32
All of the people standing there were unspoken rivals. If that teenager was irritated by Eunuch Wan to the point he momentarily lost his reasoning and attacked him, then they would all happily clap their hands and rejoice over how they lost a competitor.
But the people who had never participated in an inner sect disciple assessment didn’t know that from the moment they stepped into Fa An City, their test had already started.
“Hehe, this year’s disciples all seem to be quite passable.” Far away in the main hall of the Liu Guang Sect, a dozen or so cultivators with varying dispositions were all assembled together as they watched the situation at the registration line-up from a water mirror.
Within these people, the ones with the worst cultivation level were in the late-stage of Golden Core cultivation, while the highest were already at the middle-stage of Nascent Soul cultivation. Most of the cultivators who reached the late-stage of Nascent Soul cultivation would leave the Xuan Yu region to go to the other regions, in search of opportunities for them to become deities. Therefore, other than the old monsters that guarded the Sect, the combined forces of the people gathered here could be considered the full fighting power of Liu Guang Sect.
These cultivators stood in clumps of two and three as they exchanged their opinions of the figures in the mirror with one another.
“Hn, the people from Wei family are still so unbridled!” A pale middle-aged man without a beard watched Eunuch Wan’s actions and couldn’t help but snort coldly.
Not far from him stood a large man with sideburns. He had cheeks that looked like nets and he was dressed in full-body armor. When this man heard the other’s words, he laughed out loud: “To be arrogant, one must first have the ability! And this Wei family kid does have that capability.” He rolled his eyes: “Sixteen years of age with the Fire Heavenly Spiritual Vein, in addition, he also completed the Qi Condensation Stage. If he still acts soft or weak, then he could only be foolish!”
The middle-aged man without a beard smiled coldly: “I rather think that the other youngster knows when to step forward or retreat. He also knows etiquette, and in my opinion is much better than that Wei child.”
The big man didn’t seem to care: “Know etiquette? How is that damn thing useful? I don’t believe it. If you really fight with another person, would knowing etiquette let the other person hit you less? If it would, then we should all quit cultivating and go learn some etiquette instead!”
“You!” The middle-aged man looked angry. His most pampered and beloved disciple lost to Wei Ying in the last inter-Sect competitions. Wei Ying was precisely this big man’s disciple. In addition, the way his disciple lost was very shameful, and his disciple ended up bedridden for three full months. The middle-aged man had always been very displeased with the other’s arrogant attitude. However, he was not capable of defeating the other man, so he could only endure and silently swallow his anger.
“Hehe, it seems that this year’s top inner sect disciple would no doubt be this Wei Qing,” an Elder on good terms with Wei Ying laughed.
“That might not be the case.” A female cultivator with a normal appearance, one that made her existence feel quite low-key, suddenly spoke: “I rather feel that this summer lotus flower has some hidden depths.” The people around her followed her gaze. In the middle of that water mirror, a pretty and charming girl full of smiles was staring at Xu ZiYan with interest.
“That kid from the Hu family isn’t that normal either,” a thin and old Elder added stiffly.
The scene in that water mirror suddenly changed. A gloomy-looking teenager stood in the corner. The corner of his mouth looked a bit mocking as he stared coldly at Wei Qing. At this moment, it was as if he had suddenly felt something, and he quickly gave the direction of the water mirror a glance.
“Oh, this child’s soul is rather keen,” an old Elder said with some surprise. The other people there began agreeing one by one.
Everyone there had different opinions, but they were all very satisfied with this year’s batch of inner sect disciples. There were even some who were already making preparations to receive a disciple. Within the main hall of Liu Guang Sect, it became quite peaceful and calm.
“Senior-Apprentice Sister Zhou? Who do you think will win?” A young girl wearing a peach-pink cheong sam gently smiled before she asked the icily arrogant woman standing beside her. That woman lightly glanced at the water mirror before speaking: “The qualifications of this batch of disciples are all pretty good. No matter who it is, they all have a chance of stealing the top spot.”
