“Who’s crying?!”
Lu Qiancha, like a little wolf whose tail had just been stepped on, sprang up from the bed with a zing.
She stomped down from the bed in a huff, dragged over a meditation cushion, and threw it hard into the corner of the room.
Then with a loud thud, she sat cross-legged, facing the cold wall, striking a stern pose that clearly said, “I’m cultivating, do not disturb.”
Shangguan Yunzhu watched that flustered little blue figure desperately trying to stay calm, her eyes curved into crescent moons.
She didn’t approach but instead headed to the kitchen to start preparing dinner.
By the wall, Lu Qiancha closed her eyes, focusing inward, but her heart lake rippled violently as if someone had tossed in a stone.
An inexplicable surge of grievance welled up uncontrollably from deep inside.
That guy… actually just left?!
Didn’t even come back… to comfort me?!
“…!”
She bit her lip tightly, swearing in her heart: I will never, ever, ever talk to that scoundrel again!
“Heh.”
A faint sneer suddenly echoed deep within her consciousness.
“What?” Lu Qiancha felt as if she’d been pricked by a needle.
She clenched her little fists, voice thick with sting, and the tiny grievance swelled instantly into a flood about to break through, “Ugh~ Even you… want to kick me when I’m down and mock me?”
“Mock?”
The Demonic Sword Remnant Heart’s voice was lazily condescending.
“I’m… trying to save you.”
“Save me?”
Lu Qiancha was stunned, her blue eyes blankly lifting.
Being teased by Shangguan Yunzhu was a little embarrassing, but surely not life-threatening?
“Little one,” Remnant Heart’s voice suddenly turned cold, piercing the mist like ancient ice.
“Your mind… is about to be turned into mush by that cute little Heart Demon in your Sea of Consciousness!”
“In.”
“What?!” Like a bucket of ice water poured over her head, Lu Qiancha snapped out of her sulking grievance instantly!
She sharply inhaled and began rapidly retracing everything that had just happened…
If anything was strange, it was her incredibly high tolerance.
Faced with Shangguan Yunzhu’s obvious boundary-crossing excuses about bathing together, her first reaction had actually been… to ignore and compromise.
Lu Qiancha prided herself on not being particularly kind-hearted, especially with someone like Shangguan Yunzhu, who was practically a stranger.
Usually, when Yunzhu suggested bathing together, Lu Qiancha would immediately slip her a sleeping potion, sending her off until dawn.
Hmm… she might even give her a kick or two—but barefoot or in socks, so no shoe marks would be left, avoiding awkward explanations when she woke.
If you wonder how Lu Qiancha knew she was so decisive…
That was because three years ago, when Gantang drunkenly insisted on soaking in hot springs together… what happened?
Lu Qiancha had neatly given her a bottle of Sleep Through Mountains and Rivers potion, then tied that silly girl up with Binding Immortal Rope and swung her on a swing for three days and two nights.
The hesitant, sulking self just now was definitely abnormal.
Her thoughts raced as Lu Qiancha immediately condensed her soul body and stepped into the Purple Palace within her Sea of Consciousness.
The moment she entered, she sharply sensed faint strands of invisible Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy being drawn by a force, trickling deep into her Sea of Consciousness.
Then, the pure spiritual energy was tinged with a faint, milky pink glow.
Soon, the pink mist-like Lingqi seemed to find its destination, happily passing through the soul barrier and seeping deeply into Lu Qiancha’s body.
“Cha—bao—!!”
Lu Qiancha’s soul body emitted a sharp explosive cry.
“What are you doing?!”
The source of that strange pink mist pointed directly to that leisurely pink-haired fluff ball.
“Eh?!” The named Chabao turned excitedly.
Her pink eyes sparkling, she bounced over like a lively little rabbit and threw herself into Lu Qiancha’s arms.
Off balance, Lu Qiancha’s soul clone was trapped beneath her.
“What are you doing in my Sea of Consciousness?”
Lu Qiancha didn’t have time to play cuddly games and looked at Chabao with displeasure.
“Uh?”
Chabao was startled by the stern tone, blinking innocently.
“I’m… cultivating.”
“Cul—ti—vating?!”
Lu Qiancha’s heart pounded wildly.
She quickly examined her Dan Tian—
Just as she suspected.
In the swirling core of her Dan Tian, wisps of pink-purple gauzy Lingqi were entwined with her original ice-blue Lingqi, finally merging together.
But what shocked her even more was that wherever the pink Lingqi reached, her cultivation barrier actually loosened significantly, subtly pushing her steadily toward the Nascent Soul Stage.
