Song Hansheng watched the two of them repeatedly steal the spotlight. He turned to Yunque behind him and said in a deep voice, “Little Junior Sister, you go too.”
Yunque's face turned pale, and she shook her head repeatedly in refusal. “Senior Brother, I'm not going. Those demon beasts look far too disgusting.”
Hearing this, the veins on Song Hansheng's temples throbbed, and his brow furrowed deeply. For the first time, he felt this Little Junior Sister of his was incredibly weak and useless, not even matching up to the Changming Sect's newly recruited disciple.
Su Zhuo quickly chimed in to plead on her behalf, “Senior Brother, Little Junior Sister is still young. Sending her out now is too dangerous for her.”
Song Hansheng shot him a cold glare and snapped, “Shut up!”
Before long, the hundred or so demon beasts were mostly wiped out under the onslaught of Ye Qiao and Mu Zhongxi.
The fierce battle exhausted all of Ye Qiao's spiritual energy. Her body felt completely drained, so she sat down right where she was. The spiritual energy around her began to slowly surge—a clear sign of an impending breakthrough.
Xue Yu's gaze sharpened, and he said in a low voice, “Little Junior Sister is about to break through.”
Mu Zhongxi looked astonished. “What? How is Little Junior Sister advancing so fast? I remember she was only at the third layer of Qi Condensation two months ago!”
Luo Qingyu spoke calmly, “Let's wait and see for now. The rest of us will protect her while she breaks through.”
...
Three shichen later.
Ye Qiao slowly opened her eyes. Just as she regained her senses, a face suddenly thrust itself right in front of her. It was none other than Yunque.
Caught completely off guard, Ye Qiao was startled and blurted out, “Holy crap!”
Hearing the exclamation, Luo Qingyu immediately stepped in front of Ye Qiao and asked in a deep voice, “What do you think you're doing?”
Seeing the exceptionally good-looking Luo Qingyu shielding Ye Qiao, Yunque felt extremely bitter.
Ye Qiao had clearly left the Yueqing Sect, so why was she still able to become a Personal Disciple just like her? They were both the youngest junior sisters of their respective sects. It wasn't fair.
Yunque bit her lip hard and whispered to Ye Qiao, “Second Senior Sister, could you spare me a stalk of Heart Clearing Grass? My spiritual root is damaged, and I only need this one stalk to stabilize my cultivation.”
From the side, Ming Xuan immediately barked, “Who do you think you are? Why on earth should we give it to you?”
Su Zhuo quickly stepped forward to shield Yunque, speaking to Ye Qiao, “Second Senior Sister, you have so much Heart Clearing Grass in your hands. Why not just let Little Junior Sister have one stalk?”
Looking at the shameless duo in front of her, Ye Qiao rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I'm not giving you any. What are you going to do about it?”
“And another thing: don't call me Second Senior Sister. If I hear you call me that again, I'll beat you up every single time I see you.”
Hearing Ye Qiao's words, Yunque's face flushed red and white in sheer embarrassment.
Song Hansheng snorted coldly. “I'll remember what happened today. Just you wait!”
The Changming Sect group completely ignored him. With a face dark as thunder, Song Hansheng said in a deep voice, “Let's go. Back to the sect.”
With that, the three from the Yueqing Sect turned and left the secret realm.
*
Once they were out of the secret realm, Xue Yu looked at Ye Qiao beside him and asked softly, “Little Junior Sister, do you know those people from the Yueqing Sect?”
Ye Qiao nodded slightly and recounted the original owner's past experiences in the Yueqing Sect to them, detail by detail.
Ming Xuan was instantly filled with rage upon hearing this. Gritting his teeth, he said, “That is absolutely detestable! Don't worry, Little Junior Sister. If they ever dare to bully you again, we'll get Senior Brother to help you get revenge!”
Mu Zhongxi quickly chimed in, his tone sincere and enthusiastic, “And me, and me! I can help you beat them up!”
Luo Qingyu also spoke up quietly from the side, “Count me in.”
Looking at her senior brothers who were genuinely defending her, a warm feeling welled up in Ye Qiao's heart.
At this moment, she suddenly felt that being a Personal Disciple of the Changming Sect seemed pretty great.
...
Outside Cloud City, the group packed up and prepared to set off back to the sect together.
At this moment, Luo Qingyu spoke up, “You guys go back first. I still have some matters to attend to, so I'll return to the sect a bit later.”
Mu Zhongxi's interest was instantly piqued upon hearing this, and he quickly stepped forward. “Fourth Senior Brother! Whatever it is, we can help you! Besides, it's still early, and I haven't had enough of exploring Cloud City yet!”
Ye Qiao chimed in as well, “That's right, Fourth Senior Brother. Take us along. An extra pair of hands is always helpful.”
Ming Xuan added, “Exactly! Fourth Junior Brother, if we're going back to the sect, we should all go back together. You can't just abandon us like this!”
Xue Yu also joined in, “Fourth Junior Brother, let's head back to the sect together.”
Luo Qingyu looked at the group warmly trying to persuade her and nodded helplessly. She did feel a bit touched, but that warmth vanished without a trace in the very next second.
