Ten minutes later
Chen Xiaoyan held a bundle of Grass Rings, a pink Peach Blossom Garland resting atop her head, looking utterly helpless as she was kicked out of Tianxin Pavilion.
She glanced back at the grand gate of Tianxin Pavilion and shook her head with a smile.
This big shot’s temper really was as changeable as the weather.
She had only wanted to request a few more for her teammates, but somehow suddenly triggered his anger.
If she hadn’t shamelessly begged at the end, Shen Qingqing wouldn’t have reluctantly pulled a bunch of weeds to serve as carriers for the Purification Formation—that was what the Grass Rings in her hands were now.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t even have Grass Rings.
Although these Grass Rings looked a bit ugly, they were capable of purifying poison gas.
“If you don’t like how they look, just throw them away,” Shen Qingqing said coldly as she caught up to her.
“Ugly? I think they’re pretty! After all, Sister Shen, you made them,” Chen Xiaoyan tilted her head, putting on an innocent expression to add credibility to her words.
Although she had never been in a relationship, she knew well enough that women often said one thing and meant another—just think in the opposite direction.
Especially when they were angry, that was the most reliable indicator.
Sure enough, this remark softened Shen Qingqing’s serious expression quite a bit.
At the same time, Shen Qingqing was surprised at herself, wondering why she suddenly lost control of her emotions.
Could it be because this brat wanted to give away the garland she had woven?
“Stop your nonsense, let’s go. Take me to see that… that replica—”
Replica what?
Shen Qingqing furrowed her brow slightly, a flicker of panic flashing in her eyes.
Damn it, she was about to embarrass herself in front of her disciple.
She had been so overcome by emotion earlier that she hadn’t paid attention to what the girl was saying.
“Sister Shen, it’s a replica,” Chen Xiaoyan corrected.
“Replica…”
Shen Qingqing murmured the word.
She recognized the characters separately, but together she had no idea what it meant.
“Xiaoyan, can you tell me what exactly this replica is?”
Seeing the eager curiosity in Shen Qingqing’s eyes, Chen Xiaoyan didn’t hold back since it wasn’t a secret anyway.
“So, this replica can grant Spiritual Power and Magic Artifacts?”
“More or less.”
Shen Qingqing was greatly shocked.
She had thought Spiritual Power was something earned only through diligent cultivation, but it turned out this replica merely gave it as a reward.
What shocked her even more was that it could also reward Magic Artifacts.
Magic Artifacts???
A single Magic Artifact required a craftsman years of relentless effort to forge.
And in this so-called replica, it was just a trivial reward for clearing the challenge?
“Getting equipment depends entirely on luck; if you’re unlucky, forget about it.”
“Luck?”
“It means whether you get the Magic Artifact depends entirely on your own luck.”
“Hm.”
Shen Qingqing nodded, no longer as shocked by this.
To obtain a Magic Artifact for free, it was indeed all about fate.
“I wonder which favored child of the Heavenly Dao is so fortunate to have such luck,” she said with some envy in her tone.
Chen Xiaoyan explained with a wry smile, “Sister Shen, although getting equipment depends on luck, it’s not that hard. I even got a Qingxin Ring once in Guaiwu Cun.”
“Oh?”
Shen Qingqing was surprised.
She knew about Guaiwu Cun—it was a new disciple trial mission released by the Xianjie Alliance.
That hellhole she had been to many times, but never found anything.
She hadn’t expected this girl to have such luck and miraculously acquire a treasure.
“Where’s that Qingxin Ring? Let me see what grade the Magic Artifact is.”
“I gave it to Xiaoyue.”
Silence.
The air was very still.
A cold breeze gently swept along Chen Xiaoyan’s spine, making her shiver.
Seeing Shen Qingqing’s sullen expression, Chen Xiaoyan swallowed nervously and cautiously asked,
“Sister Shen, what’s wrong with me?”
Shen Qingqing’s gloomy face suddenly lit up with a smile, her eyes curved like crescent moons.
Though she was smiling, Chen Xiaoyan felt a chill cut through her to the bone.
“Xiaoyan, have I been good to you?”
“Sister Shen, you are the kindest person to me. Without you, I wouldn’t have my current status,” Chen Xiaoyan replied earnestly.
“Is that so?”
Shen Qingqing couldn’t help but curve her lips in delight, joy filling her eyes.
However, thinking about how Chen Xiaoyan had given the Magic Artifact away to another woman, her expression darkened again.
“I’m afraid Xiaoyue is actually the one who’s been best to you.”
For a moment, Chen Xiaoyan didn’t quite catch what she meant.
“Xiaoyue has been good to me too, but she can’t compare to Sister Shen.”
Shen Qingqing was satisfied with this answer, but business was business—giving away a Magic Artifact to someone else was foolish.
Could that Xiaoyue be some important person?
No, I have to find out who this Xiaoyue really is.
Yet before this thought had fully formed in her mind, it was mercilessly crushed.
Huh?
Why do I even care?
A giant question mark appeared above Shen Qingqing’s head.
She was utterly confused by herself.
The name Xiaoyue clearly sounded like a girl’s, and Xiaoyan herself was a girl.
What could there be between two girls?
“Probably nothing, right?” she hesitated, suddenly feeling guilty.
Shen Qingqing sighed inwardly.
Ever since meeting this girl, she seemed to have changed a lot.
She was no longer as calm as before, no longer like a sect leader.
The path of cultivation was to defy the heavens.
But this path was full of unknown calamities, obstacles to your defiance.
And you, Chen Xiaoyan, could you be my calamity?
Although it sounded far-fetched, given how much she had changed recently, she couldn’t help but wonder.
Shen Qingqing looked at the young girl before her with complex eyes.
Chen Xiaoyan wanted to cry.
What was up with this NPC?
One moment angry, the next sad, then mournful.
Such a range of expressions and personality swings?
She really wanted to quote Mimi’s line: Are you okay?
But she dared not.
Right now, Shen Qingqing was impossible to read.
Sigh, how she missed the gentle big sister she used to be.
“Sister Shen, you haven’t spoken. Did I do something wrong?”
Shen Qingqing smiled faintly.
She had thought a lot.
Many things in this world couldn’t be escaped just by trying to avoid them.
Whether this girl was her calamity or not didn’t matter.
She just needed to let things flow naturally.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s me who’s lost and confused.”
Chen Xiaoyan didn’t understand the meaning behind those words, wisely choosing not to ask.
“I’m glad Sister Shen is alright.”
Suddenly, Shen Qingqing’s expression turned stern, looking at her with displeasure: “You actually hope something’s wrong with me?”
“No, how could I think that?”
Chen Xiaoyan shook her head wildly like a startled bird.
Seeing the trembling girl before her, Shen Qingqing smiled.
It seemed teasing this brat was rather fun.
She gently tapped the girl’s forehead to wake her from her daze.
“Silly girl, I’m just joking.”
“Uh,” Chen Xiaoyan was stunned for a moment before patting her chest in relief.
“Sister Shen, please don’t scare me like that next time, or I won’t dare come see you.”
“Alright, alright, I won’t scare you next time.”
Shen Qingqing conceded.
Compared to bullying her, Shen Qingqing preferred to see her in the dull and frustrating cultivation life.
Unlike her wooden senior sisters, this girl’s mischievous spirit could sometimes bring unexpected joy.