Blue eyes that evoke an uncomfortable feeling, a strange glow that draws the eye.

Hei was looking at that very same creepy boy from the day he was born.

"You're Tianlan?"

The boy turned to look at Hei.

"I am."

-Ssss.

Hei drew in a cold breath. Needless to say, he wasn't too thrilled about finding out his brother was a creepy fellow.

"It's... Nice to meet you."

Hei awkwardly said.

"Mm."

Tianlan gave a simple response.

'Ah, stop staring at me. Seriously.'

"Is there something on my face?"

Tianlan seemed to realize what he was doing, he shifted his gaze and said:

"No, it's just that... You are talking right now. Is that normal?"

"Is it strange?"

Xiulan jumped in. She had a confused look on her face. Evidently, she had grown accustomed to being around a talking baby.

"Ah, yes... from what I know, none of the others can speak like this."

Tianlan responded to his mother. He then turned back to Hei with a questioning look.

"Who are the others?"

Hei was confused at Tianlan's mention of 'the others'.

"Our other siblings."

"Eh? We have more siblings?"

Hei turned to Xiulan.

"You have more children?"

"No, Tianlan is talking about the children of the other wives."

"Other wives?"

'This. My new mother is in a harem? Sigh. No wonder she's in the grey.'

Hei was disappointed. He really didn't like harems and now, all of a sudden he was in one. No wonder he had never seen his new father. Who knew how many wives he had?

"Yes, you have met one of them. That Second Sister Tang Jiao is one of them."

"... I see..."

'So what was that about when she came here? And Xiulan said she's tricky with her words. Is she participating in some weird family politics?'

Hei turned back to Tianlan.

"Is it that strange? Do any of the others have Innate Shadow Physiques?"

"Ah, No... But..."

"No, what we need to ask is why your eyes are so creepy. What kind of technique are you practising?"

Hei had been wanting to know about this for a while now.

"Creepy? You... Well, you're ugly!"

"Eh? Why are we going into subjective things when your eyes are objectively creepy? Maybe you think I'm ugly, but not everyone does. Isn't that right Lady Xiulan?"

Hei turned to Xiulan with a confident smile on his face. Surely, the woman who had birthed him and spent a year together with him would not think he was ugly.

"This..."

'Hesitation? But... What about all of those inheritance ceremonies? The Everlasting Promise? Did all of them mean nothing to you?'

"You are a bit odd. I have never seen anyone else like you, so saying whether you are ugly or not... It would require more samples. It's like bread. You can't say that one bread is tastier than the other without trying both."

"But... I'm your child. You're supposed to think I'm the most wonderful thing in existence... Why are you using logic?"

"Even the bread you bake with your own hands may not be tasty. To assume that it is, this is pure foolishness."

'Bread? Why do you keep talking about bread?'

"Sigh. I guess you have a point."

Hei then perked up and pointed to Tianlan. He said to Xiulan:

"Tell me his eyes aren't creepy."

He said this with a malicious smile directed towards Tianlan.

"Mm. He is also odd."

"Hahaha. You see? Even your own mother agrees."

Tianlan had a betrayed expression on his face as he looked to his mother.

"You're still ugly."

-Krch.

Hei decided to stop this meaningless argument, but he would get his payback.

"So, what technique are you practising? You should stop it, it's no good for you unless you want to be a villain."

Hei had to sort this out if he was to take this brother of his in as his subordinate. It would feel strange if he were to strengthen a villain.

"This isn't a technique. These are just my eyes."

Tianlan said with a triumphant face.

"Eh? You were born like this?"

"He was, but his eyes didn't have the oddness they have now. Originally they were just blue with no other notable features. It was at some point when he was three years old that they changed to be like this."

Xiulan stepped in at this point.

"Hehe. It makes me special, unlike you, who has a trashy physique."

This slightly annoyed Hei, but he decided to further assess Tianlan. If his eyes were not made to be this way through external means, then there is no problem with it. After all, it was not his choice how he was born.

"Eh? You want to talk about physiques? I heard you don't have any spirit roots. What do you have to say about that?"

"This. The measuring stone must have been wrong. It won't make me give up!"

"So when you lack talent, it's everyone else's fault?"

"I don't lack talent. Take that back!"

"Oh? Then prove it. Show me your talent."

This was the opportunity Hei was waiting for. He wanted to see if this Tianlan had any main character properties.

Tianlan then closed his eyes.

'Hm? Are you running away from reality?'

After a short while, he opened them again.

-Crash.

'Eh? Th-Th-Th... This...'

Hei's thoughts grew sluggish at this moment. He was looking straight into Tianlan's eyes, and he heard a glass shattering sound in his mind. He felt an extremely uncomfortable sensation as if he were standing naked in a snowstorm.

'H-H-H... How can it be so strong?'

