"Senior Sister, I've finished tidying up. What are you all laughing about? And Min'er, why are you so huffy?" Just then, Ling Tian finished tidying the area and came over to the women. He immediately sensed that something was off.
"Someone's jealous, hehe." Yao Yu teased, looking at Hua Min'er.
"Min'er, what's going on?" Ling Tian asked, bewildered, as he looked at Hua Min'er.
Hua Min'er's little face grew even redder. She said with a hint of annoyance, "It's all because of you!"
"Because of me?" Ling Tian was even more confused. He muttered under his breath.
No matter how he asked, Hua Min'er naturally wouldn't admit that she was jealous or anything like that, while Yun Ying and the others laughed even more brazenly.
"Senior Sister Yao Yu, I've finished cleaning up. Is there anything else I need to do?" Ling Tian asked helplessly. He simply stopped asking and changed the subject.
"You call this finished? If you don't build a house, where are we supposed to stay?" Yao Yu finally managed to stop laughing and deliberately gave Ling Tian a hard time.
"Uh, I still have to build a house?" Ling Tian felt like crying.
"Otherwise, should Min'er and I sit here cultivating on the damp, chilly ground, with the earth for a bed and the sky for a blanket?" Yao Yu deliberately used Hua Min'er as a shield, putting extra emphasis on "damp, chilly."
"Uh, all right." Ling Tian was helpless, but then an idea struck him, and he exclaimed in delight, "Heh, I've got it!"
"What, you've already figured out what to do?" Everyone looked at Ling Tian in surprise. Even Hua Min'er was a little astonished; she had never seen Ling Tian's house-shaped magical treasure before.
Ling Tian didn't say a word. He casually waved his hand, and a flash of white light passed by. A small house appeared on the empty patch of ground, then grew with the wind until it was more than ten zhang across.
"Wow, what a pretty little house! Brother Ling Tian, why didn't you tell me before that you had this magical treasure?" Hua Min'er was the first to exclaim, unable to resist asking him.
"Well, I'd never needed it before, so I forgot." Ling Tian scratched his head sheepishly, but seeing how delighted everyone was, he couldn't help feeling a little smug.
"Not bad, not bad. Looks like you've got plenty of treasures, Ling Tian. Hehe, let us see some of the others sometime!" Yao Yu marveled at it. She was especially pleased that she wouldn't have to camp out tonight.
"Hehe, it's quite nice. I wonder what the inside looks like," Yun Ying praised, clearly satisfied, though she added the question almost casually.
"The inside can change however you like, depending on what you have in mind. What would you like?" Ling Tian asked.
"Really? You can change it however you want?" Yao Yu asked, delighted, taking up the conversation with some disbelief.
As she spoke, she was the first to enter the little house. The others followed. The house could change size, and at ten zhang across, it was spacious enough for a dozen people without feeling crowded.
"That's right," Ling Tian replied, following them inside.
"I'd like a jade bed. Can you make one?" Yao Yu seemed to be trying to make things difficult for him.
Ling Tian smiled faintly without answering. With a thought, a bed appeared inside the house, and everyone was delighted. One after another, the women made requests, and Ling Tian did his best to fulfill them all.
After a while, the women began to lose interest. Ling Tian was utterly overwhelmed. The women chattered away, giving him a splitting headache.
"All right, Ling Tian, you can go outside now. You're on watch tonight. We'll head out at midnight," Yun Ying said, a deep, mischievous grin hidden in her eyes.
"Go outside? Stand watch? By myself?" Ling Tian stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Could it be you want to sleep with me, big sister? You're more than welcome!" Yao Yu looked at Ling Tian with a teasing smile.
"Uh, I think I'll go outside." Ling Tian glanced at Hua Min'er, who looked ready to explode, and immediately made up his mind. With that, he fled in a panic.
"Hahaha..."
Everyone burst into laughter.
Outside the house, Ling Tian grumbled to himself.
"Honestly, is standing watch really necessary?" Ling Tian complained indignantly, but he still didn't dare go near the house. Hua Min'er's gaze was terrifying enough to kill.
"Ugh, couldn't I just set up an Alert Formation outside? Why make me sleep out in the open? What bad luck!" Ling Tian pouted and kicked a little stone with all his might.
"Whatever. I'm the only man here, after all. It wouldn't do to make Min'er stand watch by herself." Ling Tian tried hard to find a way to console himself.
"I'd better set up a few formations first, just in case. Something about this place feels wrong. It seems dangerous." Ling Tian frowned and muttered under his breath as he began setting up formations.
Ling Tian took some materials out of his Storage Ring and began laying formations. He couldn't cultivate spiritual energy, so he couldn't casually set down restrictions; he had to use external materials in place of spiritual power. Fortunately, he had plenty of such materials in his Storage Ring, making it convenient to lay formations. First he set up a ring of Alert Formations far away, then he filled the area inside with a dense array of other formations: Spirit Sealing Formations, Illusory Killing Formations, Soul Bewildering Formations, Golden Spear Formations, and so on. He set up plenty of every formation he knew, except for a few particularly difficult ones. By the time he finished, formations surrounded the house-shaped magical treasure as far as the eye could see.
