"Qinghe doesn't like this kind of celebration."
Below Peak of One Big Happy Family, Qinghe rubbed her head, her expression full of complaint and grievance.
Bai Xuanling crossed her arms and led Qinghe through the barrier toward the summit. Hearing Qinghe's complaints, she said in an even tone, "You should be grateful your Spirit Transformation went well. Otherwise it wouldn't be about whether you like the celebration or not."
Qinghe glanced over, puzzled. "Then what would it be?"
Bai Xuanling's eyes narrowed, her expression somewhere between a smile and a smirk as she gazed at Qinghe. "Naturally, I'm short a beast of burden to pull my carriage."
Hearing this, Qinghe's expression was as though she'd been struck by lightning. Her hands rubbed her head even faster, but she didn't dare say another word.
She'd only just been showing off her dragon form at Tianyan Sect, putting on a big show, and if she went and became a carriage-puller now… Forget about whether she'd have any face left at Tianyan Sect — she wouldn't even dare claim she was from Bai Xuanling's peak once outside the sect gates. She could just imagine the other person's expression of dawning realization: "Oh, so you're the useless dragon from Zhuji Peak who got assigned to pull carriages because you're too worthless for anything else."
Besides, being a mount meant no more free time to slack off. She'd have to be on standby around the clock. Compared to that, taking a couple hits was far more worthwhile.
Come to think of it… why had White Granny's hitting strength suddenly increased so much? Could it be that she'd seen Qinghe achieve Spirit Transformation and deliberately put more force behind it? If she reached Integration in the future, would the punches be even harder?
Qinghe's little head pondered deeply as they made their way to the peak summit.
Peak of One Big Happy Family hadn't changed much. When Qinghe wasn't in closed cultivation, she often came here to play, so she was quite familiar with the place.
Once she landed, Qinghe went wild, charging straight toward the courtyard and leaving Bai Xuanling behind. After getting beaten, she naturally wasn't going to be nice to White Granny for a while. Time to find Lingyu and complain — she might even score a good meal out of it.
Bai Xuanling slowed her pace, letting Qinghe run ahead.
Inside the courtyard of Peak of One Big Happy Family.
Qinghe poked her head in and could see Chu Xingchen lounging lazily in a reclining chair, eyes half-closed. Beside him was spiritual fruit juice, and from a distance she could smell something savory — seemed like some kind of soup. She couldn't spot Lingyu, but she did see Chen Baiqing standing behind Chu Xingchen, gently massaging his head while humming a little tune that sounded soothing just to hear.
Good heavens! Wasn't this the world Qinghe had always dreamed of? Doing absolutely nothing, just lying around enjoying yourself, getting head rubs and drinking spiritual fruit juice. How come she wasn't living the good life instead — it was that black-hearted brat who got to enjoy it!
Qinghe walked over quickly and poked her head toward the soup on the table.
Chu Xingchen opened his eyes at the approaching footsteps and looked at the peeking Qinghe. "Long time no see. You achieved Spirit Transformation?"
Qinghe's peeking froze. She tilted her head up proudly. "Of course! How does my profound cultivation feel?"
Chu Xingchen gave a thumbs-up. "Really impressive. I saw the azure dragon soaring through the sky earlier. The most handsome dragon in all of Tianyan Sect."
Hearing this, Qinghe's expression grew even prouder. Her gaze flicked to Chu Xingchen, whose fluctuating aura was only at Nascent Soul, but she didn't ask further. This was obviously the black-hearted brat cooking up some new way to play the pig and eat the tiger, pretending so convincingly to be an injured Nascent Soul cultivator. If anyone actually underestimated him, Chu Xingchen would just crush them with his Mahayana cultivation.
Sure enough, when it came to being black-hearted, nobody could match Chu Xingchen. Her little dragon self was far too naive.
Hey! She'd actually been able to think through all those twists and turns, and at a single glance too. Could it be that after advancing to Spirit Transformation, her brain had evolved along with it? If she became a Mahayana dragon in the future… wouldn't she be even smarter than that black-hearted brat?
