Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Baisha was stunned.

She felt as if her dream of an early retirement, complete with wings, was flying away before her eyes.

"You're still young, don't you plan on having children?" Baisha leaned forward slightly, her voice a mix of confusion and surprise.

"I have no plans for children at the moment," Cecil Luoning raised his eyebrows slightly, sensing Baisha's subtle displeasure, which seemed to amuse him further, "Besides, even if I eventually find a partner, I would prioritize your right to the throne over my own offspring."

Baisha: "..."

Cecil Luoning: "Blame your mother. She abandoned the position of crown prince and left. I've been the Emperor only as a stand-in for her. Now that you're back, I can pass the throne to her child."

"The way you talk about it, it's as if the throne is a hot potato," Baisha quirked a corner of her mouth, murmuring.

"It is a hot potato. Why else would you have that expression?" Cecil Luoning chuckled softly, "The character of each generation of the Luoning family differs — my father didn't wish to establish a great legacy, only to train an excellent successor and retire; whereas your mother was utterly unrestrained and indulgent..."

"I understand their feelings now," Cecil Luoning revealed a mischievous smile, "Now, I have a successor before me too. I'm thinking of grooming you into an outstanding heir to inherit the empire — this is much more interesting than being the Emperor myself."

Baisha: "..."

So this is the style of the past two generations of the Luoning family?

She felt a sense of shared sentiment.

"Indeed, every gift from fate comes with its price," Baisha said somewhat weakly.

"A fine saying," Cecil Luoning remarked with interest, "Which Federation person did it come from?"

Baisha silently shook her head.

Cecil Luoning: "Very well. From now on, it shall be an adage of the Empire."

After delivering his notice to Baisha, the Emperor left her palace, content.

Baisha sat in silence for a long while, then pressed the button to summon the butler.

The butler, clad in a black and white uniform, approached Baisha with a graceful bearing, bowing his head: "Your Highness, may I assist you with anything?"

"Is the cat catalog from earlier still available?" Baisha asked emotionlessly, "Bring it to me."

Butler: "...Are you planning to?"

Baisha: "The pressure is too much, I need to pick another eight cats."

She had forced herself to stop after choosing eight cats earlier, but there were many more charming felines she had briefly glimpsed and reluctantly left behind. Now she decided to indulge herself more. If rights and duties are inseparable, why not choose to live a life more "as she pleases"?

Sixteen cats, after all, were manageable for her.

However, after this time, she really shouldn't add any more cats.

The butler silently shrugged his shoulders, took a deep breath, summoned a floating tray, and handed the tablet to Baisha with a solemnity as if presenting an audition list to the Emperor: "Your Highness, please."

The next day.

Upon learning that Baisha had adopted sixteen cats in one go, Cecil Luoning was momentarily speechless.

He said to his accompanying attendants, Wei Li and Jilun, "Does she think that hanging cats from every corner of her palace will prevent me from entering her territory?"

"I don’t think the young princess, given her age, would have such a childish notion," Wei Li sighed. He had come to Guodu Star today to discuss state affairs with the Emperor, but the Emperor's conversation kept returning to the young princess, amusing yet frustrating Wei Li, "May I ask you—has it only been a few days since the princess returned to the empire, and you’ve already argued with her? To the point where she doesn’t want you in her palace?"

The Emperor denied any serious disagreement, mentioning only a minor quarrel with his niece.

"As a minister, I do not wish to see discord between you and the young princess," Wei Li said, lowering his eyes, his gold eyeglass chain gently swaying, adding to his scholarly and wise demeanor, "But as someone with experience, I must tell you that patience is key in raising children. The more anxious you are, the more likely you are to miss the chance to truly listen to the child’s heart."

Wei Li, though young, was already a father himself. He had an exceptionally well-behaved daughter.

"It’s not about teaching," Cecil Luoning glanced sideways, "It's about the position of the crown prince."

Wei Li seemed to have guessed as much: "The young princess is not interested in inheriting the throne?"

The Emperor of the Ares Empire, seemingly possessing supreme power—yet not all royal family members aspire to be the Emperor. The heavy responsibility symbolized by the throne can disturb the peace of an ordinary royal family member lacking ambition and courage. Besides, royals are people too, with their own dreams. What if these dreams conflict with becoming the Emperor? How should one choose?

In summary, to be an Emperor, one indispensable quality is ambition.

