Yuanxi

"Bzzz, bzzz."

The phone beside the pillow kept vibrating, waking the person sleeping soundly in bed.

Lu Ran, bleary-eyed, blindly swept a hand around beside his pillow before finally picking up the phone. Half-asleep, he said, "Hello?"

"Big Bro!" A sweet, lively voice came from the other end of the line.

"Who is it?" Lu Ran sat up, his head throbbing painfully.

Why did I feel more exhausted the longer I slept?

"My foolish big brother!"

The girl's dissatisfied voice came through the phone. "I called you Big Bro. Who else could I be?"

"Yuanxi." Lu Ran slapped his forehead. "I'm still groggy from sleeping."

Qiao Yuanxi was Lu Ran's biological younger sister. She took her mother Qiao Wanjun's surname and was one year younger than Lu Ran.

Although their parents had divorced and the siblings had lived apart since childhood, it had not affected their relationship.

And when Lu Ran was thirteen, their mother had brought him back to the capital. The siblings had lived beneath the same roof for three years, and they had always been close.

"You've slept all day and still aren't awake?" Qiao Yuanxi spoke softly. "I'm already awake."

Lu Ran truly was muddleheaded from sleep. He turned to look out the window and saw that night had fallen, while the heavy rain had yet to stop.

What the hell?

Lu Ran frowned deeply as a familiar feeling surged into his heart.

Did I forget something important again?

Why did I say again?

That was right. After the Evil Dog Village assessment, he had gone home and slept. When he woke the next morning, he had also felt as if he had forgotten something.

What exactly was it?

"Big Bro?"

"Yeah, I'm here." Lu Ran scratched his head in distress.

"I'm so bored. Every lunar fifteenth feels like being detained." Qiao Yuanxi complained. "And every detention lasts several days."

"Hehe." Lu Ran could not help but laugh.

He felt exactly the same.

Even though Lu Ran had become a believer, during the three days from the sixteenth to the eighteenth, he still had to stay home and could not go anywhere.

There might still be evil fiends wandering the city.

The city, left in a complete mess, also needed the authorities to clean up and repair it.

"What are you laughing at?" Qiao Yuanxi abruptly changed the subject and asked with concern, "Did you get hurt last night?"

"Hurt?" Upholding the principle of reporting good news but not bad, Lu Ran spun a wild tale. "Your big brother nearly slaughtered himself into a frenzy!

I was like a damn god~"

"No dirty words!"

"Oh? You're trying to control me now?"

Qiao Yuanxi's voice turned ghostly. "My phone is on speaker. Mom is listening right beside me."

Lu Ran: "."

"Hehe~" Qiao Yuanxi suddenly giggled. "Dummy, I tricked you!"

Lu Ran: ???

Good stuff!

Normally, I was the one messing with other people. Today, I had finally met my match.

Qiao Yuanxi said, "When are you coming to play with me? I want hamburgers."

Lu Ran said helplessly, "Buy one and eat it yourself. Why do I have to buy it for you?"

Qiao Yuanxi muttered softly, "It'd be such a waste to throw away the lettuce."

Lu Ran: "."

Listen to that. Was that even human language?

It had been a full three years. How many hamburgers had we eaten together? How many pieces of lettuce had I eaten for you?

You were treating me like a goat. Huh?

Now that you mentioned it, you really did have a point!

Qiao Yuanxi said, "Tell me already. When are you coming to play with me?"

Lu Ran felt somewhat troubled upon hearing that.

The Fifteen City Defense Mission was indeed the final exam for second-year high school students. Starting today, Lu Ran was officially on summer vacation.

The problem was that a believer's first summer vacation came with rather heavy assignments.

Before the start of his third year of high school, Lu Ran had only about one month to upgrade the equipment awarded by the school.

The so-called equipment

included, first, the Divine Power Bead awarded by the school after the beginner assessment—the Evil Dog Village assessment.

Second, it was the weapon awarded by the school after a beginner's first city defense mission.

For example, if you had placed tenth in the Evil Dog Village assessment, you would receive the school's reward: a Mist Grade Divine Power Bead.

Then, during this summer vacation, you could slay evil fiends in the Demon Lair, collect one hundred Mist Realm Magic Crystals, and turn them over to the military.

As long as you met the requirements, the military would exchange your Mist Grade Divine Power Bead for a higher-tier Stream Grade Divine Power Bead.

One point needed special emphasis:

Students operated in teams. It was not that every person had to submit one hundred Mist Realm Magic Crystals. The four-person group only needed to submit one hundred together.

Since that was the case, why did Lu Ran think this mission would be difficult?

Because the reward the school had given him was the best one. It was already a Stream Grade Divine Power Bead!

Therefore, if Lu Ran and his team wanted to upgrade their equipment, gathering one hundred Mist Realm Magic Crystals would not be enough.

They had to collect one hundred Stream Realm Magic Crystals!

Or, calculated by proportion, one thousand Mist Realm Magic Crystals!

It would definitely be difficult.

But Lu Ran truly wanted to give it a try!

After all, the rewards from this mission were immense!

Once Lu Ran succeeded in exchanging his Stream Grade Divine Power Bead for a River Grade Divine Power Bead,

then throughout his entire high school career, no matter what missions the school assigned him, he basically would never have any problems with endurance!

Two words: taking off~

"Big Bro doesn't like me anymore." After receiving no response for a long while, Qiao Yuanxi's voice turned ghostly.

"No, no." Lu Ran explained, "The main thing is that I've become a believer, so I need to train in the Demon Lair."

Qiao Yuanxi said, "Then let's go together?"

"Don't mess around!" Lu Ran was rarely this serious. "The Demon Lair isn't a place to play."

