The rooftop of the Drunken Immortal Restaurant.
The cool night breeze blew, dispersing the noise of the day.
Fang Xuan and Ning Xian sat side by side on the high roof ridge.
Below their feet were the scattered lights of the capital city, and above was a bright, clear moon hanging in the deep blue night sky.
Several jars of the famous Celestial Drunk brew were already empty, the jars tilting haphazardly against the roof tiles....
Fang Xuan's eyes were somewhat blurry; he swirled the wine bowl in his hand, looking at it against the moonlight before turning to look at Ning Xian beside him.
"Why isn't Senior Sister drinking..."
"Hmm? Why are there three Senior Sisters..."
Ning Xian remained unfazed; this little bit of mortal alcohol was no different from plain water to her.
She watched Fang Xuan's drunken state with a hint of helplessness, yet she also found it... rather cute.
"Junior brother, why don't you use your spiritual power to dissolve the alcohol?" she asked softly, reaching out to steady the swaying Fang Xuan.
Fang Xuan took the opportunity to lean his head against her shoulder. "Then... then what would be the point of drinking?"
Ning Xian: "......"
That... actually made some sense?
While she was still pondering this philosophy of drinking, Fang Xuan could no longer hold himself up.
His body tilted, and he slid down, resting his head on her knees which were held together.
He nuzzled a bit to find a comfortable position, mumbling "Senior Sister smells so good..." under his breath.
His breathing soon became light and shallow as he drifted off to sleep just like that.
Ning Xian looked down at Fang Xuan resting on her lap, sleeping peacefully; his profile looked completely defenseless in his dreams.
Her fingers subconsciously toyed with a lock of his loose black hair, and the slight frustration she felt over the unfinished business of the day was replaced by a softer emotion.
Her sleeping junior brother was so well-behaved...
However...
She looked up at the moonlight, then back at the junior brother sleeping soundly in her arms, a look of struggle flickering across her face.
Should she wake him up?
If she didn't, wouldn't tonight's daily training... be delayed?
Even though he had just broken through, consolidating his foundation would be good... yes, it was purely for the sake of cultivation efficiency.
But seeing him sleep so soundly... would it be bad to wake him? It was rare for her junior brother to relax like this...
Deep within her soul.
Cold Little Ning Xian shook her head and said solemnly: The path of cultivation lies in perseverance. Now you are thinking only of shortcuts and deviant paths. Ning Xian, you are beyond saving...
Indulgent Little Ning Xian: Junior brother is tired, let him sleep! We can make up for the training tomorrow! Double! No, triple!
Villainous Little Ning Xian thought pensively: Perhaps... I could try a technique that requires his cooperation while he sleeps, or... just cultivate him directly? No, I can't bring myself to do it...
.......
Just as Ning Xian's internal theater was performing intensely, with her finger hovering over Fang Xuan's cheek, hesitating whether to poke him awake or let him continue sleeping—
"The moonlight is quite nice, young lady."
A young male voice suddenly drifted from the roof of another building not far away.
Ning Xian's eyes instantly sharpened, and the soft aura she had because of Fang Xuan retracted in an instant, replaced by a layer of frost.
She didn't even turn her head, only glancing out of the corner of her eye.
On a roof about thirty meters away, a person had appeared at some unknown time.
That person was dressed in embroidered silk like a young noble, with jade hanging from his waist and a folding fan in his hand, looking over with a smile.
His gaze swept back and forth over the sleeping Fang Xuan in her arms, finally settling on Ning Xian's arms wrapped around him.
"The night is deep and the dew is heavy. It is a fine mood for a lady to be drinking and admiring the moon alone, but why..."
Seeing that Ning Xian ignored him, the man was not annoyed. Instead, his smile deepened as he closed his fan. "Forgive my presumption, but I do not know where you are from, lady. Why are you holding onto my clan uncle without letting go?"
Ning Xian was confused. What clan uncle?
But she heard clearly the intention in the other person's words: they wanted to take Fang Xuan away from her.
They were here to steal her junior brother.
She vaguely remembered that her junior brother seemed to be the illegitimate child of some elder from the Fang family...
But she didn't care about the Fang family or any tribal kin.
She didn't want to dig into her junior brother's past; if he didn't tell her, she wouldn't ask.
She only knew that Fang Xuan was hers now.
Only by her side, protected by her, was he absolutely safe.
And only she would do anything for him.
She slowly stood up, her long hair spreading out under the moonlight.
With one hand still steadily holding Fang Xuan, she pointed her other hand like a sword and, without even looking, lightly sliced through the void beside her—
A pitch-black spatial rift appeared next to her and Fang Xuan.
