On the other side, inside the secret realm at the main peak of Qingqiu Mountain.
The people Li Changyi had just been cursing were now surrounding Yun Mu, who was the center of their attention, looking at him as though admiring a rare and precious treasure.
“Handsome, dignified, features are neat and delicate. Other than being a bit short, a bit skinny, and his skin a bit rough… the more I look, the more pleasing he is to the eye. I like him.”
“Thank you for your praise, Senior Zhan Lixue.”
“See, he’s modest, polite, and sweet-mouthed too. Not bad, not bad. From now on, why don’t you follow me?”
In the crowd, the tallest of them all, Zhan Lixue, bent down, reaching out her hands to pinch left and poke right, her smiling eyes curving in delight—she clearly couldn’t hide her fondness.
The others beside her simply watched in silence, while Tushan Huaizhi, who was obediently sitting in Yun Mu’s lap, played with the hem of the youth’s robe, her ears twitching lightly.
“Hey! Why aren’t you all saying anything? I’m saying this boy should follow me from now on. If you keep being like this, I’ll just assume you all agree by default.”
Seeing the chilly silence around her, this tree demon finally couldn’t resist raising her voice, and at the same time, a few vines snaked out from her arm toward Yun Mu, as if ready to take him away right then and there.
But she was pulled back by Qin Luoyi standing beside her.
“No way. Do you even know how to teach him cultivation? You’re just here to stir up trouble, aren’t you? My little Yunzi still has serious business to do. You can’t take him.”
“Hey! This is an internal matter of us demonfolk. Since when does a little human girl like you get to butt in?”
“And why not? Little Yunzi is my person.”
“Ha? He’s clearly our Yunxi Mother’s adopted son, alright?”
“So what if he’s adopted? If we become Dao Companions in the future, worst case, I’ll just call Tushan Yunxi ‘Mother’ too. That would even promote relations between our two countries—a win-win, isn’t it beautiful?”
“Dao Companion? What kind of status do you…?”
“You, you both stop fighting! Benefactor, in the future, he’ll be… he’ll be my…”
Seeing the two girls’ foreheads almost pressing together, Tushan Huaizhi, who had been sitting quietly in Yun Mu’s lap, finally spoke up.
“Um?”
As soon as she opened her mouth, the flames of battle shifted toward her.
The two women, who had just been staring each other down, now both looked her way.
“You… you two keep going… No matter what happens, Yun Mu will always be my big brother…”
Just like that, the girl who had been about to declare her grand intentions to heroically marry her sworn brother was startled into bowing her head again, her two ears drooping pitifully against her hair.
Zhan Lixue and Qin Luoyi soon returned to their original stances.
The bickering grew even more chaotic.
“Alright, the two of you, stop fighting. By the way, why hasn’t Li Changyi arrived yet? I remember he was supposed to test Xiao Mu as well, wasn’t he?”
Seeing things were truly getting out of hand, Tushan Yunxi finally spoke up, decisively breaking off the meaningless squabble.
She straightened and scanned the area around them.
Even using her demon power, she couldn’t find any trace of the old man.
Lowering her gaze, she looked at the youth.
“Xiao Mu, after you walked down from the mountainside of Qingqiu’s main peak earlier, did you see Li Changyi?”
“Li… Li Changyi? Are you talking about that immortal-looking old man?”
“Immortal-looking, pfft! Him? Hahahahahaha… that’s killing me…”
Tushan Yunxi paid no mind to Zhan Lixue’s sudden burst of laughter and softly continued her questioning.
“Yes, that’s him. Did you meet him?”
“No, I didn’t. I just saw him once before—he was the one who took Sister Xun Yi away,” Yun Mu paused a moment, then went on, “After I met Miss Luoyi and Huaizhi Girl, I came here.”
“I see… Alright then…”
Tushan Huaizhi raised a hand to her forehead.
This situation was outside her expectations.
According to her original plan, with Yun Mu’s walking speed, he should have reached Li Changyi before her own daughter arrived.
Who would’ve thought this little girl would somehow find a sudden burst of energy?
Usually a lazybones who hates running, she acted as though her Meridian System had been opened up, sprinting at lightning speed.
Oh well, I’ll find time to apologize to Li Changyi later…
After all, he’s one of the few approachable elders left.
Thinking this, she let go of the matter, then looked up at Eleven ahead of her.
After a glance, she said, “Actually, as for Yun Mu temporarily following someone, Eleven and I already discussed it, but we still want to hear Xiao Mu’s opinion.”
“Would you… be willing to become Eleven’s Disciple?”
“What do you mean, become Eleven’s Disciple? Why? Give me a reason. Sure, I can’t beat her, but you still need to give me a reason, right?”
Zhan Lixue was the first to object.
After all, this declaration made her own behavior just now seem a bit embarrassing.
Besides, she really liked this little guy, Yun Mu—the talent he’d shown so far was something she’d never encountered before.
She really wanted to see what would happen if she taught her own demon arts to this youth.
“A reason? It’s very simple.”
“In this test, all things considered, only you, Zhan Lixue, are from the demonfolk. The other Elders didn’t come, so it wouldn’t be fair to them.”
“That’s true, but… that’s not enough. I still can’t accept it…”
“Also, even though he’s gained the trust of you all, those demons below may not be convinced. So, for now, I can’t adopt him as my son. Eleven isn’t a demonfolk, so her taking him as a Disciple won’t cause any gossip.”
“But… didn’t Li Changyi take Shangguan Xun Yi as a Disciple and nobody said anything?”
“He’s the Dean of the Ancient Kingdom Academy, it doesn’t matter.”
“Tsk… fine… that’s true… but still!”
“Lixue… if you really want to teach him something, you still have to let him step onto the path of cultivation first, don’t you?”
Before the words had fully fallen, after a moment’s silence, Zhan Lixue slumped in disappointment.
“Fine, fine, I get it, I get it.”
She finally gave up—for now—the idea of taking Yun Mu as her Disciple.
She glanced at the gleeful Qin Luoyi and promptly gave her the middle finger.
Qin Luoyi was not to be outdone and returned the gesture, sharp against sharp.
“Yun Mu, back to my earlier question: are you willing to become Eleven’s Disciple?”
“I am.”
A soft answer—as expected. Aside from the unexpected Li Changyi, everything had fallen right into the plans of this Empress.
Whether it was his ability to sense the environment, or his skill in wrapping the leaking starlight, or the words Eleven had spoken—all of it was guiding Yun Mu toward this outcome.
After all, given the youth’s current situation, this was his only option.
In his eyes, in this world, aside from the Hundred Demons and this mysterious woman Eleven, there was no one else who could teach him cultivation.
Luckily, Yun Mu’s first impression of Eleven wasn’t bad, and he didn’t resist further contact with her.
Whether it was the Peach Grove, or those exceptionally smooth scales, it all felt familiar to him.
Especially those blooming peach blossoms—they always made him feel as if there were countless invisible ties between her and Lin Xizhi.
Even if, perhaps, this was all just his own wishful thinking, he still wanted to seek the truth.
Even if, in the end, things didn’t work out as he’d hoped, at least he tried.
Having tried was better than doing nothing at all.
“As long as you’re willing, then starting from another day, you can live with Eleven for now.”
“As you command, Your Majesty, Empress.”
“Hmm… Still calling me ‘Empress’? Aren’t you going to try calling me ‘Mother’ even once?”
“No, I still can’t cross that hurdle in my heart yet. Besides… looking at your current situation, isn’t it also not the right time yet?”
“That’s fine.”
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