After the baby fell asleep, Mei carried him to the stroller, pushed it to the door, and stood there. Xie Sen and Long Teng were sparring in the yard.
As they stood still, Bai Jiao called out, "Begin!"
Suddenly, Long Teng attacked Xie Sen like a gust of wind. Xie Sen retreated, summoning vines to trip Long Teng's feet, while countless thin, needle-like grains of rice shot towards him.
Long Teng reacted quickly, leaping lightly over the vines and flipping to the right to dodge the rain of rice. Just as he was about to move forward, a dragon claw locust tree, large enough for one person to encircle, appeared in front of him, blocking his path.
"Wow, so cool!" he exclaimed, shifting his feet to the left, overcoming the locust tree's obstruction. Before he could make any other move, he was bound by the suddenly extended branches of the locust tree.
Xie Sen, while summoning plants to fight, retreated to create distance, maintaining the same distance as at the start of the match.
"So amazing, let's start again!" Long Teng exclaimed excitedly.
Xie Sen knew that Long Teng had deliberately slowed down his movements; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to bind him so easily.
He ordered the Dragon Claw Tree to release Long Teng and recalled it: "Increase your attack speed. I'll try various methods to stop your attacks."
Long Teng nodded: "Okay."
The second time, as soon as Bai Jiao finished speaking, Long Teng appeared two meters away from Xie Sen like a phantom. Xie Sen quickly summoned vines and retreated at the same time. Long Teng leaped up, landed, and placed his hand against Xie Sen's neck.
Xie Sen was stunned: "You're so fast!"
Long Teng chuckled: "I'm amazing, aren't I! If you had just blocked with the tree and retreated quickly, it wouldn't have been so easy to hit you."
Xie Sen nodded, and the two sparred a few more times. The last time, Xie Sen could summon three kinds of plants at the same time, balancing defense and attack. He was very careful; the rice absorbed the force when it touched Long Teng, without hurting him.
After being released by the locust tree, Long Teng reached out and touched the branches, feeling their resilience. His eyes lit up: "Plants are really amazing! You have so many plants; if you could use them all quickly, I couldn't beat you, and even with Big Black, it would be hard to win."
Xie Sen shrugged: "Using them quickly isn't easy; I need more practice. The more plants there are, the easier it is for the commands to malfunction. I need to find the optimal combination, using the fewest plants to create an effect that can both attack and defend."
Long Teng laughed: "My reaction speed used to be slower in fights than it is now; more practice will fix it."
Xie Sen: "Yeah, I'll find someone to spar with at the training hall when I have time."
The four of them had lunch together. While they were eating, the baby woke up and was entertaining himself by biting his chubby hand. Long Teng peeked at him while eating, and Bai Jiao also loved it, unable to resist watching as she ate.
After lunch, Long Teng, thinking about the restaurant design, chatted with Xie Sen about the dishes for a while before getting up to leave.
Bai Jiao knew Xie Sen had a habit of taking a nap, so she didn't stay long and left with Long Teng.
Xie Sen was clearing away the dishes when Mei Yin reached out, but Xie Sen stopped her, saying, "I'll do it. You watch the baby."
When Xie Sen came out of the kitchen, Mei Yin was pushing a stroller towards the bedroom. Xie Sen followed him into the bedroom, settled the sleeping baby, and the two sat side by side on the sofa by the bed.
Xie Sen turned on his bracelet to check the location of the training center that Long Teng had introduced, and discussed with Mei Yin, "Is it better if I go in the morning or afternoon?"
Mei Yin replied, "Neither is good. The baby is still too young to go to the training ground. I'm worried about you going alone."
Mei Yin was practically tied to the baby now; he wouldn't go anywhere the baby couldn't go.
Xie Sen pointed to the screen, "What's there to worry about? There's one that's quite close to home, and the environment is very good."
Mei Yin looked at him, "Training grounds are chaotic; accidents can easily happen." Seeing him frown, Mei Yin added, "If you want to spar with someone, invite them over!"
