Xiangxiang???
Ning Xiang was furious!!!
Damn you, Iceberg Lu! Sneaking your own little agenda in here, are you? How did I never notice what a passive-aggressive bastard you were?
"Ahem..." Knowing he was in the wrong, Lu Qingchen explained, "It naturally carries a fruity fragrance, which is why it's called 'Xiangxiang.'"
Well, that explanation made perfect sense. All the disciples accepted it.
Ning Xiang: "..."
I have to say, Lu Qingchen, you're even more of a bastard than Mingyuan!
But now that Lu Qingchen had said that, could she really jump up, point at his nose, and force him to rename the ugly bird?
Ning Xiang slumped over her desk, conjured a pen, and drew a pig's head with the character "Lu" written on its forehead.
Hmph, one of these days, I'll pick up a pig and name it Little Lu!
Lu Qingchen: "..."
Su Lang and Yu Tingchao: Master, junior sister, do you two really play this dirty?
Lu Qingchen resumed his usual cool demeanor and began the lesson.
It had to be said that Lu Qingchen looked like a proper gentleman, whatever a dog he was underneath, and his voice was exceptionally pleasant. But his lectures... were truly mind-numbingly dull! On top of that, Ning Xiang had gotten up far too early that day. Before she knew it, she was nodding off, and she fell asleep over her desk.
Su Lang had been listening attentively to Lu Qingchen's lecture. As the eldest disciple of Solitary Light Peak, he had always been the standard everyone looked up to. Yet for some reason, his mind wandered that day.
His gaze fell on...
Ning Xiang's face.
The light reflected off the snow outside spilled into the room. Without the vibrant beauty she wore while awake, the girl, with her dark hair and red lips, looked like a fragile glass doll, unusually sweet and docile. Her lashes were long, like two little brushes, casting two shadows across her face. Her cheek was squished against her arm, and Su Lang actually felt an urge to reach out and pinch it.
With a soft rustle, the wind shook the snow from the branches. A snowflake drifted inside, swirling down onto Ning Xiang's long, curled lashes.
Su Lang's fingertips tingled. He wanted to... brush the snowflake from her lashes.
But he only lost himself for a moment before withdrawing his gaze.
Ning Xiang was sleeping soundly when, through her grogginess, she seemed to hear someone calling her name.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she sat up. Every disciple in the classroom was looking at her with a grin.
"Ning Xiang," Lu Qingchen said in a low voice.
"Present, Master," Ning Xiang answered hastily.
"Repeat what I just said."
Ning Xiang had just been off visiting the Duke of Zhou in dreamland. It would have taken a miracle for her to recite anything.
She was certain Lu Qingchen was deliberately making life difficult for her in front of everyone. Ning Xiang decided it was time to put her plan to raise a pig named "Little Lu" on the agenda!
As her thoughts ran wild, Su Lang's low, soothing voice suddenly sounded in her sea of consciousness.
"Between the moon's dark and new phases, unite the tallies and follow the middle course. Amid primordial chaos, female and male follow one another... employ this to secure the self, concealing form and remaining hidden."
Ning Xiang's eyes lit up. Her eldest senior brother really was the most considerate!
She hurriedly recited, "Between darkness and shadow, unite the tallies and follow the middle course..."
The girl's voice rang through the classroom like ice being struck and jade being tapped.
The disciples were filled with admiration. Was this Senior Sister Ning's true ability? Even asleep, she knew what True Lord Qingchen was teaching.
Lu Qingchen nodded. "Good. You must never doze off in class again."
With that, he prepared to continue the lesson.
Phew, my eldest senior brother really does have my back. He knew to prompt me, or I would have made a complete fool of myself! Ning Xiang breathed a sigh of relief.
Su Lang smiled helplessly.
Ning Xiang had barely begun to celebrate when Lu Qingchen called her name again.
"Ning Xiang, when you return, write a reflection on what you learned in today's lesson. No fewer than ten thousand words. Submit it to me in three days." After a pause, he added, "Write it yourself. Su Lang, you must not help your junior sister cheat."
Ning Xiang: "!!!"
This was utterly ridiculous!
The morning lesson finally ended, leaving Ning Xiang thoroughly tormented.
On her way out, she viciously yanked the stupid immortal crane's tail, pulling out its last two tail feathers. Still unsatisfied, she grabbed the other one and plucked a tuft of white feathers from its head.
She couldn't bully Lu Qingchen, but surely she could handle two feathered-no, now featherless-beasts?
Ning Xiang stormed off.
She had originally planned to pick up a sect mission that afternoon and head down the mountain for a breath of fresh air. Now, where was she supposed to find the time?
She plunged headfirst into the scripture library. Amid the vast sea of books, Ning Xiang hurriedly skimmed a few volumes, chewing on the end of her pen. She hadn't written a single word of her reflection, but she had drawn several pig heads. Irritated, she crumpled the pig-covered paper into a ball.
Unbelievable. In the twenty-first century, academic papers had her tearing her hair out every day, and even her nightmares featured a ninety-percent plagiarism score. Who would have thought she'd still have to grind out papers after becoming a cultivator? What a miserable life!
Lu Qingchen, if you weren't the male lead, I would have pinned you down and beaten you up ages ago!
Seething, Ning Xiang shoved the books forward, sending several paper balls tumbling to the floor.
Before she could pick them up, a tall figure appeared before her.
What's that annoying Iceberg Lu doing here?
Then Lu Qingchen lifted a fingertip slightly, and the paper balls on the floor floated into the air and unfolded.
Looking at the pig heads on the paper, Lu Qingchen could hardly avoid recalling Ning Xiang's thought about raising a pig named "Little Lu." Clearly, those pig heads were drawings of him.
In a panic, Ning Xiang sent a small flame flying from her fingertip toward the papers before Lu Qingchen, licking every last pig head away.
"Master, I was just thinking of you, and here you are to visit me! Our hearts really do beat as one."
Lifting her skirts, Ning Xiang walked over.
In the past, Lu Qingchen would certainly have found her coy manner intolerable. Now, however, he actually thought... it was rather pleasing?
Ning Xiang glanced behind Lu Qingchen. "Master, where's your beloved pet?"
"Ning Xiang, take that bird back as soon as possible. And while you're at it, make sure you soothe Xingu and Hezhen."
Ning Xiang pretended not to hear. "Master, I don't know where to begin with the essay you assigned me. Since you're already here, why not give your disciple a little guidance?"
Lu Qingchen knelt upright opposite Ning Xiang, with only a low table between them. Ning Xiang didn't catch what he said, because her attention had been completely captured by his handsome, otherworldly features.
"Ning Xiang?" Seeing that her mind had wandered again, Lu Qingchen called to her.
He's so handsome. I want to take a bite. Boohoo, too bad such a handsome man belongs to Jiang Miaomiao. Ning Xiang, all you can do is look and feast your eyes. No touching, no touching.
Lu Qingchen: What the hell? Since when had Jiang Miaomiao's brand been stamped on me?
Ning Xiang let out one sigh after another. Clearly, she hadn't heard a single word Lu Qingchen had said.
"Ning Xiang?"
"Hmm? What is it, Master?" Ning Xiang finally came back to her senses.
Lu Qingchen said, "Next month, the five great sects of the Tianyuan Continent will send a group of foundation establishment realm disciples into a secret realm for training. Tingchao will be going as well. Besides assigning one Nascent Soul Cultivator to lead the group, each sect must also send two cultivators at the core formation realm or above to accompany and protect them."
"So?"
"Feihong will remain in the sect to handle internal affairs. You and your eldest senior brother will go together."
Before you continue