[Ding! Special energy source detected!]
[Scanning target: Heavenly Maiden stone statue!]
[Analysis results: A damaged immortal soul is sealed inside the statue, currently in a state of deep slumber and memory loss!]
[Aptitude assessment: Potential exceeds conventional evaluation standards, breaking through the upper limit of a ten-star Genius!]
[Status determination: Meets the standards for discipleship!]
[System suggestion: Host, you've struck gold! Quickly dig open the statue and take a look!]
A series of System prompts rang out in Gu Han's mind like a sudden storm, leaving her completely stunned.
A statue?
A remnant immortal soul?
A Genius exceeding ten stars?
Her gaze snapped toward that blurry stone statue she had looked at for ten years and had long since grown numb to.
Inside this broken lump of stone, such a thing was actually hidden?
Did that dead old man know?
Or was it that his tricking her into coming here back then was also related to this statue?
Countless questions flashed through her mind in an instant, but they were all suppressed by a strong sense of curiosity.
She walked up to the statue in a few steps, reached out, and cautiously touched the cold, rough stone surface.
With her current Ascension Realm cultivation and Divine Sense, under careful investigation, she indeed sensed a faint fluctuation of extremely high quality!
This fluctuation was hidden deep within the core of the stone statue; if not for the System's prompt and her current Realm, it would have been impossible to discover.
"There really is... something more to this!"
Gu Han no longer hesitated, pressing her fingers together like a sword as a wisp of highly condensed magical power shot out from her fingertip.
Like the most precise scalpel, she carefully began to peel away the surface of the stone statue.
Stone chips flew, but not a single one fell to the ground; instead, they were restrained by an invisible force, hovering in mid-air.
Her movements were gentle and focused, for fear of harming the fragile immortal soul within.
As the stone skin was peeled away bit by bit, the outline of the stone statue gradually shrank.
Gradually, a soft, pure energy core emitting a halo of light was revealed within.
Within that halo, a small, curled-up figure was vaguely visible.
When the last bit of stone skin was cleared and the halo of light was completely exposed to the air, it illuminated the entire temple.
The light gradually receded.
When the last bit of golden light dissipated and the scene before her became clear.
Gu Han's eyes instantly widened, and she fell into a daze.
What was inside was not some remnant soul of a sage-like old man.
Nor was it the phantom of some peerless Fairy.
It was a... girl who looked only four or five years old!
She wore a tiny Immortal dress that seemed woven from starlight, the hem of which moved without any wind.
Her little face was pink and chubby with baby fat, and her features were as exquisite as the Creator's most perfect masterpiece.
Her long eyelashes were like two small fans, casting faint shadows under her eyelids.
At this moment, she was rubbing her sleepy eyes with one fair little hand, while her other little hand was clenched into a fist and held to her mouth as she let out a tiny yawn.
[Ding! Target materialized!]
[Name: Unknown]
[Form: Manifestation of immortal soul Origin (Juvenile)]
[Status: Deep sleep, memory fragmentation at 99.9%]
[Aptitude:??? (Exceeds ten stars, unable to be specifically detected)]
[Cultivation: None (Extremely weak, requires nourishment)]
[Loyalty: None (Blank state)]
[System Evaluation: A legendary unpolished jade! A peerless immortal seed rarely seen in a million years! Host, what are you waiting for? Quickly kidnap—no, quickly take her as a Disciple!]
Gu Han: "..."
She looked at this delicate little thing.
Then, listening to the System's prompting to "kidnap" her, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but twitch violently a few times.
What happened to the promised remnant soul of an Immortal?
What happened to the promised peerless Fairy?
This style is all wrong!
The Disciple she imagined should at least be a young man or woman, right?
What's with this sudden appearance of a toddler?
Is this what a peerless Genius exceeding ten stars looks like?
She felt that her style as the newly minted Palace Mistress of the Jade Pool Immortal Palace was about to head in the direction of a "nanny."
"Ugh..."
Just then, the little one let out a soft, waxy murmur filled with sleepiness.
Then, those big eyes, like the purest black gems, slowly opened.
At first, her gaze was a bit confused and hazy, as if covered by a layer of mist.
