Xiao Yan Grows More and More Reclusive

The next morning, the sun shone brightly.

Warm sunlight streamed through the ventilation opening of the Stone Chamber and fell upon Xiao Se's fair cheeks.

Xiao Se slowly opened his eyes, the corners of his lips unable to stop from rising...

Last night, Xiao Se had a dream, a very wonderful dream. He had dreamed of his favorite goddesses from his previous life—Yun Yun, Medusa, Bi Bi Dong... and then...

It had given Xiao Se, who possessed the "Su Yun Tao Soul" in both lives, a sweet dream.

Wait...

Something wasn't right...

It felt like something was pressing down on him...

"Fuck!" Xiao Se nearly cried out when he lowered his head.

Long Kui was leaning against his chest, while his arms were wrapped around her slender waist...

It was indeed Hong Kui...

He carefully recalled what had happened yesterday:

He had sparred with Hong Kui as usual, gotten beaten up as usual, but this time he seemed to have acted a little too impulsively. With the strength of a four-star Dou Zhe, and already short on Dou Qi, he had unleashed the Crimson Flame Sword—Limit Break, a technique comparable to an Earth Low Rank Dou Technique.

Then his Dou Qi had been completely exhausted. He had also been caught in the blast from Limit Break and passed out...

Long Kui must have brought him back to the Stone Chamber. Could it be that last night, he...

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Xiao Se's forehead. He did not dare think any further.

Letting go of Hong Kui, Xiao Se placed both hands on her delicate shoulders and gently shook her. "Long Kui... Long Kui..."

Hearing Xiao Se call for her, Hong Kui rubbed her slightly bleary eyes and slowly opened them. When she saw that she was lying in the bathtub, memories of yesterday resurfaced in her mind, and her pretty face instantly flushed red.

"Brother, I..." Hong Kui's face was crimson, her gaze evasive as she did not dare turn around to look at Xiao Se.

Seeing Hong Kui blush all the way to her ears, Xiao Se gave an awkward, bitter smile. "Nothing happened between us last night, right?"

"N-Nothing..." For the first time, the fiery-tempered Hong Kui became shy and bashful.

Hearing that, Xiao Se heaved a sigh of relief. That's good... Otherwise, I really wouldn't know how to face Blue Long Kui. Though their personalities are different, they share the same body.

But Hong Kui's next words nearly made Xiao Se spit out blood.

"Brother only took advantage of the time Long Kui was washing Brother's back, and then..."

"..."

Xiao Se suffered a social death.

After getting dressed, Xiao Se consumed a drop of Nurturing Spirit Liquid and began cultivating the Burning Art and the Returning Origin Soul Art.

An hour later, after more than a month of arduous cultivation, his cultivation finally broke through to five-star Dou Zhe.

Yet Xiao Se could not feel happy at all.

Although they had not taken the final step, he learned from Hong Kui that something seemingly beyond friendship and familial affection had happened between them last night. Lan Kui knew nothing about it.

After getting dressed, Hong Kui entered the Demon Sword Tattoo on Xiao Se's hand.

Neither of them brought up what had happened last night again, but the feelings between these "siblings" seemed to be quietly changing... (PS: A special note: Long Kui is one of the female leads, but she is not the protagonist's biological younger sister.)

Leaving the cave, Xiao Se headed straight toward Mittel Auction.

Because he had been so absorbed in cultivation, he still had not had time to collect the ten bottles of Nurturing Spirit Liquid he had entrusted to Mittel Auction for sale last time.

As he passed through the Xiao Clan residence, Xiao Se chose to keep his usual low profile.

As he strolled along the path through Bluestone Plaza, the Xiao Clan seemed unusually quiet today. At this time in the past, many Xiao Clan youths would be practicing in the plaza, but now it was completely deserted.

"Xiao Se, Xiao Se..." Suddenly, a familiar voice called out from behind him, drawing closer and closer.

Xiao Se turned his head upon hearing it. Looking into the distance and seeing who it was, surprise flashed through his eyes. "Xiao Ning?"

A moment later, Xiao Ning finally ran up to Xiao Se. Resting his right hand on Xiao Se's shoulder, he panted, "Huff, huff... I finally found you. If you hadn't shown up soon, I was planning to go look for you in the back mountain."

"What do you need me for?" Xiao Se asked in confusion.

Because of Xiao Yu, Xiao Ning was one of the few acquaintances in the Xiao Clan whom he was not particularly close to.

Moreover, Xiao Se had never shown even the slightest interest in Xiao Xun'er, and Xiao Ning knew that Xiao Se was powerful, so his attitude toward him was fairly friendly.

"Hehe, you spend every day cultivating in the back mountain, so you might not know yet. Since the last Dou Qi test ended, quite a few major events have happened over the past two months," Xiao Ning said with a chuckle.

"Major events? What major events?" Though Xiao Se knew that the major event Xiao Ning referred to was most likely Xiao Yan losing his Dou Qi, he still pretended not to know.

"Hehe, you'll find out soon enough. Come with me first. Today, the Clan Head and the three elders have called a Clan Meeting. All clan disciples must attend." With a mysterious smile on his lips, Xiao Ning draped an arm over Xiao Se's shoulder and headed straight for the Xiao Family Council Hall.

Following Xiao Ning across Bluestone Plaza, they finally stopped outside the solemn Council Hall.

Xiao Ning naturally took on the task of knocking on the door. "Grandfather, Clan Head, two elders, I've brought Xiao Se."

"Come in, Ning'er," an aged and kindly voice called from inside.

"Let's go. My grandfather told us to come in." Xiao Ning patted Xiao Se's shoulder rather proudly.

"Mm." Xiao Se nodded casually. He had long grown tired of these sudden and utterly pointless Clan Meetings.

Pushing open the door, they entered a spacious hall. By the time Xiao Se and Xiao Ning arrived, it was nearly full.

Seated at the very front were Clan Head Xiao Zhan and the three elders.

Below and to the left of the four sat several Xiao Clan elders whose strength had reached the Dou Shi realm. Beside them were some outstanding members of the younger generation, including Xiao Mei.

On the other side sat several Xiao Clan elders who had also reached the Dou Shi realm, along with some outstanding juniors. However, the seat of honor was left empty.

That seat had always been reserved for Xiao Yan, the Xiao Clan's number one genius.

Xiao Se discreetly swept his gaze over the room. In the farthest corner by the door on the right, he spotted Xiao Yan's lonely, dejected figure.

At that moment, none of his former high spirits remained. His entire body radiated a dispirited air.

Not far to Xiao Yan's right was another empty seat. Xiao Xun'er sat beside it, her beautiful eyes occasionally turning toward Xiao Yan.

Unfortunately, Xiao Yan completely ignored Xun'er's gaze. He hunched over with his fingers interlocked over his youthful face, his elbows braced against his knees, looking like he wanted no one near him.

Seeing Xiao Ning and Xiao Se enter, the Great Elder was the first to speak. Pointing to the empty seat beside him on his right, he said with a smile, "Ning'er, sit beside Grandfather."

"Th-This..." Xiao Ning glanced at the empty seat beside Xun'er, then at Xiao Se. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded with difficulty. "Yes, Grandfather."

Ever since Xiao Yan had lost his talent, Xiao Ning had known that his grandfather, the Xiao Clan's Great Elder, intended to support him in taking Xiao Yan's former position. But if he took that seat, he would not be able to sit beside Xiao Xun'er.

Faced with "love" and filial duty, he ultimately chose the latter.