“Eh~”

“Ah, why do I feel so self-conscious…”

“Oh, it’s so revealing… isn’t this just one piece of cloth with two pieces added in the back? Wearing this outside would pollute others’ eyes!”

“This one’s even more exaggerated, can’t even cover the most important parts! Is this what the Fourth Senior Sister wears for the Fifth Senior Brother?

No wait, it seems these are meant to be worn together…”

Rustling and giggling;

From dawn, Jiu Jiu had been busy in her small tower until midday, when she finally stood before her door, her delicate hand on the latch, momentarily unable to pull it.

Just go out for a walk!

Mm, just going out for a walk…

Taking a light breath, Jiu Jiu slowly opened the wooden door before her, first stepping out with her blue-green embroidered cloth boots.

In an instant, this formation-covered landscape of mountains and gardens gained a splash of color.

Several gazes turned at the sound…

With several clangs, a worker disciple carrying water dropped his shoulder pole, another clearing weeds in the flower bed dropped his hoe, and a young woman carrying several pill bottles threw her tray…

“Ahem!”

Jiu Jiu cleared her throat, clasped her hands behind her back, stepped forward, unconsciously thrust out her chest, and raised her head, calmly sweeping her gaze around.

Several male disciples quickly lowered their heads, not daring to look too much, yet secretly stealing glances. A young man who had recently arrived on the mountain inexplicably blushed.

‘It’s not such a big deal, isn’t wearing anything the same?

It’s not indecent, actually covers more than my usual short dress and shirt.’

Jiu Jiu licked her lips, her gaze showing some hesitation, but she quickly made up her mind, casually summoning her almost-forgotten large gourd, transforming it to about one zhang long.

She was about to straddle it as usual, but remembering her current attire—a light pink dress of some unknown but floaty material—straddling seemed awkward.

So, she gathered her skirts, crossed her jade feet lightly, and sat sideways on the front of the large gourd, rising into the air…

Just as she flew out of Breaking Heaven Peak, she saw a short Daoist with two dark circles under his eyes riding a white cloud, slowly drifting over while holding a book scroll.

Jiu Jiu immediately stopped her gourd, reinforced her voice with immortal power, and deliberately coughed:

“Ahem! *cough cough*!”

Passing by, Jiu Wu looked up, gave Jiu Jiu a polite smile, clasped his hands with the scroll, and descended toward Breaking Heaven Peak’s mid-level.

Jiu Jiu froze, then rolled her eyes, continuing forward on her gourd.

But Jiu Wu, already within the formation, suddenly twisted his head.

“Did I just see… Junior Sister?

No, Junior Sister has worn the same few outfits for centuries, how could she dress like that?

Must be seeing things.

Sigh, I’ve been depleted a lot lately, fortunately, Senior Sister finally went into seclusion, at least I can replenish some vital energy.”

Sighing, Jiu Wu continued studying the “Thirty-Two Methods of Nurturing and Stabilizing Vital Energy” scroll in his hands, walking toward his small tower.

Just entering his room, the short Daoist caught a whiff of lingering immortal maiden fragrance, and couldn’t help shuddering.

A bodily reaction, purely a bodily reaction.

His devotion to Fourth Senior Sister was deep and steadfast as gold, absolutely without a trace of fear!

Jiu Wu thought of his heroic performance lately and immediately showed a knowing smile…

Since drinking Junior Nephew Li Changshou’s Poison Dragon Wine, though his waist had weakened, his confidence before Senior Sister had increased, their dao companion relationship had become more harmonious, and his cultivation life seeking immortality had gained more joy and color.

Just that, being tricked by that fellow last time still left him somewhat dissatisfied.

Jiu Wu pondered, sitting behind his desk deep in thought.

Fight fire with fire?

Develop some pills similar to that wine, and lure him into a containment formation?

That fellow might truly be able to maintain composure… then, have Little Nine helped fan the flames?

