Cold Aunt, This Won't Do

"Presumptuous!"

In the dim room, the curtains were drawn tight, blocking out every sliver of sunlight. The young girl sat on the bed, the air pressure around her dropping lower and lower, her black eyes filled with nothing but fury.

The King of Ten Thousand Monsters, having taken human form, knelt on one side with his head bowed. He dared not show the slightest hint of offense, forced to listen to the lecture obediently.

"I told you all long ago: no unauthorized actions without my command. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

A vast, mighty dragon pressure erupted from her. The King of Ten Thousand Monsters lowered his head even further, not daring to look up at her.

"My Liege, it is my fault."

At this moment, Di Tian stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, the King of Ten Thousand Monsters only acted without orders so that you might recover your strength as quickly as possible. Fortunately, I intervened in time, preventing any grave mistakes."

The King of Ten Thousand Monsters kept his head down, though he was cursing inwardly. It was clearly you who told me to go with you, yet here you are, leaving me to take the heat.

However, one sidelong glance from Di Tian was enough to make him abandon even that thought. There was no helping it; his fists simply weren't as heavy as the other's.

Gu Yue sighed softly, stood up, and walked to the window. She pulled the curtains open just a sliver, gazing at the sun outside.

"The Golden Dragon King was originally imprisoned in the God Realm. The fact that his bloodline has spread to the mortal world must mean he has already fallen victim to the hands of human Deities. And for humans to possess his bloodline, it must be inextricably linked to the Deities of the God Realm."

"To act before we understand the situation is to alert the enemy."

"It is even possible that some Deity is baiting us into a trap."

Di Tian felt sweat soaking his back; it was indeed true. After all, if the Crown Prince had not intervened, he would have truly met his end there.

"Very well, withdraw. As for the matter of Shen Nanxun, I will investigate it personally. You need not interfere."

"Yes!"

Di Tian and the King of Ten Thousand Monsters withdrew respectfully.

Once outside, the King of Ten Thousand Monsters finally dared to look up and speak: "Boss, why didn't we tell the Liege the truth? That human brat..."

"Presumptuous!"

Di Tian slammed a fist into the back of the King of Ten Thousand Monsters' head. The force wasn't great, but it was precise. The King of Ten Thousand Monsters stumbled half a step forward, clutching the back of his head with a face full of grievance.

"Boss, what did I say wrong again?"

"Have you forgotten what Her Highness just said?" Di Tian withdrew his hand and stood with his hands behind his back, his dark golden vertical pupils slanting toward him as his tone returned to its usual deep, resonant timbre.

The King of Ten Thousand Monsters froze for a moment, then quickly corrected himself: "That human Highness..."

"Mm." Di Tian nodded slightly. "Until we find an opportunity to report this to the Liege, address him as such. The Crown Prince's origin within that human youth is still weak. If the Liege were to learn that the Crown Prince's remnant consciousness resides within him, there is no telling what kind of turmoil it would cause. For now, keep this hidden."

"Understood." The King of Ten Thousand Monsters nodded, unable to resist rubbing the back of his head again. He felt truly wronged by this job; it was clearly Di Tian who had told him to go, yet he was the one taking all the blame.

Di Tian did not look at him again, turning instead to gaze into the distance, his golden vertical pupils filled with complexity. Although the Liege was one-half of the old Liege, she was ultimately not the old Liege—but the Crown Prince was still the Crown Prince.

"Ahhh, I failed~"

Having just woken up, Xu Xiaoyan rolled back and forth on the bed, wrapping herself into a grumpy pink caterpillar. The cute little rabbit pajamas she had worn last night were wrinkled and bunched up on her body, one of the rabbit ears on the hood standing tall while the other flopped over, perfectly mirroring her current mood.

She had planned everything so perfectly last night: pretend to sleep soundly, wait for him to fall asleep, then sneakily draw a little turtle on his face and take a photo.

That way, she could threaten him later: 'Shen Nanxun, you wouldn't want this photo to get out, would you?'

What a flawless plan!

But she had ended up curling up on the sofa with a pillow, listening to the sound of Shen Nanxun pacing in his room, and had fallen asleep mid-listen. Not only did she fail to draw the turtle, she didn't even know when he had left. At the thought that Shen Nanxun was likely outside eating breakfast right now, completely oblivious to last night's events, and that her perfect revenge plan hadn't even made a splash, she couldn't help but roll around again.

Just you wait!

A fire of determination ignited in Heroine Xu's eyes; the next time such a good opportunity arose, she would definitely not let it slip.

This time was just a mishap.

She would definitely get her hands on the fragrant Shen Nanxun and then indulge in some wanton revenge!

Just as she was waving her fists and swearing while wrapped in her quilt, the bedroom door suddenly pushed open. Shen Nanxun stood in the doorway, carrying two steaming portions of breakfast, a half-eaten bun still in his mouth.

Shen Nanxun had just returned to find the pink caterpillar on the bed frozen in the middle of a fist-pumping oath.

Their eyes met.