A smile involuntarily appeared on Qinghe's face. Her eyes bright with excitement as she looked at Chu Xingchen, her mind already conjuring a future where her extraordinary intelligence had Chu Xingchen, that black-hearted brat, dancing in the palm of her hand — imagining his frustrated expression as she played him for a fool.
Chu Xingchen watched Qinghe's expression turn somewhat dim-witted, and his own smile grew a bit uncertain.
Could it be that the higher a dragon's cultivation, the worse their brain gets?
No wonder the true dragons, despite carrying such fortune, could be surrounded and beaten to death. It seemed to be genetic.
Qinghe's little hand naturally reached for a cup nearby and poured herself some spiritual fruit juice. She took a big gulp first, then asked,
"Where's Lingyu?"
Chu Xingchen wasn't stingy about it. This stuff was provided free by Tianyan Sect anyway — whoever drank it didn't cost him a thing. When it ran out, he'd just ask for more.
Hearing the question, Chu Xingchen pointed toward the room. "She's in there looking for something."
Qinghe's little head had just turned when she saw Xie Lingyu walk out of the room, holding a thin blanket.
"Lingyu!"
Qinghe spread her arms wide, preparing to pounce on Xie Lingyu with a great dragon hug.
Xie Lingyu looked helplessly up and pressed one hand against Qinghe's charging head to stop her.
Qinghe didn't think anything of it. She just wrapped her arms around the hand pressed against her head instead, her tone excited.
"It's been so long since I saw Lingyu. Qinghe missed Lingyu so much."
"I know." Xie Lingyu answered helplessly.
"Doesn't Lingyu miss Qinghe?"
"You didn't go anywhere dangerous or anything. Why would I miss you for no reason?"
Xie Lingyu shook her arm, which Qinghe was still clinging to tightly.
Qinghe let go with a wronged expression, about to denounce Xie Lingyu's heartlessness — when she saw Xie Lingyu walk over to Chu Xingchen with a smile and gently drape the blanket over him, carefully adjusting the edges and corners.
"So biased!" Qinghe's expression turned sour. Xie Lingyu was even more biased than White Granny!
With Chu Xingchen's cultivation, he could be called a great power cultivator no matter where he went.
Forget about Tianyan Sect's constant warm breezes — even if you dropped Chu Xingchen naked in a blizzard, he wouldn't feel cold.
Why did he need a blanket!
Chen Baiqing glanced over and said softly,
"Shifu is injured. His body isn't well."
Qinghe froze, and asked subconsciously,
"Really?"
"Really. His cultivation has dropped all the way to Nascent Soul."
Bai Xuanling stepped into the courtyard and answered for Chen Baiqing.
Qinghe froze again and again. She looked at Chu Xingchen — his expression did seem somewhat pale, and his aura really was unstable…
Because of her strong prior impressions of Chu Xingchen, she'd definitely been biased from the start.
This level of faking an injury was truly beyond the ordinary.
Cultivation dropping from Mahayana to Nascent Soul — what kind of severe injury was that?
Forget about covering him with a blanket. Even if he wrapped Lingyu around himself, he wouldn't deserve any complaints.
Qinghe's expression turned guilty. She hurried over and adjusted the blanket for Chu Xingchen.
"Qinghe was wrong. I thought you were playing the pig to eat the tiger again. Is one blanket enough? Should Qinghe get you another one?"
Watching Qinghe's expression flip back and forth, Chu Xingchen felt rather…
One could only say Qinghe was genuinely straightforward.
Chu Xingchen shook his head gently. "No need. Even at Nascent Soul cultivation I'm immune to cold and heat. It's just that Lingyu thought I should be covered. Besides, it's not like I have a terminal illness or something. No need for that kind of expression, is there?"
"Oh, right…"
Qinghe thought that made sense, but now she didn't know what expression to make or what to say.
Soon, Qinghe declared with a completely serious face,
"Since your cultivation is even lower than Qinghe's now, Qinghe will protect you!"
Chu Xingchen raised an eyebrow. "The ones coming after me now are either Mahayana or Tribulation Transcendence."
Hearing this, Qinghe decisively backed down.
"In that case, let's just pretend Qinghe never said that."
Qinghe still had some self-awareness. Against enemies like that, even ten Qinghe's thrown together wouldn't be enough for the other side to slaughter.
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