Chapter 339 – What Should You Call Me from Now On? Big Brother?

Xu Xiayan suddenly realized that she might have truly underestimated Su Ming.

Although Xu Qianqian had told her from the start that Su Ming was far more capable than she imagined, she still viewed him as a newly debuted One-Star Sorcerer who needed her care and protection.

All along, Xu Xiayan had been deeply invested in Su Ming’s affairs.

Firstly, Su Ming was a rare friend whom her icy niece genuinely cared about.

Secondly, Su Ming possessed the potential to become a Seven-Star Sorcerer, sparking Xu Xiayan’s desire to nurture talent.

Moreover, both hailed from the same Base City and hometown, which made Xu Xiayan, who had struggled alone in Tianfeng City for ten years, feel a certain closeness to him.

With all these reasons combined, Xu Xiayan had been so concerned about Su Ming, worrying that a fledgling sorcerer with limited strength might suffer greatly while navigating a place like Tianfeng City.

But now it seemed there was good reason why her aloof niece held Su Ming in such high regard.

Perhaps this young man truly concealed something extraordinary, managing to win over prodigies like Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao, who ultimately joined his team.

Xu Xiayan didn’t know how Su Ming accomplished this, but honestly, she felt somewhat envious.

“Summer Chasing Smoke” had been established for eight years now—longer than the short-lived “Crimson,” which only existed for two years. Its scale far surpassed “Crimson,” which rose to B-rank in two years, and now stood just one step away from the highest S-rank.

Yet even in “Summer Chasing Smoke,” among its 133 team members, there were only nine Upper-Rank Professionals.

Including herself, “Summer Chasing Smoke” boasted four Four-Star Professionals, three Five-Star Professionals, and two Six-Star Professionals—strength comparable to top-tier noble families.

This was the result of eight years of hard work, something Xu Xiayan had always taken pride in.

But what about Su Ming?

In less than a month since arriving in Tianfeng City, he not only successfully formed a team but also recruited one Six-Star Professional, one Five-Star Professional, one Peak Four-Star Professional, and one Three-Star Limit Spirit Bearer with boundless potential!

Could she have matched such achievements back then?

Of course not.

Recalling the early days of her team’s formation, she had been ambitious. With the Wang Family’s support and the momentum of her recent promotion to Upper-Rank Professional, she recruited many talents.

At that time, Wang Di, the third young master of the Wang Family, joined her team without hesitation as a fellow Upper-Rank Professional.

But aside from him, Xu Xiayan failed to recruit any other Upper-Rank Professionals, settling for Three-Star Professionals at best. Nothing like Su Ming, who started with three Upper-Rank Professionals and one Spirit Bearer—the former not even novices but including a Six-Star, and the latter regarded as a future supernova, the youngest Upper-Rank Professional whose advancement seemed imminent.

By then, “Azure Mercury” would have four full Upper-Rank Professionals, including a Six-Star Professional. Comparing people really was enough to make one die of frustration.Seeing how smoothly Su Ming was progressing, Xu Xiayan knew that recruiting him was likely a distant prospect.

“I must say, little brother Su Ming, since you’re so capable, you should’ve told me earlier,” Xu Xiayan gazed at Su Ming with deep resentment. “You made me worry about you for so long—doesn’t your conscience ache at all?”

Su Ming remained noncommittal.

“You’ve got the order wrong, my dear Sister Xu,” Su Ming stated. “It’s precisely because I saw how much you cared about my affairs that I let you know.”

Hearing this, Xu Xiayan realized he was right. Indeed, if she hadn’t genuinely worried about Su Ming’s situation, given his usual secrecy, why would he have revealed so much today and allowed her to see through so many things?

This was essentially Su Ming expressing his trust in Xu Xiayan—a remarkably rare occurrence.

After all, Su Ming had only voluntarily revealed his secrets to An Zijin, the girl next door. Even with Xu Qianqian and Yun Langyue, they had discovered his extraordinary qualities themselves, and Su Ming only stopped hiding when concealment became impossible. As for Chi Qian and others, Su Ming only disclosed some techniques after they signed contracts guaranteeing loyalty and confidentiality, yet he never revealed everything.

Xu Xiayan neither shared an intimate bond with Su Ming nor signed any contract, yet he was willing to expose some aspects—this was truly unprecedented. Had it not been for Xu Xiayan’s genuine concern, escorting him to Tianfeng City, offering repeated advice and guidance, presenting him with a villa and gifts, even making home visits to assess his situation, Su Ming wouldn’t have engaged in such conspicuous displays.

“Alright then,” Xu Xiayan conceded, though still somewhat displeased, she understood Su Ming’s perspective and sighed. “Young people these days are far more decisive and opinionated than we were. I really am getting old.”

To this lament, Su Ming retorted without hesitation, “So you finally admit you’re old? Aun—ow ow ow!”

