"Uh, you want me to take you camping?"
Chen Junting, who had just finished handling the tasks at hand, put down the documents he was holding and looked in surprise at Chen Tianshuo, Huo Dongyu, and little Gu Feng, who had just turned two, as they huddled over.
"Yes! Can we, Dad?"
"Uncle Chen..."
"Uncle Chen."
The three little ones looked at Chen Junting with faces full of hope.
"If you want to go camping, wouldn't it be fine to have Mom, or Dong'er, or Little Feng take you out to play?" Chen Junting picked up little Gu Feng and half-crouched to look at the three little ones.
Who would have thought that as soon as this proposal was spoken, it was directly vetoed by his own son. "No way! No way!"
Chen Tianshuo shook his head like a rattle drum.
"I want Dad, Mom, Uncle, Aunt..."
As he spoke, he counted on his fingers, but ultimately realizing that there were too many people, he simply spread his arms wide and said loudly, "Anyway, we want everyone to go together!"
"I see..."
Chen Junting immediately understood his son's meaning. Recalling that he had indeed been busy with work these past few years, and although there was companionship, the time he and Little Tian gave their son was ultimately in the minority. Presumably, the situation for the other two little ones wasn't much different. No wonder they came to find him together and made this request.
"It's fine, there are no arrangements lately anyway..."
Chen Junting thought for a moment and agreed with a smile.
But the actual situation wasn't exactly as he said. After all, the star systems governed by the God Realm were incredibly vast, and the affairs to be handled were increasing day by day. However, how could he bear to refuse a request from a few children? In that case, he could only...
Make Destruction and Ji Dong suffer a bit.
Having made up his mind, Chen Junting held the baby in one arm and used his free hand to rub the heads of the other two little guys. "Then tomorrow, let's pick a spot in the Forest of Life..."
But before Chen Junting could finish speaking, Chen Tianshuo hurriedly waved his hands in protest. "No, no! We don't want to go to the Forest of Life, we want to go camping somewhere else!"
"Somewhere else?"
At first, he was puzzled as to why they wouldn't go to the Forest of Life, the most refreshing forest. But then, based on his understanding of his own son, a trace of suspicion immediately flashed through Chen Junting's eyes. Locking his gaze onto his kid, he opened with a question.
"Did you get into trouble?!"
It seemed like a question, but his tone was certain.
Instantly, Chen Tianshuo stomped his feet in a stress response!
"Dad! You're slandering me! This is slander!"
"Mmm—"
A drawn-out tone word, along with a sharp gaze, quickly made Chen Tianshuo wilt. He held up four fingers. "I swear! I was trying to do a good deed, but I messed it up..."
After listening to his son's account, Chen Junting sighed helplessly. As for whether he believed what this kid said...
Naturally, he believed him.
Besides, he wasn't that much of a brat, nor was he so ignorant as to go cause trouble at the Goddess of Life's place.
"Alright, go apologize to Life later. But since it's not because you did something bad that you don't want to go, what's the reason?"
"Of course, it's because we don't want to camp in the God Realm."
As soon as these words were spoken, Chen Junting's eyes widened instantly!
"What did you say!? Go to the lower realm!"
"Yeah."
Seemingly unaware of the change in his dad's tone, and also seemingly unaware of Huo Dongyu tugging at his clothes, Chen Tianshuo said cheerfully, "I really want to go to the Douluo Continent! After all, Dad, Mom, and the uncles and aunts all came up from there."
"No."
Chen Junting vetoed it immediately, his expression serious.
"Little Shuo, the rules of the God Realm state that gods cannot descend to the lower realm."
"Don't try to fool me."
Chen Tianshuo looked disdainful, staring at his dad with a "you'd even trick a kid" look. "Little Yu already asked her grandfather. The God Realm's rule says that gods cannot descend to the lower realm without cause."
Hey! You little brat, quite capable!
A hint of surprise appeared in Chen Junting's eyes.
To actually make preparations in advance and go ask Destruction.
"Fine, even if there's 'without cause'. Then tell me, what kind of reason is us going down to camp? Isn't that just nonsense?"
"Who said there wasn't a proper reason."
Chen Tianshuo crossed his arms, looking incredibly smug.
Clearly, this little guy was full of confidence.
"Of course, it's to investigate the Silver Dragon King!"
But as soon as the words left his mouth, "Who gave you that idea?"
Chen Tianshuo still had his arms crossed, holding his head high.
"Me!"
