Junior Sister Lu, You Can't Say Things Like That

"Isn't he right here? It's not like he has a face everyone recognizes. How did he become so hard to find the moment he blended into the crowd?"

He Han's voice sounded from behind him, followed by a heavy slap on his shoulder.

When Zhou Qing turned around, he saw He Han looking at him with utter disdain. Beside him stood Lu Yaoyao, her face full of surprise and confusion.

She had circled this place three times just now. How had she failed to find Senior Brother Zhou?

Too strange.

Zhou Qing instinctively looked at Lu Yaoyao's expression, and a sudden burst of delight rose in his heart.

His talent skill, Reduce Presence, had now reached level three. That meant even Golden Core Realm experts like Third Senior Brother would begin overlooking him.

Not to mention Lu Yaoyao was merely in the Qi Condensation Realm—even someone at Foundation Establishment Realm Great Perfection would have a ninety percent chance of overlooking him.

That would save him quite a bit of trouble.

No, that didn't seem like much trouble in the first place. And if he had no presence, neither she nor Li Daoxuan would be able to provide him with Heart Insight Points.

What a contradiction!

"Junior Sister Lu, do you need something?" Zhou Qing asked, holding the chicken.

Lu Yaoyao anxiously said, "Yes, something urgent—extremely urgent. Profound Abyss Sister is returning to the Azure Feather Immortal Sect tomorrow."

Zhou Qing and He Han were both stunned.

"No, if she wants to return, she can return. What does that have to do with me?" Zhou Qing asked in confusion.

Lu Yaoyao opened her mouth, momentarily unsure how to explain.

"Well, well, she's leaving. Don't you want to treat her to a meal?" Lu Yaoyao looked at Zhou Qing.

Zhou Qing's face twitched.

"Big Sister, isn't that a bit much? I only ate two breakfasts you people left behind. There's no need to return the favor, right? Besides, do you know how much it would cost to treat a giant like her to a meal?" Zhou Qing said speechlessly.

Lu Yaoyao hurriedly said, "That's not what I mean. Don't you think Profound Abyss Sister is beautiful? Don't you feel anything in your heart?"

Lu Yaoyao made an ambiguous gesture with both thumbs.

The moment those words came out, He Han hurriedly covered her mouth. Then, realizing something was inappropriate about that, he immediately let go.

"Junior Sister Lu, you can't say things like that."

Zhou Qing was even more horrified, taking a step back.

A trap!

A massive pit that could bury someone alive at any moment!

Were you trying to set me up with Profound Abyss Immortal?

Crazy!

Absolutely crazy!

How old was I, and how old was she?

Besides, hadn't he heard that Si Kong Yan, the Palace Master of the Azure Flame Dao Palace, was pursuing her?

Were you asking me to pry up his corner of the wall?

"Senior Brother He, control your junior sister. I'm still young—I still want to live a few more years," Zhou Qing said. He could no longer be bothered talking to Lu Yaoyao and addressed He Han directly.

At that moment, even He Han, who had originally been displeased with Zhou Qing, looked deeply embarrassed.

Lu Yaoyao was somewhat unwilling to give up. "Don't you want to try fighting for it? What if it works out?"

"Big Sister, I've only met her twice, and both times you dragged me there. From beginning to end, she barely even looked at me properly. Where am I supposed to fight for anything? Pah, why am I even telling you this? Impossible. This is simply impossible!"

Zhou Qing refused outright!

Heart Insight Points +9

The "So childish" note above Lu Yaoyao's head instantly became "So cowardly."

Zhou Qing turned and left.

This was downright insane. Who knew what wild fantasies she spent all day concocting in her head?

He had decided that it would be better to stay farther away from her in the future. Otherwise, he might not even know how he died.

That evening, after returning to his room, Zhou Qing took out a Low-Grade Spirit Stone. Silver Patterns surfaced across his right hand, and with one slap, the spirit stone immediately shattered into granules the size of rice grains.

Zhou Qing carefully scattered them before the Old Hen and straightened its head. It immediately began pecking away with rapid taps.

In no time at all, it had eaten every last spirit stone granule.

Zhou Qing secretly observed it for quite a while. Once he confirmed that nothing unusual had happened, he shattered another three spirit stones in succession. Only then did it look full, casually shuffling over to a corner by the wall and falling into a deep sleep.

