Unhealthy Tendencies

"Ding!~"

A crisp, melodious bell chime rang out from the mountain gate plaza. This was something Zhang Nian had specifically ordered; from now on, this time every day would be when everyone ate together. Although at his level of cultivation, he could have long since chosen not to eat, this was also a preparation for what was to come.

"Everyone, gather at the plaza." Channeling his Dou Qi, he shouted toward the mountain. The plaza was not very far from the rest area above, and before long, three figures descended in an orderly fashion. Medusa held little Zi Yan in her arms, while Yun Yun fluttered her wings. Seeing Zhang Nian standing in the plaza, the three bowed and saluted: "Greetings, Master~"

"Mm." Standing with his hands behind his back, he looked at his three disciples and nodded slightly. Ya Fei had not yet finished absorbing the energy of the pill. Indeed, the gap between a Ninth-Grade Treasure Pill and a Ninth-Grade Profound Pill was clearly revealed at this moment. When Medusa had absorbed the energy of the Ninth-Grade Profound Pill back then, it had only taken her about a day and a night, perhaps due to bloodline compatibility and other factors, given that it was a pill rewarded by the system when he first took Medusa as his disciple.

Compared to the latter, ten days had already passed, and there was still no improvement. Judging by the energy fluctuations within the protective barrier, it would take at least another month to fully digest and absorb it. As for whether this energy conversion would increase Ya Fei's constitution or boost her Dou Qi, it had nothing to do with Zhang Nian, as the two had not yet established a master-disciple relationship. Of course, Zhang Nian was not annoyed; even if they had, the return reward would not have been very high.

Based on the initial favorability values, Yun Yun started at 50, while Zi Yan and Medusa started at 60. It was likely that Ya Fei was fluctuating somewhere between the two. If the multiplier wasn't high, the returned rewards wouldn't bring about any earth-shattering changes.

"From now on, we will have a meal together at this time every day. It will also be a good chance to see how your cultivation is progressing." Without further ado, Zhang Nian walked into the "canteen" first. This was a room that had been cleaned up temporarily, and fortunately, when they were clearing the place out, they had left some extra vacant rooms, so it didn't feel awkward now. Following Zhang Nian's entry, the three of them walked into the room one after another. Regarding this move by their master, each of them had their own little thoughts.

Little Zi Yan looked at Master Zhang Nian's back, her soft, pink little hands clenched tight, secretly vowing in her heart: Later at the dinner table, I must ask Master for some delicious pills. Hmph, everyone else has them, why don't I? The stock in my little pouch is almost all eaten! Yes, that's exactly what I'll do!

Yun Yun, on the other hand, was a bit surprised. She hadn't expected that someone who had reached Zhang Nian's level of cultivation would still have such desires for food. Or rather, when she was at the Misty Cloud Sect, she had never eaten a meal with her previous master, Yun Shan... This feeling actually made her feel a faint sense of longing and anticipation.

As for Cailin, a flash of light crossed her beautiful eyes. She had already considered the deeper meaning behind Zhang Nian's actions. With a faint smile, she took the hand of little Zi Yan beside her and said to Yun Yun, who was still standing there in a daze behind them: "Let's go, don't keep Master waiting."

"Oh... right." Yun Yun snapped out of it and hurried to catch up with Cailin, realizing her own rudeness.

As expected of the cooks and ingredients carefully selected by the Mite'er Family, the craftsmanship was naturally impeccable. They had smelled the fragrance of the food from outside. The four of them sat at separate tables. Zhang Nian sat at the head, while Cailin, one step ahead of Yun Yun, took the two seats closest to the master for herself and Zi Yan. Since the two of them had joined the sect earlier, it was reasonable, and Zhang Nian chose to accept this arrangement.

"Wow, this is too fragrant~ Slurp, slurp~" Zi Yan looked at the table full of delicacies, her saliva flowing uncontrollably. One had to know that the ingredients on this table were the freshest magical beast meat carefully selected by the Mite'er Family. Eating it would also provide some improvement to one's Dou Qi, and although it wasn't much, it was better than nothing.

"Alright, don't just stare, let's eat." Zhang Nian picked up his chopsticks, and only after seeing their master move did Cailin and Yun Yun begin to feast. As for Zi Yan, she didn't care about such formalities at all and had already started eating, incidentally throwing the matter that had made her quite angry in her mind to the back of her head.

During the meal.

Zhang Nian suddenly remembered something, and immediately spoke to everyone: "From now on, there is no Queen Medusa of the Jia Ma Empire in this mountain gate. You must all call her Senior Sister Cailin from now on, do you understand?"

"Understood." Yun Yun replied softly, then looked at Cailin and called out affectionately: "Senior Sister Cailin."

"Mm." Cailin replied indifferently, her tone neither cold nor warm, giving off a sense of coldness that kept people at a distance.

Perhaps there was still some unpleasantness between the two because of the room dispute from before. Zhang Nian didn't say anything about it; time would naturally heal it. He turned to look at Zi Yan, channeled his spatial power, and took out three Fifth-Grade medicinal herbs from the medicine storehouse given by the system and handed them over.

"Here, these should be enough for you to eat for a while."

"Wuu!?" At this moment, Zi Yan's mouth was full of food, but the excitement and gratitude revealed in those watery eyes were beyond words. She immediately stood up and said in a muffled voice: "Thank you, Master."

Uh... that sounded like she was saying goodbye to a dying person...

Meanwhile, outside the house.

The maids of the disciples were also whispering in the kitchen.

"Oh my, our mistress is really too mischievous... she just keeps digging into the forest every day, and we can't stop her. If this goes on for a long time, she'll be forgotten by the Saint..." One of Zi Yan's maids, Mingyue, shoveled the rice in her bowl, feeling a sense of gloom in her heart. Look at how others were diligently cultivating and had already received rewards from the Saint; then look at her own mistress—the gap was truly quite large.

"This Manager Ya Fei has taught the two of us." At this time, Cailin's maid, Xiao Qing, got excited. Speaking of this, she began to impart her experience to the other two: "Let me tell you, you can't wait for the mistresses to realize these things themselves; you have to help them. Just like how Xiao Hong and I often mention the Saint's kindness intentionally or unintentionally, our Young Mistress Cailin can better understand the deeper meaning of it, right?"

Seeing Xiao Qing speaking so vividly, Yun Yun's maid, Baojuan, who was on the side, asked anxiously: "But what if we say the wrong thing and make the mistresses unhappy? In the end, won't we be the ones suffering?"

"Eh, as maids, what else can we do? But if it succeeds, the rewards will naturally be plentiful. Just look at Xiao Hong and me; we've already made progress, and I believe it won't be long before we receive rewards from the Young Mistress."

Xiao Qing's arrogant demeanor made the other four very envious, and they couldn't help but start planning how to hint at things to their own mistresses. In any case, everyone's goal was the same: to please the Saint.

Especially Cuiguo and Baojuan, the two maids of Yun Yun, had their own ideas. After all, their mistress was also someone who possessed both beauty and talent, and would definitely not lose much to Cailin.

Zhang Nian never expected that in a place he couldn't see, a crooked wind had started to blow within the mountain gate...

It wasn't until many years later that he realized it in hindsight...