Rumble!
A towering tree suddenly collapsed, hitting a passing cultivator with uncanny timing.
“Help… Help!”
“Senior… Senior Zhou Hang? Are you all right!”
The rat-faced lackey snapped out of his shock from the recent tremor and hurriedly ran over to rescue Zhou Hang, who was pinned under the massive trunk.
After a great deal of struggling, Zhou Hang finally managed to crawl out.
Disheveled and covered in bruises, Zhou Hang leaned against the tree trunk and sat down, clutching his lower back and groaning in agony.
His injuries were not light.
“Dammit! For no reason at all, how could such a thick tree just fall like that?”
Even though the pain in his waist prevented him from straightening up, Zhou Hang could not stop cursing.
Beside him, the rat-faced lackey joined in with righteous indignation.
“You’re right, Senior! Could it be that someone is plotting against us?”
As he spoke, he pointed to the cross-section of the tree root and cried out, “Look, Senior! Such a smooth sword cut—the evidence is mountain-high! Someone definitely targeted us on purpose!”
“Let me see—ah, ow!”
Zhou Hang tried to sit up to take a look, but as soon as he put strength into his waist, he shrieked in pain.
This time, he had likely suffered internal injuries from the impact.
Thinking about the tournament scheduled for tomorrow, Zhou Hang was fuming at the thought of being ambushed by some petty person at such a critical moment.
“Damn it! Go! Search the forest for me! Find out which bastard dared to plot against me!”
“Yes, yes! This disciple will go investigate right away!”
The lackey nodded repeatedly and ran off in the direction indicated by the sword cut on the stump.
Before long, the lackey returned with a look of absolute shock.
“Senior, this is bad! Guess who I saw?”
“Who?”
“He Qiu! It’s the new Junior Brother from the Xue Yin Sect, the one who just did Dual Cultivation with the Saintess yesterday!”
“Him?”
Zhou Hang’s eyes widened slightly, a mix of anger and confusion crossing his face.
“That’s impossible. Didn’t you say he was a piece of trash? How could he possibly cut down such a massive tree with one swing?”
“I don’t know either! Maybe… maybe he prepared a trap beforehand and just waited for us to walk into it?”
“That brat… fine, very well… That little scholar looks so innocent, but he’s actually this despicable!”
“You want to play dirty? Just you wait! Bastard!”
Clutching his back, Zhou Hang limped away while hurling curses.
He did not have time to settle the score with He Qiu right now; he needed to go to the infirmary first.
If he missed the optimal window for treatment, it might leave him with permanent internal damage.
—
At the same time, He Qiu was still immersed in his Sword Intent, completely unaware that his earlier strike had accidentally injured a senior.
Watching from the side, Yun Qing was already speechless from shock.
‘This… This He Qiu, just what is his background?!’
In just ten minutes, he had transformed from a novice who could not even summon a Sword Spirit into a sword-cultivating powerhouse who could skillfully manipulate one.
This was faster than a hormone-injected chicken at a factory farm.
And all of this was simply because Yun Qing had provided him with enough Spiritual Energy.
It was as if He Qiu was a scientific railgun that was tens of thousands of years ahead of its time, only underestimated by the world because it lacked the energy to fire.
Today, Yun Qing happened to charge this divine weapon, and the result was a shot with world-ending destructive power!
‘This is bad… Ranran, your fiancé’s talent is ten thousand times more terrifying than yours!’
“Sister Yun Qing, was my clumsy technique… acceptable?”
Seeing Yun Qing’s strange expression, He Qiu offered a modest remark.
Truthfully, that strike had utilized nearly ninety percent of his power.
He Qiu felt that his execution of the Sword Intent was perfect and was very satisfied.
It felt as though a long-suppressed resentment in his heart had finally been vented.
However, this was all thanks to the Lord Celestial Spirit’s help.
Otherwise, with his Wasted Spirit Vein, He Qiu probably would not have been able to accumulate such powerful Spiritual Energy in his entire life, let alone summon a Sword Spirit.
With the energy of a powerhouse with 30,000 years of cultivation, a casual swing produced such terrifying results…
‘As expected of the Lord Celestial Spirit!’
He Qiu believed that ninety percent of the credit for that sword’s power belonged to Yun Qing.
He was merely a tool used to cast the spell; he was nothing special.
Anyone could be this strong with Yun Qing’s Spiritual Energy.
It was truly a case of “I could do it too.”
Therefore, He Qiu cupped his fists again to thank her.
He was a polite cultivator, and it was only natural to show proper etiquette when receiving a favor.
“Sister Yun Qing, I only borrowed a fraction of your Spiritual Energy, yet it was so terrifyingly powerful. I am truly in awe. I admire you greatly.”
“Well, yes… that’s right…”
The corners of Yun Qing’s mouth twitched, and she nodded hesitantly in response.
Truthfully, she could no longer tell if He Qiu was humblebragging and mocking her for underestimating him earlier, or if he was being genuinely humble by thanking her with such an attitude.
Yun Qing felt that He Qiu was suspiciously over-praising her!
He was laying it on thick!
It was true that as a 30,000-year-old deer spirit, Yun Qing’s Spiritual Energy was of high quality, but her attribute was of the nature system.
At most, she could help He Qiu with recovery buffs; she could not directly affect the destructive power of his Sword Qi.
The power behind He Qiu’s strike was purely the result of his own diligent cultivation of sword techniques.
