The main hall of the Immortal Academy.
Chen Xiang nestled in Yang Chan's arms, his big eyes wide and round. He scratched the hair buns on his head and looked left, then right.
Something wasn't right.
He had just put everything he had into breathing out a genuine mouthful of Six Ding Divine Fire. That was the true fire from Taishang Laojun's Alchemy Furnace, and it had nearly burned this shabby school's main pillar to ash.
And what had he gotten for it?
Apart from a few Immortal Officials who feared neither death nor disgrace blindly praising him, his own mother had nearly spanked his backside raw. Now she had him pinned in her arms, unable to move, as though he had broken the heavenly laws.
Then there was his little sister.
She had merely taken out a sheet of paper.
She hadn't even used any magic power or produced so much as a spark. All she had done was open her mouth and read out some running account of her father, her maternal uncle, and her maternal great-uncle.
Then the whole hall had erupted in applause.
Chen Xiang felt that his intelligence had been insulted.
If I'd known bragging took no effort and could still win first prize, why would I have breathed fire?
"Mother..." Feeling deeply wronged, Chen Xiang squirmed restlessly in Yang Chan's arms.
Smack.
Yang Chan's hand landed lightly on the back of Chen Xiang's head. She lowered her head and gestured for him to hush.
"Be good, Xiang'er."
"Look how sensible your sister is, and how well she wrote. Learn from her, quiet down, and stop spending every waking moment getting into trouble."
Chen Xiang's lips puckered, and he felt even more wronged.
What did she mean, getting into trouble?
Just the day before yesterday