That Can't Be Scientific, Can It?

That person might have the same face as their master, but be much more rigid?

If it were a man, they could imagine a wise and venerable old man, but if it were a woman, these disciples would only have the image of their own teacher in their minds.

Cheng Lingshuang, who was following behind Fu Hua, curled the corners of her lips and saw the expressions of her senior sister, junior sister... well, and junior brother—they were even less impressive than her.

"Alright, alright, it's not a big deal. It's normal for kids to be curious."

Liu Bai glanced at his bowed disciples and waved his hand.

Although he could now rightfully punish Su Mei, Liu Bai, whose attitude towards his disciples and grand-disciples had changed after being influenced by Cheng Lingshuang Ling Shuang, was not in a hurry and his mindset had shifted somewhat.

After all, he could stay here for at least two years, and although the conflict between the Seven Disciples and Fu Hua had begun to emerge, it had not yet erupted.

"At worst, I can just go and apologize to Kallen and Elinor later."

"...?"

Su Mei and Lin Chaoyu, who were in the lead, could hardly believe their ears.

Um... are they alright?

Did the Grandmaster not punish them?

Moreover, the male voice was indeed quite gentle and warm, making one subconsciously want to believe it...

Although it was a good thing, Lin Chaoyu and Su Mei still felt it was somewhat unreal.

Why does the grandmaster of our own Tai Xu Sword Sect speak so humanely?

Shouldn't the master of an immortal still be an immortal?

Seeing that the second and eldest senior sisters didn't look up, the four little ones continued to obediently keep their heads down.

"Come, come, all of you, look up. As your grandmaster, I don't have much to offer, so I'll give each of you a small gift as a token of our greeting."

"...?"

The group obediently looked up, but then exchanged bewildered glances.

They had only ever heard of their senior sister bringing them gifts before; when had they ever heard of their own master giving them gifts?

And speaking of which, our own grandmaster...

The crowd looked at the tiny figure floating in the air, distributing items from a small bag, with a mixture of bewilderment and curiosity.

"Chaoyu, this is your jade comb; Su Mei, this gold-inlaid jade necklace is yours, and you and your third and fourth brothers, each of you will receive one of these bracelets..."

One person nervously accepts the gifts, while the other person picks one item at a time and gives it to them, until...

"Sixth Brother..."

"... Greetings, Grandmaster."

The sixth brother Ma Yanqing, who was even more shy than a little girl, looked at Liu Bai timidly, as if he was about to cry—even though Liu Bai was still smaller than his head.

This guy... wait, what should we give this kid?

The future scarred-faced, bandit-like Ma Feima is currently just an extremely shy little boy, and the youngest disciple among the Seven Swords of Taixu, three years younger than the fifth brother Cheng Lingshuang and the seventh brother Qin Suyi.

I can't very well give this kid jewelry, can I?

... Although I feel that even if I gave him jewelry, he wouldn't care.

However, Liu Bai glanced at it and actually found something he could give.

"Here, take this longevity lock, may you live to be a hundred years old."

"Thank you, Grandmaster!"

"Here's a white jade buckle for Xiao Qi. Wear it on your person from now on for peace and safety."

"Thank you, thank you, Grandmaster..."

After Liu Bai finished distributing the items, the six swordsmen all had rather strange expressions.

Hmm... really?

Although they are indeed just ordinary little pieces of jewelry, it is precisely their ordinariness that gives them a sense of inexplicable peace of mind and warmth.

Moreover, these things are only ordinary in a relatively extraordinary sense. If they were to actually go down the mountain, they would all be valuable items, either gold or jade.

Su Mei glanced at her senior and junior sisters.

She and her senior sister were alright, having seen the world, but her junior sisters and brothers... might actually quite like these things.

After all, among them, the only true martial arts fanatic is actually the fifth sister Cheng Lingshuang. The others are just childish and it's perfectly normal for them to like sparkly things.

Although the Tai Xu Sword Sect is not short of food or clothing, they still don't have much to offer in terms of jewelry.

Apart from Xiao Ma'er, who is only ten years old and a boy, the youngest of the other junior sisters is 13. If they were down the mountain, they would all be talking about marriage.

Didn't you see your senior sister subconsciously stroking the jade comb in her hand?

Okay, Su Mei has to admit that she actually likes this necklace a little... well, just a little.

Su Mei quietly put the necklace away, planning to try it on again when she got back to her room.

On the other hand, my own grandmaster is really... kind.

For the naive and innocent sixth and seventh children, these items symbolize peace.

How exactly did these two become master and apprentice?

Su Mei glanced at her master almost imperceptibly.

Su Mei composed herself, pulled away her chaotic thoughts, bowed to the "little" grandmaster in front of her, and smiled.

"Thank you for your generous gift, Su Mei. I am ashamed that I offended you two. Please allow me to apologize to you."

"... Well, it would be good to get to know each other."

Su Mei is a good person at handling things.

"In that case, let's also tidy up the rooms for you and Miss Otto."

Fu Hua then spoke up and gave instructions.

"I'll leave this matter to you Su Mei..."

