After finishing a whole bottle of milk, Wen Yuzhi let go of the nipple.

He gave a tiny little burp.

His soft little belly puffed out slightly, making his already round figure look even rounder from a distance.

But only Mansendis knew that the cub was still very light.

Even after drinking an entire bottle of milk, he still felt weightless in the hand.

The silver-haired sovereign lowered his eyes and gently patted the burping cub on the back, while inwardly already thinking that later, he needed Mond to add even more nutrition to Wen Yuzhi’s diet.

He was still too light.

He needed to get a little plumper.

Wen Yuzhi still had no idea that Mansendis had already begun planning to fatten him up properly.

Now that he was full and satisfied, he sprawled lazily across Mansendis’s hand, his body slumped into a soft little fluffy pancake, while the tail behind him swayed unconsciously.

Mansendis simply carried the cub around for a while, taking it as a post-meal walk to help him digest.

Esoris did not have much in the way of scenery.

Outside, there was only endless wasteland and yellow sand.

But that rough, sweeping vastness still had more than enough appeal for someone like Wen Yuzhi, who had rarely gone out much.

He watched the howling winds beyond the glass wall, then looked down at his current tiny body. If not for the glass in front of him, he probably would have been blown so far away not even a shadow of him would be left.

In contrast, the Saint Clan soldiers patrolling outside could still fly calmly through the sky against the fierce wind.

That kind of harsh weather did not affect the Saint Clan in the slightest, protected as they were by their hard scales.

Wen Yuzhi looked at the soft fur on his own body, and a trace of envy showed in his eyes.

Mansendis rubbed the cub’s ears.

“Zhizhi will be able to do it too later.”

Wen Yuzhi’s current condition was roughly equivalent to a down-feather stage. Once he grew older, and the fine soft fluff gradually shed away, his body would naturally grow beautiful scales.

Mansendis looked forward to that day.

And at the same time, he hoped the amount of time the cub could spend nestled against him like this might last a little longer.

Held in Mansendis’s arms, Wen Yuzhi could barely feel any jostling. The silver-haired sovereign’s hand was steady, and all around him was the scent that belonged to Mansendis.

That smell from Dad made him feel incomparably safe.

He couldn’t help curling his tail around Mansendis’s wrist.

As if he had discovered some new toy.

As for this extra tail, Wen Yuzhi was still in the middle of curiously exploring it. Every now and then he would move it, but perhaps because he still wasn’t used to it, sometimes while it was swaying, the fluffy little tail would suddenly freeze up for a second.

Mansendis noticed all of this in silence.

Without saying a word, he instead carried the cub into the training room next door.

There were training rooms like this all over the base.

They existed to provide the soldiers with a place to vent through combat.

The Saint Clan had very few forms of entertainment. They were uninterested in most things. Fighting was one of the only things that could give them any fun.

When they were staying in the base, if they had nothing to do, they would also go to the training room to spar with their own kind.

But Mansendis had not come here for that.

He had come because the training room was equipped with a virtual holographic battlefield.

His true form was too large. There was nowhere in the base that could accommodate it. Only here was there enough space for him to move freely.

Mansendis adjusted the settings.

Wen Yuzhi only felt his vision blur for a moment.

And when his sight became clear again, their surroundings had already changed.

They had arrived in an especially wide-open valley.

Wen Yuzhi landed on soft grass and caught the scent of grass stems and soil.

He didn’t even have time to marvel at how real it all felt before a massive shadow suddenly covered his head, blotting out all the light.

Huh... did it get dark?

Puzzled, Wen Yuzhi looked up, only to see that at some point Mansendis had already shifted back into beast form.

The enormous silver beast was like a towering mountain, immense and imposing, big enough to block out the sky. The moment it appeared, most of the heavens overhead were swallowed by that colossal body.

Wen Yuzhi stood beneath the beast’s shadow.

Compared to it, the palm-sized cub looked like nothing more than a miniature plush toy, smaller than even one of the giant beast’s claws. If he were tossed into the grass, he would vanish into it instantly.

“Guji!”

Wen Yuzhi hurriedly cried out, reminding Dad that he was down here.

The silver beast stopped.

Lowering its head, it found that tiny fluffy little bundle amid the grass.

The cub was lying there, its fluffy snow-white fur making it look almost like a dandelion growing out of the ground. If you didn’t look carefully, it really would have been hard to notice.

Mansendis narrowed his eyes.

He decided that the first lesson today would be to teach the cub how to roar.

Then the giant beast let out a roar.

It rang up through the clouds, as though heaven and earth themselves trembled with it.

Wen Yuzhi only felt his ears and his whole head buzzing from the vibration.

He couldn’t even stand steady.

Plop.

The fluffy little snowball was directly knocked into a sitting position by the sheer force of the beast’s roar.

After that single roar, the silver beast lowered its head and looked at the cub on the ground.

Its gaze was calm, composed, and faintly patient with a kind of gentle tolerance.

The way the giant beast looked at him seemed to say: now it’s your turn.

