She had considered being tough and telling Linglong she wanted to be an independent child, but every time she started, Linglong would stare at her with an incredibly resentful gaze, as if saying, ‘Are you going to just use me and then walk away?’
Whenever Linglong made that face, Hua Jian found herself unable to say she wanted to leave. She could only stay there while her anxiety grew, creating a perfect loop of guilt.
“Who do you plan to practice combat with?”
“Uh, Shiqi, or maybe I’ll go to the Outer City to fight in the Arena…” Hua Jian answered instinctively.
There weren’t many Senior Sisters at the Saint Sect base who were her equal in strength. If she wanted practical combat experience, she had to go to the Outer City to find opponents.
As for Shiqi, she couldn’t actually beat Hua Jian in a real fight. Sparring between the two of them didn’t have much meaning anymore.
After so many practices, they knew exactly what move the other was going to make the moment they raised a hand.
At the moment, Hua Jian truly needed to find unfamiliar opponents to train against.
“Am I not good enough?”
Faced with Linglong’s blunt question, Hua Jian quickly shook her head and waved her hands.
“Of course you are, but we’ve fought so many times. We know each other’s moves inside out. More practice won’t do much good.”
Hua Jian needed to know how strong her peers were, didn’t she? Constantly fighting Linglong would cause her to misjudge the strength of other opponents.
“Oh. Then why not ask the Senior Sisters for help?”
“I’m a bit embarrassed. They’re all so busy; they don’t have time to play house with me,” Hua Jian scratched her head and whispered.
The first half of her sentence was true, but she lied in the second half.
The reason she didn’t ask the Senior Sisters for help was simple: she felt guilty about mooching off the Senior Sisters from Jade Pool, but she was afraid Linglong would be unhappy if she asked the Senior Sisters from the Wanling Sect.
Since neither side worked, she could only look toward the Outer City.
“It just so happens that my classes at the Wanling Sect are almost over. I’ll go talk to Senior Sister Qiao tomorrow. I won’t be going back there until the Ascension Gathering starts.”
“Mhm, good.” This caused Linglong’s tone to lift slightly, but her voice quickly dropped again.
She likely realized that Hua Jian was only temporarily separating from the Wanling Sect.
Soon, the Junior Shimei she had set her eyes on first would be completely whisked away by the Wanling Sect.
……
The next day, Hua Jian expressed her thoughts to Senior Sister Qiao.
“A temporary break from classes? That’s fine. You’ve already learned the basic curriculum. The following knowledge requires you to join the sect before you can continue your studies.”
Senior Sister Qiao didn’t have much of a reaction after hearing Hua Jian’s explanation.
She hadn’t been paying much attention to the Ascension Gathering, but hearing Hua Jian mention it, she agreed it was necessary to prepare.
Hua Jian had learned just about everything she could for now.
Staying here would only involve taking care of the small potted plant she had grown herself or helping manage the various flowers in the room to gain experience.
Those things weren’t urgent, so it was better to let Hua Jian have more time to prepare for the Ascension Gathering.
“By the way, where is Senior Sister Xiao Qi? I can’t find her anywhere.” Hua Jian looked around the room but didn’t see the Senior Sister who reminded her of a large dog.
“She took a leave of absence. She said she had something urgent to attend to. Did you need her for something?”
“I just wanted to say goodbye, since I won’t be coming back for a while.” Hua Jian gave a silly grin.
“There’s no need. If you successfully join the sect, you’ll likely run into her on Lingcaifeng anyway. It’s only been a little over a month.”
Senior Sister Qiao suggested that Hua Jian didn’t need to be so formal. It wasn’t as if they would never see each other again.
Besides, even if Hua Jian didn’t come for classes, couldn’t she still come to the Wanling Sect as a guest? She could just give Xiao Qi a proper farewell then.
“Right, since you won’t be coming for the next few days, take that potted plant of yours back with you.”
The Senior Sister pointed toward the small flower Hua Jian had planted herself.
The plant had already developed flower buds and would likely bloom into a beautiful flower very soon.
“Um, is this my homework?” Hua Jian asked, tilting her head.
“It’s a gift for you. If you want to keep growing it, go ahead. If not, you can give it to someone else.” Senior Sister Qiao gave Hua Jian a helpless look.
Did she not know how much Hua Jian had learned? Just by watching how Hua Jian cared for those plants, she knew the girl had completely mastered the introductory knowledge.
At this point, the flower no longer served as a test for Hua Jian. Since she was leaving for a while, the Senior Sister thought she should take it with her.
Whether she continued to raise it or gave it away was Hua Jian’s own decision.
“Oh, okay!” Hua Jian quickly ran to the window and took the small flower into her arms.
As for what to do with the flower, she already had an idea.
……
“For me?”
When Hua Jian held the potted plant out in front of her, Linglong was stunned for a moment before she tried to suppress the surging emotions in her chest.
