Ceobe had already forgotten why she was being punished.
"Bagpipe..."
"Mm?"
"The vegetables you grew are delicious."
"Of course. With hard work, my cultivation expertise that I'm so proud of, and time and sunlight working their magic, it's only natural that they taste good."
"Oh..."
Ceobe nodded as if she understood. The Grasp of the Undying that had just let go came back again. Bagpipe firmly gripped both of Little Ceobe's cheeks, her expression dark as she simmered with fury.
Ceobe's eyes involuntarily squeezed shut, and she whimpered.
"Don't act cute. I'm thinking about how to punish you." Bagpipe stopped Ceobe's cries in a gentle voice.
Bagpipe was indeed thinking seriously. Little Ceobe was far too powerful; overly harsh punishment might provoke a backlash. If she suddenly decided to run away from home again, Rhodes Island could not withstand that sort of turmoil.
"I need to teach you a lesson, but I have to get the balance right... Shrine Maiden, what do you think?"
She tossed the problem to Hoshino, who immediately nodded along. "Disobedient children all become like Mephisto. Lightning descending from the sky will strike near you. This is punishment from an immortal."
"That's it?"
Little Ceobe shook her doggy head, looking thoroughly arrogant. She had figured it out—the lightning was limited in power and could not really do anything to her.
"How do you know the immortal doesn't have more advanced punishments?"
Hoshino hurried to salvage the situation.
Only when either Azure Empyrea or the Phoenix armor was unlocked could the immortal truly set foot in this world. Before then, she could only use the Saintess's Heavenly Punishment to make her presence known. As for Fuyun Temple, it existed solely in Hoshino's descriptions.
But that was enough.
Hoshino felt that she was becoming something of a gold-standard