Seeing Xia Yi accept the storage soul device from Mu Chen, Yuan Bao'er smiled and said, "Xia Yi, Xi'er, come on, since Xi'er is back for once, I'll cook for you myself and make something delicious."
After saying that, Yuan Bao'er grabbed Xia Yi and Mu Xi and headed toward the villa.
She knew Mu Xi still held some resentment toward Zhenhua and Mu Chen over what happened last time, but she wasn't worried about Mu Xi.
As a mother, she understood her daughter very well. No matter how she felt about Zhenhua or Mu Chen, Mu Xi would never truly hate them.
Even if there was some resentment, it was only temporary. With so much time having passed, any hard feelings had long since faded.
Now it was just talk—deep down, she had already forgiven Zhenhua and Mu Chen.
Yuan Bao'er was more worried about Xia Yi. After all, he was the one directly involved in the incident back then.
If Xia Yi still couldn't forgive Zhenhua and Mu Chen, that could be problematic in the future.
Given how much Mu Xi cared for Xia Yi, it could even affect her relationship with Mu Chen as father and daughter.
Now that she saw Xia Yi show no signs of blaming Mu Chen, Yuan Bao'er was finally relieved.
"Xi'er, you stay here with Xia Yi. Your dad and I will cook for you," Yuan Bao'er said once they reached the living room. She gave Mu Chen a sharp look before pulling him into the kitchen.
"Didn't expect your dad to be able to cook," Xia Yi said with a playful smile.
Cooking wasn't exactly difficult, but given Mu Chen's status, it was rare for someone like him to know how to cook.
Xia Yi knew how to cook too—well, he could roast rabbits.
Heh.
Ever since he left the Star Dou Forest with Gu Yue, he hadn't roasted one since.
"I didn't know either," Mu Xi replied, a bit bewildered as she watched Mu Chen's back. "When I was living at home, the household chores were usually done by the maids. My mom only cooked on special occasions, like my birthday."
"My mom doesn't cook often, but she's pretty good at it. As for my dad—I've never seen him cook in my entire life," Mu Xi said, frowning.
"You think maybe your future father-in-law practiced just for today—so you could try his cooking when you came home?" Xia Yi said with a chuckle.
"Was that really necessary?" Mu Xi mumbled, but the corners of her lips curled up slightly as she leaned into Xia Yi's embrace and softly said, "Thank you, Xia Yi."
Yuan Bao'er had been worried Xia Yi still resented Mu Chen and Zhenhua, and Mu Xi was even more concerned.
Though she believed Xia Yi wasn't a petty man, he had suddenly gone missing for several days right when they had something planned, and it had made her anxious.
Bringing him to meet Yuan Bao'er and Mu Chen had kept her on edge the whole time.
She had just hidden it well.
If Xia Yi and Mu Chen didn't get along, she would've been stuck painfully in the middle.
Now it seemed all her worry had been unnecessary.
"We're family. No need for thank-yous," Xia Yi said, lightly pinching Mu Xi's delicate nose. He then took out the storage soul device Mu Chen had given him and handed it to Mu Xi. "A token from your father—take it."
"Let me see what's inside!" Mu Xi said excitedly as she took the storage device. Although she and Xia Yi already had three-word battle armor, and the rare metals wouldn't be useful for that—
It was still a gift from her dad.
If there were suitable materials, she could replace parts of her current battle armor.
If the metals were good enough, she could save them for forging a four-word battle armor.
The moment she extended her consciousness into the storage device, Mu Xi froze.
"What's wrong?" Xia Yi asked curiously.
"Nothing. Here!" Mu Xi's face darkened immediately, and she tossed the storage device back at Xia Yi.
"Who made you mad?" Xia Yi asked curiously as he looked into the device himself—and immediately understood.
He got why Mu Xi was angry.
"Calling him 'Dad,' huh? I finally come home, and this is how he treats me? If I had known, I wouldn't have come back even if it killed me!" Mu Xi gritted her teeth and grabbed an apple from the coffee table, squeezing it hard.
Juice squirted from her slender fingers as the apple was crushed.
"Hey! Hey! The apple's innocent!" Xia Yi quickly took the apple from her hand and tried to calm her down.
"If you wanna laugh, then just laugh!" Mu Xi pouted, getting angrier the more she thought about it.
The materials in the storage soul device were exceptional—good enough to forge top-tier four-word battle armor, let alone three-word armor.
They were all top-grade rare metals from the Douluo Plane.
The quantity was massive—not just for one set, but enough for four or five sets of four-word armor.
But Mu Chen had clearly said the materials were for her three-word armor, and yet—there wasn't a single metal with fire attributes, her main element.
There were metals with life attributes, spiritual attributes, ice, strength… but not one for fire.
Of course Mu Xi was mad.
"Alright, my sweet Xi'er. What's mine is yours, so don't be mad, okay?" Xia Yi held back his laughter as he comforted her.
