When Linglong mentioned it, Hua Jian realized in hindsight that she didn’t have pajamas.
As a child from a poor family, she rarely had a peaceful night’s sleep.
Even if she did sleep, she slept in her clothes. She didn’t own pajamas.
Now that she was here, she realized she was lacking something.
“You don’t have any? I’ll lend you one, then. I have several anyway.”
Linglong guessed the reason for the change in Hua Jian’s expression, though it was an easy fix.
Although Linglong didn’t usually need pajamas, she kept a few in her Storage Pouch.
With so much space in there, it didn’t hurt to carry extra things.
“You can wear it without worry. I’ve never worn this one.” After handing the pajamas to Hua Jian, Linglong thoughtfully added a line.
Hua Jian didn’t doubt her. She had never seen Linglong wear pajamas.
Even if Linglong were lying, wearing clothes that hadn’t been worn for many days wouldn’t lead to strange associations.
Using her old method to change, Hua Jian light-footedly climbed onto the bed and slipped under the covers.
Naturally, the blanket didn’t carry Linglong’s scent, only a very faint aroma of incense, which slowly calmed Hua Jian’s pounding heart.
Linglong also finished changing and crawled in opposite Hua Jian, lying down to face her.
Just as Hua Jian was about to comment on the position, Linglong explained her reasoning as if she had foreseen the question.
“Do you want to be slapped in the face by my tail?”
The reason was simple. Linglong was currently in her Little Dragon Girl form, and she had a large tail behind her.
This ruled out the most common sleeping position of lying flat on one’s back, leaving her to choose between lying on her side or on her stomach.
And no normal person would choose to lie on their stomach, right?
If she lay on her side with her back to Hua Jian, Hua Jian would likely be swept off the bed by her tail.
By process of elimination, Linglong really only had one choice.
“Your daily life is quite troublesome,” Hua Jian muttered under her breath.
The Little Dragon Girl was indeed beautiful, but the trouble behind that beauty was a bit of a headache.
“It’s not so bad. Sleeping like this is an occasional thing. There’s no trouble when I’m normally cultivating.” Linglong blinked.
To Cultivators, sleeping was a waste of precious cultivation time. Generally, once one learned to cultivate, few would choose to sleep.
Only certain Cultivators with special hobbies liked to sleep… such as certain members of Wanhuagu.
However, for those Wanhuagu Cultivators, sleeping was actually considered a form of cultivation, so it was all the same.
“True. Phew, finally I can have a good night’s rest.” Hua Jian gazed at the ceiling and let out a soft sigh.
When she was outside, she had to stay alert even during the night for possible sneak attacks.
Now, she finally didn’t need to be on edge.
The previous phase of her mission was completely over.
Tomorrow would be a brand-new start.
In this new phase, she needed to set her own goals rather than just following Linglong’s lead.
Pure cultivation was fine, of course, but Hua Jian felt that only cultivating was a bit boring; she needed to find things to do.
Devoting all one’s time to cultivation wasn’t actually very efficient.
Doing things during the day and using cultivation to replace sleep at night was the most efficient method the Human Clan had summarized over countless years.
After all, raw cultivation was useless if you didn’t have a way to release that power.
There was a soft cap on how much cultivation a person could gain each day.
This limit varied depending on talent.
Once that cap was exceeded, the speed of cultivation would slow down significantly.
However, Hua Jian hadn’t encountered such a situation yet. Perhaps her case was special.
“Linglong, if I said I wanted to go to the Senior Sisters of the Wanling Sect to learn some things, would you be angry?” Hua Jian asked cautiously.
To be honest, Hua Jian felt that asking the Saintess of Jade Pool such a question was quite heart-wrenching.
If Linglong didn’t chop her on the head, it was truly out of the kindness of her heart.
“Of course I would be unhappy.”
‘Haha, as I thought…’ Hua Jian was thinking this when she suddenly felt something reach over from Linglong’s side.
It was a bit cool and firm, wrapping around her waist and forcing her to turn over.
Huh? Why did Linglong use her tail?!
After being forced into a new position by Linglong’s tail, Hua Jian found herself face-to-face with Linglong. Staring into those golden eyes, she couldn’t help but feel guilty.
Her usual cleverness didn’t dare show itself now.
