Inside the main hall atop Divine Sword Sect, Ling Ju glared at Ling Jing as he came in, her expression tinged with anger.
"What were you doing today? Didn't I tell you to stay in your room?!"
Ling Ju was genuinely fed up with her little brother. The moment nobody was watching him, he'd take off running.
And what had he been doing? He was covered in dirt!
Ling Jing knew why Ling Ju was angry, so he immediately tried to soothe her.
"Sis~ Don't scold me... I really didn't do anything bad today. I went to train with the Senior..."
The Senior??
Ling Ju froze a little. It wasn't that she was curious about this Senior; she was surprised that Ling Jing would address anyone that way.
Ling Jing grinned at the bewildered Ling Ju.
" Sis, you still don't know, do you? That Senior we met that night wasn't called Zhao Zilong of Changshan. His name is Jing Pu!"
Ling Ju was still utterly confused, but before she could speak, Ling Jing suddenly looked at her with an unusually serious expression.
"But, Sis, when you meet the Senior, you have to be polite. You absolutely mustn't address him by name. Call him Senior, just like I do."
Ling Ju hadn't understood much of what he'd said, but at that, she gave her earnestly serious little brother a strange look.
The rudest person under heaven was now telling her to be polite??
She was about to ask what had happened that morning when Ling Jing's expression turned odd and he abruptly changed the subject.
"Sis~ That Dragon Heart Soft Armor of yours... is it about due for repairs?"
Hmm??
Ling Ju looked at Ling Jing strangely. Since when had her little brother cared about such trivial things?
She nodded slightly.
"Yeah. Why?"
Ling Jing chuckled.
"Then, Sis, how about I repair and maintain it for you?"
Ling Ju: "???"
It wasn't exactly an undergarment, but it was still worn beneath her robe. More importantly, what was going on with her little brother?
Seeing the suspicion on Ling Ju's face, Ling Jing jolted. Uh-oh. That had been a little too obvious.
He awkwardly turned to leave.
"Never mind if you don't want me to. I was just saying. I'll get going."
Ling Ju came to her senses and frowned.
"What are you going to do now?"
Ling Jing had already walked out of the hall. Without looking back, he called out:
"Digging!"
Ling Ju: "???"
Ling Ju was baffled. What on earth had gotten into her little brother?
Was it because of that Senior?
Ling Ju furrowed her brow in thought. But... so far, he seemed... pretty good.
Ling Ju knew her little brother better than anyone. Ling Jing was far too good at getting into trouble!
As soon as nobody was watching, he'd sneak off and stir up trouble. One day he'd beat up a prince from some dynasty; the next, he'd tear down that dynasty's royal city.
Just three months ago, Ling Jing had beaten up Yan Tian, the legitimate heir to the throne of the Yan Dynasty. Yan Tian was King Yan's only son and sole legitimate heir.
Like Ling Jing, he had been designated the next successor. But Ling Jing had beaten him so badly he could no longer father children.
King Yan had personally hitched himself to a carriage and hauled Yan Tian from the royal city of the Yan Dynasty to Bei Lan Imperial City to demand justice.
When they arrived at Bei Lan Imperial City, the white-haired King Yan had knelt at the city gates, weeping and pleading for justice. The incident had caused a tremendous uproar throughout the Northern Province.
In the end, her father had personally appeased him and bestowed a vast heap of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Only then had the matter been settled.
Her little brother feared nothing and no one. There were only two people he was afraid of: their father and Ling Ju.
But their father was busy every day, so he couldn't keep an eye on Ling Jing all the time. Ling Ju had been the one watching him until she entered Jade Pool Holy Land to cultivate a year ago. After that, nobody kept an eye on him.
Their mother doted on Ling Jing excessively, and that was how he'd gotten into so much trouble.
But now, it seemed this Senior could keep Ling Jing in line. That pleased Ling Ju most of all.
She had never seen Ling Jing show this much respect to an outsider.
With this Senior around, she wouldn't have to worry so much.
Thinking of it, Ling Ju also remembered Ling Jing's comment about the Dragon Heart Soft Armor.
Her little brother had never cared about such trivial matters before. Let alone offering to help her, he was lucky if he didn't cause her trouble.
It must have been the Senior's influence, teaching Ling Jing to care about his family.
Ling Ju sighed. She really wanted to meet this Senior.
As for Ling Jing saying he was going to dig, Ling Ju didn't think much of it. It was probably some kind of cultivation method the Senior had come up with, or perhaps some other strange thing. That didn't matter. What mattered was that Ling Jing wasn't causing trouble.
She really ought to thank him in person sometime. But... not right now.
Ling Ju turned to look at a glowing sand table on the desk and sighed.
"The Lord of Ten Thousand Armies' formation... is just too difficult..."
With that, Ling Ju gently closed her eyes and sent her divine sense into the sand table once more.
Over the next week, Jing Pu was thoroughly worn out by Ling Jing and Lie Chun!!
Those two rascals came knocking before dawn to help Jing Pu hoe the earth. They'd hoe all morning, no matter how much he tried to persuade them or chase them away.
For the first two or three days, things were still manageable. Each of them could dig only seven or eight holes, maybe a dozen, in a day.
But after that, it was as if they'd suddenly figured everything out. They dropped the act and dug more and more. Between the two of them, they could dig seventy or eighty holes in a single morning.
Jing Pu's front yard wasn't that big, yet the two of them had churned it into a pockmarked mess, without a single level patch left, as if it had been blasted indiscriminately by artillery.
Eventually, Jing Pu gave up. Fine, they could do whatever they wanted in the front yard. He went to plant his own crops in the backyard and warned them not to come back there under any circumstances.
Thankfully, they listened and stayed in the front yard to dig.
But who could've guessed that once they'd filled the whole front yard with little holes, they'd start digging big holes in the little ones!!
Jing Pu was dumbfounded. He was digging holes to plant vegetables and food, not to dig himself a grave!
Why the hell were they digging holes that big?!
And after digging those huge holes, they didn't even tidy up the dirt. They just piled it off to the side.
At night, the place looked like a mass grave, with eerie mounds of earth everywhere!
Lie Chun was the chief disciple, and Jing Pu still didn't know Ling Jing's status. But judging by his clothes and the patterns on them—dragons and immortal cranes—he clearly wasn't anyone ordinary.
Jing Pu couldn't very well kick them out outright, so he had no choice but to let the two of them keep wrecking the front yard. He could only hope that once their enthusiasm wore off, those two weirdos would hurry up and leave.
But judging by the way things were going, they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.
On the afternoon of the seventh day, Jing Pu had half-filled the mounds of earth that looked like graves. He sat in the little pavilion, drinking tea and taking a break. With those two rascals gone, it was finally peaceful.
But... it hadn't been peaceful for long when Jing Pu suddenly saw a mountain in the distance... collapse...
What was going on now? Was he really not allowed a single peaceful day?
Half an hour later...
Inside the main hall at the highest point of Divine Sword Sect, Ling Ju slammed a hand on the table and shouted angrily:
"That Senior has gone too far! Where is he? Arrange for us to meet!"
Di Chen and Ling Tiannan, standing before Ling Ju, exchanged glances, unconvinced. Ling Jing had caused that mountain to collapse. Why blame their Senior?
At the same time, Ling Jing sprinted excitedly along a flagstone path in Divine Sword Sect, clutching a leather Inner Armor in his hand.
Senior~~~ I've stolen my sister's Inner Armor for you~~~~~~
Before you continue