Xu Xiaoyan's small face turned from powdery white to pale pink, then to deep pink, then to bright red, until finally, even the rabbit ears on her hood seemed to turn red along with her.

"You... get out! Who told you to come in!" She grabbed the pillow to shield herself, her voice sharp and thin, just like a cat that had had its tail stepped on.

Shen Nanxun leaned against the doorframe, took the bun out of his mouth, and said expressionlessly, "This is my room."

"Aww, sorry." Xu Xiaoyan wished she could crawl into a crack in the floor; she didn't even bother with her shoes, walking out barefoot.

"By the way, what were you doing rolling around on the bed?"

When Shen Nanxun asked this, Xu Xiaoyan happened to be walking past him. Her small body shivered, and her eyes darted away.

"That, it was just..."

She couldn't exactly say that he had been having a miserable time in her head just a moment ago!

Xu Xiaoyan's brain raced, spinning so fast it could almost spark. Her gaze drifted left and right, from the bun in Shen Nanxun's hand to the soy milk on the nightstand, from the soy milk to the tree outside the window glowing gold in the morning light. Finally, with nowhere left to look, her eyes landed on the button on his chest—the one she had rubbed loose and he had re-fastened.

Ultimately, she braced herself and said:

"I'm practicing."

"Practicing?" Shen Nanxun's gaze swept over the bundle of quilts she was wrapped in and her bare feet. This didn't look like practice in the slightest.

"Yes!" Once Xu Xiaoyan found an excuse, her confidence inflated at a visible rate. She placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin.

"It's the morning training for the Star Wheel Ice Staff martial soul! I have to roll eighty-one times on the bed every morning to allow the starlight and soul power to fuse perfectly. This is a secret technique passed down through my Xu Family, and it is never revealed to outsiders! What you just saw was the critical moment of this heroine's cultivation."

The more she spoke, the smoother it became, and the more she felt like a genius. Besides, he wasn't a member of the Xu Family; there was no way he could actually go and verify the authenticity of this ancestral bed-rolling secret technique with her father.

Shen Nanxun watched her with her hands on her hips and her chin held high, remaining silent for a moment. "Are you finished practicing, then?"

"P-practiced, yes, I'm finished."

"Then go eat breakfast." Shen Nanxun shoved the bag of breakfast he was holding into her arms. The warmth of the soy milk seeped through the paper bag into her palms. "I added extra sugar to your portion."

Xu Xiaoyan cradled the warm bag of breakfast and looked down. There were two cups of soy milk and two baskets of small steamed buns. On the lid of one of the soy milk cups, a tiny cross had been pinched into the plastic with a fingertip.

That was the mark for extra sugar.

She looked up, wanting to say something, but found that he had already walked to the bedside to tidy up the sofa where she had slept last night. He picked up the blanket, gave it a shake, and then retrieved a rabbit-ear hair clip she had dropped from the sofa cushions. He examined it for a moment before placing it on the coffee table.

Morning light shone in through the window, landing on his slightly bowed profile. Xu Xiaoyan watched him place the rabbit-ear clip on the table, her fingers tightening involuntarily around the breakfast bag. The paper bag crinkled softly under her grip.

"Thanks."

The word was squeezed out from her throat, lightning-fast. Then, clutching the breakfast bag, she ran out barefoot, her footsteps pattering against the floor.

Heroine Xu felt so guilty. Shen Nanxun was so kind, yet she had been imagining such brazen things about him in her heart.

She was truly incorrigible!

But... why did it smell better and better!?

After tidying the room briefly, Shen Nanxun rubbed his still-aching head before sitting cross-legged on the bed.

His consciousness quickly sank into his Sea of Consciousness.

"Sister Xue, what exactly happened just now?"

Shen Nanxun had lost consciousness quickly and woken up just as fast; he hadn't clearly understood what had transpired.

Qian Renxue said with a hint of excitement, "In short, that fellow helped you resolve the matter and even gave Tang San's divine sense a sound thrashing."

"Satisfying, truly satisfying!"

From Qian Renxue, Shen Nanxun managed to piece his thoughts together. At the critical moment, the Crown Prince of the Dragon Clan had saved him and simultaneously dealt with the divine sense of Tang San residing within Tang Wulin.

The nine-colored light orb still hovered in the Sea of Consciousness, though it appeared more solid now. The nine-colored halo rotated slowly, possessing a bit more vitality than before.

Just then, a dragon roar that shook the universe suddenly erupted from within the nine-colored light orb. It wasn't the faint, ethereal echo from before, but a genuine, earth-shattering roar that felt as if it were right beside his ear.

A golden dragon shadow suddenly surged out from the light orb. At first, it was merely a tiny wisp, but in an instant, it swelled against the wind, transforming into a giant dragon with brilliant golden scales that soared and circled through the void of his Sea of Consciousness. Its dragon body was lithe and powerful, its whiskers hanging down like long golden waterfalls, and wherever its claws stepped, layers of golden light ripples expanded, dyeing the entire Sea of Consciousness in a magnificent golden hue.

