Time on Mount Changbai passed very quickly.
In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had already gone by.
Now, there were only about seven days left until the start of the second banquet.
Su Qing didn't have high expectations for the second banquet, so naturally, she wasn't in any rush.
During these days, she had settled down to focus on her cultivation.
Li Shan Lao Mu was right...
When the sky falls, those taller than her would be the ones to prop it up; there was no need for her to worry so much.
To put it bluntly, her mindset had become a bit too inflated.
As her strength grew, she felt she had to take on corresponding responsibilities, but in reality, these matters didn't have much to do with her.
Even if the world were to end, it would just be everyone going down together.
So, by worrying so much, she was merely making herself miserable for no reason.
Calming her heart to focus on cultivation and self-improvement was the most urgent priority.
Anyway, staying low and playing it safe was the way to go.
One day.
Su Qing cultivated until the sun began to sink into the western mountains again.
She stretched lazily, looking at a failed Transformation Pill in the furnace, and couldn't help but sigh, muttering to herself:
"It's no wonder that demons who transform early are so rare in this world... Not only are the ingredients for this Transformation Pill hard to find, but the refinement process is also this difficult. I was clearly serious throughout the entire process, yet it still failed in the end. It seems I'll need to continue honing my alchemy skills!"
Su Qing shook her head, pushing aside her messy thoughts.
Since her first attempt had failed, the refinement of the Transformation Pill would naturally have to be set aside for now. She would try again once her strength and alchemy skills had improved further.
Su Qing wasn't discouraged...
No genius succeeds on the first try every time.
Even taking a step back—even when it comes to having children—the probability of getting it right on the first shot isn't that high!
She loosened up her muscles and bones.
Su Qing performed a hand seal to clear the residue from the alchemy furnace.
If these things weren't cleaned out, they would definitely stick to the furnace by the next day, making it a real hassle to clean.
Once everything was done.
Su Qing left the alchemy room and went to the kitchen to see Leng Xiang preparing food.
Under Su Qing's guidance, Leng Xiang had already created many dishes that didn't exist in this era.
She had even cultivated many crops that weren't originally found in this land during her spare time, using the growth-accelerating properties of the Bodhi Tree...
It wasn't a difficult process; in fact, it was quite fun...
It felt a bit like playing a game from her past life.
Mhm, a one-hundred-percent realistic farming simulator. The kind where you actually go into the field and swing a hoe yourself.
In short, Su Qing had put no less effort into getting better-tasting food than she had into her cultivation...
So the results now were actually quite good.
"Master?" When Su Qing arrived in the kitchen, Leng Xiang instinctively turned around and asked, "Is there anything you need help with?"
Su Qing shook her head slightly and said, "Ah, nothing special. I just wanted to see what you were making."
Hearing this, Leng Xiang paused with the spatula in her hand and replied with a smile, "Stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots. Unfortunately, bamboo shoots are a bit hard to find; there are too few bamboo groves nearby."
"That's true. Should we plant some later?" Su Qing thought for a moment and suggested.
"Master... you want to plant bamboo too?" Leng Xiang said, amused. "If we plant it near the house, won't it just overrun everything?"
Su Qing: "..."
Fine, maybe after a full day of alchemy, her brain was a bit fried. She had actually forgotten such a simple thing.
"Alright, that's definitely a possibility." Su Qing shook her head with a helpless smile and said, "Then we'll plant something else later."
Leng Xiang nodded and smiled slightly, only silently commenting on Su Qing's strange habit of wanting to plant everything she saw, but she didn't say anything more.
However, now that Su Qing was idle, she naturally wanted something to do, otherwise, just spacing out would be too boring.
She thought for a moment and suddenly remembered the Yuchang short sword that Leng Xiang had taken to nurture a sword spirit...
She wondered... to what extent had the sword spirit developed?
"Speaking of which, Leng Xiang. How is the sword spirit of that short sword doing now?" Su Qing asked.
Upon hearing the question, Leng Xiang didn't stop her work, only saying with a smile, "Master... nurturing a sword spirit isn't that fast. Even for a mortal, it takes ten months to have a child; a sword spirit is much harder than that, so it naturally takes more time."
"Then how long will it actually take?"
