Huh? Little Sprout? I Gave Birth???

After Yue Guan and Gui Mei left, Lin Ze'an locked the courtyard gate and blocked it with vines.

Once he was done, he turned around and walked to a patch of soft grass, then slowly lay down.

The grass beneath him was thick and fragrant, and flowers swayed all around him. He contentedly narrowed his eyes, feeling the resonance between the Soul Power in his body and the surrounding environment.

Just then, he suddenly remembered something and slowly raised his little hand.

He opened his palm and focused his thoughts.

"Buzz—!"

A jade-green orb of light appeared out of thin air above his palm.

The orb was about the size of an egg. Its entire surface radiated a gentle glow that wasn't blinding, but Lin Ze'an couldn't see what was inside.

He looked at the orb, his face full of confusion.

This orb wasn't one of his Soul Skills, nor was it part of Mo Ruier.

At the time, after absorbing the First Soul Ring, he had no Second Soul Ring, so his Soul Power Level had been stuck at twenty and couldn't rise.

But the Soul Power he had accumulated through cultivation, along with the Soul Power that came with the Soul Ring, hadn't disappeared. Instead, it had continued to build up and settle within his body.

It wasn't until he successfully absorbed the Second Soul Ring that the bottleneck in his Soul Power finally broke. The Soul Power he had stored up for so long erupted all at once and began raising his Soul Power Level.

But something unexpected happened: this orb suddenly appeared inside him and siphoned away the Soul Power above level 20.

He had been startled and instinctively tried to control his Soul Power, fighting the orb for it.

In the end, although he managed to snatch some of it back and stabilize his own level at 22, the orb still swallowed a portion of his Soul Power.

If the thing hadn't carried Mo Ruier's aura, he would've called for his master to save him right then and there.

"Ugh..." Lin Ze'an pursed his lips and casually tossed the orb of light to the side.

The orb traced an arc through the air and drifted down onto a cluster of blooming pale-yellow flowers nearby.

"Oh well, whatever." Lin Ze'an muttered under his breath. "It's not like I can get my Soul Power back."

The past few days in the Star Dou Forest had gone smoothly, but he'd been on edge the whole time. He'd just finished fussing over the courtyard, too. He'd cultivate tonight—first, he'd take a nap.

Warm sunlight filtered through the layers of vines and leaves, falling across his body.

Lin Ze'an rolled over into a more comfortable position, rested his little face on the fragrant grass, and closed his eyes.

Who knew how much time had passed? The sun began to sink below the horizon, and dusk gradually fell.

Lin Ze'an's eyelashes fluttered a few times, and at last, he slowly opened his eyes.

But the moment he did—

A round little face, wearing a curious expression, was practically pressed against the tip of his nose.

A pair of big, round eyes stared at him without blinking.

Lin Ze'an's mind was still hazy with sleep. Looking at the little thing that had suddenly appeared before him, he mumbled, "It's a dream..."

Then he slowly closed his eyes again and rolled over.

But the next second, he suddenly realized something was wrong, and his whole body stiffened.

No!

He abruptly opened his eyes again and quickly turned his head toward where the little thing had been—

The little thing met his gaze. The two of them stared at each other, eyes wide.

"..."

After a deathly silence—

"Well, I'll be damned!!!"

Lin Ze'an stared blankly at the little fellow bouncing in front of him, his mind completely short-circuiting. "Little Sprout?"

While he was still utterly confused, Little Sprout took a couple of steps on its short little legs, then hopped into his arms.

Lin Ze'an instinctively reached out to catch it.

The little thing was soft and squishy, with a fresh, grassy scent. It felt featherlight in his arms, barely weighing anything.

Wait, was that really the issue right now?

Little Sprout steadied itself in his arms, patted his arm gently, then patted it again, staring at him with its big eyes without blinking.

Lin Ze'an looked down at it in confusion. "What are you trying to do?"

When Little Sprout saw that he didn't understand, it seemed to grow anxious and patted him harder. "Dou! Doudou!"

Looking at how anxious it was, an idea suddenly flashed through Lin Ze'an's mind.

He hesitated briefly, but followed his instincts and focused his thoughts—

An emerald-green light rose from within him, and Mo Ruier appeared behind him. Her gentle yet boundless life force immediately filled the air.

The instant Mo Ruier appeared—

"Dou—!!!"

Little Sprout let out an extremely excited cry. It jumped out of Lin Ze'an's arms, landed on the ground, and bounced around Mo Ruier in delight.

Its little paws pointed at Mo Ruier nonstop, then it turned back to Lin Ze'an, crying out again and again. "Dou! Dou! Dou!"

Lin Ze'an watched Little Sprout's excitement, then looked at Mo Ruier, who radiated life force.

He thought it over for a moment, trying to piece together what had happened.

Little Sprout wasn't a unique individual in Seer; it was a species...

And Mo Ruier, as the Grass Spirit King, held absolute dominion over grass-type spirits.

For his cultivation, he had used Mo Ruier's power to transform the entire courtyard into a simulated environment brimming with life energy.

And that orb had absorbed a large amount of the Soul Power in his body. Since he had Mo Ruier's Martial Soul, his Soul Power itself contained pure life force.

In other words... Mo Ruier's life force was so powerful that, in this special environment, it had accidentally given rise to a Little Sprout?!

But the problem was, it had absorbed his Soul Power and been born right here in his home... Tsk...

Lin Ze'an quickly shook his head, trying to drive the thought away.

The conclusion still sounded utterly absurd, but it was the only explanation that made sense for now.

Otherwise, had Mo Ruier herself dropped a Little Sprout on him out of nowhere? That was impossible, no matter how you looked at it.

After a moment, Lin Ze'an finally managed to digest the situation, as bizarre as it was and yet somehow reasonable.

Mainly because there truly wasn't any other explanation.

"All right..." he muttered, as though trying to convince himself. "Let it be. My Martial Soul is already unusual enough as it is."

With a thought, the Mo Ruier behind him slowly faded away, merging back into his body.

As Mo Ruier's Martial Soul withdrew, Little Sprout, which had been bouncing excitedly around her, froze.

It tilted its little head and looked at Lin Ze'an, then at the spot where Mo Ruier had just disappeared. It seemed a little confused. "Dou?"

But it didn't seem uneasy or disappointed.

Instead, it trotted back over to Lin Ze'an's feet, tilted its little head up, and continued staring at him with those big eyes, without blinking.

For a while, a person and a sprout simply stared at each other, wide-eyed.