Deducing Godhood from the Fetal Stage

Chapter 76 The Agreement

Ling Kuo's resolute face, which had slaughtered countless enemies on the battlefield and remained unfazed even when facing extraterrestrial demons, now bowed down in an almost mechanical manner.

My gaze followed the crisp, clean lines of the military uniform trousers downwards.

Finally, it stopped at his right foot.

On the damp grass, Jiang Yun, wearing light blue open-crotch pants, lay face up.

Two chubby little hands were gripping his trouser legs tightly.

Seemingly sensing the gaze, the little creature raised its head, its large, dark eyes meeting his horrified, surging gaze, and then—

grin.

"Grandpa/Grandpa".

Ling Kuo's completely blank face was reflected in his dark pupils.

that moment.

The renowned "Soaring King" of the Fifth Star Realm felt a sudden "buzz" in his mind, and all was silent.

"Crossing the Stars".

There's no mistake. That's Jiang Rang's "Star-Traversing Ferry," a technique for guiding resources, traversing galaxies, and mastering spatial leaps.

but……

Why?

Why can a baby who is only two months old and whose meridians are not fully developed use the "Star Crossing" technique?!

Ling Kuo even forgot to control her strength. Her right hand instinctively reached out and grabbed Jiang Yun's collar, lifting him into the air with a "whoosh"!

"...'Crossing the Stars'."

His voice was hoarse, like a suppressed scream that was tearing his throat, or the murmur of a desert traveler seeing a mirage.

"wrong……"

Ling Kuo's gaze suddenly fixed on Jiang Yun's eyes. In those clear eyes, a hint of pinkish-gold lotus shadow was slowly fading away.

An even more outrageous, yet the only plausible, guess struck my mind like a thunderbolt.

"...It is a 'kinship bond'."

His voice became even hoarser, trembling without him even realizing it.

"Xiao Jiu's 'marriage bond'...you, have you awakened your spiritual path?"

Time seemed to stand still in the courtyard.

The next second, Ling Kuo moved.

He suddenly straightened up, and with a flick of his right wrist, he changed from lifting Jiang Yun to hugging her.

The movements were still stiff, but at least the little guy wasn't left dangling in mid-air.

Ling Kuo looked down at the little one in her arms.

"...Grandpa."

The little guy called out again, this time softer, with a hint of confusion.

Ling Kuo closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When it opened its eyes again, all the emotional fluctuations in those eyes were forcibly suppressed into the deepest part of the sea.

Listen.

He spoke, his voice so low that only the two of them could hear, his pace quick and clear—the standard style of a combat briefing:

"First, don't easily repeat what just happened in front of any outsiders."

"Secondly, now I'm going to examine your body. Don't resist."

Before she finished speaking, Ling Kuo had already touched Jiang Yun's forehead with her left index finger.

A surge of powerful yet gentle spiritual energy instantly flowed into Jiang Yun's body.

This spiritual energy is not aggressive at all. Wherever it passes, meridians, bones, flesh, internal organs, and even the deepest sea of ​​consciousness are illuminated without reservation.

Jiang Yun didn't care about this. Ling Caixin and Yinuo couldn't find anything unusual before, and Ling Kuo was only a prince, so let him investigate.

Ling Kuo's investigation was extremely meticulous; she even spared a wisp of spiritual energy to carefully touch the Lotus of Heart-Binding Entwining in Jiang Yun's sea of ​​consciousness.

The lotus trembled slightly, and the iridescent light flowing from the tips of its petals rippled gently.

Lingkuo's fingertips trembled almost imperceptibly, and a bubble of emotion floated out:

[It's actually a soul that's connected to others, coupled with an innate Dao body; no wonder it spontaneously awakened the 'Intimate Bond'.]

The investigation lasted a full three minutes.

In those three minutes, Ling Kuo's expression shifted from solemn to shocked to bewildered, finally settling on a complex look that mixed absurdity and unavoidable disbelief.

