Shui Bing'er landed barefoot, her snow-white little feet stepping on ice crystals, her beautiful figure reflected in them.
Her eyes flickered, her blue spirit eyes blinking, as if she were looking at the world around her again from a past life.
After a brief pause, her eyes gradually cleared.
Looking at Ma Hongjun again, her eyes were filled with endless tenderness.
She slowly walked over, her ice-blue wings on her back fluttering slightly, like a beautiful elf.
"Bing'er!"
Ma Hongjun called softly, this was his beautiful elf.
Shui Bing'er didn't speak, but her eyes were full of Ma Hongjun. She slowly approached, embraced Ma Hongjun, and rested her head on his shoulder. Her
ice wings on her back folded.
At this moment, she was like an incredibly docile little wife.
Shui Bing'er's behavior made Ma Hongjun slightly puzzled. Although he didn't know how much time had passed during their journey in the ice cave, he and Shui Bing'er hadn't reached such a high level of spiritual communication.
This sudden, tenderness, like that of an old married couple, caught Ma Hongjun somewhat off guard.
However, Ma Hongjun still enjoyed this moment.
While Ma Hongjun was savoring this tenderness,
Shui Bing'er suddenly grabbed Ma Hongjun's hand and placed it on her lower abdomen.
"Tell me, is it a boy or a girl?"
Shui Bing'er said gently.
Her voice was soft, but these words caused a huge uproar in Ma Hongjun's mind.
Boy? Girl?
What did that mean?
For a moment, Ma Hongjun's mind went blank; the question of a boy or a girl echoed in his head.
Two adorable baby images involuntarily appeared in his mind, one a boy, the other a girl.
Ma Hongjun's expression froze. Happy? Surprised? Overjoyed…
For a moment, Ma Hongjun didn't know how to express his feelings.
Ma Hongjun stared intently at Shui Bing'er, who still had a gentle expression, a faint smile, and a hint of expectation on her face.
Looking at her beautiful, joyful face, Ma Hongjun knew she cared a lot about his reaction.
"Bing'er, you? Baby?"
Ma Hongjun stammered, looking at Shui Bing'er, then at her flat stomach which hadn't changed much, his hand gently stroking it.
Although it didn't seem to have changed much, there was a sense that she was already pregnant.
A special feeling rose in Ma Hongjun's heart; he could feel a strange connection between Shui Bing'er's belly and his own.
"Mmm!"
Shui Bing'er nodded, her usual aloofness completely replaced by a gentle, water-like tenderness.
"No wonder the Phoenix God threatened me not to betray Bing'er, so that's why!"
Ma Hongjun thought to himself, no wonder the Phoenix was so resentful.
He had just chosen a successor, and now she was getting a buy-one-get-one-free deal.
How could she not be angry?
However, what Ma Hongjun didn't know was that although the Phoenix God threatened him on the surface, she was secretly delighted.
She was the first to sense the little life within Shui Bing'er, a life born with divinity, a divine child from birth.
So, by taking Shui Bing'er as her successor, she also gained a divine child; she had made a huge profit.
The reason they specifically instructed Ma Hongjun and even gifted him a special opportunity was that they hoped the child would be born normally and achieve the Phoenix Godhood alongside Shui Bing'er.
Ma Hongjun and Shui Bing'er were unaware of this.
However, whether they knew or not didn't matter.
As long as the child was theirs, that was enough.
After confirming the pregnancy, Ma Hongjun's heart calmed down.
He began to think about how to prepare for the baby's birth.
Although he had lived two lives, this was Ma Hongjun's first time becoming a father.
"I told you, I'd definitely have no problem!"
A strong sense of confidence rose within Ma Hongjun; this child gave him great pride.
Actually, before this, the question of having a child had always been a mystery to Ma Hongjun.
Leaving aside his previous life,
even after his transmigration and rebirth,
from Shuang'er, Feifei, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, to Zhu Xiaofan and Huo Wu—six people in total
—so many years had passed without any sign of pregnancy. This
directly made Ma Hongjun doubt himself.
It was like shooting arrows with his eyes closed—six targets, countless arrows, but none hitting the mark!
Can you believe it?
The archer is so incompetent.
Fortunately, he's young, and this problem hasn't come to the fore yet.
However, things are different now.
Shui Bing'er has given Ma Hongjun a much-needed boost. She
's come from behind!
Despite being completely unprepared, the arrival of the child still filled Ma Hongjun with immense joy, and he planned to give him (her) the best.
"Bing'er, you're so good!"
Ma Hongjun said happily, then tapped Shui Bing'er's forehead.
Shui Bing'er was truly wonderful, experiencing double happiness—receiving the Phoenix God's inheritance and gaining a baby.
Most importantly, the first thing she shared with Ma Hongjun was the news of the baby. This was
enough to prove how much she valued this child.
In her heart, the child was above even a god's position.
Shui Bing'er was only twenty-five years old. In Douluo Continent, twenty-five is just the age of adulthood, the age of graduating from academy. It's still a bit early for her to have children.
Due to the different levels of the world, women here generally don't consider marriage until around thirty.
Shui Bing'er also felt considerable pressure regarding the child; it came so suddenly, and she wasn't prepared.
She didn't even know she was pregnant; it was the Phoenix God who told her and instructed her to raise the baby well.
This was a divine decree for Shui Bing'er, directly clearing away some of the negative emotions she felt about the sudden arrival of her baby. She
could nurture this new life with the best mindset.
Ma Hongjun finally felt a sense of connection!
This new life was his closest relative in this world.
...
After calming down from the excitement of having a child, Ma Hongjun asked,
"Bing'er, you're level 60 now, right?" "
Yes, I just received the Phoenix God's inheritance and obtained a pair of Ice Wing Soul Bones."
"Did the Phoenix God mention the divine assessment?"
"He didn't mention it, only instructing me to improve my strength and take good care of the baby in my womb!"
Hearing the Phoenix God's instructions, Ma Hongjun felt relieved.
Otherwise, it would be too dangerous for Shui Bing'er to take the assessment with such a large belly; divine assessments are generally not easy.
"Now that things here are finished, let's leave. There's still a pile of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow waiting for us to absorb, and your sixth soul ring—we need to find a safe way to help you obtain it!"
The ice crystal phoenix sculpture here had shattered, proving that the Phoenix's inheritance point on Douluo Continent had completed its mission and disappeared.
Returning the way they came was out of the question; Ma Hongjun didn't want to traverse that long, icy path again, especially since Shui Bing'er was pregnant.
Shui Bing'er certainly didn't want to go that way either.
But there was good news: with the shattering of the Ice Crystal Phoenix, the barrier around the courtyard had disappeared.
Ma Hongjun summoned his Fire Feather Wind Wings, and Shui Bing'er summoned her Ice Crystal Phoenix Wings.
The two soared into the sky, wing to wing!