That night,
Tang Ziran slept on the sofa,
while Xiao Wuyue and her mother slept in the master bedroom,
and Lu Chuan slept in Xiao Wuyue's bed.
The bright moonlight spilled through the window and fell across the bed.
Lu Chuan turned his head to look outside,
where a crescent moon hung upside down in the night sky.
Faintly,
it seemed as though the Silver Dragon King's shadow was there.
"You're so clever. You must have left yourself a way out, right?"
The next morning,
Tang Ziran took Lu Chuan to the Public Security Office bright and early.
All the information checked out just as Lu Chuan had said.
But there was one thing
Tang Ziran had only just learned.
Lu Chuan's Martial Soul was actually the Golden Dragon!
A top-tier Beast Martial Soul!
On top of that,
according to the records,
when Lu Chuan's Martial Soul had awakened, he had possessed Innate Full Soul Power!
A top-tier Beast Martial Soul plus Innate Full Soul Power—
even if Tang Ziran had lost his mind,
he still knew
that as long as nothing went wrong,
Lu Chuan was sure to become a Titled Douluo in the future,
or even a Super Douluo or Limit Douluo!
Tang Ziran's throat bobbed. Still hoping Lu Chuan would take responsibility for his own future, he asked again:
"Xiao Chuan, have you thought this through? With your talent, any faction would take you in and groom you as its successor. You still want to come home with me?"
"Yes!"
Lu Chuan answered firmly,
without the slightest hesitation.
As the saying went,
the one who lived closest to the water got the moon first.
In times like these,
you had to raise your future wife from childhood!
Lu Chuan knew this all too well,
but Tang Ziran was in a bind.
His family's circumstances—
an ordinary working-class household,
with hardly any savings—
meant that if he took Lu Chuan in,
he could at most make sure the boy had enough to eat.
If Lu Chuan didn't have a Martial Soul, that would be one thing,
but he possessed top-tier talent.
That meant
Tang Ziran would need to earn an enormous number of Gold Soul Coins to buy Lu Chuan a Soul Spirit and the cultivation resources a Soul Master needed...
Otherwise, he'd be holding Lu Chuan's talent back!
"Should I take him in or not?"
Tang Ziran wavered.
The left side of his brain said yes, the right side said no.
After agonizing over it,
the little good and evil devils on his shoulders were practically forced to start wrestling!
Only when a childish voice rang out
did the two little devils finally stop fighting:
"Dad, I really want to come home with you!"
Lu Chuan spoke again.
This time,
he didn't call him "uncle,"
or even "mister."
He called him "Dad"!
"Xiao Chuan, what did you just call me?" Tang Ziran lowered his head and stared at Lu Chuan in astonishment.
Lu Chuan broke into a bright smile and said again:
"Of course I called you Dad!"
He had no qualms whatsoever about calling his future father-in-law Dad.
Besides,
if you wanted to win someone's precious little cabbage, you had to offer them something sweet!
That was how Lu Chuan saw it.
Tang Ziran had no idea.
All he knew was
that he was so happy, happier than he could say!
He'd always wanted a son,
but his wife had damaged her health in a drug trial years ago.
Now that he had such an outstanding son,
how could he not be overjoyed?
"Chuan'er!"
"Dad!"
The father-in-law and son-in-law embraced, weeping,
each with his own thoughts.
One wanted him as a son;
the other wanted his daughter.
Without any further hesitation,
Tang Ziran took Lu Chuan through the adoption process,
without even thinking to let Xiao Lingtong and Lang Yue know.
A smile never left his face the entire time.
After the paperwork was done,
the big one and the little one went home.
When they opened the door,
Tang Wuyue was watching TV on the sofa.
Her snow-white little feet swung back and forth,
looking downright delicious.
When the little girl saw Tang Ziran come in, she hurriedly hopped off the sofa and slipped on her slippers, then greeted him with a grin.
"Dad, you're back so early?"
Tang Ziran smiled and nodded.
He crouched down,
spreading his arms to hug his daughter.
But his little sweetheart went "patter, patter, patter" right around him
and dashed straight toward Lu Chuan.