She blinked her big eyes and looked around at her surroundings with curiosity.
Finally, her gaze landed on Gu Han, who was standing before her in a petrified state.
Their eyes met.
The little girl tilted her head, her pink lips pouting slightly as if she were trying hard to think about something.
A few seconds later, a bright light suddenly erupted in her big eyes, as if she had recognized something.
She opened her little arms, which looked like lotus roots, with a bright, innocent smile.
With that soft, milky voice, she cheerfully shouted at Gu Han:
"Mother~"
Crack!
Gu Han felt as if a bolt of heavenly lightning had struck the crown of her head, charring her inside and out, leaving her petrified.
Mo... Mother?!!
What the... Gu Han looked down at her body, which, although shapely, certainly had nothing to do with "childbearing."
Then she looked back up at the little sprout who looked like she was carved from pink jade.
An indescribable sense of absurdity rushed to her head.
"Wait... wait! Little thing, don't just call people names!"
Gu Han almost jumped off the ground, her tongue getting a bit tied,
"Who is your Mother! Look clearly!"
"I'm... still a virgin! Where would I get such a big daughter?!"
The little girl was startled by her sudden increase in volume and shrank her neck, her big eyes instantly filling with a layer of water.
Her little mouth crumpled, and she looked at her aggrievedly, her voice carrying a sob:
"Mother... mean... don't want A Yao anymore?"
That look was extremely pitiful, as if she had been abandoned by the whole world.
Gu Han: "..."
She felt like her CPU was about to burn out!
[System, what's going on?!]
[The target's memory is missing, and her intelligence has regressed to the level of a young child. She has identified you as her closest kin. Host, please accept my condolences.]
In the System's electronic voice, there seemed to be a hint of... schadenfreude?
"Condolences my foot!"
Gu Han roared inwardly.
She looked at the little girl who called herself "A Yao" and her teary-eyed appearance.
A headache, a headache like never before.
She couldn't hit her, couldn't scold her, and couldn't throw her away... This was a System-certified super Genius with potential exceeding ten stars... although she currently looked like a burden.
And she was some kind of remnant immortal soul... although right now she was just a little crybaby.
"Sigh..."
Gu Han let out a long, helpless sigh.
Resigned to her fate, she reached out and somewhat clumsily pulled Little Ayao, who was hovering in the air, into her arms.
She was light to the touch and carried a faint fragrance like a newly blossomed lotus.
As soon as Little Ayao landed in her arms, she immediately broke into a smile through her tears.
Her two little arms tightly hugged Gu Han's neck, and her soft little face rubbed against the crook of Gu Han's neck dependently.
"Mother~ smells good~"
The milky voice carried complete trust and satisfaction.
Gu Han's body stiffened again.
This feeling of being completely relied upon... was unfamiliar, and a bit... strange.
She looked down at the soft little thing in her arms.
Fine.
Whether it's a remnant immortal soul or a poor little girl with amnesia.
Since she woke her up, she couldn't just ignore her.
Isn't it just being a cheap moth—er, a cheap Master?
It's just raising a child; could it be any harder than being a beast of burden for ten years?
"Listen, A Yao, right?"
Gu Han tried to make her voice sound as serious as possible,
"I am not your Mother. In the future, you must call me... Master."
Little Ayao looked up, her big eyes full of confusion:
"Mas... ter?"
"Yes, Master."
Gu Han nodded, "The person who teaches you skills and protects you."
Little Ayao tilted her head, processing this new vocabulary, and seemed to think that the title "Master" wasn't bad either.
She smiled sweetly, revealing a few tiny teeth, and shouted crisply once more:
"Master~ Mother~"
Gu Han: "...Not Mother! It's Master!"
"Okay, Mother Master~"
"..."
Gu Han held her newly minted first Disciple—who had potential exceeding ten stars, was a suspected Immortal Reincarnation, and kept calling her "Master Mother."
She walked out of the dilapidated Heavenly Maiden Temple and stepped into her own Yaochi Immortal Palace.
The sunlight fell, lengthening the shadows of her and the little sprout in her arms.
One was expressionless, having lost all hope in life.
The other had a brilliant smile, completely carefree.