You Look Down on Him, but Has He Ever Looked Up to You?

You Look Down on Him, but Has He Ever Looked Up to You?

For a time.

Inside the Chen Family Great Hall, the atmosphere grew somewhat still.

"Why aren't you speaking? Could it be that even after I've made myself this clear, you still aren't willing to retreat in the face of difficulty?"

Lu Ying frowned, her dark brows knitting together.

"..." Chen Zhixing was speechless. Only after a long while did he take a deep breath and ask in return, "Miss Lu, I'm very curious. What exactly makes you think I'm definitely interested in you? That it has to be you and no one else?"

Lu Ying said calmly, "If you were not interested in me, why would you have the Chen family seek out my father and ask me to become Dao Companions with you? If you were not interested in me, why would you investigate and learn that I like eating Osmanthus Cake, then specially buy Osmanthus Cake to come and see me?"

The moment these words fell.

"Shut up!"

The Hemp-Clothed Middle-Aged Man stood up with his face flushed scarlet, both ashamed and furious. "Lu Ying, regarding the matter of you and Nephew Zhixing forming a marriage tie, I was the one who took the initiative to seek out the Chen Family Head! Only after pleading in every way, good words and bad, did the Chen Family Head agree to introduce you to Nephew Zhixing! Before that, he didn't even know who you were!"

Whoosh—! In an instant, Lu Ying's entire face went white.

A fierce wave of shame and embarrassment surged into her heart at once.

Before she could react.

A faint sound of footsteps rang out.

Immediately after, a cool female voice, rich with the bearing of an aloof older beauty, sounded from outside the great hall.

"Miss Lu, right? I think you've misunderstood. This Osmanthus Cake should be something Zhixing bought for me."

A White-Robed Woman whose beauty was flawless beyond criticism stepped into the great hall, one step at a time.

Chen Zhixing looked over at the sound, and a gentle smile immediately rose on his face. He stood, brushed past Lu Ying, and came to stand before the White-Robed Woman.

He had not even glanced at Lu Ying.

"Sister Yue'er, you're here." Chen Zhixing handed the Osmanthus Cake in his hands to Mo Qingyue.

"Little Zhixing, you've grown taller again. You're already as tall as me." Mo Qingyue, whose appearance was partly revealed, accepted the Osmanthus Cake and smiled at Chen Zhixing.

Then her gaze once again turned to Lu Ying, who stood in place with a pale face, and she said lightly, "Miss Lu, you keep saying all sorts of things to look down on Zhixing, but have you ever thought that he may not look up to you either?"

The moment these words fell.

They were like a critical blow.

Lu Ying's face turned even paler. Her entire body stiffened as if struck by lightning. Standing all alone in the center of the great hall, she only felt as though countless gazes inside the hall were looking toward her, and within those gazes were snickers that looked upon her as a clown.

Chen Zhixing paid her no more attention. Instead, he looked toward Chen Daoyan on the main seat and asked casually, "Family Head, is there anything else? If not, I'll head back first."

Chen Daoyan nodded and said, "Mm, nothing major. It's just that in a few days, the family will hold a Southern Border Trial to prepare for next month's Eastern Xuan Region Tournament. When the time comes, all the Chen family disciples will participate. Don't forget.

"Then there's Zhaosheng, who has returned from Qianyang Academy. He will also participate in this trial and the Eastern Xuan Region Tournament. See if you want to go receive him. Forget it, you definitely won't go anyway. You can head back."

By the end, Chen Daoyan rubbed the space between his brows with a bit of a headache.

Chen Zhaosheng and Chen Zhixing were clearly both Prodigies, yet they just happened not to get along with each other.

It truly made his brain ache.

"All right, then I'll take my leave."

Chen Zhixing cupped his hands toward Chen Daoyan, then left together with Mo Qingyue.

From beginning to end, neither of them looked at Lu Ying again.

Watching the two of them leave from behind.

Chen Daoyan patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder and sighed. "Brother Lu, this younger daughter of yours is muddleheaded!"

Hearing this, Lu Yuan gave a bitter laugh and said, "Forget it. It can only be said that the two of them have no fate."

Hearing this, Chen Daoyan shook his head inwardly. This Lu Yuan, even now, was probably only thinking that he had failed to form a marriage alliance with the Chen family. He had no idea what he had missed! Of course, he naturally would not say more about these things.

If Lu Ying could become Dao Companions with Chen Zhixing, he naturally approved. If they could not, he did not care either way.

"Oh right, Brother Daoyan, this Zhaosheng you mentioned just now, is he the Chen family's Nine Ancient Marks Wielder with the Innate King's Diagram?" Lu Yuan suddenly asked.

