Punching Xue Qinghe in the Chest—We're Bros, Why Say That?

Looking at the three-inch Glazed Bottle, as if it held a river of stars.

Li Zhixian's gaze froze, and he hurried over in two quick strides.

"This..."

Xue Qinghe elegantly spat out a fish bone without even raising his head.

"The Yaoguang Brew you wanted."

"It was only two meals of fish. You still came out ahead."

"Mm, you'll have to treat me to another ten or eight meals at least."

Li Zhixian said excitedly:

"Forget ten or eight meals!"

"I'd treat you to a hundred!"

He snatched up the Glazed Bottle and held it before his eyes, inspecting it.

The wine within sometimes shimmered with aurora-like blue-green hues, sometimes spreading into sunset-orange clouds. It truly looked like starlight.

Seeing such miraculous wine.

Li Zhixian was so overjoyed that he lost himself.

He clenched his fist and punched Xue Qinghe in the chest.

"You're a real one!"

Xue Qinghe's motion of eating fish came to a halt.

He slowly raised his eyes stiffly, staring in disbelief at this white-robed youth who had no sense of boundaries.

Actually.

The instant Li Zhixian punched Xue Qinghe in the chest, he knew he had gotten carried away.

He appeared to still be staring at the Yaoguang Brew, but inwardly, he had already begun to panic.

He could sense the increasingly dangerous look in Xue Qinghe's eyes across from him.

What now?

In a single second!

Li Zhixian reacted faster than he drew his sword!

Just pretend nothing happened!

You're Crown Prince Xue Qinghe!

Not Saintess Qian Renxue!

We're bros. What's wrong with punching each other in the chest!

Li Zhixian raised his hand again as if he were about to punch him once more.

"Looks like fine wine!"

"Good brother, you're a real one!"

Xue Qinghe stared at Li Zhixian's expression.

Without giving anything away, he avoided Li Zhixian's fist.

"At your age, you always have wine in hand. Do you even understand how to drink it?"

"Understand how to drink it..."

Li Zhixian smiled.

Saying he did not understand wine was like saying he could not use a sword.

At once.

Li Zhixian removed the stopper and eagerly took a sip of the Yaoguang Brew.

It was like a wisp of starlight slipping down his throat.

A look of bliss immediately appeared on his handsome face.

"Good, good, good!"

"The Yaoguang Brew truly deserves to be called a fine wine coveted even by the royal family!"

After praising it three times in a row.

Li Zhixian closed his eyes and savored it carefully.

"The opening is clear as an icy spring, the middle hides a rich chill, and the finish lingers with a trace of mysterious coolness."

When he opened his eyes.

Everything before him seemed as hazy as night.

A streak of brilliant starlight flashed past.

Feeling the tremor of the Azure Lotus Sword, Li Zhixian sighed.

"Yaoguang Brew, a wine that possesses both dreamlike beauty and poetry."

Xue Qinghe looked at the swaying white-robed youth in astonishment.

The youth had a fair face, with a stray lock of hair hanging over his forehead, making him look even more handsome and carefree.

He clearly looked no older than twelve or thirteen.

Yet when he tasted wine, his confidence and flamboyance made him seem like a wine fanatic with decades of drinking experience.

He's an interesting person...

Xue Qinghe judged him so in his heart.

"I still don't know your name."

"Li Zhixian."

Li Zhixian symbolically asked in return:

"And yours?"

Xue Qinghe looked at Li Zhixian and said quietly:

"You didn't know who I was yesterday. Do you still not know now?"

Li Zhixian was not embarrassed in the slightest. He picked up a freshly cooked fish and placed it in Xue Qinghe's bowl, then laughed heartily.

"You're the Crown Prince, so you get the most tender fish!"

Xue Qinghe froze.

He had originally thought that after learning his identity, Li Zhixian would at least become somewhat reserved.

"You're not eating it?"

Li Zhixian stood up, about to take the fish back.

"If you won't eat it, I will!"

Xue Qinghe panicked.

"Put down my fish!"

That night.

In the little courtyard.