"I wonder how long it had been saving up that previous Spirit Egg. Now that it's directly eating spirit stones, it should be much faster, right?"

Zhou Qing muttered to himself. Then he stopped paying attention to it, returned to his room, took out the Top-Grade Water Attribute Spirit Stone, and began meditating.

Early the next morning, Zhou Qing hurried to the chicken coop to check, but unfortunately, there was nothing.

"I really was too impatient!"

However, the Old Hen seemed to be back to normal today, pecking blindly all over the place with its poor eyesight.

When he had appraised it yesterday, he had seen that it needed to be walked more often whenever it had nothing to do, keeping it in a pleasant mood. Perhaps that would greatly increase the odds of it laying eggs.

Zhou Qing retied the rope and began walking the chicken.

"Come on, come on! The Five Sects Treasure Exchange Gathering is only half a month away. I've already sold all my junk, and there might be good stuff appearing lately. Senior Brother will take you out to broaden your horizons!"

Yan Xiaohu excitedly called out to Zhou Qing and headed straight down the mountain.

Zhou Qing also planned to test out his new talent skill, Daily Appraisal. Perhaps he could pick up another bargain. Even if he could not, he could at least eliminate one "wrong answer," couldn't he?

Sure enough, Flame Dragon City seemed even livelier today than it had been in recent days, with far more stalls as well.

"Come on, I'll take you somewhere. The people running Street Stalls there are all True Transmission Disciples and Core Disciples from the five major sects. Everything in their hands is solid merchandise!"

Yan Xiaohu pulled Zhou Qing toward one particular area.

Sure enough, the moment they entered this distinct district, the place immediately became much quieter.

It was unlike the stalls outside, where people haggled and shouted without end.

Just as Third Senior Brother had said, the stall owners all sat behind their stalls with calm, steady auras. Nearly everything was clearly marked with a price.

Take it if you wanted it; leave it if you didn't. In any case, they had no shortage of buyers.

"May I ask, Senior Brother, how much is this piece of Dream Illusion Profound Copper?"

Before long, Yan Xiaohu arrived at a stall and could not help asking about the price as he looked at the fist-sized ore before him.

The stall owner wore clothing patterned with lightning. He was likely a Core Disciple of the Golden Thunder Sect. At the very least, the invisible pressure radiating from him made Zhou Qing's chest feel tight.

"Thirty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones," the man said flatly.

Yan Xiaohu frowned.

According to the impurities and purity of the spiritual energy within them, spirit stones were divided into four grades: top-grade, mid-grade, low-grade, and supreme-grade.

Generally speaking, the exchange rate was one to one hundred.

In other words, one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone equaled a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones. This piece of Dream Illusion Profound Copper was actually worth three thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Zhou Qing secretly clicked his tongue. As expected, once the good items came out, they were on an entirely different level from his earlier little scuffles.

Yan Xiaohu struggled for a while, but ultimately chose to give up.

Too expensive!

Zhou Qing continued following behind Third Senior Brother while walking the Old Hen. Before long, he unexpectedly spotted Senior Sister Shi Zhen. She was actually running a stall here too.

"Two junior brothers, you're here!" Senior Sister Shi Zhen greeted them with a smile.

Seeing the note above Senior Sister Shi Zhen's head that read "Junior Brother Zhou is so childish," Zhou Qing awkwardly tugged on the Old Hen's rope.

The Old Hen immediately came over and began rapidly pecking at the top of Zhou Qing's foot.

Yan Xiaohu looked at the items on the stall and could not help sounding surprised. "Senior Sister Shi, I didn't expect you to be hiding your light under a bushel. You even managed to get Violet Ancient Rock and Azure Treasure Jade. Impressive!"

Shi Zhen smiled. "I happened to obtain them while training outside a few years ago. Is Junior Brother Yan interested?"

Yan Xiaohu quickly waved his hands. The items were good, but he had no use for them at the moment.

"Senior Brother Zhou, you're here!"

Just as Zhou Qing was curiously examining the good items on Senior Sister Shi Zhen's stall, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

Thanks to the great Black Blood Memorial for the 500 reward. Many thanks for the support!