No Feeding the Grandmaster!

Although there aren't five kinds of pastimes to choose from on Tai Xu Mountain, there aren't many people practicing swordsmanship at this time.

As the day drew to a close, everyone had some things to take care of. Only Cheng Lingshuang, with her indifferent nature and no particular hobbies, would come to practice her sword late at night.

"In our Tai Xu Sword Sect, besides Master, who else can rival you, Ling Shuang?"

Su Mei changed her posture, from sitting to "half-lying down".

"In another ten years, the Tai Xu Sword Sect will be under your management."

"This job should have been done by the senior sister no matter how you look at it."

Cheng Lingshuang's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this.

She wasn't interested in that kind of thing.

"Besides our Master, only you, Ling Shuang, have truly mastered the essence of our Tai Xu Sword Sect. In another ten years, Senior Sister will be forty-three. If Master brings back a few more children, Senior Sister will probably be too old to raise them. I'm afraid I'll get tired of teaching them too."

Su Mei's words were not flattery, but rather, it seemed that of the seven of them, only Cheng Lingshuang had taken that step.

Moreover, there might only be one Cheng Lingshuang in the future.

Despite her exceptional talent, Su Mei is currently clueless about the so-called realm of sword godhood.

Her talent was second to none in the sect, but it was still among the top three. After all, she was the kind of person who could make the immortal want to take her as a disciple. Lin Chaoyu served the immortal for twelve years without being taken as a disciple until the immortal met Su Mei and was moved to take her as a disciple, and then he made Lin Chaoyu a senior sister.

A few years ago, her skill level surpassed that of the senior sister, so she took over teaching martial arts to the junior sisters and brothers.

She was completely baffled, let alone anyone else.

"Did Senior Sister come here just to say these things to Junior Sister?"

Cheng Lingshuang showed a hint of impatience.

"Junior Sister doesn't really have any ideas about who will be in charge of the Tai Xu Sword Sect in the future. Besides, our Grandmaster is still here. Senior Sister is thinking too far ahead."

"I don't have any particular thoughts."

Su Mei chuckled softly, "For me, being able to serve an immortal is enough... However, speaking of our grandmaster..."

Cheng Lingshuang looked at her second senior sister with a puzzled expression, yet also with a sudden realization.

For some inexplicable reason, I had no idea what Su Mei was laughing about.

Enlightenment means understanding that the ancestor was the real reason why the second senior sister came looking for her.

"Second Senior Sister has already put on the necklace?" Cheng Lingshuang glanced at it and immediately noticed the gold-inlaid jade necklace around Su Mei's neck.

"I've never seen such a fine necklace in my entire life, so naturally I love it very much."

Su Mei casually touched the necklace around her neck.

"Besides, how can we, as his disciples, let a gift from our master gather dust?"

That's true.

Cheng Lingshuang nodded, feeling that Su Mei's words did make some sense from the beginning.

She was initially hesitant about whether to wear the jade hairpin, since she would be heartbroken if it were accidentally broken.

Now that I've heard what Su Mei said, I don't have as many hesitations anymore.

"Come to think of it, this is the first time the two of us... no, the seven of us have received a gift from an elder, right?"

Su Mei chuckled twice.

"Our grandmaster and our master are really not alike, even to a surprising degree."

Su Mei spoke of this with a rather complicated tone.

"Aren't we also unlike our master?" Cheng Lingshuang didn't seem to care about Su Mei's tone.

However, upon hearing Cheng Lingshuang's answer, Su Mei looked somewhat puzzled.

Anyone among the Seven Swords of Taixu can say this, except for Cheng Lingshuang.

Of the seven swordswomen, the one most like their master is the fifth one standing before them.

Reaching the pinnacle like her master, possessing the same serene personality... None of the Seven Swords resembled their master, but among this group of dissimilar figures, Cheng Lingshuang was the most similar.

Su Mei gave a wry smile at her fifth son, who had absolutely no self-awareness.

"Forget it, forget it, I won't argue with you about this."

Su Mei waved her hand.

"So, Ling Shuang, what kind of person do you think our grandmaster was?"

"... A good person?"

Cheng Lingshuang thought for a moment and gave a rather uninformative reply.

"However, it seems that Tai Xu Mountain is more interesting."

"Hmm...more interesting?" Su Mei pondered the word twice, then revealed a bright smile. "That's a really clever statement—Fifth Brother, you're right, our Tai Xu Mountain is going to be lively again."

"?"

Cheng Lingshuang tilted her head, wondering why Su Mei was saying so much tonight.

While it's a good thing to have a considerate grandmaster, is it really necessary to specifically seek her out for a chat at this hour?

Cheng Lingshuang actually didn't care much. At most, it would just mean having one more person to greet her on weekdays, without any pressure.

"Senior sister has spoiled junior sister's fun tonight. If senior sister has the opportunity to go down the mountain with master next time, she will bring you more food and toys when she comes back."

Baffling...

Cheng Lingshuang looked at her senior sister's back with confusion.

However, adhering to the principle of reciprocity, Cheng Lingshuang couldn't help but ask, "Second Senior Sister, what do you think of Grandmaster?"

