Chapter 27: The Rebellious Daughter and the Short-Tempered Father
A full day of training finally came to an end.
Fan Chen lay sprawled weakly on the bed, completely drained of energy.
Meanwhile, Xiao Bai at his side was still lively and energetic, full of vigor as if nothing had happened.
Golden Crocodile Douluo's training methods were undeniably effective, but they were also incredibly torturous.
If not for the Reversed Edge Demon Armor, Fan Chen truly felt that he wouldn't have been able to endure it.
After several days of training, Fan Chen had gone from being completely beaten down without resistance to occasionally being able to fight back.
His control over his body had improved compared to before, and his strength had increased noticeably.
"Xiao Bai, come here for a moment."
"What is it, big brother?"
Xiao Bai, who had been playing around, heard Fan Chen call it and immediately flapped its tiny wings, pouncing straight toward him.
But just as it drew near, Fan Chen reached out, grabbed it, and placed it beneath his head, using it as a pillow.
"Ah—so comfortable."
"Don't move around. Let me lie here for a bit. You've been playing all day—it's time for you to do some work."
Xiao Bai's body was incredibly soft, and combined with its dense, fluffy fur, leaning against it felt several times more comfortable than any kind of massage.
Fan Chen was enjoying himself, but Xiao Bai was suffering.
After all, it was still very small. Its entire body, curled up into a ball, was barely bigger than Fan Chen's head.
Being pressed down like this, it was practically flattened.
"Big brother, you're too heavy… Xiao Bai can barely breathe…"
As Fan Chen's contracted companion, his orders were absolute. Xiao Bai couldn't resist—but no one said he couldn't complain.
Hearing this, Fan Chen chuckled.
He had only wanted to tease Xiao Bai a bit. Seeing that Xiao Bai truly seemed uncomfortable, Fan Chen decided not to push it any further.
Just as Fan Chen was about to switch Xiao Bai from a pillow to a hug pillow, something miraculous happened.
Golden runes once again appeared on Xiao Bai's twin horns.
Faint white light began to glow across its body.
The golden radiance from its horns and the white light from its body intertwined, emanating a gentle wave of energy.
This energy quickly spread from Xiao Bai and enveloped Fan Chen himself.
As the energy entered his body, the exhaustion weighing on Fan Chen vanished completely.
This was far more effective than any recovery pills he had taken before.
Pills could only reduce physical injuries and replenish consumed soul power—they were completely ineffective when it came to mental exhaustion.
Yet the strange energy emitted by Xiao Bai had successfully restored his depleted mental strength, leaving Fan Chen slightly astonished.
But once the surprise faded, Fan Chen's expression suddenly changed. He lifted Xiao Bai by the scruff.
"Confess honestly—how long have you known this skill?"
Clearly, this wasn't the first time Xiao Bai had used this ability. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so proficient.
"I've always been able to do it… Whenever big sister holds me, I release a little bit."
Faced with Fan Chen's interrogation, Xiao Bai looked utterly aggrieved.
It was obvious that it didn't understand what it had done wrong.
"You've always been able to do it? And you release a bit every time Xiao Xue holds you?"
"Then why didn't you give me a little as well? Didn't we agree that I'm number one?"
Only then did Fan Chen finally understand why Qian Renxue liked holding Xiao Bai so much.
He had previously thought it was simply because girls liked fluffy little creatures.
But now it seemed that Xiao Bai was the real culprit behind it all.
A skill that could relieve mental stress—who wouldn't like that?
"Because big sister often holds Xiao Bai… and her mood always seems bad. So every time she holds me, I release a little bit."
After hearing Xiao Bai's explanation, Fan Chen was left momentarily speechless.
He was fairly aware of Qian Renxue's mental state.
Xiao Bai's spiritual perception was extremely strong; it was obvious that it had sensed something was off about Qian Renxue.
Coupled with their close relationship, it instinctively chose to help her.
Thinking of this, Fan Chen fell silent for quite a while.
"I'll let you off this time. Next time… sigh, forget it."
As for the things on Xiao Bai's body, even Xiao Bai couldn't fully understand them—so what could Fan Chen truly expect from it?
At present, Xiao Bai's mentality was essentially no different from that of a pure, innocent child. Although it was said to be innately intelligent and its growth rate was astonishingly fast, at its core, it was still nothing more than a blank sheet of paper.
Everything written on that paper would require time to slowly fill in.
Many things needed to be discovered by him on his own. If Fan Chen relied on Xiao Bai to notice that something was wrong and then inform him, it would probably take until the Year of the Monkey.
"Since things have come to this, let's just sleep first."
Fan Chen yawned and prepared to sleep while cultivating.
However, he quickly realized that he couldn't fall asleep at all. Xiao Bai's earlier display had directly wiped away all of his mental fatigue.
If he couldn't sleep, then he couldn't enter sleeping cultivation. But if he wanted to sleep, he would need to exhaust his mind again.
The two abilities directly conflicted with each other, causing the corner of Fan Chen's mouth to twitch unconsciously.
How could using a skill actually create a bug like this?
With no way to sleep, he could only choose the most basic form of meditation to cultivate.
The cultivation speed was greatly reduced, but there was no other choice—he couldn't exactly just sit there doing nothing all night.
…
Star Dou Great Forest.
Lake of Life.
"Who allowed you to privately transform into human form?!"
An enraged shout rang out, and the powerful sonic pressure caused the lake water to tremble, while the surrounding trees let out faint creaking sounds.
A massive black dragon, like a small mountain, lay coiled above the emerald-green waters of the Lake of Life.
Its golden eyes were filled with fury.
Standing before him was a human little girl, about six years old.
The difference in size was so extreme that the child looked like an ant in front of the black dragon.
Around the dragon and the little girl stood several other enormous soul beasts.
Every single one of them emitted an overwhelmingly powerful aura of pressure.
Faced with such a scene, even Golden Crocodile Douluo would be so frightened that his entire body would tremble.
That was because every soul beast present here was at the level of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast—or even stronger than ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.
"Do you even know how dangerous the human world is? And you still dared to transform into a human and run out!"
"Change back immediately!"
The black dragon scolded her like a strict father scolding his daughter.
But it stopped at scolding—no further action was taken.
"I don't want to."
The little girl's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, yet every soul beast present heard her clearly.
"What did you say?!"
"I said, I don't want to."
This time, the little girl raised her voice slightly.
She lifted her head, stubbornness clearly visible in her eyes.
"I want to go out. I don't want to stay in the Star Dou Great Forest forever. There's an aura on him that attracts me—I can feel it."
"Enough!"
Di Tian was furious. A terrifying dragon might sweep across the entire area.
The surrounding soul beasts were forced to retreat several steps involuntarily.
Yet the little girl standing closest to him was completely unaffected, still staring at him with unyielding determination.
At this moment, a faint circle of pale golden light appeared around the little girl. The light gathered behind her, forming a phantom figure.
The phantom's appearance was the same as the Three-Eyed Golden Lion that had once lain on a hillside, secretly watching Fan Chen.
And the little girl's true form was precisely that same Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
Originally, she had planned to secretly follow behind Fan Chen and sneak out, but she never expected to be discovered by Di Tian and caught on the spot.
The current situation was simple—she still wanted to leave, and Di Tian would not allow it.
Thus, one dragon and one girl stood locked in a stalemate, neither willing to take a step back.
Di Tian looked at the stubborn Three-Eyed Golden Lion before him. In the end, he was the first to rein in his aura and speak.
"Why?"
—
End of Chapter