Without ambition, one cannot bear the weight of the imperial crown.

Baisha's impoverished background and her recent ascent to wealth have already significantly eroded the sharp ambition she once had to climb higher.

There are many ways to rise above others; becoming an Emperor is not the only one, right?

"She just lacks ambition for now," the Emperor slightly curled his lips, "…she will have it soon."

This is the gene that flows in the Luoning family's bloodline.

The previous Emperor abdicated early to accompany his increasingly frail partner through the last moments of life; Westpes Luoning resigned from the position of crown prince and left far away, not because she was unwilling to be the Emperor, but because she could no longer hold that position.

Only he, Cecil Luoning.

Holding the throne, yet losing all his loved ones. He tasted supreme power, but also drank the deepest loneliness.

Now that Cecil Luoning has his niece, he naturally wants to guide her growth, watching Baisha slowly become a strong successor, until she challenges and defeats him — then becomes the new Emperor.

The old king exits gloomily, and the new king is adorned with glory.

This is the tradition of the Luoning family, as well as the most intimate and unique bond between the Emperor and his successor.

Cecil Luoning, for both public and personal reasons, will not forsake this bond.

"…You haven’t told the young princess yet about the need to challenge you to become the Emperor, have you?" Wei Li adjusted his glasses and said, "Otherwise, her reaction would be even greater than it is now."

Emperor: "We'll discuss that later."

The three walked a bit further, and Wei Li boarded his family's shuttle, bidding farewell. Meanwhile, the Emperor, accompanied by Jilun, approached the entrance of Baisha's palace.

Baisha had already been waiting there.

Surprised to see Jilun, Baisha asked, "Major General Jilun, are you accompanying us too?"

Jilun stood still, his pure gold eyes glancing at Baisha, exuding a quiet, wild beauty. He subtly restrained his spirit form, which was about to pounce at Baisha's feet, and said in a deep, magnetic voice, "This is the Emperor's command. I am to escort both of you to the royal sanatorium."

Without much conversation, the three boarded a small starship. The "Po Jun" guard squadron followed, and the group headed to the royal sanatorium located on Tianshu Star.

The sanatorium was a place of opulent yet understated elegance, its decor revealing a discreet beauty of rationality. Cen Haiyun, originally from the research institute, had already received the order and prepared a range of instruments, waiting for the Emperor's arrival at the sanatorium.

When the Emperor and his party entered the examination room, Cen Haiyun was in a light blue medical coat, making final adjustments to the diagnostic equipment. Her black hair, like ebony, was coiled at the back of her head, secured with an exquisite jade hairpin. When she looked up, her eyes were clear as water, and her generous smile was as bright as the sun:

"Your Majesty, Princess. It's a pleasure to meet you both. Thank you for the royal family's trust. I will do my utmost to conduct the spiritual body treatment for the Princess."

The Emperor nodded faintly.

Cen Haiyun's gaze didn’t linger on Cecil Luoning for long, instead turning directly towards Baisha.

"I've heard about your experiences, Princess," Cen Haiyun said with a smile, revealing her pearly white teeth, "In our Ares Empire, it's quite rare for someone of your age to have an unawakened spirit body. I've received your genetic analysis report and assessed your nutritional status, which indeed is not conducive to the growth of a spirit body. But theoretically, it shouldn't have been delayed this long."

Cecil Luoning: "What do you mean by that?"

Cen Haiyun: "There must be other factors at play. Princess, please cooperate with me for some tests."

Baisha did as instructed.

The tests were all quite effortless.

The initial procedure was simply lying down and allowing the machines to scan. These massive instruments hummed and buzzed, spewing out a lengthy report after ten minutes. Cen Haiyun stood at one end, reading the data, as the machines on the other end continuously printed out reports. After reviewing all the data, she asked Baisha to stand up and go to a machine that tested spiritual power, instructing her to release her spiritual energy as indicated.

The Empire's spiritual power testing machines were far more direct than those of the Federation, resembling a hydraulic transmission device. Baisha only needed to release her spiritual power without any reservations, and the results would be directly displayed on the instrument's scale — the lowest level on the scale was S grade.

Baisha concentrated and the needle on the scale finally settled between double S and triple S.

This was not much different from the results of the Federation's tests.