"Well, based on the current speed, it should take about ten years or so."
"..." Su Qing couldn't help but feel that was a bit slow.
But on second thought, she didn't complain.
After all, for long-lived beings... ten years wasn't really that long.
"However... although it will take another ten years to hatch the sword spirit, if Master is truly interested, why don't you give her a name first?"
Leng Xiang's movements slowed down, as if she were thinking.
Su Qing nodded slightly and said, "A name? I'm not very good at that sort of thing."
"But Master... I'm even worse at it."
"Then shouldn't we not be in such a hurry?"
"But... what if I say I hope she can have a name a bit earlier?"
"..." Su Qing let out a helpless sigh and said, "Since it's your wish, I can't really refuse. Though it seems I'm the one who brought this up... whatever."
However, when it came to actually giving a name.
Su Qing really had a bit of a headache.
She was truly terrible at it.
She rubbed her brow, thinking seriously for a while before finally saying, "How about calling her Shu Xiang?"
Su Qing didn't just pick this name randomly...
Even if she wasn't good at it, that didn't mean she would just slap something together.
It wasn't like naming a pet.
The origin of this name was naturally related to plum blossoms.
Leng Xiang had already wrapped many plum blossoms around that small sword, so it was obviously appropriate to use plum blossoms as inspiration.
And in her memory, there were quite a few elegant nicknames for plum blossoms.
Shu Xiang was one of them.
As for what the surname should be...
Su Qing was out of ideas on that front.
If she followed her habits, she would give it the surname Su.
But... this girl wasn't something she created alone; having her take Su's surname felt a bit out of place.
"Well, how about her full name being Leng Shu Xiang?"
"Master... please don't just shove a character into the middle of my name and call it a new name, okay?" Leng Xiang was clearly not satisfied with this.
Hearing this, Su Qing pursed her lips and threw up her hands. "Then let's call her Leng Yudie."
'Yudie' was also one of the elegant names for plum blossoms.
And it sounded quite nice too.
So it was suitable.
Mhm, it was hard to say if it was better than the previous one, but at least it was less redundant with Leng Xiang's name.
When Leng Xiang heard the name Leng Yudie, she wasn't overly excited, but she thought it was decent.
She then said, "However... I still hope she takes Master's surname and is called Su Yudie."
"Why?"
"Because I am Master's person."
"..." Su Qing rolled her eyes; this girl's logic was a bit hard to follow. "Suit yourself. It's the sword spirit you're nurturing, so I'll listen to you."
Hearing this, Leng Xiang paused, then said very seriously, "It's ours!"
Su Qing tilted her head.
"Has Master forgotten that wisp of your intent within it?"
"...I see." Su Qing finally understood. "Alright then."
Su Qing didn't plan on arguing with Leng Xiang anymore, nor did she want to debate it further.
Because besides wasting their breath, such things were meaningless...
"Master, the dish is done. Once we've served the rice, we can have dinner," Leng Xiang said with a smile.
Su Qing had accepted her idea so easily, so she was naturally happy and saw no need to keep talking about it.
Su Qing nodded and went to get the rice paddle.
In the whole world, eating was the most important thing.
After the sword spirit's name was decided, life continued as usual.
A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
Today was the day before the second banquet of the Old Dragon King's birthday celebration.
And Su Qing, naturally, had to head to the Dragon Palace for her appointment.
In the early morning.
Su Qing looked up at the dark clouds in the sky.
She had an indescribable feeling in her heart.
She had a premonition that tomorrow's banquet probably wouldn't be very easy.
This wasn't the kind of unease she felt in the first banquet while dealing with the Heavenly Court officials... it was clearly a much more troublesome kind of difficulty.
"The second banquet is for the demon kings... I expect things will get a bit messy, won't they?"
Su Qing smiled helplessly and thought:
"Forget it. Since I promised him, there's no need to break my word. No matter what, I can't go against my own heart. I should try my best to be a person of my word! As for whether I can actually intimidate those demon kings, we'll just have to see how things play out."
Su Qing shook her head and gave a deep stretch like a cat before going to call her remaining companions.
Soon, once everyone had gathered.
Su Qing summoned her Somersault Cloud and headed toward the East Sea.
