Another crisp morning dawned, and breakfast time arrived. When Mi Xue’er entered the dining hall, she was surprised to discover that Yan Meng’er had dragged her chair over to her original spot and was now sitting right next to Yan Ruyu.
“Meng’er, what are you…”
“Cousin doesn’t like being sandwiched between two people. I’m not going to make him unhappy, so you can have the seat!”
Xiao Xinyan watched from nearby, her eyes gleaming with mockery.
Mi Xue’er’s emotions grew complicated. It felt like everyone else was being so understanding, while she was the only one acting petty and unreasonable—even though she had already planned to move back anyway.
She was thinking of Yan Zhen, too. She wasn’t some spoiled, unreasonable young lady!
Though she hated to give up those precious morning moments of snuggling close to Yan Zhen, Mi Xue’er lifted her chair and shifted it to Yan Ruyu’s other side.
“I’ll sit back here, too.”
And just like that, Yan Ruyu found herself wedged squarely between her best friend and her cousin.
“…”
She shot a disdainful glance at her cousin, then at her best friend, and let out a heavy sigh.
Yan Meng’er grumbled in dissatisfaction.
“Senior Sister Xue’er, you’re copying me again!”
Mi Xue’er brushed it off without a care.
“Little Sister Meng’er doesn’t know about this, but it’s called healthy competition.”
“There’s no such thing!”
“It totally exists.”
The two girls dove right back into their bickering.
Yan Ruyu’s ears buzzed incessantly with their chatter. All of a sudden, she found herself understanding Yan Zhen’s feelings a little better. No wonder he had put up with it for three whole days—if it had been her, she would have flattened them with a single slap ages ago!
Before long, Yan Zhen showed up. He blinked in confusion at the sight of Yan Meng’er and Mi Xue’er flanking Yan Ruyu on both sides.
The two girls immediately ceased their squabbling and greeted him with warm enthusiasm.
“Good morning, Cousin~”
“Good morning, Little Brother Yan Zhen.”
“Uh, good morning, Meng’er… Good morning to you too, Senior Sister Xue’er.”
Yan Zhen settled cautiously into his own seat. With the two of them grinning like that, he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were up to something.
The sight made Yan Meng’er and Mi Xue’er regret their petty sulking from the past few days. They had only wanted to get closer to him, but in the end, they had turned things upside down and pushed him away instead.
“Cousin, I’m sorry. Meng’er won’t bother you like that anymore. Will you forgive her? Here, Meng’er will let you have her soy milk.”
Yan Meng’er offered up her soy milk with perfect obedience—the one she’d already taken a single sip from, though Yan Zhen didn’t notice. Her face brimmed with sincerity, and those big, watery eyes of hers seemed to plead, Meng’er knows she was wrong. Please forgive her! It called to mind the image of a sweet little girlfriend shaking his arm and coquettishly begging for mercy.
Yan Zhen eyed his cousin with deep suspicion for a long moment, making sure she wasn’t pulling any tricks. Only then did he reach out and take the cup.
“Alright, you’re forgiven—here, take mine.”
As he spoke, he took a big gulp from it, then slid his own fresh cup of soy milk across the table to her.
Yan Meng’er accepted it with both hands, her voice dripping with sweetness.
“Cousin is the best. Meng’er loves you~”
Those bold words set Yan Ruyu’s and Xiao Xinyan’s hearts racing. They both inwardly spat in disapproval.
Yan Zhen, however, was used to it by now. He simply rolled his eyes at his cousin.
Not one to be outdone, Mi Xue’er put on her own shy, coquettish display.
“Little Brother Yan Zhen, let me give you my tofu pudding as an apology. Please don’t be mad at your big sister anymore, okay?”
Yan Zhen gave her a slight smile.
“I wasn’t mad. I just wasn’t used to being treated like that. Let’s swap bowls—I’ve only had one bite anyway.”
Mi Xue’er’s eyes lit up.
“Sounds perfect!”