"Wanting to leave? I knew you had this trick." The man no longer cared about acting graceful and pulled a green jade seal from his robes.
"Seal the heavens and lock the earth, freeze!"
The jade seal burst with brilliant light, and several waves of spiritual power instantly spread out, attempting to stabilize the surrounding space and close the rift.
Ning Xian didn't even look at the jade seal; she simply held Fang Xuan and stepped lightly into the rift.
Just as she was about to disappear into the crack, she looked back and gave the man, who was frantically activating the jade seal, a faint glance.
Those eyes, tinged with dark red, were calm and rippleless.
Yet that single glance made the man feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, and the spiritual power fueling the jade seal stalled.
"Laughable..." Ning Xian spoke calmly.
Two cold words drifted on the wind...
In the next moment—
Crack!
The green jade seal, which looked quite extraordinary, was instantly covered in web-like cracks.
Then, under the man's disbelieving gaze, it shattered with a bang into jade powder, its spiritual light completely extinguished.
Ning Xian's figure had already vanished into the spatial rift while holding Fang Xuan.
The rift quickly closed, as if it had never existed.
The night wind blew across the rooftop, leaving only the silk-clad disciple standing there like a fool.
His hand was still held out in a pushing gesture, but his palm held only a small handful of falling jade powder...
He looked at the empty rooftop opposite him, then at the jade powder in his hand.
"Where... where did they go?" he muttered.
.......
"Useless!" A roar of anger came from below, and several figures appeared on the rooftop like ghosts.
Leading them was a majestic-looking middle-aged elder whose beard was shaking with rage as he pointed at the disciple's nose and cursed, "I told you to watch him! Where is he?"
The disciple trembled and stammered, "They... they left..."
"Where is the Space-Stabilizing Seal I gave you?" the elder barked.
"It... it broke..."
With a face like he wanted to cry, he held up his hand to show the jade powder.
"You can't even keep an artifact safe, what use are you? Go back and clean the family toilets for three months!" the elder jumped in anger.
"Elder! This is an injustice!"
He really wanted to cry. "That enchantress... that enchantress was too weird. She just looked at me once, and the seal broke."
"Injustice my foot!" the elder cursed again.
"I could hear you blabbering from miles away! Why did you waste so much breath? You should have just moved to detain them first!"
At this time, another older man with a more stable aura slowly stepped forward.
He looked at the spot where the spatial rift had vanished, then glanced at the pile of jade powder, his brow furrowed.
"Did you see her clearly?" the Grand Elder asked in a heavy voice.
The disciple quickly stopped his crying face and answered respectfully, "Reporting to the Grand Elder, I saw her! She was a... a white-clothed woman who was incredibly beautiful! The person she was holding was indeed our clan uncle.
That woman's gaze was very fierce. She must be an enchantress who covets our clan uncle's beauty and primordial yang!"
The elder who had been cursing earlier couldn't help himself. "It's all because you just stood there looking without acting! Now they're gone, and the seal is ruined!"
The Grand Elder waved his hand, stopping their argument.
He remained silent for a moment before slowly saying, "I have been at the peak of the Transformation Realm for decades, and I flatter myself that I know a thing or two about spatial power... but this kind of method is unheard of."
Everyone present felt a chill in their hearts upon hearing this and subconsciously swallowed.
"Then... Grand Elder, what do you mean?" the cursing elder asked cautiously.
The Grand Elder's gaze was deep as he slowly spat out four words: "Above the Transformation Realm."
A chorus of gasps rang out.
Above the Transformation Realm! What kind of concept was that?
That was a legendary existence!
The disciple's face turned pale; remembering those dark red eyes, he felt a wave of lingering fear.
He had actually fanned himself and acted cool in front of an existence that might be above the Transformation Realm? He even called her a lady?
It was truly his ancestors' blessing that he hadn't been stared to death!
"Then... then my clan uncle... can we still get him back?"
The Grand Elder looked at him without speaking, only letting out a sound from his nose: "Nn."
The disciple didn't understand. "What... what does that mean, Grand Elder?"
The Grand Elder looked at him again, this time with a heavier voice: "Nn!"
The disciple was even more confused. "In the end... what does it mean?"
Can we get him back, or not?
Please don't just grunt, sir.
The Grand Elder gritted his teeth and said directly to the elder who was still fuming, "Punish him to clean the family toilets for six months."
The cursing elder immediately responded, "Understood!"
Disciple: "???"
Why? Why did it double?
Did he forget to check the almanac before leaving today? First he was scared by someone and lost his treasure, and now he has to clean toilets for half a year...
Rate on N.U.
