Because Your Brother Is Xu Xiaoyu

Because of the typhoon and torrential rain, Eastsea City's once-bustling streets were nearly deserted, looking bleak and desolate.

Lin Xiuran continued forward slowly through the heavy rain, raindrops still battering his clothes, which had long since been completely soaked.

Fortunately, the typhoon had mostly moved away by now, leaving only the rain still pouring down. Otherwise, he might have been blown away.

A lone figure looked somewhat solitary beneath the rain filling the sky. Of course, he hated this rain now, since it had drenched him from head to toe. Yet he was also grateful for it, because at this very moment, the only thing keeping him company was the rain.

The typhoon and downpour had slowed Lin Xiuran's journey considerably. After walking for over an hour, he finally arrived near Eastsea Academy.

That was actually relatively fast. A large part of the reason was that he often walked here from the Xu Family villa and was very familiar with the route. Otherwise, it might have taken twice as long.

Eastsea Academy was a large academy, qualified to provide both junior and senior education. It was therefore divided into the Junior Academy Department and the Senior Academy Department.

Lin Xiuran was a student of the Junior Academy Department, currently in First Year Class One. The rankings of the classes were determined by promotion matches, so his class was quite strong. But in truth, it was still only an ordinary class. For their year, the academy had pooled its resources to establish a Zero Class, which only the most outstanding students could enter. He had not joined Zero Class. Although his Innate Soul Power was at level nine, his Martial Soul, Wind Bird, was far too ordinary.

Having level-nine Soul Power with such an ordinary Martial Soul was strange and did not conform to common sense. To a certain extent, the higher the grade of a Martial Soul, the higher one's Innate Soul Power would be. The quality of one's Martial Soul was directly tied to one's Soul Power Level. This made it difficult for Lin Xiuran to accept. After all, in this world, a Martial Soul essentially determined a Soul Master's upper limit. Even with Innate Soul Power at level nine, it would be almost impossible for him to achieve any major breakthroughs in the future.

Because of the typhoon, Eastsea Academy had declared a holiday and classes were suspended. First Year Class One's classroom was empty, giving Lin Xiuran a place where he could temporarily rest and shelter from the wind and rain.

But it was rather laughable. The low-level and junior academies followed the Federation-mandated Yiwu Education System and charged no tuition. If tuition had been required, he likely would not even have been able to attend school, losing this last refuge as well.

The Xu Family parents had never given him a single coin in spending money, let alone paid his tuition. All these years, he had relied on part-time jobs to earn extra money for clothes and the like, while also saving up to buy a Soul Spirit and prepare the tuition for an Advanced Soul Master Academy.

He could not afford to stop improving. Becoming stronger was the best way to escape his current predicament, so he had to plan ahead.

After thinking for a while in the empty classroom, Lin Xiuran weakly slumped over his desk. His head grew heavier and heavier, and his consciousness gradually blurred.

"Where... is this?"

His eyelids were still heavy, but Lin Xiuran had already caught the pungent smell of disinfectant. Slowly opening his eyes, all he saw was a stark white ceiling.

"You're awake?"

Lin Xiuran looked toward the voice. Sitting beside him was a girl who appeared to be fourteen or fifteen. Her figure had already begun to develop, and even a pink jacket could not conceal her lovely curves. Her skin was white and smooth as congealed cream, while her long blue hair was tied into a neat ponytail. She was exceptionally beautiful, with delicate features and large, bright eyes.

"Sister Zixin, why are you here?" Lin Xiuran called out with some difficulty, his voice hoarse and his throat agonizingly sore.

The moment he saw Ouyang Zixin, he instinctively tried to sit up. But as soon as he moved, pain shot through his entire body, as if he had been pulled apart.

"Don't move. Rest properly." Ouyang Zixin hurriedly helped Lin Xiuran lie back down, then tucked his blanket around him.

"Xiao Yan sent me a Soul Guidance Communication saying you'd run away from home. Then, as soon as I arrived at the academy, I ran into your homeroom teacher, Ms. Ye Yingluo, bringing you to the infirmary. She found that you had a fever, and it was quite serious."

Ouyang Zixin then took out the medicine prescribed by the doctor and placed it on the bedside table. "Ms. Ye just left. I stayed here to wait for you to wake up."

Looking at the girl beside him, Lin Xiuran said somewhat awkwardly, "Sister Zixin, you and Ms. Ye helped me again. I don't even know how to thank you."

"What nonsense are you talking about, little brother?" Ouyang Zixin scolded with a smile, then said without hesitation, "Who told you to be Senior Xu's little brother?"

The expression on Lin Xiuran's face froze. In the end, he merely forced an unpleasant smile before gently closing his eyes.

Ouyang Zixin did not notice anything amiss. Just then, a Soul Guidance Communication came in, and she went outside to answer it.

When she returned shortly afterward and saw Lin Xiuran with his eyes closed, she assumed he wanted to rest. Smiling, she said:

"Little brother, get well properly. I left some new clothes for you beside the bed. All your clothes were soaked, so I had the doctor change you into patient clothes. Put these on once you've rested. All right, your brother asked me to have dinner with him. I need to head back to the dormitory and get ready first."

After giving Lin Xiuran her instructions, Ouyang Zixin eagerly prepared to leave. Her eyes were filled with an unconcealable delight, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it.

Only after Ouyang Zixin had completely left did Lin Xiuran slowly open his eyes, his gaze filled with complicated emotions.

In the past, Ouyang Zixin had been, in his eyes, one of the people in this world he looked forward to seeing and felt most grateful toward.

Before awakening his Martial Soul, Lin Xiuran had already known Ouyang Zixin. She was several years older than him, so she had always taken care of him.

Their relationship had always been good. Although they were separated by several years, they could still be considered childhood friends. Of course, that was only what Lin Xiuran believed.

But now, for some reason, his heart hurt.

His feelings were complicated. It was not entirely because Ouyang Zixin had feelings for Xu Xiaoyu. More than that, he feared that everything Ouyang Zixin had done to help him had not come from the heart, but because of his nominal older brother, Xu Xiaoyu.

If that was the case, then this relationship had changed in nature.

After resting for a while, Lin Xiuran got up and prepared to leave. He had originally planned to visit the Spirit Pagoda. He was already level nineteen and needed to obtain a Soul Spirit. He had saved nearly enough money these past few days and could buy a cheaper Soul Ring.

This concerned his cultivation, so Lin Xiuran had no mood to keep lying there. Besides, his body had already recovered considerably. After all, he was a Soul Master, and his physical condition was far stronger than an ordinary person's. A mere downpour could not defeat him.