The two of them exchanged their bowls of tofu pudding.
Their little exchange left the other two girls green with envy. Yan Ruyu glanced at her half-finished soy milk, while Xiao Xinyan eyed her mostly untouched bowl of tofu pudding. Both their pretty faces flushed with a charming blush.
Finally, the atmosphere turned harmonious.
Yan Zhen felt his tension ease at last.
After all, both girls were stunningly attractive, and having them press their soft bosoms against his arms the whole time? Who could possibly hold out against that?
If they kept it up, he might have resorted to every trick in the book to tease them mercilessly—making their bodies tremble uncontrollably, leaving them drenched and humiliated, too embarrassed to ever snuggle up to him again.
To stick to the proper course of the story, he wouldn’t hold back. He had to crush any disruptive elements before they could take root.
“Where’s Mentor Yu Xuan?”
“She had something to attend to at the academy first. She said to meet her directly at the Martial Dao Arena.”
“Oh.”
After breakfast, the group headed to school together, parting ways only at the academy gates.
One headed to the Advanced Class, two to the Intermediate Class, and one to the beginner class.
Yan Zhen, meanwhile, made his way to the Martial Dao Arena, where Mentor Yu Xuan was waiting, just as expected.
The arena’s layout had changed slightly from before. The ground was now dotted with numerous wooden stakes that, from above, formed the pattern of an array—a Wooden Stake Array.
Yan Zhen remembered now. Mentor Yu Xuan must be planning to teach him the Body Movement Mystic Technique, to shore up his weakness in speed.
The body movement techniques that his beautiful master knew were all advanced ones tied to flight. She saw no need for him to waste time on ones suited for darting around on the ground or through trees—they’d be obsolete soon enough.
Yet mastering a body movement mystic technique was key to defeating Mentor Yu Xuan.
By using it to weave past her water arrows and close in for close-quarters combat, Yan Zhen would hold the advantage.
Even though he’d learn the Flight Technique before long, it never hurt to pick up extra skills.
“Yan Zhen, starting today, we’ll hold our lessons here with full-on spars. Whoever falls off the stakes more loses.”
“Got it, Mentor.”
Yan Zhen nodded vigorously, and the System promptly issued a task notification. This was clearly a pivotal plot point.
“I’m not done yet,” Mentor Yu Xuan said with a playful wink of her beautiful eyes. “After each day’s training, whoever has fallen off more has to accept a little punishment from the winner.”
“Huh?”
“What’s with the ‘huh’? This is to motivate your training. Agree or not, you’re doing it.” Mentor Yu Xuan chuckled lightly. “If you don’t want to be punished, then give it everything you’ve got and stay on those stakes.”
Hmph. When it comes to staying steady, that’s my specialty!
Yan Zhen’s fighting spirit ignited.
“Bring it on, Mentor. If you lose, no backing out!”
“Of course.”
Mentor Yu Xuan brimmed with confidence.
The mentor and disciple leaped onto the wooden stakes, launching into their new round of practical combat training.
That’s when Yan Zhen realized he was still too green…
Mentor Yu Xuan moved across the stakes with the nimble grace of a cat, leaping lightly without a sound on each landing while launching attacks at him. Yan Zhen, by contrast, thudded heavily with every step—thump, thump, thump. Less than an hour in, his legs already felt drained, his stamina burning away at an alarming rate.
By the end of the day, Yan Zhen felt like chopping his own feet off. His leg muscles ached as if they’d been dissolved in acid, especially his knees, which seemed utterly wrecked. He could barely keep from dropping to them in abject defeat.
Were stake drills this grueling? There had to be something special about that Wooden Stake Array. Otherwise, with his Body Refining Entry physique, he shouldn’t be struggling this much.
That morning, Mentor Yu Xuan knocked him off eight times. In the afternoon, he fell five more. She, on the other hand, only got caught off-guard once by his Qi Vortex Technique.
Thirteen to one. Yan Zhen was utterly crushed and had to face his punishment.
