Why Is He Asleep?

"I want to... cough, cough..." Hearing Su Tingxue's words, Sun Cheng, who was sprawled on the ground, lifted his head and strained to reach forward with an outstretched arm. Zhou You actually had a chance to meet Duan Yuxian! Sun Cheng desperately wanted to see her too—he had waited at the foot of Mount Wudang for two whole months without ever crossing paths with her! What right did Zhou You have to meet Duan Yuxian? And why was Su Tingxue the one taking him to see her?! How could he genuinely not know Duan Yuxian? He would have been better off knowing her! If not knowing Duan Yuxian meant Su Tingxue would take you to meet her, then he could have pretended not to know Duan Yuxian too! Sun Cheng's eyes widened in sheer outrage, filled with bloodshot fury. His head lolled to one side, and he passed out cold. "Why did he fall asleep?" Nuomi drifted over beside Sun Cheng. "Wake up! No sleeping here!" She crouched down to observe him. Confirming that he was still breathing and just fast asleep, she swung her palms back and forth in front of him, mimicking the sound with her mouth: "*Smack! Smack!*" "That's what you get for talking bad about our Carefree Sect," Nuomi huffed. She was nothing if not vindictive. "Who is this? Why is he unconscious?" Su Tingxue finally noticed Sun Cheng lying motionless on the ground. Zhou You briefly recounted what had happened. When Su Tingxue heard the explanation, she let out a sigh. "This is exactly what I was worried would happen. I told you not to mouth off on the forum, but you just had to post anyway. Look at this mess you've caused. "Getting cursed out in private messages is already the better outcome. It's people who schedule offline brawls like this that you have to worry about—who knows what kind of accident could happen." Zhou You hung his head, admitting his fault and mumbling an embarrassed explanation: "Mainly, I saw the discussion thread and thought that since I didn't know Duan Yuxian anyway, I might as well support you. So I just chimed in with that one comment. I didn't expect it would stir up so much trouble." "Forget it. It just so happens that Duan Yuxian and I have scheduled a spell duel in a couple of days. I'll take you along to meet her." "A spell duel?" Zhou You froze, bewildered. Why hadn't he heard Duan Yuxian mention this? Could there be bad blood between the two of them? Seeing Zhou You's reaction, Su Tingxue assumed he simply didn't understand the reason behind a spell duel, so she elaborated, "Don't worry. It's very common for immortal cultivators to spar and engage in spell duels to improve together." Zhou You nodded. As long as there wasn't any bad blood, it was fine. "Take this seat along as well," Chu Xiaoyao chimed in right after, eager to see the successor of the True Martial Great Hall and witness the duel. Zhou You was surprised. With the Carefree Empress's vast experience and perspective, did she really need to watch a duel at this level? In her eyes, it had to be little more than child's play. "Of course you may come," Su Tingxue agreed without much hesitation. To this day, she still hadn't figured out what kind of being Chu Xiaoyao was. Duan Yuxian disliked strange boys, so Su Tingxue had needed to ask beforehand. But there was no such issue with girls—in fact, Duan Yuxian quite liked making friends. "Me too! Count me in!" Nuomi enthusiastically raised her hand to sign up. Su Tingxue pretended she hadn't activated her Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye and couldn't see Nuomi. Even when Nuomi shoved her hand right up to the tip of her nose, Su Tingxue acted as if nothing was there. Once she defeated Duan Yuxian and proved her talisman arts had truly reached a breakthrough, she would settle the score with Nuomi. For now, she would simply ignore her. "Take Nuomi along too," Zhou You signed up on Nuomi's behalf. This time, Su Tingxue couldn't keep pretending she didn't see her and had no choice but to agree. "By the way, is Sun Cheng going to be okay?" Zhou You finally remembered Sun Cheng. He thought he had shown plenty of restraint earlier and hadn't beaten him within an inch of his life. How had the guy passed out for no reason? Su Tingxue checked him over and signaled for Zhou You to relax. "His physical injuries aren't too severe. It looks like he passed out from overwhelming fury." "He got that bent out of shape over losing?" Zhou You was baffled. Was it really that serious? His devotion to Duan Yuxian was certainly deep. "A brittle Dao heart," Chu Xiaoyao remarked with disdain. Zhou You had an epiphany. No wonder Chu Xiaoyao had always emphasized maintaining an unshakable Dao heart; it truly was vital. Sun Cheng was a prime example of an unstable Dao heart—getting so worked up over losing that he fainted from sheer rage. "Wait, why is he in mid Qi Refinement? You beat him?" While examining Sun Cheng, Su Tingxue suddenly realized that he was in mid Qi Refinement. What was more, his foundation was robust, meaning he had remained at that level for a long time. How had Zhou You defeated someone like this? Was he also in mid Qi Refinement? Zhou You nodded shyly. Seeing Su Tingxue look so thoroughly shocked made him feel a little bashful. How could Su Tingxue not be shocked? When she first met Zhou You, he had claimed to be merely at the half-step Qi Refining stage. Later, while they were exorcising the Eye-blocking Ghost, he had broken through to the Qi Refining stage right before her eyes. How long had it been since then? The tenth and eleventh grades hadn't even started their new semester yet, and he was already in mid Qi Refinement?! For the first time in a long while, Su Tingxue felt a prickle of crisis. Her own cultivation speed was considered exceptionally fast, the envy of countless senior martial brothers and sisters. Now, it was her turn to experience what those seniors had felt. *I need to hurry up and cultivate. I can't let him surpass me.