Gotta sleep, good night.
Also, give this story more power stones!
--- Chapter 26 ---
Yu Long lazily laid down on a pavilion near his courtyard. He stared at the river where he used to hide and observed the water drifting away, shaking his head because he could do countless experiments now, but Lily told him to take a break today.
He recalled his promise to send a carriage for Xia Qingyue a few weeks ago, which he did five days ago. However, the distance between Drifting River City and Floating Cloud City is quite far.
It took him three days to Floating Cloud City by carriage. That's with the fastest and somewhat unsafe route.
"I wonder how much she has progressed..." Yu Long mumbled, thinking about Xia Qingyue's cultivation.
After awakening her Heart of Snow Glazed Glass roughly three months ago, Xia Qingyue's profound veins should have matured anytime now.
With the basic cultivation technique he left behind and some rules not to trust people easily, as someone from the Frozen Cloud Asgard discovered Xia Qingyue's talent and recruited her in the original story, Yu Long was sure Xia Qingyue could escape her heroine path.
Even then, Yu Long wasn't sure if this world had a bullshit level of plot fixation or not.
When he read Against the God in his first life, Yun Che's life seemed to revolve around conflict related to Xia Qingyue. There must be an indirect link between these two, but Yu Long didn't know about it.
BRAK!
A sound of wood breaking echoes not far away.
Yu Long raised his brow and glanced in the direction of the sound. Even without any enhancement, he could see a black-haired youth in a red martial robe punching a wooden dummy.
The wooden dummy's head got shattered, probably due to the red-clothed youth's physical force.
"Third Brother." Yu Long greeted and landed on a fence.
The red-clothed youth raised his head and looked at Yu Long, "Fourth Brother..."
"I thought you were away."
Yu Long waved his hand, "I returned like a month ago."
"You probably didn't know because you were busy with Cloud Palm Sect's recruitment."
"Hmph, and I passed!" Yu Long's third brother haughtily returned.
Yu Long's third brother is named Yu Tian.
He's four years older than Yu Long and a martial artist fanatic since a young age.
With a height of over 160 centimeters, Yu Tian has a tanned complexion with lean yet developed muscle here and there covered by his red martial robe. His facial is ordinary, but his short black hair and ivory-colored eyes make him look valiant.
He might look valiant, but his idiotness is on a different level.
After all, Yu Tian begged their father to waste half of Yu Clan's annual income to enter the Cloud Palm Sect. He didn't think about the workers Yu Clan must feed and the business they should run.
So, when Yu Tian proudly bragged about his entrance into the Cloud Palm Sect that Shadow Realm controlled, Yu Long couldn't help but feel this guy was more ignorant than he should be.
"Is that so... Must be great." Yu Long nonchalantly said.
Yu Tian lifted his nose and continued to brag, "Of course, Cloud Palm Sect is one the three biggest sects in the Blue North County."
"..." Yu Long lost brain cells talking to this guy.
"Then, what about a spar?"
Yu Tian tilted his head, "Spar? Against you, who hasn't entered Elementary Profound Realm yet?"
"Yes." A bright smile plastered Yu Long's face.
He wanted to beat this third brother of his to a pulp!
At least it would be a charge for solving Yu Tian's fucking problem weeks ago.
"Hehe, come down then." Yu Tian gestured with his finger.
"I'll show you the real martial art!"
"Great." Yu Long jumped off the fence and landed near him.
They faced each other as Yu Tian entered a very vague stance.
Yu Tian lowered his hips and lifted his right hand, "Are you ready?"
"Yup, let's do it." Yu Long leisurely stood on the field.
"Then... Hyaaah!"
Yu Tian rushed forward like a chicken, pushing his right palm to Yu Long's chest.
Yu Long caught Yu Tian's palm casually and stunned him.
"..." Yu Tian.
"Rule number one, don't attack blindly..." Yu Long commented, sending a punch to his brother's face.
BAM!
Yu Tian flew one meter away with a bloody nose and landed on the ground with a shocked face.
And just like that, he fainted.
"Yume, erase my brother's memory and fix his broken nose."
"Okay, my lord~!" Yume the butterfly responded.
Yu Tian woke up and watched Yu Long standing before him.
"Fourth Brother?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh, we are going to have a spar, no?" Yu Long returned innocently.
"Ah, yes. The Spar." Yu Tian nodded, entering the same fucking stance again.
Who do you think you are? Rock Lee?
Yu Long's mouth twitched as he beat his brother until satisfied. He doesn't remember how many times he broke his nose.