"That's right. Why?" Chen Daoyan was taken aback.

"I was thinking... why not let my daughter get to know Zhaosheng? They're both young people, so they'll certainly have things to talk about," Lu Yuan said.

"This..." Chen Daoyan frowned and said, "Fine, then. Come with me to receive Zhaosheng."

Within the great hall.

Lu Ying, whose face had originally been pale, had her eyes quietly brighten the moment she heard the key terms "Innate King's Diagram" and "Nine Ancient Marks Wielder."

On the mountain path leading to Third Peak.

Chen Zhixing and Mo Qingyue walked at the front, while Bi Luo followed close behind, matching them step for step.

"Little Zhixing, counting the time, it's been a year since we last met, hasn't it?" Mo Qingyue said with a faint smile.

"Yes. Sister Yue'er, though, has become more and more beautiful," Chen Zhixing said with a smile.

"Smooth talker!" Mo Qingyue feigned anger and glared at Chen Zhixing, then could not help turning her head away with a smile.

"You're getting so sly now, even learning how to make your big sister happy."

The two chatted as they walked toward Third Peak.

"Sister Yue'er, how's the Jia Family reconstruction going? Have you been busy?" Chen Zhixing asked casually.

"It's been all right," Mo Qingyue replied offhandedly, then narrowed her beautiful eyes and said, "It's just that during the process of building it up, I realized there's still a lot I don't understand about cultivation. I came back this time specifically to ask you for advice."

At this point, Mo Qingyue quietly glanced at Chen Zhixing.

Several years ago, she had discovered by chance that Chen Zhixing's comprehension was astonishingly good. Even problems she encountered in cultivation could be resolved by him with a casual remark.

For a time, Mo Qingyue had been so shocked she thought him a Heavenly Being.

After that, she often used the excuse of "rebuilding the Jia Family and not understanding many issues" to test Chen Zhixing's comprehension, wanting to know exactly where Chen Zhixing's limits lay.

This time, she had returned from the Heavenly Saint Palace to the Chen Family because an elder of the Heavenly Saint Palace, one who was extremely fond of researching spells and divine abilities, had encountered a difficult problem while creating a fire-path divine ability called the "Heaven Burning Art."

That problem had caused the "Heaven Burning Art" to remain unable to reach true perfection! With the mindset of giving it a try, she wanted to see whether Chen Zhixing, who had always been successful in everything he attempted, could solve a problem that even a Heavenly Saint Palace Elder could not! One had to know that that elder of hers was a renowned figure even in the Cultivation World, an existence known as a Grandmaster of Spells! "Sure, Sister Yue'er, just go ahead and tell me," Chen Zhixing said, not thinking too much of it as he casually agreed.

"Good! Little Zhixing, then I won't stand on ceremony!"

The two arrived beside a cliff on Third Peak.

Mo Qingyue immediately began circulating the Heaven Burning Art, its essence unchanged, but its might weakened countless times over.

In order to let Chen Zhixing see clearly, Mo Qingyue deliberately revealed the circulation method of the Heaven Burning Art.

Threads of light surfaced within Mo Qingyue's body. Then those lights circulated through the Acupoints in her body in a grand circuit, forming a special and complex circulation method.

In the end, all those lights appeared in Mo Qingyue's palm, transforming into a mass of black flame that burned fiercely.

"How is it? Can you see anything?"

Mo Qingyue looked at Chen Zhixing. Just the complexity and obscurity of the Heaven Burning Art's circulation method alone made even her feel it was somewhat tricky, let alone creating it.

She had no confidence in her heart as to whether Chen Zhixing could identify where the problem lay.

"This looks easy, but it's actually very difficult."

"Why don't I demonstrate it a few more times? You can look more carefully."

Mo Qingyue was somewhat worried that Chen Zhixing would not be able to handle it, and was thinking of demonstrating it a few more times first.

However.

Before she had even finished speaking.

Hiss! A ball of black flame identical to the one in Mo Qingyue's palm appeared in Chen Zhixing's hand.

"Ah?"

Mo Qingyue's beautiful eyes instantly widened, and she froze slightly.

The next moment.

Chen Zhixing frowned faintly and pondered, "The structure of this spell... there's a problem at one of the nodes."

In an instant.

Mo Qingyue's heart gave a violent shake.

Here's the second update. Usually, according to the editor's rules, during the new book period there are two fixed updates every day. This author will see how things go and whether I can squeeze out two more chapters during the day.

Lastly, it's a new week, so I'm asking for 24-hour follow-up reads and all kinds of stats. During the new book period, follow-up reads are very important. Many thanks.