The next day, Ming Xiao disappeared as if missing, without a single sign.

He didn’t even respond to his messages.

Chu Xinghui anxiously waited for a long time, thinking Ming Xiao had finally given up on helping him, and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Then he went to check on Xie Liufeng’s whereabouts.

Unfortunately, Xie Liufeng had gone out on some business, so Chu Xinghui didn’t find an opportunity to bother him.

He could only practice the cultivation method alone a few times, then followed his habit and practiced swordsmanship.

Until late at night, Ming Xiao still showed no sign of activity.

Chu Xinghui thought tonight would be a peaceful night and planned to sleep for two hours to celebrate a little.

But just as he finished preparing his bed, a hurried knocking came from outside the door.

Chu Xinghui opened the door and saw Ming Xiao holding a stack of papers.

Ming Xiao peeked into his room to check the time on the watchtower and confirmed “today” had not yet passed. Finally, he stopped worrying and asked Chu Xinghui: “Is there any water?”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He let Ming Xiao in and poured him a cup of water.

Ming Xiao caught his breath, put down the papers he brought, retied his loose headband which had loosened from rushing over in a hurry, tidied his appearance, and returned to his usual proud expression: “I told you it was today. Am I someone who breaks promises?”

Chu Xinghui glanced at the time and was silent for a moment.

From a certain point of view, Ming Xiao was indeed very punctual.

With a bit of respect for someone who kept time, Chu Xinghui took the initiative to ask: “You came to me now, does that mean you’ve found a suitable plan?”

Ming Xiao showed him the stack of papers he held: “After messaging you yesterday, I went out overnight to buy some popular romance novels. These are the steps I summarized, and these are experiences I got from asking several senior brothers and sisters who have Dao companions.”

He was so well-prepared that Chu Xinghui couldn’t help but look at him with new respect and trusted his plan a bit more.

Ming Xiao flipped to a highly praised novel case: “For example, in this case, the beginning of the relationship was that the protagonist fell in love at first sight and sent a bouquet of flowers.”

Chu Xinghui glanced at the lush osmanthus tree outside the window: “Done that.”

Ming Xiao switched to another: “…Then the protagonist borrowed a poetry collection from the beloved, returning it later, which also gave them a chance to discuss their understanding of literature and art, making it easy to create connection and affection.”

Chu Xinghui felt a bit awkward: “That would be hard. Neither of us likes that.”

Besides whether he and Xie Liufeng even cared for those romantic things, even if they did have such books, they wouldn’t need to borrow them. He could just go directly to Xie Liufeng for them.

Plus, they lived together. Why would they need to try to create connections?

Ming Xiao thought for a moment and suggested, circling and marking on the paper: “Then try to exchange sword techniques or something?”

Chu Xinghui understood: “He’s given me that before.”

Ming Xiao looked disappointed and continued flipping: “Look at this one. A senior brother told me his experience was ‘to win someone’s heart, first win their stomach’. He impressed his beloved with excellent cooking skills.”

Chu Xinghui nodded: “That’s true.”

Although he could cook, Xie Liufeng’s cooking was much better. When Xie Liufeng cooked, he could only help out in the kitchen.

He really liked Xie Liufeng’s cooking.

Especially the fish soup stew.

Ming Xiao, still unconvinced, flipped a few more pages: “Try to create more physical contact?”

Chu Xinghui nodded again: “We’ve done that.”

He and Xie Liufeng had physical contact almost every day.

Ming Xiao came up with a new idea: “How about a chance for the hero to save the beauty?”

Chu Xinghui answered: “Already happened.”

Though he was the one who got saved.

…

Ming Xiao ran out of ideas and couldn’t help but ask: “Since you’ve done all this… why aren’t you together yet?”

Also, who was this person? Ming Xiao had met Chu Xinghui a few times but didn’t remember he had such a close friend.

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He felt Ming Xiao was a bit rude and didn’t want to answer the question.

Ming Xiao waved his hand and threw all the papers aside: “Although these plans aren’t reliable, I have one last plan. This plan is my own idea, without referencing anyone else’s advice. It’s absolutely the best!”

Hearing “without referencing anyone’s advice,” Chu Xinghui became cautious.

Ming Xiao said to him: “Challenge him to a fight, then defeat him!”

Chu Xinghui was stunned.

Ming Xiao explained seriously: “If someone defeats me, I will definitely be impressed by him.”

Chu Xinghui thought for a moment: “You have a point.”

Ming Xiao proudly raised his chin.

He was so smart, of course everything he said made sense.

Chu Xinghui continued objectively: “But I can’t beat him.”

By logic, no one in this world could beat Xie Liufeng.

Ming Xiao: “…”

Ignoring the facts, he started blaming Chu Xinghui: “You can’t even beat your Dao companion, how do you have the face to pursue one?”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

They stared at each other for a moment.

Ming Xiao stared at Chu Xinghui and asked: “Who should you listen to now?”

Chu Xinghui actually thought following Ming Xiao’s plan had a lower chance of success than pestering Xie Liufeng himself.

But before he could say his opinion, Ming Xiao kept staring unrelentingly.

Chu Xinghui sighed: “Alright.”

