The door to the hotel suite whispered open, and Ning Rongrong burst inside, her cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling like the stars beginning to dot the evening sky outside.
Ning Fengzhi looked up from the scroll he had been pretending to read, a warm, paternal smile immediately gracing his features.
"Father! You will never believe the day we had!" she announced, rushing over to plop onto a cushioned stool beside his chair. The words began tumbling out of her in an excited torrent.
She painted a vivid picture of the deep, green forest and the terrifying moment the massive Jeweled Hawk had descended.
"It was huge, Father! Its feathers were like metal! But Brother San, he was so calm. He figured out how old it was just by looking at it! He told us all what to do."
She went on, describing Xiao Wu's flurry of kicks, her own timely spirit boosts, and Tang San's ghost-like movements as he harassed the great beast. "We worked together like a real team!"
Then her voice dropped to a hushed, awe-filled tone as she reached the story's climax. "And then Senior Mei... she absorbed the soul ring. But it wasn't a normal one, Father! It was violet and yellow! And then... the spirit itself appeared! It's still with her! It's called Luminous, and it can talk! It has a boy's voice!" She giggled.
"He's really nice, and we all helped give him his new name."
She finally paused for breath, her tale winding down through the dinner conversation and the dreams of advanced academies and grand tournaments.
Ning Fengzhi had been listening with a fond, attentive expression, but at this particular revelation, his polished composure cracked. The hand that had been gently stroking his chin stilled.
"A spirit... that remained after absorption?" he repeated, his voice laced with a disbelief he couldn't quite mask. "And it... converses with you?" This was beyond any spirit theory he had ever studied.
A soul ring was pure energy. The concept of the consciousness persisting, let alone manifesting and communicating, was something out of fairy tales, not a report from his daughter's afternoon excursion.
He quickly smoothed his expression back into one of calm curiosity, not wanting to alarm her. "How... extraordinary," he managed, his mind racing. He asked a few more gentle, probing questions to clarify the details, each answer only deepening the mystery. "And this Luminous... it seems friendly? It holds no resentment?"
Satisfied by his interest, Ning Rongrong confirmed it all, her enthusiasm undimmed by his momentary surprise. But soon, a mighty yawn escaped her, her eyelids beginning to droop.
The day's adventures were finally claiming their price.
Ning Fengzhi rose and placed a gentle hand on her head. "What an incredible adventure, my dear Rongrong," he said, his voice soft and full of genuine pride, pushing his own shock aside for her sake.
"You have shown great bravery and spirit today. But now, even the bravest spirit master must sleep. Off to bed with you."
Too tired to argue, Ning Rongrong nodded, allowing herself to be guided to her bedroom, her whispers of "Luminous" and "Heaven Dou City" fading as she slipped into sleep.
Once the door closed, the warmth on Ning Fengzhi's face melted away, replaced by the cool, calculating demeanor of a sect master. He turned to the shadows near the window. "Uncle Jian," he said, his tone now grim. "You heard."
Sword Douluo Chen Xin stepped into the lamplight. He looked composed, the effects of the previous night gone without a trace.
Who knew that after recovering, he would go straight to see if Rongrong was fine.
"I heard," his voice was a low rumble. "The child's account is accurate. They faced a fifteen-hundred-year Jeweled Hawk and lived. Not just lived—they triumphed through coordination and skill far beyond their years."
He paused, his stern face showing a rare flicker of profound confusion. "The spirit manifestation... this 'Luminous'. I have never seen or heard of its like. It should not be possible."
He met Ning Fengzhi's gaze squarely. "Fengzhi, this is not a simple gathering of talented children. What surrounds your daughter is... unnatural. A convergence of anomalies that defies the heavens themselves."
Ning Fengzhi nodded slowly, his gaze distant. The initial surprise he had felt was now a cold, solid weight in his stomach. "And you, Uncle Jian? Rongrong mentioned you were... unwell this morning. What happened last night that was important enough to keep you from your watch?"
Chen Xin was silent for a long moment, the memory of the moonlit clearing clear in his eyes. "I met with Tang Hao," he stated bluntly.
The air in the room seemed to grow still. Ning Fengzhi's eyes snapped to the Sword Douluo's. "The Haotian Douluo? Here?"
"He was. He had been watching. He confirmed the boy, Tang San, is his son." Chen Xin relayed the conversation—the shared drink, the unspoken acknowledgment, the quiet, paternal vigilance.
"He did not threaten us. But I couldn't get him to tell me what happened that day with the pope of the spirit hall."
Ning Fengzhi absorbed this in silence, turning to look out the window at the peaceful, sleeping city. The pieces clicked into place with dizzying, terrifying clarity.
The son of the most formidable Attack-type Douluo in the world, a girl with an innate spirit power, and a girl with an incredible support ability.
"Not just anomalies, Uncle Jian," Ning Fengzhi said quietly, his breath fogging the cool glass of the window. "This is a gathering of storms. Or perhaps... the forging of legends the world has not seen in a thousand years."
He turned back to the room, his decision made, his earlier shock now forged into steel resolve. "Our original plan remains, but its purpose has changed. It is no longer merely about recruiting promising talent for the sect." His voice was firm, filled with the weight of prophecy.
"We must ensure their path to Heaven Dou City is clear, if they were to go there. We will not control them. We will support them. We will tie our fate to theirs. For good or ill, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will stand beside and befriend the young legends."
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