At the crack of dawn, a young girl with white hair and white clothes was already practicing her sword in the courtyard.
For some reason, her blade blazed with flames today, every move and stance carrying a scorching heat.
Through a moment of carelessness, a spark landed on the fallen leaves in the corner of the yard, instantly igniting a small patch of fire.
The white-haired girl quickly sheathed her sword and condensed Spiritual Power at her fingertips, extinguishing the flames with a gentle flick.
“I say, do you intend to take advantage of our sleep and burn us all to death in our dreams?”
Having just put out the fire, Yun Xuechang turned around at the sound of the voice.
She saw the girl with brilliant red hair standing at the bedroom door with her arms crossed, already fully dressed.
“Daoist Friend Hua.”
She nodded in greeting and immediately explained, “That was not my intention. I was merely practicing a sword technique.”
“What kind of sword technique requires you to set the courtyard on fire? Are you planning to switch to fire magic?” Hua Yan raised an eyebrow.
“No, it is a Sword Control Technique. It requires wrapping the blade and oneself in flames, sacrificing oneself to overcome the enemy.” Yun Xuechang remained mild-tempered as ever.
“?”
“Then why didn’t you light yourself on fire too? Why only the sword?” Hua Yan stared at her with a face full of confusion, trying to determine if she was joking.
“Because I am practicing in the courtyard, it is inconvenient to use the Sky-Soaring Technique. Therefore, I ignited the blade first to familiarize myself with the intensity of the flames,” the white-haired girl replied earnestly, her eyes clear.
“You really were planning to light yourself up!”
Hua Yan rolled her eyes and shook her head, deciding she couldn’t be bothered to discuss this ridiculous sword technique with this sword-obsessed blockhead any longer.
“By the way, Daoist Friend Hua, since you are here, where is Rongrong?”
“Still sleeping. We’re taking her to perform the apprenticeship ceremony for Qu Linglong in a bit, so I got up early to prepare a few things and, incidentally — ” she shot a glance at the sword-obsessed girl in front of her, ” — incidentally, to keep an eye on you while you make breakfast, so she doesn’t end up drinking bland, watery soup again.”
“Alright. Thank you, Daoist Friend Hua.”
Yun Xuechang submissively agreed and gave her a faint smile.
Her cold features softened with warmth, looking like a spring breeze brushing over a frozen lake.
Hua Yan couldn’t help but daze for a moment.
“Stupid,” she muttered under her breath.
She turned and walked quickly out of the courtyard, leaving the girl with the sword standing alone in the brightening light of dawn.
……
“Huh? Today’s breakfast tastes so normal.”
Hua Xiangrong sat on a small stool, marvelling at the pancake in her hands.
The shape of the pancake was extremely regular, almost a perfect circle — there was no doubt it was the work of her mother.
However, the taste was very normal, which filled the little girl’s eyes with great surprise.
“Heh, if it wasn’t for me, the pancake you’d be eating today would have had half a jar of salt dumped into it,” Hua Yan said while holding a pancake of her own, taking a large, unladylike bite and speaking with her mouth full.
“?”
Hua Xiangrong’s face was instantly written with wonder.
“So Mother knows how to make pancakes too? Did you use an Alchemy Furnace to bake this one as well?”
“Who told you I was the one who made it? I got up early to supervise Yun Xuechang while she made them. Just eat your food!” Hua Yan snapped at her, sounding annoyed.
Tsk, why did those words sound so strange the moment they left her mouth?
It felt as if some mysterious intimacy had blossomed between her and Yun Xuechang.
The more she thought about it, the more it felt wrong.
She quickly added another sentence, “I only got up to supervise her cooking because you’re performing your apprenticeship ceremony this morning and I didn’t want you to have an upset stomach — it’s not like I wanted to do it!”
“But I didn’t even ask…” Hua Xiangrong whispered as she clutched her pancake.
She then turned to Yun Xuechang, her eyes sparkling.
“Then, does Mom like having Mother stay with her while she makes pancakes?”
Children often spoke without inhibition, and a word like ‘like’ could be blurted out without any hesitation.
‘Like… making pancakes together?’
Yun Xuechang, who was eating her pancake in small, elegant bites, paused for a moment. She lowered her eyes and thought about it seriously.
