"Holy crap!"
Seeing the slap rapidly approach, Xiao Lei hurriedly pulled his arms back and raised a hand to stop it just before it struck his face.
"You crazy girl, what's gotten into you?"
Xiao Lei was completely baffled. All he'd done was take a trip to the Mittal Auction House. How had that made it seem like he'd done something to betray her? She'd even swung at him!
What had he done?
Usually, Xiao Lei could sneak a little something from her without her getting angry.
"Damn you, Xiao Lei! What do you mean by this?"
With Xiao Lei holding her hand, Xiao Yu seemed to have endured her grievances for a long time. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and tears spilled from her eyes.
"She's not even calling me 'little lecher' anymore. This seems pretty serious!"
Xiao Lei's heart pounded with alarm. What a girl called you wasn't important, but if she suddenly changed what she called you, that was important!
"Were you planning to leave me behind at the Xiao Clan and go enjoy yourself out there alone?"
Ha! She'd hit the nail on the head!
"Tell me, why are you leaving the Xiao Clan? You're not going anywhere until you explain!"
With tears in her eyes, Xiao Yu accused Xiao Lei, leaving him somewhat uncomfortable.
"I just don't want to keep eating the Xiao Clan's food, that's all. Who said I was leaving you behind?"
Xiao Lei looked innocent. Seeing his bewildered expression, Xiao Yu thought it over again and realized that he really hadn't said anything. They'd just made it all up themselves.
What nonsense was that!
"Then why didn't you discuss it with me before leaving the clan? I thought you'd run away!"
Xiao Yu had no objection to Xiao Lei leaving the clan. She knew better than anyone how the Xiao Clan had treated him all these years.
"I was just about to tell you. Who knew you'd get so worked up just because I was gone for a little while? I know I'm incredibly charming, but you don't have to cling to me like this!"
With the misunderstanding cleared up, Xiao Lei breathed a sigh of relief, and Xiao Yu gradually calmed down.
Xiao Yu understood why Xiao Lei didn't want to keep eating the Xiao Clan's food. Before he'd revealed his talent, they'd treated him so poorly. Now that he'd shown what he was capable of, he didn't want to owe the Xiao Clan anything, so he'd simply stopped eating their food altogether.
"Come to my place! Live at my house! Eat my food!" Xiao Yu said, leaving no room for refusal. She was just like those domineering female CEOs from Xiao Lei's previous life.
"How could I possibly—fine, fine, fine!"
Xiao Lei had planned to put up a show of reluctance and make Xiao Yu coax him some more. But apparently his ear had other ideas, since Xiao Yu had grabbed it.
And so Xiao Yu brought Xiao Lei back to her house. It really was her house, not her grandfather's, the Grand Elder's. When members of the clan came of age, the Xiao Clan gave them a house.
That was how Xiao Yu had gotten hers. As for the food Xiao Lei ate, Xiao Yu cooked it all herself, so he couldn't be accused of eating the Xiao Clan's food.
Those carefree days lasted for quite some time, until Ya Fei sent over a medicine cauldron and a Storage Ring, and Xiao Yan also seemed to be ready to break through to Dou Zhe.
"Yu'er, I need to talk to you about something!"
As he ate the meal Xiao Yu had made, Xiao Lei spoke up.
As for that way of addressing her, Xiao Yu had insisted on it herself. If he refused, she would keep clinging to him and wouldn't let go.
"The domineering female CEO told me to call her Yu'er, or she'd hang off me and refuse to get down!"
Xiao Lei had reluctantly agreed under duress.
"What is it? Don't you like the food?"
Xiao Yu had been staring dreamily at Xiao Lei's face. Only after hearing him did she come back to her senses.
Ever since Xiao Lei had revealed his talent, he seemed to have become even more charming!
At least, that was how Xiao Yu felt.
"No. I'm going to leave Wutan City for a while!"
The news seemed to come as a bit of a surprise to Xiao Yu.
