The Cheeky Xiao Chen

Night fell. Inside their cabin on the cloud boat, Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu were on the verge of an intimate encounter. Meng Wanshu lay in bed with a shy, blushing expression, her delicate shoulder slightly bared. Li Guanqi's large hands wandered restlessly over her body. Her breath gradually quickened, and she turned her head away, not daring to look at him. A rosy blush flushed her fair skin, making her look especially alluring. Li Guanqi slowly leaned down close to her ear, just about to whisper a few sweet nothings, when— Suddenly! *BOOM!* The entire cloud boat violently jolted, sending ripples through the protective barrier outside. The tilting deck snapped the two on the bed instantly out of the moment, shattering the romantic atmosphere in an instant. Like a startled fawn, Meng Wanshu hurriedly redressed and made a quick escape toward the door. "I'll go see what happened!" Li Guanqi knelt on the mattress and pounded it with both fists, looking ready to weep tears of pure frustration. "Fuck! Why did it have to be right now?!" "No way. I'm going to see who the hell did this!" Consumed by fury, Li Guanqi drew his twin swords and strode outside in massive strides. The moment he stepped out, he saw Xiao Chen drenched in blood, snapping a dislocated arm back into its socket. Opposite him stood Ye Feng, his face bloody as he tended to his wounds. Xiao Chen had been punctured clean through in at least six or seven places from head to toe. The glares the two traded showed that neither would yield to the other, even though they had no choice but to respect each other's strength. Standing off to the side, Li Changqing tucked his hands into his sleeves and beamed, chuckling with foolish glee. "Splendid! Simply splendid!" the elder remarked as he chortled. "When this old man was your age, I was merely a petty Nascent Soul. The students have truly surpassed the master!" Xiao Chen stiffened his neck and barked, "If you hadn't stepped in, Old Senior, that spear of mine would've ended his life!" Hearing that, Ye Feng fired back without hesitation, "Yeah, right. If Senior Li hadn't stopped me, that strike would've ended your life...-root!" At those words, Xiao Chen instantly clamped both hands over his crotch, feeling a chill run between his legs. Right then, they noticed arcs of lightning crackling around them, drifting close enough to brush their skin. Turning their heads, they found Li Guanqi glaring at them with a sinister smile, holding Red Lotus in his left hand and Yanluo in his right. Primal energy surged violently from his frame as he unleashed his immense pressure without holding back in the slightest. Terrifying sword intent brewed restlessly within the space around him. Ye Feng's expression changed slightly, and he couldn't help muttering under his breath, "Uh... Boss... it's not like we fought to the death. Just took a few light injuries... You... you don't need to be this mad, right?" This was one of the rare times Ye Feng had seen Li Guanqi genuinely infuriated. Seeing an opening, Xiao Chen quickly scrambled to piggyback on the excuse. He rushed to Ye Feng's side, reached out, and pressed a finger against Ye Feng's wound. Instantly, the residual flames lingering inside were drawn out, and he helped staunch Ye Feng's bleeding along the way. Looking toward Li Guanqi, Xiao Chen gave a hurried, dry laugh. "That's right, Brother Li! We were just fooling around! Just messing about! Don't be mad... Brother Ye's injuries aren't even as bad as mine. Look at you..." A bizarre, chilly smirk tugged at Li Guanqi's lips as he looked at the pair and said in an icy tone, "Just messing about? How could that possibly do? Since it's a spar, you certainly have to undergo life and death to make real progress, don't you? Come, come. Let me give you two a proper taste of what Sword Heart Realm sword intent feels like." With that, the Sword Prison domain expanded, engulfing them both. Nursing a bellyful of pent-up fury, Li Guanqi thoroughly loosened their joints for them. An incense stick's time later, the two were tossed out bodily by Li Guanqi. Having vented his anger, Li Guanqi finally cooled down. Yet when he looked up and saw a grim-faced Li Changqing sitting in a chair dragged right in front of the door, Li Guanqi's face instantly collapsed into a grimace. Without a second word, he slammed two swift punches down into the duo at his feet. Both were left with matching black eyes. Only when they lay sprawled on the deck and looked up at the sour-faced elder did the realization finally dawn on them why Li Guanqi had been so infuriated in the first place. Ye Feng didn't mind; he felt that it was indeed his fault for ruining his boss's good moment. Xiao Chen, on the other hand, scrambled up in righteous fury. "You dog! You actually tried to temper your heart with Wan'er?! And you beat me up on top of that?! Do you have any conscience at all?!" Li Guanqi raised a fist as if to strike, startling Xiao Chen into scrambling back several steps with both arms raised defensively before him. Ye Feng pushed himself up, dusted off his clothes, grinned, and walked over to the ship's railing. He tossed down a spirit-gathering array disc and, within breaths, plunged into cultivation, sword intent swirling about his body. From that fierce clash just now, he had genuinely gained some insights and needed to strike while the iron was hot. Xiao Chen, by contrast, was utterly glum. He flopped down next to Ye Feng, whipped out a flagon of strong liquor, and tilted his head back to chug it. *Gulp, gulp, gulp...* "Bitter wine down the throat... *gulp*... and the heart aches! Looked at my rival in love... but I can't beat him! The pain! It hurts too much! My eyes hurt! My ribs hurt... Everywhere hurts, but nothing hurts like my broken heart!" Hearing Xiao Chen howling beside him just as he was settling into cultivation, Ye Feng furrowed his brow. Yet, he could somewhat understand what Xiao Chen was feeling. As a suitor of Meng Wanshu, Xiao Chen had chased her for years without success. Then, as soon as his boss arrived, he swept the beauty off her feet. Anyone would find such a massive psychological gap hard to stomach. And yet, after losing the duel to Li Guanqi, this guy had conceded with grace. He had openly admitted that he wasn't as strong as Li Guanqi—something Ye Feng hadn't anticipated. That was why Ye Feng was willing to trade quips and banter with Xiao Chen rather than treat him with outright hostility. He felt the guy was, at the very least, candid and straightforward. Right as Ye Feng was pondering this, however, he snapped his eyes open and kicked Xiao Chen square in the face, sending him tumbling far away. "Are you out of your fucking mind?! Drink your damn wine! Why the fuck are you messing with my spirit-gathering disc?!" Xiao Chen scurried right back, glanced toward the distance where Li Guanqi and Li Changqing were having a staring contest, and muttered in a low voice, "Drinking alone was too boring, you know... Besides, whenever I look at him, everything just feels wrong. My whole body aches." Resigned, Ye Feng snatched the flagon from his hand and tilted his head back for a long swallow. As the burning liquor washed down his throat, Ye Feng wrinkled his nose. "Tsk... this strong?" Beside him, Xiao Chen propped himself up with one hand, gazed up at the night sky, and murmured with feigned profundity, "No matter how strong it is, it can't drown the sorrow in my heart." Ye Feng grinned at him and said no more. Xiao Chen had quite a free-spirited nature. And besides... the guy was genuinely powerful. Even when Ye Feng unleashed his ghost hand combined with the Yinming Profound Flame, he had only fought him to a draw. Although Ye Feng had held back a few trump cards of his own, had Xiao Chen not done the exact same?