“This pill recipe… where did you find it?”
Under the pavilion, Jiang Yueliu took a sip of Osmanthus tea. Her tone seemed casual, but her hand gripping the teacup tightened slightly.
“Oh,” Jiang Tong started, momentarily surprised before smiling. “I went to the Library a few days ago and browsed through some alchemy books. I suddenly saw this recipe and thought I’d bring it back to research it.”
He naturally could not mention anything about the Bell of Seasons. Since he usually had a hobby of refining pills anyway, this excuse was reasonable enough.
“Is that so…” Jiang Yueliu nodded, holding the teacup with both hands and sipping slowly.
She felt an inexplicable sense of peace, even though Jiang Tong was clearly her disciple. But seeing him frown as he carefully studied the pill recipe made it feel as though the problem with the Cold Soul Jade Body had already been resolved.
She set down her teacup. “Yao Xining lost the bet.”
“Mm.”
“What requirement do you plan to ask of her?” Jiang Yueliu asked.
Jiang Tong thought for a moment. “The recipe is still missing one medicinal ingredient. I was thinking of seeing if I could get some from her.”
“That is all?”
Jiang Tong turned to look at her. “Then what does Master think I should do?”
Jiang Yueliu was momentarily at a loss for words. Jiang Tong looked at her and smiled. “Alright, I know what Master is thinking. I would never do anything for that crazy woman.”
“Everyone can see how Ji Nianxue is living. Master is still the one who treats me the best.”
Jiang Yueliu had intended to look him in the eye, but hearing those words, her gaze flickered away. “You are my disciple. If I do not treat you well, who should I treat well?”
Jiang Tong’s eyes softened. He reached out, instinctively wanting to pat her head. But halfway there, he suddenly remembered this was his Master and retracted his hand.
Jiang Yueliu’s eyes widened slightly. Watching him reach out and then pull back, her heart felt strangely empty for some reason.
“Master, I’m going to find her to claim the stake.”
Jiang Tong packed away the medicinal ingredients. Gu Xianyu’s problem could not be delayed. The higher one’s cultivation level, the more intense the flare-ups became, and they were not something ordinary pills could suppress.
“Master will go with you,” Jiang Yueliu suddenly said.
“Master?”
Jiang Tong looked at Jiang Yueliu with a confused expression.
Jiang Yueliu had already stood up and said calmly, “Let’s go.”
Jiang Tong froze for two seconds before hurriedly following her.
Why did it feel like Master was worried about him meeting Yao Xining alone?
—
“Nianxue, pour the tea.”
Moonlight flowed like water.
Beneath the white walls and green tiles, beside the courtyard’s hot spring, Yao Xining was dressed in a bathrobe. Her eyes carried a faint, lingering charm, and her long legs were slightly crossed, leaving her fair calves almost entirely exposed.
With her movements, the bathrobe was pulled taut across her curves, occasionally trembling slightly. She looked like a rose covered in morning dew.
There was nothing wrong with dressing like this in her own courtyard, but she seemed to have forgotten there were guests present.
Ji Nianxue quickly brewed the tea and sat obediently beside Yao Xining. The two pairs of masters and disciples sat opposite each other across the stone table.
“One must accept a loss. Jiang Tong, what reward do you want?”
Yao Xining’s gaze swept over. Jiang Tong silently grumbled to himself: the way this crazy woman was looking at him was quite different now.
Before he could speak, Jiang Yueliu gave a cold “Heh.”
“It is clearly the stake for the bet, yet you are quite good at mixing up concepts.”
“As the Sect Master, it is not strange for me to give some rewards when Jiang Tong has made such great progress.” Yao Xining was smiling, but her words were laced with hostility.
Jiang Yueliu’s eyes narrowed, but she felt Jiang Tong’s leg stretch out under the white jade table to nudge her foot.
She stopped talking, though Yao Xining’s charming face was still swaying before her eyes, looking more annoying by the second.
“Thank you, Aunt Yao.” Jiang Tong looked up and smiled. “I wish to ask Aunt Yao for a medicinal ingredient. I wonder if Aunt Yao is willing to satisfy my request.”
