2585 Side Story 89: Like

Rong Xiu became famous from one battle.

Ling Xiao Academy had survived for many years, and it contained talents and geniuses from all over the world. However, there had never been one like Rong Xiu that directly broke through to become a true god on the second day of admission and even occupied the top position of the warrior Qing Yun Ranking.

He was truly the first person.

…

On some mountain, a person sat alone in the pavilion.

It was Shangguan Yue.

A set of chess was placed before her, and the black and white pieces fought intensely.

It was rather lonely when she played chess with herself, but she had had this habit for many years.

She was extremely talented as a Xuan Master, and it was especially obvious in chess.

When she was in Tianling, not to mention her peers, even the royal family elders might not beat her. After a while, she felt that it was more interesting to play against herself.

However, she was rather distracted today—she was very stressed because their first assessment after entering the academy was about to begin. Yet, she had not broken through to become a demigod.

She was more than one stage away from Rong Xiu!

With her current skills, she couldn’t beat Rong Xiu no matter what…

“Sigh.”

She sighed and stared at the chessboard as she lightly fiddled with a chess piece, unable to put it down.

Suddenly, a white and long hand came from behind and reached over to take the chess piece in between her fingers.

The fingers touched, and the warmth was shared.

As she didn’t notice, the chess piece landed in the other party’s hand.

She was dazed and turned around to look.

Rong Xiu had come behind her at some point.

The black chess piece further showed his jade-like skin as he held it in between his fingers. However, he wore dark clothes today and looked extra murderous and harsh.

“Rong Xiu?”

Rong Xiu stared at the chessboard for a while. Hearing this, he did not immediately answer and lowered his body slightly.

The two of them were originally very close to each other. Now that he moved, they could share each other’s breaths.

Shangguan Yue could even clearly feel the warmth from his body, mixed with the faint cold fragrance that wrapped around her.

Her body stiffened slightly, and she instinctively held her breath in.

Rong Xiu stretched out.

Piak!

He put down the piece.

At this point, he tilted his head slightly and looked over.

He raised his brows slightly and moved his chin. “See, why don’t you put it here?”

As he was near her, his low and melodious tone was especially mesmerizing.

Her long and thick lashes moved slightly.

The absolute beauty was right in front of him, and the impact was huge.

For some reason, she suddenly thought of Rong Xiu’s words in front of the Qing Yun Ranking that day.

Rong family member…

A gust of warmth suddenly attacked her.

“Hm?” Without waiting for her reply, Rong Xiu asked.

Shangguan Yue quickly recovered her senses as she suppressed her emotions and looked at the chessboard.

The stalemate was broken.

Her lips curved. “As expected. You are also a Xuan Master.”

Before this, Rong Xiu didn’t reveal any talent or skill in this aspect. But for some reason, she felt that he definitely was not just a warrior.

As expected.

Rong Xiu smiled and did not mind that she had guessed it.

She looked up and smiled brightly, her eyes shining with a cunning light. “Give it a try?”

She didn’t believe that although she couldn’t beat him as a warrior, she couldn’t do so as a Xuan Master.

Rong Xiu welcomed her smile, and his heart tingled.

His gaze landed on her voluptuous lips for a moment, and his Adam’s apple moved. “OK.”

Then, he averted his gaze, straightened his body, and sat on the opposing end.

…

The opponent was Rong Xiu. Shangguan Yue did not dare to treat him lightly.

Quickly, she confirmed her guess—Rong Xiu’s abilities in this area were not to be underestimated!

She took out all her focus and energy.

When she faced Rong Xiu, she was very calm and landed her pieces quickly.

The game lasted until evening.

Piak!

Rong Xiu placed a piece down. “You lost.”

Shangguan Yue stared at the chessboard before her silently and speechlessly.

She had not… lost to a peer in many years, especially after she had already experienced abnormal torture in the Red Moon Desert, and many complicated Xuan formations had filled her brain.

