41: Chen Xingyu, the darling

Chen Jun was becoming increasingly accustomed to life at the Pillar of Leaders.

The vicissitudes on his face seemed to have been smoothed away by the gentle energy environment here and this carefree state of mind, making him look more like a well-maintained, early-retired wealthy man.

His daughters' progress was even more rapid with each passing day. Chen Xi, Chen Yao, and Chen Lu were thriving at Qiming Academy, their cultivation levels steadily improving; in their speech and demeanor, they already faintly possessed the style and confidence of future experts.

Lin Wei's changes were the most significant.

Her cultivation level climbing to the mid-War God Level made her radiant, her skin lustrous, and her eyes clear, as if time had flowed backward, returning her to her most beautiful years.

She managed the large estate in an orderly fashion, always wearing a satisfied and peaceful smile on her face.

Only in the dead of night, while watching her husband sleeping beside her, would a trace of imperceptible worry and deep heartache flash across her eyes.

And the youngest daughter, the Innate Star Body Chen Xingyu, had become the treasure of the neighbors in the entire area.

Today, Old Man Zhang was sighing in the yard next door again:

"Oh my! Failed again! This 'Seven-Orifice Exquisite Melon', I've been grafting it for three hundred years, it was just about to succeed, why did it lose all its spirituality and turn into a mundane item? Forget it, forget it, it's useless, throw it away..."

Before the words had even faded, a round, crystal-clear melon exuding a faint, refreshing fragrance "accidentally" rolled off the wall and stopped precisely beside Chen Xingyu, who was chewing on her fingers on a baby mat.

Little Xingyu's big, dark eyes lit up, and she cooed as she grabbed the melon, which was almost as big as her, subconsciously absorbing the pure energy dissipating from the "failed" melon, her little face filled with satisfaction.

Lin Wei was just about to go over to pick it up and return it to him when she heard Old Man Zhang shouting from across the wall:

"Little Lin, it's fine! Just a waste melon, let the little girl play with it, it can even serve as a ball for her to roll around!"

As a result, little Xingyu slept with the "waste melon" all afternoon. When she woke up, her skin was even more crystal-clear, and the stellar energy dissipating from her body had solidified by a fraction.

Old Man Zhang was muttering to himself in the next yard:

"Strange, how can this waste melon condense energy on its own? Truly bizarre..."

Tomorrow, that "retired literary soldier" old lady, while practicing boxing, "accidentally" let her force leak out, shaking down a few glowing leaves from the "Star Tree" above her head. They drifted down and landed perfectly on the canopy of the baby carriage, turning into specks of starlight that merged into little Xingyu's brow.

The old lady looked "apologetic":

"Oh, I'm old, my control over my strength isn't what it used to be. I didn't scare the child, did I?"

Then there was that "Materials Science Postdoc" neighbor, whose "artist boyfriend" had recently been keen on making sculptures with all sorts of energy crystal scraps. The failed products were often "casually" tossed into the corner near the fence of the Chen Family estate, and the special radiation field they emitted made little Xingyu sleep exceptionally soundly...

This kind of "inadvertent" gift-giving happened almost every day.

Lin Wei went from initial panic to being speechless and even somewhat numb to it now.

One day, Chen Jun and Lin Wei were formally invited by the attendant Lan Qing to go to Jingsi Hall.

Stepping into that hall, which seemed to condense the starry sky, several distinct and heart-palpitatingly powerful auras still remained within Jingsi Hall.

It was as if a silent confrontation had just taken place, and invisible pressure still permeated the air.

"You're here, sit."

Yun Xi raised her eyes, her smile gentle as she personally poured tea infused with starlight for the two of them,

"I invited you here today because I want to understand more deeply about your special Physique, Chen Jun, as well as the details of your life consumption. This concerns your own health and also some subsequent arrangements."

Chen Jun's heart jumped violently.

What was bound to come had come. He had long since made up his mind that he would never reveal a single bit about the System to anyone. He deliberated before speaking:

"Leader, please understand."

Chen Jun showed a hint of perfectly appropriate confusion and helplessness,

"I can't really explain the specifics. I only know that there seems to be a... very unique Origin in my body. Every time... well, that is, after being with Wei Wei, or later Su Wan... and... Qin Qingxuan... every time... it... it... causes the woman to conceive, this Origin is triggered."

As he spoke, he carefully observed Yun Xi's expression and continued:

"When it triggers, I suddenly feel a kind of weakness originating from the deepest part of life, as if something fundamental has been consumed. Then my appearance ages. Later, after testing, I realized it was a direct deduction of my lifespan. It's a fixed amount every time, ten years..."

"This feeling isn't like being sick or injured; it's purely... my life Origin being burned away."

Chen Jun finished with a hint of perfectly appropriate bitterness in his tone,

"As for why it's me, and why it happens like this, I really don't know."

Yun Xi listened quietly, her gaze profound; her left eye was clear, reflecting the present, while her right eye was ancient, settling through the ages, as if she were analyzing every detail of his words, or as if she were piercing through his body to observe the Law connections in the dark.

A moment later, she waved her hand gently, and a soft yet vast light enveloped Chen Jun.

A moment later, the light dissipated.

Yun Xi's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

"Very strange..."

Her ethereal voice carried a hint of inquiry,

"Your body is very healthy, and your lifespan limit is stable. But in the deepest part of your life Origin, there is indeed a trace of an extremely obscure 'sense of lack'. It's not damage; it's more like a kind of... reduction at the level of the Law. Conventional means are indeed difficult to compensate for it."

A reduction at the level of the Law!

