"Warm sun, gentle breeze… if only there were some wine to go with it."
In the rear courtyard of Loving Family Peak, beneath the shade of a great tree's sprawling branches, Chu Xingchen lay in a rocking chair. Beside him sat a cup of freshly squeezed spirit fruit juice.
Spiritual energy evaporated from the juice. The branches of the great tree behind Chu Xingchen swayed, as if the tree itself were savoring every bit.
Spirit fruits were rarely juiced, and the reason was simple — without the protective outer skin, the spiritual energy within would dissipate.
And at least half of a spirit fruit's spiritual energy resided in the flesh.
This method was already a case of eating half and wasting half.
But these days, Chu Xingchen certainly had the qualifications to eat half and waste half, and no one would dare criticize him for being wasteful.
Xie Lingyu was keeping Chu Xingchen company at his side. Hearing his words, she frowned and poked him in the face with her finger, saying in a displeased tone:
"I let you come out for some fresh air, and you dare talk about drinking already?"
"Lingyu, I haven't exactly become some cultivation-less mortal. I'm still a fully-fledged Nascent Soul cultivator. On any of the other four great continents, I'd be a Nascent Soul ancestor. You think a bit of fresh air could give me a cold? And drinking wine is even simpler than that."
Chu Xingchen's brows rose as he spoke, then his voice suddenly dropped:
"Yanyun told me where Lu Xuan hid the Chunnuan wine. With your status, no one would dare question you. Why not go fetch some for me? We could drink together beneath the flowers — how romantic that would be."
Xie Lingyu looked helplessly at him and gently touched his forehead:
"No need for a romantic drink beneath the flowers. If you could just lie here quietly and chat with me, I'd already find that romantic enough."
"Mm… Lingyu has changed."
"How have I changed?"
"You've gotten bolder. Before, Lingyu could never say things like 'romantic.' If anyone said that word around you, you'd just glare at them."
"Do I look like someone who tosses around propriety and decorum so casually that I'd get 'romantic' with people? Not drawing my sword on the spot was already me showing you affection."
Xie Lingyu pinched Chu Xingchen's cheeks in displeasure and said fiercely:
"You keep saying things that make me angry. If you go on like this, I'll start bullying you."
Chu Xingchen looked lazy. "What can I do about it? I'm just a little Nascent Soul now. I can only let Lingyu bully me however she wants."
The words had barely left his mouth.
As Chu Xingchen lay in the rocking chair gazing at the green willows and open sky, Xie Lingyu's face suddenly appeared in his line of sight.
Chu Xingchen's gaze naturally followed.
Xie Lingyu's expressions didn't usually shift dramatically — it wasn't that she was expressionless like Li Xingtian, just that her changes were more subtle.
But right now, the shift in Xie Lingyu's expression made her look more like an ordinary person.
Her fair, pure face — those eyes still carried an intimidating edge in their natural state, but the emotion within them was exceptionally gentle. The contrast was striking… yet it also made her seem genuinely endearing.
Xie Lingyu's looks were beyond reproach. Her phoenix eyes gave her a sharp edge, her lips were slightly thin, her nose was well-shaped, and her face was flawless. Above all, her temperament was unmatched — beautiful in bone as in face. She leaned slightly toward the martial rather than the gentle, and combined with her limited expressions, she came across as cold.
Chu Xingchen met her gaze without the slightest hesitation. If they were going to look at each other, fine — what could he lose?
He was still lying down, and Xie Lingyu was the one propping herself up.
They gazed at each other for a moment before Xie Lingyu's cheeks flushed faintly red, and her eyes narrowed slightly, as if on guard.
Chu Xingchen was taken aback and asked in a low voice:
"I was just teasing a couple lines. We're Dao Companions already — you can't be so upset about a little banter that you actually hit me? I'm genuinely injured, you know."