But now, this Junior Brother showed not a hint of a genius’s arrogance.
Instead, he was praising her with such a serious face that Yun Qing felt quite embarrassed.
If her Spiritual Energy really had such miraculous effects, wouldn’t An Lingran have already ascended past the ninth rank?
Yun Qing seriously suspected that this was He Qiu’s advanced form of humblebragging!
He played the pig to eat the tiger perfectly, all while making sure the person he outperformed didn’t feel humiliated.
‘Look at that, his level is truly high.’
“Brother He Qiu is being too modest. Such sword skills must be the result of your own training. You don’t need to flatter me like this…”
Yun Qing gave an awkward but polite smile.
He Qiu smiled back understandingly, put away his Ice Sword, and continued with the flattery.
“Hehe, Sister Yun Qing has 30,000 years of cultivation. How could I dare take credit in front of you…”
“I don’t deserve such praise, Brother He Qiu, you’re exaggerating…”
“Oh, not at all, not at all…”
In the small grove, the golden-haired deer spirit girl and the boy in white clothes began a round of mutual flattery, both wearing awkward, complimentary smiles.
He Qiu mainly felt that, given the personality Yun Qing had displayed earlier, she was someone who did good deeds and looked forward to being praised.
After all, she had puffed out her chest with pride just during her self-introduction; it was clear the Lord Celestial Spirit was quite prideful.
So, in He Qiu’s eyes, Yun Qing’s smiles and demure refusals were clearly hints for him to praise her more.
Since he had taken her Spiritual Energy, He Qiu was not about to be stingy with a few words.
He was an expert at flattering powerhouses.
Having been a scholar since childhood, he had learned plenty of idioms and poems.
He could praise someone for half an hour straight, lifting them all the way to the heavens.
“Sister Yun Qing’s Spiritual Energy is simply the essence of excellence, miraculous beyond words, and truly sublime—”
“No, no, it’s because you trained well yourself…”
“Ah, you’re being modest again. Your Spiritual Energy can be described as divinely profound…”
“Stop, I beg you, please stop praising me…”
And so, despite Yun Qing’s “modesty,” He Qiu insisted on praising her for a full thirty minutes.
Finally, He Qiu ran out of words, and Yun Qing was nearly annoyed to death by his humblebragging.
“Ahem, Sister Yun Qing, it’s getting late. I think I should…”
He Qiu was a bit tired.
He had originally only intended to praise Yun Qing a few times, but he hadn’t expected her to be so insatiable, making him praise her for half an hour.
Just how much did this deer spirit girl love being complimented?
“Right, right, right. It’s late. It’s time to head back.”
Yun Qing felt weak all over, her expression vacant.
She only wanted to get away from this demonic Junior Brother as quickly as possible.
He was just too good at humblebragging.
She had already admitted his talent was amazing, yet he wouldn’t let it go and kept chasing her with awkward flattery.
‘Was this guy intentionally trying to tease me?’
Yun Qing wanted to be suspicious, but looking at He Qiu’s innocent little face, she really couldn’t sense a shred of malice.
The main issue was that before joining the sect, this Junior Brother had been a top-ranking scholar.
His flowery idioms came out in endless streams, and he spoke with such flair that a deer spirit like Yun Qing, who had never studied human poetry, could never win an argument against him.
She hadn’t actually done anything significant, yet she was being praised like she was a living Buddha.
It made Yun Qing doubt her very existence.
She liked being praised, but only if she had actually done something worthy of it.
This time, it really wasn’t her.
She truly couldn’t handle this kind of groundless, forced flattery.
And today, for the first time, Yun Qing learned that human words didn’t need to be insults to hurt; awkward flattery could also torture someone beyond recognition…
Well, Yun Qing was a Spirit Beast who had taken human form, so strictly speaking, she wasn’t human.
However, even if Yun Qing wasn’t a human, He Qiu was a real piece of work.
—
“Yun Qing, what’s wrong with you? You look like you’ve lost your soul…”
Seeing the returning deer spirit girl looking unwell, An Lingran, who was in the middle of her secluded cultivation, couldn’t help but knit her brows.
She paused her training and stepped forward to ask with concern.
Yun Qing plopped down on the bed, her body swaying as if a white soul was about to drift out of her mouth.
“Ranran, it’s bad… it’s really bad! That… that new Junior Brother of yours… he… he is simply…”
“Hmm? What about him?”
“Sigh! Never mind.”
With a soft thud, Yun Qing lay flat on the bed and closed her eyes.
She was exhausted.
First, half of her Spiritual Energy had been drained by that wasteland of a body, and then she had been subjected to He Qiu’s serious humblebragging for half an hour.
She truly didn’t have the energy to explain the details right now.
All she wanted was to sleep and recover.
“What exactly happened?”
Yun Qing had stopped halfway through her sentence, which left An Lingran feeling anxious, especially since it concerned her Junior Brother.
However, Yun Qing only gave a weak shake of her head, unwilling to explain.
“No, it’s really nothing…”
“Ranran, let me rest for a while. Too many ridiculous things happened today. My heart is tired.”
In her drowsy state, the image of An Lingran in her eyes suddenly shifted into the profile of the boy in white.
She seemed to recall the scene of herself lying in his arms while he asked after her well-being with concern.
After just a few seconds of the memory, the girl’s chubby cheeks flushed red once again.
‘Ugh, why did things turn out like this!’
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