How did I lose?

She glanced at Rong Xiu with a complicated gaze. “…I admire you.”

Rong Xiu’s lips curled up. “I barely won this round. Why don’t we play again after the assessment?”

How could Shangguan Yue reject him? She already roughly knew Rong Xiu’s pattern when playing chess, and she could definitely win this time!

“It’s a deal!”

Voices came from below the mountain.

She stood up. “Okay, it’s so late. We should go back—”

Suddenly, her voice paused, and she looked to the front.

“What’s wrong?” Rong Xiu followed her line of sight.

This was the mountaintop, and a cliff was by the side.

On the opposite end, there was a lake near the continuous mountains.

The lake surface shone brightly, and a pinkish-white translucent flower bloomed quietly.

Shangguan Yue lightly muttered, “This is… a Dancing Lotus?”

She had only heard of its name previously and never expected to see it here.

And… it was extremely beautiful.

Rong Xiu glanced sideways at her. “You like it?”

Shangguan Yue smiled. “Yeah! This Dancing Lotus takes a hundred years to germinate, a hundred years to grow, and 300 years to bloom. For this one look, you have to wait five hundred years. That’s extremely rare.”

She took a few detailed glances and shook her head in regret. “It’s a pity that the flower seems like it’s going to wilt.”

She retracted her gaze. “Let’s go.”

…

Ling Xiao Academy would have a routine assessment every month, but this time, it was very special.

The two newcomers had once again refreshed the crowd’s knowledge of them.

After the warrior ranking, Shangguan Yue simultaneously entered the Xuan Master ranking and the heavenly doctor ranking.

The crowd had long heard that she was also an all-rounder, similar to the director. However, they did not pay much attention to her and felt that she should be strongest as a warrior. Who knew that her other rankings in the other two aspects were much higher than the warrior aspect?

And Rong Xiu—he went up the Armory Refinement Master ranking.

The crowd: “…”

At this stage, they finally realized what kind of horrifying existence these two people were.

They had since started their miserable times of being crushed by the duo on the rankings.

…

The assessment ended, and the crowd looked at the duo differently.

Even if Shangguan Yue and Rong Xiu lost in that battle, they had already clearly known that the young girl was a maniac close to Rong Xiu!

However, Shangguan Yue fought this battle with grievances.

I didn’t expect Rong Xiu to still be an Armory Refinement Master! I have to win this back!

Hence, once the assessment ended, she brought Rong Xiu to the mountain and played chess to determine the winner.

Shangguan Yue was ferocious and had harsh murderous intent. Then… she lost again.

Rong Xiu still barely won.

“You… didn’t show your full strength, right?” She clenched her teeth.

Rong Xiu smiled and replied, “No. You improved greatly, but… I didn’t slack off either.”

Shangguan Yue snorted. “Do you really think I don’t know? Recently, you’ve been leaving early and coming back late. It’s been hard to even see you. You didn’t secretly find another place to cultivate, right?”

Rong Xiu captured the main point. “You really want to see me?”

Shangguan Yue was speechless.

“Recently, I made you angry several times, right? So, I prepared an apology gift for you.”

Shangguan Yue was dazed. “You don’t have—”

“Look behind.”

Shangguan Yue turned around in confusion. Then, she realized that they had played till evening again.

Suddenly, her gaze focused.

A sea of black and golden, and the warm orange hue stained the large patches of rainbow. Almost half the sky had a dreamy color.

Far away, in between the mountains, a lake shone and rippled.

The many Dancing Lotuses quietly bloomed on the lake surface.

The pinkish-white, translucent petals swayed with the wind. When they merged with the evening hues, it was like a colorful water painting with passionate colors.

Rong Xiu came to her side. “Do you like it?”

Shangguan Yue’s heart beat wildly.

She turned around and looked right at him with her star-like eyes. After a moment, her lips curled slightly, and she looked into his eyes. “I like it.”