Deviant: No Longer Human
Chapter 572 - 572: The Perfect Daughter!

In moments like these, Wang Xiao couldn't help but think of Anran's daughters.

Sure, they were chaotic in their own way—running circles around the room, turning the place upside down, and even breaking into a wrestling match when they got angry.

But those outbursts were rare, maybe once a month.

These two, though? Xuelan and Yanyan could sit perfectly still, and the next thing he knew, they were locked in a verbal sparring match, as if they were competing to see who could out-grumble the other.

'Do women with large breasts have a habit of constant grumbling?' he wondered, his eyes drifting briefly to Xuelan's chest.

She definitely took after her mother in that department—soft, big, and impossible to ignore.

But then again, Eleanor rarely complained like this. She was an anomaly, though—hardly someone you could use as a standard for "normal" women.

---

"Here, take this." Wang Xiao placed a stack of old books on Xuelan's desk with a nonchalant air.

"Hm? What's this?" Xuelan blinked, surprised. She picked them up, and as she flipped through the brittle pages, her eyes grew wide.

"I noticed you had similar books here before… so I brought these back from the Obsidian Library," Wang Xiao said casually, as if it were just a minor errand.

"..."

Xuelan stared at him, speechless. How could he just stumble upon such treasures?

She stood up abruptly, scouring the shelves for a particular text.

Pulling out an old, rusted tome, she opened it beside the new books and compared them. Her face lit up. "It's… so similar!"

"What is?" Wang Xiao asked, pretending ignorance.

"Look here!" Xuelan practically glowed as she showed him the intricate diagrams. "The books you brought—they're fully fleshed out! These here detail the creation of Aetheric Talismans. The ones in Mother's incomplete book are ancient, with fragmented pages.

But if we combine the techniques, we can create a dual-circuited Runic Talisman—one that can run either on Aether or on Mental Resonance Conduits." She paused, her excitement building. "These inscriptions aren't just decoration—they act as Catalytic Nodes to channel raw Aether into Dynamic Amplifiers."

Wang Xiao blinked, now mildly intrigued.

Aether had all but vanished from the world eons ago.

Even in the Greek era, it was a rare and coveted resource, long replaced by Psychokinetic Fields and Telepathic Constructs in divine bloodlines of gods.

Those cultivated Mental Projections and harvested energy from the subconscious realms, like gods refining the souls of their followers.

Zeus himself had built complex Soul Harvest Arrays in Tartarus, where raw psychic energy could be siphoned from mortal souls, to fuel his own 'Divinity.'

Yet here Xuelan was, talking about forgotten runic inscriptions.

They were no ordinary symbols; they were 'Celestial Glyphs', capable of interacting with universal constants—tapping into Resonance Frequencies of reality itself.

He'd seen something similar in the Graveyard of the Gods, where even the Call of Death had used an ancient form of Runic Compression.

Yuriko, during their last battle, had attempted to harness such power using God's Authority, though they had no effect on him.

Being a Transcendent Entity, Wang Xiao's Divine Signature was too complex for mere runes to affect him.

His presence alone altered the flow of reality around him.

That was the advantage of being a Transcendent,a higher being whose very thoughts were translated into Cosmic Law. He didn't need to learn runic languages—his existence was already encoded into the universe.

Still, if he bothered to learn this system, he'd likely be able to wield Runic Energy Constructs better than anyone.

Yuriko's attempts were clumsy in comparison, and even the ancient Greek gods seemed like children playing with toys they didn't fully understand.

Most of this knowledge—whether Talismans or Runic Frameworks—was likely handed down by the Pangeans or some surviving Gods reincarnation like Eveline's.

Xuelan continued, lost in her own world. "With a fully aligned Runic Circuit, I could bypass the need for Aether altogether, converting Mental Energy directly into tangible effects. The Aether pockets that once existed are gone, but that's no longer an issue! We could activate dormant formations and create functioning amulets that run on Aether, or talismans that run on Runic inscriptions!"

Her enthusiasm reminded Wang Xiao of the first time he'd encountered the Amulet of Protection of Morpheus.

He had originally been intrigued by its capabilities, but later abandoned the research when his divine abilities proved far superior.

Still, Xuelan had clearly inherited Eleanor's relentless thirst for knowledge. Her vast library was proof enough of that.

"Dad, I need Aether," Xuelan suddenly said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Aether? Here?" Wang Xiao blinked.

"Yes," Xuelan folded her arms. "Mom mentioned she's been planning to gradually allow Aether back into Xianthera in small quantities. Why hasn't it started yet?"

Wang Xiao thought back, recalling vague conversations. "Right… we did have that plan."

"Then get on with it!" Xuelan huffed, clearly not in the mood to wait. "Aether is essential if I'm going to stabilize these Talismanic Designs and incorporate Runic Hieroglyphs properly. The barriers you put in place isolate Xianthera's ecosystem from Aetheric influence, and I need it reintroduced—just a small crack in the space-time fabric should do."

Wang Xiao chuckled under his breath. "Okay," he said, shrugging.

Opening a crack in the Temporal-Spatial Barrier isolating Xianthera wasn't hard for him.

Without warning, Xuelan stepped forward, rising on her toes and pressing a quick, impulsive kiss to his cheek. "Thank you," she said, pulling away just as quickly.

Wang Xiao blinked, taken aback.

Though he tried to keep his expression neutral, the lingering fragrance of sweet honey filled the air.

"Now go out," Xuelan added, waving him off dismissively. "I have work to do."

"You're kicking me out already...? Such a selfish daughter... Sigh..." Wang Xiao raised a brow, pretending to be pitful.

"You've done your part," she replied, her eyes already glued to the ancient books. "Go entertain yourself with your other woman or try to hit on Yanyan; she would definitely be more than eager to throw herself at you! The longer you linger here, the more perverted you'll become. Bye-bye!"

With a half-smile and a sigh, Wang Xiao turned to leave.

As he stepped out, a flicker of pride crept up on him—Xuelan had definitely inherited Eleanor's sharp intellect, and perhaps a bit of his own stubborn streak.

But when it came to his daughters' behavior, Wang Xiao had learned over time that no matter how he 'guided' them, each reacted differently, never in the same way.

Wenxi, Anran's daughter, was soft and shy. She accepted his touch, even seemed to enjoy it, as long as he didn't push too far.

Yue, on the other hand, approached things with a sense of duty, as if it was something she allowed because it was expected. However, she wasn't about to strip and throw herself into his arms until he asked her to do the same.

Her demeanor was a reminiscent for Eveline's daughters, Ji Xuehong and the crew—tolerant but with the enthusiasm of a wet sock. "Go ahead, take advantage of us. It's not like we can stop you…" they seemed to sigh with a collective eye-roll.

Then there was Yanyan—Amelia's daughter.

Now she was someone Wang Xiao carefully avoided.