Xie Sen sighed, realizing the seriousness of the situation. He turned off his bracelet, turned sideways, and sat cross-legged on the sofa, facing Mei Yin.
"I think we need to have a serious talk," he said, holding Maine's hand. "I know you love me and worry about me getting hurt, but I'm not a baby. I'm an adult, capable of protecting myself."
"Think about it, since I got pregnant, since I stopped working at Gold Medal, haven't you been watching me almost every moment? We're practically inseparable."
Maine's beautiful lips pursed slightly. "You don't like that?"
"Of course not," Xie Sen kissed the back of his hand. "I like us being together, but not all the time. We have our own things to do, and it's okay to be apart for a few hours during the day."
He sighed. "You're too anxious. The other day, Huo Feng talked to you about something. You should have gone to the company, but because you were worried about me, Huo Feng had to come in person."
"This isn't normal. You need to relax. Think about it, most couples separate for work in the morning and only see each other in the evening. We spend much more time together than they do. At certain times, we can separate to do what we want."
He gently lifted his foot and swung it, and a crisp bell rang out. "See, even if we're temporarily separated, you can always know where I am. You don't need to worry at all."
Maine held his foot, gently rubbing her big toe against his ankle, staring at the anklet for a while before looking up at him. "Did you want to tell me a long time ago, but you were unhappy and held back?"
Xie Sen pulled his foot out and hugged him. "No, after I got pregnant, before the baby was a month old, I knew the importance of things. I understand your worries, so I didn't feel bad about staying at home."
"But now that I've recovered, I think I should do something else. Don't forget, we've only graduated a year ago, we're still young," he wrinkled his nose. "I don't want to live like an old man so soon."
Maine hugged him. "I'm sorry, I… I couldn't help worrying about you. I was afraid you'd get hurt. Go to the training hall every morning, but don't stay too long. Contact me if anything happens."
He kissed Xie Sen's forehead. "If I do anything to upset you, don't hold it against me, just tell me."
Xie Sen cupped his face and kissed him on both sides, smiling. "You're so wonderful, I love you!"
Maine's eyes lit up with laughter, and he wrapped his arms around the back of Xie Sen's neck and kissed him deeply.
The next morning, after Xie Sen finished breakfast, he took a walk to check on the contracted beasts, then walked back to the apartment to help Maine feed the baby, change diapers, and play with the baby for a while until the baby fell asleep, around ten o'clock.
He changed into a tracksuit, holding a large, long-brimmed baseball cap in his hand, twirling it with his finger, and smiling at Maine: "How about it, handsome, right?"
Maine glanced at him: "Very handsome. Have you grown taller?"
Xie Sen's smile deepened, and he pounced on him and kissed him: "I've grown three centimeters," he gestured to show the height difference between them, and said dejectedly, "It's more than before."
Maine laughed: "I've grown five centimeters," he took the hat from Xie Sen and put it on him, pressing it down lightly to cover most of Xie Sen's face, "Make sure you wear the hat properly, choose the indoor VIP area, don't spar with people in the public area."
Xie Sen: "Okay."
Maine then took out a black mask and handed it to him, Xie Sen took it and laughed: "When I go in, I hope the staff won't think I'm going to challenge them!"
Maine: "You're perfectly capable of challenging them."
Xie Sen's lips curved into a smile: "You have so much confidence in me? I don't even dare to be this confident. I'll have to practice for a few days and see the results."
"Come back for lunch," Maine reminded him before he left.
Xie Sen drove the shuttle at a safe speed for an elderly person, arriving at the nearest training hall in less than twenty minutes.
The training hall was large, resembling a modern stadium from the outside. As he approached, the transparent doors automatically opened, and a staff member in black sportswear greeted him: "What sport would you like to learn?"
Xie Sen replied, "Nothing, I'm looking for someone to spar with."
The staff member quickly sized him up: "Sorry, sparring is not open to minors."
Xie Sen pouted. He knew this; otherwise, Long Teng wouldn't have only started finding sparring partners at various training grounds after graduation.
He said, "I'm an adult. Arrange an indoor arena for me, with beginner opponents." He needed to take it slow, starting with beginners to adapt to their abilities.
