NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 261 Welcome to Grand Elder Peak!
By a riverbank. . .
Yang Wei and Mu Lingxi sat together.
Mu Lingxi's face was flushed, her heart racing. All she could think about was their hug and how Yang Wei responded to it. As she glanced over at him, her eyes sparkled brightly, similar to Mu Lin's.
In a way, when Yang Wei looked at her and saw this strong feminine side, he glimpsed Mu Lin for a moment.
After the peaceful silence settled a bit more, Mu Lingxi spoke up.
"Uh, well... I haven't seen you in a long time, so... I was quite worried. I guess when I finally saw your face again, I lost my manners for a moment."
She fixed her hair to look presentable, but she was already stunning no matter how it was styled.
Yang Wei shook his head gently. "No, it's all good. Your hug made me feel really welcomed. I've been away from the sect for a while, so seeing you still being you made me really happy."
As he said this, Mu Lingxi frowned slightly and glanced at her reflection in the peacefully flowing water. "Still being me, huh... I never thought you'd find that delightful."
Yang Wei draped an arm over her shoulder, moving closer so their shoulders touched. "I've always found that side of you delightful..." he murmured softly.
As they got closer, Mu Lingxi's heart started racing, and she quickly moved away to create some space between them. Yang Wei wasn't offended; he actually found her embarrassed reaction adorable.
"So, uh..." Mu Lingxi fidgeted with her hair, unsure of what to say. She felt incredibly uncomfortable and embarrassed.
"What's up?" Yang Wei asked, noticing her discomfort.
"So, how was your year-long seclusion? Anything interesting happen?" Mu Lingxi asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
Proudly patting his chest, Yang Wei exclaimed, "Get ready to be shocked! I, Yang Wei, am absolutely outstanding! I mastered the secret legacies of the White Serpent Sect's four peaks. I can use scale, fang, and venom Qi now! Plus, I learned powerful sealing techniques that would make even a Nascent Soul expert sweat. And on top of all that, I cultivated a celestial golden core!"
Mu Lingxi turned to him, her eyes wide with disbelief. "No way!" She slipped her hand into his robes, feeling his bare chest, and after a moment, she sensed the existence of celestial Qi and the power of a celestial golden core within him!
"Y-, you really cultivated a celestial golden core!"
Mu Lingxi was mesmerized by the news, her hand still resting on Yang Wei's chest. She was gently stroking his skin, completely lost in her thoughts.
"That's unbelievably amazing, if I'm being honest..."
Even her tone was distant, as if she wasn't fully aware of how intimately she was touching Yang Wei.
"Lingxi? You alright?"
Finally, Yang Wei's voice snapped her out of her trance.
She looked at her hand, realizing how indecently she was touching him. One of her fingers even lingered at the edge of his chest, and she hadn't even noticed. "I──?!" Mu Lingxi quickly withdrew her hand, maintaining the distance between them. "Sorry, I lost myself there for a moment."
Yang Wei just smiled at her flustered expression, as if she had committed a serious crime.
He reached out to pat her head gently.
"You always get flustered over the smallest things."
Mu Lingxi swatted his hand away and cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure. "It would be wise not to assume I'm clueless about matters of the heart."
"Oh, no, of course not..." Yang Wei replied, holding up his hands playfully in surrender.
A small giggle escaped Mu Lingxi, her hand covering her mouth as she listened to Yang Wei. Her cheeks had been burning since they started talking, but she didn't mind.
She was just happy to have him back.
"If you really managed to refine a celestial golden core, I'm curious how you survived the Three Worlds of Lightning. It's unbelievably dangerous, so I'm surprised it worked out this well." She clasped her hands against her chest. "But I'm just really glad you're safe and back with us."
With me...
Yang Wei stood up dramatically, sweeping his sleeves back like an old-school martial arts master.
"As if anyone needs to worry about me. With a swing of my sword, I, Yang Wei, could make cultivators of the same level beg for mercy!"
Mu Lingxi smiled and watched him talk about his cultivation progress.
It was a talk that went on for almost half an hour.
He told her all sorts of things like how his body felt like it would lose all feeling in the world and vanish out of existence when he was being struck by heavenly lightning──something Mu Lingxi laughed at and could relate very well with.
Or, how he had to read countless manuals just to understand some things that would help him grasp the Dao of Spirit-forging Alchemy.
Even how he'd play a worldwide hide-and-seek with Tianyi whenever he was feeling very lively.
"I'm telling you the truth, Lingxi! In the past year, while I was cultivating, I invented and rediscovered so many powerful cultivation techniques! There's this super beautiful vixen who used to bathe with me, her name is Li Me--" Yang Wei paused as he saw Mu Lingxi's eyes narrow dangerously. Quickly, his enthusiasm dimmed and he realized he'd been sharing out too much information.
"Um, but we don't bathe together anymore...." he sharply added.
Mu Lingxi's eyes narrowed to slits, her deadly stare fixed on him. "Hm? What's this I hear? A super beautiful vixen, as you described her... care to enlighten me on what you did with her, Wei?"
"Uh...." Yang Wei instantly started thinking of a lie. He could almost sense the killing intent emanating from Mu Lingxi. It reminded him of the times Mu Lin, Huo Zirou, and Yue would fight over him. He scrambled to change the topic, but before he could, Mu Lingxi rose from her seat and scoffed, "Whatever, it's not like it's any of my business, right──?!" She walked away silently.
As he watched her leave, Yang Wei called after her, "Lingxi? Where are you... going?"
She stopped and looked back at him. "To show you where your new abode is, of course. Maybe you don't know yet, but you no longer stay at my courtyard. While you were gone, we made some changes, and your place of rest has been shifted elsewhere."
Yang Wei arranged his hands behind his back. "Really? Well, I wish you all would've at least asked me first."
Mu Lingxi looked away and started walking. "Humph! We wanted to, but I guess you were too busy sleeping and bathing together with this super beautiful vixen, who I won't even bother myself with anymore!" She shot him another deadly side-eye. "But just know... I'm really, really bothered!" A grunt punctuated her sentence.
The white-haired mage exhaled heavily.
She just said she wasn't bothered... and now she... Sigh~ I blame myself.
He cautiously followed behind her.
...
Mu Lingxi and Yang Wei were soaring on swords across the Celestial Serpent Sect. "When will we be there?" Yang Wei asked for the eighteenth time, testing Mu Lingxi's patience to its limit. She growled, "Just shut up and stop asking every two seconds!" She glanced back at the vast land below and pointed at an enormous mountain peak, one of the largest he'd ever seen.
It was a sprawling landscape with forests, golden rivers, and lush nature spots──all within this massive, unnamed landmark.
It was Yang Wei's first time visiting.
"So?" he prompted.
Mu Lingxi sighed and explained, "While you were gone, your position in the sect was elevated from Harmony Elder to Grand Elder, which is... slightly superior to... Grandmaster." She paused, struggling to say the words. "Now, you've been given this entire mountain as your own.
Sect Founder believed you needed a more suitable place to cultivate freely without disturbance, so she suggested that the Qi meridians from this land would be perfect for you."
There was a frown on Mu Lingxi's face.
Even I don't have my own mountain yet! I've been waiting for three years for it and the matriarchs just keep telling me to wait, that they're looking for a good location! This was a good location!
Yang Wei's eyes widened. "The... entire mountain?"
Mu Lingxi nodded. "Yes. Big Sister Liu and I arranged for all the other disciples to relocate, since it now belongs to... Grand Elder Yang." Even saying the title felt like swallowing a rock.
This was Yang Wei's new home. . .
Grand Elder Peak!