"If you want to give it to him, just give it to him. Why say it's for me?!" Mu Xi still sounded annoyed.
The metals were clearly prepared for Xia Yi.
Mu Chen probably didn't know what attributes suited Xia Yi best, so he prepared one of each.
His first soul skill, Starshift, Mu Chen probably assumed was a healing skill, so he prepared life-based metals.
His second, Fox Thought Technique, merited spiritual metals.
His third, Absolute Zero, matched ice metals.
His fourth, Exorcism Technique, justified strength metals.
Fortunately, Mu Chen didn't know Xia Yi's fifth, sixth, or seventh soul skills—otherwise, he might have kept preparing even more types of rare metals.
With that much top-grade material for four-word battle armor, not all of it could've come from Mu Chen. Most of it probably came from Zhenhua.
Even for a Divine Blacksmith, Mu Chen alone would've had trouble supplying that much.
It was all for Xia Yi—as an apology, and as Mu Xi's dowry.
Mu Chen had only said the materials were for Mu Xi's three-word armor because he couldn't bring himself to apologize to Xia Yi directly.
So he used Mu Xi's name to give the metals to Xia Yi.
Of course Mu Xi was angry.
Her first time coming home, and she was being used as a tool.
Now she understood why Yuan Bao'er dragged Mu Chen into the kitchen.
It was to give Xia Yi and her a chance to check out the storage device.
And here she thought Mu Chen actually wanted to cook for her?
Even Yuan Bao'er didn't warn her in advance, letting her get teased by Xia Yi.
And she had even picked out so many nice gifts for Mu Chen and Yuan Bao'er…
"I'm going to help out in the kitchen," Mu Xi said, getting angrier as she thought about it. She glanced at Xia Yi and turned to leave.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Xia Yi quickly stopped her.
Mu Xi was clearly angry and jealous. While she wouldn't actually fall out with Mu Chen, she definitely wanted to vent.
But this was supposed to be a homecoming visit. Xia Yi didn't want things to get too awkward.
He figured Mu Chen probably didn't know how to cook at all and was just hiding in the kitchen right now.
Letting Mu Xi go in there would only embarrass him.
"Hmph!" Mu Xi let herself be pulled back to the couch, but her lips were still pursed in a clear pout of annoyance.
"Alright, here—have an apple, don't be mad anymore." Xia Yi peeled an apple himself and offered it to her.
"That's more like it. Hmph—hey, are you trying not to laugh?" Mu Xi took a bite and her mood slightly improved—until she looked up and saw a faint smile on Xia Yi's lips.
Instantly, her anger flared again.
"No, no, you're seeing things. I'd never laugh at you, Xi'er," Xia Yi said quickly, shaking his head.
"It's not like I'll laugh just because you want me to, okay?" Xia Yi muttered quietly in his heart.
Of course, he only dared to mutter it in his heart—he wouldn't dare let Muxi hear that.
While Muxi was still sulking, Yuan Bao'er soon finished preparing the meal. Watching Yuan Bao'er and Mu Chen bring one dish after another to the table, Muxi's pouting lips quickly relaxed.
A brilliant smile flashed across her face.
In an instant, she looked like nothing had happened.
Her mood swing was lightning fast.
Yuan Bao'er was slightly stunned. She knew her daughter far too well.
Why wasn't she angry?
"Xier, did you look at the materials your father gave you for your three-word battle armor?" Yuan Bao'er asked tentatively.
"No rush, I'll check when I get back," Muxi said with a smile.
"That's fine. If anything's missing, just tell your father and let him prepare it for you," Yuan Bao'er said with a smile.
In fact, in the storage soul device that Mu Chen and Zhen Hua had prepared, there was also a set of rare fire-attribute metals suitable for Muxi.
Yuan Bao'er had especially asked Mu Chen to bring it.
Though Yuan Bao'er wasn't a powerful soul master, she was far more adept at handling social dynamics than Mu Chen and Zhen Hua.
Only preparing rare metals for Xia Yi and not for Muxi would naturally stir up some jealousy in Muxi, thereby satisfying Xia Yi's vanity and easing the tensions between Xia Yi and Mu Chen and Zhen Hua.
Yuan Bao'er wasn't afraid Muxi would actually get angry—Muxi wouldn't truly be upset over something like this.
And even if she was, she was easy to console.
Besides, they wouldn't even have to console her—Xia Yi, whose pride was now inflated, would happily do that job himself.
This would also strengthen the bond between Muxi and Xia Yi.
You could say it was a win-win situation.
As for the materials for Muxi's battle armor, Mu Chen could give them to her at any time—there was no rush.
"Mm, thank you, Dad." Muxi gave Zhen Hua a sweet smile and scratched her head. "Actually, you didn't need to prepare three-word battle armor materials for me. I don't need them anymore. But still, thank you."
