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(Anna’s POV)

So, a lot happened yesterday. I obtained the last Cursed Seal, Pain, and I also managed to surpass my limits and reach new heights with these seals, creating new Techniques through the usage of their elemental powers.

Eventually, through the combination of the Concept of Hope, which I twisted and modified into Empathy, I could unleash a technique through the Pain Seal so strong it overwhelmed the Heavenly Demon and… I somehow defeated King Yama’s manifestation.

It was really crazy, although I was unable to calculate how much it would cost me, so I spent all of my Ki and even my own Life Force to compensate.

It’s an extremely powerful technique, but as it is, it cannot help me reach the heights I want due to its tremendous cost.

It’s now time to finally begin shaping, transforming, and creating new techniques now that all seven seals are made.

So this is where the fun part begins!

But anyways, after that, I… err, well, I was accepted into the family fully.

I had a little talk with both of my masters about the future and how they had to accept each other for their son.

But it ended up evolving into something even more corny than I imagined!

And I… well, I did say those weird things two days ago; I don’t know what happened to me back then.

Maybe I just hate to admit it, but I really wanted a family, but it was rude of me to say that and everything, so I was about to go back on my words.

Except they didn’t let me! And they ended up embracing me with their family love, and it was so cute, and it made me feel so happy that I…

I ended up happily accepting it!

Ugh, I know it’s a bit cringe, maybe…

But I’m an orphan at the end of the day; being adopted is… not bad, right?

My first life was an orphan.

My second life finally had a family, but they died, and I was back to being an orphan.

From all the memories I had of them before I recalled my first life, I loved them, and I still love them.

My mom and my dad are always inside of my heart.

But they’re… no longer here anymore.

And my first life inner desire to have a family has only strengthened now.

If only I had regained my memories before, I could have prevented their deaths; I could have lived so happily with them.

But I didn’t… I only regained them after waking up from a coma, no less.

So I’m just…

I’m just happy they accepted me.

The Heavenly Demon is strict, might be very rude, and sometimes an asshole, but he’s… He’s actually a good father to his son, and he has a surprisingly soft and fatherly side I want to see more.

The Heavenly Empress is very calm and nice and is so motherly, it’s hard not to call her mother, you know?!

And little Song is so cute; I’ve always loved baby chicks, especially from chickens or ducks; they’re all so lovable and fluffy.

It’s really hard to resist not being his big sister if he insists so much!

But well, after all of that, I decided to rest for the rest of the day, meditating and talking with my… well, with my family.

The Empress prohibited the usage of techniques after that, saying I almost died and needed to let my body rest.

And the Demon agreed to that, so I was unable to eat my pill yet. However, the formation was already done, and today after breakfast, I would finally be able to reap my benefits and rewards.

And well, it was overall a nice day, well, after the whole bloody battle or the trial where I had to burn almost to death.

Yeah, let’s quickly not overthink that part for now!

“Rise and shine, family girl~”

Bastet was already right there, sitting in a chair in front of me as I slept.

I felt a bit creeped out.

“Were you watching me while I slept?!”

“By Nile, no! I only showed up after I saw you moving and about to wake up.”

“Huh… Sepa, is she telling the truth?”

Sepa appeared out of my Cosmic Heart, floating around in the air. She was really shiny lately, thanks to how she had evolved.

“She is saying the truth; Bastet is not a creep, Anna; she’s your guardian if anything. Also, yesterday was sure a weird day! You went from almost dying to finding a family…” Sepa said. “You’re such a weirdo. Is it ok to love those birds like your family? You’re a human, aren’t you!”

“Shut up!” I said angrily. “They’re people too, Sepa! Don’t be rude to my family! They might be bird people from another world, but… They’re the people I admire and care about. Maybe it’s a mix of admiration, and their age too, their wisdom, and how they act. I don’t know why they clicked so well with me, but I also clicked well with them. They, I think, really love me. So it makes me happy.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Hahh…”

She looked at me as if I was completely hopeless; seriously, this centipede really knows how to make you feel bad with just a glance.