"Brother Xiao Chuan, you're back too!"
Lu Chuan smiled and nodded,
but when he saw Tang Ziran's face darken as he flopped onto the sofa in a foul mood,
he quickly urged Xiao Wuyue to comfort her father.
Xiao Wuyue was quick to take his advice.
Wearing little bunny slippers on her pale feet,
she went "patter, patter, patter" over to the sofa.
First, her soft little hands kneaded Tang Ziran's shoulders,
then her tiny fists went "thump, thump, thump" against his back.
After tending to him for a good while,
she finally asked, cautiously:
"Dad, Brother Xiao Chuan isn't leaving, right?"
Tang Ziran sighed with feigned melancholy.
"He won't be leaving for now, but who knows what the future holds."
"Huh? Why?" Xiao Wuyue's hands stopped.
"Your big brother is too talented. The big brothers and big sisters from the Federation, the Spirit Pagoda, and the Tang Sect all want him. Our family doesn't have enough money to support him. Later on... I'm afraid we'll still have to send him away."
"No! We can't do that! Dad, think of something!"
Xiao Wuyue panicked at his words. She shook Tang Ziran's arm, her eyes turning faintly red as though she were about to cry.
Tang Ziran swayed along with Xiao Wuyue,
looking sorrowful,
while secretly laughing to himself.
He laughed for a good while,
then finally couldn't hold it in any longer
and prepared to tell Xiao Wuyue the truth.
But just as he pulled the adoption papers from his briefcase,
Xiao Wuyue suddenly asked:
"Dad, does the repair shop where you work need any apprentices? I want to learn mecha repair so I can earn money for Brother Xiao Chuan!"
In that instant,
Tang Ziran felt as though he'd been struck by lightning!
He looked back at his daughter,
then at Lu Chuan,
and felt as if he'd personally picked a cabbage and fed it to a pig!
Fortunately, Lu Chuan had lived a whole lifetime in his previous life and had picked up a thing or two about dealing with people. He quickly poured Tang Ziran a glass of water and handed it to him.
"Dad, please calm down. My little sister is still young and pure of heart. She just doesn't know how to put it into words. She really wants to help ease the pressure on you to earn money."
"Actually, I want to help too. I want to learn forging!"
Tang Ziran took the glass and sipped from it,
then looked at Lu Chuan.
He knew Lu Chuan was much more mature than other children his age,
so he didn't immediately reject the idea. "Xiao Chuan, tell me what you're thinking first."
Lu Chuan pondered for a moment, then spoke:
"I want to learn forging for two main reasons. First, I can earn money to help support the family. Second, it'll lay a solid foundation for the future."
"I've looked into it. Whether you're applying to Shrek Academy or another top Soul Master Academy in the Federation, most of them have clear requirements for students' secondary-profession ranks."
"So if I want to attend one of those higher academies in the future, I need to start planning early and make something of myself in a secondary profession!"
"Dad, you know there are only four secondary professions: blacksmith, mecha designer, Mecha Manufacturer, and mecha repairer."
"Mecha designers need outstanding creativity and extremely high spiritual power. When I awakened, they tested mine, and it was only average. That path would be too difficult."
"Mecha Manufacturers need enormous amounts of Hundred Forging and Thousand Refinement metal to practice with. It costs too much; we can't afford it."
"As for mecha repairers... their future prospects are limited, so they aren't worth the investment."
"Forging is the only choice. It's not only a popular profession, but it's also easy to get started in. On top of that, the forging process can temper your blood and energy and strengthen your spirit. It's a tremendous help to a Soul Master's cultivation!"
Lu Chuan analyzed it in an orderly fashion,
He wanted to learn blacksmithing,
but it wasn't something that could be done overnight.
A very, very long time ago,
from the moment Di Tian brought Spirit-Forged Metal back from the human world,
he had wanted to learn blacksmithing!
Spirit Forging imbued metal with spirit,
creating life—
for Lu Chuan, who had inherited the Godhead of Destruction but had never been able to sense the path of creation,
it was just like Jiraiya seeing Naruto's Sexy Jutsu—
he simply couldn't look away!
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