The staff member clearly didn't believe him. All the sparring partners were male, the same height as Xie Sen. If they were adults, it would be a disaster.
"Please show your identification."
Xie Sen adjusted his hat brim, thought for a moment, then opened his bracelet, blurring out his name, gender, and partner information, leaving only his age visible to the staff.
The staff member looked surprised. Xie Sen asked, "Is this okay?"
"Yes." The staff member led him to the front desk to complete the VIP procedures, and then took him to VIP room 888: "To ensure the safety of our guests, the entire sparring process will be monitored, and the video will be simultaneously uploaded to the official website. I will also be watching the whole thing."
Xie Sen nodded in understanding.
The staff member glanced at his height and couldn't help but whisper, "Sir, are you a female? Sparring can easily lead to injury. We have many training programs suitable for females. Would you like to switch?"
Xie Sen's impression of the training center improved. It was principled and allowed its guests to keep their identities confidential, which was quite considerate. However, his purpose was to spar, so he smiled and said, "Thank you, but I won't switch."
At this moment, another staff member walked in through the door with a tall, thin male boy.
The staff member glanced at the bracelet and explained to him, "He's a new guest who recently joined the club, a D-rank contracted beast master. The sparring ends as soon as one of you concedes."
Xie Sen nodded and walked to the large platform in the center.
The tall, thin male was quite young. Seeing Xie Sen, he tilted his head and asked the staff member, "Didn't you say minors can't spar?"
The staff member explained, "He's an adult."
The tall, thin male was surprised. He walked onto the platform and gave Xie Sen an embarrassed smile: "Sorry, I just thought you were too short... no, I just felt you exuded a youthful aura, haha... I absolutely didn't mean to mock your underdeveloped state!"
Xie Sen pulled up his hat brim and turned it to his right rear. His mask covered most of his face, only revealing his eyebrows and eyes—a very handsome look that also ensured his vision wasn't obstructed: "You might as well not explain."
The staff member asked if they were ready. After both said they were, the staff member raised the flag in his hand and waved it down forcefully: "Start."
The tall, thin male hesitated for a moment, then charged towards Xie Sen. Only then did Xie Sen realize just how fast Long Teng's attack and reaction speed were.
It's true what they say, comparison is the thief of joy.
The tall, thin male only took one step before being tripped by the vines he summoned, falling face-first to the ground.
Lying on the ground, the male looked up blankly, and the two staff members were also stunned: "What did he just do?"
Xie Sen recalled the vines: "Use your weapons and your contracted beast." He had defensive abilities and wasn't afraid of anyone using a knife; his only fear was that the opponent wouldn't use a knife, and being bound would render them incapable of fighting, ruining the sparring match.
The tall, thin male got up from the ground, his eyes blazing with intense light: "You...you...you are..."
Xie Sen raised his hand and waved. He wasn't surprised to be recognized; after all, his attack methods were too distinctive.
The male was still excited, but understanding his meaning, he didn't continue. Instead, he excitedly said, "Senior, I'm from Xingcheng University, a recent graduate this year, but I'm in the Mechanical Engineering department, so my combat strength isn't very high."
He smiled sheepishly, "Senior, I have a friend in the Combat Department, in the A-level sparring area. Would you like to spar with him?"
Xie Sen felt his opponent was too weak, and sparring would be pointless. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Sure." He looked at the staff member, "Can I spar with someone else?"
"Sure." The tall, thin male's words made the staff member realize who he was, and the two nodded repeatedly.
A moment later, the tall, thin male's friend arrived. He was a tanned young man with a lean build and well-defined muscles, clearly a skilled fighter.
"Tsk, you sent me here just to fight him?" The tanned young man frowned.
The tall, thin boy put his arm around the boy's neck and whispered a string of words. The bronze-skinned boy nodded and walked to the center of the arena: "Senior, I won't stop until you admit defeat."
Xie Sen raised an eyebrow: "If you don't have time to admit defeat, I'll go easy on you."
