Looking at the two boxes in his hands, Jing Pu let out a helpless sigh and turned back into the courtyard.
He planned to return the shoes when he had a chance, and explain to Ling Ju that he really had no idea what was going on.
After he got back, Jing Pu put Ling Ju's shoes away and headed to the study to make a shopping list. He also ate the little treats Ling Ju had given him. Honestly, they were quite good.
They were pretty tasty. Jing Pu really hadn't expected a lofty-looking fairy like Ling Ju to know how to make something like that.
Early the next morning, after another bout of Ling Jing's brassy shouting, Jing Pu opened the door. Ling Ju and the other two stood outside.
Today, Ling Ju was even more bashful than yesterday. She stood behind the two men with her head lowered, and Jing Pu had no idea what was going through her mind.
After ushering the three of them inside, Ling Jing looked at Jing Pu eagerly and asked,
"Senior, what are we doing next?"
Jing Pu pointed at the courtyard. "Keep packing down the ground here. I have something to take care of today, so I'll be going out. I won't be back until evening."
Ling Jing and Lie Chun had no objections. They nodded at once and went to fetch yesterday's tools. As for Ling Ju, she lowered her head, her face scarlet, and approached Jing Pu. Her voice was barely audible.
"Senior..."
Seeing Ling Ju like this, Jing Pu felt awkward. This... it was all that blockhead Ling Jing's fault. He had to explain things to Ling Ju.
Otherwise, she'd really think he was some kind of pervert.
But Lie Chun was here, too. Jing Pu absolutely couldn't let anyone else find out about the shoes. So he said,
"Um... I'm going to Qinghe Town today to buy a few things. Would you like to come along? We should be back by evening. Mainly... there's something I'd like to talk to you about."
Ling Ju froze. She looked up at Jing Pu, then turned her beautiful face aside, blushing as she gave a tiny nod.
Jing Pu felt helpless at the sight of her. He had to clear things up as soon as possible...
He immediately took Ling Ju to the backyard. As they passed Ling Jing and Lie Chun, Ling Jing stood with his hands on his hips, looking pleased. He sighed to himself that he really was a little genius.
When they reached the backyard, Ling Ju was stunned by everything she saw. Spiritual Power and True Qi filled the place in such abundance that it was a hundred times more powerful than any sacred cultivation ground she had ever seen.
All that Spiritual Power and True Qi came from the plants in the backyard, which looked utterly ordinary.
But Ling Ju didn't dare enter. Ling Jing had told her quite a bit beforehand, and there was one thing she remembered clearly: Senior wouldn't let anyone into the backyard. So she stood at the entrance, unsure whether to go in or back away.
Jing Pu had been walking ahead, but suddenly turned around. Seeing Ling Ju standing at the entrance, he asked, puzzled,
"Aren't you coming in?"
Ling Ju looked at Jing Pu in a panic. "Ling Jing said... you don't let other people into the courtyard..."
Jing Pu smiled helplessly. "You're not 'other people.' Come on in."
Jing Pu had said that because, back then, Ling Jing and Lie Chun had carried hoes around every day, digging up the ground. Jing Pu had just planted seeds in the backyard and was afraid the two of them would come in and dig that up, too. So he'd said it rather sternly.
But after hearing Jing Pu's words, Ling Ju seemed even more flustered. Her mind was filled with questions about what he had meant by, "You're not other people."
Seeing Ling Ju still standing at the entrance, Jing Pu didn't say anything more. He went to fetch the horse, planning to explain things to her along the way.
Half a minute later, Jing Pu led out the imposing Dragon Horse. He noticed it was looking more and more like a dragon. At some point, even whiskers had appeared beside its nose.
Ling Ju, who had been lost in thought, was immediately drawn to the horse.
Th-this was a Primal Beast... No, it was almost a Spirit Beast!
Mounts used by cultivators on the Lower Realm Continent generally fell into five categories. The first was the most ordinary kind, like the Jade Horse used by the Divine Sword Sect.
Above those were Primal Beasts, which only elders and the like in a sect were qualified to ride. Higher still were Spirit Beasts, fit for the clan leaders of great families.