"..."
After a moment of silence, "It was Uncle Purple."
Hiss—
Chen Junting secretly sucked in a breath of cold air.
Destruction, you guy, you "defected"?
...
"Camping?"
As night fell and Chen Tianshuo had already gone to sleep, Chen Junting and Ning Tian discussed the camping trip. At first, Ning Tian didn't think much of it, but when she heard about going to the Douluo Continent.
"Huh? The Douluo Continent?"
Lying in bed, Ning Tian turned to her side and looked at Chen Junting, who was scrolling through his phone. "Are you saying we're going camping in the Douluo Continent?"
"That's right."
Putting down his phone, Chen Junting then explained the whole story to Ning Tian. "...I really didn't expect Destruction to give him the idea. But when I found Destruction, he told me that going down to camp would be better than camping in the God Realm. At least if we camp down below, it would only take four God Realm minutes."
"This..."
Hearing this, Ning Tian was dumbfounded.
"So you agreed?"
"Of course."
Chen Junting picked up his phone again. "Since it's come to this, and he even found an excuse for us, how could we not go? As long as we don't interfere with the affairs of the lower realm, that's enough."
"I see..."
Ning Tian nodded, without any intention of refuting.
"Then who all is going?"
"That's a lot, about a dozen people or so."
"Are Mom, Dad, and the Teacher going?"
"They didn't agree, said never mind."
"I see."
Since Mom, Dad, and the Teachers had said so, Ning Tian didn't plan to drag them along. She then asked Chen Junting:
"Where do you plan to choose?"
"That's easy. Since the mission is to check on the Silver Dragon King, then naturally we'll just camp over by the Star Dou Great Forest."
...
Great Star Dou Forest, Lake of Life.
Morning light had already spilled into the forest and onto the sparkling lake surface, making the place look vibrant and indescribably peaceful.
"It's agreed, you have to gather the ingredients yourselves."
Chen Junting took out a small bamboo basket and a green stick, and standing by the lake, he explained the precautions to the three little ones. "This bamboo basket can hold a lot of things, so whatever you find, just put it all inside. Also, this stick is used to test whether something is edible or not."
"If the stick touches something and it turns red, then don't touch it. If it touches it and turns green, then you can pick it and bring it back to eat. If it shows both green and red, it means that although this thing can be eaten, you have to be careful. If the green is brighter, it means the danger of this thing is easy to handle. If there's more red, then it's a bit difficult, and it's best not to pick it. Understand?"
"Understood!"
The three little ones plus one voice spoke in unison.
"...Are you a child too?"
Ignoring the three children, Chen Junting looked at the equally excited blonde girl to the side and couldn't help but make a remark.
"Of course I am!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who had switched to human form, crossed her arms over her chest and proudly lifted her chin. "I'm not even twenty thousand years old. Calculating by soul beast age, I'm still a child. And here in the Great Star Dou Forest, I am originally a little princess."
Clearly, the Emperor Auspicious Beast was special.
Not only could she transform into a human, but she could also transform back. And her lifespan was on par with her soul beast form, so she wasn't worried at all.
"You..."
Chen Junting didn't say anything more and waved his hand:
"Let's go!"
"Oh—"
The three children plus one big child were the most cheerful. Under the escort of the four great fierce beasts—Zi Ji, the Scarlet King, the Myriad Demon King, and Bear Lord—they immediately dove into the core circle of the Star Dou Great Forest. With the four of them protecting them, plus the divine sense Chen Junting left on the four of them, it was impossible for any accidents to happen.
And while the children were setting off, the adults naturally did the same. They set off in twos and threes. For example, Ye Guyi and Nan Qiuqiu, Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan, Dugu Xin and Xiao Xiao, while Gu Tianchen and Wu Feng headed towards their son's direction. In addition, Bei Bei and Tang Ya, along with a few others, naturally weren't to be left out. As for Chen Junting and Ning Tian, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er... the four of them were going to stay here and make full preparations for the camp.
In addition, Di Tian and Bi Ji naturally wouldn't be missing.
Di Tian looked in the direction Ji Juechen had left, then glanced at Wang Dong'er, and finally shifted his gaze back to Chen Junting.
"Ask whatever you want to ask."
"Did the previous Asura God and Sea God die?"
Chen Junting smiled faintly. "Isn't that obvious?"
Aside from the Sea God's divine throne being inherited, the Asura Sword had been shattered and reforged for Ji Juechen, and he was only the God of Swords.
