Xia Hui beside her stared fiercely at the fox spirit, her eyes shining with the desire to chase her away.
Facing their hostility, Foxheart had no choice. After all, she had brought this on herself. She couldn’t blame anyone.
Besides, she was just here to deliver equipment. She’d leave after handing it over, not staying long. She just needed to endure a bit.
“Here, the custom spirit tool you ordered. As for the daily clothes you requested, the Valley Master said she’ll prepare several sets of Saintess robes for you to change into daily.”
She tossed a storage pouch to Hua Jian and said casually.
“You know the saintess robe is hard to make. A new one will take some time, so use this one for now.”
Hua Jian knew very well that her saintess robe required a lot of materials and complex craftsmanship—it was a rare top-tier item.
What she wanted wasn’t a new saintess robe at all, but something normal!
It didn’t even have to be a spiritual garment. She just needed everyday wear, nothing fancy.
As long as it had shoes and socks and covered her whole body, that was enough.
Because of this saintess robe, Hua Jian felt like she was forgetting how to walk. She floated in the air all day. Was she a female ghost or what?
“I just want a pair of shoes. Even sandals are fine.” Hua Jian held up one finger, emphasizing her demand.
Hua Xinhu’s answer was equally clear. “No. That doesn’t fit the worldview of Wanhuagu.”
‘Are you some kind of blue-haired octopus? Saying something like “doesn’t fit the worldview”—so in Wanhuagu’s worldview, a saintess just can’t wear shoes?’
‘Where did that rule even come from? There aren’t that many perverts in the world who stare at other people’s feet, okay?’
“If I go out dressed like this, people will think Wanhuagu can’t afford shoes.”
“Don’t tell me that. The Valley Master personally said no shoes for you. I don’t dare defy her orders either.” Hua Xinhu sighed lightly, indicating that this really wasn’t her fault.
If she had to blame someone, blame the world. It was the world that made her go shoeless.
However, she could offer Hua Jian an idea. Since the Valley Master only forbade making shoes for Hua Jian, why not let Hua Jian make her own shoes?
For a wood-element cultivator—ah, no, for a saint-level spirit creature that had taken human form, wasn’t that simple?
“I’d like to, but I can’t figure out how to make myself shoes on the spot.” As she spoke, Hua Jian raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
From her floating feet, a few emerald-green thin vines grew, intertwining and weaving beneath her soles into a somewhat shabby pair of shoes.
They were wearable, yes, but wearing them now would cause a major deviation in her aura.
Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but perhaps because she was gradually getting used to her female identity, Hua Jian had developed higher standards for her appearance and presentation.
In this situation, she had no choice but to painfully give up wearing shoes in order to maintain her beauty.
“Then I’m out of ideas. You’ll have to figure it out yourself.” Hua Xinhu spread her hands, indicating that her advice was finished. “Quickly check if everything in the storage pouch is complete. If something’s missing, I’ll ask the Venerable to make it up for you.”
She hadn’t forgotten why she came to find Hua Jian in the first place. Hua Jian needed to confirm the items quickly so she could go back and report.
“Alright.”
Opening the storage pouch in her hand, Hua Jian glanced inside. Neatly arranged were all kinds of things she might need.
Spirit tools, materials, alchemy pills—aside from the first item, the quantities were quite generous.
The most conspicuous item was a spirit tool lying quietly in one corner of the pouch. It looked extremely crude, with workmanship that reeked of sloppiness.
It resembled a child’s wooden sword—crooked and pitted—making it hard to believe that Wanhuagu would give such a thing to its saintess.
But when Hua Jian took out the spirit tool and grasped it, she immediately understood the Valley Master’s intention.
Though it had an unremarkable appearance, the moment she held it, Hua Jian felt a blood-bound connection with the sword.
She could use this spirit sword as freely as she controlled her own vines.
Her spiritual power flowed through the sword without any obstruction. Moreover, the sword had other wonderful uses.
