Looking at the shock and surprise on her grandniece’s cold and beautiful face, Bai Qiuyin thought for a moment.
She switched her state of mind back from the “otaku” internet persona she had adopted recently and cleared her throat.
“Just consider it my intuition. You don’t need to overthink it!”
“All right,” Bai Shuanglian replied after a moment of silence.
“Cough. Of course, it isn’t entirely intuition. I also observed some things from your subtle expressions!”
As if feeling her answer wasn’t persuasive enough, Bai Qiuyin pointed at Bai Shuanglian’s gorgeous face and continued,
“Even if you tried to hide it, my experienced eyes could tell at a glance that when you mentioned that friend, your eyes shimmered with an unusual light. That is why I am certain you harbor feelings for that child that are anything but ordinary!”
“…”
Bai Shuanglian remained silent for a while, wisely choosing not to ask what that so-called “vast experience” actually entailed.
“Frost Lotus, are you worried that Senior Hong won’t approve of your relationship?”
Bai Qiuyin studied Bai Shuanglian for a moment before suddenly asking.
“No.”
Bai Shuanglian had no intention of explaining what she had actually been thinking.
She followed Bai Qiuyin’s lead and explained,
“When I met Senior Hong before, she already indicated that she wouldn’t oppose our relationship. It is just…”
“It is just that you are still in a state of unrequited love, right?”
Bai Shuanglian paused, thinking about how to make Bai Qiuyin believe that her relationship with Ling Xiaoyou was still innocent.
After all, every Elder she had met recently had unilaterally assumed they were already together.
Although she felt a secret joy in her heart, Bai Shuanglian still wanted to clarify the situation.
However, to her surprise, Bai Qiuyin took the initiative to speak, looking at her as she asked the question.
“Yes. I did not expect you to see through it.”
Bai Shuanglian looked at Bai Qiuyin with some surprise, as if she were meeting this Elder—who was technically her Great-Aunt but acted more like an Elder Sister—for the first time.
“Of course! You did not think I was some kind of emotional idiot, did you? Not to brag, but I have more experience in this field than you have grains of rice in your stomach!”
Bai Qiuyin spoke with great pride, as if this were something to be boasted about.
What Bai Qiuyin did not mention was that her so-called “experience” actually came from her frantic internet surfing since leaving seclusion, specifically from binge-watching countless girl-love anime and reading even more novels.
However, she felt that even if it was just “theoretical knowledge,” it should be enough to handle this!
With that thought in mind, Bai Qiuyin looked at Bai Shuanglian and said,
“Since you like her, then go pursue her…”
Her words suddenly trailed off.
She looked at Bai Shuanglian with a scrutinizing and recollecting gaze, leaving the latter somewhat puzzled.
“I understand now.”
Bai Qiuyin seemed to have realized something.
She nodded and looked at the confused Bai Shuanglian, speaking slowly,
“It is not your fault. You were raised a bit poorly by your parents since you were young; you really are not good at handling matters of the heart.”
As she spoke, Bai Qiuyin patted her chest and promised,
“In that case, let me, your Great-Aunt, devise a plan for you!”
After hearing these words, Bai Shuanglian froze.
Then, just like Ling Xiaoyou often did, she let out a confused,
“Eh?”
***
“Time moves fast, and many memories fade—”
Ling Xiaoyou hummed along to the song on her Mobile Phone.
Although her sweet, light voice couldn’t quite capture the original feeling, it had a unique charm of its own.
She subconsciously glanced at the sky outside the window before reacting.
She helplessly picked up her phone again to look at the time displayed on the screen—3:32 PM.
It was currently afternoon, and the date had reached the seventh day since Bai Shuanglian’s departure.
It had been one week.
At the same time, today was the third to last day before the Xuantian Martial Tournament began.
In two days, the tournament would officially start.
Although this period was not very long, for Ling Xiaoyou, it felt like the most difficult time before a reunion.
Each day felt like a year.
Because Bai Shuanglian was gone and Hong Lingyan was always busy, Ling Xiaoyou had been conducting her training alone in the Training Field for the past few days.
The results were quite good.
At the very least, Ling Xiaoyou’s accuracy had reached a new level.
She only hoped that when the competition started, she wouldn’t encounter a situation where ‘discovering the enemy moves in actual combat makes the sky fall.’
She hadn’t made much progress in Magic Arts because she hadn’t practiced them much lately.
Perhaps it was due to a hidden desire in her heart to save that training for when she was with Bai Shuanglian.
Aside from that, Ling Xiaoyou had invested points into her attributes.
To her pleasant surprise, through her frequent contact with Bai Shuanglian, she had already obtained more than five hundred Happiness Points from her.
This huge sum of money allowed the once-poor little pen immortal to leap into the ranks of the wealthy.
She could practically close her eyes and add points without even looking…
Cough, all right, that was a bit of an exaggeration.
After all, she had only received five hundred points, not five thousand.
Even so, combined with her previous savings, Ling Xiaoyou possessed a whopping 621.35 Happiness Points!
Following the advice previously given by Bai Shuanglian, Ling Xiaoyou’s attributes had undergone a world-shaking transformation.
First was Strength, which had now reached 30!
It had essentially doubled from her original base!
The improvement brought by this was very obvious.
In terms of Spirit Power capacity, the old Ling Xiaoyou had to break down the casting of [Sigh of the Tides] into several steps, as she didn’t have enough to release the full spell.
But now, she could release one and a half [Sigh of the Tides] and still have plenty of Spirit Power left for other Magic Arts!
As for physical strength… Ling Xiaoyou had accidentally ruined several of her favorite dresses over the last few days, so ‘it was better not to mention it!’
Speed, which was already Ling Xiaoyou’s most prominent attribute, had also reached 30.
Because of this surging speed, Ling Xiaoyou had nearly slammed into walls several times during training, though she was able to react just before impact.
As for Constitution and Spirit, they were at 25 and 20 respectively.
Ling Xiaoyou had originally intended not to put points into these two, planning to focus on Strength and Speed first.
However, when both her Speed and Strength reached 25, she felt a faint sense of danger.
A realization instinctively surfaced: if she added points too extremely, her body would inevitably collapse.
So, for the sake of her life, Ling Xiaoyou chose to add a fair amount to those two attributes as well.
Incidentally, stat increases after 10 cost 5 points each, while those after 30 cost 50 points, and so on.
The next tier at 40 would cost 100 points, and 50 would cost 500 points.
Therefore, after her round of upgrades, Ling Xiaoyou had 215.35 Happiness Points remaining.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to continue increasing Strength and Speed, but she simply couldn’t.
No matter how much she clicked, her points were not deducted, and the attributes did not increase.
Ling Xiaoyou estimated that the limit for her current cultivation realm was likely 30.
To go any higher, she would have to break through.
So, achieving an overwhelming status while still in the Soul Gathering Stage was impossible; she would have to raise her realm properly.
She decided to keep the remaining Happiness Points for a rainy day.