With the staff's call to start, the two on the field immediately began to move. The bronze-skinned boy rushed forward quickly, while Xie Sen immediately retreated, using vines to block the boy while simultaneously shooting out a rain of pear blossom rice.
The boy leaped up to dodge the vines, and after landing, he rolled on the ground to avoid the rice needles. Just as the vines bent to bind him, a narrow-bladed knife, about the length of his arm, suddenly appeared in his left hand. As he stood up, he raised his hand and slashed the vines.
At that moment, a potato fell from above, heading straight for his wrist. His raised arm couldn't dodge in time, so he clenched his right fist and knocked the potato away.
Xie Sen thought to himself, "Wow, that's fast!" Seeing the boy less than two meters away, he summoned the Dragon Claw Locust Tree to block their path. He grabbed a branch and swung to the other side to create distance, then ordered the tree to bind the boy with its branches.
The boy's waist had barely been bound when he reacted with lightning speed, severing the branch with his backhand, leaping up and grabbing another. As the branch bent to entangle him, he sprang to Xie Sen's location.
Suddenly, a green leaf appeared beneath Xie Sen's feet, extending outwards instantly, shifting his position back to a spot not far from the locust tree. To regain his balance, he grabbed a branch that had reached out.
He looked back and saw the leaf where he had been standing was torn, a sudden shock washing over him. Thankfully, he had a new way to move; otherwise, the sparring would have been over.
While vines could also provide rapid movement, they inflict additional damage.
This green leaf was a giant water lily, an enormous aquatic plant with immense weight-bearing capacity. The plant's function was extensibility; standing on it, as the leaf extended, he could move quickly and smoothly, somewhat like a conveyor belt.
The boy hesitated for a moment, then his fighting spirit intensified, and he attacked again.
Xie Sen summoned potatoes and rice to attack. To dodge, the boy leaped up, but Xie Sen immediately summoned a clump of thorns and placed it where the boy landed.
The thorns were only a meter tall, but the thorns on them were thin and long, like elongated scythes, and very lethal.
The boy couldn't dodge in time and could only roll outwards, trying to touch as few thorns as possible.
"Watch out!" the tall, thin boy couldn't help but shout. Just
as the boy was about to touch the thorns, Xie Sen recalled them, and the boy fell to the ground, then jumped up to his feet.
"You won," the boy said.
Xie Sen was satisfied with his reaction. The thorns were something he had thought of on the spur of the moment. There were already five types of plants on the field, and this was the first time he had used six. His commands were flawless, and the thorns were executed perfectly.
He laughed, "You're very good. I used many types of plants, and you didn't even use a contracted beast."
The boy frowned, "I don't have a contracted beast. You have many plants, but you need to give commands. Your movement speed is very slow. If I attacked faster and more fiercely, disrupting your speed, I
could win." He thought for a moment and added, "I'm not familiar with your attack methods. I'll study today's sparring video when I get back, and then I'll fight you again. I can win even without a contracted beast."
Xie Sen: "I'm looking forward to it."
When he fought the Giant Lynx Lord, he discovered that some of his attack methods could be countered. He hoped someone could break his attacks so he could patch the loopholes based on the countermeasures.
The Giant Lynx Lord had worn a helmet to avoid the chili peppers, which also prevented him from using black fungus to affect the Giant Lynx Lord's breathing. During that fight, he immediately abandoned those two plants.
But now that he thought about it, he could have used black fungus to attach it to the eyes of his helmet, affecting his vision.
Real battles are always unpredictable; there's no time for much thinking. Once attacking and countering become a habit, he'll become a master.
He recalled Wang Lian and Longzhao Huai, glanced at the time—only twenty minutes had passed since he entered the training hall. Both battles were quick; the time spent on paperwork and talking was actually longer.
"I'm going back now, I'll come back later." He waved and left the inner area.
The remaining four rushed to the sparring platform as soon as he left, trying to grab the potatoes and pick up the rice.
A staff member grabbed the tall, thin boy's arm: "Don't grab them! Don't think I didn't see you pick up the potato your friend knocked away."
"That's because I reacted quickly," the boy broke free of his hand, "This was used by my senior when he sparred with my friend; it should belong to my friend."
