Shen Xuan had survived in the seedy Greenfield Tavern for seven or eight years.

He knew all too well what a slave meant to their buyer.

A slave was nothing more than a plaything the buyer spent money on, something to be disposed of the moment they became unsatisfactory.

But Shen Xuan could see it in the young man’s eyes—the way he looked at him was different from how other buyers looked at their slaves.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given him this food, something Shen Xuan had never even seen before.

Seeing that Shen Xuan still didn’t dare to take it, Zhong Yi gave a tug and pulled Shen Xuan up from the floor, then placed the tuna tacos directly into his hands.

Ignoring the tall, thin man and the other slaves, he pulled Shen Xuan and headed outside.

Feeling Zhong Yi’s kindness once again, Shen Xuan was driven by hunger to finally take a bite of the taco in his hand.

Shen Xuan could see the disgust and jealousy in the eyes of the other slaves as they watched him.

He was already used to their disgust, but their jealousy made him realize that his life was about to change.

Shen Xuan’s gaze involuntarily drifted to the young man’s profile. ’Could someone like me, born in the mud, really be blessed by an angel one day?’

"Master, I’m filthy. Don’t let me dirty your clothes. I can walk on my own."

"Don’t mind my frightening appearance. Just give me food, and I’ll work faster than any of them."

Zhong Yi sighed softly at his words.

Zhong Yi was lamenting the fact that Shen Xuan, who was qualified to awaken an Order Beast, was about to have his potential extinguished in this underground tavern.

And from the looks of it, if he had arrived just two days later, Shen Xuan would likely have been sent away.

As the game designer, he knew that the opportunities he had designed in the game didn’t just wait around forever for someone to claim them.

This made Zhong Yi deeply understand one thing: this world, with the same background as the game he designed, was constantly in motion, stopping for no one.

Zhong Yi’s sigh terrified Shen Xuan, who was in the middle of devouring the tuna tacos.

He thought his new master, who had spent a fortune on him, was already dissatisfied.

Someone who has just seen the brilliant light of day fears returning to the darkness most of all.

Just as the terrified Shen Xuan was about to say something, he heard the young man before him speak softly.

"Your life isn’t meant for just doing heavy manual labor. You’ll soon find a new meaning in it."

Zhong Yi’s words made the terrified Shen Xuan’s expression turn from blankness to contemplation.

’Meaning!?’

’Life... actually has meaning!?’

All this time, Shen Xuan had thought the meaning of life was to complete his heavy chores each day and fight for a few pieces of dry rations to fill his stomach.

Even when those hard-won rations were crushed underfoot and covered in mud, Shen Xuan never felt much despair.

After all, that was the only life he had ever known.

But now, it seemed everything was different!

As he led Shen Xuan out of the Greenfield Tavern, Zhong Yi was also considering how to handle him.

Zhong Yi had two options for Shen Xuan. The first was to keep Shen Xuan by his side, just like Zhong Ling.

However, he couldn’t possibly trust Shen Xuan from the start the way he trusted Zhong Ling.

He would have to control Shen Xuan like he did Zhao Kai, by implanting one of the Soul-Catching Gu Mother’s Insect Eggs into his Soul Base.

The other option was to tell Shen Xuan the significance of being a Celestial Destiny Seeker.

After Shen Xuan participated in the Soul Awakening Ceremony, awakened his Soul Base, and became a Celestial Destiny Seeker, he could hand him over to Lin Zhuo and Wen Tao.

Of course, doing so would be equivalent to Zhong Yi giving away an opportunity he had found himself.

After careful consideration, Zhong Yi decided to have a proper talk with Shen Xuan once they got back.

This clearly wasn’t the right place for such a conversation; the black crystal spider clinging to Zhong Yi’s sleeve was still there.

Ever since he was brought to the Greenfield Tavern, Shen Xuan had never once left it.

His memories from before the age of nine were already a blur. Walking outside the Greenfield Tavern with Zhong Yi, Shen Xuan felt both a sense of novelty and apprehension.

After eating half of the tuna taco, the persistent weakness from long-term starvation began to fade.