Uh, no no, would that be helping him or tricking him? If Junior Sister doesn’t resist, wouldn’t that be a huge loss?

Fighting wit and courage with this fellow, now restricted by that oath, had fewer paths but was more interesting.

“You little thief, just wait, this poor Daoist will eventually find your weakness!”

…

“Those people met on the road, why do they all look at others with such strange gazes, aren’t they afraid of being beaten?”

Flying above Small Jade Peak, Jiu Jiu’s mouth twisted as she couldn’t help muttering.

The large gourd slowly descended as she used her immortal sense to scan Small Jade Peak, finding Li Changshou lecturing Lan Ling’e.

Blinking lightly, Jiu Jiu deliberately concealed her energy fluctuations, wanting to see how this pair of senior and junior siblings would react to her sudden appearance.

Would they be startled?

Jiu Jiu frowned slightly, somewhat helpless.

Sneaking closer to the grass house, she heard the clear, mellow voice from within:

“Thoughts wander far, the Dao manifests within; qi returns to the central sea, condensing in the primordial soul.

Among these lines, the hardest to understand is actually ‘qi returns to the central sea.’ The qi here refers neither to your cultivated spiritual power, nor pure qi or turbid qi, but rather to that bit of innate vital qi you possess.

This is a treasure brought from the mother’s womb, extremely important for qi practitioners…”

Inside, Li Changshou sat relaxed in a circular chair while Little Ling’e sat cross-legged on a cushion, listening attentively.

Jiu Jiu tiptoed to the doorway, turned, raised her arms in a tiger claw pose, and charged in with a loud “Wula!”

Ling’e, sitting with closed eyes, couldn’t help laughing, while Li Changshou helplessly put down his scripture, smiling as he looked at the suddenly differently dressed Jiu Jiu…

Jiu Jiu glared: “Why aren’t you scared?”

“Ah! Senior Uncle scared me!”

Ling’e let out a light cry of feigned panic, but as she turned her head, her small mouth couldn’t help exclaiming in admiration, “Small Senior Uncle, why did you suddenly… suddenly wear a long dress?”

“What’s wrong? Not allowed?”

Jiu Jiu secretly observed Li Changshou’s reaction as she twirled before Ling’e, her skirts and beautiful hair floating lightly, filling the room with a faint fragrance.

Ling’e was also secretly watching her Senior Brother’s reaction, and when she saw him smiling and nodding, her heart relaxed slightly.

Good that Senior Brother wasn’t too dazzled.

Ling’e smiled lightly: “Of course, it’s allowed! Senior Uncle is always beautiful, now just more radiant and eye-catching. This disciple wouldn’t dare ride clouds with Senior Uncle anymore.”

Jiu Jiu winked at Li Changshou: “Little Changshou, what do you… think?”

“Very nice,” Li Changshou nodded in approval.

When women close to him, like these two—little junior sister and little senior uncle—suddenly wore new dresses or added new ornaments, showing expression seeking praise, as a gentleman, one shouldn’t be stingy with compliments.

But thinking of yesterday’s possible misunderstanding…

Li Changshou added: “Just suddenly seeing it, might take some getting used to.”

“Is that so.”

Jiu Jiu looked down at the outfit she had spent half a day carefully selecting, her expression slightly disappointed.

Beside her, Ling’e sighed inwardly;

Senior Brother was still like this…

With Senior Brother’s personality of wanting to reject all karma at his door, getting close was truly too difficult.

Troublesome.

Ling’e quickly showed a faint smile, actively moving closer to whisper in Jiu Jiu’s ear: “Senior Uncle, is this your first time dressing like this?”

Jiu Jiu hurriedly said: “Mm, yes, I suddenly wanted to change my clothing style, that’s all.”

“Light makeup suits this style better,” Ling’e whispered several things in Jiu Jiu’s ear. Jiu Jiu’s eyes brightened as she pulled Ling’e behind a nearby screen.

