ETR | Chapter 40

Not many people knew about this legend. Shen Guan only remembered it because he had come across it while flipping through ancient records—but he’d never actually seen it in real life.

This kind of nearly impossible, miracle-like legend—when applied to someone like Xiao Xueman—it suddenly made perfect sense. He was already ridiculously powerful, so any miraculous, outrageous thing happening to him just felt… natural.

In the entire Spirit Realm Continent, you couldn’t find another wood-type user as violent and overpowered as him.

Shen Guan had already suspected something back when he saw how the entire room was filled with empathetic plants while Xiao Xueman was handling Luo Yinyin and her father. Maybe even earlier. It was just now that he was starting to feel more and more certain—especially after seeing Xiao Wan like this.

Xiao Xueman didn’t seem to be hiding it from him either. That little green leaf on Xiao Wan’s head? He didn’t even try to cover it up, which was why Shen Guan noticed it the moment he stepped inside.

So if this was really true… what plant exactly was Xiao Xueman’s original form? Shen Guan couldn’t help but let his thoughts drift.

That little green leaf on Xiao Wan’s head looked just like any other normal tree sprout. Nothing unusual. Shen Guan just thought it looked especially soft and cute—though that might’ve been his personal “uncle filter” acting up. Everything Xiao Wan did looked cute to him.

Xiao Xueman wasn’t avoiding his gaze either. After Shen Guan had studied the leaf enough, he looked up and met Xiao Xueman’s suspiciously calm expression.

“…You had your suspicions already, didn’t you?” Xiao Xueman said. “When I told you Xiao Wan could hear the spiritual transmission of a Spirit God, you’d already gotten the idea. Shen Guan, we’ve been friends for so long—I know that expression of yours like the back of my hand. I can tell exactly what you’re thinking.”

He was totally chill about it. “Do you really need to look that shocked?”

“You…” Shen Guan was momentarily speechless, his mouth half-open. He instinctively lowered his voice. “Xueman, be honest with me. Are you seriously a spirit plant that gained sentience?”

Xiao Xueman nodded like it was no big deal. “Yup.”

Shen Guan: !!!

That quick?! Not even gonna lead up to it?!

Xiao Xueman added casually, “Don’t tell Lin Yuan and the others yet. They don’t know much, and if they hear this all of a sudden, they’ll just overreact again. Start yelling that I don’t trust them, that I keep everything from them…”

Even as he spoke, Xiao Xueman rubbed his forehead like he was already getting a headache. “Those three… the older they get, the more childish they become. Always fighting over everything.”

Shen Guan couldn’t stop staring at the green leaf on Xiao Wan’s head.

“Trying to guess my race?” Xiao Xueman chuckled. “Even if I told you, you probably wouldn’t know it.”

Shen Guan gave up asking. He paused for a bit, then asked quietly, “Does Qin Lou… know about this?”

He’d always felt Qin Lou had this vague sense of unease around Xiao Xueman—like he was afraid he’d vanish at any moment. And in the end, Qin Lou’s actions had sort of proved that fear wasn’t unfounded.

Maybe… part of that instability came from not knowing who Xiao Xueman really was?

“He knew a long time ago,” Xiao Xueman replied. “Yin Ying only found out later. Otherwise, how would they have created that special chain just for me?”

Shen Guan’s heart sank. After hearing that, he couldn’t bring himself to ask anything else.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, feeling awful. “I… I won’t ask anymore. Don’t worry—I won’t tell anyone either.”

Xiao Xueman smiled, totally relaxed. “If I’m telling you now, that means this identity of mine isn’t that much of a secret anymore. Shen Guan, I’m only sharing this because I trust you. Don’t feel like you overstepped.”

He paused, then added with a smirk, “And besides, I’ve said this plenty of times: I’m not who I used to be. Even if they know now, there’s no way they could lock me up again.”

He looked down at the little one in his arms.

“Haven’t I told you before? My son’s mine and mine alone,” Xiao Xueman said. “That wasn’t just a line to piss someone off—Xiao Wan really is the fruit I bore.”

“…Huh?”

Shen Guan blanked out. But then it clicked—Xiao Xueman was a plant, and his son was a fruit. That actually… made a lot of sense?

“I woke up one day and found I’d grown a fruit,” Xiao Xueman recalled, still kind of amused by the memory. “Was totally confused. Took me a while to process it—not to mention I had zero prep for parenthood. Xiao Wan was really cute in fruit form too. All round and chubby.”

He made a vague shape with his hands to try and show it off but couldn’t quite describe it properly.

“Anyway, he was super cute,” Xiao Xueman said. “But after I woke up, he didn’t stay a fruit for long. A few days later, he turned into a soft little white bun of a kid.”

Because of the unique nature of his spiritual power, Xiao Xueman had no choice but to bring Xiao Wan to the Seventeenth Heaven not long after. Then he met Shen Guan… and well, things ended up like this.

“I checked his body just now—his dual-type spiritual power is pretty stable. He probably just overtrained lately and couldn’t fully absorb all the spiritual power. That’s why that leaf popped up. It’s like a bit of his original form leaking through,” Xiao Xueman said as he absentmindedly played with the leaf on his son’s head.

“Once the excess power disperses, the leaf will disappear.”

“Does Xiao Wan know what his true form is?”

“He was just a baby when he changed, so he doesn’t remember. I’ve never brought it up either.”

Xiao Wan was still sleeping soundly in his arms, even now gripping tightly to Xiao Xueman’s sleeve, refusing to let go.