Above them were Sacred Beasts and Immortal Beasts. Ling Ju's father and master both rode Sacred Beasts. As for Immortal Beasts, only five people on the Lower Realm Continent had mounts of that level.
Ling Ju wasn't surprised that Jing Pu had a mount on the verge of becoming a Spirit Beast. Given Senior's strength, what did it matter if it were an Immortal Beast?
What surprised her was that this Dragon Horse, which was on the verge of becoming a Spirit Beast, still wore the ordinary saddle used for the Divine Sword Sect's mounts. In other words, this Dragon Horse had once been one of the sect's most ordinary Jade Horses.
Ling Ju knew that Jing Pu had arrived at the Divine Sword Sect only one day before her—just a week ago.
In a single week, Senior had turned the most ordinary mount into one that was almost a Spirit Beast?!
Ling Ju knew just how difficult it was for an ordinary mount to advance. It was no easier than a cultivator breaking through to the next realm—in fact, it was even harder.
Take her own Wind Spirit Beast, for example. It had once been an ordinary griffin. When it was nearly a hundred years old and close to death, it had suddenly comprehended the secrets of the heavens. Only then had its bloodline advanced, turning it into a Wind Spirit Beast and a Primal Beast.
But Ling Ju quickly came around. In a sacred cultivation ground so rich in Spiritual Power and True Qi, even an ordinary domestic pig would probably advance its bloodline.
Still, the Dragon Horse was truly beautiful. Its snow-white scales shimmered gold in the morning light.
Ling Ju had no idea what level its bloodline had reached or what it was evolving into. Ordinary mounts comprehended different heavenly mysteries, so they evolved in different directions and took on different forms.
But from the Dragon Horse's appearance—and the fact that it was Senior's mount—Ling Ju knew that its bloodline had to be extraordinary.
For a moment, Ling Ju forgot what had happened earlier. She reached out with her delicate hand and affectionately stroked the scales on the Dragon Horse's body.
The Dragon Horse was intelligent, too. It let her stroke it without protest.
After Ling Ju had petted the Dragon Horse for a while, Jing Pu smiled and said,
"Shall we get going?"
Ling Ju came back to herself, her face growing bashful again. She nodded slightly, then suddenly conjured a ball of green light in her hand and softly called for her Wind Spirit Beast.
But after calling twice, she looked at Jing Pu in astonishment.
"My... my Wind Spirit Beast is scared..."
Scared?
What did she mean?
Jing Pu didn't understand. He hadn't learned about that sort of thing yet. Ling Ju softly called for her Wind Spirit Beast again, but still got no response. She stared in astonishment at the beautiful Dragon Horse before her.
Th-this Dragon Horse of Senior's... what bloodline had it advanced to? Her Wind Spirit Beast already had a very high bloodline. Even if Senior's Dragon Horse had a powerful bloodline, surely it wasn't so powerful that her beast would be too frightened to come out at all?
After a moment of puzzlement, Jing Pu suddenly said,
"Then why don't you fly with your sword? Qinghe Town isn't far. We'll be there in an hour or two."
At that, Ling Ju shook her head in dismay.
"I... I don't have a Flying Sword. Besides, standing on a Flying Sword is inelegant..."
Standing on a Flying Sword was inelegant?
Jing Pu had never heard that before. He thought standing on a Flying Sword looked pretty cool.
But he raised an eyebrow and asked,
"Then you can just fly, right?"
Jing Pu didn't know Ling Ju's cultivation level, but she seemed like a powerful cultivator. Surely she could fly through the air?
Ling Ju shook her head again.
"Flying through the air... is only possible for great cultivators who have reached the Nascent Soul Realm. I'm only in the late Golden Core stage... I haven't reached the Nascent Soul Realm yet..."
After she said that, Ling Ju suddenly realized something. Her face flushed red, and she didn't dare look at Jing Pu again.
Jing Pu nodded seriously. She couldn't fly... wouldn't ride a Flying Sword... and her mount wouldn't come out... Oh, right!
Jing Pu looked earnestly at Ling Ju, whose face had turned bright red, and said,
"Then how about you run on the ground while I fly slowly up above and wait for you?"
Ling Ju: "Huh???"
Before you continue