As she injected her spiritual power, the spirit sword slowly merged into her body.
When the blade completely disappeared, she opened her mouth, and the vanished sword grew straight out of her mouth.
What a demonic weapon this was! Who would expect someone to spit a sword out of their mouth?
And that wasn’t its limit. Hua Jian could not only spit the sword from her mouth, but also summon it from any other part of her body.
“I think you guys really need to prepare me a set of clothes I can freely destroy. Otherwise, there’s no way I can grow this sword from my body.”
Pushing the sword back into her mouth, Hua Jian summoned it from her arm instead, waving it through the air like an arm blade. whoosh whoosh
This scene was quite a challenge to one’s acceptance. Even Hua Xinhu, a Ling Emperor with considerable mental fortitude, struggled to keep her expression in check.
What was up with this spirit tool? Why did it behave so bizarrely?
Of course, she didn’t know that the material used to forge this spirit tool was the saint relic shed that Hua Jian had seen before.
It shared the same origin as Hua Jian, which was why she could use it so flexibly.
Only Hua Jian could use it like this. Anyone else who tried would not only fail to command the tool, but would also suffer punishment for daring to touch it.
In terms of hardness, this spirit sword was unparalleled. Even the spirit tools used by Spirit Lords probably couldn’t get the better of this sword.
Beyond hardness, the sword provided Hua Jian with a highly convenient casting platform. She could use it as a base to execute various spirit techniques.
Even if a technique failed and exploded, it would only detonate inside the sword, leaving her unharmed.
If a technique succeeded, the sword would greatly amplify its power. The combat boost it gave Hua Jian could only be described as terrifying.
This sword was definitely her exclusive weapon. There was no way it could be more exclusive.
“What a powerful sword! I love it!” Hua Jian gently stroked the spirit sword, the joy on her face completely unconcealed.
A good thing—of course Hua Jian liked it.
She was already looking forward to seeing the expressions of the poor little darlings who would serve as her sparring partners later.
Seeing the malicious smile on Hua Jian’s face, Hua Xinhu’s eyes narrowed slightly. She probably guessed what Hua Jian was thinking.
To that, she only wanted to tell Hua Jian: Yes, go ahead. Make as big a scene as possible.
As a saintess, you should act tough. If you see someone you don’t like, go hit them. Don’t hide your personal grudges—do it openly.
Things that would invite gossip in a saint sect don’t even count as trouble in a demonic sect.
The Saintess deigning to favor you is your honor. If you don’t feel grateful and instead gossip, tomorrow you’ll be charged with harboring treasonous thoughts, tied to a post, and fed to the flowers.
“How’s your progress on eating the fruit shells? There aren’t many days left before departure.” She also asked about Hua Jian’s fruit shell consumption.
If the progress was too slow, Hua Jian might not be able to leave Wanhuagu with that team.
But Wanhuagu wouldn’t really force her to stay. If she was too slow, they would organize a support team so she had a reason to go out.
“Don’t worry. Just these left. I’ll finish them in another five or six days.”
Hua Jian pointed at the fruit shell sticks she had already cut. There weren’t many left. She was eating them faster than she had originally thought.
At first, she felt like they were grinding her teeth. Now she could calmly shove a stick into her mouth and bite it off.
Literally iron teeth, you know?
Actually, the fruit shells tasted pretty good—slightly sweet, refreshing to eat. The only drawback was how hard they were.
“Then I’m reassured. Anything else you want to ask? I can go find out for you.”
Hua Jian tapped her chin, thinking for two seconds. “Can I keep a few pieces of the shell as souvenirs?”
After all, it had trapped her for four years. Eating it all clean felt a little reluctant.
Plus, she wanted her good friends to taste the fruit shell, like that certain Dragon Girl who probably had great teeth.
“Not too many. Just this much.” Hua Jian floated over to where the shells were stored and took out a small handful—about one day’s worth of her consumption.
Hua Xinhu found it hard to understand Hua Jian’s train of thought, but she nodded anyway.