In less than half a month, she could stabilize her realm and might even barely break through the first level?!
There was no way she could have achieved this by grinding alone.
The only explanation… was that the Lingqi produced by her Heart Demon cultivation really was benefiting her a lot.
The truth was clear: the Heart Demon could actually help her cultivate?!
Lu Qiancha was filled with question marks.
She’d never read about such a thing before.
Was she a special case?
After thinking it over, she didn’t find it all that strange.
After all, the Heart Demons and possessed ones she’d seen before always had bloodshot eyes, exuded murderous intent, and marched around shouting, “Kill in life, kill in death, kill everyone!”
The idea that Heart Demons couldn’t cultivate was clearly prejudice and discrimination.
Hmmm… stereotypes are wrong.
A glimmer of enlightenment surfaced in her mind.
But with it came deeper unease.
If she let this pink mist Lingqi continue nourishing and assimilating…
Her pathetic shred of masculinity…
Would probably vanish completely, turning her into a soft little loli, gentle in voice and body, easily pushed around.
No! Absolutely not!
Lu Qiancha took a deep breath, trying to soften her tone,
Maybe it’s better not to cultivate anymore?
“Why not?” Chabao pouted with a pitiful expression.
Her pink tail drooped sadly.
“If you don’t get stronger… bad people will bully you! I don’t want Qiancha to get bullied! And I don’t want to be bullied either!”
“Your Lingqi…” Lu Qiancha patiently tried to explain in terms Chabao could understand.
“It can’t mix with my own… it makes me uncomfortable, and things get weird.”
Chabao lowered her head, struggling to accept it.
Her fluffy pink ears drooped too.
But after a moment of hesitation, she carefully lifted her head again, eyes shining with hope.
“Then… then can I… go out and play sometimes?”
“No.”
Lu Qiancha shook her head and refused outright.
“Ugh, why not?”
Chabao pouted, tears welling in her eyes.
“This is what Xun Xue said.
She told me not to lend my body to you.”
Lu Qiancha spoke, then released a thread of soul essence, replaying the scene in her Sea of Consciousness.
Seeing Xun Xue’s serious expression in the vision, Chabao’s eyes dimmed instantly.
She anxiously wrung her fingers.
“Ugh… if Mama said so… then… okay, I’ll listen to Mama…”
Her voice was filled with restrained disappointment.
That tiny longing was deeply buried in her heart.
“Heh, actually… it doesn’t have to be so absolute.”
At that moment, Remnant Heart’s lazy voice with a hint of teasing sounded.
“Hm?” Lu Qiancha frowned.
“That little pink fluff’s ‘heterogeneous Lingqi’ may not suit you… but it’s not entirely useless.”
The Demonic Sword’s tone turned sharp with cunning calculation.
“Leave it to me.”
“You can handle it?”
“Piece of cake.”
Remnant Heart’s voice sounded as if enjoying an interesting trade.
“Absorbing it into the Demonic Sword’s blade for refinement… it can be transformed into pure primordial energy to replenish the source in your Dan Tian.”
“What’s the price? What do you want?”
Lu Qiancha cut to the core—there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
“Hmm… naturally, I’ll take a little ‘fee for carriage and horses.’”
Remnant Heart leisurely bargained.
“This Lingqi… I’ll take 40%, just enough to… repair some old wounds in the sword blade.”
“Four—ty—percent?!”
Lu Qiancha nearly jumped up.
“You’re robbing me! Can’t you give me a discount?”
“Sixty percent is already the limit your body can handle.”
Remnant Heart’s voice was defiantly confident and calmly resigned.
“If you want this pink mist to ‘paint you fresh,’ that’s up to you.
Me… I won’t lose out either way.”
“…Fine, deal.”
Lu Qiancha couldn’t tell if Remnant Heart was telling the truth, so she reluctantly nodded and agreed to the 40% ‘tax.’
Chabao listened attentively the whole time, ears perked up.
Now her eyes sparkled with bright little flames again.
Her fluffy tail quietly wagged as she looked up expectantly at Lu Qiancha.
“Qiancha~ Qiancha~ so… can Chabao cultivate now?”
“You can.”
Lu Qiancha nodded tiredly and helplessly.
“Yay!” Chabao instantly cheered, like a child who’d just gotten candy.
Looking at Chabao’s purely happy smile and how she immediately sat cross-legged, diligently absorbing Lingqi…
This… does this count as hiring child labor?!
Lu Qiancha’s cheeks flushed, and an inexplicable pang of guilt welled up in her heart.
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