"Senior Brother Wuyou," Yu Luo bit her lip. "I am not someone who cannot afford to lose."
"Neither is Senior Brother, though," Chen Wuyou replied with a smile.
Hearing this, Yu Luo looked somewhat annoyed yet helpless. She stared intently at Chen Wuyou for a long while before finally speaking: "Senior Brother, you could be even stronger, couldn't you?"
Chen Wuyou reduced his smile to the faintest trace and remained silent.
With that, Yu Luo brushed away the trace of disappointment lingering in the depths of her eyes and walked off the stage with her usual cold demeanor, just as she had after defeating Wang Meng.
Chen Wuyou hurried after her and explained, "Look here, Junior Sister, that isn't what Senior Brother meant. Actually, your strength is truly..."
"No need to say more, Senior Brother." Yu Luo parted her red lips, cutting off Chen Wuyou. "To have had this battle is already a supreme blessing... Please help Senior Brother pass a message to the Old Sect Master: Yu Luo will come to pay her respects before long."
Chen Wuyou: "?...!......(?????)"
Meanwhile, the disciples beneath the stage looked at one another in dismay.
"Who won?"
That was the first question.
No one answered.
"Have you figured out Senior Brother Wuyou's true cultivation level?"
That was the second question.
Dead silence.
"Do you think if Senior Brother Sikong were here, he could win against them?"
That was the third question.
At this, a voice came from afar, "Hard to say, but I am very much looking forward to it."
The disciples turned their heads one after another.
A young man, seemingly not yet twenty, descended upon a flying sword.
It was none other than Sikong Ye, the number one disciple of the Xuanyang Sect's Inner Gate.
Before Yu Luo's meteoric rise, this man could be said to look down upon all heroes in the Xuanyang Sect.
His cultivation had already reached the Peak Second Layer of Mystic Spirit, and after spending the past few months in secluded cultivation, his appearance now undoubtedly meant...
New discussions gradually arose.
Chen Wuyou glanced at Sikong Ye, then looked at Yu Luo beside him, and curled his lip.
A guy, what is there to see.
Chen Wuyou had originally intended to quickly settle a date—bah, a time to meet—and then retire anonymously, but he never expected that the moment Sikong Ye landed, he would walk straight toward him.
"Junior Brother Wuyou, I've heard so much about you. Having just witnessed the spar between you and Junior Sister Yu Luo, your reputation is truly well-deserved."
"Heh heh." Chen Wuyou managed a stiff smile. "This senior... fellow apprentice, you flatter me."
Sikong Ye was well aware of Chen Wuyou's situation, so he wasn't annoyed that Chen Wuyou didn't recognize him. With a gentle expression, he introduced himself, "Junior Brother Wuyou, I am Sikong Ye, an inner gate disciple, a bit older than you, so you should address me as Senior Brother."
Seeing how courteous Sikong Ye was, Chen Wuyou had no choice but to rein in his impatience, nod, and ask, "I wonder what brings Senior Brother Sikong to me?"
Hearing this, Sikong Ye straightened his expression. "Junior Brother's strength is truly admirable, and your senior brother's hands are itching; I'd also like to spar with you."
As his voice fell, Chen Wuyou narrowed his eyes slightly and stood facing Sikong Ye.
An invisible gunpowder smell gradually diffused in the air.
The atmosphere instantly became somewhat oppressive.
Suddenly, Chen Wuyou grinned. "Senior Brother Sikong, you wouldn't think that my spar with Junior Sister Yu Luo was because I'm someone who loves fighting, would you?"
Chen Wuyou's voice was very low, audible only to Yu Luo and Sikong Ye, yet it carried a hint of mockery.
Sikong Ye's expression suddenly froze.
A flash of bewilderment crossed Yu Luo's eyes as she looked at Chen Wuyou in confusion.
Sikong Ye, unwilling to give up so easily, said, "If Junior Brother agrees, Senior Brother can give you some spirit treasures."
Chen Wuyou's mouth twitched, his gaze growing profound.
Spirit treasures—what could they bring him?
Happiness?
Hmph hmph.
"If Junior Brother is not satisfied, you may name other conditions."
"Senior Brother is in such a hurry to fight me?" Chen Wuyou raised an eyebrow, his tone bantering. "I didn't expect that after all these years, I'd still be so popular."
With that, Chen Wuyou laughed out loud.
At this, Sikong Ye's expression finally turned somewhat gloomy. "Junior Brother, I must ask you to show your senior brother some respect."
"Just joking, Senior Brother, don't be angry." Chen Wuyou tilted his head slightly and said, "How about this, Senior Brother? If tomorrow afternoon works, you and I shall have a battle in the Panlong Pagoda, how's that?"
"Junior Brother wants to fight me in the Panlong Space?" Sikong Ye frowned. "Is the Martial Fighting Stage not acceptable?"
The Panlong Space within the Panlong Pagoda was originally a training ground tailored for the sect's elite disciples, capable of simulating various combat environments and allowing disciples to practice alone or spar with each other.