‘With Daoist Friend Hua nearby, the pancakes taste normal, and everyone can eat happily…’
In that case, she probably did like it.
“Yes, I like it,” the white-haired girl replied after coming to a conclusion.
She looked up, her eyes curving into a smile, her tone natural and sincere.
“????”
Hua Yan looked at her in disbelief, a suspicious flush suddenly blooming on her face.
‘Wait… I know you like me, but… how can you just say it so directly?!’
‘And right in front of the child!’
“I — I’m finished eating! I’m going to double-check the girl’s apprenticeship gifts!”
The red-haired girl hurriedly dropped those words and rushed out without looking back, leaving behind a slightly confused Yun Xuechang and a “pure and innocent” Hua Xiangrong.
…….
“Daoist Friend Hua, Daoist Friend Yun, please come in.”
Hearing the knock on the door, Qu Linglong opened the courtyard gate with a smile and welcomed the family of three inside.
“Daoist Friend Qu, this is the apprenticeship letter. Please accept it.”
Yun Xuechang handed over a formal letter. The handwriting on it was bold and flowing — undoubtedly written by Hua Yan this morning.
“And the apprenticeship gifts.”
Hua Yan handed over the items in her hands. Although they were called gifts, they hadn’t prepared anything particularly valuable; it was mostly just for show.
After all, the specific details of taking her as a disciple had already been settled.
“Good, good.” Qu Linglong took them with a beaming smile.
What followed was a simplified apprenticeship ceremony, involving nothing more than the four traditional steps: washing hands, straightening robes, serving tea, and paying respects to the ancestors.
Washing hands symbolized purifying the heart for learning; straightening the robes was to compose the body and mind, beginning the path of study with a solemn posture.
Serving tea and paying respects to the ancestors naturally expressed respect for the Master and the sect.
With that, the apprenticeship ceremony was considered complete.
Once Hua Xiangrong had dutifully finished all the rituals and called out “Master” in a clear voice, Qu Linglong gave a satisfied smile and pulled out a blue-green booklet.
“This is the divination technique of my Heavenly Mystery Pavilion — Shenji Baiduan.”
She blinked and said, “Although I haven’t practiced its contents myself, I know a thing or two about it. Most of its methods use tortoise shells, tally tubes, or dice as mediums to perform deductions. Once mastered, you can use it to quickly determine auspicious or inauspicious signs amidst chaotic information and perceive opportunities. It even grants a slight advantage during combat. You must comprehend it on your own.”
“Take these accompanying magical tools and medicinal pills as well. These things should be enough to last you until you reach the Golden Core Stage. Once your cultivation reaches that level, I will prepare further tools and pills for you. Remember, trying to learn too much at once leads to failure.”
As she spoke, she tossed a Storage Pouch to the girl.
“Thank you, Master,” Hua Xiangrong said, hugging the two items to her chest.
“Mhm.”
Qu Linglong looked at the well-behaved and clever young disciple before her. As someone taking a disciple for the first time, she couldn’t help but feel a spark of genuine affection in her heart.
“By the way, Daoist Friend Hua, Daoist Friend Yun, we should also discuss the upcoming Evil Purging operation.” She turned back to look at her disciple’s two mothers.
“We can.” “That is fine.”
The two responded in unison — which caused Hua Yan to steal another glance at Yun Xuechang.
The result of their discussion was largely the same as what 099 and Hua Xiangrong had predicted: they decided to head directly to the Great Chu Imperial City to investigate and prevent further trouble from Evil Cultivators.
Simultaneously, they would send messages to various sects of the Righteous Path to inform them of the suspicious activities in Great Chu.
As for the unrest caused by the death of the City Lord of Fulong City, it would be left to the Great Chu branch of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion to stabilize the situation alongside other organizations of Immortal Cultivators, while keeping the news as contained as possible.
“In that case, I’ll head to the branch office today to arrange the relevant matters. How does that sound?”
“That is fine.”
“That is fine.”
This time, Hua Yan purposefully paused, waiting for Yun Xuechang to finish speaking before she nodded in agreement.
Having successfully avoided speaking in unison, a smug smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.