But Xiao Yu understood better than anyone that, although she seemed to have the upper hand when they were together, that was only because Xiao Lei didn't care about such little things.
Once Xiao Lei made up his mind about something, there was no way she could talk him out of it. It was already a blessing that he'd told her about it.
"Mm... Take care of yourself. I'll go prepare some things for you!"
Xiao Yu had no say in Xiao Lei's decisions, so she could only do what she could to help.
Packing some clothes and preparing a few things was all she could do.
"Don't worry. I've still got this with me!" Xiao Lei patted the long saber beside him.
It was the weapon Xiao Yu had given him earlier, a Magic Core weapon she'd bought at Jia Nan Academy. It had cost her a pretty penny.
In the back mountains of the Xiao Clan, after a wave of energy fluctuations, a black-clad young man excitedly addressed the pale figure beside him.
"Teacher, I've broken through to Dou Zhe! What about the cultivation method you mentioned? Let me see it!"
After all these years, becoming a Dou Zhe again left Xiao Yan with complicated feelings, but he was even more excited than anything else. And the moment he thought of the mysterious cultivation method Yao Chen had mentioned, his excitement only grew.
"What are you in such a hurry for? With a temperament like that, how will you ever become a strong cultivator?" Though Yao Chen spoke that way, he was even more nervous than Xiao Yan. This was the moment that would decide his fate.
Only if Xiao Yan chose the Flame Mantra would Yao Chen have any hope of being resurrected.
Although Yao Chen had always been an upright man, he wouldn't go so far as to make Xiao Yan's choice for him just to ensure his own resurrection. Still, he could offer some advice.
"This black scroll is the Flame Mantra I told you about earlier. The other is an Earth Tier Low Grade cultivation method. The Flame Mantra is mysterious, but it's extremely difficult to cultivate. Think it over carefully. Even if you don't choose this Dou Technique, I can still raise you into a strong cultivator, and I won't blame you."
"Don't say another word, Teacher. I choose the Flame Mantra. I'll help you refine a body and bring you back to life!"
Xiao Lei silently gave Xiao Yan a thumbs-up!
Good choice! If he hadn't chosen it, how was Xiao Lei supposed to get his hands on the Flame Mantra?
"Good! You truly are my disciple. What courage!"
"Sit cross-legged and prepare to cultivate the method. I'll protect you."
The next day, while cultivating at home, Xiao Yan suddenly received a visit from Xiao Lei. By then, quite some time had passed since Xiao Lei left the Xiao Clan.
Xiao Zhan and the others had been searching for Xiao Lei all along, but Xiao Lei had been staying at Xiao Yu's place, where they couldn't find him. Ya Fei naturally wasn't about to tell them anything about his whereabouts, either.
So most members of the Xiao Clan assumed Xiao Lei had already left Wutan City.
Xiao Yan was curious about this sudden new genius, so he immediately met with Xiao Lei.
Who would've thought that Xiao Lei wouldn't bring up anything important once he arrived? He just stared at Xiao Yan and then chatted about a bunch of nonsense.
Although Xiao Yan had broken through to Dou Zhe and acquired a cultivation method, the Flame Mantra was still Yellow Tier Low Grade, so there wasn't much difference between having it and not having it. What was more, Xiao Lei had become a Second-Rank Alchemist, making the gap between them even wider. As a result, the time Xiao Lei needed to copy Xiao Yan grew shorter still.
During the copying process, Xiao Yan barely felt any discomfort. He just felt a little awkward under Xiao Lei's stare.
Although Xiao Lei's "What are you looking at?" system was prone to all kinds of problems when copying the strong, with all its strict conditions, bullying the weak was truly easy. It was practically just taking advantage of them.
With that, Xiao Lei quickly obtained the Flame Mantra.
Xiao Lei couldn't help but marvel. Xiao Yan really was a fine sheep. He'd shear him again next time.
The moment he imagined Xiao Yan accidentally discovering some Heavenly Flame that hadn't been mentioned in the original story, only for Xiao Lei to copy it straight from him, he felt fantastic!
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