In the sixth year of Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya’s marriage, under the urging of Qiao’s parents and Chu Huai, Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya finally completed the procedures for progeny cultivation.
Due to Qiao Zhiya’s unique genes, their progeny cultivation was entrusted to Zhuang Yu and Zhuang Yu’s master for full responsibility.
Children cultivated through genetic methods generally have lower health and qualities compared to those born through normal childbirth, but Qiao Zhiya and Chu Rong’s children were exceptions. After intense discussion, Chu Rong compromised, and the couple decided to cultivate two children simultaneously.
Although Qiao Zhiya’s wish to have a baby girl was dashed due to the limitations of genetic cultivation technology, having both an elf baby and a dwarf baby seemed to be a good outcome.
The cultivation of the children required full participation from the couple. They had to regularly supply energy to the two babies lying in the cultivation pods. The health and successful birth of the children heavily depended on how steadily and effectively the couple provided their energy throughout the cultivation process.
Chu Rong had it easier – he only needed to provide his spiritual power as usual. Qiao Zhiya, however, was more troubled. He possessed three types of power with no precedents to follow, so under Zhuang Yu’s advice, he decided to primarily provide wood-elemental magic at first and then, as the babies grew, alternate the types of elemental magic to see which one the babies preferred and focus on that.
Three months later, the babies in the cultivation pods showed clear preferences for their fathers’ powers.
Da Bao1Big Treasure; the older one in the first pod clearly preferred Chu Rong’s energy and metal-elemental magic, always craving more. Xiao Bao2Little Treasure; the younger one in the second pod, however, resisted Chu Rong’s energy, only liking magic power, consuming all three types indiscriminately, being a baby who was selective about the father but not picky about food.
Chu Rong frowned deeply, Qiao Zhiya was very nervous, and Mi Lai and Qiao Yi felt uneasy, fearing that their wish to have both an elf baby and a dwarf baby might be coming to an end.
Five months later, the babies’ consumption of energy increased, and their preferences became even more pronounced. Da Bao started consuming only spiritual power, no longer absorbing metal-elemental magic, while Xiao Bao began consuming only wood-elemental magic, ignoring the other two types.
The whole family couldn’t help but worry. With the babies being so picky, they wondered if it would affect their physical development.
Amidst everyone’s worries, as the cultivation period neared its end, one night, Da Bao’s cultivation pod suddenly reacted violently, followed by the second pod. Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya were woken up by the commotion and hurried over.
After a whole night of fussing and consuming another round of their parents’ energy, the first pod opened first, releasing a mixture of nutrient solution and spiritual power. Inside was a small golden dragon, no bigger than a palm.
Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya were shocked, Mi Lai and Qiao Yi were also stunned, and Zhuang Yu was directly bewildered.
Everyone had expected Da Bao to be a human baby, but now a dragon had emerged!
Before they could fully process their astonishment, the second pod also opened. After the mixed solution flowed out, a chubby, fair-skinned baby with pointed ears appeared. He waved his arms and legs and started crying loudly.
Everyone snapped back to reality and quickly wrapped and held the two babies. They looked at each other in disbelief. Besides Qiao Zhiya, who was excitedly spinning around the babies with a flushed face, everyone else was dumbfounded.
Xiao Bao, as expected, resembled Qiao Zhiya, but Da Bao was… none of them knew how to raise a dragon. What would they do with Da Bao? Would he transform? If he stayed in dragon form, how would he live in human society?
Chu Rong frowned deeply again, looking at the tiny golden dragon in the swaddling blanket, which resembled Qiao Zhiya’s dragon form. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “It looks like we need to invite Feng-xiansheng to come over.”
According to expectations, Qiao Zhiya had very little dragon blood in him and was human himself, so the likelihood of cultivating a dragon-shaped baby was almost zero. There must be some issue here.
The group quickly boarded the mini spaceship 2.0 and headed towards the primitive planet within the asteroid belt with full force.
