Before I could react, the red-haired girl jumped straight off Quanta's shoulder. I subconsciously prepared myself to catch her when my mind caught onto her realm: Middle stage Golden Core Realm.
She elegantly landed in front of me. Her jeans and white shirt fluttered momentarily before returning to normal.
"Uncle Tian?" She asked cautiously.
"You got it right."
She visibly heaved a sigh of relief. Her tense face relaxed as she bowed slightly towards me, her left palm cupping her right fist.
"Greetings, Uncle Tian."
"There's no need for formality."
"Really?! That's good! I also didn't like formalities!"
The girl's face brightened up. She looked like a typical eighteen-year-old about to attend college, but I could see bits of her childishness seeping out.
"From the moment I heard about you from Dad, I knew you would be the best uncle! My older brother is way too serious. Like, really serious…"
…
Well.
While I held back the urge to laugh, I searched up for her name—Edison. I see they named her in honor of their old friend… the one they lost in Manhattan City. This made me remember the non-honkai related power their old friend held.
"Older brother?"
"Hmn. One time, I tried asking him what dual cultivation was. He refused to tell me, so I searched it up on the Star Network."
Hearing her words made me worried as to how she grew up.
"He didn't tell me straight up it was a forbidden technique that consumes lifespans!"
"..."
…
Damn.
All I could say was damn. Welt Yang's parenting… Well, Tesla's too. It is next level parenting I did not see up until now. I mean, how did they hide the truth about the widespread definition of dual cultivation up until now?
Perhaps that is why Edison felt more childish compared to her one hundred years of age. Nobody can really interfere with others' parenting unless they themselves asked for it, so there's that difficulty too.
For a moment, the difficulties of bringing up a child took over my mind. My extremely swift thoughts passed in an instant, returning me back to reality.
"Why did you search it up?" I curiously asked.
"Because there are foreign gods outside. I know I'll fight them someday… and I don't want mom, dad, and my brother to fight without me."
I heaved a sigh as I listened to her words.
"In that regard… you don't need to worry much." I paused before adding, "Because I am here."
I did not intend to joke this time. I don't want the future generations to worry about the clash that would occur the moment the fragile imaginary barrier disappears.
"...You are just as cool as the history books make it out to be."
"..."
I felt my soul cringing upon hearing those words. Sin's propaganda ran deep for well over five hundred years. Seeing its effects now… I kind of regret allowing her to keep writing.
"Do you know where your dad is? I need to talk about something with him."
"Oh… that's what I am trying to find out too. Mom kicked him out of the house after a disagreement. I am trying to find him so they can make up."
I must have said it multiple times in the past five minutes, but damn. Welt Yang is facing the dad treatment. The one that gets him relegated to sleeping on the sofa, or worse, gets kicked out of the house.
"I'll help you find him. It'll be over in a jiffy."
"Thanks, uncle!"
I know I am old, but hearing the word 'uncle' directed at me feels strange. All I can do is to accept it with open arms, still. The two of us left the hidden dimension as we followed the tracks I found upon divination. I also found out the reason behind Welt Yang's and Tesla's fight. It was nothing more than the former being a workaholic to the point he forgot to go for Edison's 100th birthday. He felt burdened by the help he received from others over and over again.
For once, Edison's older brother, Joffrey Welt Joyce, is a clone of Welt Joyce whom Tesla and Welt Yang adopted. It took a lot of help from Seele and Veliona to make up for his lacking soul and mind—something that came from being a clone. It isn't as bad as the problem with the people from Seele's Bubble World, but it's close.
Then there is the Spirit Raising Pills. One batch of refinement gives out fifteen pills at best. Three of them went to Welt Yang. To be more specific, to Tesla, Joffrey, and Einstein. Edison possessed a high-grade spirit root since birth.
These two combined turned him into a workaholic who focused most of his attention in the Artifact Forging Peak's top-priority projects.
To be honest, it reminded me of something similar to the mid-life crises faced by a movie protagonist who, upon encountering an event, ends up realizing that what they did was wrong. A cliche used in most old movies made in the 90's in my previous life.
Looking at the enthusiastic and somewhat clueless girl, I could already see where this is headed…
*****
Welt Yang had a winning hand. He managed to close the deal with Tesla despite the multiple layers of complexity between their relationship. They managed to bring up Joffrey well, even going as far as to allow him to become an immortal cultivator. They also had a daughter of their own who ended up inheriting his high-grade spirit root.
All of that was ruined by his stubbornness. He could see where everyone was going. He could understand others when they pointed out his mistakes. He was well-aware of his shortcomings as a father. Not being able to attend his daughter's 100th birthday despite promising to do so is a clear mistake no matter which angle it was viewed from.
Still, he could not let go of his beliefs. Fighting for Earth's humanity, and then the solar system as a whole, is a unified effort. At the very least, Welt Yang believes he could never be absent for it. Thus he worked overtime to pull through the tight deadlines for the Artifact Forging Peak's top-priority projects.
That was what he believed… until two familiar faces dropped by at his workshop.
"Tian… and her too..?"