Her master felt it was unfair

Whenever Ning Xiang saw Lu Qingchen, she felt a little guilty.

How strange. Since when did I develop such a conscience?

Lu Qingchen gave Ning Xiang an impassive glance and closed the book in his hand. "You've grown considerably bolder lately. Come here."

Ning Xiang's heart lurched. She shuffled over timidly. "What do you mean, Master?"

Lu Qingchen raised his hand, and Ning Xiang instinctively covered her head. "Don't hit me, Master!"

"When have I ever hit you?" Lu Qingchen was both annoyed and amused.

She lowered her hands and asked cautiously, "You're not angry anymore, Master?"

"What do you think?" Lu Qingchen asked.

Ning Xiang truly could not fathom this mighty expert's thoughts.

What exactly does Iceberg Lu want? Just beat me up to vent your anger, then. This is terrifying.

Hmm... Lu Qingchen had never heard such an interesting request before.

Ning Xiang was the sort to send a snake climbing straight up any stick offered to it. Seeing that Lu Qingchen wasn't going to punish her, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

She picked a chair, sat down, and took out the Heaven-Question Stone, intending to quietly follow the posts without disturbing Iceberg Lu's scholarly research.

Lu Qingchen's heart should have been as still as water, yet today, he simply could not settle down.

He attributed all of this to the fact that he was working diligently while his disciple was slacking off shamelessly beside him.

Lu Qingchen felt it was unfair.

He was about to stir up trouble!

"Ning Xiang, fetch me the Collected Teachings of Zhongli and Lü."

"Ning Xiang, send a message to True Lord Shaowei on Vibrant Bell Peak and ask whether my magical treasure has finished being refined."

"Ning Xiang, clean the pill furnace. I'll be refining Heavenly Origin Pills shortly."

"Ning Xiang, in a moment, you..."

Bang! Ning Xiang slapped the desk. Looming over Lu Qingchen, she said fiercely, "You certainly have a lot to say today, Master. Shall I brew you some tea to soothe your throat?"

"...That would be nice," Lu Qingchen said.

Ning Xiang brewed a pot of Kuding Tea, added plenty of goldthread root, then brought it to Lu Qingchen.

Countless thoughts flashed through Lu Qingchen's mind. Ning Xiang respects her master and values his teachings. Surely she wouldn't poison me? Surely not, surely not!

"Leave it there for now. In a moment, I'll..."

"Drink!!!" Ning Xiang brought the cup to Lu Qingchen's lips and, without allowing any argument, moved to grip his chin and pour it down his throat.

How did I never notice what a pain in the ass you were? If I don't bring you to heel today, I'll take your surname!

Lu Qingchen took a sip. His brows knitted, and he nearly spat it out.

Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! So bitter!

But he could not spit it out.

He had to finish the tea his disciple brewed, even if he had to drink it through tears.

"Does it taste good, Master?"

"Passable." Lu Qingchen was suffering inside.

Ning Xiang said unhurriedly, "There's another pot over there. Take your time drinking it, Master. It'll help clear the fire from your heart."

Lu Qingchen: "..."

Ning Xiang walked out of the room and released a long breath.

Phew, I was... so damn cool just now! You've been squeezed dry for too long, Ning Xiang. You've finally risen up! Keep it up! Sooner or later, you'll have Iceberg Lu beneath your feet!

Lu Qingchen: ...

He cleared his throat and called out, "Ning Xiang."

Ning Xiang, who had been swaggering triumphantly a moment earlier, answered instantly, "What are your instructions, Master?"

Lu Qingchen finally stopped ordering Ning Xiang about. He brought out a book. "These are pill formulas I recently acquired. You possess a fire spiritual root and an extraordinary flame, making you ideally suited to alchemy. Take this back and study it carefully."

Wow. Looking at the seal-script characters on the alchemy book's cover, Ning Xiang could not help feeling a surge of excitement.

The Nine-Turn Pill Scripture!

Just as Capital was the bible of the working class, the Nine-Turn Pill Scripture was a work countless Pill Cultivators dreamed of obtaining.

