After the dragon and the fox said goodbye to Zero and Jingliu, the two of them unconsciously gathered together again.
They were perfectly in sync. With just a glance, they decided where to go next, Scalegorge Waterscape.
As Dan Feng's closest friends, of course they had to stand up for the Dragon Lord and help him annoy the Dragon Elders a bit.
The Dragon Elders prided themselves on the noble status of the Vidyadhara lineage and couldn't stand seeing their Dragon Lord mingling with short-lived species and foxians.
Of course, these high-ranking Dragon Elders would never show their true emotions in public. Instead, every so often they would seek out Dan Feng and, using wording that was impossible to fault, subtly admonish the Dragon Lord to mind his status.
Would Dan Feng listen? Naturally not.
If the Dragon Lord actually listened, that would be truly strange.
So the friends who were willing to take a knife for Dan Feng's sake began visiting Scalegorge Waterscape even more frequently, determined to help the Dragon Lord annoy a few more Dragon Elders.
According to Dan Feng, it would be even better if they could annoy one into molting.
They all treated that as angry talk. How could you really annoy a Dragon Elder to death?
That's what they thought, but they still supported Dan Feng with their actions, following him to Scalegorge Waterscape countless times, yet they never heard news of any Dragon Elder molting.
Oh, there was one not long ago, but it wasn't because they annoyed him into molting. He was old and half-blind and molted after accidentally falling.
When they heard about it, they sighed repeatedly, lamenting the unpredictability of life.
They were just gathering with Dan Feng, who would really want to anger a Dragon Elder to death? Dying like that could only be summed up as life being unpredictable.
The four of them arrived at Scalegorge Waterscape once again, and Jing Yuan was the first to speak, "Brother Yingxing, this time it's finally my turn for a formation blade, right?"
Recently, he had been following General Teng Xiao closely, but he had also heard news of his master going in and out of the Artisanship Commission. This time, the moment he saw the ring on Zero's index finger, he instantly guessed the truth.
This time, it had to be his turn for a formation blade, right?
Yingxing thought about it. According to Dan Feng, Jingliu and Zero wouldn't be getting married for at least another ten-plus years.
Whether it was ten years or several decades, there was no rush at all.
Yingxing had plenty of time to prepare gifts for his friends.
Thinking it over, he realized he really did have time to forge a weapon for Jing Yuan.
Seeing Jing Yuan urging him again and again, Yingxing said irritably, "You brat… fine, fine, fine. You're next, okay? Let me rest for a while first, all right?"
Jing Yuan straightened his back, his gaze sharp.
"That's what you said. If you go back on your word again, I'll block you at the entrance of the Artisanship Commission!"
Yingxing thought to himself, what's the point of blocking me at the entrance? As if I ever get off work.
He said dismissively, "Oh? Block me at the entrance, and then?"
Seeing this, Jing Yuan knew Yingxing hadn't taken his words seriously.
He snorted and then said maliciously, "I'll borrow a dozen or so people from Brother Dan Feng and have them shout at the Artisanship Commission entrance, 'Young Master Yingxing, it's time for you to go home and inherit the family business!'"
Yingxing, "..."
Just imagining it made him want to flee the Luofu.
His face flushed red, veins popping on his forehead. He wanted nothing more than to get up and beat Jing Yuan up.
Yingxing stood up, took a deep breath, deliberately restrained his strength, and hooked his arm around Jing Yuan's neck, gritting his teeth, "Jing Yuan, you little..."
Jing Yuan's suggestion happened to perfectly suit Dan Feng's tastes. The Dragon Lord was already used to these over-the-top antics that outsiders would find excessive.
Looking at Yingxing's utterly resistant expression, Dan Feng asked with interest, "Just shouting classic lines from storybooks? I think no storybook line compares to that sentence Yingxing once said."
Jing Yuan suddenly looked enlightened. Restricted by Yingxing's grip, he had no choice but to change how he addressed him to "Brother Yingxing."
He said, "You mean that line! I think so too! What Brother Yingxing said was super cool!"
Baiheng understood immediately. With an approving tone, she sighed, "Better to be a firefly flying into the flames than to be a worthless tree living long."
Jing Yuan's eyes spun, and he shouted loudly, "Brother Yingxing, I'm going to let everyone on the Xianzhou know that you..."
Yingxing, as a short-lived species, had won the title of "Hundred-Forged," which alone proved his strength.
He had once told his friends that he would rather be a firefly flying into the flames than a useless tree living long.
He would tell everyone on the Xianzhou that his brief life of less than a hundred years had created achievements that long-lived species couldn't catch up to in hundreds or even thousands of years.
Yingxing didn't think there was anything wrong with his words.
In the entire Xianzhou, only he alone had the confidence to say such things.
But if it was shouted out loud in public… by more than a dozen people… that was a completely different matter, okay?
Yingxing could calmly accept being excluded by long-lived species, but he absolutely could not accept this kind of social death.
Embarrassed and furious, he reached out and covered Jing Yuan's mouth.
Dan Feng slowly finished the part Jing Yuan hadn't yet said, "To let everyone on the Xianzhou know that..."
The Dragon Lord looked at Yingxing, at the short-lived friend whose surface anger barely hid how close he was to shattering, and had no choice but to change his words halfway through.
"That Yingxing broke a promise to Jing Yuan, who is still a minor."
Yingxing, "..."
'Dan Feng, thanks so much! Don't think I don't know what you wanted to say!'
Yingxing expressionlessly let go of the hand covering Jing Yuan's mouth.
He could use an arm lock on Jing Yuan's neck, a junior, but with Dan Feng… how could he use such a childish method?
Yingxing immediately challenged Dan Feng to a fight.
The moment Jing Yuan heard Dan Feng treating him as a junior, he was instantly unhappy.
"That's really unfair, Dan Feng. Yingxing and I are from the same generation, so why the double standard? On the Xianzhou, at Yingxing's age, you're still supposed to be supervised by a guardian!"
The dragon and the two humans immediately started arguing over the topic of generations, and after only a few lines, they were about to settle things through sparring.
Baiheng focused entirely on drinking and didn't join the conversation. Who knew that they'd start arguing one moment and head toward the training grounds the next?
The three walked while throwing punches at each other. Dan Feng tried to cheat by manifesting a dragon tail, but Jing Yuan instantly exposed it, and Yingxing joined Jing Yuan in counterattacking.
Watching the three from behind, Baiheng, "..."
These three were so childish.
The foxian quickly thought of Jingliu's lover, Zero.
No wonder her friend liked Zero.
Who could refuse a normal person with stable emotions, gentlemanly manners, and considerate behavior?
After the two started dating, the other party had been especially attentive.
It hadn't even been that long, and Zero had already given her a whole house.
It was just that Jingliu felt a lot of pressure about it, but with Baiheng as a strategist, even if the two had some conflict, they'd reconcile again before long.
Please, she was Baiheng, whose friends spanned the entire universe.
In situations like this… just go straight at it.
As for the huge disparity in their financial power… Jingliu could just give Zero her salary card.
Sure, it couldn't compare to the value of a house… but Zero wasn't someone who cared about patrol tokens.
Of course, in most cases it was the man who handed over his salary card.
But this was Zero. He never thought men should be this way or women should be that way.
Zero wasn't some old fossil with rigid stereotypes.
How could someone like that care about such details?
Presumably, Jingliu had already followed her suggestion and talked things out properly with him.
Thinking this, the foxian took out her jade communicator and started looking for gifts for Jingliu.
Just a twenty-year-old youngster… was Jingliu really not able to handle that?