Oops, Isn't This Hierarchy Messed Up?

Unlike the flash of anger that had flickered in her own eyes, the stranger before her stood rooted to the spot in a daze, his mouth slightly agape as he stared straight at her without a word.

Deep within those soft, dark purple eyes, a faint redness began to bloom.

Could it be... did he recognize her?

Xue Qinghe frowned slightly, a murmur of doubt rising in her heart, though she quickly dismissed the thought.

Given this man's presumptuous behavior, she should have offered a smiling reminder to maintain the image of a benevolent Crown Prince. Yet, for a moment, she felt like a startled kitten, instinctively wanting to look away, standing there timidly, even feeling a strange sense of grievance.

She did not know why she felt these emotions; was it because those eyes were so similar to someone else's?

If that madwoman were to look at her with such a gaze, she would absolutely react the same way!

A long silence stretched between them.

Seeming to finally snap out of it, the young man before her gradually regained his senses. His once tender eyes became evasive, a flash of panic crossing them.

In an instant, the complex emotions in his eyes dissipated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"This Seat is suddenly feeling quite unwell!"

Inside the Sealing Space, Bibi Dong sat upright, biting her lip. Her beautiful face was filled with panic as she quickly withdrew her spiritual power and shoved Naruto, who was beside her.

"Little Naruto, you take over!"

"Damn it!" Pushed by the Dong Trumpet, Naruto's eyes widened as he turned back to curse, "I gave you the chance, but you couldn't handle it!"

It was useless to dwell on it now. Naruto glared one last time at the embarrassed Bibi Dong, withdrew his consciousness, and followed through with a bow.

"Your Highness."

"Huh?"

Faced with Naruto's salute, Xue Qinghe opened her mouth in confusion, feeling that the speed at which this person's attitude had shifted was like a theatrical mask change.

"Your Highness, what is the matter?"

The butler following behind couldn't help but step forward to ask; the strange atmosphere between the two just moments ago was impossible to ignore.

"It's nothing..."

A flicker of suspicion crossed Xue Qinghe's eyes. She stared at the man before her; although his face remained unchanged, the aura radiating from his entire being had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation.

At the very least, at this moment, Xue Qinghe could never mistake him for a woman again.

"No, it's fine. Nothing happened."

Waving her hand to stop the butler, Xue Qinghe exhaled softly, adjusted her expression, and brought back the warm, gentle smile to resume her image as the benevolent Crown Prince.

"My apologies, my apologies. Little brother, you look just like an old friend of mine, so I was a bit distracted."

As she spoke, Xue Qinghe hurried forward to help the bowing Naruto up.

The two sat at the table. Xue Qinghe casually waved for the servants to bring tea, then began to inquire about Naruto's situation, using her concern as a pretext to probe into his background.

In all honesty, there was no need for Naruto to hide his meager background.

Born in a small town on the edge of Tiandou, parents both deceased, owned a house, no siblings—it couldn't be simpler.

Xue Qinghe sipped her tea, listening with a beaming smile and nodding occasionally to show concern. Yet, inwardly, she grew more suspicious; such a simple history felt like a fabricated resume, making it hard to believe.

However, that was not important; she could have Pufferfish or Snake Spear look into it later.

Returning to the most important topic:

The crystal ball on the table lit up, and a dazzling azure light filled the entire parlor.

Xue Qinghe's once calm eyes slowly widened, a hint of surprise appearing. This innate full spirit power was actually much stronger than the three useless ones in Spirit Hall.

Of course, this was from the perspective of the genius Qian Renxue. From the perspective of the ordinary Xue Qinghe, she naturally sprang up from her seat, grabbed Naruto's hand, and beamed with joy.

"Little brother Naruto! You are only ten years old and already a level twenty-eight Great Spirit Master! I fear no one on the entire continent can surpass this! Your future is limitless!"

"Your Highness..."

Naruto was about to offer a few humble words.

Xue Qinghe, who was quietly studying Naruto, seemed to suddenly recall something. Her gaze turned subtle, a faint, imperceptible smirk tugging at her lips as she interrupted him.