"Oh, right, Hua also gave you one, this jade bird-shaped hair ornament."

"Uh... Ah... Thank you, Master."

Fu Hua paused for a moment, but quickly regained her calm and collected expression.

"..."

Otto was a little annoyed.

It's not a big deal that the Lord God gave these jewelry to their seven disciples to win their hearts.

But it's for this fairy lady...

Ugh, I'm suddenly so annoyed...

"Thanks, Otto. Without you, I really wouldn't know where to start... You're getting more and more reliable, Otto."

Liu Bai, who was standing next to him, switched to the private chat channel and made a sound of relief.

"... It would be wonderful if I could be of help to the Lord God," Otto replied softly with a smile.

(Woof woof woof!) — Voiceover provided by Imaginary Archive.

Chapter 258 This doesn't make sense, does it?

After dinner, in the guest room.

"Are you two alright?"

"Everyone's together, "Liu Bai asked Kallen casually.

How did it feel to be the center of attention today?

"... Um, can I say I felt absolutely nothing?"

Kallen's expression was quite subtle.

"I was quite startled when that child came to apologize to me."

"I didn't notice either." Elinor's face showed a look of shame.

"I think it's better if you don't take it so seriously, Elinor," Liu Bai reassured Elinor. "After all, you've only been practicing martial arts for three years at most, while the Seven Swords of Taixu have all been training for much longer than you."

The Seven Swords of Taixu still hold considerable value in this era.

It's still a bit short now. Three years from now, it might be an exaggeration to say that all members of the Seven Swords of Taixu will be in the top ten in the world, but it's definitely true that they will be in the top twenty or thirty.

Especially Cheng Lingshuang, who is only thirteen years old now, excluding someone like Kevin who is detached from worldly affairs, she might already be good enough to be in the top five in the world.

Let alone Elinor, even Kallen, with Judah by her side, could only manage a fight against Cheng Lingshuang Ling Shuang, who had already mastered the Sword God technique.

The others are relatively worse, but... at least the eldest, Lin Chaoyu, and the fourth are all quite good. The only ones who haven't really grown up yet are the sixth and seventh.

After all, since Lin Chaoyu, Fu Hua has started to pay more attention to talent when accepting disciples.

"...I see."

Elinor nodded.

She didn't hold a grudge against the other person, but she was a little annoyed with herself for being so useless.

After all, being surrounded by onlookers without even realizing it was embarrassing enough to make Elinor feel like she had let down the Lord God and her adoptive sister.

Her life was saved by the Lord God and her adoptive sister; her current status was given to her by the Lord God and her adoptive sister; and the Abyss White Flower was also bestowed upon her by the Lord God and her adoptive sister...

However, apart from using the Abyss White Flower to heal Otto a few times during the journey, she has not accomplished anything else—after all, the function of the Abyss White Flower is healing, Kallen could use it as well, so Elinor felt that this was not her achievement at all.

"I think that feeling ashamed and then striving to improve is a good virtue."

In contrast to Liu Bai, Otto praised Elinor instead.

That's right, only those with this kind of awareness are worthy of being followers of the Lord God!

"We estimate we'll be staying here for quite some time. Elinor and Kallen, you can use this opportunity to learn some martial arts from the Tai Xu Sword Sect."

"Um... is it really okay to come here and ask about such a closely guarded secret?" Kallen tilted her head.

"The Lord God is the founder of the Tai Xu Sword Sect. So, by all accounts, aren't we practically half disciples of the Tai Xu Sword Sect?"

Otto smiled, but there was a hint of distortion in his smile.

... So, when I was a child, I didn't have the opportunity to directly become an apprentice.

While the title "Lord God" is quite nice, "Teacher" is still more endearing, isn't it?

"In the terms used in Shenzhou, they are... 'outer disciples'."

"... There's such a thing?" Kallen had an expression that said, "Although I don't quite understand, Otto is probably right."

"..."

Otto sighed.

No, every time she suddenly sees Kallen's blank expression, she doesn't feel it's cute at all; she just feels her blood pressure rises.

What's most problematic is that Kallen's adorable dazedness is intermittent. Most of the time, Kallen has normal intelligence, and her intelligence even surges at crucial moments.

But occasionally... when discussing serious matters, he'll suddenly reveal a blank, adorable expression as if he doesn't understand at all, wondering, "Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?"

Honestly, if Kallen were always so naive and clueless... well, I mean she'd be brainless.

If Kallen never used her brain, Otto would get used to it, but when she suddenly stopped using her brain... every time Otto saw this, his blood pressure spiked.

If this person in front of him weren't his childhood friend and only best friend, Otto felt he would have already sold off this brainless head of the Kaslana family.

My Lord God... why do I always feel like this guy is gradually becoming the biggest mistake in my life?

Training ground

Although it was already dark, there were still people practicing swordsmanship in the training ground.

"Second Senior Sister, do you have nothing better to do and would like to challenge Junior Sister to a duel?"

After finishing her dance, Cheng Lingshuang sheathed her sword and looked at her second senior sister Su Mei, sitting on the stone stool next to her with considerable surprise.