Acrophobia

  As the gate opened, a lively young girl walked in, saw Chu Xiao, was taken aback for a moment, then put her hands on her hips and scolded, "Xiao Xiao, you're sleeping in again! I've told you so many times, the spiritual energy in the morning is pure and perfect for breathing exercises, no wonder you're still stuck at the second level of Qi training. As your sister, I'm embarrassed for you!"

  "Don't call me Xiao Xiao, I'm older than you!"

  Chu Xiao furrowed her brow in discontent and was about to speak, but then froze. What's going on? How did she end up saying those words? It seemed like they just slipped out of her mouth subconsciously.

  He tapped his forehead, it seemed like memories from his past life were affecting him.

  Drip!

  A clear and crisp sound echoed in his mind, and a character attribute window immediately appeared in his field of vision.

  "Character: Chu Yao."

  Age: 15.

  Sex: Female.

  Spirit Root: 10.

  Cultivation level: Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

  Magic: 256.

  Cultivation Technique: Basic Qi Refining Decree (Five Ranks)

  Divine power: nothing.

  This seemingly serious yet playful girl is none other than Chu Xiao's twin sister, Chu Yao, who was born just a little later than him. However, compared to Chu Yao's intelligent and icy demeanor, her previous life's personality was lazy, slow-witted, and slightly self-deprecating. As a result, Chu Yao has always been displeased with this foolish older brother of hers, referring to herself as his sister since she was old enough to understand things, and always speaking to him in a stern, adult tone.

  Chu Xiao was naturally unhappy about this.

  His predecessor called Chu Yao Xiao Xiao, which was deeply hated and resented.

  "Look at you, spacing out again. Can't you be more alert? I'm at my wit's end with you. Hurry up and eat your breakfast so we can go to Dad's workplace."

  Chu Yao saw Chu Xiao's dazed expression, clutched her forehead in pain, and walked into the kitchen with a defeated look, carrying the already prepared breakfast to the dining table.

  A sumptuous breakfast: a cup of 'Fenghe' jade liquid, two seven-colored spirit pigeon eggs, two yuanling fruits, and one blood spirit pill.

  Fenghe Yuye is a very popular breakfast drink, rich in micro-spiritual substances, which is very beneficial for cultivation and can warm the nature to nourish the meridians.

  Seven-Colored Spirit Pigeon Egg, is an egg laid by the artificially fed Seven-Colored Spirit Pigeon, which also contains a rich amount of micro-spiritual substance and can enhance the special yuanqi of the flesh.

  Yuānlíng guǒ is a type of fruit that grows on the Yuānlíng tree. If it's wild, it only bears fruit once every ten years. However, with the advancement of Xiūzhēn technology, researchers have found ways to make the Yuānlíng tree bear fruit annually. Although the effect of the Yuānlíng fruit is slightly weakened, it can be mass-produced and tastes sweet and delicious, rich in specific yuánqì that the body needs.

  As for the Blood Spirit Pill, it is a spirit pill refined from the blood and flesh of various spiritual birds and beasts, which supplements the human body's qi and blood. After all, during cultivation, the consumption of qi and blood is very large, so taking the Blood Spirit Pill can make the physical body reach its most vigorous state, and thus will not delay cultivation.

  This spiritual elixir has very few impurities and is greatly beneficial to the purification of the physical body, unlike directly consuming meat which forms many impurities and waste gases that are not conducive to cultivation.

  Chu Xiao's family background is quite good, so breakfast is very rich. If it were an ordinary person's home, the food would be much worse.

  It can be said that the gap between the rich and the poor determines the quality of the practice environment, and having good food is crucial for practice.

  After sweeping everything away, Chu Xiao was still somewhat dissatisfied.

  "Huh? You always used to waste half of it, how did you finish the whole thing today? Am I dreaming?"

  Chu Yao looked at Chu Xiao's empty plate and made a very exaggerated expression.

  "I'm hungry, let's go!"

  Chu Xiao rolled her eyes, her previous life was very picky about food, didn't like the "Fenghe brand" jade liquid, loved to drink "Xisi brand" crystal dew, it's said that it's the brand endorsed by her favorite female star in her previous life, loving everything about her, even drinks had to be "Xisi brand" crystal dew. Chu Xiao was speechless about this hobby of hers.