After that, Yu Long left the fainted youth alone in the field.
"Uh... I don't think there was a benefit of beating your brother like that, my lord." Yume couldn't help but comment.
"No, there is a benefit." Yu Long returned like it was nothing.
"Oh?" The butterfly was curious.
Yu Long whistled and returned to his courtyard, "Although my third brother won't remember a thing about his constantly breaking nose, his body will remember it."
"If he got attacked in the face later, he'd react and dodge based on instinct alone."
"I see... Such a genius training method." Yume admired Yu Long even more.
Wrong, Yume.
Yu Long only wants to beat the shit out of his brother.
He only made excuses to justify it.
And to be fair, Yu Tian tried to use Yu Long's assets a while ago, and today is the payback.
Yu Tian was lucky he was Yu Long's relative.
Wind Blade Sect, Cloud Palm Sect, and those business clans weren't so lucky.
Returning to his courtyard, Yu Long lazed around again and stared at the cloudy sky.
And someone suddenly covered his vision.
"Who the fu-!" Yu Long was annoyed, but then he recognized the charming young lady.
"Qingyue?"
Xia Qingyue stood a few inches from Yu Long and smiled, "Brother Yu Long, I've come to visit you."
"Are you happy to see Qingyue again?"
Hearing her question, Yu Long sighed and answered, "You arrived faster than I thought."
"Hmm, you didn't answer my question..." Xia Qingyue pouted slightly.
But then she felt a familiar hand rubbing her head.
"There, there. I'm happy to see you again." Yu Long helplessly said.
"Also, since when did you call me Brother?"
"Since now!" Xia Qingyue blinked her big, charming eyes.
"I can't?" She tilted her head, trying to gain his empathy.
"...You can." Yu Long answered after accepting her new approach.
Yu Long didn't know that when he was gone, Xia Qingyue asked several 'good' maids in the Xia Manor about how to approach boys.
She was an awkward girl. She suppressed her emotions just a while ago.
But she tried to learn everything now.
Xia Qingyue learned from the maids that acting cute will almost solve everything, especially effective against boys. Coupled with her charming appearance, the maids guaranteed a 500% success chance!
Secretly pumping her little fist, Xia Qingyue contained her excitement and asked, "Um, Brother Yu Long. I have read the book you left behind, but there are some things Qingyue doesn't understand."
"Can you explain it to Qingyue?"
"Sure." Yu Long patted the wooden floor of the pavilion beside him.
"Sit here."
Xia Qingyue quickly sat down and attentively waited for his further words like a curious cat.
"Do you bring the book?" Yu Long asked.
"Here!" Xia Qingyue pulled the book from her blue dress.
Yu Long nodded and added, "Which parts you don't understand?"
"Profound Sensitivity and Reaction!"
"Those parts, huh? It's new knowledge..."
"Well, you see... The profound sensitivity is part of one's body."
"It shows how sensitive you are to profound strength and the change around you. For example, our body perceives warmth like this..." Yu Long suddenly held Xia Qingyue's hand.
Xia Qingyue was startled, and her cheeks flushed.
Yu Long's words become white noise in Xia Qingyue's head as she only pays attention to his touch.
"I-I see..." Xia Qingyue pretended to listen.
Not far away, Yu Zhan and Xia Hongyi stared at this scene.
"They look good with each other." Yu Zhan commented with a faint smile on his face.
"Yes." Xia Hongyi nodded in agreement.
"How about we engage them, Hongyi?" Yu Zhan strikes the iron while it's hot.
Xia Hongyi sighed, "About that..."
"You might want to listen to my story first."
"Back then..."
Yu Zhan frowned as he listened to Xia Hongyi's story.
To think someone from Xiao Clan saved Xia Qingyue's life years ago and became Xia Hongyi's sworn brother, leading them to promise to let their children marry each other when the ages are old enough.
"I promised Brother Xiao Ying years ago, but..." Xia Hongyi stared at his daughter's happy expression. "If it's a matter of Qingyue's happiness, I will break it and face the consequences."
"Aih, you two… They are only ten." Yu Long's Mother, Yu Xin, commented as she walked toward them.
"You two are adult men. You didn't know how girls develop their feelings for someone."
"If I were Qingyue, I'd not let anyone decide my partner..."
"She can decide herself who she wants to marry in the future!" Yu Xin finished her words sternly.
Even if there are competitors, Yu Xin is confident her handsome son wouldn't lose to anyone.