The excitement from the Arena Tournament hadn't completely faded, but in the Lin family's living room, two vastly different atmospheres were clashing fiercely.
One was the lingering festivity and clamor from the house being filled with guests.
The other was a turbulent undercurrent beneath the surface, swirling with embarrassing pasts.
Lin Qingyue was curled up on the sofa, her fingertips gliding across the Central Computer's virtual screen as she researched the Dungeon Competition.
Suddenly, the cushion beside her sank.
A cloyingly sweet fragrance clung to her with pinpoint accuracy.
"Sis~"
Lin Xiyue's voice was drenched in honey, its final syllable curling up like a little fox's tail.
She shoved aside a throw pillow and wrapped her arms around Lin Qingyue's, practically hanging off her.
"I recently discovered a suuuuper delicious ice cream shop!"
"Their Dreamy Star River Series is said to be so good it makes your soul float!"
Lin Qingyue didn't even lift her eyelids. Her fingers continued to swipe across the virtual screen as she let out a faint "Oh," acknowledging she'd heard.
"Sooo," Lin Xiyue began shaking her arm, revealing her true intentions. "To celebrate my dear, great, record-breaking sister's triumphant return, how about treating me to a month of ice cream?"
"No."
Lin Qingyue's refusal was absolute.
"Your 'one month' of consumption could turn our house into a mobile cold storage unit. Besides, you just swore last week to watch your weight."
"Aiya, an occasional indulgence is just recharging for all my hard work!" Lin Xiyue pouted, unconvinced, and finally decided to play her trump card.
She lowered her voice, leaning in closer, her breath carrying a hint of mystery.
"Sis, did you know? I got up for water last night and... I think I saw a light coming from a certain room."
Lin Qingyue's finger, which had been swiping across the virtual screen, froze mid-air.
Immensely satisfied, Lin Xiyue admired her sister's instantly stiffened profile and continued slowly, even gesturing with her small hands.
"I think I also heard... the clink-clank of metal colliding?"
"And maybe someone talking? Saying something like... 'Leave it to me'?"
"Hmm... that voice sounded quite familiar. But the tone... it was dripping with sweetness, incredibly dependable. Completely, completely different from a certain violent Priest I know..."
Lin Qingyue slowly turned her head, frame by agonizing frame.
Her younger sister's pretty face was practically screaming the words: "I've got you right where I want you."
I was careless...
Last night, she really couldn't resist. She'd secretly tried out Noelle's Character Card again, wanting to get a better handle on Geo Elemental Power...
And this little brat had overheard?!
"Hehe."
Lin Xiyue grinned like a little fox who'd just stolen an entire chicken farm. She continued applying pressure in a whisper only the two of them could hear.
"Sis, what do you think would happen if I accidentally let it slip... to Mom and Dad, or to those classmates who are dying of curiosity about your 'Heroic Spirit Summoning'..."
"That my dear sister, instead of sleeping at night, was in her room wearing some kind of... uh, armor? With lace frills, no less?"
"And saying 'Leave it to me' in that doting, motherly tone..."
"What would they think?"
With every word she uttered, Lin Qingyue's face grew a shade paler.
This was a hundred times more devastating than that glasses-pushing video!
Her actions in the arena could at least be explained away as "tactical necessity." But if people found out this was her private... hobby...
Wouldn't that make her a pervert?!
Lin Xiyue decided to press her advantage. Mimicking the gentle, dependable tone she'd imagined, she placed her right hand over her heart and gave a slight nod to the empty air.
"Leave it to me!"
She drew out the words, then concluded with a wicked grin, "Sis, this 'new Heroic Spirit' you're practicing with in private sounds quite... wifely~ And I've found its weakness~"
She was ready to savor her sister's panicked, humiliating plea for mercy.
She'd even prepared three different sets of ice cream flavors to demand for the next month.
However, the scene she'd envisioned never materialized.
After a brief moment of stiffness, Lin Qingyue's face settled into an expression of... transcendent calm, as if she'd seen through the vanities of the mortal world.
She even let out a soft, almost relieved chuckle.
Lin Xiyue's heart skipped a beat. A sense of foreboding washed over her.
Lin Qingyue simply raised her head, slowly, slowly.
Her icy face betrayed none of the turmoil Lin Xiyue had anticipated—only a profound emptiness, a detachment so complete it bordered on nirvana.
Her gaze even held a hint of all-seeing pity.
She raised a single finger.
And pointed it straight at the massive floating screen TV on the living room wall.