The young girl stuck out her tongue. “Senior-Apprentice Sister, saying something like that is the same as if you had said nothing at all.”
The cold and proud woman smiled helplessly: “These kids will soon become my Liu Guang Sect’s disciples. No matter which one of them will get the top spot, it wouldn’t make a difference.”
“It’s different,” the young girl murmured under her breath. However, she didn’t continue pursuing an answer to her question.
While these Elders commented on the disciples who were about to enter the Sect, Xu ZiYan began dragging Xu ZiRong all over the place to shop after he handed in his application.
After finally leaving Xu family, he intended to take a relaxing break. Before, he had still been worried over whether he would expose his identity. However, he quickly realized that everyone in Xu family had only understood what Xu ZiYan was like on the surface.
There was almost no one who knew his real personality. In addition, even his likes and dislikes weren’t known by anyone, so Xu ZiYan was given the ability to completely shape this novel character himself.
Back then, when he showed his cooking skills in the kitchen, Xu ZiYan had already prepared an excuse. However, he did not expect that Xu Xiao didn’t ask about it at all; as if the contents of his life that did not include cultivating had nothing to do with him.
Struck by some sudden insight, Xu ZiYan could not help but feel sad for his predecessor. It was said that when children didn’t have people who cared about them, they would start playing pranks to attract the attention of the adults surrounding them. However, (past) Xu ZiYan’s mischief involved bullying Xu ZiRong. After all, in the beginning, Xu ZiYan only scolded or beat up Xu ZiRong a bit. But when he realized Xu Xiao didn’t have any intentions of stopping him, his actions began to intensify.
Perhaps (past) Xu ZiYan’s most successful ‘prank’ was the event where he had pushed Xu ZiRong down the snake valley, causing the other to almost give up his life. Only then did Xu Xiao lightly scold Xu ZiYan once. It was no wonder that for some reason, Xu ZiRong’s life after that event became inexplicably calm, even though Xu ZiYan got in trouble because of him. By the time Xu ZiYan wanted to do something to him again, Xu ZiRong had long escaped the Xu family.
And after that, when Xu ZiYan encountered Bai Hua, it was when he had been at his lowest. No wonder (past) Xu ZiYan would fall in love at first sight. Bai Hua’s concern and caring were the emotions (past!) Xu ZiYan sought but could never receive from his family.
Fortunately, when he had transmigrated, Xu ZiYan was already an adult. Otherwise, faced with this senseless and emotionless father, he might have really been raised twisted as well.
“ZiRong, let’s go! Big brother will take you to eat some delicious things!” Xu ZiYan said with a face full of smiles.
Within these years, Xu ZiRong also slowly grew up. Now, he had already became a handsome little teenager.
Xu ZiYan had no idea what happened, but the originally very shy child had turned extremely cold. Especially whenever he faced the disciples of Xu family. His complexion would never look good. Xu ZiRong now had a cold personality, and only when he was faced with Xu ZiYan would he reveal the antics of a child, something he should have (not!). During times like that, he would always watch his big brother with a face full of worship.
Whenever Xu ZiYan saw that worshiping expression Xu ZiRong would have when the other stared at him, he would feel his heart, spleen, lungs and kidney all soften into a lump. A little brother who would only give his big brother a sweet smile could not be any cuter!
This ‘in the entire world, my big brother is the best’ type of attitude made Xu ZiYan’s already pretty serious little brother complex become even worse.
Although the mini mental him in his heart would wail about how he shouldn’t give up Xu ZiRong’s treatment, if you compared the humble mental him in his inner heart who would only appear once in a while with the Xu ZiRong who accompanied him everyday, Xu ZiRong was absolutely not an opponent a mini mental Xu ZiYan could match…….
(Xu ZiYan’s mental, humble mini him, AKA his reason, burst into tears……)
“Ah, okay! What does big brother want to take me to eat?” Xu ZiRong’s gloomy face brightened and he smiled. After so many years, his ability to act as a child had become extremely proficient. He was so skillful now that sometimes, in the dead of the night, Xu ZiRong would begin to silently spurn himself. The majestic Blood Devil Lord would actually be so addicted to his own older brother’s warmth, he would willingly act like a spoiled child and throw a tantrum in order to prevent his older brother from deciding that they should sleep separately. It was simply too shameful of a degradation!!!
