After an unknown period of slumber, Blue Ling’er regained consciousness.
“Master…”
When she woke up, she subconsciously called out to Yu Yi as she slowly opened her eyes. What came into view was the ceiling of a familiar room.
Blue Ling’er suddenly realized: if Yu Yi had carried her back to the room, then wouldn’t she have seen the ice sculpture next to her? How embarrassing!
Blue Ling’er instinctively scrambled to sit up, but the pain from below made her frown and clench her teeth. She took a deep breath, then recovered her composure and leaned back against the bed. This pain actually calmed her down.
Since Blue Ling’er had already given her first time to Yu Yi, then being discovered by her of the ice sculpture hidden in the room wasn’t such a big deal after all.
But speaking of which, during Dual Cultivation, Blue Ling’er hadn’t felt any pain, but after the lingering ache set in, her heart was filled with incomparable satisfaction.
“This… isn’t a dream at all.”
Though it hurt, it was worth it. Recalling the various experiences earlier, Blue Ling’er couldn’t help blushing. This mix of shyness and excitement made her unable to stop.
And as she thought about it, Blue Ling’er’s hard-won calm heart began to stir again, and her body unconsciously started to heat up. She murmured softly to herself:
“I really… want to do it again.”
Her delicate body twisted restlessly.
“Want what?”
A second person’s voice suddenly rang out, startling Blue Ling’er so much that her body jolted, accidentally pulling at her lower body again, causing her to squeeze out a few tears as she looked toward the back of the bed.
There, Zi Kui poked half her head out from the head of Blue Ling’er’s bed, staring intently at her with a “Stare—.”
“F-First Senior Sister!?”
Blue Ling’er asked, somewhat flustered: “How are you here…”
“I’ve been here the whole time,” Zi Kui replied. “You just didn’t notice.”
“Did… First Senior Sister bring me back?”
“Doudou and Little Crimson Resonance too.”
“What about them…”
“They saw us to the door and then went back.”
Hearing this, Blue Ling’er couldn’t help but sigh in relief. Even though her secret might have been seen by Zi Kui, which was a bit embarrassing, it was still better than being seen by the others.
Zi Kui, while stroking the lifelike ice sculpture, asked Blue Ling’er: “So, when did Master wear this outfit?”
“During our time in Cangzhou,” Blue Ling’er answered.
“Oh, that’s when Master brought back that little girl from outside the Sect, right.” Zi Kui had seen Yun Qianxue a few times in Mingyue City, and her face appeared in her mind. “I haven’t formally met her yet.”
“Little Qianxue—I don’t know what she’s doing right now, but we’ll meet eventually,” Blue Ling’er replied.
“Mm, there are still many people I want to meet.”
Zi Kui nodded. Whether it was Yun Qianxue, or Lü Qi of the Fengqing Sect, or Su Cheng whose whereabouts were currently unknown, including Ji Hongye who had already returned to the Capital City, Zi Kui intended to get to know them all.
Before, Zi Kui had been unable to leave the River of Forgetfulness, and could only use her eyes to watch the people around Yu Yi from afar. Just watching was definitely not enough.
Zi Kui wanted to personally interact with those close to Yu Yi and thoroughly ‘inspect’ whether there were any problems with them.
“Can I take this?”
Zi Kui suddenly hugged Yu Yi’s ice sculpture tightly, and as if completely unaffected by its piercing cold, she asked Blue Ling’er.
“N-No, you can’t…”
“First Senior Sister, this took me a long time to carefully…”
“Stare—“
“Fine… fine, but you absolutely must not let anyone else see it, okay?”
“Yay.”
In the end, Blue Ling’er couldn’t win against Zi Kui, so she rubbed her forehead and reluctantly agreed.
When taking care of her other Junior Sisters, Blue Ling’er always felt like she was babysitting.
She had thought that after that ‘mysterious First Senior Sister’ came back, she could share some of the burden. But now it seemed… she had gained another ‘baby’.
‘Damn it, the dignified First Senior Sister, acting cute with a straight face is one thing, but why do I always soften!’
Just as Blue Ling’er was feeling a bit ‘disappointed’ with First Senior Sister Zi Kui, Zi Kui suddenly changed the subject and said:
“Lanlan, congratulations—you’ve already absorbed all the power that Master bestowed upon you.”
“Huh?”
Blue Ling’er was startled. Then she tried to circulate her energy and regulate her breathing, and was shocked to find that her body was full of power, as if a large portion of strength had materialized out of nowhere for her to use!
Blue Ling’er examined herself and discovered that her cultivation level was now firmly at the Grandmaster realm!
“First Senior Sister, were you just now…”
“Mm, I was distracting you.”
Zi Kui replied:
“Although you gained power from Master, you still need a process of digestion and absorption.”
“If you dwell on how to absorb it, the results will be minimal. So the best method is to think of nothing, do nothing, and let your body naturally digest that power.”
Zi Kui rarely spoke so much in one go, which showed that she had indeed been very intentional in helping Blue Ling’er. After all, she was the first to engage in Dual Cultivation with Yu Yi, so she had considerable experience in this area.
“Thank you for your help, First Senior Sister.”
Blue Ling’er expressed her thanks to Zi Kui.
For all cultivators, successfully breaking through to a certain realm is not considered a complete success. Only by fully stabilizing in that realm can it be considered a complete success.
Many people break through by chance, but later, due to various accidents, fail to stabilize, causing their cultivation to fall back. Such occurrences are not uncommon.
Thus, Zi Kui’s help in silently and perfectly absorbing and digesting the power Yu Yi had bestowed upon Blue Ling’er, allowing her to stabilize at the Grandmaster realm, was a great favor.
This also goes to show how formidable Yu Yi was, being able to break through while injured and firmly establish herself at the Martial Emperor Realm.
Just as Blue Ling’er was rejoicing, Zi Kui’s voice sounded again:
“Lanlan, since you’ve successfully broken through, do you want to get some practice?”
“That is natural.”
After replying, Blue Ling’er glanced at the sky outside. She realized that although she hadn’t slept for long, it was already getting dark outside. This meant she needed to prepare dinner.
“No need to rush for practice, mealtime is approaching. I need to prepare dinner for everyone first.”
Blue Ling’er said:
“Especially Doudou—she’s probably already complaining of hunger.”
“Alright, then after dinner, I’ll wait for you at the Training Ground.”
Zi Kui nodded.
“First Senior Sister intends to inspect my performance after the breakthrough on behalf of Master?”
Blue Ling’er raised an eyebrow and asked. She couldn’t help but think to herself.
‘First Senior Sister… really does have the responsibility of a First Senior Sister. She can share some of Master’s burdens. That’s great.’
However, just as Blue Ling’er finished silently sighing with emotion, she heard Zi Kui add in a low voice:
“Using the training dummies at the Training Ground to test your power is useless.”
She paused, then stared at Blue Ling’er expressionlessly and said:
“Practice with me.”