I'm More Worried About the Wraith

Done with everything, Lingzhou Yue thought about it for a moment, and then felt like she had another.

So she fished another flask of wine out of her robe, narrowing her starry eyes slightly.

"Do you like pretty women?"

So direct! Righteous to the core, Xiao Ran said, "I do."

Lingzhou Yue nodded slightly, taking him for a kindred spirit.

"What a coincidence, I like them too."

Ah, this...

Xiao Ran was stunned for a long time, unable to speak.

My master is a lesbian? Xiao Ran finally understood why his master's princess carry was so practiced.

Women are bone-scraping steel blades and gut-rotting poison, you must exercise restraint, Master!

Though come to think of it, his master possessed a bold and imposing aura, and in the lesbian world she was probably universally popular across all ages.

Perhaps in the future, his own lifelong affairs would even require his master's help...

"Does Master have a plan?"

"The time is still early, so before the Elder Council, I'm taking you to see a legendary great beauty."

A legendary great beauty? Xiao Ran didn't believe it.

"Are there any women in the Cultivation World prettier than Master?"

Lingzhou Yue took a sip of wine.

"A famous painting created with a painter's lifelong effort won't be happy even if praised to the heavens by a steamed bun vendor... You know nothing about beauty, and praising your master to the heavens is useless."

Xiao Ran thought to himself:

No, Master, in my eyes, you are prettier than all the flowers in this world.

Yet the problem is, how did the steamed bun vendor ever offend you?

Tired as selling steamed buns might be, who doesn't own a few properties? Who doesn't drive a BMW or Mercedes?

Even so, Xiao Ran still developed a strong interest in his master's so-called woman among women.

Just what sort of sacred entity was a woman who could elicit such high praise from his master? While he was thinking, Lingzhou Yue raised a hand and rested it on Xiao Ran's left shoulder.

"Let's go, I'll take you to see the woman among women."

Grasping Xiao Ran's shoulder, Lingzhou Yue's figure flashed and she vanished abruptly.

A moment later, the two appeared several miles away, atop another mountain peak that stood facing the Sword-Wielding Mountain in the distance.

The summit was a maple forest interspersed with purple cherry blossoms.

The paths within wound deep and secluded, turning three times every step, making the maple forest resemble a folding screen that blocked outsiders from seeing the scenery inside the mountain at a glance.

Compared to this, the Sword-Wielding Mountain several miles away was so barren it didn't even have a hidden spot to take a piss.

The difference between mountains was sometimes greater than the difference between humans and pigs.

"Where is this?"

"Hundred Herbs Peak."

Xiao Ran followed behind his master, stepping quietly into the maple forest along the small path.

The sides of the path were planted with shade-loving flowers and grasses, spring warmth filled the air, and insects and butterflies fluttered about in a rather lively manner.

Walking another hundred paces, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a spacious medicinal garden.

The garden was planted with all sorts of rare flowers and spiritual herbs.

Spring sunlight filtered through the maple forest in sparse, mottled patches, and a clear breeze swept by, stirring ripples across the sea of flowers. The fragrance of exotic flora filled the entire mountain, while rare beasts, birds, and insects shuttled between them.

Xiao Ran even spotted a pair of half-man-sized children among the grass.

Looking closely, they were a pair of twin girls around six or seven years of age.

Their cultivation levels were both Qi Refining, with double hair buns, wearing cyan robes tied with yellow diamond sashes. Their tender, pink little faces were chubby, and their watery, large eyes were truly endearing!

Their features, stature, and attire were identical, as if they had been copy-pasted, making it hard to tell them apart except for the different wooden hairpins tucked into the tops of their heads for distinction—

One had a frog hairpin pinned to the left side of her head.

One had a cicada hairpin pinned to the right side of her head.

Xiao Ran could tell that although the two girls' cultivation levels weren't high, they were extremely sensitive to plants and spiritual beasts, as if they could communicate with all living things.

The two of them were extremely earnest in their work of weeding and catching bugs.

Yet for every nine bugs they caught, they would extremely reluctantly, and while passing the buck to each other, pull weeds just once.

It wasn't until they saw Lingzhou Yue arrive that they dropped the work at hand and trotted over happily to greet her.

One called out from afar:

"Martial Uncle Lingzhou, why are you here? Martial Uncle is so clean today, even looking prettier!"

The other followed up with: "Will Martial Uncle Lingzhou help me weed?"

One singing, the other harmonizing, extremely practiced.

"Maybe next time."

Lingzhou Yue naturally wouldn't fall for it.

"I've brought a martial brother for you two, my direct disciple Xiao Ran. What do you think, very pretty, right?"

One girl said: "Very pretty."

The other girl:

"Can he weed?"

Xiao Ran:

"..."

Lingzhou Yue waved a hand, introducing them to Xiao Ran:

"Chunwa and Qiuchan. They are the direct disciples of our sect's pill-refining elder, True Person Yinyue. Very cute, right?"

Their appearance was indeed very cute, but Xiao Ran wasn't a lolicon.

"Very cute."

He was saying one thing while thinking another.

Lingzhou Yue said:

"If you like them, once they grow up you can pick either of them to be your Dao companion."

Child-bride Dao companions?

You really know how to forge them!

Before Xiao Ran could reply, he heard the girl wearing the cicada hairpin speak in a silver-bell-like baby voice, her tone indifferent: "He's too small, I don't like him. I like more mature men."

"???"

Xiao Ran thought he had misheard.

One could imagine what kind of feeling it was for a man to be told he was small by a little loli the size of a palm.

Lingzhou Yue explained:

"Haha, don't let their appearance fool you, they're actually over a hundred years old. In front of them, you're still just a little brother."

