Right hand, right?”
“Correct! Rongrong, you’re amazing!”
Ning Shiliu opened her hands in surprise—her left hand was empty, but lying quietly in her right palm was a piece of candy wrapped in oil paper.
“Hehe… it’s nothing, really.”
Hua Xiangrong chuckled, put away her divination sticks, and planted her hands on her hips with pride.
Several days had passed since she broke through to the Foundation Building stage. She had already fully refined those magical tools.
Now Hua Xiangrong was no longer that Qi Refining little girl who could only cast a few minor five-element spells.
Besides starting to truly cultivate the Shenji Baiduan and using her talent and spiritual power to make moderately accurate predictions, the power of the spells she had learned had also increased greatly. At the moment, she was learning new techniques alongside Hua Yan.
As for sword flying… the girl who was slightly afraid of heights hadn’t officially started that course yet.
Actually, on the first day of breaking through to Foundation Building, Yun Xuechang had eagerly wanted to teach her personally.
But unfortunately, her teaching method was far too violent: she planned to imitate her own master, Jiang Changge—who had thrown her off Chengxing Cliff on Mianyun Peak—and throw Hua Xiangrong from a height to trigger her instincts.
This was naturally interrupted by Hua Yan on the spot, who also gave Yun Xuechang a thorough scolding. In short, due to various reasons, the girl still hadn’t learned sword flying.
Of course, the changes after entering Foundation Building didn’t stop there.
Hua Xiangrong could now practice Bigu, but that didn’t stop Hua Yan and Yun Xuechang from making her three meals a day. Instead, they added many warming and nourishing spiritual treasures to the meals to help her further consolidate her foundation.
“I don’t know when I’ll be able to reach Foundation Building… I, I always feel like I can’t do it…”
Ning Shiliu looked at her with envy, and her tone couldn’t help but carry a hint of disappointment. Her pair of light-golden long ears drooped slightly.
“It’s okay, I believe you, Little Pomegranate! You’ll definitely reach Foundation Building soon.”
Hua Xiangrong reached out, took the candy, peeled off the paper, and naturally brought it to Ning Shiliu’s lips.
Ning Shiliu was startled for a moment, then blushed and opened her mouth to take it.
“If you don’t believe me, I’ll do another divination for you right now! How about that?”
She pulled Ning Shiliu’s still-flushed little hand.
“Come, Little Pomegranate! Do as I do—sink your energy to your Dantian, spread your feet slightly, form a circle with your hands in front of your chest, and then shout together with me!”
As she spoke, Hua Xiangrong took out a tortoise shell and three shiny dice, placed them on the table, covered them with the shell, and began to shake.
“Ning Shiliu, you will definitely succeed! Open!”
“Ning, Ning Shiliu, you, you will definitely succeed! Open!”
The rabbit-eared girl nervously followed the movements, her voice soft and timid.
Then, under Ning Shiliu’s tense and expectant gaze, Hua Xiangrong lifted the tortoise shell.
“Look! All three dice show six! That means your fortune is extremely auspicious, Little Pomegranate! You’ll definitely succeed in Foundation Building soon!”
“Th-they really are all sixes!”
Ning Shiliu stared at the three dice lying quietly in the shell, stunned, before crying out in surprise.
“Of course!”
Hua Xiangrong shook her little head and continued to encourage her.
“Little Pomegranate, you need to have confidence in yourself. You’re so smart—in the last Academy Quarterly Exam, you were almost first place! That’s way better than me!”
“You’re just usually not confident enough. I’ve told you so many times. This time, with the divination result as proof, you should finally believe that you’re a really amazing person, right?”
Ning Shiliu gazed at the pink-haired girl before her. Her features were adorable, her big pink eyes bright and warm. She seemed to be playing around, but her voice was full of sincere encouragement.
“Mm!”
Ning Shiliu nodded firmly, her ears gently swaying.
Seeing her a bit more confident, Hua Xiangrong nodded in satisfaction. At the same time, 099’s voice rang in her mind.
“Host, you didn’t even use the divination technique just now, did you? Instead, you secretly used spiritual power to control the dice so they all landed on six. Why would you do that?”
“Oh, 099, you just don’t get it.”
Hua Xiangrong replied in her heart.
“I’m encouraging Little Pomegranate! She doesn’t have any confidence in herself. If I had actually divined a bad result, wouldn’t that only make it worse? The important thing isn’t whether the omen is truly good or not, but that this good result can encourage her. That’s what really matters.”
The little system pondered for a moment, then asked with some confusion, “Mm… well… but why are you so concerned about Ning Shiliu? You used to be an adult, yet you actually enjoy playing with a little girl like this every day?”
“Mm… how should I put it? On one hand, I have to keep playing the part of a child, so I need to hang out with other kids to maintain that persona. On the other hand…”
Hua Xiangrong paused.
“On the other hand… I see a bit of my own past in Little Pomegranate, so I can’t help wanting to care for her more.”
“Your past?” 099 repeated.
“Yeah, from my previous life. When I was little, my adoptive parents always made me study and perform. I never got to play with kids my age. I was ostracized by my classmates and even bullied—though I fought back, of course.”
Hua Xiangrong continued slowly in her mind.
“When I first met Little Pomegranate, she was also being bullied by her classmates. But compared to me back then, she was even more timid and cowardly, too scared to fight back.”
“Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but want to care for her more. That’s part of why I chose to become her friend.”
“Of course, after spending time together, I’ve found that Little Pomegranate is also very sweet herself—a kind and good kid.”
With that, Hua Xiangrong laughed inwardly. ‘Come on, 099! She’s a rabbit-eared lolita! That soft, fluffy golden-haired little bunny! How cute is that?!’
‘I’m definitely going to raise Little Pomegranate from now into a confident and beautiful bunny girl! Then I’ll introduce her to the best girlfriend ever! And watch them get married myself! That’s the mission of my reincarnation into this world, dammit!’
“Are you literally treating her like your own daughter?! And our actual mission is to get Hua Yan and Yun—I mean, save the world, right?! (#°Д°)”
099 immediately retorted.
“And, Host, how are you so sure she’ll even like girls in the future?”
“With me, a professional yuri enthusiast, raising her from childhood, there’s no way her orientation will go straight! No way!”
Hua Xiangrong declared firmly.
“My Hua Xiangrong’s daughter can only marry a fragrant, lovely girl!”
“You ARE treating her like your daughter!”
“Ahem! None of that is the point! 099, my grand plan from here on out is the real point!”
Hua Xiangrong cleared her throat and spoke mysteriously.
“Oh? Does Host have a new plan against the evil cultivators? Are you going to use your Foundation Building abilities to interfere with the plot?”
The little system immediately perked up, tossing aside all its previous complaints.
Hua Xiangrong cleared her throat again, then announced solemnly, “Ahem, no! But it’s still a very important plan!”
“099, listen closely. I’ve decided—”
“I’m going to use my divination ability to peek at Mother’s secret… little uncle in another world!”