Wen Yuzhi blinked.

He understood what the beast meant.

So the fluffy little snowball also put on a fierce expression.

Wen Yuzhi opened his mouth and shouted with all his strength—

“Gujiu—!”

It was forceful.

And fierce.

But...

Because the cub was still so young, his voice was soft and tender, and his tone naturally came out soft and sweet. What he believed was a ferocious roar was, in reality, much more like acting cute and coquettish.

It didn’t resemble the giant beast’s world-shaking cry in the slightest.

The first lesson ended in complete and unquestionable failure.

Wen Yuzhi felt a little dejected.

His cry really did not, perhaps, maybe, probably, quite resemble the Salilaino.

Fine...

Actually, it didn’t sound like the Saint Clan at all.

But Mansendis had already been mentally prepared the moment the cub opened his mouth.

Wen Yuzhi’s personality meant that even if he had already taken on beast form, there was no way he could instantly become as savage and violent as other Saint Clan.

And although the cub’s cry didn’t sound like the Saint Clan’s...

it was at least...

still very cute.

Mansendis thought this silently to himself, then decided to move on to the second lesson of the day.

Flying.

The Saint Clan had a pair of powerful wings on their backs.

That allowed them not only to move across land, but also to fly through the sky.

And soaring through the heavens like birds was also an instinct engraved into their genes.

Wen Yuzhi had seen the silver beast fly before.

But back then, he had been sitting on top of it. It was nowhere near as complete—or as spectacular—as seeing it now from the position of an outside observer.

They were inside the training room right now. Everything here was virtual, but with nearly 99% realism, it was close enough to a real world.

A blazing sun hung overhead. The grass spread thick and lush. The steep mountain walls on either side created the perfect environment for flying.

The silver beast looked back at its child. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

It gave a soft call.

The rough meaning was for the cub to open his eyes wide and watch carefully.

Then the immense wings slowly spread. With just one rise, the sharp bone wings stirred up a violent gust of wind wherever they passed.

Wen Yuzhi nearly got blown away by the gust.

He had to clutch a rock tightly with his paws just to keep from being flung off.

And when he finally looked up again, the silver beast had already flown into the sky.

Its wings beat gently as it moved through the clouds.

Silver-white scales covered its body, gleaming with a kind of inner luster. When sunlight fell over them, the armor-like scales seemed to ripple with gemstone-like brilliance.

Dazzling. Splendid. Shimmering with flowing light.

Even though Wen Yuzhi had already seen Mansendis’s beast form many times, he still found himself deeply shaken by the sight.

It was a longing that came from the instincts carved into the Saint Clan’s bloodline—a longing toward powerful things.

The giant beast swept through the vast world with wings spread wide, the sharp bone spines flashing with cold light.

Just watching from below, Wen Yuzhi felt something surging up from deep inside him, something turbulent and excited.

That was his dad.

Mansendis.

The sovereign of the Saint Clan.

The strongest royal blood among the Saint Clan, and the king who would lead them out of despair.

Wen Yuzhi instinctively lifted a paw and touched his chest.

There, his heart was pounding fiercely.

An emotion close to pride boiled and churned inside his chest, hot and intense.

It was as if there were a voice in his heart telling him: look, that’s your dad.

Your dad is incredibly, unbelievably amazing.

And moved by that emotion, Wen Yuzhi couldn’t help flapping the little wings behind him.

He wobbled as he lifted into the air.

His goal was firm and clear.

The cub flew straight toward the giant beast in the sky.

Sensing the cub approaching, the silver beast also slowed down. It circled in the air, as though pausing there to wait for the little one below to catch up.

Even though Wen Yuzhi’s takeoff had none of the silver beast’s overwhelming grandeur, and his little wings were tiny—ridiculously, impossibly miniature compared to the giant beast’s—

so small and delicate that anyone watching would have doubts whether wings like that could possibly support such a long flight,

even so, Wen Yuzhi still managed to fly.

He worked hard, flapping those little wings and flying in a clumsy, stumbling way.

Several times during the process, he nearly got knocked down by the wind.

But Wen Yuzhi did his best to steady his body. Even if he got blown down a little, he hurried to climb upward again.

Seeing how difficult it was for the cub, Mansendis had to hold himself back. He nearly couldn’t stop himself from flying down and personally bringing the cub up.

But in the end, he gave no assistance at all.

He simply stayed where he was and watched as the cub flew up from the ground until he reached his side.

He chose to believe Wen Yuzhi.

To believe that the cub would definitely be able to reach him.

Wen Yuzhi was already very tired.

He rarely flew such a long distance. Usually, he was either being carried or sitting on some Saint Clan member’s shoulder.

Under those circumstances, forget flying—he barely even got many chances to walk on the ground.

But right now, he wanted to reach the silver beast’s side by his own strength.

He wanted to go to Dad.

That thought was incomparably strong.

And it urged Wen Yuzhi never to give up.

At last, he flew above the clouds.

