In a high-level martial arts game, a wife is given to you at the start.

When Lin Qiye returned to the mansion, it was already late at night.

The mansion was quiet, with only the source energy lamp in the inner courtyard still lit, emitting a soft glow. Luo Sheng, Shuang'er, and Man Ji were already asleep, and Qing Yin and the other maids had also returned to their rooms to rest. The entire mansion was shrouded in a peaceful tranquility, a stark contrast to the silent slaughter that had taken place in the underground laboratory of the Array Master Guild a few hours earlier.

Lin Qiye did not return to the master bedroom, but went directly to the cultivation chamber in the third courtyard.

He sat down on the futon in the center of the cultivation chamber, took out the crystal core fragment he had brought back from the array master guild laboratory, placed it in his palm, and carefully examined it under the light of the source energy lamp.

The fragment was only the size of a fingernail, irregularly shaped, with sharp edges. Its color was no longer the fluorescent blue it had been; instead, under the permeation of Lin Qiye's dark golden source energy, it had become a color between transparent and pale gold. Inside the fragment, one could vaguely see some fine light patterns, which flowed slowly, like some tiny life form sealed within the fragment.

Lin Qiye closed his eyes and infused his senses into the fragment.

The energy structure remaining inside the fragment was extremely complex. It was not merely a fragment of Yin He's soul, but more like an ancient carrier of knowledge spanning multiple realms. Those light patterns were actually an extremely ancient sealing rune, compressing and sealing a massive flow of information within this small fragment.

He tried to decipher the runes, but immediately felt a powerful repulsive force emanating from the fragments, repelling his senses.

That repulsive force carried an extremely ancient aura, more ancient than Yin He's aura, and more profound than Zhu's aura—as if it came from an era far more distant than all the heavens and myriad worlds, from a realm that even Zhu had never touched.

He slowly opened his eyes, looking at the fragment in his palm, a hint of solemnity appearing in his gaze.

This fragment is not something Yin He could have created. Yin He is merely its custodian, not its creator. Its true origin is far older and more profound than Yin He, the Bone Tower, or even the Candle.

He gripped the shard tightly, feeling a warmth emanating from it in his palm, as if something dormant was slowly awakening.

He remained silent for a moment, then stood up, carefully put the fragments into his inner bag, and walked out of the cultivation chamber.

A cool night breeze stirred the hem of his robes. He stood in the inner courtyard, gazing up at the sparse stars in the night sky, his gaze seemingly piercing through the distant starlight, looking towards a deeper, more profound direction.

That direction wasn't the arena, nor the Canggu Mountains, nor even this continent.

That was a corner of the myriad realms, a domain that even the candle had never fully set foot in, the place where the true owner of that fragment resided.

He looked away, lowered his head, and stared at his palm.

The dark gold emblem was in the center of his palm, emitting an extremely faint light.

……

In the days that followed, the arena fell into an eerie calm.

Luo Song's death was announced by the Oversight Council as an "experimental accident." A large-scale purge was carried out within the Array Master Guild. The five controlled array masters had no memory of their previous lives after waking up and were isolated by the Oversight Council on the grounds that "long-term observation is needed."

The corpse brought back from the ruins of the Bone Tower, along with all the records and samples it triggered, were ordered by Shangguan Lin to be completely destroyed, leaving no trace.

Those infected in the arena gradually lost their parasitic consciousness after the mother body was destroyed, and began to dissipate on their own. Over the next few days, Shao Yuan submitted a list to Lin Qiye containing the names of about thirty people he confirmed had been infected. Lin Qiye passed the list to Shangguan Lin, who kept quiet, only arranging for his secret agents to carry out a clandestine "purification process" on each of them.

Everything is proceeding smoothly, like the sky gradually clearing after a storm.

But Lin Qiye knew that this peace was only temporary.

He hadn't fully deciphered the information sealed within that fragment. But he vaguely sensed that the secrets contained within the fragment were far more important than Yin He, the Bone Tower, or the entire arena.

But before that, there was one more thing he had to do.

He needs to wait for his child to be born.

And that moment is drawing ever closer.

……

Three months later, at the gladiatorial arena, at the Lin residence.

A baby's cry shattered the morning's tranquility.

The sound was crisp and loud, carrying the unique vitality of new life, echoing through the courtyard of the mansion, startling several gray sparrows that were dozing on the courtyard wall.

Luo Sheng lay on the bed in the master bedroom, her face pale but her expression calm, holding a baby wrapped in soft cotton cloth in her arms. The baby's wrinkled little face still had the rosy glow of being just born, its eyes were tightly closed, and its little mouth pursed, emitting a loud cry.

Lin Qiye stood by the bed, looking at the tiny, wrinkled life in Luo Sheng's arms. He remained silent for a moment, then reached out and gently touched the baby's little hand.

The baby's fingers reflexively gripped his fingertips tightly, as if he had grasped something important.

A faint yet remarkably clear energy fluctuation traveled from the infant's fingertips into Lin Qiye's senses. This energy fluctuation was pure and warm, carrying the same aura as his own, yet possessing its own independent and unique life imprint.

His bloodline continued in his children.

This feeling was more real, more vivid, and more deeply moving than when he merged with the inheritance of the candle.

He stood by the bed, looking at Luo Sheng and the newborn life, and remained silent for a long time before saying, "Let's call him... Lin Xi."

Luo Sheng looked up at him, a faint smile appearing on her lips: "Xi... is the light of dawn. A good name."

She lowered her head, looked at the baby in her arms, and softly hummed an old lullaby.

Lin Qiye had never heard that lullaby before. The melody was simple and gentle, carrying an ancient and peaceful power that gradually quieted the baby's cries until the baby finally fell asleep peacefully.

Lin Qiye stood by the bed, listening to the lullaby and looking at Luo Sheng and the baby's peaceful faces. The lake in his heart, which had been dormant for too long, was stirred up by a small pebble, creating ripples in the air.

That ripple was not power, not desire, not ambition.

Instead, it's something called "guarding".