Lin Hu turned to look at his young master and saw that his young master had changed to a different sitting position, casually picked up a book and was sitting by the window. Even the creases on his robe hem had disappeared. He stepped back. “Miss Kong Hou, please come in.”

Kong Hou slipped into the room. Seeing Huan Zong reading a book, she asked quietly, “Did I disturb you?” However, Huan Zong’s appearance reading by the window was truly something she could watch a hundred times without getting tired of it.

“No.” Huan Zong elegantly put down the book. “Come, sit here.”

Kong Hou walked to his side and sat down, using her eyes to secretly observe Huan Zong. Seeing him looking at her with a half-smile, she coughed. “I came to find you to dual cultivate.”

“All right.” Huan Zong looked up at Lin Hu. Lin Hu very tactfully left and even closed the door properly for them.

Seeing Lin Hu leave, Kong Hou said softly, “Huan Zong, among you sword cultivators, are there any who have taken dao companions?”

“Two hundred years ago, an elder from our sect formed a dao companionship with a medicine cultivator.” Huan Zong seriously recalled and finally found in his memories a cultivator willing to become dao companions with another. “The two have an excellent relationship and have never quarreled.”

One was obsessed with the medicine dao, the other obsessed with the sword dao—wanting to quarrel wasn’t easy.

Out of all those sword cultivators in Liuguang Sect, only one person had found a dao companion…

Kong Hou’s brows drew together slightly. “Oh.”

“What’s wrong?” Huan Zong looked at Kong Hou.

Kong Hou silently shook her head. “Nothing.”

When she looked up again, she still had a brilliant smile. “Let’s dual cultivate.”

“All right.”

Huan Zong sat down cross-legged. Turning his head to glance at Kong Hou sitting beside him, he revealed a gentle smile and closed his eyes.

Cultivation emphasized comprehending heaven and earth, comprehending one’s inner self. Two people with compatible auras could gain greater cultivation benefits together. Kong Hou’s living environment was simple, and she hadn’t had much contact with outsiders. This innocent and pure mental state actually made it easier to sense the five elements of heaven and earth.

After one night passed, Kong Hou felt her spiritual platform was no longer depleted. It was like a bottle that had dried to the point of nearly cracking finally had a thin layer of water at the bottom. Though not much, it was better than nothing.

Huan Zong woke earlier than her and had already changed into another set of clothes that were also white, just with slightly different silver hidden patterns. Seeing her wake, Huan Zong handed a vial of spirit liquid to her. “I’ll go out and tell Lin Hu to prepare the carriage.”

Taking the jade bottle that still carried his body warmth, Kong Hou changed her clothes and freshened up. After drinking the spirit liquid, she was holding the bottle as she went out the door when she happened to encounter the four Jiufeng Sect cultivators.

“Liuguang Sect and Yunhua Sect have had frequent exchanges recently, becoming much closer. Really don’t know how these two sects suddenly became as close as one family…”

The young junior brother was muttering quietly. Looking up, he saw a beautiful female cultivator wearing a cinched-waist flying immortal dress staring at him with wide eyes. His face immediately flushed. As a male cultivator, gossiping about other sects behind their backs and being overheard by a young female cultivator was always embarrassing.

Seeing the beautiful female cultivator nod slightly at him, the young junior brother hurriedly returned the courtesy, his face becoming even redder.

Ling Yue glanced at this brilliantly smiling female cultivator. Wasn’t this the female cultivator who was mistaken for a Yunhua Sect disciple last night?

“Please, everyone.” Kong Hou stepped back, letting them go first.

“Xianzi, please.” The young junior brother said hastily. “You go first.”

Kong Hou needed to go downstairs to find Huan Zong and Senior Lin, so she didn’t continue being polite with them. She curtsied, then lifted her skirt hem and walked downstairs.

The young junior brother watched her back until her figure disappeared around the corner before reluctantly withdrawing his gaze. Turning his head, he saw his senior sister staring at him and immediately lost all romantic thoughts, shrinking his head and not daring to look at Ling Yue.

“Jing Yuan, as a sword cultivator, your heart must be calm and your energy harmonious. Being unable to walk when you see a pretty young lady—that’s not a cultivator, that’s a lecher.” Ling Yue’s tone was cold. “After you return, copy the mental cultivation method ten times to help you calm your mind and devote yourself to the sword dao.”

The junior brother named Jing Yuan said with a pale face, “Yes.”

“Senior Sister, Junior Brother only joined the sect less than ten years ago. It’s normal that his mental state isn’t stable enough yet. Don’t be angry.” Another male disciple saw the young junior brother’s pale face and inability to speak, and tried to ease the atmosphere. “After we return, I’ll supervise him to practice his swordsmanship properly.”

“Yunhua Sect’s Kong Hou only entered the sect seven years ago and is already at Heart Movement stage cultivation.” Ling Yue said to the disciple who had spoken. “You’ve been in the sect for nearly fifty years, yet your cultivation is only at Heart Movement stage.”