This term made Chen Jun's heart go cold.

"Then... then is there no cure?"

He asked with a dry voice.

"The Universe is vast, and there are countless Laws; it's not entirely hopeless."

Yun Xi did not close off the possibility completely. Her gaze seemed to have already been cast toward the endless sea of stars, searching for that faint possibility,

"Perhaps it requires some compatible cosmic wonder, or perhaps it requires stimulation from a special Law environment. I will keep an eye on this matter. You still have decades of life, so you can set your mind at ease for now."

Changing the subject, Yun Xi said frankly,

"Currently, several Pillars of Leaders of the Federation, out of responsibility to civilization and consideration for the future, hope to unite with you to continue high-quality descendants."

Before Chen Jun could answer.

Yun Xi waved her hand gently, and four clearer silhouettes of women appeared in the starlight. They did not fully reveal their true appearances, yet each possessed peerless grace and radiated powerful charm that made one's heart sway.

The first figure seemed to have bright moonlight flowing around her, cold and aloof, dreamlike and illusory.

Her voice was like an ice spring dripping onto a jade plate, ethereal and carrying a hint of ancient charm:

"Mr. Chen Jun. My name is Yuehua. If you unite with me, I will exhaust my ninety-thousand-year collection and search the entire Universe for wonders to replenish the lifespan you consume. Our descendants will inherit the ancient Star Bloodline closest to Teacher Yun Xi, destined to shine in the sea of stars and protect the Human Race forever. And I, if I receive the Reverse-Feed and achieve a Peak Breakthrough, will also be able to better protect you and... view this eternal galaxy with you."

The second figure was as straight as a pine, wearing the phantom of a crisp marshal's uniform, heroic and spirited, with Evil Qi and iron-blooded charm coexisting.

Her voice was sonorous and powerful, carrying the scent of battlefield gunpowder:

"Chen Jun! I am Xuanji! A Federation Marshal. The war on the front lines is tense, and our good soldiers are bleeding and sacrificing every moment! I need more power to crush the minions of the Empire, and the Federation needs more powerful next-generation warriors! If you help me, the military will be your strongest backing! Your Family will receive the highest level of protection from a million-strong fleet! Our child will be the future Dominator of war, with distinguished merits, sharing supreme glory with you! This is the responsibility and romance a true man should have!"

The third figure was shrouded in a data stream that constantly flowed and flashed with the light of wisdom, her figure's curves visible in the light and shadow.

Her tone was full of the fanaticism of inquiry, yet carried a kind of intellectual sexiness:

"Mr. Chen, I am Su Yao. Your Physique is the greatest miracle of life science! Unite with me, and I will optimize the entire process in the most scientific and precise way, accurately measuring every bit of your consumption, and attempt to intervene and compensate using cutting-edge technological means! Our descendants will be perfect masterpieces, their significance transcending the individual, and will drive the leap in the life level of the entire civilization! With me, we will uncover the deepest mysteries of life; isn't that the ultimate temptation?"

The fourth figure had a relatively youthful and gentle temperament, surrounded by a faint green glow full of vitality, and her voice carried a hint of shyness but was incomparably firm:

"Mr... Mr. Chen... My name is Qing Lin. I... I know I am very young, but my potential is very good, and my life Origin is full of vitality... If we... the child will definitely be very healthy and excellent. I... I will be very gentle and respectful to you, and I will never make you feel any pressure... Moreover, my Family has few descendants, so the child can accompany you and your wife more in the future. We... we can be like one Family..."

Four Stellar-level Experts, four completely different kinds of charm and temptation, displayed before Chen Jun.

Each of them possessed peerless beauty, powerful strength, and noble status, yet at this moment, they had all revealed their intentions to him in some way.

Chen Jun felt his throat go dry and his palms sweat.

Being "self-recommended" in this way by four female experts who seemed to have stepped out of myths brought not vanity, but tremendous pressure.

This battle formation was the first time in his life.

Lin Wei's face turned slightly pale; she lowered her head, biting her lip hard, her hands gripping her hem tightly under the table.

A mixture of inferiority, unease, and an unspeakable emotion spread in her heart.

Yun Xi took in their reactions, her voice peaceful, that ethereal tone easily suppressing the various auras remaining in the hall:

"Informing you of this today is not to ask you to decide immediately, but to hope you have some preparation and know where you stand. Any final plan will fully consider your own degree of acceptance and willingness. Here with me, your feelings are always an important consideration. You may retire if you have no other matters."

Leaving Jingsi Hall, on the way back to the estate, the couple was silent the whole way.

The scenery outside the window was still magnificent and peaceful, the artificial sunset dyeing the clouds a dreamy purple-gold.

Returning to the estate, Chen Jun sat alone on the animal-skin recliner, looking at the eternal artificial galaxy in the sky, speechless for a long time.

Lin Wei silently went to brew a pot of calming flower tea and brought it over, the fragrance curling up.

"Drink some tea."

She said softly, her voice carrying a hint of exhaustion and a thicker, inseparable heartache.

Chen Jun took the teacup, warm to the touch; he reached out and gripped her slightly cool hand tightly:

"Wife, don't overthink it."

Lin Wei leaned against his shoulder, saying in a low voice:

"I'm not overthinking. Life now is a thousand times better than in the shanty town before. I'm just... just heartbroken for you. Every time... every time... you age, it's like digging into my heart..."

Chen Jun felt a pain in his heart and squeezed her hand hard. A thousand words were stuck in his chest, but he didn't know where to start.

He sighed and drank the slightly cool but still fragrant tea in the cup in one gulp.