It was the crystallization of a great Pill Cultivator's lifetime of painstaking effort.

There were plenty of Pill Cultivators in the cultivation world, but their pill formulas tended to be much the same. Everyone followed the methods in the Cantong Qi, yet those methods were far too antiquated. As a result, even after more than a thousand years, the cultivation world's Pill Cultivators had made no progress.

Five hundred years ago, a great Pill Cultivator emerged from the Pill Sect. He organized all the pill formulas in the cultivation world, adding and removing ingredients and compiling the experience and methods involved in refining different pills.

Unfortunately, four hundred years ago, the Nine-Turn Pill Scripture had been lost, its whereabouts unknown.

Ning Xiang's father had once traveled all over the Divine Continent and the Three Domains without catching so much as a glimpse of the Nine-Turn Pill Scripture.

Iceberg Lu was being so generous this time that Ning Xiang still felt as though she were dreaming.

"Why are you giving me something so precious, Master?"

Lu Qingchen said, "Didn't you give me two rare birds as well?"

Ning Xiang: "..."

What a grudge-holder! Cheapskate!

With the alchemy book in hand, Ning Xiang could not bear to remain in Chengfeng Courtyard a moment longer. After bidding Lu Qingchen farewell, she went back to refine pills.

Chengfeng Courtyard had always been quiet, and Lu Qingchen had long since grown accustomed to it. Only now, that cold stillness seemed a little difficult to endure.

Lu Qingchen noticed that the disciples had been acting very strangely lately.

In the past, after his lectures, both his own inner disciples and disciples from other peaks would always ask him questions.

Now, however, not a single disciple came to ask questions after class. Instead, they gathered in twos and threes to discuss something.

With his exceptional hearing, Lu Qingchen picked out words such as "war god" and "live-in son-in-law."

Lu Qingchen: ...What is all this nonsense?

Later, Lu Qingchen discovered that his own second disciple, Xie Feihong, had joined them too!

Xie Feihong had a powerful, booming voice. Together with Senior Brother Ning's disciple surnamed Pin, he chattered away without pause, making an awful racket.

Lu Qingchen finally figured it out: they were discussing the most popular novel of the moment.

When he heard its title, even Lu Qingchen's icy face showed a rare crack.

You're aspiring immortals, at least. Surely your taste can't be this poor?

Of course, this did not pique Lu Qingchen's interest enough to make him read the novel.

Until, less than two days later, he passed Xie Feihong's seat, and a breeze blew in from outside, sending the pages of the novel on Xie Feihong's desk fluttering noisily.

With his excellent eyesight, Lu Qingchen needed only a glance to spot the name "Lu Qingchen."

It actually sounded exactly like his own name.

A little curious, Lu Qingchen picked it up for a look.

Ning Xiang gazed at the spirit stones piled high inside her Spirit Bracelet, delighted.

She had struck it rich!

As soon as her book was released, bolstered by the publisher's publicity, it became a massive hit. Now everyone in the Cultivation Realm had a copy, and wherever she went in the Profound Heaven Sect, people were discussing the plot of the Overbearing War God.

Fine. Ning Xiang forgave the publisher for changing her title to something that positively reeked of romance.

"Junior Sister Ning, have you read the Overbearing War God and..." After saying those first few words, Xie Feihong found the rest a little hard to utter. "You know, the current bestseller?"

He was now the book's most devoted fan and recommended it to everyone he met.

"If you haven't, I recommend giving it a read!"

Ning Xiang smiled demurely. "Of course."

I'll never tell you I'm the one who wrote it, hahahahaha!

Ning Xiang laughed wildly inside!

As soon as she finished laughing, Ning Xiang rubbed the back of her neck. There it was again-that familiar, cold, powerful aura.

She had learned her lesson this time. Greasing the soles of her feet, she prepared to slip away, only for a figure like a shadow of snow and a trace of frost to block her path.

Ning Xiang's legs instantly went weak.

"Waaah, Master."

Lu Qingchen held a copy of her "work" in his hand. "Explain to me what this is."