It circled the void once, then lowered its head and charged straight toward Shen Nanxun.

Shen Nanxun did not dodge; a more primal instinct told him that there was absolutely no need to hide.

When the golden giant dragon reached him, it suddenly shrank, transforming from a behemoth that blotted out the sky into a wisp of golden light no thicker than a forearm. It hovered before him, its golden dragon pupils watching him, before it lowered its head.

Shen Nanxun reached out almost subconsciously, his palm gently covering the top of its head.

The golden dragon trembled slightly beneath his palm, and in an instant, the entire dragon body transformed into a brilliant golden radiance, converging into his palm like a hundred rivers returning to the sea. The moment the golden light vanished into his palm, a warm and majestic power surged through his meridians.

It felt like something that had been lost for far, far too long had finally returned to where it belonged.

Shen Nanxun opened his eyes abruptly. His consciousness snapped back from the Sea of Consciousness. In reality, he was still sitting cross-legged on the bed, but something new had appeared in his right palm.

He looked down to see a golden spear lying quietly in his hand. The shaft was long and slender, flowing with gold, and a relief of a golden dragon was coiled around it. The dragon's head was held high beneath the spearhead, its body winding down to the end, where the tail was tucked into the butt of the spear. The golden dragon's scales were distinct and lifelike, appearing as if they were slowly moving in the morning light.

The spear tassel was golden, as if made from dragon mane, and it swayed silently in the morning breeze drifting in from the window. The temperature radiating from the spear was not the coldness of metal, but felt exactly like the touch of the golden giant dragon's scales from moments ago.

"Golden Dragon Spear!"

After staying in East Sea City for half a month, he finally received new information. He returned to the Spirit Pagoda to see the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo.

He hadn't been idle during these two weeks; he spent his days being dragged by Na'er to visit every major attraction in East Sea City, and his nights were spent in meditation. The days had been quite fulfilling.

The Spirit Pagoda's elevator climbed silently, the numbers ticking upward one by one.

Na'er stood by his side, her silver hair tied into a small ponytail by Su Jiuyin with a newly purchased light blue ribbon, the ahoge on her forehead still stubbornly sticking up. She seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood today, holding half a toffee in her mouth, her cheeks puffed out slightly, her silver eyes gazing brightly at the changing numbers.

The elevator stopped at the top floor, and the metal doors slid open silently. That faint, crisp, cold fragrance rushed toward them once more, mixed with the unique, mellow sharpness of red wine.

The entire floor was an exclusive lounge, and Leng Yaozhu was sitting gracefully by the floor-to-ceiling windows, sipping red wine while overlooking the entire East Sea City.

She seemed to be drinking forever, and she also seemed to never get drunk. Just as Shen Nanxun was about to ask, his peripheral vision caught something. Another person was standing in the corner of the observation room. With black hair and black eyes, dressed in a simple, plain light-green dress, she stood there quietly, radiating a detachment that was completely different from the crisp coldness of Leng Yaozhu.

Gu Yue.

She was here.

Gu Yue lowered her eyelashes slightly, having only glanced at him once since Shen Nanxun entered. Even so, the Ahoge King watched her with vigilance.

The two sides were clearly still at odds.

Shen Nanxun didn't linger, walking straight to the woman's side and asking, "Your Excellency, can you tell me the second mission now?"

"Mm." Leng Yaozhu hummed softly, then leaned back lazily and said slowly, "Tianhai City is hosting a tournament recently, and they will be inviting a team from Shrek Academy to perform an opening exhibition match. I will have you join them. Your goal is to defeat them."

"Is that it?" Shen Nanxun was somewhat surprised; he felt it couldn't possibly be this simple.

"Of course not."

Leng Yaozhu shook her head and pointed toward Gu Yue beside her. "You must take my disciple with you. Two against seven."

"Huh?! Why not me!" The Ahoge King bristled again; she didn't want to share Shen Nanxun with Gu Yue.

Shen Nanxun pressed down on her in time, glanced at Gu Yue, whose expression remained indifferent, and gave a slight nod. "Agreed."

"But after this matter is over, you must tell me everything. No more tricks. I won't accept any further complications. I know Your Excellency Tianmian holds a high and powerful position, but my Shen Family is not three parts weaker."

Leng Yaozhu didn't mind Shen Nanxun's threat; she merely curved her lips slightly. She stood up from her leather chair, her wine-red dress cascading down like water, and her high heels clicked crisply against the polished floor.

"Follow me." She dropped those two words and walked toward the depths of the observation room without looking back.

Shen Nanxun frowned slightly and patted the back of Na'er's hand, which was clutching his sleeve, signaling her to wait where she was. The Ahoge King reluctantly let go, though her silver slit pupils remained fixed on Leng Yaozhu's back until the wine-red figure disappeared behind the metal door at the end of the corridor.

After following her into one of the rooms, Leng Yaozhu pointed at him and then said:

"Take off your clothes."

"???"

Aunt Leng, this won't do!