  "Alright, it's almost 9 o'clock, let's hurry to Dad's workshop. Yes, I must finish making the Zhongpin Fahuo today. Chuyao, come on, you can do it."

  Chu Yao stood up, shook her ponytail, clenched her fists, and psyched herself up. She ran into the room and grabbed a backpack.

  Chu Yao and Chu Xiao both attend Shi City's No. 2 Junior High School, with Chu Yao in her third year of junior high and Chu Xiao in her first year.

  Two people of the same age, how can one be in junior high school and the other in primary school?

  It's simple, upgrading requires exams, Chu Xiao has always been the last one in class, and even after three years of exams, he still hasn't reached the upgrade standard, every subject is a red light hanging high.

  It's summer vacation now, and teachers at school have naturally assigned summer homework.

  Chu Yao's task was to create a mid-grade talisman, while Chu Xiao only needed to complete the seal of a single character.

  It's just such a simple task, Chu Xiao still hasn't completed it until now.

  Alas, speaking of the predecessor's ugly affairs is a big basketful.

  Chu Xiao rubbed his nose and a hint of bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. It seemed that he had to take on this responsibility himself.

  Following Chu Yao out the door, Chu Xiao took a look around and found that this was a very elegant neighborhood. The house was a small villa, the roads were clean and tidy, the trees were lush and green, and the air was exceptionally good. Even when the sun in the sky became scorching hot, it was still cool and refreshing inside the compound.

  Chu Yao opened a side door of the villa, stretched out her hand and beckoned, instantly a four-meter-long, one-meter-wide, sword-like object flew out.

  This is the 'Ling Xiao' style flying sword board.

  On the flight panel were carved many array methods, and at the bottom of the last side, a yuan crystal as big as a fist was inlaid.

  "Ding, discovered mid-grade flight artifact, system optimization task triggered, user's magical power is insufficient, unable to complete optimization."

  The prompt tone of the Xiu Zhen system sounded again.

  Chu Xiao's face showed a hint of gloom, and he shook his head. It seemed that the system task was related to magic power; otherwise, even if the system task appeared, there would be no ability to complete it.

  But he still took a look at the properties of the flight panel.

  "Law enforcement: flying board."

  Rank: Middle rank.

  Magic Arrays: Suspension Magic Array (Medium), Propulsion Magic Array (Medium), Protective Aura Magic Array (Medium), Inertia Elimination Magic Array (Medium).

  Flying speed: 78 m/s.

  Perfection: 61%.

  ...．

  "Hurry up and come here!"

  Chu Yao lightly jumped and landed on the flying board with a lithe movement, seeing Chu Xiao still hesitating below, she frowned.

  "Uh, I, I have acrophobia."

  Chu Xiao swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

  Although he had a strong desire to fly, he had a great weakness - acrophobia. As long as he stood in a slightly higher place, his hands and feet would become soft, and he would break out in cold sweat. Let him stand on this flying board and fly high in the air? No way!

  "What? Acrophobia? When did you have acrophobia? This flying board was something you begged Dad to buy for you. Are you coming up or not?"

  Chu Yao's face was full of shock.

  "I won't go up, even if you kill me I won't go up, I'd rather walk instead."

  Chu Xiao shook his head resolutely and hurriedly walked towards the entrance of the residential area.

  "It's really strange, how did you change into a different person? I'd like to try it out, are you really afraid of heights?"

  Chu Yao whispered to herself, and a sly smile immediately appeared on her lips. With a flicker of her mind, the flying board whizzed through the air in a circle before shooting towards Chu Xiao. Standing on the flying board, she suddenly bent down, reached out with one hand, and grabbed Chu Xiao out of thin air, pulling him onto the board.

  Ah!

  "Ah! What are you doing? Let me go, let me go..."

  He had just entered the third layer of Qi training, how could he compare to Chu Yao who was at the fifth layer? He didn't even have the strength to resist, and as soon as he landed on the flying board, his innate acrophobia came flooding back. Chu Xiao's face turned pale as he lay flat on the flying board.

  "I said, Xiao Xiao, you can't really have acrophobia, can you?"

  Seeing Chu Xiao react so greatly, Chu Yao turned her head and widened her eyes.

  ........．