He paused, his tone growing gentler still.
"With so many heavenly prodigies here, how can Ning Rongrong stay cooped up in the sect every day? Let her get out more, watch the matches, and broaden her horizons."
Chen Xin frowned slightly. "You want her to befriend those geniuses?"
"Befriend them?" Ning Fengzhi shook his head, a trace of a father's helplessness entering his smile.
"Don't you know what my daughter is like? She's proud as can be. Ordinary people don't catch her eye, and ordinary people don't dare approach her. How could I expect her to go and make friends?"
He paused.
"I was thinking, what if... what if someone catches her fancy?"
The corner of Chen Xin's eye twitched.
Ning Fengzhi continued, "Ning Rongrong is growing up. She can't be a Little Demoness forever. If she happens to give some outstanding young man a second glance while watching the matches, then as her father, I ought to be prepared, shouldn't I?"
Chen Xin fell silent for a moment, then said quietly, "Ning Rongrong is still young. There's no hurry."
At those words, Ning Fengzhi's smile stiffened slightly before he shook his head with a chuckle.
"Uncle Jian, I know you dote on her like your own granddaughter."
He sighed, turning his gaze toward the crowd in the distance, which had begun to disperse.
"But think about it. Which of these youngsters emerging in this tournament isn't a dragon or phoenix among people? Yu Tianxin, Feng Xiaotian, Lia, Lan Fo'er, Melida..."
He paused, his tone taking on a hint of wistfulness. "Once they grow into their full strength, the continent will belong to them. If Ning Rongrong doesn't get to know them now, by the time she wants to, the major powers will already be scrambling to secure marriage alliances