“Leave her be, Sepa,” said Bastet with a gentle smile. “I’m happy for her… I wish one day you could call me your big sis!”

“No way!” I said angrily. “You’re some weird thing that got inside of me, Bastet… You think I’ll call you big sis?”

“Heheh… Don’t jinx it now,” she winked at me. “I’ll make you call me big sis!”

“Ugh, weird cat woman…”

I yawned, stretched, and then went to quickly take a bath before dressing up in my Murim dress. This time I decided to wear the black robes that covered most of my body, decorated with a red dragon on top.

I also woke up my pets, they were still snoozing over the bed, apparently, they had a pretty harsh training with the Empress, she taught them how to channel their Inner Martial Beast Auras, apparently.

This has the potential to let them achieve a new level of power and awaken inner abilities they didn’t know they possessed; however, the training is harsh, from having to repeatedly use their elements with combined Ki to making them fight martial beasts and eat their flesh to also putting them in places opposite to their element while telling them to rest (meditate for pets) and so on.

They’re smart boys… No wait, I think Shiro is a female, right? I always treat him like a boy instead; well, I doubt a beast even cares about that, though, but I guess because the rest are all guys, I kind of… forget that Shiro is a beautiful lady instead!

Anyway, Violet’s a boy, although he’s probably the most fabulous with his bright colors. He also looks a lot like his mother, that huge monster I fought at the beginning of my journey, so I sometimes unconsciously think he’s a she due to the similarities, the opposite of Shiro. My mind is weird. I guess having to memorize so many things, the least my mind cares about is the gender of my pets.

There’s Snow; he’s a good boy and Mama’s beloved baby boy. His mother gave everything to save him, and she wanted me to take care of him, so here I am, and here he is, doing his best. I don’t know when he’ll start wanting to find a female…

I don’t really want to neuter him, though; I just hope he doesn’t become a deadbeat dad. If he ever finds a cute female wolf he falls for, then I’ll have to adopt her too…

As for Violet and Shiro, no idea how they reproduce or whatnot… I’m fairly sure Violet is already an adult on insect terms, but he seems completely uninterested in reproduction. Shiro is definitely still a young pup.

And then there’s Fang Shuan. He’s not a pet; he’s more like a friend if anything, and he’s, of course, not here, somewhere else.

There’s Goldie though; they’re a larva, so I don’t have to worry about a cicada ringing over my head calling for a mate like every summer, thankfully!

“Good morning, everyone! How is the family?”

I walked out of my room to greet my family once more, including my friends. Everyone was already happily eating breakfast and this time I joined in time.

“Good morning, dear,” smiled the Empress. “Come sit down; I made meat steamed buns for breakfast, your favorites.”

“Oh wow, really, mom?” I gasped, running to sit down. “Thanks! Been a few days since you haven’t made these.”

The moment I said Mom, some of my friends glanced at me while squinting their eyes.

“Hehe, seeing my cute daughter smile was worth the hassle of preparing the meat and all,” she giggled. “Martial Beast meat is so tough! But if I pulverize it too hard, it ends up being destroyed, so I have to gently grind it.”

“Nam, nam…! Big sis, you better eat them fast, or I’m gobbling them up, hehe!” Song giggled, drinking some of his fish soup before continuing to eat buns.

“I would say the same: hurry up, my foolish disciple—I mean, my daughter,” the Demon smiled. “Hah!”

Suddenly, he stole another steamed meat bun from the plate.

“Hey, not fair! Leave me at least three!”

I saw that there were four on the plate, and Song went for another.

My father already finished eating the one he grabbed, going for another one.

“Hurry, hurry! These are highly requested! First come, first served—ACK!”

However, Mom stopped him, snapping his fingers with her chopsticks.

“These are for Anna! You’ve eaten like six; that’s enough, dear.”

She blushed a bit as she tried to act more lovingly with him.