"I?"

Su Mei paused, seemingly surprised that Cheng Lingshuang would ask such a question.

However, since it was rare for her own aloof fifth brother to ask her, Su Mei stroked her chin and showed a thoughtful expression.

After a long while, Su Mei finally put her hand down.

"Hmm... Grandmaster is a very respectable person... or rather, an immortal."

"...that's all?"

"That's all."

Su Mei smiled.

"Isn't a celestial being who is willing to smile at mortals and understand them worthy of respect?"

"..."

Watching Su Mei's departing figure, Cheng Lingshuang immediately lost interest in continuing to practice her sword.

"... Since we have nothing else to do, we might as well go back and put the hairpin in."

"Wearing plain clothes, one should be more steady when wielding a sword."

The next day, Otto brought Kallen and Elinor to the training ground early in the morning.

It just so happens that Su Mei is teaching her junior and senior students.

"Greetings, Grandmaster." Su Mei and her junior brothers bowed together. "Good morning, distinguished guests. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Thank you for your concern, Miss Su Mei. I've already used it." Otto nodded. "Miss Chao Yu's cooking is truly excellent."

"However, it's still a bit inferior to Hua."

Liu Bai said quietly from the side.

"... Um, Master can cook?" Even Su Mei, who usually greets people with a smile, showed a slightly incredulous expression at this moment.

"Surprised?"

Liu Bai glanced at Su Mei.

"... I am quite surprised." Su Mei glanced around, and while confirming that her master was not there, a rare sense of curiosity arose in her.

No, it wasn't just her; everyone else was now curious.

Except for the eldest brother Lin Chaoyu, the other six swordsmen are all here— Cheng Lingshuang doesn't need anyone to teach her, but her presence here is out of habit.

Now all six of them showed expressions of curiosity.

Su Mei flicked a strand of her wine-red hair. "After all, cooking, something so down-to-earth, is something that Master would do..."

"Cooking has a lively, homely feel, but eating doesn't?" Liu Bai laughed.

"This..."

I must say, this perspective is quite intriguing. "Master has long since abstained from grains, so this meal... is perhaps to take care of us."

Su Mei's words sounded somewhat unsure of herself.

"Um... but speaking of which, is Master's cooking really that good?"

"It's wonderful, but she's not in the mood to cook right now."

Liu Bai nodded, while the six swordsmen in front of him had an expression of astonishment.

Although they all felt that their master's ability to cook was definitely a mistake, since their grandmaster had said so, they had no choice but to believe it.

"So it seems that among us, only the eldest has ever eaten Master's cooking?"

Su Mei laughed for no apparent reason.

"I've never heard my senior sister mention this before."

"Speaking of which, putting cooking aside for now, Miss Su Mei, would you have time to teach my two friends the true qi techniques of Shenzhou?"

Otto, looking helpless, steered the conversation back on track.

"This matter is easy... but learning that true qi method is not as good as directly learning our sect's Tai Xu Sword Qi." Compared to the topic of cooking, Su Mei was much more casual when talking about this.

"... Is there any difference between the two?"

"We don't actually cultivate internal energy."

Cheng Lingshuang explained from the side.

"The purpose of the Tai Xu Sword Qi is to train the body into a channel for true qi. When the sword heart and sword form are perfected, true qi can be drawn from the surroundings and circulated freely in the meridians. However, compared with those martial arts masters, we do not actually have true qi in our dantian."

"... This is truly a strange use of Honkai Energy."

Otto seemed to understand but not quite.

"It's alright. Some things can be learned after just one practice session... I think Miss Kallen and Miss Elinor are both very talented, so it shouldn't be too difficult for them to get started."

Su Mei chuckled softly.

This is something only Su Mei could be so easy to talk to. If it were Lin Chaoyu, she would probably have to ask Fu Hua —even with Liu Bai as her grandmaster.

"Please come this way, gentlemen. I will recite the incantation to you... but please do not spread it outside, otherwise, if Master finds fault with me, Su Mei small body cannot bear the consequences."

Su Mei gestured for them to proceed.

"In addition, I will trouble our ancestral master to take care of my junior brothers and sisters."

Chapter 259 Feeding the Ancestral Master is Forbidden!

After Su Mei took Kallen and Elinor aside, the remaining five children became somewhat distracted.

However, to be fair, the only two people who were truly distracted were Ma Yanqing and Qin Suyi.

Of the remaining three, the fifth brother, Cheng Lingshuang, had already mastered the Tai Xu Sword Qi. Although the third and fourth brothers were far inferior to Cheng Lingshuang, they had at least started learning the basics at the same time as Cheng Lingshuang and now knew everything they needed to know, so they didn't need Su Mei's guidance most of the time.

"Suyi, Xiaoma'er, why are you two staring at me?"

Liu Bai deliberately feigned a smile, then looked at Cheng Lingshuang.

"Grandmaster, I know nothing about this. If the two of them don't know something, you, Ling Shuang, will have to teach them."

"Here you are."

Cheng Lingshuang Shuang nodded expressionlessly, then stared at her two junior brothers and sisters, Ma Yanqing and Qin Suyi, with an extremely imposing gaze.