Na'er Leaves

"I look forward to it..."

She withdrew her gaze and gave Bai Lin one last, long, lingering look, as though she wanted to carve his image into the depths of her soul.

"We..."

"Will meet again someday!"

Before her words had even faded—

"Bzzzz—!"

Dazzling seven-colored light erupted from Na'er's petite body without warning!

It was as though countless stars had been ignited in an instant!

The radiance was so sacred, so vast, carrying a transcendent pressure that made one's soul tremble!

The light instantly swallowed Na'er's figure and stabbed painfully into Bai Lin's eyes!

"Na'er!"

Bai Lin reached out in horror, trying to catch that patch of light!

Yet his hand grasped only empty air and a few strands of cool night breeze carrying a faint lingering fragrance.

The seven-colored light vanished as abruptly as it had appeared, drawing in and dispersing in an instant.

The lawn was empty.

Only lonely starlight remained, while the night wind whimpered.

It was as if that silver-haired girl had never stopped here at all.

Bai Lin's hand remained frozen in midair, still held in a grasping pose.

He stared blankly at the place where Na'er had disappeared, his mind completely empty.

The words of persuasion—"Tomorrow, we'll have a family meal before I take you home"—were still stuck in his throat, but he would never have the chance to say them.

In his spiritual sea, Hei Lin's cold voice rang out with a trace of irritation:

"Three years!"

"Bai Lin!"

"A whole three years!"

"How are you still such a pathetic mess?"

"Crying again?"

Bai Lin's consciousness abruptly returned. He instinctively raised a hand to touch his cheek—

It was dry, without a trace of tears.

Somewhat bewildered, he "looked" at Hei Lin in his spiritual sea, who stood with his arms folded and a mocking expression on his face.

"Crying?"

"I wasn't crying."

His voice echoed through the spiritual sea, carrying a strange calmness, even a hint of confusion.

"Didn't Na'er say so?"

"We'll meet again sooner or later."

"I just..."

"I just thought it was a little sudden. I didn't get to say goodbye properly."

"I originally wanted to wait until tomorrow..."

"For the whole family to have a meal together, then personally take her home."

"After all, I'm going to Eastsea City. She'd be bored staying home alone, wouldn't she? Once she goes back to her own home, she'll have her father and mother with her. Isn't that better?"

This calmness was not an act.

Three years of tempering had granted him more than strength through the Golden Dragon King's bloodline. It had also given him an almost instinctive confidence that looked down on all else!

A Titled Douluo?

So what?

He, Tang Wulin, possessed the bloodline of a god, wielded Thousand Refined Stacked Hammers, and had a cultivation speed that defied all common sense!

He firmly believed that, given enough time, even a Titled Douluo would not be his final destination!

The "reunion at greater heights" Na'er had spoken of was not some distant consolation to him, but a future that would surely come to pass!

For the first time, Hei Lin's cold black eyes truly regarded Bai Lin's calm, unruffled state of mind with a hint of scrutiny and surprise.

This kid...

He really seemed different now.

That brief sense of loss brought by parting had been so easily replaced by a more powerful force called "confidence" and "anticipation."

"Hmph."

Hei Lin snorted, acknowledging Bai Lin's current state. But then his voice took on a trace of amusement and cold inquiry.

"A reunion?"

"It won't be easy."

"The secrets this little girl carries aren't small."

His icy thoughts dissected the information they knew like a scalpel.

"She possesses the Silver Dragon King's bloodline, yet there was no reaction at all during the martial soul awakening ceremony..."

"That alone is abnormal!"

"The only explanation..."

Hei Lin lowered his voice, sharp as though piercing through fog.

"She doesn't need to awaken at all!"

"Because her 'martial soul'..."

"Or rather, her true body..."

"Is the Silver Dragon King herself!"

Boom!

This earth-shattering conjecture exploded through Bai Lin's consciousness like a thunderclap!

He instantly recalled the description of the Silver Dragon King in that nameless book, recalled the stirring from deep within his bloodline when he had first met Na'er, and recalled the strange instinct she occasionally revealed to control the elements...

Every clue seemed to point toward this unbelievable yet only reasonable answer!

Bai Lin fell silent.

Under the starlight, he stood alone on the empty lawn as the night wind tousled the loose strands of hair before his forehead.

After the shock, an even more complicated yet resolute emotion slowly settled in his heart.

He raised his head and looked toward the direction where Na'er had vanished, toward that deep, boundless starry sky that seemed capable of embracing everything.

Within those clear brown eyes, there was no fear and no hesitation. There was only a rock-solid calm and...

An unquestionable resolve to protect.

Whether she was Na'er, the amnesiac girl who had wandered the streets, or the Silver Dragon King recorded in that book—the common ruler of soul beasts who commanded the elements and possessed both wisdom and strength...

"No matter who she is, what identity she has, or what responsibilities she bears..."

Bai Lin's consciousness echoed through the spiritual sea. Every word was like an oath, clearly and firmly branded into the depths of his soul.

"She will always... be my little sister."

"She was in the past, she is now..."

"And she certainly will be in the future!"

Deep within the spiritual sea, Hei Lin watched Bai Lin's unwavering will and the spiritual space trembling faintly because of his oath. In the end, he merely closed his cold eyes in silence.

Yet the corner of his mouth seemed to lift ever so slightly.

The night wind swept over the lawn, carrying the faint chirping of insects from afar.

Bai Lin still stood where he was. His small figure seemed so insignificant beneath the vast starry sky, yet it also seemed to contain a power capable of shaking the future.

He slowly clenched his fist, feeling the surging Golden Dragon King bloodline within him and the cold touch of the pair of dark silver stacked hammers inside the storage ring on his wrist.

Become stronger!

For protection, for reunion, for that cry of "Brother"!

The path beneath his feet had only just begun.

And at the end of that path, he was destined to cross paths with that silver moonlight once again.

The morning sunlight streamed through the window and fell upon the somewhat empty dining table.

Tang Ziran and Lang Yue sat facing each other. The breakfast before them was still plentiful, but it lacked some of its usual noise and warmth.

The letter Na'er had left behind when she departed without a word was now carefully tucked into the pocket closest to Lang Yue's heart. The graceful handwriting on the paper and every line brimming with gratitude and reluctance...

Were like the gentlest medicine, barely soothing the enormous sense of loss and emptiness in the hearts of the kind-hearted couple.

They ate in silence, their gazes drifting from time to time toward the place where Na'er had once sat, their eyes filled with lingering melancholy.

Bai Lin quietly finished his astonishingly large breakfast, then set down his bowl and chopsticks.

He looked at the lingering sorrow between his parents' brows. His heart stung faintly, but what he felt even more was a heavy sense of responsibility.

He rose to his feet, his voice carrying the clear brightness unique to a young boy and a nearly imperceptible note of reassurance.

"Dad, Mom, I'm done eating."

"It's time to go."