Before he could finish saying “Auntie,” Su Ming felt his ear being pinched.

“If you ever call me Auntie or Madam again, I won’t go easy on you, little rascal!” Xu Xiayan lectured him sternly, her face dark, causing Chi Qian and others nearby to instinctively step back, not daring to intervene.

“Then why do you keep calling me ‘little rascal’?” Su Ming shot back fearlessly.

“So that’s what bothers you?” Xu Xiayan paused in surprise, then smiled at him as if regarding a grown-up. “Fine, I won’t call you ‘little rascal’ or ‘little brother’ anymore.”

“What will you call me then?” Su Ming asked immediately. “Little bro?”

“Have you no shame?” Xu Xiayan retorted irritably. “You’re younger than me, yet you want me to call you ‘little bro’? Where’s your dignity?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Su Ming dismissed casually. “There’s a certain Chihuahua at my home who’s older than me, yet she still calls me ‘little bro’ or ‘Commander bro’ all the time.”Su Ming’s words made Chi Qian and the others turn their heads to look at one person.

“Huh?”

Feng Qing’er was momentarily stunned, then grew angry.

“I’m forever seventeen! What’s wrong with calling the Commander big brother?”

As she said this, Feng Qing’er suddenly realized something and became even angrier.

“Wait! Who’s a Chihuahua!?”

Seeing the girl’s easily startled and somewhat foolish demeanor, everyone chose to ignore Feng Qing’er.

Xu Xiayan chuckled for a while before saying:

“In that case, I’ll call you Little Ming from now on.”

Xu Xiayan seemed quite satisfied with the nickname she came up with, nodding repeatedly as she spoke.

“Is there any difference between that and before?”

Su Ming’s lips twitched a few times.

“Of course there is.” Xu Xiayan smiled charmingly, her voice becoming seductive as she breathed warm air into Su Ming’s ear, saying: “This makes it seem like sister and little brother are closer, isn’t that right?”

Feeling the warm breath by his ear, Su Ming’s heart skipped a beat, feeling somewhat unable to handle it.

What he feared most was these female demons who coveted his body getting handsy.

If the female demons didn’t get handsy, he could tell himself that women would only slow down his growth rate, that they were useless if you could only look but not touch, and that it would be better to go home and practice his ancestral craft.

But once these female demons started getting handsy, it became troublesome.

After all, Su Ming was a hidden old… ahem, an elegant gentleman.

Once someone got handsy with him, he might lose his composure, which could affect his Dao Heart.

This is how people are – they can keep saying no with their mouths, but once it involves the body, they immediately become honest.

So Su Ming feared nothing in heaven or earth, except female demons attempting to get handsy.

Thus, Su Ming quickly made a strategic retreat.

“Alright, you’ve already met all my team members. If you want to continue chatting, let’s move to the living room.”

Saying this, Su Ming immediately distanced himself from Xu Xiayan and ran toward the living room.

“Oh, Little Ming, don’t run away.”

Xu Xiayan curled her lips, as if she had found a new toy or spotted something fun, and cheerfully chased after him.

This was originally Xu Xiayan’s home, so she naturally knew the way.

Without ceremony, she directly chased after Su Ming and left the hall.

In the hall, only Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing’er, and Tong Xinyao remained.

The four looked at each other, then simultaneously let out a sigh.

“Is that the legendary Xu Xiayan?” Mu Yan said quietly: “She truly lives up to her reputation.”

“Yes.” Tong Xinyao nodded repeatedly: “I felt so much pressure standing in front of her.”

Su Ming didn’t know that when Xu Xiayan was examining the four girls and testing whether they had ulterior motives, she had actually brought out the Aura of a Six-Star Professional.

That Aura was restrained but not released, making the four girls who were directly under her scrutiny feel tremendous pressure.

“Sister Qianqian.” Feng Qing’er turned to Chi Qian and asked curiously: “Compared to that Commander Xu, who’s stronger?”

This question drew the attention of both Mu Yan and Tong Xinyao.

Chi Qian thought for a moment, then gave this answer.”I’ve only just been promoted, while Xu Xiayan succeeded in her promotion a year ago. So purely in terms of power as a Six-Star Professional, she should have the advantage.”

Of course, Chi Qian didn’t think she would lose.

Xu Xiayan had sailed smoothly through her career, unlike Chi Qian who had risen forcefully from the bottom. The hardships Xu Xiayan experienced and the deeply etched battles she fought were certainly fewer than Chi Qian’s.

Therefore…

“In terms of power, she surpasses me.”

“In terms of combat skills, I’m confident I surpass her.”

“If we were to truly compete, the outcome would be hard to predict.”

Chi Qian’s words made the other women nod thoughtfully.

“Let’s go, we should head over too.”

Then Chi Qian gathered everyone and they proceeded to the living room together.

(End of Chapter)