One person: Starting with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, his grandmaster uncle emerges from seclusion.

"but……"

A faint, yet incredibly warm smile appeared on Zhang Tianyi's lips:

"If you'd like."

"If you'd like, call me 'Master'."

"From now on, if the sky falls, your master will hold it up for you."

"No one can treat you as a tool anymore, no one can lock you in a cage anymore, and no one can force you to do things you don't like anymore."

"The choice is yours."

The hot spring area was extremely quiet.

Zhang Chulan held his breath, while Lao Meng gripped Hei Guan'er's arm tightly in tension.

Everyone watched the girl soaking in the water in silence.

Chen Duo stared blankly at the man in front of her.

Looking at that young, handsome face, she felt a sense of security and solidity, like a mountain.

From birth, she fought her way through the Gu poison of the Medicine Immortal Society.

Later, she was locked in the bunker and became a dangerous item monitored by the company.

Later, she met Ma Xianhong, who gave her the right to choose, but almost erased her soul.

In this world, everyone treats her as a monster, a pitiful person, and a nuisance.

There is only the person in front of me.

He would stand in front of her when she was being bullied and say, "This is my child."

He would take her to catch that ugly, sad frog.

He would buy her a white dress and tell her that the black, poisonous patterns were art.

He would even completely hand over the right to choose to her at this fateful moment.

Chen Duo turned her head and glanced at the green sad frog on the deck chair on the shore.

He turned back to look at Zhang Tianyi.

An emotion she had never felt before, like a seed sprouting from the soil, grew wildly in her chest.

It was a sour, bloated, yet incredibly warm feeling.

She didn't know what to call this feeling.

But suddenly she felt her vision was a little blurry.

"Tick."

A glistening droplet of water slid down her cheek and splashed into the hot spring pool.

It's hard to tell whether it's dew condensed from water vapor or tears that have never been shed.

Chen Duo's lips trembled slightly.

She slowly, very slowly, stood up from the water.

Even with her bathrobe soaked and clinging to her body, even with the dark lines on her arms exposed to the air, she no longer retreated or hid as she had before.

She looked at Zhang Tianyi and took a deep breath.

Then, at the edge of this hot spring pool, where steam rises and the lights are soft.

This Gu-body holy child, regarded as a monster by the world, knelt solemnly on the stone steps in the shallow water area, his knees bent.

Water splashed gently.

She lowered her head, her forehead touching the warm edge of the marble, and performed the oldest and most sincere apprenticeship ceremony.

"Master."

Chen Duo's voice is no longer that hollow and flat.

Instead, her voice was choked with emotion, and she seemed to have found a deep sense of belonging.

"I am willing."

"I want to learn from you... how to jungle, and also... how to be a person."

That cry of "Master" echoed in the empty room, striking a chord in everyone's heart.

Old Meng finally couldn't hold back any longer, covered his face, squatted on the ground, and burst into tears of joy.

Zhang Chulan's eyes reddened, and he quietly turned his head away to sniff.

Even the usually aloof Xiao Zizai silently clasped his hands together, a relieved smile appearing on his lips.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhang Tianyi laughed three times, his laughter filled with boundless joy.

He reached out and pulled Chen Duo, who was kneeling in the water, up.

Ignoring the fact that she was still dripping wet, he rubbed her head hard.

"From this day forward, you, Chen Duo, are my first disciple, Zhang Tianyi's first disciple!"

"I am a descendant of the Tian Shu lineage of Longhu Mountain!"

Chapter 110 The gods should worship me before the hall!

"Alright, now that you've kowtowed, this title is settled."

Zhang Tianyi casually grabbed a dry bath towel from the shelf next to him and wrapped Chen Duo up completely like a silkworm.

His gaze fell on Zhang Chulan, who was sitting there with reddened eyes.

"Grandson, stop wiping away your tears and come here." Zhang Tianyi beckoned to him.

"Hey! Coming right now!"

Zhang Chulan sniffed, then scurried around the pool to the water, his face beaming with a fawning smile.

"Master, what are your orders? Should we arrange some kind of apprenticeship banquet for our new apprentice?"

Zhang Tianyi ignored his comment, instead reaching out to pull Chen Duo in front of him, then pointing at Zhang Chulan:

"Chu Lan, we at Longhu Mountain place great importance on seniority."

“According to the rules, Chen Duo is now my first disciple, Zhang Tianyi. Your grandfather Zhang Huaiyi and I are fellow disciples, so according to the seniority system of our Longhu Mountain…”

Zhang Tianyi's lips curled into a wicked smile, and he paused deliberately.

Zhang Chulan's smile froze on his face, and an extremely ominous premonition instantly swept over his entire body.

He opened his mouth, his voice trembling slightly: "Second Master... this... this seniority... can't be calculated like this, can it?"

"Why not?"

Zhang Tianyi raised an eyebrow and raised his voice a few decibels:

“Your second master personally took in this disciple; he is a true disciple of the sect. As a junior, shouldn’t you greet him according to the rules?”

"Come on, Chu Lan, salute your junior uncle and say hello."

"what?!"

Zhang Chulan felt dizzy and disoriented.

He looked at Chen Duo, who was younger than him and looked completely bewildered, and then at Zhang Tianyi, who looked very serious.

"Martial Uncle?!"

Zhang Chulan's voice became shrill and distorted.

He wailed inwardly: "I, Zhang Chulan, have been in the world of supernatural beings for so long, relying on shamelessness and cunning. Now I actually have to call this cute girl 'Shishu' (a term of respect for a senior female disciple)?"

How can I hold my head high anywhere after this?

"What? Did you feel wronged?"

Zhang Tianyi glanced sideways, exuding an aura of authority without anger.

"What, now even the rules I set don't work?"

Zhang Chulan dared not talk back.

He could only force a smile, awkwardly bow to Chen Duo, and clasp his hands in a fist salute:

"Um... Hello, Junior Uncle."

Chen Duo blinked her green eyes, looking at Zhang Chulan, who usually talked nonsense but looked utterly defeated.

She pursed her lips very slightly.

"Oh. Hello, Zhang Chulan."

She replied earnestly in a calm voice.

That cry of "Uncle-Master" nearly made Old Meng's eyes pop out, while Wang Zhenqiu laughed so hard behind the screen that he couldn't stand up straight.

"okay."

Zhang Tianyi was amused by the interaction between the two, but he quickly suppressed his smile and looked at Zhang Chulan with a serious expression.

"Chu Lan, I'm not asking you to call me 'Shishu' to take advantage of you. This girl spent the first half of her life in the Gu Gu and the Dark Fortress. In terms of her naivety, there are few people in this world more like a blank sheet of paper than her."

Zhang Tianyi extended a finger and gently tapped Zhang Chulan's shoulder.

"But you're different. You've been through the wringer in society, you're a real old hand, full of tricks."

"In the future, when you're out in the world, you'll have to be more careful about your martial aunt, and make sure she's not deceived."

Zhang Tianyi's voice was very soft, but to Zhang Chulan it felt like a thousand pounds:

"If I find out that my precious apprentice has suffered any injustice outside... my grandson, I'll hold you responsible, do you hear me?"

Zhang Chulan felt a chill run down his spine. He knew that his advisor truly cherished this girl.

He immediately dropped his playful grin and straightened his back with a solemn expression: