Little Brother?

Sword Douluo picked her up and set her on his lap, gently patting the top of her head.

"Grandpa is talking about a little big brother around your age. He has a very good martial soul too, and Grandpa wants to take him as a disciple."

Ning Rongrong's smile froze on her face.

She stared blankly at Sword Douluo, her little mouth slowly flattening, as mist gathered in her eyes at a visible speed.

"Grandpa Sword wants to take a disciple?"

Her voice began to tremble.

"Then, then what about Rongrong? Does Grandpa Sword not want Rongrong anymore?"

After she said that, bean-sized tears fell with pitter-patters, impossible to stop.

The three adults in the council hall froze at the same time.

Sword Douluo hurriedly wiped Ning Rongrong's tears. That hand, which had held a sword for sixty years and was steady as bedrock, seemed incomparably clumsy at this moment as it wiped away a six-year-old girl's tears.

"How could I not want Rongrong? Rongrong is Grandpa's treasure. Grandpa would give up anyone before giving up Rongrong."

Ning Rongrong sobbed in starts and stops, her little shoulders shaking.

"Then, then why does Grandpa Sword want to take a disciple? Once you have a disciple, you'll, you'll stop doting on Rongrong..."

Sword Douluo and Ning Fengzhi glanced at each other, both seeing a trace of helplessness and amusement in the other's eyes.

"Rongrong."

Sword Douluo turned Ning Rongrong around to face him, wearing a smile specially used to coax children.

"Grandpa taking a disciple doesn't mean I don't want Rongrong. Grandpa is finding Rongrong a..."

His gaze flicked toward Ning Fengzhi, as if asking for help.

Ning Fengzhi smiled faintly and took over.

"A playmate."

"Playmate?"

Ning Rongrong's crying quieted a little, and she looked at her father through tear-blurred eyes.

"Yes, a playmate."

Sword Douluo hurriedly followed along.

"Think about it, Rongrong. Though there are children in the sect about your age, they're all afraid of you and don't dare play with you, right?"

Ning Rongrong sniffled and nodded, full of grievance.

That was the truth.

She was the sect master's daughter. Children her age in the sect were all proper and well-behaved when they saw her. Who would dare roughhouse with her?

"This little big brother is different. He isn't afraid of people, he's very bold, and..."

Sword Douluo lowered his voice a few notches, carrying a mysterious air specially meant for coaxing children.

"And you can tease him."

Ning Rongrong's crying stopped.

She raised a pair of red, tearful eyes to look at Sword Douluo, her gaze hesitant.

"Tease him?"

"Yes."

Sword Douluo nodded with a perfectly serious expression.

"Think about it. He's Grandpa's disciple, so that makes him your... mm, your little brother. Aren't little brothers meant to be teased?"

Ning Rongrong blinked.

To her six-year-old brain, this logic did indeed seem to make sense.

She tilted her little head and thought about it, then thought some more. Then her tears slowly stopped, though she was still hiccupping between sobs.

"Can I really tease him?"

"Of course. As long as you don't go too far."

In his heart, Sword Douluo silently apologized to that little disciple who had yet to enter his tutelage.

To coax Rongrong, I can only let you suffer a little first.

Ning Rongrong finally stopped crying.

She used the back of her hand to messily wipe the tear streaks from her face, smearing her little face until she looked like a little calico cat.

Then she raised her head and looked at Sword Douluo. The grievance from earlier was already gone from her eyes, replaced by the proud, spoiled expression of a little princess inspecting a future subordinate.

"Then will he listen to me?"

"He's Grandpa's disciple, and you're Grandpa's treasure. Of course he has to listen to you."

Sword Douluo answered without the slightest hesitation.

Ning Rongrong nodded in satisfaction, then seemed to remember something important and pressed again.

"Is he strong? Rongrong doesn't want a weak little brother."

Bone Douluo watched from the side, so envious his eyes practically burned.

Only after Ning Rongrong was finally coaxed happy and jumped down from Sword Douluo's knee to run off and eat snacks did he lean over and slap Sword Douluo on the shoulder. The force was so great that even Sword Douluo's teacup wobbled.

"Swordsman, this time you really picked up a treasure."

Bone Douluo's voice was full of undisguised envy, even carrying a faintly sour note.

"Assault system, top-tier mutated martial soul, innate full soul power, and a special body-tempering technique as his foundation. A seedling like that is as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns across the entire Douluo Continent. And you? You just went out for a stroll and ran into him."

Sword Douluo lifted his teacup and slowly took a sip. His face remained calm and unreadable, but the slight curve at the corner of his mouth betrayed his mood.

"Fate."

He said only two words.

"Fate, my ass."

Bone Douluo laughed and cursed, then leaned a little closer and lowered his voice.

"When are you taking him in?"

As soon as that question came out, even Ning Fengzhi set down his teacup and looked over.

"After he obtains his first soul ring."

His voice was unhurried.

"That child made a bet with someone, betting that he could break the age limit of the first soul ring. Four hundred and twenty-three years—he wants to break it."

Bone Douluo's brows furrowed slightly.

"Break the limit? That's not something you can do just by saying it. An iron law recognized by the continent, a threshold countless geniuses have failed to cross for thousands of years, and he's just a six-year-old child..."

"That is why this old man will wait."

Sword Douluo interrupted him, his tone calm but firm.

"If he can break the limit, it means he has more than just good talent—he also has the courage and strength to go against the heavens. A disciple like that would be worth taking. If he cannot break it..."

He paused.

"If he cannot break it, then he is still a top-tier martial soul with innate full soul power, still a seedling rarely seen in a hundred years. This old man will still take him in, only the way I take him in will be different."

Bone Douluo fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"You old thing, even taking in a disciple has to involve so many twists and turns."

As the two of them spoke, a crisp little voice cut in from the side.

"Grandpa Sword, what does breaking the limit mean?"

At some point, Ning Rongrong had run back over. She was clutching a half-eaten piece of osmanthus cake in her hand, crumbs still stuck to the corner of her mouth.

She tilted up her little face, her big eyes full of curiosity.

Sword Douluo thought for a moment, then explained in a way she could understand.

"Rongrong knows what soul rings are?"

"I know! They're those shiny circles on soul masters!"

Ning Rongrong raised her little hand and drew a circle in the air, then lowered her head to look at herself and pouted a little dejectedly.

"Rongrong doesn't have one yet."

"Rongrong will have one very soon too."

Sword Douluo comforted her, then continued.

"Soul rings have different ages. The higher the age, the stronger the soul skill. But there is a limit to the age of the soul ring a person's body can withstand. For example, for the first soul ring, the highest limit recognized on the continent is four hundred and twenty-three years. If it exceeds that age, the body will be unable to bear it, and there will be danger."

"That little brother said he wants to break this limit and absorb a first soul ring older than four hundred and twenty-three years."

After Ning Rongrong listened, a serious expression appeared on her little face, as if she were trying hard to understand what those words meant.

After a while, she suddenly slapped the remaining half of the osmanthus cake in her hand onto the table, lifted her little head, pointed her nostrils at the sky, and gave a hmph.

"If he can really do it..."

She dragged out her voice, imitating the adults' tone, and said each word deliberately.

"Then he'll barely be qualified to be Grandpa Sword's disciple and become my little brother!"