Ming Xiao put his hands on his hips and commanded: “Then tomorrow you go fight him. If you lose, don’t come back to see me! When you win, we’ll move on to the next step!”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

Then it’s probably impossible to take the next step before he ascends.

I wonder if it’s still in time to break ties with Ming Xiao now.

*

Early the next morning, as Xie Liufeng just opened the door, he saw Chu Xinghui standing solemnly outside.

Chu Xinghui looked up and asked him: “Do you have any plans today?”

Xie Liufeng looked at him with some surprise: “What’s going on? You’re so polite today?”

Chu Xinghui pursed his lips and repeated: “Just tell me if you have something or not.”

Xie Liufeng thought about his schedule for the day: “Normally, yes, I do.”

Since he could naturally avoid carrying out Ming Xiao’s ridiculous plan, Chu Xinghui breathed a sigh of relief: “Then I’m off.”

Xie Liufeng chuckled: “But if you need me, I can be free.”

After all, it wasn’t anything very important, doing it today or tomorrow didn’t make much difference.

Chu Xinghui was about to tell him to mind his own business, but when their eyes met, he involuntarily changed his tone: “I need you.”

Xie Liufeng smiled, eyes curved slightly: “Alright, I’m free today. What do you want?”

Chu Xinghui remembered Ming Xiao’s instructions, put on a serious face, and raised his sword at him: “I want to challenge you today.”

Xie Liufeng was a bit puzzled but still followed Chu Xinghui.

Chu Xinghui took him to the place where he usually practiced swordsmanship.

Xie Liufeng recalled Chu Xinghui’s cultivation progress and gave a suggestion: “Use the sword technique you’ve been learning recently. I’ll help you check it out.”

Chu Xinghui nodded.

Xie Liufeng held his sword, calmly helping adjust movements and feeding him attacks.

Regarding cultivation, Chu Xinghui couldn’t help but seriously comprehend.

After an hour, Chu Xinghui’s new sword technique was looking quite proper.

He replayed the duel in his mind, suddenly remembering his real goal today. He looked at Xie Liufeng: “No, I’m here to challenge you.”

Xie Liufeng wiped his spirit sword, thought for a moment, and asked: “A real match?”

Chu Xinghui nodded.

So from then on, he directly experienced the power of a Sword Sovereign.

Xie Liufeng helped him up from the ground, afraid he’d get discouraged, and comforted him gently: “You’re still young, your strength is already very good. When you reach my age, you might even surpass me, no need to worry.”

Chu Xinghui failed several times in a row and felt a little discouraged, so he tried to cheat. He asked Xie Liufeng: “Can you let me win once?”

Xie Liufeng glanced toward a dark corner and sensed another junior coMing over. He finally understood why Chu Xinghui was acting unusually today: “So when you said you wanted to challenge me, you just wanted to win once?”

Chu Xinghui honestly nodded.

Xie Liufeng couldn’t help but want to laugh, guessing: “Did you make a bet?”

Chu Xinghui thought about it and agreed with another nod.

Xie Liufeng nodded too: “Alright, I get it.”

So in the following match, Xie Liufeng naturally made his swordsmanship look like a beginner’s and naturally fell to the lower side.

During the final move, maybe Chu Xinghui couldn’t hold back his strength or maybe he didn’t want to—either way, he rushed forward and ended up right in Xie Liufeng’s arms.

Xie Liufeng reached out to hold his waist, preventing them from falling over together, and smiled: “Alright, now you’ve won.”

Chu Xinghui was satisfied.

The entire process was recorded on a spirit recording stone, which he could show to Ming Xiao as proof.

If Ming Xiao didn’t believe it, he would just show him the recording stone.

Xie Liufeng skillfully patted Chu Xinghui’s head and asked: “You’re free today, want something to eat?”

Chu Xinghui didn’t hold back and ordered several dishes.

Xie Liufeng quickly went to prepare the ingredients.

*

After Xie Liufeng left, Ming Xiao sneaked out from the shadows.

Seeing him, Chu Xinghui was a bit surprised: “Where were you hiding just now?”

Ming Xiao proudly showed off the hidden-tracking talismans pasted all over his body: “If I was hiding, of course you wouldn’t be able to see me.”

Though Chu Xinghui didn’t quite understand why Ming Xiao was sneaking around Qingjing Peak, he still reported: “According to what you said, I’ve already won.”

Though he had used some minor tricks.

Ming Xiao urged him: “Won what? Where’s your Dao partner? Why haven’t you gone to find him?”

He looked around, trying to spot Chu Xinghui’s unknown Dao partner.

Chu Xinghui was a bit confused: “I looked for him.”

Ming Xiao didn’t believe it: “You spent the whole day practicing swordsmanship with the Sword Sovereign and didn’t go look for your Dao partner!”

Chu Xinghui explained: “That’s Xie Liufeng.”

Ming Xiao was a little confused about the connection: “Huh?”

Chu Xinghui explained in detail: “I want him to be the one who is my Dao partner—that’s Xie Liufeng.”

Ming Xiao’s eyes widened in horror.

He hesitated, glanced at Chu Xinghui, and seeing he really didn’t mean to change his mind, quickly packed his things and ran away.

He hadn’t expected Chu Xinghui to try to outrank him by a generation.

Well, this favor was a bit too much for him to handle.

 

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