"Why are you all standing there? Let's dig!" Lan Yue looked at the group beside her, puzzled by their sudden halt.
Li Bai shuddered, terrified that his odd behavior would be noticed and the Immortal Artifact would secretly jot his name down in its little grudge book. Then he would have nowhere even to cry.
He hurriedly picked up his shovel and started digging, swinging it with tremendous vigor.
The Spirit Plant beside him was bursting with curiosity. It finally stopped burying its face, blinked as it took a look, then trotted over on its two little legs and curiously stamped around in the pit.
Finding that the pit was quite nice and suited it perfectly, it simply jumped in and buried its whole body, happy and serene.
Li Bai: "..."
He stared at the pit and the Spirit Plant seedling, at a loss for words.
But Li Bai did not dare say much, afraid that one careless remark might break the little fellow's heart and make it cry itself even balder. That would be a sin.
He silently moved aside to another patch of ground. This time, he dug very quickly, hoping to finish as soon as possible.
To his surprise, halfway through digging, the Rootless Fruit Tree seedling came looking again, its eyes sparkling. It looked at its old, rough pit, then at this much roomier one, and immediately stamped on the old pit in disdain before swiftly relocating and settling down in utter serenity.
Li Bai: "????"
So this little Spirit Plant was treating him as free labor, was it?
Could the little fellow be holding a grudge? Was it still fussing over him calling it bald earlier?
But he really had spoken without thinking and wounded this Spirit Plant's tender little heart.
Li Bai could only swallow his grievances.
It's just a pit, isn't it? Take it. Take them all!
When Li Bai dug out an even bigger, roomier, prettier pit, the Rootless Fruit Tree seedling's eyes lit up, and it raced over on its two stubby legs.
Quick as a flash, Li Bai caught it by a branch, leaving the Rootless Fruit Tree seedling dangling in midair, kicking its little legs with a picture of innocence.
"You're killing me! Eldest Senior Brother, look how closely fate has tied you two together. Why don't you take it home and raise it?" Holding her little shovel, Lan Yue watched from the side, laughing helplessly.
Yet at her sincere suggestion, the person and the Spirit Plant both turned their heads away, as though each utterly despised the other.
"You're living in my pit, and you still turn your nose up at me?" Seeing its disdain, Li Bai grew rather disgruntled himself.
The Rootless Fruit Tree seedling: "Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp!"
Angry.jpg.
The little seedling even stamped hard several times on the pit beneath it before jumping out with a chirp.
If it had been in human form, it probably would have spat, too.
Li Bai's heart shattered all over the ground. He felt there was no love left in the world. Even a little Spirit Plant despised him this much!
He was about to speak when Lan Yue stopped him just in time. "Save it for later. If it starts bawling from hurt feelings, all the leaves on its head will fall off! Once they're gone, it might cry itself to death, and then our Southern Spirit Sect will have lost a Spirit Plant that's awakened its intelligence!"
Li Bai swallowed everything he had been about to say. Looking at the smug Spirit Plant hanging from Lan Yue, he felt utterly drained.
Was his standing already the lowest of all? Even a Spirit Plant was coming over to bully him. How outrageous!
Once it grew up, wouldn't it climb onto his neck and shit on him?
The thought of that scene made Li Bai shudder.
"Fine, fine. Who told me to be Spirit Sword Peak's eldest senior brother? The sect and I are one. Its losses are my losses. For the sect's sake, I'll let it off."
Seeing Li Bai's helpless expression, the Rootless Fruit Tree seedling opposite him even happily used its branches to swing back and forth.
Everyone: "..."
Li Bai: As long as you're happy.
"By the way, Yuan Shuo, are you feeling better? Your complexion looks pretty good. Have you recovered already?" Deciding not to stoop to that little Spirit Plant's level, Li Bai turned to question the silent boy in black beside him.
Yuan Shuo froze for a long moment before realizing that Li Bai was speaking to him. He glanced at Lan Yue, then nodded.
But after nodding, he said nothing more, silently swinging his little shovel and huffing away as he dug.
Li Bai: So aloof.
Looks like keeping the mood lively on Spirit Moon Peak still falls to me! So this is the eldest senior brother's arduous duty!
"Yun Xi, how's that spirit sword you got from the Ten Thousand Swords Pavilion last time? Master said it's incredibly powerful and can grow stronger along with your cultivation." Li Bai turned to speak to Yun Xi next, feeling that he was truly worrying himself to pieces.
Yun Xi paused as well. Unlike Yuan Shuo, she was not quite so silent and at least gave him some face by offering a brief reply. "Yuxi is with the Sect Master. He said he wanted to dress it up properly so I wouldn't embarrass myself by taking it out."
Yun Xi always called him the Sect Master in front of others. After all, they had not seen each other for so many years. Having endured more than a decade before suddenly discovering that she actually had a biological father, she still found it hard to adjust.
"That ancient sword of yours is called Yuxi? That's a lovely name." Li Bai wore an admiring expression, while the little figure inside his heart had already cried itself into a puddle of tears.
So this was the extravagance of having the Sect Master as a father? He actually thought this ancient sword wasn't presentable enough and had gone off to decorate it himself!
Any mineral that could complement an ancient sword would have to be exceedingly rare. How could ordinary disciples like them even dream of such materials?
Hearing that, Yun Xi smiled. She truly liked the name too, and from the very first moment she had obtained the ancient sword, she had felt an inexplicable sense of closeness to it.
Now she finally understood why Lan Yue had been so anxious when she was about to choose another spirit sword.
So this was the difference between a bonded spirit sword and other spirit swords. That was why Yun Xi had always been deeply grateful to her.
They dug their pits while Li Bai occasionally took the initiative to speak. The atmosphere was fairly harmonious, so his efforts had done some good.
Meanwhile, Yuan Shuo kept his head down and worked hard, entirely undisturbed by the world around him.
Looking at the boy working so earnestly, Lan Yue felt rather guilty. Elder Yuan had probably sent his nephew here to recuperate, yet she had made him spend ages watering yesterday and had now even brought him out to dig!
That really was a bit rotten of me!
"Why don't you rest for a while? We can handle the digging." Lan Yue spoke softly. Her conscience had finally awakened, and she felt she should stop acting like a capitalist all the time. At the very least, she ought to show him some concern.
But Yuan Shuo thought Lan Yue disliked him and wanted to exclude him, so he hastily backed away several steps and dug even harder. Before long, a beautiful pit had taken shape.
Yuan Shuo looked over with sparkling eyes.
Lan Yue's heart ached. Look at what I've done to this child!
But since Yuan Shuo insisted, she could do nothing but helplessly accept it.
Sighing deeply to herself, Lan Yue deftly opened the system. She was not slacking off-she was looking out for her cultivation. Enjoying gossip through the Three Realms Gossip System could increase her cultivation too!
[Lan Yue: Wow, what am I seeing? The male lead has actually appeared! About time, too. It's been so long since the female lead appeared, and the male lead has finally made his entrance! This is their first meeting!]
The male lead had appeared? Where was he?
The instant that inner voice rang out, Li Bai and even Yuan Shuo looked around curiously.
Yun Xi, meanwhile, was rather bewildered. Wasn't this supposed to be their first meeting? How come she, the female lead herself, hadn't even seen him?
Before you continue