Before long, Su Qing and the others were once again above the East Sea.
Looking at the boundless ocean, Su Qing turned to Ao Ying and asked, "Tomorrow, those coming will all be demon kings. Will you be able to face them?"
Su Qing hadn't forgotten the girl's past.
She probably loathed those demon kings quite a bit, didn't she?
After hearing this, Ao Ying shook her head slightly and said, "As long as I'm by Sister's side, what is there that I cannot face?"
Su Qing smiled. This girl really trusted her, even though she didn't have much confidence herself.
"As long as you're not worried! Let's go down."
As Su Qing spoke, she performed a hand seal.
She then parted the seawater and headed all the way down.
In just a short while, she had arrived inside the Crystal Palace.
As for the journey down? It was naturally unobstructed.
Even the Yaksas guarding the gates didn't dare to block them at all.
Occasionally, they met a dragon prince or princess who was extremely polite to her, calling her either "brother-in-law" or some other relative-based term.
Su Qing was also a bit speechless...
She knew the Old Dragon King must be pulling strings behind the scenes; otherwise, how could these dragon princes and princesses change their tune so quickly? They hadn't even wed yet!
But as speechless as she was, she couldn't do anything about the Old Dragon King.
Who told her she had his daughter with her?
"Son-in-law, you've finally arrived!" When the Old Dragon King saw Su Qing, a huge weight was finally lifted from his heart.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Su Qing, but he was more or less worried.
He understood her character.
She was the type with very flexible moral standards.
Though she was usually humble, polite, honest, and trustworthy, when necessary... she could be just as shameless.
After all, if someone's moral bottom line wasn't flexible,
they wouldn't be able to cultivate to such a high realm.
So, knowing this, he naturally couldn't help but worry. What if Su Qing felt it was too much trouble, or if there were factors unfavorable to her, and she didn't show up? What would he do then?
Even if she broke her word and didn't come, he wouldn't be able to do a thing to her.
Not only was his daughter, who always favored outsiders, with her...
But the group of big shots behind her wasn't something he would dare to challenge lightly.
If she really didn't come... he could only consider himself unlucky.
And the next time they met, he would still have to be polite and generous, swallowing whatever anger he had.
However... this time, luck was on his side.
Su Qing chose the most honorable option of keeping her word.
It could be said to be the best possible outcome.
Su Qing looked at the Dragon King's happy expression and only pursed her lips.
Anyone with eyes could see that the Old Dragon King had more or less expected her not to come; otherwise, he wouldn't be this happy.
"Yes, after all, I did promise you, Senior," Su Qing pulled herself together and replied with a slight smile.
"Hahaha, yes! But don't worry, I won't forget what I promised you either." The Old Dragon King said with a chuckle, putting aside his other thoughts. He then said, "My dear daughter, go find your mother. I have some words I want to speak with your sister in private."
Hearing this, Ao Ying rolled her eyes but didn't refuse, only saying, "Sister, remember to come find me after you're done talking. I don't want to be nagged by my mother alone... my ears will grow calluses."
Su Qing nodded and said, "Got it, got it. This time, I won't leave you to suffer alone; I'll face it with you, alright?"
"That's more like it." Seeing this, Ao Ying left with a smile.
At the same time, she also took away the little ones who had followed along to get some food and drink.
All at once, the Dragon Palace banquet hall, which had already been set up, felt a bit more deserted.
Su Qing didn't think too much of it, only looking up at the Old Dragon King and asking, "Senior Dragon King, what important matter do you have to discuss with me in private?"
The Old Dragon King stroked his beard and said with a smile, "Actually, it's nothing much. I just hope that at tomorrow's banquet, my son-in-law can act both obedient and arrogant."
Upon hearing these words, Su Qing's brows twitched as she asked, "Both obedient and arrogant? Senior, aren't you overestimating my acting skills?"
Su Qing was quite speechless about this. Did the Old Dragon King think she was some kind of award-winning actor, capable of portraying arrogance and obedience at the same time?
"Besides, if I'm too arrogant, won't I just be drawing hatred?" Su Qing muttered to herself.
She had actually... originally planned to just coast through and slack off.
Just treating it as getting a free meal.
Rate on N.U.