After attending Qiao Zhiya and Chu Rong’s wedding, Feng had returned to his hometown. Qiao Yi also helped him by drawing a directional teleportation array in the primitive forest, allowing him to travel back and forth between the two worlds without expending his own energy.
Over the years, he had been visiting the Blue Galaxy annually with Jian, but he hadn’t come this year yet.
Since Da Bao’s birth, he had remained in a state of deep sleep with his eyes closed. If it weren’t for the occasional movement of his tail whenever Qiao Zhiya approached, everyone would have been worried about his condition.
In contrast, Xiao Bao was very energetic. As soon as he was born, he needed to be fed. After nursing, he quickly fell asleep again. He had opened his eyes once, revealing bright green irises. His features and face were also soft, resembling Qiao Zhiya quite a bit.
A day later, the group arrived at the primitive forest. During this time, Xiao Bao had eaten several times, while Da Bao still had not woken up. Even Qiao Zhiya was getting anxious, carefully holding him in his arms and supplying him with wood-elemental magic power.
Once the spaceship landed, Qiao Yi and Chu Rong immediately disembarked, with Mi Lai and Qiao Zhiya following closely behind while holding the babies.
The group walked to the ancient tree, where Qiao Yi immediately activated the teleportation array to the Sea Kingdom. Through the array’s residual power left by Feng, they sent information to that side.
Sensing the gentle magic aura of the ancient yellow leaf trees, Da Bao, who had been motionless with closed eyes, suddenly flapped his wings, slowly opened his eyes, and then quickly closed them again, snuggling back into Qiao Zhiya’s arms to continue sleeping.
Noticing this, Qiao Zhiya couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, calling out a few times without any response. Unable to contain himself, he looked at Chu Rong and said, “Da Bao’s eyes are black and very beautiful! Just like yours!”
Chu Rong quickly moved closer, frowning as he looked at the now-sleeping Da Bao and reached out to touch his tail.
“Smack!”
The tiny golden dragon, only as big as a palm, suddenly rolled over in the swaddling blanket and flicked its tail, giving Chu Rong a light smack. Whether it was a coincidence or intentional, it was hard to tell.
Chu Rong’s fingers paused, and he narrowed his eyes.
‘The strength and precision of that flick…’
The teleportation array suddenly flashed, and Feng and Jian’s figures appeared within it. Qiao Yi quickly stepped forward and called out to Qiao Zhiya, who hurriedly walked over, disregarding the fact that Chu Rong had been smacked by Da Bao.
Feng was also surprised by the appearance of the little dragon. He first carefully checked Da Bao’s condition and then couldn’t help but smile, reassuring them, “He’s fine. It’s just that his bloodline power is too massive for a human baby form to handle, so he temporarily turned into a dragon to digest it. Once the digestion is complete, he will naturally revert. He’s very healthy and is also a golden dragon. Congratulations.”
Hearing this, everyone let out a big sigh of relief. Chu Rong, however, raised an eyebrow and looked back at Da Bao in Qiao Zhiya’s arms, touching the back of his hand. So it wasn’t just his imagination – that flick was indeed intentional.
Three days later, after having consumed some of Feng’s power, Da Bao finally woke up. The first thing he did upon waking was to take off and then forcefully claim the golden sleeping spot next to Qiao Zhiya, pushing Chu Rong onto the sofa along with Xiao Bao.
Half a month later, Da Bao’s troublesome personality began to show. He was indifferent to everyone except Qiao Zhiya and his little brother. When he was in a bad mood, he would become a grumpy old man, with his nose practically pointing to the sky.
A month later, the little golden dragon transformed into a human form, becoming a baby with black hair and eyes. He would cry when hungry, kick his legs when needing a diaper change, and was quite easy to care for. However, he was indifferent to others, a sharp contrast to the cheerful and easily amused Xiao Bao.
Chu Huai couldn’t help but sigh, “He’s just like Lao Er when he was young.” So troublesome.
Chu Rong, who had been forced to sleep on the sofa for a month, looked at the black-haired baby in the crib with a glimmer of cold light in his eyes.