“Yeah! Even though it hasn’t bloomed yet, according to my calculations, its flowering period isn’t far off. It will definitely bloom before the Ascension Gathering starts!”
Hua Jian peeked out from behind the green leaves, a hint of faint pride on her face.
She looked like a child showing off a treasure to her best friend.
Yes, she had decided almost without hesitation to give her very first self-grown flower to Linglong.
Aside from Linglong, she couldn’t think of anyone else she would give such a gift to.
To be honest, the gift wasn’t valuable at all; the flower was just an ordinary one with nothing special about it.
After thinking it over, Hua Jian felt even more strongly that Linglong was the best owner for this little flower.
“In the future, when I’m not by your side, looking at it will be like seeing me.”
“You aren’t as good-looking as this flower.” Linglong took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to smash the pot onto the floor, and took the plant from Hua Jian’s hands.
She had been very moved and happy just a moment ago, but Hua Jian’s words had immediately broken her composure.
Why did she have to be the one looking at an object to remember someone? Was she supposed to play the role of a resentful woman stuck in the inner chambers?
“One more thing. I’m planning to move to the Outer City for a few days!”
“Huh?” Linglong snapped her head up. “Why?”
Thinking that her gift would earn her some leniency, Hua Jian twiddled her fingers and stated her reason in a very small voice.
In short, it was to prepare for the Ascension Gathering.
It took quite a bit of time to travel back and forth between the Inner and Outer Cities, so it was better to find a place to stay in the Outer City temporarily.
It just so happened that Xia Hui—the girl she had saved on the way to Ascension City—had already arrived.
She planned to go to the Outer City to deepen her bond with her companions.
“If you miss me, you can always come to the Outer City to see me. It’s not like I’m cutting ties with you.”
Seeing Linglong’s gaze grow more and more terrifying, Hua Jian quickly took a small step back and added those words.
Linglong looked at Hua Jian, then at the small flower in her arms. The myriad of emotions in her heart finally dissolved into a sigh.
Those who wanted to leave couldn’t be held back. Hua Jian’s future was as vast as the sea and sky; she had no way to stop her.
Fine, it was better this way. They could still be friends in the future.
“When do you plan on leaving?”
“Uh, I could actually leave today, but I was thinking of saying goodbye and apologizing to the Venerable first…”
“No need. Master Uncle has been confined lately and can’t come out. You won’t be able to see her.”
“What?”
Fenghua Venerable was confined? Hua Jian’s eyes widened in disbelief. That was a Venerable! Who could possibly lock her up?
Seeing Hua Jian’s shocked expression, Linglong couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. This was the only thing making her happy at the moment.
When she thought about Hua Jian’s expression once she knew the reason, she wanted to laugh even more.
“Actually, it’s because of you. A few days ago, the Lingcaifeng Master came over from the Wanling Sect, and the two Venerables nearly started a fight. To ensure the Ascension Gathering would proceed smoothly, the other Venerables complained to my Master and the Wanling Sect Master. The two Saints then issued a restraining order to both of them, forbidding them from going out without a good reason.”
No wonder she hadn’t seen Fenghua Venerable lately, and even the Lingcaifeng Master, who was supposed to come over, was nowhere to be seen.
It turned out the two of them had nearly brawled in a place she didn’t know about?
Hua Jian didn’t know what to say. She wanted to say goodbye to Xiao Qi but couldn’t find her; she wanted to say goodbye to Fenghua Venerable but couldn’t find her either. Her luck was truly something else.
“Don’t overthink it. Master Uncle isn’t that petty, and your choice… isn’t that upsetting.”
There was a very stiff pause in Linglong’s words, suggesting her true thoughts weren’t quite so diplomatic.
Hua Jian gave an awkward laugh. The more Linglong spoke like that, the more guilty she felt. It really was best to run away as quickly as possible.
“Fine, if you’re going, then go. Don’t stay here being an eyesore.” Linglong pulled a stern face and shooed Hua Jian out, pretending to be angry.
Watching Hua Jian’s retreating back as she fled in a panic, Linglong lowered her gaze, still feeling a bit unpleasant in her heart.
She placed the potted plant on the windowsill and turned back to look at the now empty room. To her surprise, she found a Storage Pouch left on the table.
Did Hua Jian leave something behind? Linglong walked over and picked up the bag, finding a small piece of paper tucked underneath it.
‘Open it and see.’
The corners of Linglong’s mouth curled upward as she opened the pouch Hua Jian had left for her.
The Storage Pouch was packed to the brim with Hua Jian’s belongings.
All the spirit tools and spirit stones she had received from Bai Hua Zun Zhe were placed here.
On top of everything lay a handwritten apology note from Hua Jian.
Linglong opened the letter and read every word. Eventually, she tossed the pouch back onto the table, seemingly helpless.
“Trying to trade all this for two of my Dragon Scales? You certainly have a beautiful imagination.”
Despite her words, her expression wasn’t angry at all. On the contrary… she looked rather happy.