At his current stage, Lu Ran had no ability to protect his younger sister properly.

Taking a step back, even if his strength reached the heavens, the military would never allow ordinary people into the Demon Lair.

Qiao Yuanxi said, "I need training too!"

Lu Ran nearly laughed in anger. "Training for what? Training your courage?"

"Hmph." Qiao Yuanxi was very unhappy. "Who isn't a believer?"

"What kind of nonsense is that? You're a believer?"

"I am."

"You're a believer. Huh?" Lu Ran felt as if his entire world had gone wrong.

"My foolish big brother..."

Qiao Yuanxi rambled on, carrying quite a bit of Lu Ran's own flair. "I became a believer fifteen days ago, and you still didn't know.

The very first thing I said on the phone was, 'I'm already awake.' You couldn't hear anything from that at all.

I also stayed up all night to participate in the city defense mission!"

Lu Ran was utterly stunned. "You're only sixteen. You're in your first year of high school now. You weren't even qualified to participate in the Worshiping Ceremony. What kind of believer are you?"

Qiao Yuanxi said softly, "After the Worshiping Ceremony ended, before they had completely dismantled the God-Worshipping Platform, I secretly ran over to try it."

Lu Ran said, "Huh?"

Before they had finished dismantling the God-Worshipping Platform? She secretly went to try?!

His younger sister was indeed a little mischievous, but Lu Ran had never imagined she could be mischievous to this extent.

Qiao Yuanxi sounded deeply troubled. "Honestly, I accidentally succeeded without meaning to~

The teachers and classmates were all stunned. I was the only believer in the entire first-year high school grade. Haha!"

Lu Ran said, "Huh???"

"Hehe~" Qiao Yuanxi beamed with delight. Half a month of concealment had finally brought her the reaction she wanted.

Actually, Qiao Yuanxi had still held a tiny fantasy in her heart, hoping that her big brother would discover it himself.

Lu Ran's head truly was buzzing.

I fought tooth and nail, begging away atop the God-Worshipping Platform, and the gods filling the sky ignored me.

You secretly went and tried it, and you succeeded?

"Wait." Lu Ran said irritably, "You tricked me again?"

"I didn't trick you. I specifically told Mom not to tell you, just to see when you'd notice." Qiao Yuanxi let out a long sigh.

This girl had possessed the potential to be a drama queen since childhood. "It's been so long, yet you truly don't care about me at all.

My foolish and cold-blooded big brother..."

Lu Ran asked directly, "What kind of believer are you?"

"I'm a believer of a Third-Rate God. She's such a beautiful goddess!" Qiao Yuanxi said with a smile. "Guess?"

Lu Ran immediately perked up. "Master Jade Talisman?"

"Not the god Dad believes in." Qiao Yuanxi's expression turned strange. Could Master Jade Talisman be described as "beautiful"?

Jade Talisman was clearly a male god!

"Then who is it?" Lu Ran was extremely curious.

Qiao Yuanxi's eyes darted about. "Come to the capital and play with me. If you come find me, I'll tell you."

Lu Ran thought for a moment, then decided, "Once my teammates and I finish the Summer Vacation Mission, I'll immediately come find you."

"Then it's settled!" Afraid that Lu Ran would change his mind, Qiao Yuanxi directly hung up.

"Impressive." Lu Ran put down his phone, filled with emotion.

Could someone become a god's believer at sixteen?

Generally speaking, one had to be seventeen or eighteen. After all, gods had requirements for a believer's physical strength and mental strength.

Mm. His younger sister's birthday was rather early in the year.

The reason she was called "Yuanxi" was because she had been born on the Lantern Festival.

So although Qiao Yuanxi was sixteen, were her body and mind already prepared?

He was not sure about the mental aspect, but physically, his younger sister had indeed blossomed into a graceful young woman.

When they had met around the New Year, Qiao Yuanxi had already been 1.68 meters tall, right?

Those things were still understandable. The key question was this:

Qiao Yuanxi had secretly gone to worship a god, and then she had succeeded?

Half a month ago, when Lu Ran had participated in the Worshiping Ceremony, he had noticed something was different.

This year, the probability of students becoming believers had clearly increased by a huge margin compared to previous years!

So was Qiao Yuanxi also one of the beneficiaries of this godly expansion of enrollment?

"A Third-Class God Believer." Lu Ran muttered to himself. "Yuanxi, you're incredible, huh?"

You were almost catching up to your big brother!

After all, no matter how impressive you were, the one you had worshipped was still a god.

You had not stepped outside the circle of the gods' ranks.

And I

had invited Yanzhiren. Mm?

Lu Ran suddenly frowned tightly. At the mention of Yanzhiren, he vaguely remembered something.

Yanzhiren.

Yanzhiren?!

Lu Ran knocked his forehead in distress. After an unknown amount of time, his body suddenly shuddered.

Like a cat with its fur blown up, every hair on his body stood on end!

I remember now!

I had a dream.

In the dream, there had been a seductive and gorgeous Yanzhiren, as well as an Incomparable Beauty Yanzhiren statue.

There had also been a terrifying goat's head burning with black fire.

No,

I had dreamed of more than just that one!

I had also dreamed of a Vicious Hound statue, a Blood Disaster Hound statue...

Lu Ran abruptly turned his head toward the shrine, looking at the warm, lustrous white Xianyang Jade Sculpture within.

That White Jade Goat face still wore a kind smile.

Its two hind hooves stood on the ground, while its two front hooves were clasped together before its body in a respectful salute, displaying friendliness and humility to the fullest.

It stood there quietly. From beginning to end, it had always worn that gentle, loving expression.

But at this moment, Lu Ran felt utterly horrified!