I don't want to be trained by my senior sister!

At night.

Although I didn't get to use my senior's bed today, her blanket still smelled wonderful.

Nothing was said that night, except for the faint sound of the wind outside the window.

Starting the next day, Fang Xuan's life in the valley seemed to have settled into a stable rhythm.

In the morning, he is usually gently awakened by Ning Qian.

He gets up, washes up, and then begins his daily routine—fixing the roof.

He worked very diligently, repeatedly comparing each bamboo tenon, making progress at an appallingly slow pace.

Ning Qian would initially watch from the sidelines for a while and occasionally offer a few pointers, but later she probably couldn't bear to watch anymore.

Or perhaps they felt that out of sight, out of mind, they turned around and tended to her twisted but tenacious medicinal herb field.

Water them and weed them.

While Fang Xuan was dawdling over repairing the roof, he secretly glanced at Ning Qian's focused yet somewhat clumsy movements as she tended to the herbs.

She doesn't seem to be good at this.

When he got tired of repairing the roof, he would wander to the bamboo forest behind the mountain and have his second brother try his hand at it.

Or they could use a sharpened bamboo pole to spear fish—a skill that, under Ning Qian's guidance, became increasingly refined.

Occasionally, they can catch one or two low-level beasts that stumble upon them without thinking, thus improving their diet.

Ning Qian's culinary skills seem to have improved somewhat thanks to the enthusiastic praise from a certain diner.

The daily menu consists of four dishes and a soup, and the spiciness level has been steadily increased based on Fang Xuan's feedback.

Fang Xuan would tease his senior sister from time to time, such as deliberately getting distracted when she was explaining sword principles, or staring at her while eating until her ears turned red and she looked away.

Ning Qian would usually glare at him or simply ignore him, but she never got truly angry, let alone punished him.

Fang Xuan had mixed feelings about this.

Where's the promised heroine who loves everyone? Where's the harbinger of doom who will eventually destroy all living beings?

Why does it feel like my senior sister is spoiling him more and more? How am I supposed to keep improving my training points?

Sometimes I think she's like a child, quite innocent.

She genuinely believed that she was just like her, a simple-minded junior brother.

While the feeling of being pampered was certainly comfortable, the fact that the system progress bar was almost at a standstill made him a little worried.

The path of actively seeking masochism is not feasible, and the training value gained from daily interactions is negligible. Does he really have to wait until the affection level explodes and his senior sister is willing to step on his chest barefoot?

In these peaceful days, the only disturbance comes from the outside world.

Shen Qingqing was still not giving up on him. Although she dared not provoke him again, she always instigated her other senior brothers, who were completely infatuated with him, to cause trouble.

Today a third senior brother comes, tomorrow a fifth junior brother comes, with all sorts of strange reasons, such as "instructing on swordsmanship", "exchanging experiences", "seeking justice for Junior Sister Shen"... Their cultivation levels range from mid-Foundation Establishment to peak Foundation Establishment.

Fang Xuan initially found it a bit annoying, but later he became numb to it. It was a good opportunity to practice and test his rapidly increasing spiritual power and his increasingly skilled use of his second brother.

Usually, it's solved in one move, clean and neat, at most adding an artistic effect of planting it in the ground or hanging it on a tree.

The news that he, as a newly recruited disciple, had broken through to the Void Core Realm in a short period of time somehow spread throughout all the peaks.

This is quite a development. Not only Sword Peak, but also some self-proclaimed geniuses from other peaks who are unwilling to accept defeat have come to challenge him.

The result, naturally, was +1 kill for feeding, +2 kills for feeding...

The senior sister would always watch from the sidelines, and when Fang Xuan left, she would go and rob some spirit stones.

.......

In addition to his reputation for "exceptionally high talent", "ruthless", and "eccentric personality", Fang Xuan is now also known as a monster with the Void Core stage.

The area outside the courtyard in the valley was much quieter.

After all, those without real skills wouldn't dare to come.

Aside from dealing with these flies, Fang Xuan spent most of his time cultivating.

He had completely mastered the first three levels of the nameless cultivation technique, and his total spiritual power had reached a level that left cultivators of the same level speechless.

He tried to combine this vast spiritual power with the tyrannical and fierce "momentum" of the black sword, attempting to condense his own sword intent.

But it failed.

Sword intent is different from sword momentum; it requires a deeper understanding, a purer will, and even a mysterious and profound opportunity.

He spent three days cutting bamboo, but apart from ruining the bamboo forest on the back mountain, he had no clue what to do.

"As expected, it's still quite difficult..."

He shook his wrist, which was numb from the shock, and sighed. It seemed this couldn't be rushed.

As for the roof...

After Fang Xuan diligently repaired the structure for several days, with the only result being piling up the collapsed bamboo poles and tiles to one side, Ning Qian finally couldn't stand it anymore.

One afternoon, Fang Xuan returned from a stroll in the back mountain and was surprised to find that the roof had been repaired!

The newly laid tiles were neat and sturdy, and the broken bamboo beams were replaced with new ones.

Fang Xuan stood in the courtyard, looking up at the roof, which was intact and even seemed a little thicker than before, his feelings were complicated.

...Did my senior sister do it?

The project he had been dragging on for days, she finished in one afternoon?

He pushed open the door to his bamboo hut.

The interior had also been tidied up simply, with dust swept away and clutter put away.

What stunned him even more was that a new, softer-looking mattress had been laid on his simple bamboo bed, and the quilt was folded neatly.

Fang Xuan: "......."

.......

"I've fixed the roof for you." Ning Qian's cool voice came from behind.

Fang Xuan turned around and saw her standing at the door of his house.

"Okay... Senior Sister."

Ning Qian nodded, said nothing more, and turned to walk towards her room.

After taking two steps, she stopped again, turned her head slightly, and glanced at Fang Xuan with her cool eyes.

Why does she feel... that her junior brother seems a little unhappy?

It should be the sect competition tomorrow.

As is customary, all the top disciples and inner sect elites must participate, as it is an important occasion to demonstrate strength and compete for resources.

Fang Xuan is now famous and a newly promoted Void Core cultivator, so he is bound to be the target of everyone's criticism.

Could it be... that the pressure is too much?

Ning Qian's mind raced, and she felt she had found the reason.

She stopped and turned around, looking at Xuan who was still standing in the same spot:

"Tomorrow's competition is just about doing your best; there's no need to overthink it."

Fang Xuan: "...?"

He was touched by his senior sister's quiet help in repairing his house and making his bed.

Hearing this, he was stunned for a moment before realizing what Ning Qian was talking about.

A grand sect competition?

Oh right, I think that's what happened.

Shen Chen had mentioned it briefly before, but he hadn't taken it to heart.

Should we... keep something in reserve?

But how can he hide it? With his nascent core cultivation and exaggerated spiritual power, he's like a firefly in the dark—can he really hide it?

At the very least, he's at the nascent stage; no one would believe him if he tried to pretend to be at the Foundation Establishment stage.