Chapter 46: The Wish Is Granted, But You Are No Longer My Senior Brother

Lingxi waved goodbye to Qian Chongxue. The moment she turned around, a tall and slender figure blocked her path.

"Senior Brother, your fellow apprentice sister is over there. You are blocking my way, so if you please, kindly step aside."

Lingxi’s tone was polite, her brows and eyes carrying a smile—a service-industry smile where the warmth never reached her eyes.

Chu Xinghe’s figure involuntarily swayed. He clenched his fists, the pain of his fingertips piercing his skin helping him to regain his composure.

The words "this Senior Brother" pierced deeply into his heart, and a sour, salty sensation filled his nasal cavity.

No! Lingxi was merely testing him.

"You used not to address me in such a manner."

Chu Xinghe looked at Lingxi with sorrow, a deep desolation emerging in the depths of his eyes, as though Lingxi had committed some unforgivable wrong against him.

Lingxi laughed. "Senior Brother must have forgotten that I am no longer a disciple of Serene Tranquility Peak.

If you have anything to say, Senior Brother, please make it quick. There are many people around right now, and I wish to avoid any misunderstandings that would leave me unable to clear my name.

Our Master is still waiting for us to eat."

In the past, it was always Lingxi who prepared the meals and called each of them one by one, and it had been a long, long time since he last tasted Lingxi’s cooking.

Once he apologized, he would take Lingxi back to Serene Tranquility Peak, and everyone would eat together, and they could return to the way things used to be.

Hope surged within the young man's eyes, and he said earnestly, "Junior Sister, it was my fault before. I should not have favored one over the other, nor should I have suppressed your natural disposition... In short, I have wronged you in many ways.

I hope you can forgive me. Let things be as they were before—we will dine together and cultivate together."

He tried hard to lower his voice, but his voice naturally carried a cold undertone, making it impossible to suppress completely. Instead, it gave off a bizarre sensation, akin to a burly man wearing a ballet skirt and dancing.

Sui'an had originally not intended to meddle in their affairs, but hearing that the other party was here to poach people, he immediately grew anxious and tightly grabbed Lingxi's hand.

"Junior Sister, don't listen to his sweet words. There are hardly any decent folks on Serene Tranquility Peak.

If he truly cherished you... well... he wouldn't have forced you to carry Lin Rou before.

Although I am not as powerful as him right now, I will find a way to become strong, and I also want to protect the people I wish to protect.

I can protect you in the future too, Junior Sister. I don't want to be a useless older brother."

Lingxi's expression flickered slightly, a flash of light crossing her eyes.

It felt as though she had heard those words somewhere before.

Seeing that she did not reply, Sui'an squatted directly in front of her, blocking her line of sight to Chu Xinghe.

"Junior Sister, you aren't blaming me, are you? Blaming me for not rushing to the scene to pick you up?

When I returned to the sect to fetch reinforcements, the Sect Master said Master had already left, and several elders had already arrived at Bamboo Creek City.

If I went, I would only cause trouble for you all, so I gathered the senior brothers to wait for you at the entrance instead.

I woke them up in the middle of the night, and even took two blows to the head from the Second Senior Brother's knuckles."

Surprise flashed in Lingxi's eyes. No wonder when she looked at them earlier, they had all looked so listless.

"Junior Sister, you mustn't overthink it. The senior brothers didn't beat me because I woke them up. They blamed me for taking you down the mountain without reporting it, which led to you encountering monsters.

Don't mind the fact that they usually don't pay much attention to you; actually, they all like you quite a lot."

Sui'an spoke disjointedly, saying whatever came to mind, terrified that Lingxi might run off with Chu Xinghe.

The sect had very few junior sisters, let alone a junior sister as super powerful as theirs.

If not for her when they encountered that bizarre monster, he would have lost his life long ago.

Watching Sui'an squat in front of her like a large golden retriever, blabbering incoherently like spilling beans, Lingxi found herself torn between laughter and tears.

Chu Xinghe clenched his fists tightly, reining in his racing mind, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Junior Sister Lingxi, from the perspective of your long-term growth, I still hope you will return to Serene Tranquility Peak with me.