The male disciple: “…”

If he had known, he wouldn’t have spoken up.

“Senior Sister…” The accompanying female disciple said softly, “It’s getting late. Let’s set out. From here to Yunhua Mountain, there’s still a day’s journey.”

Facing her junior sister, Ling Yue’s expression softened somewhat. In the sect, she always had two more parts patience for her junior sisters. She nodded. “All right.”

The two junior brothers breathed a sigh of relief and obediently followed behind without saying a word.

Kong Hou walked downstairs. Not seeing Huan Zong and Senior in the hall, she looked around and saw the carriage stopped outside the door. Walking out for a look, Huan Zong and Senior Lin were standing beside the carriage, not knowing what they were discussing. Huan Zong’s expression was very grave.

“What happened?” Kong Hou approached. “Huan Zong, your complexion looks terrible.”

“Nothing.” Huan Zong turned to look at Kong Hou. “Just now Lin Hu and I were discussing the congratulatory gift for Daoist Cheng Yi. Our opinions weren’t quite unified.”

“Eldest Senior Brother is a sword cultivator, and you’re also a sword cultivator. Gift-giving doesn’t need to be too particular.” Kong Hou didn’t make useless suggestions like not needing to prepare a gift. She jumped onto the carriage. “Just casually stuff a magical artifact in.”

“You’re right.” Huan Zong followed onto the carriage. Before lowering the curtain, the four Jiufeng Sect disciples walked out, their expressions all equally cold, very much in line with Jiufeng Sect’s usual style.

Jing Yuan wanted to sneak a peek, but thinking of his senior sister’s stern face, he lowered his head again.

Only when the horses neighed and the carriage soared into the sky did he exclaim in amazement, “They’re actually celestial horses, and two of them at that.”

Celestial horses were extremely difficult to catch. Even after catching them, they were very hard to tame. After taming them, they also needed to be constantly fed spiritual grass and spiritual dew—they were horses that burned spirit stones from head to toe. In the cultivation world, cultivators willing to use such horses to pull carriages were very few.

“So extravagant and ostentatious—definitely not sword cultivators.” Jing Yuan discovered Senior Sister Ling Yue was looking at him again. He suppressed the envy in his eyes and said with a straight face, “For our generation of cultivators, what’s most important is to value inner cultivation over external possessions. We absolutely cannot learn such extravagant enjoyment.”

Ling Yue: “That defensive jade pendant on you is worth five thousand spirit stones. Take it off.”

Jing Yuan: “…”

How had he said the wrong thing again?

“Cultivators should value their own heart, but that doesn’t mean you must be austere.” Ling Yue leaped onto her flying sword. “Don’t be either left or right, either black or white.”

The Jiufeng Sect disciples hurried forward for a stretch and kept seeing the two celestial horses running through the clouds. Jing Yuan said somewhat puzzled, “Senior Sister, are these two also going to Yunhua Sect to offer congratulations?”

Among Yunhua Sect’s younger generation disciples, the most famous disciples were Wu Chuan, Cheng Yi, Ling Hui, and others. Now there was also a five spiritual roots genius disciple Kong Hou added—they could be considered to have successors. Cheng Yi’s Nascent Soul ceremony was being held very grandly, and all the major sects were giving face, sending sect elders, peak masters, or head disciples to attend.

Their Jiufeng Sect didn’t have many dealings with Yunhua Sect, yet they had Senior Sister Ling Yue, the head disciple, come with gifts. They heard that some sects outside were still racking their brains to obtain invitations from Yunhua Sect just to show their faces before these great sects.

“These two people’s identities are unclear. Don’t provoke them rashly.” Ling Yue glanced at the clouds, her expression grave. “Especially that male cultivator who appears to have no cultivation—beside him is an attendant who has already reached Nascent Soul cultivation.” In the entire cultivation world, how many Nascent Soul Ancestors would be willing to serve as someone else’s attendant?

But even so, Ling Yue didn’t believe these two were people from Liuguang Sect and Yunhua Sect. She frequently dealt with people from Liuguang Sect. Those sword cultivators from Liuguang Sect were each as unfeeling as rocks—they couldn’t possibly show such gentle expressions toward women like that man did.

Thinking of what her master had said to her before leaving, Ling Yue frowned slightly. As a female disciple, she had never slacked off in the sword dao and believed she was no weaker than any male cultivator, yet her master…

“Senior Sister, everyone outside is saying Liuguang Sect is preparing to form a marriage alliance with Yunhua Sect. This can’t be true, right?” Jing Yuan found this too incredible—could fish and birds even have offspring together?

“What does it matter to us whether it’s true or false?” Ling Yue put her hands behind her back. “Even if they really form a marriage alliance, that’s a matter of matching families and mutual consent. What’s so surprising about it?”

