Worthy of the Favor

Not being a disciple meant she had not yet truly gained recognition.

Thinking of this, she lowered her head, her long, curled eyelashes trembling gently. Viewed from afar, she stood alone in the empty martial arts arena, looking somewhat lonely—

On the other side.

Li Yilin returned to his palace, and Liu Qing asked impatiently, "Master, when are we going to explore the universe?"

Although the past five years had been uneventful, one thing had happened that made Li Yilin happy: Liu Qing had finally evolved into an intelligent life form.

Moreover, Liu Qing had evolved into an intelligent life form rapidly after developing his own emotions, with the time interval being less than three days.

And Li Yilin, who had nurtured him into an intelligent life form, was naturally cast by him into the role of a father.

"I still want to pilot a fighter jet and fight in the universe." As a being that had evolved into a life form, he had begun to develop his own preferences.

For instance, when he was first born, what he liked most was entering the Virtual Universe to diligently enrich his database; not long after, he became obsessed with playing games, and even asked Li Yilin for quite a bit of pocket money—now, he was obsessed with flying spaceships.

Every intelligent life form yearned for a body that belonged entirely to themselves.

And as a type of machine, a spaceship was, in the eyes of an intelligent life form, a temporary substitute for a body until they had one of their own.

Liu Qing was currently at this stage.

A helpless look flashed across Li Yilin's face, "Didn't I take you out for a trip a month ago?"

"That's not enough!" Liu Qing flew out, grabbed Li Yilin's arm, looked up, and gazed at him with a fawning expression.

Based on Li Yilin's preferences combined with his own, his transformed body was that of a little boy under one meter tall with blood-red wings.

He sported a head of coarse, spiky hair that stood straight up, yet his face was incredibly young and cute; he wore a cool black battle armor, but insisted on wrapping a soft red silk ribbon around his arm; and on top of his cool blood-colored wings, he had to wear a golden halo like a sun angel—

The chaotic combination made Li Yilin's vision go dark repeatedly; he simply didn't want to admit that such a getup had anything to do with him.

It was especially frustrating that he was now using this ghostly appearance to act spoiled.

Liu Qing didn't care; he just kept acting spoiled. As for the styling—it was just his master being tsundere.

He might say he disliked it, but he must be satisfied in his heart; otherwise, he would have ordered him to change his look long ago, rather than letting him wander around in this outfit.

It was fine; he understood his master best. He would wear this look until his master liked the next set better.

"Do you really want to go out and play?" Li Yilin's eyes flickered. Liu Qing nodded vigorously, his eyes shining as he looked at him, clearly very expectant.

Li Yilin thought seriously for a moment and said, "I remember that Gui Jiao is on Cloud Sea Planet, right?"

Gui Jiao was a Domain Lord he had accidentally befriended in the Killing Field lobby, hailing from the Cloud Sea Family, one of the sixteen families of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire.

Each of the sixteen families of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire possessed at least one World Lord, and the Cloud Sea Family was no exception. Gui Jiao was the hundredth-generation descendant of that World Lord ancestor of the Cloud Sea Family.

Come to think of it, he and Gui Jiao had interacted in the Virtual Universe for several years but had never met in reality. Liu Qing's desire to go out and play this time suddenly made him want to meet his online friend.

"Gui Jiao?" Liu Qing's eyes rolled around. Thinking of something, he nimbly climbed onto Li Yilin's shoulder, hugged his neck, and shouted impatiently, "Master, let's go find Gui Jiao on Cloud Sea Planet! Gui Jiao is right there!"

Li Yilin raised an eyebrow and asked casually, "How do you know?"

"You were the one who said Gui Jiao told you." Liu Qing looked at him with a strange expression, as if wondering why he was asking such a silly question.

Li Yilin: —

"It's useless for you to want to; I have to ask Gui Jiao first." He said. He couldn't bring himself to visit uninvited unless there was a reason.

"I'll go send him an email!" Liu Qing cheered, turned around, and ran back to the intelligent light cat, logged into Li Yilin's Virtual Universe account, and sent an email to Gui Jiao.

Just as Si Yao returned to her palace, the servant Chang Yu greeted her, holding a small plate containing spirit fruits suitable for restoring physical strength and mental exhaustion after cultivation.

