Bo Saixi Questions Her Life

The old man nodded mechanically, bent over to pick up the booklet, and flipped to the next page. "N-Next..."

During the awakening ceremonies that followed, no matter what Martial Souls were awakened, the people in the square felt underwhelmed.

Are you kidding? Having just witnessed the descent of the Sea God's Nine Trials, looking at sea grass, kelp, and little seashells made the drop-off in contrast far too severe.

Bo Saixi grabbed Jiang Lan and flew all the way back to Sea God Palace, with such speed that Jiang Lan felt as though he had been shoved into a top-load washing machine.

Upon landing, his penguin onesie had already been completely ballooned up by the wind, looking exactly like an inflated blowfish.

"Puff-ha!" Jiang Lan pulled his head out from inside the hood, his hair standing on end like a sea urchin. "Can you give us a warning before taking off!"

Bo Saixi ignored his protest, crossing her arms instead and looking him up and down with a scrutinizing gaze.

Jiang Lan felt his entire body prickle under her gaze, instinctively summoning Doro to block in front of him.

Doro was still sleeping.

After being summoned, this white dumpling merely changed its posture from lying on its back to lying on its side, its four little padded paws unconsciously kicking twice while making smacking noises with its mouth, as if eating something in a dream.

Bo Saixi lowered her head to look at this white dumpling sleeping soundly to the world, falling silent for three seconds.

"...Is this the Martial Soul you awakened?"

"Mm-ga."

"What abilities does it have?"

Jiang Lan thought about it. "Sleeping?"

Bo Saixi: "..."

She took a deep breath, telling herself to stay calm; this was the successor chosen by Lord Sea God, so she couldn't hit him—if she hit him, Lord Sea God would be displeased.

"Other than sleeping?"

Jiang Lan thought about it again, then reached out to poke Doro's round belly.

Doro was poked into rolling over, emitting a soft, sweet doro~, and then continued sleeping.

"The texture is great, it's very stress-relieving, and it also likes eating oranges," Jiang Lan said earnestly.

Bo Saixi felt her temples throbbing violently.

She had lived for over a hundred years and witnessed countless astonishing and brilliant Martial Souls—Twin Martial Souls, top-tier Beast Martial Souls, God-given Martial Souls. What hadn't she seen?

Yet a white dumpling that served no purpose other than sleeping and having a nice texture could actually trigger the Sea God's Nine Trials?

Lord Sea God, are you serious?

Even if Jiang Lan was your illegitimate child, it shouldn't be to this extent, right?

Bo Saixi massaged her brow, deciding to temporarily skip this topic.

"Little Guga, Mom Bo Saixi, don't worry, we're very formidable." Jiang Lan patted his chest and said to Bo Saixi.

When Jiang Lan said this, he slapped his little chest until it made a loud thump, and the expression on his face was as confident as could be.

Bo Saixi looked at his chubby face, then looked at the white dumpling by his feet that was still smacking its lips, her mouth twitching.

"Formidable?" Bo Saixi raised one eyebrow. "Do tell, exactly where is it formidable?"

Jiang Lan cleared his throat, put his hands on his hips, and struck a pose as if he were about to show off his skills.

"Watch closely, ga!"

He summoned Doro back in front of him, then squatted down, pressed his palms together, and looked as solemn as if he were about to perform some sacred ritual.

Bo Saixi unconsciously held her breath.

Perhaps this white dumpling really concealed some earth-shattering ability, and it just needed a specific method to be stimulated.

Jiang Lan took a deep breath, then pulled an orange out of the pocket on the belly of his penguin onesie.

Bo Saixi: "..."

Jiang Lan waved the orange back and forth in front of Doro.

The next second, that white dumpling—which had been sleeping soundly and heavily—suddenly twitched its nose.

Immediately following that, those large purple eyes snapped open, and with lightning speed, it extended two short, fleshy paws, grabbed the orange in a tight embrace, and then opened its mouth to bite down with an ah-wu.

Without even peeling the skin.

"Doro~!"

Doro emitted the first awake cry of the day, its cheeks bulging, its purple bean-like eyes narrowing into two slits, and its face written full of happiness.

Bo Saixi: "..."

Just this?

She had waited for half a day, and the hidden, earth-shattering secret was that it loved eating oranges?

"Just this?" Bo Saixi couldn't help herself, letting the words in her heart slip out.

"There's more, ga!" Jiang Lan said without looking back. "Doro, show Mom Bo Saixi a trick!"

Doro swallowed the orange in two or three bites, then tilted its head to look at Jiang Lan, and then looked at Bo Saixi, seeming to comprehend what showing a trick meant.

After three seconds, it seemed to understand.

Doro took a deep breath, the body of the entire white dumpling beginning to swell, transforming from a soft, sticky little dumpling into a round white balloon.

Then it opened its mouth and burped in an earth-shattering manner.

"Hiccup—!"

Bo Saixi: "..."

At this moment, Bo Saixi felt that Lord Sea God might as well have given Jiang Lan a God-bestowed Martial Soul.

With such a ghost of a Martial Soul awakened, she didn't even know what was best to say.

Bo Saixi stood in place, the expression on her face looking as though she had swallowed a live octopus.

She looked at the white dumpling that had shrunk back to its original size after burping, contentedly licked its hand, and then tilted its head to fall fast asleep again, sinking into a silence that lasted a full ten seconds.

The entire Sea God Palace was so quiet that only Doro's faint snoring remained.

Jiang Lan remained utterly oblivious to how wonderfully dramatic his Mom Bo Saixi's internal monologue was. He picked up the sleeping Doro, holding it in his arms like a plush toy, and raised his head to look at Bo Saixi with bright, sparkling eyes.

"How is it? Very formidable, right?"

Bo Saixi opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.

To call it formidable would violate her conscience.

To call it not formidable—the golden trident of the Sea God's Nine Trials was still glowing brightly right there on this kid's forehead, and she didn't dare slap Lord Sea God in the face.

"...Impressive," Bo Saixi squeezed the two words out from between her teeth.

Jiang Lan instantly beamed into a blooming flower, the hood of his penguin onesie slipping back to the back of his head and revealing his fleshy face smiling so hard his eyes were practically gone.

"I told you so, ga! Doro is the most formidable Martial Soul in the world!"

A faint doro came from Jiang Lan's arms, seemingly representing this white dumpling expressing agreement in its dream.

Bo Saixi took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

For over a hundred years, her emotions should long ago have reached the state where even if Mount Tai collapsed before her, her expression wouldn't change.

Back when facing Qian Daoliu's challenge, she didn't even twitch an eyebrow.

Back when the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King invaded, she calmly finished the tea in her hand before going out to meet the battle.

Yet today, facing a six-year-old child wearing a penguin onesie and a white dumpling that only knew how to sleep, eat oranges, and burp, her mental state nearly collapsed.

"Alright, put the Martial Soul away," Bo Saixi massaged her temples. "You're tired today as well, go first to—"

Before she finished speaking, her gaze swept across the golden trident mark on Jiang Lan's forehead and abruptly paused.

That trident mark was glowing.

A ball of blue light appeared in the sky and merged into Jiang Lan's body.