But Gantang quickly pushed her doubts aside, for there was something more important to ask at this moment.
“Senior Brother, the sweet cakes I asked you to bring…”
Before Gantang could finish, Lu Qiancha took out a food box from his storage ring.
Gantang immediately reached out to take it and opened it to find the sweet cakes still steaming hot.
“Uwu~ Senior Brother, you’re the best!”
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Gantang jumped up and gave Lu Qiancha a big bear hug, then eagerly picked up a piece of sweet cake and bit into it.
The soft dough wrapped around the sweet filling instantly melted on her tongue, filling her with a deep sense of happiness that made her eyes narrow in satisfaction.
“Ahem, Junior Sister, you eat first. I need to go submit the sect mission.”
Lu Qiancha subtly took a half step back.
“Senior Brother, I’m coming with you!”
With her mouth full of sweet cake, Gantang replied unclearly.
But Gantang soon dismissed these thoughts as well. She looked at Lu Qiancha standing still and urged, “Senior Brother, hurry and mount the cloud. If you don’t get to the Deacon Hall soon, it’ll be curfew.”
“Don’t you already know how to fly?”
Lu Qiancha didn’t say anything about Gantang following him. Over the years, she had long gotten used to having this little tagalong behind her.
Hearing this, Gantang puffed out her chest—though it wasn’t exactly ample—and replied confidently, “But I’m not fast enough!”
“Well, then I guess there’s nothing I can do.”
Lu Qiancha sighed helplessly, conjured a white cloud, and jumped onto it first.
A sly glint flashed in Gantang’s eyes. With a light tap of her pink cloth boots on the grass, she floated over beside Lu Qiancha.
Just as she reached out to hook his arm, he skillfully dodged without leaving a trace.
“Don’t forget our three rules.”
Lu Qiancha said sternly.
“Ugh, yeah, yeah, I know, stingy Senior Brother.”
Gantang stuck out her tongue, grumbled, then huffed and moved a step away.
“That’s better. Keep three feet of distance in public. You’re now the Tianyuan Sect’s Houxin Zhixiu, the beloved Gantang Fairy admired by thousands of male disciples.”
“If you get too close to me, it’ll inevitably invite gossip.”
Lu Qiancha stretched lazily, then took out the Jade Token from his storage pouch and checked his Ling Shi. Forty-two unread messages appeared before his eyes.
Forty-one of them were from Gantang, all asking why Lu Qiancha was so late coming back and why he wasn’t replying.
Skimming quickly past Gantang’s messages, Lu Qiancha continued down the list. The next message left him a bit baffled.
Xun Xue: “So? Have you decided to be my daughter yet?”
Demon Race also uses Jade Tokens these days?
No, that’s not the point. How did this person get my Jade Token ID?
Lu Qiancha sneered and replied, “In your dreams.”
Before long, Xun Xue replied, “I’m not dreaming. I’m serious.”
Lu Qiancha: “If my master knew I adopted a Demon King as my mother, she’d kill me.”
Xun Xue: “Oh, I see. Well, if you change your mind someday, you can come find me. I’m currently recuperating on Bei Juluzhou.”
Lu Qiancha frowned at this message.
She sighed—what was all this about? Though she never took Xun Xue as a mother, Xun Xue had definitely recognized her as a daughter…
And Bei Juluzhou… that was where one of the main ingredients for the Returning Essence Pill was found.
Shaking his head to clear the cluttered thoughts, Lu Qiancha dismissed the miscellaneous messages and slowly landed in front of the Deacon Hall with Gantang.
It was already close to curfew, so only a few Patrolling Guards and Deacons remained.
Lu Qiancha wasted no time, quickly submitted the mission, and received 300 Contribution Points.
He then went to the Internal Affairs Hall to exchange some Refining Materials and auxiliary ingredients for the Rebirth Pill.
By the time they returned to Tianquanfeng, it was dusk. The setting sun poured molten gold over the horizon.
After saying farewell to his Junior Sister, Lu Qiancha returned to his room.
***
Closing the door behind him, Lu Qiancha let out a long breath, his tense nerves instantly relaxing.
The first thing he did was to dispel the Wanshang Shen Ying Jue he had been running.
This technique was flawless for disguise, but the spiritual power consumption… was like a gold-devouring beast!
How long had he been running it? Three hours? Four?
Now, he felt his Dan Tian utterly depleted, even his fingertips felt too weak to lift.
If it had been a few days ago, when he was still in the early Divine Transformation stage, he wouldn’t have lasted even three hours.
Lu Qiancha sighed, his ears drooping involuntarily.
Looks like he needed to stock dozens of Returning Essence Pills in his storage pouch from now on.
Shaking his head to clear the mottled distractions, Lu Qiancha sat down cross-legged and began deep breathing exercises to replenish his spiritual power.
However, things did not go as planned. Suddenly, Gantang knocked on the wooden door of the thatched cottage and shouted, “Senior Brother, Master wants to see you!”
Startled by the sudden voice, Lu Qiancha nearly jumped out of his skin. He hastily pulled out a Returning Essence Pill from his storage pouch and swallowed it whole, ignoring its bitterness.
As the pill’s warmth surged through his meridians, he gritted his teeth and forced the Wanshang Shen Ying Jue to run again.
He took a deep breath and tried to steady his steps as he walked to the door. Creak—the wooden door opened.
Outside stood Gantang, tilting her head with a relieved expression as if the task was complete.
“Eh, Senior Brother, you look terrible.”
Gantang’s big black eyes widened instantly upon seeing Lu Qiancha, her small mouth slightly open. She stepped forward, brows furrowed with concern.
“You’re so pale! Did you get some hidden injury on the last sect mission?”
Lu Qiancha twitched involuntarily. Just now, he nearly had a heart attack from her shouting. Not collapsing in front of his Junior Sister was already a minor miracle.
He spoke softly, “I was training just now. Your yelling almost caused spiritual power reflux. How could I not look bad?”
“Hehe, so that’s it…”
Gantang giggled foolishly, trying to brush it off.
“…Alright, enough of that. What did Master want?”
Lu Qiancha shook his head, calming his breath before asking.
“I don’t know. Master didn’t tell me.”
Gantang scratched her head and replied.
***
Lu Qiancha looked at his silly Junior Sister deeply before sighing helplessly, “Fine, I’ll go ask Master clearly.”
With that, Lu Qiancha headed straight to Master’s thatched cottage and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
After receiving permission, Lu Qiancha entered and saw his master—Xuanya Daoist—dressed in a white ru skirt, sitting cross-legged on a mat at the side of the room.
“Sit.”
Xuanya opened her eyes and looked at Lu Qiancha. “Do you know why I called you here?”
Hearing this, Lu Qiancha’s heart jolted—could it be that Master had seen through something?
He then poured more spiritual power into the Wanshang Shen Ying Jue and answered, “I do not know, disciple.”
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