That night, Chu Rong tried to get back into bed. Xiao Bao, being gentle and cute, had no issue with his movement onto the bed and even smiled at him, showing his ears. Chu Rong’s stern expression softened, and he was about to pick him up to comfort him when Da Bao suddenly transformed into his dragon form, flapping his wings and taking the spot that was supposed to be his. He comfortably rolled around in the space.
Chu Rong’s expression instantly froze. Watching the arrogant and troublesome Da Bao, he said, “Feng-xiansheng said that dragons are different from humans and can remember things from birth. Chu Da Bao, if you want this nickname to become your official name, then keep acting foolish.”
The little dragon on the bed stiffened, looked up at him with black eyes.
As his own son, Chu Rong’s expression soon softened under his gaze. He sat on the carpet beside the bed, adopting a serious and face-to-face attitude, and asked, “Tell me, why are you intentionally being difficult?”
The little dragon flapped his wings, looked at him with wary eyes, lowered his head, and made a few low noises.
It was the first time he had spoken, his voice was soft and accompanied by a hint of unstable spiritual power, but Chu Rong understood his meaning.
“I’m not the child you were expecting.”
The little dragon answered in that way, and Chu Rong was completely taken aback. He was stunned for a moment, then frowned, feeling an instinctive urge to refute, but suddenly recalled a conversation he and Qiao Zhiya had months ago before Da Bao and Xiao Bao were born.
Back then, they had discussed what traits their children might inherit. Seeing Qiao Zhiya was very anxious, Chu Rong had soothingly said he just hoped the children wouldn’t resemble him, which made Qiao Zhiya shift his focus and argue with him. Little did he realize that Da Bao in the cultivation pod had already developed consciousness.
As he looked at the little dragon, who had stubbornly turned its head away after making that statement, and glanced at its pitifully curled-up tail, Chu Rong’s heart softened. He moved closer and said seriously, “Listen, both you and Xiao Bao are my and Qiao Zhiya’s treasures. I love you both, and that’s unquestionable.”
The little dragon moved slightly, turning its head towards him and peeking.
“Dad was wrong before. I’m sorry.”
For the first time calling himself a dad, Chu Rong felt a bit awkward, but he quickly embraced the weight of the term. He extended his hand towards the little dragon and asked, “I’ll learn to be a good dad. Will you give me a chance and forgive me for my previous mistakes?”
The warm hand reached out, and the little dragon finally turned its head. It stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly flapped its wings and bumped into his chest. In a flash of golden light, the black-haired, black-eyed chubby baby appeared and cried for the first time since birth, relieved and trusting.
That night, Chu Rong finally slept in the bed as he wished, and Da Bao, back in dragon form, lovingly wrapped his tail around him.
Qiao Zhiya looked at Chu Rong and Da Bao, who had suddenly become so affectionate, and at Xiao Bao, who was once again happily playing alone, feeling confused—did he miss something?
Chu Rong, touching the little dragon by his side and looking at the pointed ears and round eyes resembling his lover and younger son, couldn’t help but lean in and kiss Qiao Zhiya’s lips.
Qiao Zhiya blushed, his confusion fading away, and shyly closed his eyes.
As the lights in the room dimmed, the little dragon lying on the pillow secretly covered its eyes with its wings, while Xiao Bao, lying blissfully, made a bubble with his saliva and began a new round of happy play.
T/L: aaaaand that’s the last part of Chu Rong/Qiao Zhiya’s story! Oh man, I’ve been translating this story since Feb 2023, it’s been quite a journey~ FYI, there’s a total of 287 chapters I posted for this story because I chopped up the chapters! They’re so chunky… the median is 6.2k per chapters, I believe.
I translated this story bc in my opinion, this one is an underlooked gem, despite all the flaws (esp pacing+antagonist) on the last parts. I hope you like this story, too!
Onwards, there’ll be 3 chapters of Chu Yan/Xiang Kun! This rival-turned-lovers pairing is… the opposite of slow burn in the context of their romance lol. But then again, they have been dancing around their “rivalry” since childhood!
