The Joy of Raising Someone, and a Budding Crush

The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect worked with astonishing speed.

After Jiang Yu enjoyed a good night's sleep, several maids delivered his custom-made core disciple uniform and token the next morning. Both had been prepared overnight.

They were accompanied by a remarkably beautiful middle-aged woman.

She introduced herself as Lu Yaoyao. Her Martial Soul was the Carving Knife, and she was a seven-ring food-type Soul Sage.

Her Martial Soul was unusual. Though it appeared capable of attacking, all her soul skills enhanced the food she prepared with it.

Thanks to that special ability, she was known as the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's foremost food-type soul master, despite having a lower cultivation level than several of the sect's food-type Soul Douluos.

When the highly respected food-type soul master saw Jiang Yu, who was as thin as a skeleton, her eyes held no surprise. Instead, they lit up as if she had found a rare treasure.

As she put it, nothing was more satisfying than feeding a frail little fellow like Jiang Yu and watching him grow sturdier bit by bit.

The joy of raising someone was simple as that.

The gap in their cultivation was too great. As Lu Yaoyao wielded her two silver Carving Knives, Jiang Yu could only make out streaks of silver light. Within a few breaths, several ingredients he could not even identify went from lively and kicking to delicacies on a plate.

Jiang Yu swallowed. After one bite, he could not stop eating.

Watching him devour the food, Lu Yaoyao put away her Carving Knives with a satisfied smile, then brought over several more steaming dishes.

Jiang Yu ate with everything he had and eventually cleared every plate.

Lu Yaoyao nodded in approval and told him she would return at lunchtime.

For the next three months, she would look after no one else. She would devote herself entirely to Jiang Yu.

Not long after breakfast, a maid came to tell Jiang Yu that Ning Yunxiu wanted him at the sect's main hall.

Jiang Yu did not dare keep the woman in charge waiting. He changed into his soft, comfortable disciple uniform and followed the maid to Nine Treasure Hall, the sect's main hall.

Nine Treasure Hall stood atop Nine Treasure Mountain. Its exterior looked carved entirely from white jade, while its interior was suffused with rich shades of green.

Surprisingly, the furnishings were not extravagant. Only two rows of seats stood below the main seat.

At that moment, two other people were in Nine Treasure Hall with Ning Yunxiu.

Jiang Yu needed only one glance to guess who they were.

"Greetings, Sect Master."

After somewhat clumsily performing the greeting he had learned that morning, Jiang Yu stood obediently in place and waited for Ning Yunxiu to speak.

As Ning Yunxiu began speaking, the two girls sitting close together studied Jiang Yu.

"Young Mistress, so that's the little beggar the Sect Master and my grandfather brought back? Why does he look like a stick?"

The red-haired girl kept her voice so low that she spoke almost directly into the blonde girl's ear.

Her warm breath tickled the blonde girl's neck. Turning her head slightly, the blonde girl whispered helplessly:

"Feng, think about it. If a beggar isn't skinny, is he supposed to be fat as a pig?"

The red-haired girl scratched her head, then looked as though she had seen the light.

"The Young Mistress really is clever."

As she spoke, she even gave a discreet thumbs-up.

The blonde girl smiled helplessly. She had long since grown used to her companion's reluctance to think.

What she failed to notice was that, once she turned away, the red-haired girl's vacant look gave way to a hint of satisfaction and infatuation...

Ning Tian's neck is so pale and tempting. She smells so good, too. If only I could get a little closer and breathe her in a while longer...

As Wu Feng thought this, an unfamiliar feeling stirred inside her.

As for Jiang Yu, she had no attention left to spare for him.

Ning Tian, meanwhile, noticed nothing unusual about her close friend behind her.

She was Ning Yunxiu's only daughter. Her quick mind and the education she had received since childhood had made her a "prodigy" among her peers. Ning Yunxiu had also told her the night before that Jiang Yu possessed Twin Martial Souls, so she understood exactly how important he was to her and the sect.

Thus, after Ning Yunxiu bestowed a storage Soul Tool and other treasures on Jiang Yu, Ning Tian stepped forward with a smile.

"Jiang Yu, I'm Ning Tian. It's a pleasure to meet you."

As she spoke, she tugged Wu Feng, who looked lost in a daydream.

The tug jolted Wu Feng back to her senses. She glanced at Jiang Yu, then lifted her chin.

"I'm Wu Feng. You can call me Sister Feng."

Jiang Yu looked from Ning Tian to Wu Feng, feeling a little strange.

If he remembered correctly, their endings in the original story had been quite a shock.

One liked girls, only for the girl she liked to be turned into a boy. The other inexplicably changed sex.

Their endings were a textbook case of a forced happy ending. It was all rather twisted.

"Young Mistress. Sister Feng."

With those thoughts in mind, Jiang Yu bowed again. Ning Tian and Wu Feng were both around two years older than him. Wu Feng should have been exactly two years older, while Ning Tian was a little older still.

"That's enough. No need to be so formal. You've only just arrived, so you probably don't know the sect at all. Feng and I happen to be free. We can show you around."

Ning Tian had inherited not only Ning Yunxiu's gentle, dignified voice but also her soft beauty. She had delicate features, large, bright blue eyes, a straight nose, and a few charming freckles on her fair cheeks.

Her thinking was simple. With Twin Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power, Jiang Yu was unquestionably the most talented person of his generation in the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. If Wu Feng, with her clean background, decent talent, and almost obsessive loyalty, was the personal bodyguard Ning Yunxiu had prepared for her, then Jiang Yu was a pillar of strength she absolutely had to get along with.

Faced with the younger boss's friendly gesture, Jiang Yu nodded without hesitation.

The instant he did, he felt someone's gaze settle on him, tinged with hostility.

He hardly needed to guess who it came from. It was Wu Feng, beside Ning Tian.

Jiang Yu was a little surprised.

Is Wu Feng already showing signs of liking girls at eight years old?

If so, she's bound to cause me trouble sooner or later.

Wasn't she a troublemaker in the original story...?

Other sect leaders had followers who helped solve their problems. In the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the leader was constantly cleaning up after her follower.

Jiang Yu could only marvel at how patient Ning Tian was with the people around her. In her place, he would have set Wu Feng straight long ago.

To his slight surprise, though, the hostility in Wu Feng's gaze soon faded.

Watching Wu Feng walk ahead with her chin raised to lead the way, Jiang Yu gave it no more thought.

After all, Ning Tian and Wu Feng were still only eight-year-old girls. However precocious they might be, their understanding of feelings could not have developed that quickly. For now, what they felt was probably little more than possessiveness between companions and the friendship they had shared since childhood. They had not yet reached the age when first crushes bloomed.