A breeze brushed through the corridor, carrying the warmth of the afternoon sun.
Na'er clung tightly to Xiao Chen's arm, her little head tilted slightly upward. Her silver eyes brimmed with irrepressible excitement, and her whole body radiated eagerness, as though she had just told Xiao Chen some tremendous piece of good news.
Seeing her sly, lively, endearingly innocent look, utterly unable to hide what was on her mind, Xiao Chen was somewhat speechless. "So, what's the good news? What made you fly straight over to find me the moment class ended?"
With Xiao Chen asking again, Na'er stopped keeping him in suspense. Her expression instantly filled with smug delight, and she puffed out her chest slightly, as though she had received the highest honor, before announcing proudly.
"It's a mission Teacher assigned me!"
At the mention of it, the light in Na'er's eyes grew even brighter, and pride covered her little face.
"A mission? What mission?" Xiao Chen raised an eyebrow and asked calmly.
Seeing his reaction, Na'er grew even more pleased with herself. She leaned a little closer, her soft voice carrying a hint of showing off. "Teacher wants me to travel out of town alone to assess a newcomer, check her talent and aptitude, and decide whether she's qualified to join our Spirit Transferring Pagoda!"
After saying that, her eyes shifted slightly, a trace of slyness flashing through them as she smoothly added, "And Teacher specifically said I could bring you along too, big brother!"
Hearing this, Xiao Chen immediately pressed a hand to his forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
He instantly understood Na'er's little scheme. This girl was clearly using the mission as an excuse to drag him out for some fun and have him lend her some presence along the way.
"So you're going out of your way to find work for your big brother when he has nothing to do?"
Xiao Chen looked at her helplessly.
Having her little scheme exposed on the spot did not embarrass Na'er in the slightest. Instead, she giggled, hugged Xiao Chen's arm even tighter, and gently shook it, slipping into her well-practiced wheedling routine.
Her soft, sweet voice drew out its endings, making her especially endearing. "Big brother~ My dear big brother~ Just help me out!"
The girl's hair was soft, her eyes curved into crescents, and her gaze was dewy. No one could have hardened their heart enough to refuse her.
Looking at her like this, Xiao Chen felt helpless. Then he silently considered their current cultivation levels, and a few doubts could not help rising in his mind.
His own Soul Power had long since steadily broken through to rank thirty-three, settling firmly at the level of a rank thirty-three, three-ring Soul Elder.
Meanwhile, Na'er beside him, without the world-shaking wisdom of Gu Yue in the original story, had already reached rank twenty-nine.
She might have appeared to possess only rank twenty-nine Soul Power, a step away from becoming a Soul Elder, but Na'er's Martial Soul was the Silver Dragon Spear, and she was also half of the Silver Dragon King. If she truly fought, crushing Soul Masters in their thirties would have been effortless.
With Na'er's current strength, she had no need for his assistance in assessing a newcomer who had yet to join the Spirit Transferring Pagoda.
Logically, Na'er alone was more than capable of completing this newcomer assessment mission reliably. There was no need to go out of her way to bring him along to help.
"You're already rank twenty-nine, and I'm rank thirty-three. It's just assessing a newcomer. Do you really need me to come along?" Xiao Chen asked in puzzlement, his gaze resting on Na'er.
The instant he finished speaking, inspiration suddenly flashed through Xiao Chen's mind, and countless memories of the original story rapidly connected.
At this time, at this point in the plot, across the entire Douluo Continent, with joining the Spirit Transferring Pagoda as another condition, there was only one person who fit everything! World-shaking wisdom!
Xiao Chen's pupils narrowed slightly, and he instinctively blurted out, "Is the location Eastsea City?"
Hearing Xiao Chen name the location precisely, Na'er's face instantly filled with astonishment. Her little mouth fell slightly open as she stared at him in disbelief.
"Huh? How did you know, big brother?"
Leng Yaoyu had only just informed her about this not long ago. She had not yet had time to mention the location to anyone, yet Xiao Chen had guessed it at once. It was truly incredible.
Seeing Na'er's shocked expression, Xiao Chen understood.
Without needing to think any further, he was now completely certain who that person was.
Eastsea City, at this point in time, a talented newcomer admitted into the Spirit Transferring Pagoda as an exception—it had to be Gu Yue putting her world-shaking wisdom into action.
No matter how the worldline changed, Gu Yue's world-shaking wisdom was always an element that demanded a good savoring.
No wonder Na'er, usually so confident and proud, had specifically dragged him along to Eastsea City for the assessment.
Having figured that out, Xiao Chen instantly understood Na'er's little scheme.
But he truly could not understand why, even without those three years spent with Tang Wulin from the original story, Gu Yue still insisted on playing the pig to eat the tiger.
Shouldn't she have gone straight after Tang Wulin, seized the Golden Dragon King Divine Core, and then launched her revenge against humanity?
Because of this concern, he had placed all his trump cards on the Command Block.
Over these four years, he had constantly wanted to summon the Command Block for an extended period, but most of the time, the Command Block had resisted appearing. During one attempt at exploring it, he had discovered a line of code: /gamemodesurvival.
It had shocked Xiao Chen outright. When he tried to change a few letters, he was ejected from his Sea of Consciousness.
It's just changing a few letters. How stingy.
Returning from his recollections, Xiao Chen looked at Na'er again, already understanding her little scheme.
Na'er must have felt uncertain about Gu Yue, which was why her first thought had been to bring him along and have him back her up.
"I just suddenly remembered a few things."
Xiao Chen gathered his thoughts, keeping his expression unchanged as he brushed it aside.
Na'er was simple-minded, her head filled with thoughts of how to teach Gu Yue a lesson, so she did not probe further. She soon tossed that little doubt to the back of her mind and tugged at Xiao Chen's arm again, wheedling and acting cute.
She tilted her head up slightly, her sparkling eyes fixed unblinkingly on Xiao Chen. Her voice was soft, with a hint of grievance. "Big brother, just help your little sister Na'er."
"This is my first time carrying out an official mission on my own. You wouldn't want your poor little sister to embarrass herself and botch her very first mission, would you?"
The girl pouted slightly, her gaze innocent and pitiful, looking as though she would feel wronged if he refused to help. It was impossible to turn her down.
Looking at her adorable wheedling, Xiao Chen had no answer left, although he did not want to get too close to Gu Yue either. After all, who knew what Gu Yue was plotting this time?
But now that Na'er was wheedling and acting cute with him, he agreed. He would take it as a chance to see what Gu Yue wanted to do now.
Besides, this was a meeting between Gu Yue and Na'er. He was already destined to be unable to stay out of it, and he did not want Na'er, with whom he had spent four years, to inexplicably become fusion material.
Right, Princess Tang? Right, Tang Wulin?
"All right, all right."
Xiao Chen shook his head helplessly and relented with a smile. "You win. I'll go with you and help."
With Xiao Chen's affirmative answer, Na'er's eyes instantly lit up. She burst into cheers and bounced with joy on the spot, her little face beaming as brilliantly as flowers in full bloom, her delight overflowing.
She hugged Xiao Chen's arm tightly, her confidence instantly swelling.
With Xiao Chen accompanying her, what did she have to fear?
No matter how Gu Yue was doing now, she had the strongest helper backing her up!
Fighting spirit and smug delight flashed through Na'er's eyes as she silently declared to herself, Gu Yue, just you wait! I've found the strongest helper for this assessment. Let's see how you compete with me now!
The wind had already quietly turned toward the East Sea.
The curtain was about to rise slowly in Eastsea City on a first meeting belonging to the Silver Dragon King.
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