She feared that if she said one wrong word, Linglong would fly into a dragon’s wrath and pounce to devour her, delicate little flower that she was.
Something like a ‘if I can’t keep your heart, I’ll take your innocence’ kind of extreme development.
“But I won’t stop you. Some of the Wanling Sect’s things are indeed worth learning.” Seeing Hua Jian’s frightened face, Linglong sighed.
Just how terrible was her image in Hua Jian’s heart? Did she usually act like a villain?
She was unhappy because she was the Saintess of Jade Pool, but as Hua Jian’s Senior Sister (in her own mind), she wouldn’t stop Hua Jian from pursuing a better future.
If Hua Jian agreed to join the Jade Pool right now, she could go play at the Wanling Sect however she wanted. Since the meat was already in the bowl, it didn’t matter.
But for Hua Jian to go over to the Wanling Sect now would truly make the distance between them grow further. Of course she wasn’t willing to agree.
“I want you to be my Junior Sister, but you seem to like the Wanling Sect more right now.”
Linglong looked at Hua Jian with a melancholic gaze, as if she were looking at a scumbag who liked to play with people’s emotions.
Hua Jian was at a loss for words because what Linglong said was perfectly accurate.
She was indeed leaning toward the Wanling Sect because Lingcaifeng was too perfect for her conditions.
For a Spiritual Flower like her, going to Lingcaifeng was like going home. Going to the Jade Pool didn’t feel the same.
“I…”
“You don’t need to explain anything to me. Everyone has their own ambitions, and you still have time to make a choice. Perhaps after a few days, you’ll feel that the Wanling Sect isn’t all that and come back?”
Saying this, Linglong pulled Hua Jian into a hug, causing Hua Jian to let out a cute gasp of surprise.
“It’s good to learn about other Sects. But for these next few days, stay here and learn more about our Jade Pool, okay?”
Linglong’s request wasn’t excessive. She wasn’t asking Hua Jian to stay forever; she was asking for the Jade Pool to have the first chance.
Get to know our Jade Pool first, then go check out the Wanling Sect and make a comparison. You don’t have to say which one you like better; just wait until the Ascension Gathering to choose.
This move of playing hard to get completely sank Hua Jian.
Since Linglong had put it that way, how could she refuse? If she refused again, she wouldn’t be human!
“Alright… So can you let go of me now?” Hua Jian really couldn’t get used to being held by a girl like this.
Hua Jian, who hadn’t been in a relationship in two lifetimes, had never experienced such affection.
Being hugged by Linglong like this, her blood was already rushing to her head, and her mind was beginning to overload.
The pajamas they wore weren’t very thick. Feeling the body heat transferred through the fabric, Hua Jian felt dizzy, as if her soul were floating away.
“Phew…”
In the face of Hua Jian’s request, Linglong’s reaction was simple.
She closed her eyes and began to breathe softly.
‘You were just talking to me about those things, and now you’re asleep?! At least make the fake sleep look more convincing!’
Hua Jian struggled a few times. Realizing Linglong was serious this time, she finally chose to accept it helplessly.
Forget it. Being hugged by Linglong wasn’t exactly a loss. Let it be.
Perhaps out of a sense of retaliation, Hua Jian also reached out to hug Linglong’s body.
‘Since you’re hugging me, I should definitely hug back. How can I let you hug me for free?’
This movement made Linglong’s eyelids twitch slightly, but since she was pretending to be asleep, she didn’t dare make any big movements.
And so, their position became fixed.
Linglong was quite comfortable to hold, giving Hua Jian the urge to keep holding her forever.
‘Was sleeping while hugging a girl always this comfortable?’
Enveloped by the girl’s fragrance, Hua Jian slowly drifted into dreamland.
Hua Jian slept very soundly that night, perhaps because of exhaustion or because the environment was peaceful enough.
It wasn’t until the morning sun was high in the sky that the movement beside her pulled her from her dreams.
Opening her blurry eyes, she saw that her and Linglong’s positions were vastly different from how they started.
It was unclear whose sleeping habits were worse, but the scene on the bed was quite messy.
Linglong, who was supposed to be hugging her, was now sprawled across her with her clothes in disarray.
