Master, don't tease me, you can't handle three of them.

"What are you laughing at?" Xiao Jingshu asked curiously as he looked at the nascent soul and suddenly laughed.

“Master truly likes you,” the Nascent Soul said earnestly.

When Jing Shu heard the Nascent Soul suddenly start saying nice things, he felt something was wrong.

Sure enough, the Nascent Soul cultivator started spewing venom the next second.

"You little brat, Master likes you just as much as he likes Meng'er."

Jing Shu raised his hand to his forehead; he knew it.

Jingyou bit his lower lip hard, his body trembling slightly. He couldn't laugh; if he did, he'd suffer the consequences too!

Jingyou knew who Meng'er was, the youngest disciple of Immortal Venerable Hanluo, his brother's junior sister, and most importantly, she really was a child! Wasn't his brother just mocking his small body, saying that Immortal Venerable Hanluo didn't treat him like a man but spoiled him like a child?

As expected of the same person, they know exactly where to strike!

Xiao Jingshu naturally understood the sarcasm in the Nascent Soul's words. His eyes widened, and his face flushed red with anger. "You..."

"What do you mean, 'you'?" The Nascent Soul slowly walked up to Xiao Jingshu, looking down at him condescendingly. "Shorty?"

Xiao Jingshu completely broke down, and large tears streamed down his face. He felt extremely wronged. He had been cultivating and purifying his bloodline for the past few years, so his body hadn't grown at all. Among these people, he was indeed the shortest.

"You're bullying me! I'm going into seclusion! Until I'm as strong as you, no one is to disturb me!"

After Xiao Jingshu finished roaring, he transformed into a beam of light and entered Jingshu's body.

"It's impossible for you to be taller than me," the Nascent Soul cultivator added, not forgetting to deliver the final blow. "Unless you add your ears, then you really would be taller than me."

After Jing Shu sensed that Xiao Jing Shu had entered the ancient jade, he wiped away his tears while asking himself to absorb some spiritual energy into him for cultivation.

Jing Shu controlled the surrounding spiritual energy to enter his body and said to the persistent Nascent Soul, "Say less. Why are you rushing around like you've swallowed gunpowder?"

"You heard him say that Master likes him, aren't you jealous?" The Nascent Soul rolled his eyes. "Pretentious."

Jing Shu: "..."

However, there's no need to bully him like that; he's just a child...

The nascent soul scoffed and shouted, "Little dwarf, Jing Shu also thinks you're just a little brat."

Xiao Jingshu froze, then burst into tears. "Even you're criticizing me! You said that if I cultivated nine tails, Master would like me even more! Waaah! Will Master dislike me for being short?!"

Jing Shu was exasperated by Xiao Jing Shu's crying and quickly comforted him, "Master won't dislike you, and you still have a year. You'll definitely grow as tall as us."

"Really, really?"

"I promise!" Jing Shu said, while flashing a sharp glare at the Nascent Soul.

Jingyou had already silently disappeared and left the battlefield. If he didn't leave soon, he risked being caught in the crossfire.

Jing Shu finally managed to coax little Jing Shu out of his tears, and he obediently went to cultivate.

"I've never seen you bully him like this before, why are you provoking him so badly?" Jing Shu said speechlessly to the Nascent Soul.

“We’ll be leaving in 359 days. If we keep him looking like a ten-year-old with eight tails, what if he comes out to see Master? Not only will Master dote on him, but what if Master only likes Jing Shu in this state? You know, that’s not what we want.”

The Nascent Soul cultivator wasn't idle; although he was somewhat jealous, he wouldn't go so far as to bully Xiao Jingshu like this. However, since it concerned his pursuit of his master, he didn't want to take any risks whatsoever. A fluffy body could be used to attract his master, but it absolutely couldn't be a child's body!

Jing Shu burst out laughing after hearing this, and the laughter grew louder and louder, "Hahahahahaha."

"What are you laughing at?" Yuan Ying asked, frowning.

After laughing for a while, Jing Shu said, "You're a bit paranoid."

Jing Shu patted the Nascent Soul on the shoulder, "I didn't expect you to be so serious about pursuing Master?"

The nascent soul slapped the hand off his shoulder. "Of course."

“But Jingshu, this isn’t revenge. There’s no need for a meticulous plan or to avoid any risks. We’ve just fallen in love with someone.”

"Besides, Xiao Jingshu really wants to grow taller, so he doesn't need you to provoke him at all."

Xiao Jingshu, who should have been cultivating, snorted. "That's right, growing taller is his top priority, and the Nascent Soul cultivator is using this to mess with him! How childish!"

Xiao Jingshu proudly raised her chin, making no mention of how much she had just cried.

"Alright, alright, I know!" the Nascent Soul said impatiently.

Jing Shu wasn't annoyed; no one understood the Nascent Soul stage better than him. Right now, he must be feeling quite conflicted.

"Oh dear, I wonder where that kid Xiaoyou has run off to. I should go find him and give him a good sparring match," Jing Shu said, walking away into the distance.

The nascent soul stood there, somewhat bewildered. Really, is it unnecessary...?

----------------

Jing Shu found Jing You in a tree not far away.

Jingyou had his back to Jingshu, his head down, seemingly doing nothing.

"What are you doing?"

A voice suddenly rang in his ears, startling Jingyou so much that he almost dropped what he was holding.

"Brother! Why are you so quiet? You can scare people to death!" Jingyou calmed down and couldn't help but complain.

"Is it because you feel guilty?" Jing Shu glanced at the large handful of nuts in Jing You's hand and said calmly.

Jingyou chuckled twice. He had just discovered a squirrel's hole, which contained quite a few nuts. He had just taken them out to try them when Jingshu saw him.

"Brother, do you want some?"

Jing Shu shook his head. "What is your cultivation level now?"

"Mid-Foundation Establishment stage, almost at the late stage," Jingyou answered truthfully. "What's wrong?"

"Come spar with me."

"Huh?" Jingyou was stunned for a moment. "You can't take it out on me just because you argued with that older brother and couldn't beat him!"

"..."

"Who's arguing? Who couldn't win?" Jing Shu was so angry he wanted to laugh. Besides, was he the kind of person who would take his anger out on others?

"Huh? You didn't argue? That's great." Jingyou breathed a sigh of relief. "Then why do you want me to spar with you? Isn't my brother good enough?"

“He’s not good enough,” Jing Shu said bluntly. “He can’t use his full strength.”

Jing Shu had sparred with a Nascent Soul cultivator, but it didn't significantly improve his control over spiritual power in actual combat. Firstly, because he was the dominant divine sense, he unconsciously suppressed the Nascent Soul. Secondly, Jing Shu was too familiar with his own fighting style; both he and the Nascent Soul knew each other's next move with just a glance or a subtle gesture, making the fight rather pointless.

"Okay!" Jingyou didn't refuse. "How about we try sparring together?"

Jingyou was eager to try. He had never fought this older brother before and was constantly being mercilessly crushed by Nascent Soul cultivators. He had long wanted to test his skills against someone at the same level.

"Brother, I'll do my best!"

Jing Shu smiled and made a gesture of asking for a fight with one hand, "I'd be happy to oblige."