The bronze-skinned boy was already on the platform; he was fast enough to pick up both potatoes in one go, then squatted down and used his palm as a small broom to gather the rice together.
Seeing this, the staff stopped trying to stop people and started grabbing the rice.
Xie Sen returned to his apartment in a good mood. It had only taken him an hour to get out. When he got home, his baby was still asleep, and Maine was sitting next to him designing a program.
"How did it go? Happy?" Maine looked at him.
Xie Sen nodded: "Yeah, I met two junior students. One of them was pretty good, but I still won, haha, even though he didn't have a contracted beast."
Maine laughed: "Long Teng's skills are top-notch. If you can dodge his attacks, few people will be your match. But if they have contracted beasts, you still have to be careful."
Xie Sen nodded: "Yeah, I know. I asked Da Hu and the others and found out the smells of many plants that contracted beasts particularly hate. You don't need chili peppers to deal with them."
In the afternoon, after his nap, Xie Sen was browsing the news when he learned that his sparring at the training ground had made headlines.
The news wasn't spread by the staff or the junior students; it was related to the rules of the training ground. The official website of the training ground had videos of each sparring match, recording the wins and losses of each person, which was also learning material for clients.
Some people wanted to become famous overnight by challenging experts of higher levels, and their sparring videos were proof.
The bronze-skinned junior had a high win rate in the A-level sparring arena. After his video with the junior was automatically uploaded, the A-level expert lost to a D-level novice, immediately attracting attention.
Then his identity was exposed, and the video went viral instantly.
Xie Sen was watching when he received a call from the training hall owner. The owner welcomed him to continue sparring at the hall and assured him that security would be strengthened to prevent any trouble.
Xie Sen hadn't wanted to end his sparring practice plan anyway, and after listening to the owner, he went to the training hall the next day.
He didn't know how the owner had done it, but there was no one watching outside the hall, only a lot more people inside. After entering, he contacted the staff from the previous day and was quickly led to the VIP area.
Everything went smoothly, except he was particularly frustrated during the sparring.
His opponent was very strong, able to easily dodge the vines, but whenever he attacked with potatoes or other food, the opponent ignored it, risking injury to get the food, even lying on the ground with a silly grin.
Xie Sen realized that these people's goal was food!
After two rounds, he simply stopped using food and attacked entirely with inedible plants, finally getting a satisfying fight. Moreover, since he was using several of these plants in actual combat for the first time, he felt a sense of novelty and was very happy.
Compared to him was his opponent's bitter face: "Thank God, why didn't you use a potato? Am I too bad to be worthy of a potato?"
Xie Sen pouted: "If I used a potato, the sparring wouldn't even be over before you were already thinking about cleaning up the battlefield."
He thought for a moment, exchanged for a potato, and tossed it to his opponent: "Your ability is very good, I had a great time, thank you, this is a thank you gift."
His opponent immediately laughed: "Thank you, Thank God, will you come again tomorrow? I will definitely perform better!"
Xie Sen looked at the +1 energy notification in front of him, his smile deepened: "Come on, but I don't know how they arranged the opponents, see you again if fate allows."
When he returned to his apartment, he was still in a good mood. He played with the baby for a while, and after the baby fell asleep, he patted Maine's shoulder: "You watch the baby, I'll go make lunch."
Maine said: "I'll do it."
Xie Sen: "I'll do it, I'm going to make a new dish." During his pregnancy, he provided the ingredients, and Bai Jiao researched and made all kinds of seasonings, such as vinegar, soy sauce, cooking wine, etc. With all the ingredients, she could make any dish.
Besides vegetables, he also made tomato beef brisket and sweet and sour pork ribs for lunch. He hadn't had a hearty meat meal in a long time, and both dishes were quite filling. Maine enjoyed them and finished them all.
After lunch, he told Maine about the sparring session that day, and couldn't resist going to the training hall's website. The video of the last sparring session was flooded with comments like, "God Xie, please spar with me! I definitely won't hold back!"
Xie Sen smiled, extremely satisfied with the result.
