"A Royal Awakening: New Friends in Mingdu."

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As long as she awakened one of those top-tier spirits, her innate spirit power definitely wouldn't be low. And even if she didn't awaken any power at all, he'd still make sure his little sister lived a happy life. He wouldn't let her suffer just because she couldn't become a Spirit Master.

The purple-haired young man silently made up his mind. He gently patted the little purple-haired girl's head and smiled, "No matter what kind of spirit you awaken, you'll always be my little sister, our family's precious little princess."

"Mhm! I hope I can awaken the same spirit as you, big bro!"

The little girl was beaming with excitement. She was clearly looking forward to the upcoming spirit awakening ceremony.

Inside the Awakening Hall, parents were constantly taking their children in, and shortly after, coming back out. From their expressions—some disappointed, others ecstatic—you could easily tell how their children's awakenings had gone.

As time passed and the sun grew brighter, the purple-haired young man spotted Luan Feng and Luan Yu walking over with Meteor and Liu Ying. His eyes lit up, and he quickly took his sister by the hand and headed their way.

"Fire Phoenix Douluo, Ice Phoenix Douluo—are you here to have your juniors awaken their spirits too?"

The purple-haired youth looked at Meteor and Liu Ying with a puzzled expression. As far as he knew, both of these titled Douluos had remained unmarried and, being from civilian backgrounds, had no family descendants. So why had they brought children here today for spirit awakening?

"Oh, it's the Young Lord! Are you here with the little Princess for her awakening?"

Fire Phoenix Douluo was equally confused. Normally, royal family members like the young lord and his sister didn't need to come to a public awakening hall—they had private spirit awakeners at their service. But then she remembered the prince his father was—a powerful noble who held military power—and things clicked into place.

It was just like her and Luan Yu. Even though they were more than capable of awakening spirits for the kids themselves, they had purposely brought them to the Awakening Hall. It was a message to the royal family: "We're not hiding anything." Privately awakening a spirit wasn't illegal in the Sun Moon Empire, but for people of high rank, it could easily be seen as suspicious—as if they were trying to hide a spirit or innate power level. That kind of move would bring unwanted attention from the royal family. It simply wasn't worth the risk.

Same for this young lord and his sister—they came to the Awakening Hall to show the Emperor they had no hidden agenda, and that their prince father wasn't trying to overstep his boundaries.

Whether this move actually made a difference depended on how you looked at it, but it was a move they had to make.

With that in mind, Fire Phoenix Douluo quickly brought over Meteor and Liu Ying and introduced them, "These two kids are the ones my little sister adopted. We brought them here today for their spirit awakening. Come now, Meteor, Liu Ying—this is the Young Lord and the Princess."

"Young Lord, Princess," the two kids greeted politely.

They'd been on the Douluo Continent for almost two years now and had gotten used to the local customs. Even if they didn't really care for this kind of thing deep down, they still had to keep up appearances—they didn't want to cause trouble for Aunt Feng and Auntie. So they gave a small bow and spoke softly and respectfully.

"My name's Xu Tianran. Just call me Brother Tianran."

The purple-haired young man smiled gently and gave a polite nod.

"Your Highness, such manners must be upheld," Fire Phoenix Douluo said sternly, her expression shifting.

Still smiling, Xu Tianran replied, "No need for that, Fire Phoenix Douluo. These two kids just seem really sweet. And they're about the same age as my little sister—it'd be great if they could spend more time together."

Meteor's eyes narrowed a bit. Aunt Feng clearly didn't want them getting too close to this Xu Tianran. The titles said it all—Young Lord and Princess. This guy was obviously the Emperor's nephew. And in the royal family, there was no such thing as real affection—even if it existed, it was rare.

No wonder Aunt Feng didn't want to engage. She was the leader of the Fire Phoenix Spirit Master Corps, one of the five national defense forces of the Sun Moon Empire. Getting too close to Xu Tianran would definitely make the Emperor suspicious.

Having gotten used to this world, Meteor had done his homework on the Sun Moon Empire's history over the past year. Apparently, every emperor from the Xu family had darker skin, quite different from the people of the original Douluo three nations. But looking at Xu Tianran, it was obvious that over the centuries, through intermarriage, the royal bloodline had shifted.

"Hi! I'm Xu Tianzhen!"

While Meteor was deep in thought, the little purple-haired girl bounced over and introduced herself with a sweet, innocent smile. She tilted her head and blinked her big eyes at them—honestly, she looked adorable.

"Hello, Princess. I'm Meteor, and this is Liu Ying."

Thanks to his many run-ins with Nan Qiuchiu, Meteor was now a pro at dealing with overly friendly little girls like this.

But the moment he finished speaking, Xu Tianzhen pouted in frustration, put her hands on her hips, and glared at him. "Call me by my name or just 'Tianzhen,' okay? No calling me Princess!"

Meteor immediately took back his earlier thought—this girl wasn't innocent at all. She was cute, sure, but way too clever for her age. No doubt she was a product of elite royal education. At six years old, she could already read the room like a pro.

Obviously, she'd seen her big brother fail at making friends with Aunt Feng and decided to step in and help. With a little sister this sharp, Xu Tianran clearly wasn't just any random noble—this was going to be a headache. Meteor didn't want to get involved with royal family drama, and he definitely didn't want to cause trouble for Aunt Feng and Auntie.

Still, now that they'd run into each other, there was no dodging it. It was just kids being kids, right? The Emperor wouldn't overthink it… hopefully.

Meteor had heard that the current Emperor was known for being generous and ruling with kindness. He upheld treaties with the original Douluo nations and cracked down hard on warmongers. Supposedly, he treated his siblings very well and had even entrusted most of the military power to his younger brother—Xu Tianran and Xu Tianzhen's father.

That kind of trust was unheard of in royal circles. Meteor had never met the Emperor himself, so he couldn't say for sure, but if the guy's reputation was real, he probably wouldn't care about something this minor.

Now that the Princess herself had said not to call her "Princess," insisting on it would just be rude. Meteor sighed and gave in, "Alright then… we'll call you Tianzhen."

Xu Tianzhen's face lit up. She clapped her hands and said cheerfully, "That's more like it! Once we're in Mingdu, I'll look out for you. If anyone dares mess with you, just say my name. If that doesn't work, I'll beat them so bad their parents won't recognize 'em!"

Xu Tianran sighed and gave her a light bop on the back of the head. "Tianzhen!" he scolded.

Tianzhen immediately stiffened, realizing she'd gone too far in her excitement. Her brother really cared about keeping up a good image.

"....."