"I'm dizzy!" Xia Yi nearly collapsed face-first onto the table when he heard that.
All his efforts to coax her had been wasted.
Clearly, Muxi still hadn't gotten over it.
"What do you mean you don't need it?" Mu Chen took the bait and asked curiously.
With Muxi's talent, breaking through to Soul Douluo shouldn't be a problem.
So why wouldn't she need them?
"Oh, I already have three-word battle armor," Muxi replied casually, though her beautiful eyes sparkled with pride as she looked at Zhen Hua.
"Three-word battle armor? You've reached Soul Sage?" Mu Chen and Yuan Bao'er were both shocked.
When Muxi left with Xia Yi, her soul power was only at level 64. To have broken through to Soul Sage so quickly—how could they not be surprised?
As soul masters themselves, Mu Chen and Yuan Bao'er knew better than anyone how difficult it was to reach Soul Sage.
Soul Sage had always been considered a major threshold in soul master ranks.
For most soul masters, once they became a Soul Sage, they were truly considered strong.
There were many Soul Emperors stuck at level 69 who had been unable to break through to Soul Sage for decades.
Yuan Bao'er was a perfect example—her soul power was stuck at level 69.
She had been stuck there for over ten years, unable to reach Soul Sage.
Unless she had a heaven-defying opportunity, she probably would never become a Soul Sage in her lifetime.
Mu Chen himself had taken about four years to break through from level 69 to Soul Sage.
But Muxi had already achieved it so quickly?
Could it be that Muxi had no bottleneck in reaching Soul Sage?
But such cases only happened with those rare geniuses who had the potential to become Limit Douluos.
Or… did Xia Yi give her some special heavenly treasure?
Would such a rapid boost damage Muxi's foundation?
"I'm level 83—just one level higher than Dad," Muxi said with a radiant smile toward Mu Chen. In the next moment, a blazing red sun appeared above her head, with eight black soul rings aligned in a row.
Then, flames burst from her body, swiftly forming translucent armor that wrapped around her.
The translucent battle armor didn't look like it was made of metal—it was made entirely of flames, light and beautiful. Under the sunlight shining down from the sun above her head, it looked magnificent.
Huge flaming wings spread out behind her, and the terrifying heat wave made even Mu Chen feel a little overwhelmed.
Beneath her feet, a glowing circle with a diameter close to thirty meters appeared. Within the circle, the sun's reflection shone as brilliantly as the real sun.
That glow—was the mark of three-word battle armor.
"You forged that armor yourself? Who helped you design and create it?" Mu Chen swallowed hard. He didn't quite want to believe what he was seeing.
Judging by Muxi's displayed strength, both her combat power and forging skills were no less than his.
"Of course I forged it myself. As for the design, Sister Yulai helped me make it," Muxi said proudly.
Leng Yulai was herself a mecha designer. During their trip to the Star Luo Empire, Xia Yi had also given her Muye's red mecha and his 100,000-year soul spirit.
Muye had been one of the top mecha builders and chefs on the Douluo Continent. The 100,000-year soul spirit "Xiao Hong" that he had embedded in his red mecha had learned these skills from him too.
Muxi was stunned when she first saw Xiao Hong.
Muye had been friends with Zhen Hua—otherwise, as someone not even a Super Douluo, how could he have both a four-word battle armor and a red mecha?
Normal red mechas only had core components made of divine-tier metal.
Most god-rank mecha designers would split even a single divine metal piece in half to use more sparingly.
But Muye's red mecha was made entirely of divine-tier metal.
His four-word battle armor also used carefully selected divine metals, handpicked by Zhen Hua.
This was one of the reasons why, even though Muye wasn't a Super Douluo, he could fight on par with a Limit Douluo.
Muye often went to the headquarters of the Forging Association and was so fond of his red mecha that he never stored it in a soul tool. He always parked it at the mecha bay there.
When Muxi returned to the headquarters, she often saw his red mecha.
Muye's death had always been a mystery. Shrek Academy and Chen Xinjie had investigated, but to no avail.
When she saw his red mecha on Leng Yulai, Muxi immediately guessed a few things.
Still, she was just curious. Back when the Yuanyang and Xingluo ships were attacked by the Demon Soul Great White Shark King Xiaobai and the sea soul beasts, it was Muye who had orchestrated the whole thing.
If not for Muye helping Tang Wulin reawaken his martial soul, maybe none of that would've happened.
Because of that, both the Body Sect and Shrek Academy suffered significant losses.
Muxi didn't feel much for Muye himself, but the battle armor made by his soul spirit Xiao Hong—she did find it very impressive.
Muxi had always had a talent for forging. Xia Yi had even given her the "Metal Fusion Essence" Zhen Hua gave him.
So her three-word battle armor was already top-tier.
Far superior to Mu Chen's in every way.