Ye Qiao said excitedly, “Then, Fourth Senior Brother, you're footing the bill for all our expenses once we enter the city!”
Luo Qingyu asked, “Why me?”
Ye Qiao replied righteously, “Because you're obviously the richest one here!”
The tiny bit of warmth that had just risen in Luo Qingyu's heart dissipated instantly. She felt that her previous sentimentality had been nothing but an illusion.
Without caring about Luo Qingyu's current state of mind, Ye Qiao grabbed her arm and dashed straight into the city.
As soon as they entered, the recently wildly popular Anecdote Bookstore at the corner of the street came into view. Ye Qiao's eyes lit up instantly, and she immediately clamored, “Fourth Senior Brother! There are newly released storybooks here! I want them!”
Luo Qingyu: “Buy them.”
Ming Xuan followed closely behind. Pointing at a shop selling talismans on the street to their right, he said as if it were only natural, “Fourth Junior Brother, Spirit Gathering Talismans!”
Luo Qingyu: “Buy them.”
Xue Yu picked out a few high-quality stalks of Spirit Blood Vine and added calmly, “Fourth Junior Brother, spiritual plants.”
Luo Qingyu: “Buy those too.”
Mu Zhongxi headed straight for a street food stall, his eyes shining. “Fourth Senior Brother~ Osmanthus rice cakes!”
Luo Qingyu waved her hand helplessly, signaling that she would buy it all.
Watching them go on a wild shopping spree from one end of the street to the other, Luo Qingyu felt her head throbbing. She was getting a massive headache.
The group shopped for a whole shichen. Even though cultivators had abundant physical energy, they were gradually starting to feel tired.
Only then did Luo Qingyu pull herself together, looking at the exhausted group. “Alright, now that you've shopped to your heart's content, follow me to get some actual business done.”
Full of curiosity, Ye Qiao looked up and asked, “Fourth Senior Brother, what actual business is it?”
“Auditing accounts,” Luo Qingyu replied succinctly.
Mu Zhongxi froze on the spot, his face falling as he cried out, “Huh? Auditing accounts? That sounds incredibly tedious!”
Luo Qingyu raised an eyebrow at him. “What? You think it's boring? Then why don't you guys head back to the sect first?”
Ming Xuan was quick to react. He immediately reached out and clamped his hand over Mu Zhongxi's mouth, waving his other hand frantically at Luo Qingyu with a sweet, obedient smile. “No, no, no! Fourth Junior Brother, we'll keep you company!”
He knew very well that once they returned to the sect, they would have to attend lectures and cultivate on schedule. With so many rules, it would be extremely dull. It was nowhere near as free and easy as wandering around outside.
He absolutely could not return to the sect early just because of a little thing like this.
Luo Qingyu laughed helplessly. “Alright then, follow me.”
With that, she led the four of them straight toward Wanbao Pavilion, the largest establishment in Cloud City.
The group followed Luo Qingyu as they stepped through the entrance of Wanbao Pavilion.
The interior of the pavilion was magnificent and filled with a lingering immortal aura. There were many cultivators bustling about, and the counters were lined with a dazzling array of natural treasures, magical artifacts, and talismans, leaving the group utterly spellbound.
As soon as the lobby steward saw Luo Qingyu, he immediately bowed deeply and greeted, “Greetings, Young Master Luo.”
Ye Qiao's eyes widened instantly. She quietly leaned in and whispered into Ming Xuan's ear, “My goodness, Fourth Senior Brother has such a powerful background! Even the steward of Wanbao Pavilion is so respectful to her!”
Mu Zhongxi also leaned in and lowered his voice, his face full of shock. “Yeah, yeah! It's my first time seeing a Wanbao Pavilion steward being so polite to someone. Fourth Senior Brother is amazing!”
Ming Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly and replied in a low voice, “You're only realizing this now? Our Fourth Junior Brother was never ordinary to begin with.”
Luo Qingyu nodded calmly. With a composed expression and a cool tone, she said, “Take me to the accounts room.”
Not daring to delay for a single moment, the steward quickly bowed and led the way, taking the group to the accounts room on the third floor.
Opening the door, they were greeted by mountains of thick account books. They were piled high on the tables and chairs, so dense and numerous that it made one's scalp tingle just looking at them.
Looking at the messily piled and completely unorganized account books, the veins on Luo Qingyu's temples throbbed slightly. Gritting her teeth, she said to the steward at the door, “Get Gu Wangzhou over here right now.”
From the side, the perceptive Ming Xuan immediately noticed that his Fourth Junior Brother was angry. He quickly tugged at Ye Qiao's sleeve and whispered a warning.
“We'd better keep quiet for now. Your Fourth Senior Brother is in a really bad mood right now.”
Ye Qiao nodded quickly and whispered back, “Second Senior Brother, I can tell. Fourth Senior Brother looks really terrifying right now.”
Beside them, Xue Yu's gaze fell upon the messy account books on the table. He felt rather curious in his heart about what kind of person could make their usually gentle Fourth Junior Brother fly into such a massive rage.
Hearing his boss's command, the steward's heart tightened. He quickly bowed in agreement. “Yes, yes, yes! This lowly one will go invite Young Master Gu over right away!”
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