When a brother-con meets a sister-con...

As Gu Xia waited anxiously, crisp footsteps finally came from upstairs...

The first thing to enter his sight was a delicate blue crystal high heel adorned with a dark blue ribbon. Following the winding ribbon upward, he saw a pair of slender, well-proportioned legs, flawless and as fair as jade...

Higher up was a butterfly skirt. Its dazzling colors and smooth silk fabric made it easy to imagine just how breathtaking she would look beneath the lights.

Connected to the skirt was a gauzy off-the-shoulder top. A crystal brooch decorated with a colorful butterfly and orchid, surrounded by glittering gemstones, added an air of noble beauty to its wearer...

Above those fair, alluring collarbones was Xun'er's breathtaking face—beautiful yet elegant, pure with a touch of playfulness, as graceful as an orchid without being overly seductive. Her long black hair fell naturally, without a hint of disorder, over her jade-white shoulders...

Gu Xia had to admit that, at the sight of the girl dressed so splendidly, his heart of steel and diamond began beating uncontrollably once again...

Gu Xia's inner thoughts:

The little angel said, "Oh no! Beast! What unhealthy things are you thinking about?"

The little devil said, "Who isn't fourteen years old once? This is called innocent purity, you know?"

The little angel said, "No, you need to wake up! Don't forget, our country has a complete criminal code!"

The little devil said, "What's there to fear? Three years is a bargain, and the death penalty isn't a loss, right? Besides, what do you have to fear as a Dou Di?"

The little angel said, "No! As an outstanding youth of the twenty-first century who received nine years of compulsory education, you can't do this!"

The little devil said, "Why be so timid when you're a Dou Di? If you're a man, rush over there and kiss her!"

The little angel said, "No! You can't do this!"

But Gu Xia's actual thoughts were more like this:

Gu Xia said, "Holy shit! That brooch is huge... Pah! Such a pretty brooch must be worth a lot of money, right?"

The little angel said, "???"

The little devil said, "???"

Xun'er approached Gu Xia with light, unhurried steps. She said nothing, merely gazing deeply into his eyes with those beautiful eyes that seemed to hold autumn waters...

"Xun'er..."

Only then did Gu Xia realize just how beautiful and captivating this girl was. Though he had already been stunned by her beauty when she came downstairs, it was only after she stood before him that he truly understood how beautiful this girl, elegant as a lotus and refined as an orchid, truly was... (Hey, she's only fourteen!)

"Brother Xia..."

They called to each other tenderly. Moved by emotion, Xun'er slowly closed her expressive eyes and slightly raised her pretty face, tinged with a faint blush. Her long eyelashes trembled lightly as she rose onto her toes and leaned toward Gu Xia's embrace...

Worried that Xun'er might fall, Gu Xia instinctively supported her exposed shoulders. The cool, silky softness unique to a girl's skin against his palm suddenly brought to mind an illustration from a book...

In an instant, he felt enlightened. He knew what he had to do next. If he still disappointed this girl now, could he even call himself human?

Gu Xia's right hand slid down to wrap around Xun'er's soft, boneless waist. Tightening his hold, he stepped forward and let her body rest against his. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. At last, the two red lips that had long yearned for each other finally met at this moment...

The setting sun dyed the streets red. Pedestrians hurried by, while cooking smoke curled into the sky.

There was a pair of young lovers: the girl looked lovely in her splendid attire, a white ribbon fluttering in the evening breeze amid her long black hair. The boy was equally handsome, and his sky-blue formal robes further accentuated his warm, jade-like temperament.

They were like a golden boy and jade girl, hand in hand as their shadows slowly stretched beneath the hurried crowd and glowing sunset... When their gazes met, they occasionally smiled, as though each saw no one but the other. Perhaps, in their eyes, the other was not only the one they loved,

but their entire world... Night quietly fell. Since so much time had been wasted waiting for Xun'er to try on clothes during the day, it was already nighttime by the time Gu Xia and Xun'er returned home. To reward Gu Xia for being especially considerate and gentle today, Xun'er decided to cook for him herself. She made him a meal of delicacies unique to this world, and Gu Xia ate to his heart's content. Naturally, there was no shortage of time for the two to be affectionate with each other. Though Xun'er took the initiative most of the time, she did not find it boring. After all, she had discovered that this iron-man-level straight-laced guy was trying hard to learn how to cherish her...

That alone was enough for Xun'er. At the very least, she could see that he genuinely treated her well. His methods were just a little clumsy, that was all...

At last, after trying on clothes all day, Xun'er peacefully fell asleep amid sweet dreams. Though this was Gu Xia's room for Xun'er, to Xun'er, any place that carried Brother Xia's scent was the most reassuring place of all. (Confirmed brother-con!)

Yet only Xun'er slept quietly in that enormous soft bed. Gu Xia was nowhere to be seen...