Cen Haiyun was busy recording something on her tablet, then after staring at the data for a while, said, "Please trust that this is not just flattery... I believe the Princess's spirit body must be incredibly powerful. Even unreasonably so. No one has ever reached this level of spiritual power without having awakened their spirit body... The Princess's spirit body has not broken free from the physical constraints to awaken, which relates to her nutritional data, but also to the lack of any guidance in spiritual power."

Holding the tablet in the crook of her arm, she addressed the Emperor, "As you all know, in our Empire, people from a young age undergo meditation training related to spiritual power. Even kindergartens offer courses related to awakening the spirit body. These are tricks summarized from the experience of our predecessors, but the Princess is completely blank in this regard."

"Furthermore, being near relatives with whom one shares a blood relationship can invisibly foster the awakening of a child's spirit body. The Princess's experience in this area does not meet the positive conditions..."

"Overall, I believe now is a good time for the Princess to awaken her spirit body," Cen Haiyun concluded decisively, "but she may need guidance from another's spiritual power."

This "another" clearly referred to the Emperor, with no other candidate in mind.

Cen Haiyun suggested, "I recommend using the assisted awakening mechanism."

The so-called "assisted awakening" is a technology developed for some children within the Empire who already have a rudimentary scale of spiritual power, but whose spirit bodies are difficult to form. Its core is to immerse the child and parent's consciousness into the same space, aligning their spiritual frequencies, and then using the parent's spirit body to draw out the child's spirit body — similar to "teaching you how to coalesce a spirit body through an immersive experience."

However, during the assisted awakening process, both the parent and child need to temporarily lose consciousness, immersing all their senses into a virtual space. This might not be much for ordinary people, but for the royal family, it's somewhat risky, considering the Empire's royal family has faced several assassination attempts —

Cecil Luoning nodded, "I agree to the assisted awakening plan. That's also why I brought Jilun today."

While he and Baisha lost consciousness and couldn't look after their surroundings, Jilun and the royal guard would be stationed to protect both Cecil Luoning and Baisha's safety.

Jilun bowed his head and saluted, "Yes, I will stay close at all times."

Cen Haiyun smiled, "Then, shall we proceed with the assisted awakening process next?"

The Emperor and Baisha exchanged a glance and nodded.

Cen Haiyun led Cecil Luoning and Baisha to another room in the sanatorium, where two huge, azure-blue spherical devices were placed. Inside these spheres flowed a transparent substance, either gas or liquid, with layers of glowing, gentle ripples undulating continuously like tides.

"Please enter these devices," Cen Haiyun instructed, "They have been tested by many and are safe. Although there's no direct oxygen supply inside, a life support system is present. Once you enter, you'll experience a state of weightlessness, like walking in space... but there will be no discomfort."

Cen Haiyun’s explanation was earnest, seemingly worried that the royal pair might find these devices, used by 'commoners', to be subpar.

Fortunately, neither Cecil Luoning nor Baisha showed any signs of disapproval.

Baisha cooperated swiftly and entered the device. As soon as both her feet were inside, she floated up like a weightless cloud.

"Please relax," Cen Haiyun's voice reached their ears, "You will gradually hear some white noise around you, like the sound of the tide or running water. Slowly release your spiritual power, and these sounds will transport you into a virtual world."

"It's important to note that the virtual space created by the device is unpredictable and varies from person to person. In other words, the world your consciousness will descend into depends entirely on you..."

Cen Haiyun's voice gradually faded away.

A wave of sound, mixing wind and ocean waves, surged powerfully into Baisha's ears, instantly sweeping away all her consciousness.

A pure white scene slowly materialized before her eyes.

Chains of water droplets appeared beside Baisha. She released her spiritual power in sync, merging with the beaded chains that gradually entwined around her like a fine net.

Her consciousness intertwined bit by bit... as if gradually being trapped in a cocoon.

Suddenly, a chaotic spinning started, and the cocoon seemed to roll violently. Baisha spun inside, feeling as if she were being tossed around in a centrifuge —

Until the white cocoon abruptly split open.

Baisha — or rather, Baisha's consciousness, was thrown into a completely unfamiliar world.

Baisha: "..."

She felt like a wisp of smoke, tumbling uncontrollably a few times before stabilizing her direction.

Looking around, she found herself transported to a forest-like area.