“Speaking of which, it’s strange. We’ve never heard of that Zhenren Huan Zong from Liuguang Sect before, but in recent months, news related to him has frequently emerged. No matter who he is, he can’t compare to Zhenren Zhong Xi.” The junior sister secretly observed Ling Yue’s expression. “If Senior Sister were to become dao companions with someone, only a man like Zhenren Zhong Xi would be worthy of you.”

“Tch.” Ling Yue scoffed. “What use would I have for that kind of man who only has cultivation but doesn’t understand romance? As for men, if they’re good-looking and sweet-tongued, keeping them around for amusement is still fine, but becoming dao companions—what’s the point of that?”

The junior sister: “…”

Senior Sister still prefers fragrant, soft pretty boys after all. Master’s plans are destined to fall through.

Although Cheng Yi’s Nascent Soul ceremony hadn’t started yet, Yong City was already bustling with people coming and going. Cultivators from various places swarmed in, and the major restaurants and taverns were filled with people. Many cultivators who had long since achieved inedia would, upon entering Yong City, be involuntarily attracted by delicious food and break their principles time and again.

Female cultivators ate and drank heartily while taking expensive body-shaping pills—fulfilling both food and figure.

The Yuxiao Sect branch store in Yong City put out new goods daily. In just ten days, they sold what would normally take several months. The shopkeeper clacked his abacus, watching several young female cultivators select flying immortal dresses. For some reason, he thought of that extremely lucky Kong Hou Xianzi from Yunhua Sect.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t seen her in quite a while. He didn’t know if she was in closed-door cultivation or had gone traveling.

“Shopkeeper.” A clear and familiar voice rang out. “Do you have any new flying immortal dresses recently?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Seeing who it was, the shopkeeper immediately perked up. “Haven’t seen you in quite some days. How have you been, Xianzi?” The shopkeeper retrieved several sets of flying immortal dresses from the storage cabinet for Kong Hou to choose from. “There are many people upstairs. Xianzi, just choose here.”

“Thank you.” Kong Hou selected a few pieces and had the shopkeeper wrap them up.

The shopkeeper thought Kong Hou Xianzi must have been rather flush recently to actually be willing to buy several flying immortal dresses at once. Though he thought this, his hands moved quickly, folding the dresses neatly, wrapping them up, and placing them in Kong Hou’s hands. Looking up, he saw two men waiting for her outside the door, but they weren’t the two Yunhua Sect senior brothers who usually accompanied her out.

“Take care.” The shopkeeper escorted Kong Hou to the door and saw the identity token Lin Hu wore at his waist.

Someone from the main sect?

The shopkeeper became respectfully reverent and cupped his fists in salute to Lin Hu and Huan Zong.

“I came back in such a hurry that I forgot to prepare gifts for my senior sisters.” Kong Hou put the flying immortal dresses into her storage ring. “But with these dresses, my senior sisters won’t mind.”

Lin Hu: “…”

He was ten thousand eight hundred li away from understanding women’s thoughts.

“Xianzi, you’re back?” A woman in a green shirt saw Kong Hou and said with a smile, “Some days ago I met Ling Hui Xianzi. She said you went traveling. Haven’t seen you in quite a while—you’ve become even more handsome.”

“Isn’t that right? Take this jar of honey dew home to eat. It’s good for the skin.” Someone nearby joined in.

“Those wild mushrooms Zhenren Wang Tong asked about last time—I recently got some. Xianzi, take them all back. Yesterday an outsider wanted to buy them, but I wouldn’t give them to him.”

“Thank you, thank you.” Kong Hou took the items the common people handed her. To get the common people to accept her spirit stones took quite a bit of time. In the end, the spirit stones were given out, but the things she held in her hands had also multiplied.

Lin Hu helped her put the items in her hands into a storage bag, his expression somewhat dazed. “Are the common people of your city all… so enthusiastic?”

“Did we frighten you?” Kong Hou smiled. “They’re not usually like this. It’s just that I went out for a period of time, and they haven’t seen me in a while, so they’re a bit more enthusiastic.”

Lin Hu shook his head. “No, it’s quite good.”

The common people of Pei City also greatly revered the sword cultivators of Liuguang Sect, but they didn’t dare to surround sword cultivators in a tight circle stuffing them with game and fruits like the common people of Yong City did. He had heard before that Yunhua Sect got along very casually with the common people, but he hadn’t expected it to be casual to this degree.

Most cultivators would deliberately maintain distance from common people. Ordinary people’s lives lasted only a short hundred years—cultivators didn’t dare invest too much emotion in these ordinary people.

But in the noisy crowd, watching the ordinary common people’s heartfelt closeness toward Kong Hou, Lin Hu felt somewhat moved inside.

Because time was short, maintaining a cold distance—was that truly one hundred percent correct?

“Senior Sister, it’s them again.” Jing Yuan saw Kong Hou smiling brilliantly in the crowd from afar and murmured, “They really are here to congratulate Daoist Cheng Yi.”

This female daoist friend—the way she smiled was truly beautiful, like a little sun.

She was so special, completely different from the senior sisters and junior sisters in the sect.