She placed the plate within Si Yao's reach and said, "Master, Xiao San broke through to the Universe level last night."

Because of Si Yao, Li Yilin had later specifically purchased a batch of Universe level slaves to serve as her guard team and bodyguards.

Chang Yu and Chang Yue were Si Yao's personal bodyguards and housekeepers, responsible for protecting her closely.

Chang Yi through Chang Shi were members of the guard team protecting Si Yao, all possessing Universe level strength.

Xiao Yi through Xiao Shi, the ten Star level slaves Li Yilin had helped her pick out back then, still served as menials, responsible for managing all the miscellaneous chores in the palace.

If an ordinary person discovered that their slave had broken through a major realm, they would certainly be overjoyed, as the price difference between Star level and Universe level slaves was thousands or even tens of thousands of times greater.

Unfortunately, Li Yilin had always been generous to Si Yao. Although her strength was only at the ninth rank of the Planet level, the units for her pocket money were already calculated in Hunyuan Units, so she naturally wouldn't care about the price change of a single Universe level slave.

She nodded slightly, her expression unchanged, and said casually, "Since she has broken through to the Universe level, promote her to the guard team for joint training. As for the name—change it to Chang Eleven. The squad is missing one person; you find time later to have someone go to the slave market and buy a Star level one to fill the vacancy."

"Yes, Master." Chang Yu nodded respectfully, looking at Si Yao with not only respect but also a hint of admiration.

She was indeed the only existence held in the palm of the Great Master's hand; both her temperament and her talent for strength were worthy of such favor.

After handling some miscellaneous matters and resting for a while, just as Si Yao was preparing to go to the underground cultivation room to practice, Chang Yue walked in quickly, "Master, Shuang Yue is here."

Shuang Yue was the castle's housekeeper and Li Yilin's personal maid. Although her strength was only at the ninth rank of the Star level, because of the authority Li Yilin had granted her, she could command everyone in the castle except for Si Yao and the twenty slaves under Si Yao's control, even those with Universe level strength.

She only listened to Li Yilin's orders; even Si Yao could not command her.

Si Yao's eyes flickered, and without hesitation, she said, "Let her in."

"Yes." Chang Yue walked out of the palace, and about five breaths later, she returned. This time, she was accompanied by a tall woman with a cold and exquisite face.

Although Shuang Yue enjoyed Li Yilin's trust, she was, after all, merely a slave. As Li Yilin's most favored existence, Si Yao possessed a personality that was undoubtedly a bit spoiled and naive, and she would never do anything that lowered her own status. Therefore, she sat on the throne with complete peace of mind, waiting for Shuang Yue to enter.

Shuang Yue was not surprised by Si Yao's attitude, nor did she question it. She walked briskly to the base of the palace, gave a slight nod to Si Yao sitting on the throne to show her respect, and then spoke, "Your Highness, Master requests your presence at his palace."

"Teacher is looking for me?" Si Yao's eyes lit up. She didn't even bother with Shuang Yue anymore; with a flash of her figure, she appeared at the palace entrance, and after a few more flashes, she was nowhere to be seen.

Watching the spot above her suddenly become empty, Shuang Yue shook her head helplessly. "Master was right, Her Highness truly has the temperament of a child." She hadn't even finished speaking yet.

Li Yilin's palace.

On the open-air terrace on the second floor, Li Yilin sat in a chair, leisurely admiring the beautiful scenery outside. On the table to his right, all sorts of snacks and spirit fruits were spread out; half of them were things Si Yao liked to eat, and the other half were those he preferred himself.

Beyond the table was another empty chair.

Si Yao ran out of the palace and saw Li Yilin on the terrace from afar. Even though she had seen him countless times, she still couldn't help but be stunned by her teacher.

The man on the terrace wore a purple robe, with a few elegant purple flowers embroidered on the cuffs and hem. Purple was already vibrant and luxurious, and with the addition of those seemingly inconspicuous flowers, he instantly gained an air of mystery and nobility.

A vertical purple eye between his brows contained a divine light that made people afraid to look directly at it.

"Teacher!"

Si Yao flashed over, jumped directly up from below, and leaned against the terrace railing, her pair of blue eyes smiling brightly as she looked at Li Yilin inside.