The TV was looping the official highlight reel of the city's Martial Arts Exam.
At that very moment, the footage, as if precisely manipulated, switched to the climax of Lin Qingyue's duel with Xu Bingbing.
The commentator's passionate, sky-shattering voice boomed through the living room:
"—THIS IS IT! LET'S WATCH IT AGAIN IN SUPER SLOW-MOTION! A FLASH OF LIGHT, AND LIN QINGYUE'S APPEARANCE TRANSFORMS! LOOK AT THAT GLASSES-PUSH! LISTEN TO THAT LINE, DRIPPING WITH INTELLECT AND DOMINANCE! THIS IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE FIRST PUBLIC REVEAL OF HER MYSTERIOUS 'HEROIC SPIRIT SUMMONING' ABILITY! THIS MOMENT WILL BE ETCHED INTO THE ANNALS OF EARTH'S MARTIAL ARTS EXAMS!"
On the giant screen, Lin Qingyue's moment of social death was being replayed over and over in 4K ultra-HD slow motion from three different camera angles.
Beneath the footage, a line of stylized text with fiery special effects slowly materialized—
[THE BIRTH OF A TACTICAL MASTER!]
Lin Qingyue lowered her finger, her gaze—the kind that said, My soul has already ascended; burn paper offerings if you need me—falling upon her sister, who had instantly petrified into a statue.
Her voice was utterly flat, as if she were reciting a weather forecast that had nothing to do with her.
"Threat invalid, silly girl."
She pointed at her own publicly executed self on the TV.
"See that?"
"Panoramic HD, slow-motion close-ups, official commentary, complete with special effects."
"That little bit of 'black history' you're holding..."
Lin Qingyue's tone carried the weary calm of someone who had seen it all. "Do you really think someone who has already performed a 'live transformation + cosplay' in front of the entire city would be afraid of your empty accusation of 'suspected private cosplay'?"
She gestured at the frozen close-up on the screen. "See? I'm now an officially certified 'performance artist.'"
"If you go post on the forums right now, saying 'Lin Qingyue might have a secret cosplay fetish,' do you think people will believe you? Or will they just say—"
She paused, perfectly mimicking the tone of a forum gossip.
"Oh, that Lin student who summons Heroic Spirits? She must be developing some new ability, right?"
"Makes sense, makes sense. We can't comprehend the world of the strong. They always have training methods beyond our understanding!"
Lin Qingyue even reached out and patted her sister's stiff shoulder, her tone grave and profound.
"Xiyue, times have changed."
"When your sister's embarrassing past becomes public property, your little 'exclusive scoop' becomes utterly worthless."
Lin Xiyue: "..."
She stared at her sister's incredibly calm (but inwardly dead) face on the TV, then at her sister's even calmer, "dead pigs fear no boiling water" expression right now. She petrified all over again.
She felt like the royal flush she thought she was holding had inexplicably turned into a measly three-of-a-kind.
"Aaaah—!!"
Lin Xiyue let out a second wail, flopping back onto the sofa and rolling around in despair, clutching a throw pillow.
"It's not fair! When did your skin get so thick?! My ice cream! My Dreamy Star River Series!!"
Watching her sister repeat her dramatic antics, Lin Qingyue finally couldn't help but laugh. She nudged her gently with her foot.
"Alright, stop acting. A month's worth of ice cream is off the table, but... considering you provided me with, uh, a new source of Elation... I'll treat you to an extra-large ice cream today. Double toppings."
Lin Xiyue instantly stopped rolling. She looked up, her expression changing faster than flipping through a book. "Really? Can I get extra chocolate pearls too?"
"Granted." Lin Qingyue declared with a magnanimous wave of her hand. Then, her eyes narrowed, releasing a hint of a "dangerous" aura. "However, about what you did last night..."
"I was sleepwalking! I was hallucinating! I didn't see or hear anything!"
Lin Xiyue immediately threw her hands up as if swearing an oath, sprang nimbly from the sofa, and bolted toward her room to change without a backward glance, terrified her sister would retract the offer at any moment.
Watching her sister's gleeful retreat, Lin Qingyue shook her head with a smile.
As expected, if I'm the first to abandon all shame, embarrassment can never catch me.
Does this count as... another form of growth?
[Ding! Host has successfully neutralized a 'potential social death crisis' and skillfully appeased the Elation Target with ice cream. Elation Value +55! Host, your mastery of slacking off... no, your mastery of manipulating hearts has reached a transcendent level!]
Lin Qingyue: "..."
Just shut up, will you!