"Whew, setting up hundreds of formations in one go is exhausting!" Ling Tian let out a long breath and wiped the beads of sweat from his face.
"But it feels so satisfying, and I understand formations better now. It was worth it." Setting them up had also made Ling Tian more practiced with the formations. He hadn't had many chances to lay them before, so this time he'd really gotten his fill.
"I wonder if we'll need these formations. I hope we won't. I still feel a little uneasy, but when I try to figure out why, I can't put my finger on it. Ugh, maybe it's just my imagination. Besides, we've got several senior sisters with profound cultivation here. Nothing will happen." Ling Tian shook his head, trying to shake the unease from his mind.
"Brother Ling Tian, what are you doing?" Just then, Hua Min'er's sweet voice sounded beside him.
"Hehe, I was bored, so I was setting up formations for fun." Ling Tian hurried over to Hua Min'er, having already cast his unease to the farthest reaches of the sky.
"You're drenched in sweat. You must be exhausted." Hua Min'er tenderly wiped the sweat from his forehead, her expression mingling annoyance with tenderness.
"Hehe, it's not like I had anything else to do. Who knows how long we'll be here? It can't hurt to be prepared." Ling Tian gave a silly grin, not taking it to heart.
"Silly big brother, you're so clueless." Hua Min'er silently reproached Ling Tian for being so dense and missing the moment, but she couldn't bring herself to say it outright. She could only give up in mild frustration.
"Hehe." Ling Tian couldn't figure out what she meant, so he could only grin foolishly.
"Brother Ling Tian, would you go for a walk with me?" Hua Min'er asked softly. She was still a young girl at heart, and it was only natural that she would be curious about a new place.
"Sure. It's pretty boring here anyway," Ling Tian replied casually.
"Hehe, you're the best, big brother. Come on, let's go explore." Delighted that Ling Tian agreed, Hua Min'er took his hand and started to lead him away.
"Junior Sister Min'er, where are you two going?" Yun Ying called out. When they turned to look, the other disciples had come out of the little house and were watching them enviously.
"Senior Sister Yun Ying, I want to walk around with Ling Tian," Hua Min'er answered.
"Min'er, there are zombies outside. It's best if you don't go." As the leader of this expedition, Yun Ying was naturally concerned for their safety. And with Ling Tian and Hua Min'er's exceptional status, she could hardly answer for it if anything happened to them.
"It'll be fine, Senior Sister. We won't go far." Hua Min'er wanted to have a look around and didn't want to give up so easily.
"Senior Sister Yun Ying, it's daytime, so the zombies won't come out. Just let them take a walk and get familiar with the area. Besides, most of the junior sisters have never been out before, and they all want to look around." Yao Yu wanted to go for a walk herself, so she chimed in to support them.
Yun Ying glanced at everyone. Seeing how eager they were, she knew they were curious and could only agree helplessly. "All right. Go out in groups of four or five, and don't go far. The rest of you, stay here with me."
Those who were chosen pouted unhappily, but they didn't dare defy their well-respected senior sister, so they reluctantly stayed behind. Seeing that, the others cheered and set off in pairs.
Hua Min'er and Ling Tian were delighted that Senior Sister Yun Ying had agreed. Holding hands, they bounded off into the distance.
"Min'er, Ling Tian, don't go too far, and come back soon," Yun Ying reminded them again.
"Got it, Senior Sister!" Hua Min'er and Ling Tian called back together, already walking away. Yun Ying watched them go and sighed helplessly, lamenting how much pressure her master's decision to put her in charge had brought.
Setting Yun Ying's worries aside for now, Ling Tian and Hua Min'er had split off from the others and were wandering wherever their feet took them.
Along the way, Hua Min'er was as excited as a bird freed from its cage, reveling in the world outside. Everything seemed new to her, and she excitedly pointed it all out to Ling Tian. Sometimes she hopped about, picking flowers or chasing a few little rabbits. At other times, she dragged Ling Tian along to catch them. He felt helpless, but could only join her in playing games he hadn't played in ages.
"Brother Ling Tian, look, there's a stream over there. Shall we rest for a while?" After playing for a long time, Hua Min'er was starting to feel tired. She spotted a stream not far ahead and was delighted.
"Sure. I'm getting a little hot too. I can wash up in the stream," Ling Tian readily agreed, as he would never go against her wishes.
Seeing that Ling Tian agreed, Hua Min'er giggled and led him to the stream in a few light bounds.
"Wow, the water's so cool!" Ling Tian exclaimed, then lost himself in playing with the water.
"Hehe, it's so clear too." Hua Min'er scooped up a handful of water and gently splashed it over her face. The coolness washed over her, and she felt a little less tired.
"Then let's play properly! Hehe, take this!" Ling Tian gave a wicked grin, scooped up some water, and scattered it into droplets toward Hua Min'er.
"Ah! Brother, you sneak-attacked me! Hmph, take this!" Hua Min'er cried out in surprise, but quickly recovered and immediately began to fight back.
For a while, the splashing and laughter of the two carried far into the distance.
Before you continue