He withdrew his finger and looked at Jiang Yun in silence.

Jiang Yun looked at him, blinked, and then stretched out her little finger to poke the index finger that Ling Kuo was still touching between his eyebrows.

"……itch."

Ling Kuo: "..."

He withdrew his hand and put it behind his back, his right hand still firmly holding Jiang Yun.

Then, he raised his head, facing the empty courtyard, his lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

However, Jiang Yun's Butterfly God's Eye saw it, and at the same time, his hidden perception gave him a hint.

[Official Data Stream of Xinghua Empire]

[Truncation will be detected by the Imperial military's AI. Should we proceed with truncation?]

Jiang Yun: "..."

I'll just cut you off.

However, Ling Kuo actually used a military-grade battlefield information jamming system for him.

"Now."

Ling Kuo lowered her head again, her gaze locking onto Jiang Yun's eyes like an iron clamp.

"Tell me, how did you do that?"

His voice was calm, but every word was like a steel nail hitting the ground.

Jiang Yun stared at him for two seconds, then stretched out her small hand, first pointing to herself, then pointing to the direction of the second floor behind Ling Kuo.

That's roughly the location of Jing Shui Pavilion, where Ling Jiu is in seclusion.

"Mom...of..." he stammered, but managed to utter the words, "Daoye...I...use..."

It wasn't that he was deliberately speaking unclearly, but rather that the information density was too high, and his pronunciation ability wasn't yet sufficient to speak such complex sentences; he could only continue to practice.

He paused, then pointed to his eyes: "I saw... the line... Dad's... line..."

Then he made a pulling motion, pointed to Ling Kuo's wide trouser leg, and grinned.

Ling Kuo's breath hitched again.

Despite having already guessed, I heard the word "Dao Ye" (道业) from the child's own mouth.

It still gave him a dizzying feeling, as if his worldview had been forcibly bent.

More than two months. The path to enlightenment.

It borrows from Jiang Rang's "Qianxingdu".

Each of those words alone would be enough to drive the old scholars at the Imperial Research Institute crazy.

Now they come together, happening to a baby who still smells of milk.

The innate Dao body.

Was Lingxi this abnormal before?

He couldn't say for sure, because Lingxi's Dao Body was not of the Full Wisdom type, but rather of the Qi Sensing type, and she only began to show her talent in the Blood Refining Realm and the Spirit Concealing Realm.

Ling Kuo closed her eyes, then opened them again.

This time, even the last trace of emotion in his eyes subsided.

"Jiang Yun."

He formally called his grandson by his full name for the first time.

"I don't know if you can understand, but you'll definitely remember it."

"Starting today, I will personally teach you for an hour every afternoon."

"What to teach and how to teach it are up to me. You can ask questions, but the final interpretation rests with me."

"If this were the old days, I would definitely hide you in a secret place belonging to the military or the Ling family, and raise you into a fighting machine all the way."

"But times have changed now. With your great-grandmother's Five Paths and Five Followers superfluous influence, without the accumulation of status and achievements, anyone's realm will be blocked, including you and me."

"You were born with an innate Dao body and were born into our Ling family, so you naturally bear the mission of the empire."

"The Empire has many enemies, and even more that target or buy out our talents."

"Therefore, you must learn to conceal your talents and protect yourself. If you are resurrected too many times by 'Mending the Sky,' your potential will be exhausted."

"Protect yourself in order to grow, and then consider protecting others."

"Do you understand?"

After listening quietly, Jiang Yun nodded gently, then shook her head slightly.

Ling Kuo pondered for a moment and said, "Let's consider this a transaction. Although I am your maternal grandfather, the resources were provided by the military. In the future, if you need to work for the military, you will have to repay these debts."

This time, Jiang Yun didn't nod or shake her head, but instead extended her little fist.

Ling Kuo was taken aback, then met the punch head-on. A slight smile seemed to appear on his tense face: "Okay, that's manly!"