Huh? Little Sprout? I gave birth???

After Yue Guan and Gui Mei left, Lin Ze'an locked the courtyard gate and used vines to block it off.

Having finished this, he turned around, walked over to a patch of soft grass, and slowly lay down.

Beneath him was thick, fragrant grass, and all around him were swaying flowers. He squinted his eyes comfortably, feeling the resonance between the soul power in his body and the surrounding environment.

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

He spread his palm, his thoughts shifting slightly.

"Hum--!"

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

The orb was about the size of a chicken egg, emitting a soft, non-dazzling glow, yet Lin Ze'an could not peer into its interior.

He stared at the orb, a look of deep confusion appearing on his face.

This orb was not his soul skill, nor was it a part of Mo Ruier.

Back when he finished absorbing his first soul ring, because he lacked a second, his soul power level had been stuck at level twenty and could not increase.

However, the soul power accumulated during cultivation and the power provided by the soul ring did not dissipate; instead, it kept building up and settling within his body.

It wasn't until he successfully absorbed his second soul ring that the bottleneck was broken, and the long-accumulated soul power erupted instantly, beginning to raise his level.

But an unexpected situation occurred: this orb suddenly appeared inside his body and sucked away the soul power that exceeded level twenty.

He had been startled at the time, subconsciously trying to control his soul power and fight the orb for it.

In the end, although he managed to snatch back a portion of his soul power, stabilizing his own level at twenty-two, a part of it had still been eaten by this orb.

If it weren't for the fact that this thing carried Mo Ruier's aura, he would have called for his master to save him right then and there.

"Sigh..." Lin Ze'an curled his lip and tossed the orb to the side.

The orb traced an arc through the air and landed lightly on a cluster of blooming pale yellow flowers not far away.

"Whatever, forget it." Lin Ze'an muttered to himself, "My soul power isn't coming back anyway."

These past few days in the Star Dou Forest, although things had gone smoothly, his nerves had been constantly on edge. Between that and fussing over the courtyard earlier, he decided to wait until night to cultivate and just sleep for now.

Warm sunlight filtered through the layers of vines and leaves, spilling onto him.

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

He didn't know how much time had passed, but the setting sun began to sink below the horizon, and the sky gradually darkened.

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

However, the moment he opened them—

A round, curious little face was pressed almost against the tip of his nose.

Those large, round eyes were staring at him without blinking.

Lin Ze'an's brain was still in a hazy state. Looking at this little thing that had suddenly appeared, he subconsciously muttered, "It's a dream..."

Having said that, he slowly closed his eyes again and rolled over.

But the next second, he suddenly realized what was happening, and his body went rigid.

Wait!

He snapped his eyes open again, turned his head quickly, and looked in the direction he had been staring at before—

He saw the little thing locking gazes with him, the two of them staring at each other wide-eyed.

"..."

After a deathly silence—

"Holy beans!!!"

Lin Ze'an stared blankly at the little creature hopping around in front of him, his brain completely crashing: "Little Sprout?"

Just as he was completely unable to make sense of the situation, Little Sprout moved its two short legs, hopped twice, and jumped into his arms.

Lin Ze'an subconsciously reached out to catch it.

The little thing's body was soft, carrying a fresh scent of grass and trees, and it felt light and weightless in his arms.

No, is that the issue right now?

Little Sprout stood steady in his arms, patted his arm gently, then patted it again, its large eyes staring at him unblinkingly.

Lin Ze'an looked down at it in confusion: "What do you want to do?"

Seeing that he didn't understand, Little Sprout seemed a bit anxious and patted him harder: "Bean! Bean-bean!"

Watching its urgent demeanor, a thought suddenly flashed through Lin Ze's mind.

He hesitated slightly, but followed his inner feeling and shifted his thoughts—

A jade-green light rose from his body, and Mo Ruier appeared behind him, a gentle and vast life aura instantly permeating the air.

The very moment Mo Ruier appeared!

"Sprout--!!!"

Little Sprout let out an incredibly excited cry, leaping from Lin Ze'an's arms and landing on the ground, where it hopped around Mo Ruier in a frenzy of excitement.

It pointed its tiny claws at Mo Ruier incessantly, then looked back at Lin Ze'an, chirping over and over, "Sprout! Sprout! Sprout!"

Lin Ze'an watched Little Sprout's agitated state, then glanced at Mo Ruier, who was radiating an aura of life.

He pondered for a moment, attempting to sort out the logic behind this.

Little Sprout was not a unique individual in Seer, but rather a species...

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

Previously, for the sake of his cultivation, he had used Mo Ruier's power to transform the entire courtyard into a simulated environment rich in life energy.

The sphere of light had happened to absorb a massive amount of soul power from his body, and since he possessed Mo Ruier as his martial soul, his soul power inherently contained pure life force.

In other words... because of Mo Ruier's overwhelming life force, this special environment had accidentally birthed this Little Sprout?!

But the issue was that it had absorbed his soul power and was born right in his home... hiss...

Lin Ze'an hurriedly shook his head, casting the thought aside.

Although the conclusion still sounded preposterous, it was the only explanation that made any sense at the moment.

Otherwise, was he supposed to believe that the real Mo Ruier had airdropped a Little Sprout to him? That sounded impossible no matter how he looked at it.

A moment later, Lin Ze'an finally managed to digest this bizarre yet seemingly logical situation.

Mainly, there was simply no other reason to explain the circumstances.

"Fine..." he muttered under his breath, as if trying to convince himself. "What's done is done; besides, my martial soul is already strange enough as it is."

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

As the martial soul retracted, Little Sprout, which had been excitedly hopping around Mo Ruier, suddenly froze.

It tilted its little head, looking at Lin Ze'an, then at the spot where Mo Ruier had just vanished, appearing somewhat confused: "Sprout?"

However, it did not show any signs of unease or disappointment.

Instead, it moved its short little legs, ran back to Lin Ze'an's feet in a few steps, tilted its head up, and continued to stare at him unblinkingly with those large eyes.

For a time, man and sprout simply stood there, staring at each other.