"Come on, little San, open wide~!"
"Ah~!"
Dragon King Era
Tang San felt his parents' love with tears in his eyes.
Ever since he had been adopted, the ever-present care of Tang Wulin's adoptive parents, their love that cherished him to the very marrow, had completely reshaped Tang San's world.
"Dad, Mom, is this what it's like to be a child with a mother???"
Eating the food his mother fed him, Tang San cried outright with happiness.
Damn it, he had never had a good life in either of his two lifetimes. In his first life, he had been a Tang Sect orphan with neither father nor mother.
In his second life, at the Blacksmith Shop in Holy Soul Village, he had only had a father, and that father had been Tang Hao.
Tang Hao had paid him no attention whatsoever. From the moment he could walk, he had started learning to cook rice and other dishes, or he really would have gone hungry. Though he would not have starved to death, he had gone hungry three meals a day.
And Tang Hao? He had been immersed in the pain of losing Ah Yin. If he had not still remembered that Tang San was Ah Yin's son, Tang San might well have starved to death long ago.
From the time he had taken his first tottering steps, Tang San had taken over the cooking. Not only had he needed to look after himself, but he had also needed to care for Tang Hao, who was lost in alcohol and the pain of losing Ah Yin.
In his mind, there were no parents in the wrong, only children who wrongly blamed their parents.
After experiencing Sea God Tang San using his son as bait, forcibly splitting his daughter's soul and sending her to the lower realm to fish for a Child of Destiny, after experiencing Tang Hao's complete neglect of his own child, and then experiencing the meticulous affection of Tang Wulin's adoptive parents.
Tang San's worldview from both lifetimes had been washed completely clean.
The days of his previous life, when he had cooked for himself if he was hungry, or gone hungry until Tang Hao woke up before he could eat, were gone.
They had been swept away completely by his mother's warm embrace every morning when he woke, and his father's caring questions about whether he had slept comfortably the night before.
Tang Hao? Someone unrelated, merely a passerby.
He woke to a table full of food, with his parents competing to feed him. This let Tang San truly experience a life surrounded by love, a life in which he was affirmed...
Now Tang San finally felt the happiness of Tang Wulin's childhood. That childhood really could heal an entire lifetime.
At the thought that he would have a little sister in the future, and that she would become his wife, Tang San's happiness soared. Because of the Golden Dragon King, he polished off another two full bowls of rice.
Only once he was completely full did Tang San suddenly realize that his dad and mom had not eaten yet. They were watching him with concern all over their faces.
"S-sorry, Dad, Mom. I ate too much. You haven't eaten yet. How could I do this..."
What answered Tang San was not cursing or blame, but only concern and affection.
His mother stroked his head. "Little San, were you hungry? Have you had enough? Would you like Mommy to make some more?"
"Mwah~! My little San is so handsome."
His father held Tang San's hand. "It's all right for little San to eat a lot, as long as you don't waste food. Making sure his child has enough to eat is what a dad should do."
"How does your body feel? Do you feel unwell anywhere? Should we go to the hospital?"
Boom~!!!
Roars thundered through Tang San's mind in an instant. His dad and mom could not bear to eat, worried only that he had not eaten enough.
Even though neither of them had eaten, even though he had finished all the food, they only cared whether he was full and whether he felt unwell.
Making sure his child had enough to eat was what a dad should do. Those words kept echoing through Tang San's mind.
"Waaah~! Dad, Mom, these are my dad and mom... my birth parents, not Tang Wulin's, not adoptive parents. These are my, Tang San's, birth parents!!!"
Across two lifetimes, when had Tang San ever experienced such a bombardment of familial love? He was moved to tears outright, crying with snot and tears streaming down his face.
But there was still worry in his heart.
"That wretched Sea God Tang San actually used his own son to fish, scheming for the Golden Dragon King's terrifying power. Now he's left me to bear the consequences that are about to burst this body apart."
"No, I can't die, and I can't let Dad and Mom die either."
[Would you like to exchange for your original body?] [Huo Yuhao has already exchanged back into his own body. Your body is now within the Heart-Questioning Space. You must obtain Tang Wulin's consent before the two of you can exchange back into the bodies that originally belonged to you.]
Exchange back into my body?
Would that mean I wouldn't have to endure the pain of the Golden Dragon King Power bursting my body apart??
"Wait, would Huo Yuhao really be that kind?"
"He wanted to kill me in the Heart-Questioning Space. He wouldn't just give me my body back for no reason, would he??"
"Besides, the Golden Dragon King's power is at the peak of God King. When I schemed against Tang Wulin back then, I should have left some backup measures too..."
Looking at the option to exchange back into his body, Tang San hesitated. He craved power and wanted to protect the people he wanted to protect.
Time trickled by until he awakened his Martial Soul at six years old, awakening Blue Silver Grass with innate level 3 soul power. Tang San was not discouraged, because he discovered that he could practice the Mysterious Heaven Skill normally.
His dad and mom's comforting words.
After awakening his Martial Soul, he craved food even more. Tang San ate more and more, until the family's expenses exceeded their income.
Tang San keenly noticed that his dad and mom had started waiting until he stopped eating before they ate.
"No, no, if this goes on, I'll eat this family into poverty before I even grow up."
Looking at the body exchange, Tang San hesitated for the first time, until, late one night once again, he saw his dad and mom eating his leftovers, afraid to let him see. His defenses crumbled completely.
"Exchange! I agree to the exchange!"
Faced with parents who loved him, Tang San could not bear to watch any longer. More than power at the peak of God King, he wanted his dad and mom to have enough to eat.
Because they were the dad and mom who loved him, who cherished him to the marrow and gave him everything they could.
At the same time
Peerless Era.
Another option appeared in Tang Wulin's mind as he existed in soul form.
[Tang San has agreed to exchange bodies. Do you agree to exchange bodies and receive your original body?]
Exchange back into my original body?
He thought of the heart-piercing agony of his Golden Dragon Bloodline awakening, but then he thought of Huo Yun'er being bullied. If only his body were even a little stronger...
Tang Wulin hesitated. Huo Yun'er was his mother.
But that body carried sinful blood, Sea God Tang San's bloodline. Tang Wulin was afraid, afraid that he could not save Huo Yun'er, and even more afraid that he would die, unable to endure the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, and be unable to save Mommy Yun'er.
"Wenxin, can I still go back?"
[No!]
"But I no longer have a body, so I can't continue the Life Exchange. What if I refuse?"
[Wenxin will form a new physical body suitable for bearing the bloodline!]
After hearing Wenxin's prompt, Tang Wulin decisively refused.
"I refuse to exchange bodies. I want to save Mommy Yun'er with my own strength!!!"
Hum~!
After Tang Wulin's words fell, a powerful, sturdy body wrapped in golden light slowly took shape, the Dragon God Bloodline flowing within it...
Meanwhile, in the Dragon King Era.
[Tang Wulin has refused to exchange back into the body that originally belonged to him. Your previous body will soon fuse with your current body.]
Squelch~!!!
In an instant, intense pain swept through Tang San's entire body.
"Aaargh~!!!"
A shrill scream instantly tore through the sky. When Tang Wulin's adoptive parents rushed over, they saw Tang San, who no longer looked human.
"Little San!!!"
"Little San, hold on! I'll find a Healing Soul Master right now to save you!!!"
Fortunately, under the current Federation system, as long as you had not died on the spot, a little flesh wound could still be treated.
"Sorry, we've done everything we could to save your child's life. Your son might... no, daughter..."
"Little San, little San, it's all right. A daughter is fine too. Mommy loves daughters best."
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