"If you're really going to hit me, you'll have to wait until…"
Before Chu Xingchen could finish, Xie Lingyu's face drew suddenly close.
Was she planning a headbutt?
The thought flashed instinctively through Chu Xingchen's mind.
But the next moment—
A trace of warmth on his lips.
He froze.
The next moment, Xie Lingyu raised her head and gazed casually up at the sky.
Chu Xingchen slowly came back to his senses. He reached up and touched his lips, then looked to the side. Xie Lingyu was gazing at the sky in profile, as if she hadn't just done anything at all.
That was… a bit shameless, wasn't it?
Chu Xingchen stared at Xie Lingyu and grinned:
"Lingyu's bullying me."
Xie Lingyu didn't even turn around, pretending she hadn't heard a thing.
Chu Xingchen waited a moment, then said slowly:
"I want to bully Lingyu too."
Hearing this, Xie Lingyu slowly turned her head. The faint blush on her cheeks hadn't faded. She stared at Chu Xingchen without a word.
Seeing this, Chu Xingchen said with complete confidence:
"Is that not allowed?"
Xie Lingyu listened to Chu Xingchen's shameless words. She waited a moment, as if considering, then finally leaned gently toward him.
Chu Xingchen propped himself up halfway, his voice soft:
"Aren't these things supposed to be initiated by the man?"
Xie Lingyu answered quietly:
"You don't initiate either."
"Isn't that because I'm afraid of making Lingyu angry? I don't like it when Lingyu's angry."
Xie Lingyu shot him a sidelong glare. "You make me angry plenty. Aren't you the one who loves coaxing people the most?"
Chu Xingchen looked innocent:
"That's a grave injustice. When have I ever liked coaxing people?"
"You don't like it, but you do it every single day!"
Chu Xingchen couldn't stand such outrageous nonsense. He decided to take direct action. He closed the distance, and with his Nascent Soul cultivation, pinned down a Spirit Transformation cultivator, holding her completely immobile — then promptly launched his attack.
The Spirit Transformation cultivator had no ability to resist. After taking the hit squarely, she could only pull back quickly.
Chu Xingchen's Nascent Soul cultivation was truly formidable.
One clean hit — a mere Spirit Transformation cultivator was nothing.
Chu Xingchen said with a satisfied expression, "Coaxing Lingyu this way — now this I enjoy."
Xie Lingyu rose with a flick of her sleeve. Whether it was because her own Spirit Transformation cultivation couldn't match Chu Xingchen's Nascent Soul, or because she simply didn't care for this particular method of coaxing —
She stood, eyes half-lidded. She waited a moment, glancing sideways at Chu Xingchen lying in his rocking chair. Then, after another pause, she obediently sat back down.
She picked up the teapot beside her and poured herself a cup of tea. Then she cradled the cup and began to sip.
Chu Xingchen smiled knowingly.
Xie Lingyu held her teacup. Perhaps the tea was a bit hot — the corners of her lips curved up slightly.
Naturally, theoretically, a Spirit Transformation cultivator wouldn't fear a bit of heat.
But theoretically, how would a Spirit Transformation cultivator lose to a Nascent Soul cultivator?
When it's the one in your heart, how can you resist what your heart intends?
These past days, Chu Xingchen had moved too fast.
And she had chased just as hard. Many things hadn't been said in time, many things hadn't been done in time.
Now, at rest, they had finally been granted a moment to pause.
Xie Lingyu gazed at the sky and said softly:
"What do you want to do once you're healed?"
Chu Xingchen sighed lightly. "The Celestial Demons haven't been fully wiped out, and we don't know if they still have cards up their sleeve. Their various schemes are hard enough to guard against as it is."
Hearing this, Xie Lingyu lowered her head slightly, then nodded gently.
"However, once I'm healed, the first thing I want to do is bully Lingyu again, of course."
Hearing those words, Xie Lingyu looked over.
Chu Xingchen's smile was utterly wicked.
[
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