However, after he took some time to feel disdain for himself, he still couldn’t bear to part with the warmth from Xu ZiYan’s chest. Xu ZiRong could only throw away his Blood Devil Lord dignity once again and take the initiative to squirm his way into the other’s embrace.
Perhaps it was because he had already become used to Xu ZiYan’s marvel of a sleeping posture, but now he could curl up in Xu ZiYan’s embrace for a whole night without ever letting the other go. No matter how much Xu ZiYan would roll around and torment him, Xu ZiRong was now able to stably ensure his position wouldn’t move.
In addition, ever since he began cultivating the Blood Sea Heart Sutra, his body temperature became very low. This made him even more eager for Xu ZiYan’s warmth.
Huddling in that warm hug, it was as if his whole body was being baked by an immense stove. The coziness and comfortable warmth lingered in his body. Thus, the servants of Liu Shang Courtyard received yet another terrible task: every early morning, they had to wake up the Young Master and Young Master ZiRong before pulling them out of bed…….
“ZiRong? Why are you in a daze?”
Getting startled out of his recollection of memories by Xu ZiYan, Xu ZiRong smiled slightly: “Big brother still hasn’t told me what we’re eating.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve already asked around. The most famous mortal snacks in Fa An City are basically the whole street that’s not far from here. It won’t take long for us to walk there,” Xu ZiYan seemed to be quite excited.
Xu ZiRong’s expression was subtly weird, but his face smoothed out quickly. He never felt anything for those small snacks. Rather, he always thought they were pretty dirty. However, his good big brother loved those things very much. In addition, whenever Xu ZiYan found something new, he would bring it to him as if he was a child who found some treasure.
Xu ZiRong’s lips curved into a smile. He knew that after they ate those snacks today, big brother would take some free time to try and learn how to make them. Although he thought that a cultivator having an interest in cooking was quite strange, since it was his big brother’s hobby, he naturally wouldn’t have any objections.
In fact, Xu ZiRong was starting to ponder. In the future, if he were to rebuild the Blood Devil’s Palace, should he kidnap all the best cooks in the cultivation world and take them there? In any case, his big brother was this good to him, so him being good to his big brother was natural. This drama between two good brothers, Xu ZiRong really didn’t mind acting it out for an entire lifetime.
“Hey! You, yes you!” From behind them suddenly came the crisp yell of a young girl. Xu ZiRong’s face sunk as it began to gather some frost. What he hated most in this life was exactly this: getting disturbed when he wanted to go and do something with his big brother. If that someone who bothered them was a woman, then it was even worse.
“Are you calling me?” Xu ZiYan asked with some doubt. He was now fifteen and could be considered as an extremely handsome young man. Twisting his head around, Xu ZiYan took a look at the girl who had just yelled. She looked delicate and charming as she smiled at him.
“Yeah, if it wasn’t you, who would it be?” The girl fumed a bit. “Tell me, why are you leaving in such a hurry? You even caused me to chase after you for this long!”
Xu ZiYan looked surprised. Of course he would be. He didn’t know this girl at all, alright?
“Who are you?” The frost on Xu ZiRong’s face was about to become ice. Relying on Xu ZiYan’s pampering and the level of his own cultivation, no one in Xu family dared to mess with him. Almost all the Xu family disciples knew how much Xu ZiRong liked hanging onto Xu ZiYan. The people who disturbed their show of brotherly love would receive an end that was worse than dying!
Although his life had developed differently in this lifetime, some of the true aspects of the Blood Devil Lord had already started to gradually emerge. To some extent, everyone would try their best to avoid the gloomy Xu ZiRong. Only Xu ZiYan still firmly believed that Xu ZiRong was still his soft and clever little brother!