It was just passing along a message. No skin off her back.
“Alright, I’m heading back.”
“Take care. No need to see me out.”
As soon as Hua Xinhu was completely gone, Xia Hui immediately pulled out the perfume Hua Jian had helped her make these past days and sprayed it around the room, thoroughly erasing all traces of Hua Xinhu’s presence.
No sooner had Hua Xinhu left than Hua Xinyuan arrived, bumping right into Xia Hui’s big cleaning spree.
“Hey, spray less, spray less! If Xinrui comes later, she’ll get dizzy again.” Hua Xinyuan pinched her nose and quickly stopped Xia Hui.
The perfume in Xia Hui’s hand was something she and Hua Jian had made together. The method was simple: Hua Jian soaked in water, then concentrated it.
Hua Jian herself didn’t know the principle, but this method really did produce Huajian-flavored perfume, and it was very authentic.
Probably because she had been used as tea before.
“Have those people arrived?” Hua Jian stroked the spirit sword in her hand, her eyes slowly narrowing.
“They’re here. Go easy on them.”
“I know my limits. No one will die.”
Seeing the devilish smile on Hua Jian’s face, Hua Xinyuan knew that none of those Ling Kings would be walking out upright today.
Ah, why provoke anyone but this saintess? If they’d provoked someone else, they might have gotten a quick end. Provoking her? They were in for a living hell.
Not being killed wasn’t always a good thing.
While the Saintess of Wanhuagu was beating up children in the Northern Territory, another saintess was packing her bags.
“Linglong Shimei, why are you preparing so many things?”
Watching Linglong stuff piles of items into a storage pouch, the shijie helping her couldn’t help being curious.
As everyone knew, the Saintess of Yaochi was a cold, unapproachable ice beauty—always stern and unsmiling.
Though she treated her sisters kindly, never a hint of laughter could be seen on her face.
Combined with various rumors circulating in the sect, some people no longer saw Linglong as human but as an immortal.
They said Linglong was a fairy descended to the mortal world, who didn’t eat common food, only drank flower dew and consumed spiritual energy. She was the finest beauty under heaven.
Whenever this topic came up, they would pull out the Xiānzǐ Ranking, which had been revised in the past two years, as evidence. Their saintess still firmly held the top spot.
As for that newly emerged Wanhuagu saintess who couldn’t officially appear on the ranking but was praised by busybodies as being no less beautiful than Linglong?
She was no match for their Linglong Saintess!
What was that Hua Jian? Before our Linglong Saintess, she was just a loli!
But today, Linglong did something very out of character.
She shoved not only daily necessities into the storage pouch, but also all kinds of Yaochi snacks.
Saintess, don’t you not eat these mortal things?
“I have a friend in the north. She’ll like them.” Linglong didn’t look up, continuing to stuff things in.
She was willing to believe that Hua Jian would find a way to leave Wanhuagu and meet her.
When that time came, she couldn’t very well not prepare some reunion gifts.
Spirit stones? Spirit tools? Linglong ruled those out first.
Of course she knew Hua Jian liked them, but as long as Wanhuagu had any brains, they wouldn’t short her on those.
So the gifts she prepared had to be things Wanhuagu couldn’t give Hua Jian. After thinking it over, the only options were Yaochi’s various specialties.
For example, food. Or clothes.
The clothes Wanhuagu gave Hua Jian were too flashy and revealing. They didn’t even cover her feet, which Linglong found completely unacceptable.
So she prepared a lot of clothes. As soon as they met, she would make Hua Jian change!
“I see… but isn’t this a bit too much?” The shijie’s eye still twitched. ‘Can your friend really eat all that?’
At this quantity, no one would doubt it if you said you were hosting a banquet for the Qian Family.
And those dozens of outfits Linglong had just stuffed into the pouch—all the same size, clearly prepared for one person.
What was so special about the Saintess’s friend in the north that she would receive such treatment?