I was born a god, the son of the Demon Lord.

The arrows of wishing blocked the way, and Shen Jiuyuan's scythe reaped the harvest. The eldest princess was forced to retreat step by step, and her protective demonic energy was smashed to pieces. Even the amethyst crown on her head was tilted to one side.

"You two adulterers—!" The eldest princess roared in fury, her demonic energy exploding from her body, a black shockwave sweeping out in all directions.

Shen Jiuyuan was directly in front of the shockwave. His pupils contracted, and he held his scythe horizontally in front of him to block. However, the shockwave, carrying the full force of a Fusion Realm expert's attack, forcefully sent him flying backward, dragging two deep trenches in the ground beneath his feet.

The eldest princess pounced forward, her five fingers forming claws, her purplish-black nails piercing straight into Shen Jiuyuan's chest like sharp blades.

In that very instant.

A golden figure swept past from the side.

Xu Yuan discarded his bow, lunged forward, and pulled Shen Jiuyuan into his arms by the waist with one hand. With his other hand, he brought his palm together, forming a blade, and golden phoenix flames condensed into a sharp golden light in his palm—

"puff!"

Golden light pierced through the eldest princess's chest.

The eldest princess's eyes widened, a stream of black blood gushed from the corner of her mouth, demonic energy rapidly drained from her body, her figure swayed twice, and she collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Only two people remained on the field, maintaining the same posture.

With one arm around Shen Jiuyuan's waist and the other still in the pose of golden light piercing his chest, Xu Yuan pulled Shen Jiuyuan into her embrace, his head almost hitting her shoulder.

The wind passed between the two, lifting stray hairs and the corners of their clothes.

It lasted for a second or two.

Xu Yuan suddenly looked down at the person in her arms, her gaze falling on Shen Jiuyuan's dazed profile, and she let go of him with a "snap".

Caught off guard, Shen Jiuyuan fell to the ground with a thud, lying face down in the pile of rubble, covered in dust.

"Hiss—why are you making a wish?!"

Xu Yuan turned her face away, crossed her arms, and looked somewhat uncomfortable.

"What are you doing? What, haven't you hugged enough? Seriously, what's the point of just standing there without moving?"

Hmph, if it weren't for the fact that Shen Jiuyuan had sent flowers for three consecutive days, and she felt bad letting him fight alone, she wouldn't have come to help.

Shen Jiuyuan stood up, patted the pebbles off his clothes, and noticed the other person's slightly reddened ear tips. His own face also felt unnaturally hot.

She really does like me. Otherwise, why would she leave flowers by my bedside for three consecutive days?

Such a big bunch of red roses, and today they even risked their lives to rush over and save me...

Shen Jiuyuan lowered his head and wiped the blood off the sickle. He couldn't help but smirk slightly, but quickly suppressed it.

Yes, she definitely has a crush on me. Oh well, I won't bother with such a small thing.

He cleared his throat and stubbornly said, "Couldn't you have just said so? You suddenly let go and I almost fell to my death."

"If a Nascent Soul cultivator can be killed by a fall, you might as well find a block of tofu and smash your head against it!"

After saying that, Xu Yuan turned around and left, flicking her twin ponytails without even glancing at the dragon behind her who was still dusting off its feathers.

Seeing that the other person had left, Shen Jiuyuan quickly followed, calling out, "Hey, wait for me!"

Honestly, I just mentioned this golden bird, and it left without even waiting for me.

The two of them walked back to where they had been, one looking up at the sky and the other looking down at the ground, without saying a word.

The setting sun cast long shadows, and golden rays spread across the broken-tile path. Occasionally, a gust of wind would sweep by, carrying away a few petals that seemed to drift from nowhere.

As soon as they reached the door, Shen Jiuyuan took a step forward, opened the door, and turned to the side, saying, "You go in first."

Xu Yuan glanced at him, thinking that at least this clumsy dragon had some sense.

As soon as Xu Yuan stepped across the threshold, a small red figure came running over, grabbed her leg, and looked up with a fair and tender face, her eyes curving into crescent moons with a smile.

"Mommy~ You're back! Are you hurt? Let Yiyi see you!"

Shen Xizhou followed closely behind, mimicking her perfectly: "Mother, you've worked so hard!"

Xu Yuan's cold expression melted instantly when she was sweetened by those two little mouths. She squatted down and turned Xu Nanyi around, letting the other party look her up and down.

"Look, there's not a scratch on him."

She reached out and pinched Xu Nanyi's cheek, then pinched Shen Xizhou's. The soft touch made her feel great: "Whose child is this? How can he talk so well!"

Shen Jiuyuan coughed twice, crossed his arms, and deliberately put on a stern face.

"Hmph, can't your father, who's a grown man, see me standing right here? All you do is worry about others."

Xu Nanyi immediately let go of Xu Yuan's leg and ran over with a grin to tug at Shen Jiuyuan's sleeve: "Daddy, you've worked hard too!"

Shen Jiuyuan's lips had just curled into a smile, before he could even savor the sweet "Daddy"—

Shen Xizhou added quietly from the side, "As long as you're not dead, big centipede."

Shen Jiuyuan's smile froze on his face. He raised his foot and kicked Shen Xizhou precisely in the buttocks.

Shen Xizhou let out a "howl," nimbly sidestepped, and hid behind Xu Yuan and Xu Nanyi, sticking out half his head and shouting.

"See that? See that?! This giant centipede bullies me like this every day!"

Shen Jiuyuan's kick missed its mark, and he was about to follow up with another kick when he received a light but not heavy blow to his lower back, followed by a cold glare.

Xu Yuan withdrew her foot and patted her clothes expressionlessly: "What kind of behavior is it to lay hands on a child like that?"

Shen Jiuyuan clutched his waist, his lips twitching slightly, but he didn't dare to move again.

Lin Qingyue and Tianxing, who were sitting on the steps behind, witnessed this entire scene.

Tianxing stroked his chin, squinted at the "family of four" making a ruckus, and muttered two words of contemplation.

"No way, no way, could they really be a family of four?"

Lin Qingyue glanced at him: "Although they look alike, have you ever seen a twelve or thirteen-year-old child give birth to two six-year-old children?"

Tianxing pondered for a moment, her expression growing increasingly serious: "Is it possible... that Sister Yuan is hiding her true age, and that she's actually several hundred years old?"

Lin Qingyue: "I think you're quite ill."

Tianxing: "Then explain why those two kids called her 'Mom'?"

Lin Qingyue: "...It might have been found."

Tianxing: "You'll pick two who call you 'mother,' but you'll pick one and let me see?"