"Did you catch any fish this time?"
Seeing Yan Lin still sitting by the lake, persistently fishing, Jing Yuan walked up and asked.
He glanced into the bucket next to him, and just as he expected, there wasn't a single fish.
"Xiao Yuan, do you think I sit here just to fish?" Yan Lin's eyes remained fixed on the lake surface as he suddenly spoke in a profound and mysterious tone. "The most important thing about fishing is the state of mind."
"I, the dignified Second Young Master of the Yan Family, am I someone who lacks a few fish? As long as I give the word, whatever kind of fish I want, and how many, can be brought over in minutes, right?"
"Yes, you are the Second Young Master of the Yan Family, and you can buy many fish in minutes, but that doesn't conflict with the fact that you can't catch any yourself," Jing Yuan retorted, hitting a vital point without being led astray by Yan Lin. "Besides, isn't buying fish just a fig leaf for fishermen who strike out?"
"If they could catch big fish themselves, why would they need to buy them?"
Jing Yuan's words were like a sharp blade, stabbing once and then again, dealing critical damage and stimulating Yan Lin's fragile heart.
"That's different! I already said I'm not unable to catch fish. Didn't I easily catch one last time when we had dinner together?"
The persistent Yan Lin was still struggling to defend himself. If it were any other time, he would have just given up.
After all, he hadn't caught anything for more than a day or two; everyone knew his situation.
But today, Jing Yuan was followed by two beautiful young women, and he felt it necessary to salvage his reputation.
"Are you talking about the one you caught using your ability, which eventually got away?"
"What's wrong with using my ability? That's my profession! I awakened as a Spatial Sorcerer based on my own skill. What's wrong with me using my ability? That's my capability, isn't it?"
"So, I could easily fish using my ability, yet I didn't. Why is that?"
"It's for the artistic conception, to seek inner peace, it's for..."
Yan Lin wanted to continue his lengthy speech to hide the fact that he really couldn't catch fish, but Jing Yuan left after dropping one last comment.
"Give it a rest. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were the Myriad-Aspect Zither Master."
Jing Yuan came and sat down at the wooden table, beckoning Gu Xiao and Lu Li over as well.
"This is Gu Xiao, the daughter of my Uncle Gu, and her childhood friend, Lu Li."
"These are the brothers I grew up with: Ye Tianying, Xiao Bai, Liu Zhen, and Yan Lin."
After inviting the two girls to sit down, Jing Yuan introduced the two groups of people.
"How about that? I told you both girls are super beauties."
Yan Lin, who had been striking out the whole time, stopped fishing and ran over to sit next to Xiao Bai, only to be pushed away by Xiao Bai's look of disgust.
"Indeed. Gu Xiao, Lu Li, would you like some tea?"
Ye Tianying brought two new teacups and placed them in front of Gu Xiao and Lu Li, preparing tea for them both.
"Ah, thank you, Miss Ye," Lu Li quickly thanked him.
Miss Ye?
Lu Li's address caused Ye Tianying's tea-making movements to pause, but fortunately, having undergone professional training, he didn't let the tea spill onto his hands because of such a small matter.
"Hahahaha... Miss Ye... Pfft... Hahahaha..."
On the other side, Yan Lin, upon hearing Lu Li's address, burst into laughter.
Xiao Bai picked up a pastry from the table and put it in his mouth, preventing others from seeing him laugh.
"Wha— What's wrong?"
Seeing their reactions, Lu Li looked at them blankly.
"Ahem, Tianying is a man."
Jing Yuan coughed twice and spoke up to help Lu Li out of the situation.
"Ah? R-right, I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
After hearing that Ye Tianying was actually a boy, Lu Li was first stunned, then began apologizing incoherently.
She truly hadn't expected that the person in front of her, who was so beautiful, would be a male.
Although Jing Yuan had introduced him as his brother earlier, Ye Tianying was simply too beautiful, causing Lu Li to subconsciously ignore Jing Yuan's address. Coupled with Lu Li's nervousness, she had made the mistake in her haste.
"It's alright, you're not the first person to call me that. I'm already used to it," Ye Tianying said, placing the poured tea in front of Lu Li and Gu Xiao and making a gesture for them to drink. "And thank you for calling me handsome."
Ye Tianying didn't say this just to comfort Lu Li; he was genuinely used to it. Since childhood, if he didn't speak up before others addressed him, being misgendered was inevitable.
Moreover, when he was little, his mother and sister often dressed him up as a girl. It was a tale of bitter tears.
"I brought Gu Xiao and Lu Li here today to introduce them to you all. If they run into any trouble in the future and I'm not around, I'd appreciate it if you could look after them."
Jing Yuan spoke up at the right time to change the subject and break Lu Li's embarrassment.
"Xiao Yuan, don't worry. Your friends are our friends. If anyone causes trouble for Gu Xiao and Lu Li in the future, they'll be messing with us brothers."
Yan Lin patted his chest, taking responsibility for the matter.
"Exactly, Brother Yuan's friends are our friends."
Liu Zhen, who had been silent, also chimed in. He had admired Jing Yuan since childhood; he was the type who would strike wherever Jing Yuan pointed.
Liu Zhen's father once joked that in front of Liu Zhen, his own words as a father were less effective than Jing Yuan's.
And now that Jing Yuan had spoken, if anyone dared to touch Gu Xiao or Lu Li, Liu Zhen would make them understand just how hard a Dragon Blood Warrior's fist was.
"Same here."
Ye Tianying and Xiao Bai both spoke up. Just as Yan Lin and the others said, Jing Yuan's friends were their friends.
Furthermore, even if Jing Yuan hadn't said anything, the fact that he brought Gu Xiao and Lu Li here today meant, in their eyes, that the two girls were already considered part of their circle.
If anyone made trouble for Gu Xiao or Lu Li, they would be making trouble for them.
"Oh, right, the relic that appeared a while ago is opening in a few days. Are you guys going?"
After chatting for a while, Yan Lin suddenly brought up the relic that had appeared some time ago.
"We definitely have to go check it out. Although the truly valuable treasures have probably been plundered, the leftover scraps inside would still be a decent harvest for people at our cultivation level."
Of course, the people who took the most valuable treasures from the relic were the families they belonged to.
"Yeah, and there are also some cultivation grounds inside that can help us boost our cultivation before heading to Star Sea Academy. I estimate breaking through two or three meridians shouldn't be a problem."
Ancient great sects like these usually have places for disciples to train.
They are useless to the big shots in the city, but they are perfect for those of us who have just started on the path of cultivation.
PS: Brothers, the book is starting to get recommendations these past two days. When you see something wrong or notice a typo and want to leave a comment, remember to add an @ at the end, or I might not see it.
Also, please leave a few positive reviews. Sigh, the beginning was clearly written as a half-confession, but we don't know why some people are so stubborn and insist on leaving a bad review just to prove their existence (-ι_-). Brothers who think it's good, please leave a positive review.