Hua was suspended in midair, lifted high by someone.
She couldn't see that person's expression, only the man named Lan.
Just as Hua was about to answer the question, the person behind her let out a soft laugh.
Then, the man who had just asked whether she was willing stopped pressing the matter.
He lowered his eyes. Soon after, he raised them again and spread his palm toward the two in front of him.
From somewhere unknown, he produced an arrow and extended it in Hua's direction.
The next moment, Hua was set back down.
Zero's brows and eyes curved with a smile, his gaze landing on the arrow.
This was a divine gift that countless Xianzhou people dreamed of.
After using the arrow, one would become an Emanator of the "Reignbow Arbiter."
Zero's gaze lifted, meeting Lan's eyes instead.
His tone was casual.
"Lan, you really don't understand what kids like."
"Who gives an arrow as a gift?"
Hua silently adjusted the shoulder strap of her backpack, which had almost slipped off.
For a moment, she forgot to refute the claim about being a "successor" and couldn't help complaining inwardly.
'Do you really understand kids that well?'
'You're not exactly any better yourself.'
'Either you feed her half-raw grilled meat, or you pick her up and carry her around.'
'And your personality is awful too.'
Sometimes, Hua really wondered, who was the guardian here, and who was the minor?
Why did it feel like this awful adult was less mature than her, a ten-year-old child?
Still, there was one thing he did fairly well.
Whenever something happened to her, he stayed up all night, keeping watch by her side.
Especially yesterday, when he had braided her hair.
Even though the braids were uneven, crooked… ugly like something done by a three-year-old.
But after Hua learned the name of that braid from him, the prejudice in her heart faded.
Even if her guardian wasn't very reliable… he did care about her.
Wait a second. Isn't that what a guardian is supposed to do?
Wasn't the reason she entered the Alchemy Commission in the first place because of her guardian?
Hua pulled her thoughts back, lifted her head, and looked at the two adults.
She tightened her small face and said seriously, "Is there anything else? If not, I'm going to do my homework."
Both of them froze when they heard that.
Zero was used to reading Xianzhou documents and listening to members of the Interastral Council trade verbal barbs. Hearing the word "homework" so suddenly, he genuinely didn't react right away.
As for Lan, this visit to Yaoqing was done using an avatar. His true body was still in the star sea, purging "Abundance aberrations."
After ascending to become an Aeon, his other emotions had been completely devoured by the parasitic Suiyang. The only thing left in his eyes was the target.
Seeing the child with a backpack on her back, saying she needed to do homework, made the Aeon feel as though ages had passed.
Hua felt helpless inside.
'These two people… are really too unreliable!'
She was studying at the academy now. Her primary identity was a student. Shouldn't she finish her homework first before thinking about anything else?
She clenched the straps of her backpack with both hands, turned around, and walked toward her room, tossing out a sentence as she went, "I'm going to do my homework."
After a few steps, she suddenly stopped, turned back, and added, "Don't come disturb me."
Lan, "..."
Zero, "..."
Lan said, "I think..."
'That was meant for you.'
Zero smiled and cut him off, "Alright, since you're here, have something to eat first. Just in time, I found some of the food your mother made for you before."
Lan was silent for a moment, then asked, "Is it braised meat?"
Zero glanced at the various dishes in his system inventory. His eyes moved away from the braised meat as he lied without changing his expression, "As expected of the Reignbow Arbiter, you guessed wrong. There's everything here except braised meat."
Lan, "..."
In high spirits, Zero stood up and went to find the Strategist, asking him to have someone in the kitchen reheat the food.
When he returned to the courtyard, quite a few people followed behind him.
After Zero sat down, the attendants moved quickly, bringing out more than a dozen dishes one after another.
Lan's expression gradually grew solemn.
Zero found it amusing.
"You're already an Aeon. Are you still afraid of getting an upset stomach?"
Lan lifted his arm and pushed the dish closest to Zero toward him.
With his fingers together, he gestured, signaling for Zero to eat as well.
Zero smiled back and pushed the dish to its original place.
"Your mother's wholehearted love for her child, both the Strategist and I would cry just seeing it."
"How could I take what you love?"
Lan stopped talking and picked up his chopsticks, burying his head in eating.
Zero didn't feel like trying to chat with someone who barely spoke. He took out his jade communicator and sent a message to Akivili.