During the latter part of Hei's thought, Tianlan closed his eyes again.

"This..."

"This..."

Both boys said this at the same time.

"You... You... What is this?"

"You... You... What is this?"

Again, they said the same words at the same time.

"Eyes Of The Heavens!"

"You are cultivating!"

Again, they spoke at the same time. This time Hei spoke unintentionally and in his original language. Tianlan and Xiulan couldn't understand what he said. Even Hei himself was unsure why he said those words.

"What?"

"What?"

They both spoke at the same time once more... What is this?

There was a moment of silence before Tianlan spoke.

"What did you say?"

"Nevermind that, did you say I am cultivating?"

"Yes."

'So there is cultivation in this world? Cool.'

"Why do you think so?"

"Because I can see the energy flowing around your body."

"Eh? you can see energy?"

"Yes."

"How old are you?"

"Six years old."

"Can you show me what you saw?"

Hei wanted to be sure that Tianlan wasn't making up some childish nonsense.

"Mm."

Tianlan walked up to Hei and proceded to trace around his body with his finger.

"It was like this."

Hei had on a giant smile in his mind.

'This is OP! Definitely MC status. Candidate number one secured.'

"Haha. What you saw is my healing ability. I was born with it and it's active all the time."

Hei was explaining his ability when he had a thought.

'Actually, I never did confirm that this warm flow is healing me. I've never experienced pain in this body so I assumed it was the healing ability.'

To test it out, Hei slapped his own face.

There was a tingling sensation followed by the familiar warmth and then no pain.

'It really is the healing ability.'

Having confirmed this, he looked back to Tianlan who had a confused expression on his face.

"Why did you hit yourself?"

"To test the healing ability."

"Why would you need to do that?"

"Because I've never been in pain before."

"So how did you know you had a healing ability?"

"Because it was given to me."

"By who?"

"Uh..."

Hei wasn't sure if he should explain the situation.

After considering it for a while he decided to explain. He had several reasons for doing so.

One: he felt like it wasn't a big deal. What's the worst that could happen?

Two: these people were family, so he didn't feel strange telling them his 'secret'.

Three: because he would eventually leave this world, and he would feel guilty if he were to just one day disappear and leave his new family in the same position as his original family. If he told them now, it would surely lessen the blow when the time came.

"Okay. The both of you take a seat."

Hei went to the bed and sat on it.

Xiulan and Tianlan followed suit and the three of them sat in a triangle on the bed.

"First of all, I'm from another world."

He paused for a moment to take any reactions. Surprisingly there wasn't any.

"Uh... You have no questions about that? I'm from another world, as in not this one..."

Xiulan and Tianlan looked at each other before turning back to Hei.

"Um... We're speaking to a one-year-old, so..."

"Yes, and I've never taught you these words, so obviously something strange is going on."

Hei was surprised at the calm way these two responded. Wouldn't most people be shocked? At least some kind of reaction. What was up with this immediate acceptance?

"But I've been speaking this whole time, why did you not say anything?"

"Hm? Does it matter? Was your being able to speak some significant thing? It's not like you were baking bread."

"..."

Hei was lost for words. As a mother, wasn't Xiulan supposed to be excited by everything he did? And why did she bring bread into everything?

Hei turned to Tianlan, who showed a confused face before nodding in understanding.

"Mm. I started baking bread when I was two years old. That was when mother noticed me."

"Eh?"

'What the? What kind of person is this?'

Hei had noticed Xiulan's obsession with bread, but he didn't think it was to this extent.

"Mm. At first he was no good, but after a few years of training, he was barely passable. He could then sell his bread to customers."

Xiulan said while rubbing Tianlan's head.

Hei noticed that this was the most lively he had seen her.

"This... Wait, customers?"

"Yes, back when we were still at the bakery."

After saying this Xiulan sighed and her expression dimmed.

'So this bakery is the place she calls home.'

"Is that what you have been looking at through the window?"

Xiulan turned to the window and said:

"Yes. That is where my father is, still running the bakery. I wonder how he is doing."

"You don't have to worry about Grandfather, Mother. He has always been able to handle the demand by himself."

"That's true. Father was always the best baker."

Xiulan's expression improved.

"So... Why don't you just go back to the bakery?"

"Because I am married to the Wu Clan patriarch."

Xiulan said this with a bitter smile. Tianlan clenched his fists.

'Oh? What's going on here?'

Hei was interested in the situation. If he could, he would find a way the get Xiulan back to the bakery.

"What's wrong, Tianlan?"

Tianlan looked towards Hei.

"This Wu Clan. They took us from our home and forced us to stay here. Even if Mother is married to the patriarch, why should we have to be here?"

"This..."

Hei was a little surprised. Didn't married people usually live together?