Shen Xuan clutched the remaining half of the most delicious thing he had ever tasted and spoke cautiously to the young man beside him.

"Master, I’ll save the other half for tomorrow. I can eat very little."

"Starting tomorrow, you can just give me the hard bread you don’t eat, or any leftovers."

"Don’t be fooled by how skinny I am. I have plenty of strength."

Seeing Shen Xuan so eager to prove himself, Zhong Yi took out a refreshingly sweet-and-sour lemon apple pie.

"You’re at a growing age. How can this little bit be enough?"

"When you finish what’s in your hand, I have more."

"I bought you, so while we are master and servant, you don’t have to be so nervous around me."

"And from now on, you won’t be needed for arduous manual labor."

Zhong Yi’s words made Shen Xuan’s anxious expression freeze, and a moment later, warmth welled up, moistening his eyes.

For as long as he could remember, it was the first time Shen Xuan had ever felt someone care for him so meticulously.

Shen Xuan found himself desperately craving the kindness the young man showed him, but he was also terrified of losing it.

Trusting someone requires mental preparation.

And for someone who has never experienced kindness, accepting and believing that another person’s goodwill is genuine requires it just as much.

Shen Xuan tentatively took the lemon apple pie from Zhong Yi. It was another food he had never seen before.

The sweet and tart aroma wafting from it made his stomach GURGLE again.

If Zhong Yi giving him two portions of food was still within the realm of what Shen Xuan could handle, then his next words made tears stream uncontrollably down Shen Xuan’s face.

"You should be about the same age as me. I didn’t attend the Soul Awakening Ceremony when I was thirteen, either."

"It’s been less than a week since I attended my Soul Awakening Ceremony and awakened my Lifebound Guardian Beast, so it’s not too late for you to awaken your Soul Base."

"After we get home, you can rest for a few days and then think about awakening your Soul Base."

In Shen Xuan’s mind, awakening a Soul Base was an immense blessing for a slave like him.

Shen Xuan once thought he had a chance to awaken his Soul Base. A man in the Greenfield Tavern who had been kind to him in the past had told him so.

But ever since these purple-black marks had appeared on his body, he had lost that chance.

Anyone who saw him treated him like a monster!

’After all these years, could he really awaken his Soul Base now?’

Shen Xuan was still in a daze even after they boarded the Guardian Beast Vehicle pulled by a Furious Flame Lion.

Seeing that Shen Xuan had finished the lemon apple pie, Zhong Yi took a bottle of melon juice from his Storage Pouch and handed it to him.

"You haven’t eaten much for a long time, so it’s not a good idea to eat so much all at once."

"I don’t know if you prefer sweet or sour drinks. This melon juice has some sour apricot juice in it, which makes it very refreshing. See if you like it."

After taking the melon juice from Zhong Yi with both hands, Shen Xuan somehow found a sudden surge of courage.

He looked at Zhong Yi timidly, but his tone was earnest as he asked.

"Master, from now on, can I stay with you always?"

"I might not be good at some things, but I’ll work hard until you’re satisfied."

Hearing this, Zhong Yi glanced at the black crystal spider on his sleeve but didn’t say much.

"Shen Xuan, if you’re willing to follow me, then of course there’s no problem."

"When we arrive, you get off first. Go home and clean yourself up properly."

"Then go to the wardrobe in the leftmost room on the second floor and pick out a set of clothes to change into. Wait for me to come back."

The driver steering the Furious Flame Lion up front listened to the conversation between Zhong Yi and Shen Xuan, and his imagination conjured up a drama about a young master from the Central District buying a slave from the Lower City District for some kind of twisted romance.

’The key thing was, this slave didn’t just have a Slave Mark on his left cheek—his entire body looked like it had been covered in purple-black paint.’

’The driver really couldn’t figure out what use there was in keeping a slave like this around.’

’And from the sound of it, this young master was even planning to have the slave bathe and change clothes.’

’Why did this sound more and more strange the longer he listened?’

’Are young people these days really that open-minded!?’