[I adopted a child and don't know how to teach her]
As a well-traveled Nameless, Akivili surely would have an answer.
Zero waited a while, but no reply came. He decisively put the jade communicator away.
Akivili was probably stuck working on some planet again.
Judging by how fast he spent money… his future "Trailblazing journey" was bound to be interesting.
Still, he'd need to prepare some valuables.
Zero wasn't picky about food, clothing, housing, or transportation, but he couldn't end up sleeping on the streets, right? At the very least, he needed things he could trade for money.
So what should he prepare?
What kind of item would be both easy to carry and valuable?
Oh, but it couldn't be too valuable either. If the situation was special and the other party couldn't make change, or could only trade it for a single meal, wouldn't that be a loss?
Zero quickly had an idea.
Since he was going on a long journey, he needed more convenient clothing. He couldn't keep wearing round-collared robes.
A regular shirt paired with a black trench coat would work well.
And the shirt could have various accessories added, tie pins, cufflinks, things like that.
Zero acted immediately, picking up his jade communicator again to prepare in advance for a "Trailblazing journey" that hadn't even taken shape yet.
When he finished clearing his first shopping cart, Lan slowly put down his chopsticks.
Zero caught it out of the corner of his eye and put away the jade communicator.
Just then, Hua was walking toward the one man and one god.
Zero smiled at Hua and said to Lan, "When the time comes, you'll take her to Xuling."
Lan asked, "When?"
Zero replied casually, "You'll know when the time comes."
Lan stared at Zero for a while.
He couldn't see anything from that seemingly harmless smile.
Lan had never been able to read the other man's thoughts. So he withdrew his gaze and looked at Hua instead.
Lowering his voice, he said, "…Alright."
Zero patted the stone bench beside him and said to Hua with a smile, "He's a teacher I specially found for you. If you have any difficult questions, you can ask him."
Hua met Lan's gaze, examining the person in front of her.
If this man named Lan hadn't been brought by her guardian but instead by the Strategist, Hua would definitely have believed it.
On top of that, he had asked her a question earlier, then suddenly dropped it.
He really didn't seem reliable.
Hua sat on the stone bench. Because of the height difference between her and Lan, she could only look up at him.
She hesitated for a long time, then asked uncertainly, "Anything at all? Even math problems?"
Lan, "..."
He truly hadn't expected that one day, he would be asked math questions by a child.
Seeing him fall silent, the child's expression became even stranger.
Lan opened his mouth, about to say something, when Zero laughed and said, "Other than schoolwork, you can ask him anything."
Lan glanced at Zero and said seriously to Hua, "I'm better at language arts."
No matter how the Xianzhou textbooks changed, his language skills had to be better than the Marshal's, right? At least enough to tutor a child, right?
Zero, "..."
'You're an Aeon, what the hell are you tutoring?'
'I was helping you out, and you don't even appreciate it.'
'Why are you looking at me? What, are you doing this on purpose? Of all things to say, you had to say language arts?'
Lan added, "And interpersonal relations."
Zero, "..."
'You're an inhuman Aeon, what the hell do you know about interpersonal relations?'
Zero quickly adjusted his expression and said, "He's very good at fighting. He can teach you how to beat people up."
Hua showed a complicated expression.
This person was just as strange as her guardian.
Did language arts really need tutoring? Wasn't it basically free points?
And besides, she was only ten. Why did she need to start learning interpersonal politics so early?
And more importantly, she wasn't even her guardian's successor, why did she need to learn how to fight?
Lan shook his head and sighed. "I can only say I have some experience."
Zero let out a dry laugh.
'Some experience…'
'Lan, you're either wreaking havoc in the star sea, or digging massive craters in Yaoqing's Forest and on Luofu's ground.'
'What kind of "experience" is that?!'
Zero couldn't be bothered to say more.
"Lan, during this period, you'll stay in the house next door."
It was just one house. He had plenty of empty ones around.
To be precise, the entire block belonged to him.
A long time ago, Zero had many neighbors nearby. But as time passed, his subordinates grew increasingly anxious about his safety.
First, they bought up the surrounding residences from Yaoqing locals. Then they expanded outward until they owned the entire block.
Most of the people living nearby were Zero's subordinates and guards, but there were still many empty houses.
