WBICDPH Chapter 40 Part 1

Chapter 40: The Bearing of an Old Acquaintance

Xiao Lanqi hated humans.

As a member of the demon race, humans were, in his eyes, nothing more than a group of short-lived, arrogant creatures burdened with cloying emotions—no different from the bugs or ants he happened to encounter on the road.

Among the Heavenly Demons, strength had always been the only law. Only the strong had the right to speak, and only the strong were qualified to live. Humans were far too fragile for his liking. He disdained understanding them, and even more so forming bonds with them.

Of course, Chu Tingxue was the sole exception.

Though many years had passed, Xiao Lanqi still clearly remembered the first time he met that man.

Back then, Xiao Lanqi was still a young Heavenly Demon. He had left Mingzhu Heaven, intending to find a few demons outside that were worthy of his notice, hunt them down, and take their demon cores—beautiful ones—to be crushed and woven into the outer robe of his ceremonial attire.

The requirements for such demon cores were extremely high. Low-rank demon beasts had cores that were dull and murky gray—ugly enough that even paving stones made from them would be an eyesore. Only high-rank or rare demons possessed cores that were crystal clear, some even bearing unique colors, gleaming like gemstones. When crushed and woven into fabric, these cores made the garment not only magnificent to behold, but also caused spiritual light to flow across it under sunlight.

Xiao Lanqi had once seen that light on his mother’s ceremonial robes and had loved it deeply. He begged her to make him one as well, but she told him that the demon cores on his robe had to be personally chosen and hunted by him. Only then would they have meaning. This was a custom of the demon race: the glow on a Heavenly Demon’s ceremonial attire represented their strength and pride.

Xiao Lanqi was a proud Heavenly Demon—and among the proud, he was the proudest of all. If something was to be his, it had to be the best.

So he spent a long time searching through the demon race, yet found none satisfactory. In the end, near the Luo River, he finally discovered a beautiful seven-tailed spirit fox.

Most spirit foxes were golden-red or scarlet, but this one was an exceptionally rare snowy white. That meant it possessed a mutated ice-attribute spiritual power, and its demon core would be as exquisite as a multicolored crystal of ice.

The moment Xiao Lanqi saw it, he decided it would be his.

He chased the seven-tailed fox into the woods near the Luo River. The fox was exceedingly cunning, and Xiao Lanqi lost track of it several times. The last time, the fox leapt and vanished behind a thicket. Xiao Lanqi followed, brushed aside the shrubs, and discovered the fox trembling as it hid behind a human.

Beyond the thicket was a wide stretch of grassland. At its center stood an ugly, crooked little tree with a bent trunk, and the human was leaning lazily against one of its slanted, thick branches.

He wore his hair tied back in a ponytail and was dressed in a narrow-sleeved white robe. The hem of the robe draped in layers from the tree branch, swaying gently with the breeze and the grass.

At the time, the man was holding a white jade wine flask, drunk and carefree, while the spineless fox cowered beside him, rubbing against him and shamelessly acting cute, as if begging this human to save its life.

“Hm?”

The man raised a hand and wiped the wine from his lips. His features were refined and handsome, his eyes tinged with a faint flush from intoxication.

“A fox?”

He casually rubbed the fox’s fluffy head, then lifted his gaze and noticed Xiao Lanqi not far away.

Raising an eyebrow, he chuckled.

“And a little Heavenly Demon, too?”

“…?”

To identify his identity at a glance—this human had sharp eyes.

Xiao Lanqi lifted his chin and said magnanimously,

“Hey. Hand over the fox at your side, and I, in my great mercy, will spare your life.”

“Oh?” The man’s eyes curved with amusement at those words.

He propped himself up against the tree, sat upright, and pulled the fox into his arms for another affectionate rub, showing no intention of yielding.

“But now that it’s come to me, it’s my fox.”

“I saw it first! It’s my prey!”

“Look at you, little Heavenly Demon. There’s no such thing as ‘first-come, first-served’ in this world. It’s asking me for help now, and it’s done a fine job of pleasing me. Naturally, I’m going to help it.”

Xiao Lanqi’s anger flared instantly.

What an ungrateful human!

“Then I’ll kill you first—and then kill the fox!”

Hearing such ruthless words, the man didn’t seem threatened at all. If anything, he looked amused.

“And what if you can’t kill me, and I end up winning instead?”

“Impossible! I will never lose!”

The moment he said this, Xiao Lanqi summoned his Collapsing Cloud Azure Flame and charged at the man. The man, however, yawned lazily first, then casually snapped off a tree branch at his side and used it to meet the attack.

Half an incense stick later—

The young lord of Mingzhu Heaven, who had just sworn he would never lose, was now beaten flat on the ground by that man using nothing but a single tree branch. Xiao Lanqi was humiliated beyond measure. Yet the man, despite winning with ease, didn’t mock his earlier arrogance. He simply lifted the fox and left the area.

Before departing, he waved the tree branch at Xiao Lanqi without turning around, as a casual farewell.

“Goodbye, little Heavenly Demon. I’m taking this fox with me.”

“….”

This was the first time Xiao Lanqi had ever lost to someone. Yet he felt no discouragement—only a fire burning hotter and hotter in his chest.

He scrambled up from the grass.

“Hey! What’s your name?!”

“I don’t change my name wherever I go—Chu Tingxue of Yanyu Mountain!”

Xiao Lanqi clenched his fist.

“Next time—next time I’ll definitely beat you!”

Chu Tingxue didn’t stop walking. He simply lifted his white jade flask, took another swig, and laughed freely.

“Hahaha… alright! I’ll be waiting!”

The young lord Xiao had defeated countless foes without ever meeting an equal, yet his first stumble came at the hands of a human.

He couldn’t swallow that humiliation. After returning, he trained even harder than before. After breaking through several realms, he charged back to Yanyu Mountain with great fanfare—only to be defeated once again by a bamboo branch Chu Tingxue had casually snapped off.

Thus, the young lord fell into a cycle: issuing fierce threats, returning home, storming Yanyu Mountain again, and suffering crushing defeat. Still, it wasn’t without progress. In the beginning, Chu Tingxue only needed a snapped branch to defeat him. Gradually, however, Chu Tingxue began to draw his sword and take each spar with Xiao Lanqi seriously.

Eventually, though, Xiao Lanqi no longer went to Chu Tingxue solely to spar.

Chu Tingxue would share his newly brewed wine with him, patiently teaching him how to drink when he didn’t know how.

He would also drag Xiao Lanqi into all kinds of outrageous antics—stealing chickens, blowing up stoves in restaurants.

Chu Tingxue would lecture him endlessly on tedious human principles, guide him in cultivation techniques and inner methods. Hearing that Xiao Lanqi had no friends, he even introduced him to the people around him, though Xiao Lanqi had no interest in interacting with other humans.

Because Xiao Lanqi’s identity couldn’t be revealed, when Chu Tingxue introduced him to others, he usually referred to him as “a bad-tempered little brother from a friend’s family.”

Xiao Lanqi would roll his eyes and retort,

“Who are you calling your little brother? I already have an elder brother. You’re just a human. If you want to be my elder brother, you’re not qualified.”

Chu Tingxue would grin and hook an arm around Xiao Lanqi’s head.

“Oh? Then next time you come challenge me, I won’t just crush you—I’ll pin you to the ground so you can’t get up until you soften up and call me ‘big brother.’”

“Impossible! Today, you only barely beat me by half a move. Next time—next time I’ll definitely win!”