The girl wearing the frog hairpin chimed in: "Can Martial Junior help us weed? If your weeding is very impressive, when I grow up, I might still consider marrying you."

Black lines covered Xiao Ran's forehead.

At such a tender age, they already knew how to cultivate a toolman as a spare tire...

Who on earth did they learn this from?

Xiao Ran deliberately put on a straight face and half-jokingly said, "I don't know how to weed, I only know how to cruelly ravage flowers."

Qiuchan started, shivering in fright, and hid behind Lingzhou Yue, staring indifferently at Xiao Ran as if looking at a pervert.

Chunwa, however, said:

"Then when it's time to harvest the Hundred Spirits Flowers, can Martial Junior come over and ravage the flowers?"

Xiao Ran:

"..."

Lingzhou Yue laughed and drank wildly, the clear immortal nectar flowing down her jade neck into the snowy ravine.

"The Elder Council is about to start, where has Master gone?"

Master?

Xiao Ran was a bit dazed, confirming that this sentence had been spoken by his master.

His master's master? A stern yet soft female voice drifted over from the maple forest.

"How many times do I have to tell you, call me Martial Sister."

Chunwa and Qiuchan looked together toward the bamboo house deep in the maple forest.

A middle-aged woman walked out lightly.

The woman had a cloud bun of white hair, and her figure was as soft and slender as a willow.

Her build was graceful, her bosom soft and alluring, carrying a natural charm of its own.

Her clear, bright, light-blue pupils reflected the sky and water, as if containing a vast universe with infinite gentleness.

She wore a sky-blue smoky shirt, the color of water and sky blending into one. Simplicity contained divinity within it, and her undulating curves revealed boundless romance.

Look closely, and not a single facial feature of the woman's seemed the absolute best on its own, yet combined, they were breathtakingly beautiful.

Among them, the finishing touch was the dark red, silver-moon flower-carved rune imprinted between her brows.

It embellished her without disrupting her overall symmetry, giving off a naturally beautiful aura completely devoid of any overbearing arrogance.

Gazing from afar at the legendary great beauty in his master's mouth, the woman among women...

Xiao Ran felt that in terms of hardware, that soul-stirring, scroll-like face of his master was still prettier, and the figure hidden within her loose cyan robe was even more mouth-watering...

Yet, this master's master triumphed in her temperament!

A graceful and demure maiden is a gentleman's good match; the one of whom it is said, "she is at the water's edge."

With facial features so gentle and alluring, and a temperament so divine and pure, other than offering veneration, one could not generate even a shred of impure thought.

This wasn't just a woman among women, this was a goddess among goddesses! It was just that the flower-shaped mark between her brows seemed to carry an indescribable flavor.

Of course, this might just be Xiao Ran's delusion.

Prejudice stemming from his past life.

Seeing the woman just step out of the maple forest, Lingzhou Yue hurried up close to her.

Calling her Martial Sister was out of the question—she would never call her Martial Sister in this lifetime. How could a martial sister be as fun as a master?

Back in the day, as a heaven-gifted prodigy of the Dao Alliance, she had abandoned abundant conditions to follow True Person Yinyue to Zongzhi Mountain, serving as True Person Yinyue's direct disciple for three years.

As a result, she had no talent for herbal medicine, but her swordsmanship was god-tier. After the previous Sword-Wielding Elder perished, she defeated Master Boyun and succeeded to the position of Sword-Wielding Elder, which was how she managed to stay on Zongzhi Mountain.

"A teacher for a day, a father for life. Disciple merely changed seats, how could I mess up the seniority and change to calling you Martial Sister?"

True Person Yinyue shook her head and sighed.

"I can't argue with you."

Dropping her usual laziness and dominance, Lingzhou Yue actually grabbed True Person Yinyue's hand and acted spoiled with aggressive force:

"Disciple just encountered a rare humanoid wraith, isn't Master worried at all?"

True Person Yinyue's fair face remained rippleless.

"I'm more worried about the wraith."

Lingzhou Yue was left speechless and raised a hand to summon Xiao Ran.

"Xiao Ran, why aren't you coming over to greet Martial Aunt."

Xiao Ran was stunned for a moment.

You call her Master, yet you make me call her Martial Aunt?

True to form!

Still, calling her Grandmaster would indeed make True Person Yinyue sound old, giving off a feeling of approaching senility.

So he walked over quickly, bowed respectfully, and said:

"Disciple Xiao Ran, greets Martial Aunt Yinyue."

True Person Yinyue didn't look at him.

Or rather, she had been looking at him the whole time.

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!"

With her willow eyebrows slightly furrowed, she put her hands behind her back and said to Lingzhou Yue:

"To drag an ordinary mortal bound to a lifetime of mortality forcefully into the immortal gates, and even take him as a direct disciple—have you considered your own reputation? Have you considered the criticism he will face within the sect, and how much pressure he will have to bear for the rest of his life?"

Far from feeling ashamed, Lingzhou Yue took pride in it. She hooked her arm over Yinyue's shoulder and smiled:

"Isn't that why I came to ask Master for help?"

True Person Yinyue's eyes held gentleness, though her expression was cold.

"How am I supposed to help you?"

Before Lingzhou Yue could speak, Chunwa hopped out and volunteered: "Martial Uncle said, we can grow up and become Dao companions with Martial Junior Xiao Ran."

"Pfft—"

Lingzhou Yue spat out a mouthful of fake wine, reached out and tossed the troublesome child into the herb field. Suddenly turning stern of face, she said earnestly: "Disciple needs a pill that can extend a mortal's lifespan by a thousand years."