Ye Lingling: Yanzi, Su Li Insisted...

"Hey... what did Senior Ye... say to you just now?"

Ning Rongrong pursed her lips awkwardly, her brows deeply furrowed.

She had originally thought that aloof senior sister would not have any special feelings for Su Li.

But then...

She had only gone out a little later, and the two of them were already walking together?

And they had been standing so close just now...

Could they have been doing... something secret?

Ah!

So annoying, so annoying!

"Nothing much. She just asked about the Nine-Heart Begonia martial soul."

Su Li answered calmly, his eyes frighteningly sincere.

Ning Rongrong stared at him for two seconds and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

That was what she thought...

She was still being too sensitive.

She wondered whether Su Li would like this...

Pah, pah, pah!

Who wanted him to like her?!

Ning Rongrong patted her head and looked away, a faint blush coloring the tips of her ears.

Su Li glanced at her, smiled, and sat down in a chair.

Then—

Right in front of her, he began cultivating.

"What is this? It's only right to relax once in a while..."

Ning Rongrong sighed helplessly, sat beside him, and turned her gaze toward the two girls chatting not far away.

With a soft huff, she rested her head against Su Li's shoulder.

His cultivation paused for a moment before continuing again. He said nothing.

"Lingling, you and Xiao Li..."

"We discussed a few things."

"Oh, I know... I was just curious why you took the initiative to go find him?"

Ye Lingling looked at her slightly anxious good friend. The way she kept asking questions from every angle somehow made her seem like an adorable little puppy?

Pah!

How could she describe her good friend like that?

Ye Lingling thought about it for a moment, then tilted her head and looked at her curiously. "It was Junior Su Li who took the initiative."

Dugu Yan's expression stiffened. She took two steps back and forced a faint smile. "Ahem... Lingling, don't joke around..."

"I'm not. It really was Junior Xiao Li who took the initiative."

Ye Lingling blinked her pure, flawless eyes. Her calm, unruffled gaze made her seem incapable of lying.

Dugu Yan would rather believe that Ye Lingling was deceiving her than accept this reality.

No!

She had been caring for him attentively for an entire year, yet her progress was worse than her best friend's?!

They had only met a few times, after all.

They could barely even speak to each other normally!

He took the initiative... he took the initiative...

"Damn it! Just because he took the initiative, you gave it to him?!"

Dugu Yan's pretty face flushed red as she pressed her hands onto Ye Lingling's shoulders. She suddenly regretted introducing her to Su Li.

Could it be...

Did her little husband like this type?

Well, he was quiet and reserved, and her best friend was quiet and reserved too.

The two of them really did look well suited for each other...

No!

How could she think that?!

That was her man!

"Yanzi, he insisted."

"If you don't believe me, go ask him."

"Alright... I'm going back to cultivate. Bye-bye~"

The moment Ye Lingling turned around, she could not help curling her lips into a smile. Even her steps became much lighter.

With her hands clasped behind her back, her blue hair gently swayed above her head. She looked full of life, completely unlike her usual withdrawn and introverted self.

"I... I don't dare ask him directly..."

Dugu Yan lowered her head dejectedly and glanced at the two in the courtyard below. They were leaning so intimately against each other that her chest rose and fell slightly, as though she had suffered a blow.

"Hmph~ I'll let Ning Rongrong have him for a few years."

"Once he grows up, just watch and see whether I snatch him away!"

Dugu Yan left decisively, no longer willing to make herself suffer.

This scene—

In Ning Rongrong's eyes, it looked as though she had given up.

"Hehe~ Stupid woman, Su Li will never fall for you."

Ning Rongrong muttered softly. The boy beside her heard every word clearly.

Hm?

How did she use two verbs in a single sentence?

The leaves had yellowed, and the autumn air was crisp.

Su Li stepped on the fallen branches beneath his feet, producing several sharp cracks.

As the dry leaves burst apart, it felt strangely stress-relieving.

"Xiao Li, you've eaten quite a bit of Whale Glue lately. Are you confident you can absorb a thousand-year soul ring?"

Chen Xin looked at the boy beside him, who had grown considerably taller than before, and increasingly felt that he possessed his own youthful bearing.

"No problem."

Su Li answered, his gaze falling on the signboard ahead.

It read—Ahead lies the outer region of Star Dou Forest. Non-soul masters are advised not to enter. Those who do so will bear the consequences themselves.

"Grandpa Sword! You have no idea how disgusting that Whale Glue tastes!"

"Sometimes I was so nauseated that I couldn't eat anymore, but Su Li would force it in, making me..."

"Just thinking about that feeling makes me uncomfortable..."

Ning Rongrong covered her stomach and pretended to retch.

She glared at Su Li from the corner of her eye, as if blaming him.

"To endure hardship beyond hardship is to rise above others."

"There will be even more hardship in the future. If you can't even manage this much, how can you grow?"

Su Li said meaningfully.

"Hmph! Why are you pretending to be so profound?" Ning Rongrong planted her hands on her hips in displeasure and declared arrogantly, "I'm the little princess of the Seven Treasures. I'm destined to enjoy life, not suffer!"

"Why should I force myself to suffer when there's no need to?"

At that point—

Ning Rongrong suddenly realized that over the past year or so, she had been eating papayas every day. Wasn't that exactly forcing herself to suffer for no reason?

Ah!

So annoying...

If she had known, she would not have made things so difficult for herself just because of something Su Li said casually!

Although she did seem to have become a little prettier, wasn't that simply because she had always been naturally beautiful?

Besides that...

It seemed only her chest had become slightly fuller than before?

"Enough, you two. Stop arguing."

"Xiao Li is right. Which soul master has not endured trials and hardships along the way?"

"If you want to stand out, what does a little hardship matter?"

Ning Rongrong gave a soft snort and did not argue back.

After all—

She was used to it by now.

Still, having Su Li pry open her mouth and feed her did give her an indescribable feeling...

After only one time, she had gotten used to it...

Remembering how she had complained while swallowing it without hesitation, Ning Rongrong could not help feeling her pretty face heat up, the tips of her ears turning red.

How had she ended up being fed by Su Li?

Shouldn't it have been this young lady feeding him instead?

Still—

It had felt rather nice...

The three of them walked through the outer region of Star Dou Forest for a while. Aside from encountering a few Soft-Bone Rabbits, they found nothing else.

"That's strange... We've been walking for so long. Logically, we should have encountered at least one hundred-year soul beast by now."

"Why are there only little rabbits?"

Ning Rongrong scratched her head and looked at Chen Xin in confusion.

She had thought that perhaps he had failed to conceal his aura, frightening all the soul beasts away.

Su Li observed his surroundings and noticed a scorched mark on a tree not far away.

It looked as though it had been caused by an attack from a fire-attributed soul beast.

At that moment—

Chen Xin, who had kept his hands behind his back and his expression blank, suddenly narrowed his eyes.

Looking southeast, his lips moved.

"That soul beast is coming..."

A moment later—

A four-legged soul beast with horns on its head and a golden-red body charged toward them.

Its expression was pained, as though it had been injured.

"A Sacred Flame Dragon Lizard?! It's actually this kind of soul beast..."