He had only come here to get the medicine. There was no point in arguing with Yao Xining; it was better to finish up and leave.
Yao Xining was somewhat surprised, not expecting Jiang Tong to make such a request. “What ingredient? Let me hear it.”
“A portion of Combined Body stage Flame Phoenix Essence Blood.”
Hearing Jiang Tong’s request, Yao Xining’s smile froze for a moment. She looked at Jiang Yueliu, as if understanding something, and her expression became somewhat intriguing.
Flame Phoenix Essence Blood had a heavy fire nature. Was this kid trying to get it for his Master?
A hint of jealousy suddenly rose in Yao Xining’s heart. Where did this woman pick up such a good disciple? Why hadn’t she felt Jiang Tong was good before?
“I do have it,” Yao Xining said. “However, I also have a small condition.”
Roses had thorns for a reason… Jiang Tong nodded. “Please speak, Aunt Yao.”
“Jiang Tong.”
Yao Xining’s graceful body leaned forward slightly, resting her face on one hand. Her eyes shimmered, and the cleavage between her breasts was faintly visible.
“A disciple does not serve two masters. Jiang Yueliu is your Master, and I will not force anything. In the future, how about you call me Godmother?”
“…” Ji Nianxue said nothing, but her eyelashes suddenly trembled.
*Bang!*
Jiang Yueliu’s slender hand slammed onto the white jade table, her eyebrows knitting coldly. “Impossible.”
“…” Yao Xining remained unmoved, her gaze toward Jiang Tong becoming increasingly fervent.
This crazy woman’s attitude had changed too much…
Jiang Tong saw through it clearly.
If he didn’t have the Sword Core and hadn’t shown off his brilliance on the stage today, would Yao Xining still be talking to him like this?
She didn’t want him to call her Godmother; she wanted the Sword Core in his body to recognize a Godmother.
Being arrogant before and humble now—it was laughable.
“I listen to my Master.”
When Jiang Tong said this, Jiang Yueliu’s heart finally settled, though she continued to look at Yao Xining with a face as cold as frost.
She thought Yao Xining would flatly refuse, but she didn’t expect the woman to slowly speak again. “Then there is a second choice. Nianxue.”
Ji Nianxue had kept her head down the whole time. Hearing her Master call her name, she looked up with some confusion.
“Jiang Tong, how do you see Nianxue?”
The question came too suddenly.
Ji Nianxue was stunned.
In her perception, time seemed to stretch out. Jiang Tong opened his lips, looking a bit at a loss.
Her nose suddenly felt very sour, and her throat felt as if someone was squeezing it. In the unseen shadows, her fingers tightly twisted the corner of her clothes.
‘What will I hear?’
An inexplicable emotion surged into her heart. Ji Nianxue suddenly wanted to leave this place and find a spot with no one around to have a good cry.
When she was five years old, heavy snow had been falling outside the cave. Jiang Tong had been shivering from the cold, but they had huddled close together as he channeled spiritual energy to keep her warm.
After Yao Xining had grounded him, she would sneak off to find him, only daring to hide to one side. Jiang Tong would find her with a smile and stuff a few pieces of Osmanthus cake into her palm.
When they were discovered, Yao Xining would force her to practice the sword. If she didn’t do well, she would be punished. Because of this, she was always covered in wounds when she was young. Everyone said Yao Xining was disciplining a good talent, but only Jiang Tong would give her the healing pills he had refined and softly ask if it hurt.
Her love had always been cautious, visible only in the cracks.
She knew that at most, Jiang Tong had a good impression of her.
But it didn’t matter. She could slowly become stronger until the little sapling stretched out its branches to bathe in the sunlight. Only then would she finally have the courage to say those words.
She didn’t want to hide in the shadows, looking at him while covered in scars.
But why…
Why did her love turn into nothing more than a transaction at this moment?
Ji Nianxue’s eyes seemed to lose focus. If she could, she was willing to see nothing and hear no answer.
That way, she could retain the courage to continue being cautious.
Jiang Tong slowly stood up.
He was no longer smiling, and his gaze toward Yao Xining was somewhat cold.
He spoke. “I will not answer that question.”
“Aunt Yao, you’ve gone too far.”
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