The forest exuded vibrant vitality. Each tree was lush and verdant, their canopies so green they seemed to encapsulate an entire spring, gently swaying in the breeze as if they were living entities breathing in and out. The moist soil released the scent of grass and wood, and the clear stream quietly meandered through the roots of the trees.

Captivated by the beautiful scenery, Baisha lingered in fascination, almost completely absorbed. But she soon realized something was amiss.

The forest felt "brimming with life," yet aside from plants, soil, and water, she couldn't spot any other living creatures.

Was that reasonable?

Lazily floating in the air, Baisha elevated her view to the highest point in the sky, surveying the forest from above.

The forest wasn't endless. Baisha had an inexplicable intuition about the limits of her free movement, as if crossing beyond this range would be like hitting an "air wall."

Baisha: "..."

Surely she wasn't here just to admire the scenery.

Suddenly, she remembered that her uncle was supposedly, should be, in this space too.

Controlling her drifting body, she began searching through various parts of the forest.

She didn't know how long she searched, long enough for a bright moon to rise over the forest. Perched on a tree branch, about to succumb to fatigue, she suddenly spotted a vivid color amidst the dense green foliage.

It was a bright, shimmering aqua blue, dazzling to the point of being mesmerizing.

Baisha was instantly drawn to this intense color.

Though exhausted, she gathered all her strength, controlling her ethereal form to fly towards that bright light.

She navigated through the woods, arriving at a stream she seemed not to have visited before.

The stream, touched by moonlight, glimmered faintly, its waters playing invisible strings in the air, weaving a melody of profound tranquility.

On the surface of the water, there was a huge bird.

It was deep blue all over, flying elegantly and nimbly in the air. Its long tail feathers shimmered with an aqua hue, scattering specks of lingering, star-like phosphorescence in the air.

It was calling.

Baisha instinctively understood its call. It was beckoning her to come quickly to it.

Baisha suddenly felt an unprecedented familiarity with this magnificent bird, as if she had seen it hundreds, thousands of times before. The luminous glow on the bird's feathers was as intense as fire, its warm aura hitting the softest part of her heart—

Baisha knew something was off about her current state.

She felt split in two; one part curiously observing everything, the other controlling her body to clumsily dive into the embrace of the giant bird like a homing swallow.

"Chirp chirp chirp... chirp chirp chirp!"

Her body, once like blue smoke, suddenly took on a solid form.

Baisha heard a soft, crisp, endearing chirping sound. And she felt as though she had heard this sound before, more than once!

Baisha felt the breeze and the scent of water swirling around her. She belatedly realized: she seemed to have grown wings, she seemed to be flying!

"Chirp chirp..."

Help!

Once she became aware of her wings, her body suddenly lost its balance.

Falling from the sky, Baisha's vision was filled with the sight of clear, babbling stream water. The stream, like a mirror, reflected her current appearance: a small, fluffy white bird with black feet and beak, tiny black eyes, and a rather plump figure. The rest was unclear, as continuous ripples on the water's surface made it look like a blurry mirror.

...In any case, she was nothing like the majestic blue bird she had seen.

Baisha thought somewhat resignedly, what if she was a water bird? Could she float on the water's surface? At least she wouldn't drown. But at this point, it all depended on luck.

She gently closed her eyes—

And then landed on something warm and soft.

Baisha abruptly opened her eyes and found that she hadn't fallen into the water but had landed on the wings of the blue giant bird.

The blue giant bird took off swiftly, gliding over the water's surface, and brought her to a dry treetop. It then gently picked her up in its beak and placed her in an overly elaborate nest made of soft branches and vines.

Baisha plunged into the bird's nest, hardly settling in before the giant bird let out a loud and melodious cry. With a dance-like grace, it naturally flew beside her and began preening her feathers with its beak.

However, the preening, though full of affection, was quite clumsy. The bird was neither gentle nor careful, and within a few minutes, Baisha lost quite a few feathers.

Baisha: "..."

Chirp, chirp, chirp!

Uncle, stop pecking, I'm going to be bald!

But Baisha's protests seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Finally, after the blue giant bird finished preening Baisha's feathers, she transformed from a fluffy sphere into a plucked one with patches of missing feathers.

Yet the blue giant bird was not done. It flew away from the nest for a few minutes and returned with many red, brightly colored fruits, pushing them towards Baisha, indicating for her to eat them.

Baisha: "..."

Are these things really not poisonous?

And uncle, have you developed an addiction to this or what?