
Although the girl had been admitted as a transfer student, the person who had introduced her was the Spirit Pagoda, which he couldn't afford to offend.
Besides, just looking at how cute she was made him reluctant to say anything.
Still, Teacher Yue was quite displeased to see such a sweet little girl taking class alongside a big bad wolf like Chen Zhou.
But Chen Zhou's status was far too exalted for her to say anything, so she had kept quiet.
The next day's classes passed just as quickly. Aside from a few diligent children, most of the students hadn't paid attention.
Na'er sat obediently, reading and writing with focus as she learned about the human world.
Chen Zhou, meanwhile, rested his head on his desk, bored, and drifted off to sleep.
But this time, his dream was clearly not a pleasant one.
He looked around in confusion. Before him stood an enormous stone platform, floating silently in the air like a gigantic island.
Chen Zhou couldn't understand why he had ended up here in his dream.
Before he could react, a handsome man with blue hair appeared before him, standing perfectly still.
The man wore a neat formal suit.
It was a distinctive outfit, but Chen Zhou recognized it at a glance.
Of course, he recognized more than just the clothes. He knew the man's face, too.
It was exactly the same as Neuvillette's.
Or rather, this damned man seemed to be Neuvillette himself.
"Wait, Neuvillette, why are you here? Does this make any sense? Isn't this my Dream World?"
"I don't know. But it seems I can attack you here—or teach you something useful."
Neuvillette fell silent for a moment, then looked at Chen Zhou. He could see certain things through Chen Zhou's eyes, and so he was curious about both Chen Zhou and his world.
Moreover, the two of them had no connection to begin with. And since Chen Zhou's arrival had helped him stabilize the Primordial Sea, Neuvillette felt no ill will toward him.
"Would you be willing to become my disciple? Once you do, I can pass on to you all the authorities I wield as the Primordial Dragon, and teach you all sorts of techniques to improve your strength."
Neuvillette paused. What he had really wanted to say was that he could teach Chen Zhou some lessons about life—how to be a good person, how to be upright and kind.
But looking at the careless boy before him, he ultimately kept those words to himself.
At Neuvillette's offer, Chen Zhou's eyes lit up instantly. This was Neuvillette, the Primordial Dragon!
He didn't know how Neuvillette's power compared to that of the Douluo World, but there was no need to guess. He was undoubtedly a god-level powerhouse.
After all, just gaining the first authority had already set Chen Zhou's Water Dragon Martial Soul on the path to evolving into a Water Dragon King Martial Soul, and it was evolving very quickly.
Based on Chen Zhou's estimate, his Martial Soul could become a Water Dragon King after he gained just one more authority.
The Water Dragon King was a top-tier Martial Soul, but not merely an ordinary one—it belonged to the very highest class.
If it could advance to the still greater level of the Primordial Dragon, it might even break through to the level of a god-tier Martial Soul.
And if he truly became a Primordial Dragon, Chen Zhou didn't even dare imagine how powerful he would be.
Just the destruction and life brought by the Primordial Fetal Sea when it arrived in this world were enough to let Chen Zhou feel its power.
"Heh heh, of course I'm willing. Teacher, accept my bow!"
As soon as Chen Zhou finished speaking, he dropped to his knees and gave Neuvillette a formal kowtow.
After all, although he was an adult, he had only just come of age and started university.
And on top of that, his current body was that of a six-year-old child. He had no sense of shame to speak of.
Neuvillette stood with his hands behind his back as Chen Zhou knelt and performed the formal disciple's bow. He didn't object.
"Now that you've become my disciple, you'll be my student from this day forward. I'll keep an eye on you, no matter what happens."
"I'll leave a wisp of my consciousness with you, and once I've finished handling Fontaine's affairs, I'll focus most of my attention on your world."
"Of course, starting now, I'll teach you some useful techniques."
"This thing you call a Martial Soul is very weak right now, even though you've gained my first authority."
"It's only a little stronger than an ordinary Oceanid, and it might not even be that much stronger."
As Neuvillette spoke, he raised his hand, and a ball of water appeared in it.
It wasn't ordinary water, but power from the Primordial Sea.
Feeling the power within it, Chen Zhou swallowed. He looked at Neuvillette and asked cautiously:
"Teacher, what state are you in right now? Are you a complete dragon?"
Chen Zhou paused as he said the words "complete dragon."
Neuvillette froze. He stared at Chen Zhou, disbelief in his eyes.
"I am indeed a complete dragon. How do you know that? Are you from my world, too?"
There was curiosity in Neuvillette's eyes, but no particular trace of hostility.
He could tell that Chen Zhou wasn't from their world. He simply didn't understand how Chen Zhou knew about it.
Meeting Neuvillette's gaze, Chen Zhou quickly shook his head. "I'm certainly not from Teyvat, but I have a deep connection to it."
He paused, wearing an awkward grin.
He couldn't very well say that he used to run a Hydro team, but tossed Neuvillette aside as soon as the Pyro Archon came out, could he?
Chen Zhou didn't even have to imagine what would happen if he said that. Neuvillette would slap him to death on the spot.
So, for the sake of his life, he chose to play dumb.