* *Why isn't a talent like this part of Mount Longhu? What a waste.* "Would you consider joining our Mount Longhu?" Su Tingxue asked. Previously, she had merely offered to recommend Zhou You to take the entrance test for Mount Longhu, leaving his admission to fate. But now, she felt that an exception could be made; with her acting as his guarantor, he could directly join the sect. If she didn't ask now, then once Duan Yuxian discovered that Zhou You was a genius and invited him to join the True Martial Great Hall, she would be the one regretting it. "As the sect master..." "All three of you in the Carefree Sect can join," Su Tingxue added. Before Zhou You could even consult his superior and subordinate for their opinions, both the person and the ghost voiced their fierce objections. "Zhou You, we're not going. Whatever Mount Longhu can give you, I can give you too." Chu Xiaoyao eyed Su Tingxue warily, sensing her motives were far from pure. "Sect Master, this damn rice-thrower has ulterior motives! If I go to Mount Longhu, will I even make it out alive?" Nuomi vehemently objected, falling in line behind the Grand Elder to present a united front against the outsider. "What kind of place is Mount Longhu? To me, it's a dragon's pool and a tiger's den—just the name alone jinxes me!" Having sat in on classes for a few days, Nuomi had clearly expanded her vocabulary. Even without Zhou You having to turn her down directly, Su Tingxue already knew he wouldn't be joining Mount Longhu. Nuomi's words could be brushed aside, but Chu Xiaoyao was another matter. She had actually claimed that whatever Mount Longhu could give Zhou You, she could give him too—and Zhou You hadn't shown the slightest surprise, which meant he truly believed she could deliver. Just who was Chu Xiaoyao? When they ran into Lian Yi last time, Chu Xiaoyao had inadvertently let slip that she came from the Hongmeng Continent. Su Tingxue had never heard of that place. When she called her master after getting home, her master hadn't heard of it either. Supposedly, her master was currently scouring the scripture depository and consulting even older seniors about it. Seeing that the lunch break was almost over, the three people and one ghost climbed down the ladder one after another to leave the rooftop. Before departing, Zhou You glanced back at Sun Cheng, who was still sprawled out where he fell. "Is he really going to be all right?" "He'll be fine. He'll wake up on his own in a little while." Su Tingxue didn't harbor much goodwill toward people like Sun Cheng. While she and Duan Yuxian got along well, the forum treated them like bitter rivals. Every discussion flared into a trending post that dragged on for hundreds of replies, all because of people like Sun Cheng. "A brittle Dao heart," Nuomi remarked, mimicking Chu Xiaoyao. Feeling that copying her wasn't quite enough, she added, "Just look at this damn rice-thrower. She's lost so many times and never takes it to heart!" "What did you say?!" Su Tingxue glared at Nuomi, entirely unwilling to let that slide. "I thought you couldn't see me!" Nuomi glared right back. After pretending for so long, she had finally slipped up! "All right, all right, please stop arguing," Zhou You stepped in as the peacemaker, putting on a pitiful act to placate both sides. "I just finished a fight. Let me get some rest, will you?" This was his first proper battle. Although he had defeated Sun Cheng, it had been far from easy. His nerves had been strung tight the entire time, and he was still thoroughly exhausted. Wei Hang was not in the habit of taking afternoon naps. He had always been brimming with energy, incapable of sitting still, and liked to wander around after finishing lunch. "What did you say?!" Someone was arguing? His instincts as the president of the school newspaper club kicked in, making him slow his steps and creep along the wall. A layout of the teaching building flashed in his mind. If he remembered correctly, the rooftop entrance was just ahead? Right after that, he heard a familiar voice. "All right, all right, please stop arguing." *Was that Zhou You's voice?* *Arguing? A fight? Rest?* Pressing himself flat against the wall, Wei Hang sucked in his gut to minimize the risk of being spotted and peeked toward the rooftop entrance. He watched as Zhou You climbed down the ladder, followed closely by Chu Xiaoyao and Su Tingxue. Why were the three of them coming down from the rooftop? What were they doing up there in the middle of the day? From the looks of it, Chu Xiaoyao and Su Tingxue had been quarreling, and Zhou You was trying to smooth things over. Wei Hang gloated silently. *Zhou You, you have your day coming too! That's what you get for two-timing—can't manage your relationships now, can you?* "I just finished a fight. Let me get some rest, will you?" Zhou You pleaded, and sure enough, the two girls stopped bickering. Wei Hang couldn't smile anymore.