Seeing this, Li Changshou shook his head slightly, and picked up his book to continue reading, listening to the whispers nearby while pondering something, his expression unchanged.

Soon, amid Ling’e’s continuous exclamations of praise, Jiu Jiu emerged from behind the screen, proudly looking at Li Changshou.

“How about now!”

Li Changshou looked up, his smile deepening.

The current Small Senior Uncle seemed like a different person—skillfully applied powder and rouge, carefully drawn eyebrows, lightly rouged cheeks, moistened vermillion lips, silk dress, and short jacket, phoenix-tail coiled clouds hairstyle, more exquisite than before, with added feminine charm natural to women.

“Not bad,” Li Changshou gave a thumbs up. “Judging objectively, among women I’ve seen, your beauty ranks in the top three!”

“Really?”

Jiu Jiu blinked, somehow the strange and subtle feeling that had been entangling her heart these past two days quietly dissipated, her mood becoming happy and relaxed.

“Of course it’s true. Could Senior Uncle misunderstand your charm?”

Li Changshou smiled, “Even when Senior Uncle doesn’t dress up, you’re already admired by many male disciples in the sect.”

“Pah, no way,” Jiu Jiu rolled her eyes, but her mouth corners couldn’t help rising slightly as she said calmly: “This Senior Uncle doesn’t care much about these things, after all cultivating immortality is the real business.

Let’s not talk about this anymore, are you still having class?

If not, let’s play Fight the Great God together!”

Li Changshou said: “Classes are important matters after all…”

“Senior Uncle rarely comes!” Ling’e immediately hugged Jiu Jiu’s arm from behind. “Fight the Great God!”

Li Changshou couldn’t help holding his forehead—how are seven or eight times a month “rare”?

Jiu Jiu immediately agreed: “Fight the Great God!”

“Alright, since you’re both so enthusiastic, I’ll find another time to make up Ling’e’s lesson.”

Li Changshou shook his head as the two beside him cheered in celebration, skillfully arranging low tables and soft cushions.

Taking her seat, Jiu Jiu felt somewhat awkward, so she borrowed Li Changshou’s neighboring grass house to change back into her most comfortable hemp clothes—a short shirt and skirt combination, replacing the embroidered shoes with soft, comfortable specially-made grass shoes, and removing the light makeup from her face.

This grass wasn’t ordinary grass, it was specially cultivated immortal grass by Jiu Wu…

This was much more comfortable.

Before leaving the grass house, Jiu Jiu’s mind echoed Li Changshou’s earlier words…

‘Beauty ranks in the top three!’

Jiu Jiu’s mouth corners unconsciously rose as she muttered: “This fellow, truly outrageous, daring to say such things.”

Opening the door, Jiu Jiu rushed like the wind to the neighboring grass house, where soon came sounds of competition…

“Grab the Great God!”

“Double!”

“Super double!”

“This round Ling’e is the Great God, Senior Uncle and I are small immortals, super double, currently twelve spirit stones.”

“Hmph hmph, make your move Little Ling’e!

This Senior Uncle has seventeen cards, you can’t instantly defeat me today!”

…

In the deep of the night, Li Changshou left the grass house with his hands behind his back.

Small Senior Uncle and Little Junior Sister had both drunk some wine and were now soundly sleeping on the bed. He was responsible for closing doors and activating formations, preventing others from seeing their disheveled appearances tomorrow morning.

Returning to the Elixir Chamber, entering the underground secret room, Li Changshou sat on a cushion in the corner and closed his eyes to concentrate, both hands embracing the primary to return to one.

Between his palms, an orange-red flame slowly condensed, then was drawn into his body, beginning to slowly circulate, tempering his primordial soul dao body…

Nine-petaled lotus flowers slowly rotated around him, now fist-sized, their patterns crystal clear, the dao contained within approaching perfection, their mysterious dao rhymes ethereal and indefinable.

But he still felt something lacking…

Still unwilling to step into the Nine Boundaries of Returning to Dao.

…