Chapter 183: Never Forget a Promise
"I just..."
She stopped.
Shen Tian waited.
No pressure.
No teasing.
That somehow made it harder.
MoonPetal looked toward the virtual sunset.
"We’ve been playing together a lot."
"Yeah."
"And now I know who you are."
"Unfortunately."
She laughed.
"You’re never letting that go?"
"I enjoyed being anonymous."
"You used your real name."
"That was an oversight."
"A pretty big one."
"Apparently."
She smiled.
Then became serious again.
"I was thinking..."
"Maybe..."
"We could meet."
Shen Tian raised an eyebrow.
"In real life?"
MoonPetal nodded.
"Yeah."
Then she immediately added,
"Not anything weird!"
Shen Tian smiled.
"I didn’t say it was."
"I know."
"I just mean..."
She struggled.
"Coffee."
"Lunch."
"Something normal."
"Because it’s weird knowing you this well in here without actually meeting you."
Shen Tian thought.
MoonPetal’s heart hammered.
Then...
He shrugged.
"Sure."
She froze.
"...Sure?"
"Yeah."
"That’s it?"
"What else should I say?"
MoonPetal stared.
"I don’t know!"
Shen Tian laughed.
"When?"
She hadn’t expected acceptance that easily.
"Um..."
"This weekend?"
"Saturday?"
"Saturday works."
Her eyes brightened.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Then Shen Tian smiled.
"Pick somewhere."
MoonPetal immediately shook her head.
"No."
"No?"
"You pick."
"Why?"
"Because now I know you’re rich and I’m terrified I’ll pick somewhere stupid."
Shen Tian stared.
Then laughed.
"Moon."
"What?"
"We met while killing goblins."
"..."
"I don’t care."
That sentence...
Hit far harder than he intended.
MoonPetal stared.
Then smiled softly.
"Okay."
Shen Tian sent her his number.
Not his public business contact.
His actual number.
MoonPetal stared at it.
For some reason...
That felt more intimate than it should have.
"I’ll text you."
"Alright."
She smiled.
And deep inside...
Her feelings crossed another invisible line.
This wasn’t admiration anymore.
She knew that.
She liked him.
Genuinely.
And Saturday...
She would finally meet Shen Tian.
Not ShenTian the Ranger.
Not the viral streamer.
Not the Young Master of the Shen Family.
Just...
Shen Tian.
That night...
Shen Tian logged out.
His capsule opened.
The first thing he saw...
Was Xu Ning.
She stood beside the capsule.
Waiting.
Shen Tian immediately became suspicious.
"What?"
[Nothing.]
"That face means something."
[I have a face?]
"Xu Ning."
She smiled.
[Saturday.]
He stepped out.
"Don’t."
[Real-life date.]
"It’s not a date."
[She thinks it is.]
Shen Tian paused.
"...Does she?"
Xu Ning stared.
[Host.]
"What?"
[Please tell me you’re joking.]
He laughed.
"Mostly."
Then...
His smile faded.
Because while walking toward the bedroom...
He saw someone.
Chi Lingxi.
She was sitting alone near the balcony.
The mansion had become a second home to several of the women surrounding Shen Tian.
But Chi Lingxi...
Had been different lately.
Quieter.
She smiled sometimes.
She participated.
But grief didn’t disappear because someone had a good afternoon.
Shen Tian stopped.
And immediately remembered.
Her grandfather.
The old man.
His promise.
The promise he’d made while she cried.
’I’ll bring him back.’
Shen Tian’s expression changed.
Xu Ning noticed.
[Host?]
He looked toward Chi Lingxi.
Then...
Back at Xu Ning.
"We’ve been distracted."
Xu Ning became quiet.
Shen Tian’s voice lowered.
"I promised her."
[I remember.]
"I told her I’d bring her grandfather back."
[Yes.]
"And then Eternal Realm happened."
[Host...]
"No."
Shen Tian shook his head.
"I’m not forgetting that."
His expression became serious.
"Game off."
"Fate hunting off."
"Streaming off."
"Until I find an answer."
Xu Ning stared.
Then smiled slightly.
[Understood.]
Shen Tian looked toward her.
"Find me everything."
[Everything?]
"Everything that can reverse death."
[Host...]
"Techniques."
"Treasures."
"Ancient inheritances."
"Secret realms."
"Cultivation families."
"Anything."
Xu Ning’s eyes began glowing.
Thousands of system records opened.
[Searching...]
Shen Tian walked toward Chi Lingxi.
She noticed him.
Then smiled faintly.
"Done playing?"
"For now."
She nodded.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
She looked back toward the night sky.
Shen Tian sat beside her.
Silence settled between them.
Then...
Chi Lingxi quietly spoke.
"I miss him."
Shen Tian looked toward her.
She smiled sadly.
"Grandpa was annoying."
"He drank too much."
"He talked too much."
"He embarrassed me constantly."
A small laugh escaped.
"He kept trying to marry Mom and me off to you."
Shen Tian smiled.
"Yeah."
"He really liked you."
"Apparently."
"He liked you more than his own disciple."
Shen Tian laughed.
"He made that pretty obvious."
Chi Lingxi smiled.
Then her eyes became wet.
"But..."
"I miss hearing him."
Her voice trembled.
"I keep waking up and thinking he’ll be downstairs."
"Drinking."
"Complaining."
"Talking about cultivation."
She wiped her eyes.
"And then I remember."
Shen Tian didn’t interrupt.
Chi Lingxi looked toward him.
"You don’t have to keep your promise."
He frowned.
"What?"
She looked away.
"I’ve been thinking about what you said."
"Bringing someone back from the dead... That’s..."
She swallowed.
"That’s impossible."
"No."
Chi Lingxi looked toward him.
Shen Tian’s voice was firm.
"I promised."
"But..."
"I promised."
She stared.
Shen Tian continued.
"I don’t make promises just to comfort people."
"I said I’d bring him back."
"So I’m bringing him back."
Chi Lingxi’s tears fell.
"Shen Tian..."
Xu Ning suddenly appeared.
Her expression was different.
[Host.]
Shen Tian’s eyes shifted.
You found something.
[Possibly.]
His heartbeat changed.
What?
A system window appeared.
Ancient Cultivation Record Located
Technique: Ninefold Soul Returning Formation
Classification: Forbidden Resurrection Formation
Shen Tian’s eyes narrowed.
Resurrection.
[Yes.]
Actual resurrection?
[Potentially.]
Xu Ning’s expression remained serious.
[It cannot revive just anyone.]
[There are conditions.]
Shen Tian stood.
Chi Lingxi looked confused.
"What happened?"
He looked toward her.
"I found something."
She froze.
"...What?"
"A possibility."
Her eyes widened.
"Shen Tian... Come with me."
An hour later...
The mansion’s underground cultivation chamber had been completely sealed.
Shen Tian stood inside.
Chi Lingxi waited nearby.
Xu Ning displayed the requirements.
Ninefold Soul Returning Formation
Requirement One: Body or sufficient physical remains.
They had that.
The old man’s body had been preserved after the investigation.
Requirement Two: Death within forty-nine days.
Satisfied.
Requirement Three: Soul must not have completely dispersed.
Unknown.
Requirement Four: Spirit-grade energy source.
Difficult.
Requirement Five: Blood relative as spiritual anchor.
Chi Lingxi.
Requirement Six: Cultivator of Domain Initiation Realm or higher to control formation.
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(Author’s Note: IMPORTANT!)
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