"Hey, I've already called you little brother, why do you still address me as Your Highness? Isn't that a bit too distant?"

"If you don't mind, you can just call me Brother Xue." Xue Qinghe looked at him with complete sincerity, her narrowed eyes carefully observing the changes in Naruto's expression.

Seeing a flash of hesitation and embarrassment cross Naruto's familiar face, Xue Qinghe felt a joy akin to victory, finding it increasingly difficult to suppress the corners of her mouth from curling upward.

Truth be told, the nearly twenty-year-old Xue Qinghe was a head taller than Naruto, so addressing each other as brothers was quite normal.

It was just that...

Naruto looked inward, glancing at the completely flustered Dong Trumpet.

If this "brother" title were set in stone now, it would be difficult for Bibi Dong to replace him and meet Qian Renxue in person in the future.

There was no time to think.

Xue Qinghe in the outside world was growing impatient; she pouted and tugged at Naruto's arm, urging him.

Faced with this childlike behavior, Naruto nodded helplessly in agreement.

"Brother Xue..."

"Yes!"

At this moment, Xue Qinghe was overcome with joy. The smile in her eyes could no longer be suppressed, especially when she caught a trace of unwillingness flashing through Naruto's eyes, which struck a chord in her heart and made her cover her mouth and chuckle.

If it were that madwoman, her expression would surely be even more interesting!

She hadn't felt this carefree in a long time.

Xue Qinghe chuckled for a long while before suddenly snapping back to reality at Naruto's reminder.

"Brother Xue?"

"Ahem!"

Quickly收敛 her smile, Xue Qinghe gave an awkward cough.

Her behavior just now did not look like that of the Tiandou Crown Prince. Secretly reminding herself, Xue Qinghe happened to catch a glimpse of Naruto's changing hair color and took the opportunity to change the subject, "Little Brother Naruto, what's with that rather good-looking hair color of yours? Did you dye it on purpose?"

"This?"

Naruto raised his eyes and reached out a finger to stroke his light purple hair tips.

Knowing the reason why Xue Qinghe was teasing him, and unable to expose her, Naruto had no choice but to go along with this awkward topic.

"My hair color wasn't originally like this. I asked the academy teachers, and it seems it gradually turned into this look due to the influence of my martial soul."

"So that's how it is."

Seeming to realize her own lapse in composure, Xue Qinghe then gently pressed her hand against her chest, forcefully suppressing the various thoughts in her heart, and the rest of the conversation returned to normal.

First, she witnessed Naruto's martial soul, then she praised his thousand-year second soul ring repeatedly, while taking the opportunity to mock a certain Grandmaster a few times.

If one ignored the fact that Xue Qinghe would occasionally reach out to try and pat Naruto's head while they chatted, only to be discovered by a shocked Naruto and dodged, the two of them truly looked no different from brothers.

Time flew by during their conversation. Naruto turned his head to glance at the sky outside the window, which had already turned completely dark, and prepared to stand up and take his leave.

"Brother Xue..."

Before he could rise, Bibi Dong's somewhat anxious voice suddenly rang in his ears, "Wait! You haven't asked how Xiaoxue has been all these years!"

Naruto froze in place and frowned. He could understand why Bibi Dong was so eager, but given his current identity, was it really appropriate to ask such questions?

"Ask her, quickly!"

Bibi Dong could wait no longer; she condensed her spiritual power into a thread and quietly tugged at the corner of Naruto's clothes.

Seeing this, Naruto shook his head helplessly. What else could he do? He had no choice but to rack his brains for a way.

Xue Qinghe also noticed that it was getting late. Turning her head to look at the night scene outside the window, her pupils constricted slightly; she hadn't realized they had been chatting for so long.

"It's already this late..."

Muttering to herself, Xue Qinghe heard the call from the person beside her.

"Brother Xue?"

Noticing the hesitation on Naruto's face, Xue Qinghe, who was in a very good mood, saw no reason to refuse and tilted her chin to signal him to continue.

Only then did Naruto feel relieved and asked, "I saw that you only returned home to rest today as the sun was about to set. As the Crown Prince, is your work really that busy?"

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