Compared to the Martial Fighting Stage, this method of combat was much more covert.
"Senior Brother doesn't know." Chen Wuyou feigned helplessness. "I haven't been in the sect much these past few years. Now that I finally have a chance, I ought to get to know all the various places in our Xuanyang Sect."
"So that's how it is." Sikong Ye nodded in understanding. "It couldn't be better if Junior Brother agrees. I have no objections."
"In that case, Senior Brother, if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first."
"Very well, Junior Brother, take care."
Thus, having obtained a satisfactory result, Sikong Ye flew away on his sword under the gaze of the disciples.
Yu Luo's gaze toward Chen Wuyou held an extra hint of confusion.
Chen Wuyou naturally noticed this and smiled. "Junior Sister must be wondering why I agreed to Senior Brother Sikong so easily."
"...I waited for you for many days for this spar," Yu Luo implicitly affirmed.
"Actually, I didn't agree to him." Chen Wuyou chuckled. "After all, what I said was 'if it works,' he said it works, but I didn't~"
Hearing this, no matter how aloof Yu Luo's temperament was, she was amused by Chen Wuyou's sophistry. "Won't Senior Brother Sikong let the matter rest if you do this, though?"
"Anyway, no one will ever know what happens inside the Panlong Space." Chen Wuyou shrugged, unconcerned.
If the guy wasn't convinced, Chen Wuyou wouldn't mind taking him to have a cup of tea with the elders at home.
Hugging a powerful thigh—he was proud of it.
"Big Brother Wuyou." Shangguan Mo ran over from the crowd and threw herself into Chen Wuyou's arms.
Chen Wuyou looked at the young girl and smiled. "Well, wasn't your big brother amazing just now?"
"Super amazing!" Shangguan Mo wrapped her arms around Chen Wuyou's neck and praised loudly, while not forgetting to look smugly at Yu Luo, the "bad senior sister" in her mind.
"And you said Big Brother Wuyou wouldn't win, bad senior sister, you didn't win either, did you?"
Chen Wuyou: "......"
After all these years, this little padded jacket of his was leaking wind for the very first time.
Although the words didn't sound too pleasant, facing Shangguan Mo's slightly upturned little face, Yu Luo really couldn't bring herself to be angry. She could only explain rather helplessly, "Senior Brother, don't misunderstand. What I said back then was that Junior Brother's swordsmanship training was still lacking, and I still wanted to have a battle with Senior Brother Wuyou."
Clearly, this was what Yu Luo had said when rejecting a certain challenger.
She was very curious about how these words had been twisted along the way into her slandering Chen Wuyou.
Hearing this, Chen Wuyou tapped Shangguan Mo on the forehead. "Did you hear that? Senior Sister Yu Luo didn't mean it that way."
"...Is that so?" Shangguan Mo felt a bit embarrassed. She jumped out of Chen Wuyou's arms, twisted her fingers, and apologized to Yu Luo: "Pretty Senior Sister, I'm sorry, I wronged you."
Seeing Shangguan Mo's form of address instantly change from "bad senior sister" to "pretty senior sister," Yu Luo couldn't whether to laugh or cry.
"You child." Chen Wuyou smiled helplessly. "You change your tune even faster than your big brother here."
"No way, she is very pretty anyway. If it weren't for Big Brother Wuyou... I wouldn't want to call her a bad senior sister~"
Shangguan Mo pouted her small mouth, looking aggrieved.
Seeing this, the two of them, whose hearts almost melted, looked at each other and smiled. Although it was only their first meeting, Yu Luo instantly took a liking to this cute little junior sister.
...
A moment later, to avoid the disciples' gazes, which felt like they were looking at some rare creature, Chen Wuyou directly took Shangguan Mo and left the Martial Fighting Stage together with Yu Luo.
"Mo'er, where do you want to go later?"
"I promised Xiaoqiu yesterday that I'd go keep it company today."
"Alright, no problem." Chen Wuyou nodded in agreement, then looked at Yu Luo on the side. "Junior Sister, if you have time, how about coming along for a stroll?"
"Apologies, Senior Brother." Yu Luo shook her head and politely declined. "I still want to seize the time to cultivate."
Chen Wuyou naturally knew Yu Luo wasn't like slackers like him, and he hadn't held out much hope anyway—he was just asking as a formality.
"In that case, then..."
Chen Wuyou was about to nod when he saw Shangguan Mo beside him suddenly scurry over to Yu Luo and act cutely spoiled in a babyish voice: "Pretty Senior Sister~~~"
And so, the little one began a long persuasion process.
Chen Wuyou watched from the side, seemingly calm on the surface, but blooming with joy on the inside.
Who said the little padded jacket leaked wind! Chop it up!!
In the end, Shangguan Mo won a complete victory.
Chen Wuyou: "(?＞?＜?）."
...
"Senior Brother Wuyou, is Xiaoqiu a spirit pet?"
"Uh, well, you could say that? It might be a little big."
And then, Yu Luo stared at the Crimson Flame Qilin, which was the size of a mountain, and fell into deep contemplation.