Lu Qingchen Was Stirring Up Trouble

"Good grief, a full-scale Su-Ning Romance breakup scene," Wen Maimai murmured.

Zhou Ruoxue said, "Isn't the Xiang-Yu Couple irresistible? Sweet puppy boys are the eternal best!" She nudged Bai Yueguang. "Make the puppy boy take his place next."

Bai Yueguang stood firmly by his position. "No, the War God and Ye Fan are the best match. I'll support Xiang-Ye for ten thousand years without wavering!"

Ning Xiang: What on earth were they talking about?

The natives of Solitary Light Peak were clearly baffled too.

Yu Tingchao asked, "What exactly do you mean by 'Xiang-Yu' and 'Xiang-Ye'?"

"You don't even know that? They're couples from fanfiction of the hottest book right now, Overbearing War God. In Sister Xiangxiang's words, they're ships!"

Xie Feihong, a boy always on the front lines of the internet, added, "You have no idea. There's a poll on Heaven-Question right now, and the Xiang-Ye Couple is in first place, followed by Su-Ning Romance."

"That's not all! I added an original character, Jiang Mia'er, to Divorced 10,001 Times, and now the Coconut Milk Couple's popularity is skyrocketing too," Bai Yueguang said smugly.

"Delete it." A man's cool, clear voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned toward the voice. The person who had just spoken was actually Lu Qingchen.

Ning Xiang nodded emphatically. "Mm-hmm, did you hear that? My master told you to go back and delete your fanfiction!"

[Nice work, Iceberg Lu. I've been sick of that lousy book of his for ages!]

Lu Qingchen's gaze was icy as he told Bai Yueguang in a tone that brooked no argument, "Go back and delete everyone except Xiang Ning and Ye Fan."

Ning Xiang: Huh?

Iceberg Lu was stirring up trouble!

Xie Feihong shivered and whispered, "Does anyone else think Master seems a little different today?"

"No, he's no different from usual."

"No," Xie Feihong said with conviction. "He looks colder than he did yesterday."

Everyone: "..."

Bai Yueguang refused to accept it. He was a noble literary master of his generation, a man of lofty principles. How could he bow to the coercion of the powerful?

...All right, Uncle-Master Lu really was terrifying!

Bai Yueguang said dejectedly, "I can't betray my readers' affection and trust. Everyone's placing bets now. The Xiang-Yu Faction and Su-Ning Faction have plenty of rich fans who've tipped millions of spirit stones. If I suddenly delete those plotlines, they'll kill me!"

Zhou Ruoxue, the heiress to generations of wealth, said rather proudly, "Exactly. I just tipped a million spirit stones!"

"Damn it! If I had spirit stones, I'd support my Su-Ning ship too!" Wen Maimai clenched her little fists.

Bai Yueguang split the cultivators' spirit-stone tips fifty-fifty with Heaven-Question's administrators. In other words, he had earned enough these past few days to fill his pots and bowls to overflowing-even more than Ning Xiang made from her own book!

Ning Xiang's eyes brimmed with tears.

He was profiting off fanfiction, while she, the original author, was doing even worse than Bai Yueguang.

She had originally planned to report Bai Yueguang's fanfiction and have it taken down later, but another idea immediately occurred to her.

She cleared her throat and said with a smile, "Master, I think Junior Brother Bai has a point. Integrity is what matters most in life. We can't make Junior Brother Bai break his promises to others, can we?"

Lu Qingchen glanced at her and quietly said, "As you wish." Then he began the lesson.

Of course, after that little incident, who in the classroom still had the heart to listen to Lu Qingchen's lecture?

Ning Xiang swept the room with her divine sense-

Xie Feihong and Yu Tingchao were sneaking looks at Heaven-Question.

Zhou Ruoxue's brush flew across the page as she drew illustrations, all while arguing with Wen Maimai over who suited the War God best.

Even more infuriating was Bai Yueguang. He was actually counting spirit stones!

Ning Xiang felt indignant on Lu Qingchen's behalf. She had thought her eldest senior brother would at least listen attentively and offer Iceberg Lu a little consolation, but what did she see instead?

Her eldest senior brother had secretly opened Heaven-Question too!

Even you've been led astray, Eldest Senior Brother!

Not a single person cared what Lu Qingchen taught during that lesson.

After leaving the classroom, Ning Xiang seized Bai Yueguang by the collar and dragged him into the rockery behind Chengfeng Courtyard.

"Senior Sister Ning, what are you going to do?" Bai Yueguang clutched his chest protectively, looking like a little wife determined to defend her virtue.

With a smile blooming like a flower, Ning Xiang said kindly and gently, "Hand over all your spirit stones!"

Half an hour later, the sounds of punches, kicks, and anguished screams finally stopped inside the rockery.

Ning Xiang weighed the pouch of spirit stones in her hand and left, thoroughly satisfied. Along the way, she sent her eldest brother a message: "My dear brother, I'm short on spirit stones. You've earned so many running Heaven-Question. Could you give me a little pocket money?"

Yes, Heaven-Question belonged to the Ning Household. Ning Xiang had originally supplied the idea and concept, and the eldest Ning brother had put them into practice.

For more than a decade, Heaven-Question had remained an enduringly popular forum in the cultivation world for scholarly exchanges and gossip.

Ning Xiang opened Heaven-Question. The discussion under Bai Yueguang's post was truly heated. In just a few days, it had already taken all three domains by storm.

Just moments ago, several more wealthy fans had placed bets.

"East Sea Little Tyrant bet on 'Xiang-Yu Romance' and tipped one million spirit stones."

"Like Jade bet on 'Su-Ning Romance' and tipped one million spirit stones."

"Xiangxiang bet on 'Xiang-Ye Romance' and tipped one million spirit stones."

"Xiangxiang..."

A whole string of betting notifications from "Xiangxiang" followed. "Xiang-Ye Romance" had also left second place trailing far behind in popularity. As for "Coconut Milk Romance"? Hah, it had already been eliminated for being too unpopular.

The cultivators were all dazzled. Where on earth had this colossal sucker come from?

Ning Xiang bit her finger. Boo-hoo, there were so many rich people!

She sent her brother another message: "Never mind, Brother. Just use the admin controls to transfer all the earnings from Divorced 10,001 Times into my name!"

Ning Xiang had decided to leave Bai Yueguang's post up. The leeks were growing beautifully; she would keep them around and harvest them slowly!

In an excellent mood, Ning Xiang hummed a little tune as she headed back to Lingling Cottage to catch up on sleep, only to run into Su Lang along the way.

"Eldest Senior Brother, what a coincidence."

She had not forgotten her unfinished side quest and was racking her brains for an opening to mock Su Lang when he said gently, "Junior Sister, I'll be leaving for the Purple Tenuity Domain with Master in a few days. Before I go, I'd like to give you something."

In the sunlight, the young man's features looked especially gentle.

Ning Xiang raised her eyes to look at him.

Su Lang took her hand and placed an Azure Lotus Jade Pendant in her palm, pure as ice and clear as a deep pool.

Ning Xiang's palm burned.

This was no small matter. Su Lang had worn this pendant for years, and it was meant for his future wife. This thing was a hot potato!

Just as Ning Xiang was racking her brains for a way to refuse, the system's voice sounded in her sea of consciousness: [Ding. A side quest has been activated: accept Su Lang's jade pendant and give him a gift in return. Once Jiang Miaomiao emerges from seclusion, wear the jade pendant to provoke her.]

Ning Xiang understood!

So Su Lang wanted to use her to make Jiang Miaomiao jealous!