Kong Xuan took Qing Yi to the Gourd Vine, crouched down, and parted the outermost leaves to reveal a tender shoot only a few inches long.
Kong Xuan tipped up her face to look at Qing Yi, unable to hide the anticipation in her eyes.
"When I first returned, it had only shown a little green. Master's wife once said that Three Lights Divine Water could not be poured directly onto the roots, so every day, I collected some Star Dew, diluted the divine water, and then guided it into the Nine Heavens Breath Soil."
The young girl explained it in detail. Clearly, she had devoted no small amount of effort to the vine over this period.
Qing Yi reached out and touched the new leaf.
The tender leaf swayed softly beneath her fingertips. The vine tip, which had been stretching outward, also bent slightly, as though responding to the aura of Creation around her.
"You've raised it well."
Qing Yi turned back and lifted a hand to brush a small scrap of leaf from Kong Xuan's hair.
This was plainly the praise Kong Xuan had been waiting for, and her lips immediately curled upward.
Qing Xuan smiled from the side. "When did you return?"
Kong Xuan turned her head, as though she had only just remembered that matter.
"I've been back for more than a hundred years."
She rose from beside the vine and casually patted dust that did not exist from her skirts.
"I originally wanted to send Master a message, but then I thought, you were at Phoenix Perch Mountain anyway, and would return eventually. If I deliberately sent another message, it would seem as though I had returned to my own sect yet still had to report it to you first."
Qing Xuan glanced at her