Who would have thought that those idle residences would finally come in handy?
Zero had people clean it in advance and prepared jade communicators and identity documents essential for Xianzhou people, making it convenient for the Aeon to move around Yaoqing.
Of course, the identity documents had more than just that purpose.
It was also like adding another layer of insurance for Lan.
If he really led the Xianzhou Alliance to ascend dimensions…
The Ether Phase Engine would bring all members of its affiliated faction along in the ascension.
Lan had become an Aeon, and Zero couldn't be sure which faction he belonged to.
Having official identity information in Xianzhou would be more stable, right?
After giving a few more instructions, Zero stood up decisively and left the courtyard, leaving Lan and Hua staring at each other.
One god and one human remained silent for a long time.
Lan suddenly asked, "Do you want to learn archery?"
Hua met his gaze, nodded with difficulty, and said yes.
One god and one human, similar in temperament, both not talkative. When they were together, they would often fall into awkward silences.
They had a very hard time adjusting to each other.
Zero had expected this.
The successor he chose, whether an Aeon, a researcher, or Hua, who was still very young, was not the social type.
Since Zero and Hua would have to hand things over sooner or later, it was better to let the god and the human get used to each other early. If there were any conflicts, he could resolve them in advance.
He believed it wouldn't be long before they got along harmoniously.
As Zero thought this, he lowered his head and glanced at his jade communicator. The picture books he had ordered earlier had arrived in Yaoqing and were now undergoing Xianzhou inspection.
After passing the first stage, they would be sent to his subordinates and the Strategist for a second inspection.
By around the afternoon, Hua would be able to see the picture books.
With nothing else to do, Zero started flipping through his system inventory.
Akivili still hadn't replied.
Maybe… there was some childcare knowledge in the inventory?
Wait, why was he looking at childcare? He was clearly supposed to be looking for books on educating a successor.
After searching for a while, Zero found a book of fables and saw familiar handwriting on the title page, clearly his own.
He kept reading.
Zero saw a fable with a fish as its protagonist.
His breathing stalled. He pulled out the earlier sheet of paper with cats and dogs written on it.
On that paper, besides the hints left behind, there was also a fable.
At the time, Zero hadn't had the mental capacity to read any fables at all.
This time, he finally remembered that sheet of paper.
Using the system, Zero examined the fable written in childish handwriting.
[The fish met the wisest and most virtuous elder in the tree]
[The elder saw its special nature at a glance, and after spending time together, couldn't help but sigh]
[It possessed power beyond the reach of ordinary beings, an existence surpassing other cats and dogs]
[It was kind, pure, living in peaceful waters different from this place. It grew up in love, never lacking it, and therefore never stingy with its own love]
[As long as it could do something, it would definitely do it]
[What would happen next, wasn't it obvious?]
[Compared to those kind, pure, altruistic traits, the elder wanted more for it to truly become an existence beyond cats and dogs]
[Only then could it possibly save the tree, and only then could it live easily and happily]
Zero closed the system inventory and continued reading the fable.
He skimmed rapidly and soon saw two names.
Zandar One Kuwabara, First Seat of the Genius Society, who proposed the theory of the "Imaginary Tree" and created the Aeon of "Nous."
The other name… was Eric.
Zero put the fable back into the system inventory.
He deliberately removed the "Mara-struck" debuff, closed his eyes, and tried to deduce the truth from the illogical fable and the enormous amount of hidden information.
As he was thinking, Zero heard the sound of bricks cracking and exploding in the distance.
He didn't pay it much mind.
That was Lan's direction. Making deep craters or collapsing walls was normal.
Zero was already used to it.
At worst, he'd have Lan teach Hua a few more lessons and use the lesson fees to offset the repair costs.
As for the hourly rate… just use the Xianzhou minimum standard.
He was an Aeon now, what did he need patrol credits for?
The information Zero had obtained was like a ball of yarn clawed apart by a cat, completely tangled, leaving him with no way to start.
He automatically blocked out the noise next door and continued thinking, completely unaware that the source of the sound was getting closer and closer.
When he looked up again, he saw a close friend who shouldn't have been there.
Zero said uncertainly, "Akivili?"
Akivili looked terrified and let out a shriek, "Dear friend, get out of the way!"