Li Zhixian poured the remaining Yaoguang Brew into the Clear Spring Wine Gourd.

Suddenly, a thread of starlight fell from the night sky and shot straight into the Clear Spring Wine Gourd.

In an instant.

Brilliant mist rose from the gourd's mouth.

A rich, mysterious fragrance of wine filled the entire courtyard.

And upon the gourd's body, which bore the imprint of a spring and fruits, another patch of starlight appeared.

Li Zhixian tilted his head back and gulped down a mouthful.

Boom—!

His Adam's apple bobbed.

The strong liquor became a scorching stream.

Yet within his chest, it spread with the crisp chill of melting rain and snow.

Li Zhixian's face immediately flushed red.

He burped, and pale purple mist actually poured from his mouth.

"Fine wine, fine wine!"

The imprint of the Azure Lotus Sword emerged on his forehead.

With a thought from Li Zhixian, a three-foot-six-inch gleaming blade appeared in his hand.

The scalding wine surged through his veins, and lotus flowers as brilliant as starlight condensed along the sword's ridge.

Li Zhixian leaped fiercely into the air, his fluttering robes startling fireflies from the grass.

With one slash, all the falling starlight suddenly froze in midair.

This sword strike.

Was so magnificent it was hard to believe.

Never had there been such a beautiful sword move, as though it had stolen a wisp of starlight from the night sky.

When Li Zhixian delivered his final slash.

What his sword tip lifted was no longer a chill, but a solid strand of starlight.

With him at the center.

Everything within ten paces was shredded into fine dust.

A gust of wind scattered it away.

"Azure Lotus Sword Song First Style—Yaoguang Sword, mastered."

For the next stretch of time.

Li Zhixian's life was basically a simple routine.

Fishing at Lotus Lake, eating fish with Xue Qinghe, then returning home at night to practice his sword.

Of course.

As delicious as fish was, one would eventually grow tired of it.

So every few days, Xue Qinghe would bring some delicacies out from the palace.

That day.

Li Zhixian was digging into a plate of Three Immortal Chicken.

Xue Qinghe sat across from him, pursed his lips, and said:

"Not only have you not repaid the fish you owe me."

"I've also thrown in two chickens, four ducks, and all kinds of meat and fresh fruit."

Li Zhixian laughed carelessly.

"We're bros. Why say that?"

"If you ever need anything, just tell your bro."

Hm?

Had he said something like that to Zhu Zhuqing before?

Li Zhixian shook his head and cast the thought aside.

It was no big deal.

The more debts one had, the less they weighed on one's mind.

Xue Qinghe unfolded his folding fan and shook his head helplessly.

Honestly, he had never expected Li Zhixian to repay him.

In his view, things that neither the Heaven Dou Crown Prince nor the Spirit Hall Saintess could accomplish were beyond Li Zhixian as well.

The only reason he treated Li Zhixian as a brother.

Was simply because he felt at ease around him.

This white-robed youth was free-spirited and unrestrained. It seemed that aside from carefree wandering, he never carried any other bothersome matters in his heart.

Xue Qinghe envied such a person from the bottom of his heart.

"Li Zhixian, are you truly not considering attending Heaven Dou Royal Academy?"

"At your age, this is the best time for cultivation."

"If you want to go, I can help you."

Xue Qinghe did not know how Li Zhixian's martial soul or Soul Power measured up.

But he figured a drunkard could not be much good.

"No."

Li Zhixian answered without hesitation.

He truly did not understand it.

Why did both Zhu Zhuqing and Xue Qinghe want him to go to school?

Xue Qinghe was about to continue speaking.

Just then.

Pufferfish and Snake Lance walked over from the distance.

Xue Qinghe's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly as he said:

"I have something to do. I'll be leaving first."

Li Zhixian was busy gnawing on chicken and merely waved without looking up.

Seeing how casually this country youth treated their Young Master.

A trace of anger rose on Stingray Douluo's face.

Snake Lance Douluo sighed.

"Forget it. Ever since the Young Master started coming to Lotus Lake every day, his personality has become much brighter."

"As long as it does not interfere with the plan, let it be."