After all, the Grand Competition is very important to disciples of the immortal sects. If you participate in the competition with our team, the probability of being selected on the roster will be much higher.

Moreover, when forming teams for the competition, we have lived together for years and are familiar with each other, so our coordination will be much better."

Compared to Sui'an, Chu Xinghe's argument was far more persuasive.

Lingxi did not comment on whether he was right or wrong. Instead, she pulled Sui'an up and asked Chu Xinghe a question.

"If I were still a good-for-nothing who had not yet opened my spiritual pathways, would Senior Brother still have come looking for me? Adding flowers to the brocade is certainly precious, but providing charcoal in the snowy winter is far more rare.

You say we have been fellow apprentices for three years and know each other well, yet you do not even know what my favorite food is.

As the saying goes: some people grow old together yet remain as strangers, while others meet briefly and feel like lifelong friends."

Watching Lingxi's lips move, Chu Xinghe gradually stopped hearing the words she spoke.

No! It wasn't like this! Lingxi had always listened to him; he would surely be able to keep her.

He definitely could!

Seeing that Lingxi was about to turn and leave, he suddenly remembered a birthday gift Lingxi had given him many years ago.

He quickly rummaged through his commonly used Cosmos Sack and finally found a white silk pouch in a dust-filled corner. Due to improper storage, the white silk had turned slightly yellow.

Losing his composure, Chu Xinghe tremblingly took out the pouch.

"Look, Junior Sister, it is still here! You said that as long as the pouch remained, I could take the slip of paper inside it and claim a wish from you."

His slender fingers drew out the slip of paper from within the pouch. The white rice paper had turned yellow, and the ink calligraphy on it was crooked and stiff.

It was written:

Happy Birthday to the Eldest Senior Brother!

Lingxi grants the Eldest Senior Brother one wish!

Valid forever!

At the very bottom was a simple smiley face.

Lingxi took the slip of paper and, under Chu Xinghe's hopeful gaze, read the words aloud.

"The validity of the wish is forever, but Chu Senior Brother is no longer my Eldest Senior Brother. My current Eldest Senior Brother is called Bing Cang.

As for the Grand Competition that Senior Brother mentioned, I will definitely go. The promise with my senior brother lies there, and I must go to support him.

My senior brothers may not be powerful right now, but they choose to protect me. Driven by a sense of responsibility, can being powerful really be that far away?"

Lingxi tore the slip of paper apart and raised her hand, scattering the white paper fragments to drift in the wind, showering them all over Chu Xinghe's head.

The frost in Chu Xinghe's hands fell away, and his entire body collapsed to the ground.

The onlookers realized the gravity of the situation and hurried to summon people to take Chu Xinghe for medical attention.

Sui'an glanced behind him with lingering anxiety and quietly asked Lingxi, "Are you really not going to care about him anymore?"

Lingxi deliberately teased him, "So Senior Brother hopes I will care, and then return to Serene Tranquility Peak with him?"

Sui'an nervously replied, "Don't you go running off, Junior Sister. If you leave, the whole peak will become lifeless again, and Master and the others haven't smiled like this in a long time."

Lingxi retorted, "Oh, spare me. You've read too many romantic scripts, haven't you?"

Under the bright sun, the young man held a young woman's hand as they disappeared before the Council Hall and stepped onto the iron chain bridge.

The second round of trials was about to begin. It was a team-based trial, and among their four members, only Bing Cang's cultivation was slightly higher.

Yet other teams boasted a multitude of Foundation Establishment cultivators; the probability of them winning was truly very low.

Sui'an looked at Lingxi beside him, scratching his head in a fit of vexation.

Why on earth had he tried to stop Chu Xinghe from taking Lingxi away just now?

Lingxi deserved a much broader stage.

"What is Senior Brother hesitating for? Could it be that everything you said earlier was a lie to me, and you don't want to become strong to protect me at all?"

Lingxi crossed her arms, turned her head away, and let out a huff, her cheeks puffed up in anger.

Sui'an predictably fell for it, squatting down to coax Lingxi.