It was not that he was trying to play the role of a gentleman. The main reason was that most of the day had been spent waiting for Xun'er to change clothes, so the fabric he had bought from that clothing store had yet to be made into finished products. He might have been a straight-laced man, but he still had his own aspirations!

(No more talking. White stockings are supreme!)

"Hmm, making clothes shouldn't be that hard, right?"

In the study, Gu Xia looked at the white silk fabric the proprietress had given him for free and spoke with growing confidence.

But just in case, he still took out several blank sheets of paper and began designing the culturally significant outfit he had in mind...

Half an hour later...

"Not bad. I've finally finished designing the collar. But it's only clothing design—what could possibly be difficult about it?"

One hour later...

"Holy crap, this thing is kind of hard to handle..."

Three hours later...

"What the hell is this thing?!"

Gu Xia flung away his pen. Looking at the "design sketch" on the large sheet of paper, which could barely be recognized as a piece of clothing, he gave up thinking...

"Sigh, keep going. As a Dou Di, how can I be stumped by a single outfit? Let's go!"

Yet after being dejected for only a dozen seconds, he continued working for the dream in his heart! For Xun'er's most beautiful appearance! How could a dignified Dou Di possibly be defeated by one piece of clothing?

And so, dawn arrived.

"Not bad. A few more days should be enough to finish it..."

After pulling an all-nighter, Gu Xia looked at the masterpiece he had designed over the course of the night. At last, he nodded in satisfaction and put away the blueprint. Next, he had to begin another, even more important task.

"Hmm, although the Heavenly Fragrance Pill is a fourth-tier medicinal pill, it isn't impossible for me to refine it. But with only one set of ingredients, it ultimately isn't safe enough... Sigh, if I'd known, I would have learned more alchemy from the old man. Even a Dou Di is useless without knowledge..."

That was right. Back when he was in the Gu Clan, Gu Xia had studied the basics of alchemy under Gu Cheng for a while. Gu Cheng had been so devastated by Gu Xia's bizarre alchemy methods that he threw him some strange pill formulas and several alchemy primers before retreating into self-imposed isolation. He had even sworn that he would not emerge until he became an eighth-tier alchemist...

"The old man is really something. Wasn't it just that the first pill I refined had a slightly larger quantity, slightly better quality, and a slightly higher tier—for a genius beginner refining pills for the first time? At most, my refining method was a little unusual. Was that really necessary..."

Gu Xia did not yet know that the method he had used for his first alchemy attempt had completely overturned every existing technique in the alchemist world. It was like Columbus discovering the New World or Einstein proposing relativity—a completely new, modernized method of refining pills!

Put simply, it was much like conducting a chemistry experiment. Droppers, test tubes—he had even come up with things like differential centrifugation. On the spot, Gu Cheng's worldview had been ground into dust!

It was also through that incident that Gu Cheng learned how to use such miraculous objects as a balance scale and a graduated cylinder...

"Although modernized alchemy methods have a high success rate, they ultimately lack a certain liveliness. They're too rigid and precise. If I have to account for things at the molecular level, even my Di Realm soul power won't be able to sustain it. Low-tier pills are manageable, but high-tier ones are impossible. There are simply too many types of molecules to control..."

Gu Xia knew the drawbacks of his modernized alchemy methods, so he decided to first master this world's original methods of refining pills.

But man proposes, heaven disposes. Just as he was planning to drag his second granduncle Gu Cheng out to continue teaching him alchemy, Gu Dao and Gu Yuan tossed him into the Xiao Clan in faraway Wutan City to work as an undercover agent...

"Looks like I still need to find a teacher. Without guidance, if I explore on my own, how long will it take to become a tenth-tier alchemist? Not to mention finding pill formulas and medicinal herbs..."

Gu Xia sighed helplessly. It seemed that he absolutely had to visit both Canaan Academy and the Pill Tower. The former was for the Heavenly Flame, and also to accompany Xun'er in reminiscing about the days when they woke earlier than chickens and slept later than dogs...

"Forget it. There is still plenty of time before Canaan Academy begins admissions. I'll use this gap to refine the Heavenly Fragrance Pill for Xun'er. Looks like it's time to visit the Mittel Auction House as well..."

A playful glint flashed in Gu Xia's eyes. If he remembered correctly, this Mittel Auction House had given Xiao Yan, the future one-star Dou Di, quite a bit of help in the early days...

"Hehe, Ya Fei? Let's see just how clever you really are..."

An evil thought gradually surfaced in Gu Xia's heart, but before devil horns could sprout from his head, some movement came from the bedroom next door. He knew that his precious Xun'er had awakened.

"Hmm, heaven and earth may be vast, but my wife is the greatest. Time to go wake up my precious Xun'er~"

Yep, confirmed sister-con. When a brother-con met a sister-con, wouldn't the outcome be...