“A-Ah… yeah, fine…”

And he also blushed a bit after hearing her treat him a bit nicely.

Uwah, I was melting!

As I sat down to enjoy food with my family, I quickly drank some green tea, followed by biting on a big, steamy, and delicious bun.

The first thing I ate was a bunch of meat juice filling my mouth; the strong flavor of meat and veggies, mixed with tiny bits of vegetables and large chunks of ground meat, made me very happy.

“Hmm… nom, nom… Sho guud! I’m ready to eat that pill afterward, mama!” I said happily, already on my second bun, I also snacked on smoked fish and smaller gyoza.

“Alright then, the formation is mostly done, so we’ll go there to supervise you,” Mom said. “That pill contains tremendous power, so if we can see its powers enough, we could even try to replicate it with local materials.”

“Yeah, that would be the plan,” nodded Dad. “Anyways, eat your pickled vegetables, Song.”

He quickly gave my little brother a plate full of pickled veggies Song had been ignoring.

“Ugh, but I don’t like those…” He groaned.

“No buts!” said his mom. “Now, now, time to eat! These in the morning are perfect, especially if you’re going to cultivate and practice martial arts later!”

“Fineee…” Song sighed as he started eating reluctantly.

Like that, we enjoyed the morning’s breakfast before I moved to talk with my friends…

The first thing I had to address was why I was treating them the way I was and why they were doing that to me too.

It was a bit complicated to tell them, but… well, I just was direct.

“I have been adopted by their family, so I am now their daughter…” I said. “A-And well, they’re my father, mother, and little brother, s-so I thought it was fine to call them like that… Um.”

I felt embarrassed they were staring at me in silence, blinking a bit.

“Ooohhh!” Zero One clapped. “I’m so happy for you, Annaaaa! Congrats on being adopted! They’re wonderful parents!”

She was so happy!

“I agree you’re so lucky, Anna,” smiled Wai Tian. “But calling your mother Auntie one day… I’ll be happy with just that.”

“I could never imagine that man… being your father,” sighed Yin Sheng. “But who am I to judge my young master’s decisions? I’m happy for you, Anna.”

“And so I am,” nodded Fang Shuan. “Your brother, from what I’ve gathered, is a good big brother. But he alone cannot fulfill the roles of a father or a mother… It’s good you’ve been adopted. Even if our time here might be brief… I’m glad to see you being happy, master.”

“I-I guess I’m happy for you too?” Sara smiled a bit, although a fake smile. “I hope Jack doesn’t get mad later…”

“I hope so too…” I nodded. “But they said they wouldn’t mind adopting him too! Although… well, I don’t know if I’ll ever see them once the trial is done. But for these remaining days… I want to enjoy them with them, as my family.”

“That’s good, Anna,” nodded Sara, smiling. “When I was your age, I also wished many times I had my parents with me… It’s very rare to find a couple of adults so willing to adopt you and love you as real parents would. You’re one lucky gal.”

“Haha… Usually, it would be the opposite…” I sighed. “But yeah, I guess… I finally got lucky!”

As I smiled, feeling fulfilled, half an hour passed discussing things with my friends.

Eventually, Zero One and Zero Two moved onto the topic of healing my adoptive parents.

“Things are going smoothly; the reparations for Mother’s internal body are doing well,” said Zero Two. “She is also already preparing the special area of nanomachine extraction; it requires a special machine too. She’s designing it; we’ll only need you to fuel it with cosmic energy.”

“Sure, I can do that!” I nodded. “Thank you for all the help, Zero Two.”

“Hmph… I’m just doing this because Mother wanted to,” Zero Two acted like a cute tsundere. “Big sister, you said you would teach me more of that Electromagnetic Manipulation today, right?”

“Oh yes!” nodded Zero One. “Anna, right! I was wondering if you could sponsor my sister?”

“Hmmm, sure! Let me check,” I nodded.

Before the pill-eating ritual, I decided to sponsor the tsundere of Zero Two.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep