Chapter 160: A Total of 562 Times

After all the deep affection and care I lavished upon him, he actually intended to bring couplets for my funeral!
Lin Wen was in a very foul mood.
"Brother Wang, long time no see!"
Lin Lei turned around and greeted him with a cheeky grin.
Seeing that smile, the displeasure in Lin Wen's heart quickly vanished.
"I really don't know what to do with you."
Lin Wen sighed helplessly, then led them back to the coalition camp. "I've heard everything about what happened. I have no objection to your going to the Elf Kingdom, but you must help me with something first."
"Help you? With what?"
Lin Lei looked bewildered for a moment, but he soon found out what it was.
"One, two, three, four; two, two, three, four..."
Inside the tent, Lin Wen furrowed his brow while practicing his cultivation. "Does this technique feel a bit strange?"
"What's strange about it? Not strange at all!"
Lin Lei praised, thinking that Lin Wen's execution of the broadcast gymnastics was far more standard than that of any of the mages.
"However, the cultivation progress is indeed very rapid."
Lin Wen quickly cast aside his doubts as the true qi within his body surged rapidly. He was quite satisfied—the mages of the Twin Moons City had all learned the Clear Wind and Radiant Sun Technique, leaving only him without the opportunity to learn it out there.
That was why Lin Wen had fabricated an excuse to summon Lin Lei and acquire the spell from him.
"Well then, Brother Wang, take your time practicing. I'm going out for a moment."
With those words, Lin Lei activated the Cosmos Shift.
"Hahaha!" He reappeared on the other side of the grassland, clutching his stomach and rolling around on the ground. "I never expected him to have a day like this, hahahaha!"
The werewolves were dumbfounded. What on earth was this elf doing lying around in their camp?
"Enemy attack!"
Recovering quickly, they sprang into action, lunging fiercely toward Lin Lei.
"He's gone!" A group of men thrust their longswords deep into the turf, but Lin Lei was nowhere to be seen.
"Hahahahaha!" Ten meters away, Lin Lei lay flat on the grass, continuing to roll around. "That deadpan, solemn expression of his almost killed me!"
The werewolves' faces turned icy. There was no doubt about it; this fellow was deliberately provoking them.
"Hack him to pieces!"
Once again, they charged at Lin Lei.
Hours later, the sky began to dim into a hazy twilight.
The coalition blew the horn for the offensive, and Lin Lei returned, his clothes and hair littered with grass clippings.
"Where have you been?"
Eve looked at him disapprovingly. "Come over quickly, the war is about to begin."
"War?" Lin Lei waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry, those werewolves have retreated."
He had spent the entire afternoon playing a game of hide-and-seek with those werewolves. The moment they heard the coalition's horn, they immediately fell back.
"Did you strip off someone's clothes again?" Eve already knew where Lin Lei had been.
Lin Lei chuckled dryly. "There were too many powerful fighters over there. If I hadn't stirred up some chaos, I might not have made it back."
He found that it was still much better being alone—he could run whenever he pleased. Leading an army into battle was simply too exhausting.
"Where is Brother Wang?" Lin Lei asked.
"He is still cultivating."
Eve replied, but no sooner had the words left her mouth than a violent gust of wind abruptly erupted from the coalition camp.
"Enemy attack?"
That was Eve's first thought, before she caught sight of the utterly shell-shocked expression on Lin Lei's face.
"No way!"
He let out an exclamation of disbelief. Following his gaze, Eve turned her head, her eyes widening as well. "How can this be..."
A fierce gale swept through the camp, and gasps of astonishment rose from all around. The coalition warriors raised their heads, staring in utter disbelief at the space above the camp—endless gales were converging upon a figure suspended in mid-air. The wind morphed into various shapes around him, at times transforming into a phoenix, at times into a majestic dragon, ever-changing and completely unfettered.
Beneath the misty twilight, that figure looked like a deity that ought not to exist in the mortal realm, effortlessly and freely manipulating the winds.
Lin Lei spat out a single word: "True qi attribute!"
"Correct."
The wind carried his voice down from the sky as Lin Wen descended to land right opposite Lin Lei. "I have discovered a new true qi attribute."
A transparent phoenix formed of wind circled in the sky behind him, yet Lin Lei paid it no mind. Instead, his gaze fixed on Lin Wen's body—flickering, transparent flames resembling fireflies drifted around his form, so faint they were almost invisible upon a casual glance.
This flame was similar to his Holy Light; it was indeed true qi.
"I can now manipulate the power of the wind."
Lin Wen stretched out his hand, and a miniature tornado swirled in his palm, transforming into various shapes.
"The power of immortality cultivation is truly miraculous." Filled with deep emotion, Lin Wen felt that he was now even more adept at manipulating wind than a mage. "Lin Lei, hit me!"
"This... is that wise?"
"Just hit me casually!"
"Alright, I'll just strike casually..."
Lin Lei thrust both palms forward. "Boundless Ocean!"
Eve's expression changed drastically. She had told him to strike casually—why on earth was he unleashing his ultimate technique?!
The astromancer hastily covered her ears and squatted down on the ground, yet after waiting for a long time: "Why is there no wind?"
Eve got up to take a look, only to see a white cyclone hovering precisely in front of Lin Wen, surging upward toward the sky—Lin Lei's hurricane had actually been absorbed by that phoenix.
"This is bad."
Lin Lei muttered under his breath. If the Boundless Ocean couldn't be blown away by the wind, the resulting explosion would have to be dealt with right here.
"Boom!"
A deafening blast erupted from right beneath Lin Lei's backside, launching him high into the air.
"Whoops..."
Lin Lei vanished into the distance, still airborne.
"Little Prince!"
Eve hurried over in pursuit, but Lin Wen reached out to stop her. "No need to chase after him. His physique is different from ours; the Boundless Ocean won't cause him any real harm."
Having proven his mastery over the wind, Lin Wen felt a twinge of hurt in his heart.
With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the soaring phoenix. "Eve, why is Lin Lei always so rebellious and antagonistic toward me?"
"..."
Eve shook her head. How could she possibly know what went on between these two brothers?
"This time, he really went too far!"
Lin Wen's expression turned frosty. Lin Lei had actually used a terrifying technique like Boundless Ocean against his own brother.
"Ever since he was a child, I've treated him like the apple of my eye. I would wipe his mouth when he ate, brew medicine for him when he was sick, and tuck him in with a blanket when he slept. Why is it that he rebels against me day in and day out?"
Eve was stunned. Lin Wen was actually this good to Lin Lei? That was truly bizarre.
Yet these words sounded somewhat familiar. Testing the waters, Eve asked, "I heard that when you were little, you didn't like the little princess either."
"The little princess?"
Lin Wen frowned slightly, glancing over at Eve. "You even know about that?"
"Intelligence is my life."
Eve replied, having gathered numerous royal palace secrets from confidential informants whose names could not be disclosed. Rumors had it that the deceased little princess had also been exceptionally good to Lin Wen; as his younger sister, she was constantly trying to help him out, yet Lin Wen had always treated her with cold indifference.
"Actually, I didn't dislike her... It's just that she clung to me all day long, and she always liked to run into my room..."
A trace of melancholy flashed through Lin Wen's eyes as he said, "I was still young back then, and I just found her too annoying."
Eve was speechless. Wasn't that exact behavior no different from your own?!
Didn't you also constantly run into your younger brother's room?
Those anonymous, elderly informants had once told Eve that they had kept count of the number of times Lin Wen climbed through the window into Lin Lei's room in the dead of night, and it totaled exactly 562 times.