Looking up, Hua Jian was surprised to find that she had somehow flipped around in her sleep, moving from the head of the bed to the foot.
Good grief, what on earth happened?
Linglong had the same question. She was currently staring with confused eyes, tilting her head at the spot where Hua Jian’s head should have been.
But now, it was Hua Jian’s feet.
“Phew… I slept so hard my consciousness blanked out.” Linglong rubbed her forehead and climbed off Hua Jian, still feeling a bit dizzy.
Perhaps because the flower fragrance on Hua Jian’s body had a sedative effect, she had slept very, very soundly.
She had even drooled in her sleep…
There was a dark patch on Hua Jian’s pajamas—the mark left by Linglong’s drool.
“Sleeping like this once in a while is pretty good.” Hua Jian yawned and sat up as well.
“So, how exactly did I end up facing the wrong way?”
The two girls, still half-asleep, looked at each other, neither willing to admit it was their fault.
Finally, Hua Jian burst into laughter, dropping the subject.
After sleeping together for a night, it felt as if her relationship with Linglong had deepened significantly.
Facing the disheveled and slightly exposed Linglong now, she wasn’t nearly as embarrassed.
It was a feeling of: ‘we’ve already slept together, so this is no big deal.’
Jumping off the bed, Hua Jian took out the clothes she was going to wear today from the Storage Pouch she had set aside and began to change quite openly in front of Linglong.
If previously Hua Jian had the wariness of a stranger, she now truly treated Linglong as a trustworthy friend.
This feeling was quite nice.
After changing, Hua Jian used a Ling Water Pearl to wash her face and tidy her appearance.
Once finished, she transformed from the slightly disoriented girl of a moment ago back into her usual quirky self.
Turning around, she saw an expression of joy and relief on Linglong’s face, which caused a spark of annoyance to rise in her heart.
“What are you so happy about! Don’t look at me with those eyes!”
“Aren’t you changing yet? Aren’t you going to show me around the Jade Pool’s base today?” Hua Jian clicked her tongue.
“If you plan on resting for the day, I’m going to find the Senior Sisters of the Wanling Sect.”
As soon as she heard that threat, Linglong immediately wiped the lazy look off her face and changed her clothes at lightning speed.
While she changed, Hua Jian sat on the bed and began to adjust the style of her close-fitting Spiritual Garment.
Inside the Jade Pool base, she didn’t need the full protection mode; she could just use it as an undershirt.
It wasn’t difficult to change. She just had to retract the silk fabric covering her arms.
As for the parts on her body, no one could see them anyway, so she left them.
It even connected to the socks on her lower half. To anyone else, it simply looked like Hua Jian was wearing white stockings.
“Sigh, has it come to this? I’ve actually gotten used to wearing white silk every day?”
Looking at her small feet wrapped in white silk fabric beneath her skirt, Hua Jian sighed softly.
She could only blame the fact that the Spiritual Garment from the Venerable was too useful.
Once put on, it was hard to part with.
Eventually, Hua Jian had completely adapted to it; it actually felt strange when she wasn’t wearing it.
“What did you say?” Linglong heard her but couldn’t understand what she meant.
“Cough, nothing. Just reflecting on my past. The current me has become someone the old me wouldn’t have dared to imagine.”
What Linglong understood was naturally different from what Hua Jian meant.
She thought Hua Jian was talking about her childhood.
But it wasn’t too far off. No matter which past version of Hua Jian it was, she probably never would have imagined living this kind of life.
“If the old you knew you’d be like this, she would surely be very happy,” Linglong replied with a smile.
“Happy? Probably.” Hua Jian pressed her forehead, her expression complicated.
If she told her past self that she would eventually become a cute little girl who liked to act young and wore white stockings every day, she would likely let out an incredibly sharp, explosive scream.
Back then, she was still a hot-blooded young man. How could she have known her future self would go through so many things?
“Let’s not talk about that. Where are we going to play today!” Shaking her head vigorously, Hua Jian stopped dwelling on the past.
One always had to look forward.
“It’s not playing. I’m taking you to get familiar with the customs and habits of our Jade Pool. At this hour, let’s go get breakfast. We’ll bring Shiqi along too.”
Linglong was still reliable. At least she hadn’t forgotten that another girl lived here besides the two of them.
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