"You really are wasteful."
Di Tian sat down beside Chen Junting and said this.
"Wasteful? I don't think so."
While setting up a tent by himself, Chen Junting replied.
In his opinion, he already had enough super divine weapons. Moreover, over the years, in addition to the three existing super divine weapons, his Heavenly Eye had also metamorphosed into a super divine weapon during the "one splitting into ten thousand" process of his faith avatar. That gave him a full four.
So when Ji Juechen became a god, he fused the Asura Sword with Ji Juechen's sword and reforged it, allowing it to metamorphose into the super divine weapon that suited him best. Chen Junting didn't feel the slightest bit of regret, even after he and Ning Tian later had their son, Tianshuo.
Firstly, he was still young. When he wanted one in the future...
He could just go strive for it himself!
He believed his son could do it.
"You really are..."
Di Tian shook his head in awe, but before he could say more, Chen Junting tossed a tent over to him. "Stop talking. If you have the leisure to just sit there and chat, you might as well help me."
On the other side, Ning Tian, Wang Dong'er, and Bi Ji, who were organizing items, were also chatting about their girls' topics. For example, Ning Tian and Wang Dong'er's experiences in raising children, which Bi Ji listened in on. This was a topic brought up by Bi Ji in the first place. After all these years, she and Di Tian had already tied the knot, and it was just a matter of whether they could have offspring.
As for Huo Yuhao...
He was busy all by himself handling the cooking matters.
An hour later, the group gathered by the lake!
"Ah, everyone has quite a harvest!"
"I picked lots and lots of mushrooms."
"I gathered a lot of fruit too!"
"I picked a lot of wild vegetables, and even caught a big wild boar!"
"That's a deer, not a wild boar. Also!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, that is, Di Yao, hurriedly refuted, "We both encountered it together, and I was the one who caught it, not you!"
"Oh, it's all the same."
"It's very different! You were just watching the show!"
But regardless, the three little ones were indeed impressive.
So, "Oh oh! You guys are so capable!"
"Hehe~~~" ×3
(,,ω,,) ×2
Under the praise of Ning Tian and the others, little Gu Feng and Huo Dongyu smiled shyly, while Chen Tianshuo was still arguing noisily with Di Yao.
"Alright, let's all process the ingredients together so your Uncle Yuhao can start cooking." Chen Junting lifted the bamboo baskets from everyone's hands and carried them towards Huo Yuhao.
"Okay!" ×3
Under their division of labor and cooperation, the ingredients were quickly processed. And in order to eat Huo Yuhao's exclusive grilled fish, Wang Dong'er, as the Sea God, even personally took action, wielding the Golden Trident to spear fish.
Later, to relieve Huo Yuhao's pressure, under the command of the head chef, he was like a general strategizing on the battlefield, and everyone else was a soldier under his command. Even the three little ones were assigned the task of making steamed buns.
After a moment, the scent of food wafted along the shores of the Lake of Life.
After lunch was prepared, everyone began to enjoy the fruits of their labor. And besides them, Wang Dong'er personally made a trip to the small plane within the Star Dou Great Forest to invite her two godfathers, Da Ming and Er Ming.
And then, "Let's eat!"
As the words fell, the feast began.
Time quickly came to the afternoon. After finishing their hearty meal, the subsequent cleanup didn't require Chen Junting to worry.
After saying hello, he decided to go to the bottom of the Lake of Life with Di Tian to see the Silver Dragon King. After all, the excuse for their descent this time was because of the Silver Dragon King.
But no matter what, the Silver Dragon King wasn't a big problem in Chen Junting's eyes. The two discussed for half an hour, and Chen Junting left the Silver Dragon King's space satisfied. Besides Di Tian and the two parties involved, no one knew what they had discussed.
As night fell, Chen Junting and the others lay on the grass by the Lake of Life, looking up at the sky, watching the natural and beautiful starry sky, and gradually drifted into dreamland.
When the next day came, just as they were about to return to the God Realm,
"I've decided!"
Chen Tianshuo looked at Chen Junting with a determined gaze. "I want to descend from the God Realm when I'm six years old and venture out in the Douluo Plane!"
A moment of silence made Chen Tianshuo feel uneasy.
Because he didn't think there was more than a forty percent chance that his father would agree. He even made up his mind that if his father didn't agree, he wouldn't blame himself for sneaking down to the lower realm.
However, to his surprise, Chen Junting just smiled and said a single word.
"Alright."
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