“He’s still young. Not the time to think about this stuff,” Xiao Xueman sighed. “Everything from before is connected—if I tell him one thing, it’ll naturally lead to the next. We’ll take it slow. No need to rush. He already knows a bit, and eventually, he’ll know everything.”

Shen Guan agreed. He’d missed out on so much before, but just by staying close to Xiao Xueman, even if he wasn’t actively digging, he was gradually learning more and more.

But this wasn’t everything yet.

Because of the leaf growing on Xiao Wan’s head, Xiao Xueman didn’t leave the treehouse that day. He stayed inside, carefully helping his son balance his spiritual energy. Xiao Wan basically slept the entire day.

Lin Yuan and the others came as usual, but Shen Guan blocked them from going inside.

“Xiao Wan overdid his cultivation. Xueman’s helping him regulate his spiritual energy,” he explained, giving them a reason he’d prepared in advance. “Better not disturb them.”

Since he said that much, of course the others didn’t insist on going in.

“I’ve got plenty of pills here, they can use anything,” Su Mingming said, a bit anxious. “Xiao Wan’s gonna be okay, right?”

“With Xueman there, he’ll be fine.”

Lin Yuan was worried at first too, but then something didn’t add up.

“Isn’t Xiao Wan fire-type?” she asked. “Xueman’s wood-type. How can he guide his spiritual energy?”

That stumped Shen Guan for a second.

When Ning Ling brought Xiao Wan to report back that day, he’d clearly said the kid was fire-type. Lin Yuan remembered that. But Shen Guan hadn’t known.

The kid looked just like Xiao Xueman, and had Qin Lou’s fire-type power. So of course, she had immediately assumed this had to be Xiao Xueman’s child.

Shen Guan: “……”

He’d totally overlooked that.

Xiao Wan had always shown a wood-type attribute in public. Even Qin Lou only ever saw the school file stating he was wood-type. He didn’t even know the kid had a fire-type attribute too.

The awkward look on Shen Guan’s face didn’t escape anyone’s notice. Lin Yuan and Su Mingming were still processing it when Jiang Yan, quick as ever, said, “So… Xiao Wan’s actually dual-type?”

Shen Guan didn’t say anything. He just went with the “if I don’t answer, it means yes” strategy.

“Holy shit!!!” Su Mingming blurted out. “Qin Lou, that bastard!”

As if a cute, obedient surprise child wasn’t enough—he turned out to be dual-type too.

Wood and fire dual-type? That sealed the deal. Xiao Wan was 100% the biological little prince of the Wangtian Immortal Sect’s Dijun and Empress.

Now that Xiao Wan’s dual-type secret was out, Xiao Xueman didn’t bother hiding it. Everyone had already met the kid—how long could it be kept under wraps anyway?

He helped Xiao Wan channel out the excess energy, and when the kid woke up the next day, the little green leaf was gone.

“Cultivation needs a calm heart. Too much of anything is never good,” Xiao Xueman told him. “You can go back to your usual routine—split your time between cultivation and alchemy. It’ll help keep you balanced.”

Xiao Wan nodded obediently.

Only problem was, his old alchemy cauldron got left behind in the Thirteenth Heaven, and they weren’t planning to go back for it.

No problem—Su Mingming, sect master of the Pill Pavilion, had that covered.

He sent over all kinds of cauldrons for Xiao Wan to try. Xiao Xueman picked one that was suitable, then shut down Xiao Wan’s overexcited bouncing around.

“It’s just dual-type. No need to freak him out,” Xiao Xueman said. “Calm down. Do what you’re supposed to do. Why are you being all frantic?”

News about the little prince’s dual-type spread quickly, and soon it wasn’t a secret anymore. Jiang Yan, who normally didn’t talk much, rarely visited unless it was with Su Mingming. But ever since finding out about Xiao Wan’s dual spiritual power, he started flipping through all the scrolls in the artifact pavilion, hunting for the perfect spirit instrument for him.

Lin Yuan, being an ice-type, had no overlap with either wood or fire. Her spiritual herbs and tools couldn’t compare to what Jiang Yan or Su Mingming had. So she turned to the classics, trying to see if she could help in other ways.

No one said it out loud, but they all had the same thought: they were low-key jealous.

Xiao Wan was not an easy kid to trick. Super alert. So far, the only person he clung to besides Xiao Xueman was Shen Guan—he even called him “Uncle Shen.”

Who wouldn’t want the mini version of Xiao Xueman calling them “uncle”? If that cute kid warmed up to them, it felt like they could reclaim some of that lost time they missed with Xiao Xueman himself.

Setting aside the envy they all felt toward Shen Guan—let’s be real—this was a tiny Xiao Xueman! Anyone who saw him just wanted to shower him with gifts and make him smile!

Ironically, Qin Lou, the actual father, ended up being the last one to find out Xiao Wan had both wood and fire spiritual power.

Ever since that talk with Xiao Xueman, he’d thrown himself into cleaning up the sect’s messes. He really wanted to see him again—but didn’t dare to.

Sometimes, when he was tired from all the sect’s affairs, he’d wander near Nan An’s little courtyard, looking at the distant treehouse glowing softly in the dark. Just knowing Xiao Xueman was probably in there made his heart settle a bit.

Maybe that’s what Xiao Xueman meant to him.

Qin Lou had already stopped hoping that Xiao Xueman might love him again. As long as he was still here… as long as he could be by his side when things got too hard… even just catching a glimpse of him from afar—

That was enough.