The baby-faced cultivator was furious!
You showed Martial Uncle Lu such outrageous disrespect, and now you dared flaunt yourself right in front of him?
You really had a death wish!
Someone as pure and holy as Martial Uncle Lu was not yours to sully!
Then let Martial Uncle Lu show you what was what!
He could hardly wait!
The baby-faced cultivator clenched his fists, raging flames blazing in his eyes.
Her skirts fluttering, the girl passed through the crowd of cultivators and finally reached Lu Qingchen.
"Ning Xiang?" Lu Qingchen noticed her.
There was no other reason-she simply stood out too much.
"Master!" The girl smiled at him, her face luminous as jade, so vibrant and lovely, so bright and quick-witted.
"What is it?" Lu Qingchen's voice softened without his realizing it.
Ning Xiang lowered her head slightly and said, with the bashfulness unique to a girl in the bloom of youth, "To congratulate you on successfully concluding your lectures at Stillness Peak, Master, I prepared a gift especially for you."
Lu Qingchen: "???"
Everyone: "???"
Wait, this warranted a congratulatory gift? Or was this just how things were always done on Solitary Light Peak?
Everyone was deeply shocked and thoroughly baffled.
Lu Qingchen's response was...
Oh, he had no response.
He still wore that iceberg expression, betraying no emotion whatsoever.
Looking at his face, Ning Xiang seriously wondered why those fanfiction authors always loved writing him as a hopeless fool for love. Perhaps dragging a flower from its lofty mountaintop down off its divine pedestal was simply too thrilling?
"Master, you have always shown your disciple such care and affection that I did not know how to repay you. As it happened, I recently acquired a bolt of South Sea mermaid silk, which gave me the idea of making you an enchanted robe."
Ning Xiang held the robe in her palms and presented it to Lu Qingchen. "According to legend, mermaid silk stays dry even when submerged. I also embroidered defensive runes on the robe with silver thread. Every stitch, every thread, carries my heartfelt devotion."
"I hope that whenever you wear this robe, Master, it will be as though you were looking at me, and you will think of your disciple at every moment."
Having finished speaking, Ning Xiang gently turned her face aside, seemingly too shy and timid to look directly at Lu Qingchen.
Everyone was stunned by the scene before them.
Senior Sister Ning, were you really this bold and uninhibited?
Ning Xiang was miserable too. Given a choice, who would willingly face such a mortifying scene?
Lu Qingchen looked at the exceedingly crudely made enchanted robe. Mermaid silk was a fine gauze; this clearly was not.
Ning Xiang, had even your gifts become this perfunctory now? Was he still the person dearest to her heart? Ning Xiang, you never used to be so stingy!
When Lu Qingchen still made no move, Ning Xiang could not help growing irritated.
[Iceberg Lu, you know your goods. There's no way you can't tell this isn't real mermaid silk. Hurry, hurry up and tell me to get lost with this fake! Let every disciple see me make a fool of myself! Then I'll become everyone's laughingstock!]
[How could I bear to let you wear real mermaid silk? Keep dreaming your grand spring-and-autumn dreams!]
[Hurry up! I still have to go down the mountain later and show The Passionate Innocent Master to the bookseller!]
Ning Xiang was certain Lu Qingchen would not accept it. After all, how could he possibly care for such a shoddily made robe? Especially one given to him by a woman other than Jiang Miaomiao.
But...
Lu Qingchen's next reaction nearly made Ning Xiang jump out of her skin.
He said unhurriedly, "Since it carries my disciple's heartfelt devotion, I shall accept it."
Huh?
He accepted it?
Ning Xiang was dumbstruck.
She tried calling the system, but after working overtime on the embroidery for the past few days, the damned system had collapsed from exhaustion. No matter how she called, she could not rouse it.
Ning Xiang felt she could still put up a little more of a fight. She clutched the robe tightly, refusing to let go.
"Um... I just remembered there are still a few places where the embroidery isn't finished. Let me finish it before giving it to you, Master."
Lu Qingchen looked straight into Ning Xiang's eyes. "That is no matter. Compared with my dear disciple's filial devotion, a few flaws in this robe are of little consequence. I am deeply moved."
For some reason, Ning Xiang felt the words "deeply moved" held considerable hidden meaning.
"Master, I don't think it is worthy of you. Let me give you something else instead!"
The surrounding cultivators were baffled by what they were seeing.
Wait, did you want to give it to him or not?
So many female cultivators wanted to make clothes for Martial Uncle Lu, yet none had been granted that honor.
Uncle-Master Lu finally agreed to do you the courtesy of accepting your robe. Why were you making one excuse after another?
Ignoring the many different looks around him, Lu Qingchen said lightly, "It is the thought that counts. I am not picky."
Ning Xiang's eyes filled with tears.
"Then I shall take my leave."
[You bastard, Lu Qingchen! I never want to see you again! Boohoo! I'm so angry I could die!]
The baby-faced cultivator from earlier went deathly pale with fright.
Good heavens, was this female cultivator in red really so close to Martial Uncle Lu? Close enough to give him clothes, even?
To be fair, he could hardly be blamed for failing to recognize Ning Xiang. He had originally been an outer disciple and had never had the chance to see her. Only two months earlier had he successfully reached Foundation Establishment and been taken as a disciple by a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator from Stillness Peak, finally gaining entry to the inner sect.
He was thankful he had not yet had time to report her to the teaching martial uncle.
Human joys and sorrows did not resonate with one another. Unlike the baby-faced cultivator's joy at surviving a catastrophe, Ning Xiang had suffered a tremendous blow.
Of course, an even greater blow still lay ahead.
When Ning Xiang returned to Lingling Cottage, the system had just awakened from its slumber. Upon learning that Lu Qingchen had accepted the robe, it nearly crashed from anger. How on earth had you botched such a simple task?
Ning Xiang was in despair too. Who could have known Lu Qingchen would refuse to play by the usual rules?
"Let's both compromise. I won't ask for the magical artifact, and you won't shove another ugly bird at me, okay?"
The system's answer was nope.
[Side quest failed.]
The system coldly announced the result.
Immediately afterward, Ugly Bird 2.0 appeared before Ning Xiang.
Compared with 1.0, 2.0 had evolved!
Not only was it a full size fatter than 1.0, but its cries were also rougher! One glance was enough to tell that it had considerable fighting prowess!
Of course, more importantly, 2.0 was even harder on the eyes than 1.0. It looked like a moldy mung bean cake. It was simply unbearable to look at.
Ning Xiang: "..."
She immediately stood up and, while 2.0 was distracted, grabbed its feet and hoisted it upside down.
Flap, flap- Ugly Bird 2.0 struggled violently.
The system was aghast. [Host, calm down! You aren't thinking of killing it for meat, are you?]
Ning Xiang said coldly, "If only I could! One bird would be awfully lonely here with me. I'm dumping it in my master's courtyard!"
The system: [There are already three birds in Chengfeng Courtyard. You're sending another one over? Are you trying to breed a venomous gu creature?]
Ning Xiang ignored it and flew to Chengfeng Courtyard on the Azure Sea Sword. Lu Qingchen had not yet returned. At the sight of her, Xingu and Hezhen scurried all over the courtyard in terror. Run! That she-devil is back!!!
Ning Xiang set 2.0 on the ground. It flapped its wings, preparing to flee, but she slapped an Immobilization Talisman onto it. Then she took out paper and a brush, wrote "Little Lu," and hung the sign around 2.0's neck.
Prepare to die, Lu Qingchen! This is the retribution you deserve!
Before you continue