"Who says I don't want to talk to her?" Yang Xiao retorted loudly, but his tone suddenly dropped as he squirmed. "It's just that I don't know how to face her."
Yang Kai snorted. "She's your mother. What's there not to know about facing her?"
Yang Xiao hung his small head, his voice barely a whisper: "She seemed really disappointed."
"Of course she's disappointed. Your ceremony failed — what, did you expect her to be happy? How could she possibly be happy?"
Yang Xiao blinked. "But I don't want to make her disappointed!"
Yang Kai grinned and patted his head. "At least it wasn't for nothing that she doted on you. That's the right attitude."
Yang Xiao said dejectedly, "But my origin isn't pure…"
Yang Kai cut him off. "It's too early to talk about that. Who knows if something went wrong with the ceremony? When you were first born, you had the true dragon form — how could your origin not be pure? You should know, only the most orthodox dragon origin can manifest a true dragon body. Like your old man here — even though I have dragon origin, and it's extremely high-grade at that, because I still carry some human blood, I can only manifest a half-dragon form. Only when I shed my human blood one day can I reveal the true dragon body."
Yang Xiao looked bewildered. "But why couldn't I manifest it just now?"
"That's something you'll have to figure out yourself. Maybe you were too nervous? Maybe it was your first time and you weren't used to it?" Yang Kai shrugged. "This isn't something I can explain. You'll have to find the answer yourself."
Yang Xiao nodded solemnly.
Yang Kai smiled gently. "Besides, even without dragon origin, or with impure origin — so what? This world isn't the dragon clan's world. Which of the Ten Great Supreme Masters came from the dragon clan? Without the dragon clan's protective layer, you can't grow? With impure origin, you can't reach the pinnacle?"
Yang Xiao smiled bitterly. "Foster Father, isn't it a bit early to be telling me all this? I'm still just a kid."
"What kid!" Yang Kai rapped him on the head and glared. "What kind of kid acts like you?"
"You hit me again." Yang Xiao clutched his head with both hands, looking aggrieved.
Yang Kai rubbed his little head. "Don't be so unhappy. You need to know that your emotions can affect others — especially your mother. You're the apple of her eye right now. If you're unhappy, she'll only be more unhappy."
Yang Xiao said seriously, "I'll remember that. Then I'll go apologize to her now, so she won't be unhappy anymore." With that, he stood up.
"No rush." Yang Kai pulled him back down and sat beside him. After a moment's thought, he said, "Let me ask you something — would you like to leave Dragon Island with me?"
At these words, Yang Xiao's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed excitedly, "I can leave Dragon Island?"
Yang Kai said, "Originally you couldn't, but now… probably can."
After a moment's thought, Yang Xiao understood. If his origin were pure, he'd be a proper member of the dragon clan and naturally would have to stay here to grow and cultivate. But now that his origin was impure, he couldn't continue staying at the Dragon Palace.
No matter how much Fu Zhun doted on him, she couldn't break this rule — sooner or later, he'd have to be sent away.
Compared to the Half-Dragon City, leaving with Yang Kai was undoubtedly the better choice.
Once he realized this, Yang Xiao immediately broke into a grin and clapped his hands. "So having impure origin has its perks! If I'd known earlier, I should have been celebrating."
Yang Kai glanced sideways at him. "Why do I get the feeling you're not exactly thrilled about staying on Dragon Island?"
Yang Xiao huffed a couple of times and scratched his face. "It's not that I don't want to stay on Dragon Island — it's just that Mom's too clingy. I can't do anything without feeling stifled."
Yang Kai forced a thin smile. "You little brat, you don't know how good you've got it. So many people would kill to be in your position, and here you are complaining."
Yang Xiao grinned sheepishly. "Foster Father, you've got the biggest fists, so whatever you say makes sense."
Yang Kai's mouth twitched. He felt that his parenting… might have a few issues.
After more persuasion, if not entirely resolving Yang Xiao's concerns, it at least calmed his mood. Yang Kai then chatted for a while about how exciting the outside world was, making Yang Xiao even more eager to experience its boundless landscapes.
Half a shichen later, the little fellow finally followed Yang Kai step by step to Fu Zhun and delivered a formal apology with great ceremony. Fu Zhun immediately pulled him into her arms and wept, repeatedly blaming herself as a mother for letting her child suffer such torment in this life.
Yang Kai and Zhu Qing stood by watching, speechless.
Yang Xiao was led away by Fu Zhun, while Yang Kai and Zhu Qing returned to Crescent Island.