From then on, he sparred every day, and his opponents became increasingly stronger. Because they were thinking about his vegetable and fruit reward, they were very serious during the sparring sessions. His reaction speed became faster and faster, and he could issue commands to more plants at the same time, while the plants' reactions were also very accurate.
A little over a month later, every opponent brought a contracted beast to each sparring session, significantly increasing the difficulty. Xie Sen's combat power also increased rapidly.
After his baby turned six months old, Xie Sen had become the undisputed champion of the sparring arena, and people from other training halls often challenged him to sparring sessions, but none of them were a match for him.
Long Teng's restaurant also opened a branch. His restaurant name was quite casual: "Delicious Restaurant." The branch name was even more casual: "Delicious Restaurant Second Branch."
Xie Sen and Mei Yin brought their baby to the opening ceremony. The baby's face was covered by Mei Yin throughout the ceremony.
When asked by the media who was better in combat, Long Teng laughed and said, "I definitely can't beat him." He had sparred with Xie Sen, and he was no match for him. Of course, he didn't summon his contracted beast.
Even if he had, it wouldn't have mattered; Da Hei wouldn't have attacked Xie Sen.
The sparring king, Long Teng, personally admitted he couldn't beat Xie Sen. Xie Sen earned the title of sparring king that very day. While congratulating him, netizens enthusiastically called for the baby to be shown.
"Even though I can't see his face, I can tell from his soft little hands that he must be super cute!"
"His parents are both so handsome, he must be adorable. Kiss his little hands, mwah mwah mwah." "
Get out of here, he's mine, no kissing allowed."
Xie Sen sat on the sofa, looking utterly exasperated. After watching the baby crawling around on the carpet for a while, he sent a private message: "Our son is mine and Mei Yin's. Anyone who's eyeing him, think twice about how strong your fists are!"
"Xie Shen has made a request for the baby's partner! I've decided to start training him every day from today!"
"Yes, start training immediately!"
Xie Sen's lips twitched. He couldn't keep up with the netizens' train of thought. Was that what he meant?
Was this a warning?
He decided to ignore the netizens and waved to the baby: "Baby, come to Daddy."
The baby looked up at him, grinned, crawled to his legs, and then climbed onto him, his chubby hands and feet full of energy.
Xie Sen kissed his chubby face: "Come on, let's go see your father."
After several months of adjustment, Maine was no longer too nervous about him and the baby. He could handle things alone in his office, and when he needed to go out, he was calm and wouldn't ask the other to come to his apartment.
As soon as the baby saw Maine, he stretched out his chubby little hands and made babyish "ah ah ah" sounds.
Maine looked up at Xie Sen, who was carrying the baby towards him, his face softening and his eyes filled with doting affection.
Sunlight streamed into the room from the window, shining behind Maine, making his handsome face appear somewhat unreal, like a special effect. Xie Sen approached, and as Maine reached out to take the baby, he leaned down and kissed him on the cheek: "So handsome!"
The baby kicked his feet, mimicking Xie Sen, and pressed his face against Maine's, making excited "ah ah ah" sounds.
Maine chuckled and returned the kisses to both of them.
The virtual screensaver on the desktop kept changing, all showing photos of the three of them together. Each photo had the beautifully printed words "Happiness" in the upper left corner.
The author has something to say: Thank you for your support (づ￣3￣)づ╭?～The main story is finished! Next up are the extras (^o^)/~
Thank you so much to all the little angels who have supported me along the way! The more I wrote, the more I realized how many shortcomings I had. Many times I was anxious and even afraid to look at the comments. It was your encouragement that kept me going! Mwah! I've remembered so many of your IDs, thank you so much! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution~
Thank you to the little angel who threw a [landmine]: Red Robe 1;
Thank you to the little angels who watered my plants with [nutrient solution]:
Cat Who Doesn't Eat Fish, I Have Spicy Strips and I'm Willful 5 bottles; Mo Sheng 2 bottles; Little Demon, Red Robe 1 bottle;
Thank you all so much for your support, I will continue to work hard!