At a Loss

Ying Huaixu had gotten everything he wanted this time, and he was in a great mood.

But a moment later, he was dumbfounded again.

Because he spotted Lü Qingyi.

Lü Qingyi sat atop her Divine Deer, staring at Ying Huaixu as he stared back.

Coming to his senses, Ying Huaixu hurriedly bowed.

"Greetings, senior sister."

Lü Qingyi looked at the blood-drenched Ying Huaixu, her gaze slightly dazed.

The Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciple beside her also stared at Ying Huaixu in astonishment.

The ghosts in this place were almost equivalent to the first stage of Body Tempering.

Yet a mortal had actually come out alive.

He had also swept his spiritual sense over Ying Huaixu.

Not only was this fellow uninjured, he wasn't even out of breath.

What kind of fucking monster was he?

Lü Qingyi also drew a deep breath.

Ying Huaixu had given her far too many surprises.

When she first heard from her junior brother that Ying Huaixu had entered the small secret realm alone, she had been so furious she nearly cut that junior brother down.

"Useless! You couldn't even keep an eye on one person!"

Lü Qingyi had rushed over in a panic, even prepared to cleave this Ghost Domain apart herself to rescue Ying Huaixu.

She had indeed arrived long ago, but upon arriving, she had witnessed Ying Huaixu's utterly outrageous moves.

As a mortal facing a ghost bride, he not only showed no fear, but even had a trace of disdain deep in his eyes.

In fact, Ying Huaixu's subsequent performance proved he had every right to that disdain.

The female ghost couldn't even touch Ying Huaixu, while he beat her into submission.

As for Ying Huaixu's dodge counters and parries, Lü Qingyi had a perfectly reasonable explanation for them.

Human-Sword Unity!

His dodging, meanwhile, came from extraordinarily keen perception.

Ying Huaixu's performance surpassed everything Lü Qingyi knew.

A low-grade spiritual root, extraordinarily keen perception, Human-Sword Unity, and that calm, unhurried bearing in battle... it was almost mesmerizing!

Lü Qingyi couldn't help muttering to herself.

"This boy has the makings of a great emperor!"

But why did the divination show someone like him as utterly ordinary? And in every possible way, at that!

Lü Qingyi hadn't noticed anything particularly special about Ye Ningshuang. Instead, Ying Huaixu felt more like someone chosen by the heavenly mandate.

After a long silence, Lü Qingyi finally asked, "Did you find it?"

Ying Huaixu hurriedly handed over the quest item.

Lü Qingyi beckoned, and the yin soul grass flew before her on its own.

Looking at the yin soul grass, Lü Qingyi nodded in satisfaction.

"Here is your reward!"

With that, Lü Qingyi handed Ying Huaixu a storage bag.

Inside were 100 spirit stones and a gray bead.

Ying Huaixu froze.

Ding! Adventure Quest completed. Rewards: 5,000 experience, Low-Grade Storage Bag ×1 (equipping it adds 20 inventory slots), 100 spirit stones, Wolf King Demon Soul ×1.

Holy shit!

Ying Huaixu was stunned.

This really was a fucking adventure quest.

Getting all these benefits for a worthless thing like yin soul grass-how was that any different from a free gift?

This was entirely thanks to his senior sister looking out for him.

Most importantly, he had thought the Wolf King Demon Soul was gone for good, only for his senior sister to turn around and give it to him.

Naturally, Ying Huaixu was overjoyed.

"Thank you for your kindness, senior sister."

Lü Qingyi felt considerably better.

At least she could tell that Ying Huaixu was genuinely grateful to her.

"Never mind. If you hadn't possessed some ability, this task of mine would have been no different from sending you to your death."

With that, Lü Qingyi reached out, and the spirit weapon Ying Huaixu had just obtained as a drop instantly flew over.

Lü Qingyi lightly ran a finger along the blade, and wisps of black energy drifted out of it.

Then light enveloped the longsword once more. Its rust vanished completely, and it finally took the form of an ice-blue longsword.

Once everything was done, the longsword flew back into Ying Huaixu's hand on its own.

"I've refined the restrictions within it for you and refined the weapon itself as well. Consider it compensation."

Ying Huaixu was ecstatic again.

So much. His senior sister was giving him far too much.

This start was practically like spending money on the game.

An ordinary spirit weapon had not only become a top-grade spirit weapon, but had even gained an ice attribute.

His senior sister really favored him!

This one top-grade spirit weapon alone would be enough to last Ying Huaixu until the Sea of Qi Realm.

He'd struck it rich in one go.

"Senior sister, I won't waste words thanking you. If you ever need anything done in the future, I won't refuse."

Lü Qingyi was very pleased.

"Good, good. You can keep everything I've given you without worry. There's no such thing as getting into trouble for possessing a treasure in our Divine Firmament Sword Sect. Anyone who dares set their sights on you knows the consequences. Even outside the sect, it doesn't matter. If someone dares steal anything belonging to our Divine Firmament Sword Sect, that would be wonderful!"

Ying Huaixu paused, then nodded.

"I understand, senior sister!"

Lü Qingyi nodded.

"With that arrogance in your bones, you'd probably act that way even if I hadn't said anything. All right, we're done here. Time to go back and rest. We'll set out for the sect tomorrow morning."

Ying Huaixu bowed again.

Lü Qingyi said no more and patted the Divine Deer.

Trailing an immortal rainbow, the Divine Deer flew straight into the distance.

The Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciple also bowed at this point.

"What a fortunate encounter, junior brother. I certainly didn't receive treatment like this when I first joined the Divine Firmament Sword Sect."

Ying Huaixu hurriedly said, "It's all thanks to senior sister's favor."

The disciple smiled and shook his head.

"That may be true, but you've earned her favor through your own abilities, junior brother."

With that, the disciple gave Ying Huaixu a token.

"This is my Communication Jade Token. Once you reach the sect, feel free to ask me about anything you don't understand."

Gratitude filled Ying Huaixu's eyes once more.

"Thank you, senior brother."

The disciple nodded, then flew away on his sword.

Once everyone had left, Ying Huaixu headed back in high spirits as well.

He had nothing left to worry about now. All that remained was to enter the sect.

At that moment, Lü Qingyi looked at the yin soul grass in her hand, her eyes full of bewilderment.

Yin soul grass really wasn't worth much.

Although it was useful to Ye Ningshuang, the sect had better specimens than the one in her hand.

Once Ye Ningshuang reached the sect, someone would naturally prepare them for her.

What bewildered Lü Qingyi now was that the impression Ying Huaixu gave her kept growing stronger, making her want to take him as her own disciple.

But the problem was that the sect had only instructed her to accept Ye Ningshuang. Unless something unexpected happened, Ying Huaixu would be an outer sect disciple at best.

The ancestral master's prophecy couldn't be wrong, yet she also believed her own instincts couldn't be wrong.

After some thought, Lü Qingyi took out her communication token and contacted her eighth senior sister.

"Oh, junior sister, why are you contacting me now? I haven't caused any trouble lately!"

Lü Qingyi: "..."

"Whether you've caused trouble will become clear once you return to the sect. But I'm contacting you about something else today."

Hearing that she wasn't being called to account, the eighth senior sister instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

"What is it? Just say the word, junior sister. Whatever you ask, I won't refuse."

After hesitating for a long time, Lü Qingyi finally asked, "Eighth senior sister, do you want a disciple?"

Eighth senior sister: "???"