First Wen Yuzhi circled around the silver beast’s body once or twice, then flapped his little wings until he reached the front of it.

Dad, look, I can fly really well.

He didn’t say the words out loud.

But his eyes and his actions openly expressed exactly that meaning.

—He wanted praise from Dad.

The enormous silver beast lowered its head and gently brushed the cub with its snout.

It was a gesture of encouragement and praise.

At once, Wen Yuzhi felt as though all the hardship just now had been worth nothing at all.

Then he looked down at the valley below, growing smaller and smaller, and at the drifting clouds around them.

The ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) cub’s eyes were full of curiosity and wonder.

Wen Yuzhi had never flown this high on his own before.

Being carried by the silver beast and flying at this height personally were two completely different experiences.

When he flew himself, the shock of being there in person felt even more real.

Wen Yuzhi flew through the clouds with fresh fascination.

Every now and then he would stretch out a paw to grab at them, only for the light clouds to scatter instantly.

And once the cub started playing, he couldn’t stop. He kept swatting clouds apart with his paws.

Throughout the whole process, the silver beast remained beside him.

Using its massive body, it blocked the cutting high-altitude winds, letting the cub play freely among the clouds under the shelter of its wings.

Like that, half playing and half seriously learning, Wen Yuzhi followed the silver beast through the sky for quite a long distance.

Once he got tired, he simply sprawled on top of Dad’s head.

But while he was lying there, Wen Yuzhi suddenly felt that something seemed to be approaching.

He lifted his head and saw a warship appear in front of them.

This was the third thing Mansendis had planned to teach the cub.

Combat.

One of the Saint Clan’s greatest strengths had always been their formidable combat ability.

They could easily tear apart anything, including enemy warships and mechs.

An ordinary Saint Clan cub didn’t need to be taught this.

They were born already knowing how to kill their enemies.

But Wen Yuzhi was different.

He had no combat instincts, nor had he ever undergone this kind of training.

Mansendis wanted to teach the cub, and what could be more direct than letting the cub see it with his own eyes?

What he intended to do was recreate, right in front of Wen Yuzhi, the scene from when he had once attacked Kanirila.

Before them was a Padar warship.

A destruction-class warship.

Every cannon along its hull was aimed directly at the silver beast.

Yet Mansendis paid none of it any attention at all.

The silver beast was incredibly fast—even faster than the rate at which shells could be fired.

All Wen Yuzhi could hear was the wind screaming past his ears, while the scene before him blurred more and more.

In the blink of an eye, Mansendis was already right in front of the warship.

He did not use his bone spines.

He simply used his claws to rip open a gash straight through the hull.

Simple.

Brutal.

Before absolute power, no extra attack was necessary.

The sharp bone spines along the wings sliced across the warship, tearing off whole sections of metal as easily as cutting tofu.

The silver beast’s tail moved once, and in an instant it smashed the warship into the mountain wall.

And in doing all of this, the silver beast had barely spent any effort at all before easily crushing a destruction-class warship into dust.

Wen Yuzhi watched the whole thing from close range.

He watched with complete focus, not blinking, afraid of missing even a single moment.

And the battle ended even faster than he had imagined.

But Wen Yuzhi was still immersed in what he had just seen.

Faced with something as huge and terrifying as that warship, the silver beast had still been so completely at ease, so effortless, that the overwhelming sense of power had practically slammed straight into him.

Watching it with his own eyes made Wen Yuzhi feel a scalp-prickling kind of exhilaration.

When Mansendis descended from the sky and set the cub down, what greeted him was Wen Yuzhi’s gaze—trying hard to restrain itself, but still shining brightly.

“Dad... you’re amazing!”

The cub’s eyes were full of admiration.

Mansendis shifted back into human form and picked the cub up.

Truthfully, coming to the training room today had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Teaching the cub these things had also been something he decided on suddenly.

This kind of learning model, where a blood relative personally guided the child, was not uncommon in other races.

But within the Saint Clan, it was exceedingly rare.

Ordinary Saint Clan cubs accumulated experience by scrambling and struggling through things on their own.

Those adult Saint Clan did not have the patience to teach some little cub.

Before this, Mansendis likely could never have imagined that one day in the future he would possess this much patience to teach a child.

But now, he was willing to lead by example, letting Wen Yuzhi personally see how the Saint Clan fought.

Mansendis wanted the cub to develop a more concrete sense of the power the Saint Clan possessed.

At the same time, he also wanted to pass his own knowledge on to Wen Yuzhi.

Of course, he could keep the cub cradled carefully in his palms for a lifetime, never letting him face the storms and hardships outside.

Mansendis had that ability.

The Saint Clan had that ability too.

But excessive indulgence was not a good thing.

Mansendis did not want to raise the cub into uselessness.

His child carried the Golden Bloodline and royal blood.

The Salilaino were born strong, and Wen Yuzhi was no exception.

—He should not be treated as weak.

And for that, Mansendis was willing to give enough patience and enough time to accompany the cub as he slowly grew.