"That's why I have been working hard on my training. Even if I have no spirit roots, I will find a way to get us home.

"Oh?"

Hei said this with a smile on his face.

"Why do you laugh? Our mother has been suffering here for two years already."

Tianlan got angry. He was about to stand up when Hei spoke.

"Don't get me wrong Tianlan. I like it. So what if you have no spirit roots? Does that mean that all roads are blocked? Who said so?"

"This. Y-Yes."

"Let me tell you something. If one were to really twist the meaning, one could say I have lived countless lifetimes in many different worlds, and what I can tell you is, even the least talented can become the world's strongest!"

"..."

'Hehe, stunned by my inspirational words.'

"Are you calling me the least talented?"

"This... you were supposed to focus on 'world's strongest'. Why would you look at the least talented part?"

"Hm..."

"Ah, well that didn't go right. What I am saying is I will help. And you probably won't find a more able helper than me in this world."

"Oh? do you have some strong technique you can teach me?"

"No..."

"Then you have a heavenly treasure?"

"No..."

"Then an inheritance?"

"No..."

"Then how are you going to help?"

"This..."

Hei didn't really think about how he was actually going to do anything. His plan was to just sit and wait for his good fortune to fall out of the sky, after all, he specifically asked Crystalia for it.

"Hm... I will beseech the heavens."

"..."

At this moment Hei had a thought that he wanted to confirm.

"Lady Xiulan."

Xiulan looked over.

Hei looked towards Tianlan. He wanted to say this in a way that would go over a young child's head.

"Was a concord with the Wu Clan established prior to relocation?"

Xiulan was surprised by the question but she soon answered.

"It was not."

"The conception of the first. Was it the result of mutual agreement?"

"This... No. It was not."

"It was unilateral?"

"Yes."

Hei clenched his fists tightly.

"The seal had yet to be broken?"

"Correct."

"The flower had yet to bloom?"

"Mm."

Rage was building up within Hei. This was one of the things he could not tolerate.

He took a deep breath to calm himself before asking:

"Does the victim seek justice?"

There was a long pause before Xiulan answered.

"No. It is not necessary."

Hei was stunned for a long while before he asked:

"Why?"

Xiulan placed her hand on Tianlan's head. Hei's choice of words was effective, Tianlan had no idea what they were talking about.

While rubbing Tianlan's head, Xiulan answered:

"After the storm, there was a rainbow."

"This... So be it."

Hei was hesitant. Even though Xiulan was able to forgive, he was not. Even if it was his father, some things are inexcusable.

"What are you guys talking about? Seals and flowers with storms and rainbows?"

"Cough. Never mind that. Anyway, I need to warn you, Lady Xiulan."

Hei turned to Xiulan who responded with:

"I've been meaning to ask, but why do you call me 'Lady Xiulan'? Shouldn't you say 'Mother'?"

"This... It's because I'm from another world and I already have a mother. I don't want to call anyone else the same way."

"Then am I not your mother?"

"You are. Indeed you are my mother. It is not me denying that. I just will not refer to another person as 'Mother' as long as I live. To me, it is a title given to the greatest expert under the nine heavens. There can be only one."

Xiulan has had a confused face.

"... It's like naming your bread... Even if they are the same kind they are unique and deserve different names?..."

Hei threw a shot into the dark, hoping to hit something. And hit something he did.

"Ah, I see. Then you can call me Mumu."

'Eh? That worked? Even I didn't understand what I just said.'

"Mumu?"

"Mm. That is how I referred to my mother when I was younger."

"A meaningful name. Mumu it is then."

"Mm. So what is it you need to warn me about?"

"Right. Lady... Mumu, how many children do you have?"

"Two."

"Tianlan and me?"

"Yes."

"OK. Well, eventually I will have to leave this world and return home. I don't know what will happen to this body when I do so."

"Home?"

"Yes. The world I came from. I didn't come here of my own will, I was brought here by circumstance and I have a family I need to return to."

"..."

Xiulan didn't respond. It looked like she was thinking about something

"So if you want to still have two children, I suggest you have another one."

"You have to go?"

Xiulan asked with a calm expression. To which Hei replied with a serious face.

"I do."

"Then do what you must."

Xiulan seemed to be slightly affected but she ended up deciding to let Hei make his own decisions.

Hei noticed this, and his fondness for her increased.

"I'm sorry for taking your second son away from you Mumu."

Hei knew that he would be hurting this family when the time came, but nothing was more important than returning home.

"What are you saying? Aren't you my second son Little Hei?"

"And you are also my little brother. I don't know another one."

"This..."

Hei was touched. Even though he was someone from another world with a whole different life, these two, his new mother and brother accepted him as their own.

Because of this Hei made an oath in his heart.

'Hehe. If that's the case, then I will take this family to the peak of the world!'