Wood

Hearing the calls of the two sisters from the Bodhi Tree in her Sea of Consciousness.

Su Qing was momentarily stunned...

But it was only a brief moment of distraction.

A moment later, Su Qing sank her consciousness and entered her own mental space.

To meet these two sisters.

To see why they had called her.

After all, if it wasn't for something urgent, these two sisters usually wouldn't seek her out.

Most of the time, she was the one who initiated conversations with them.

So, since they had actively sought her out, it must be something urgent.

Su Qing's consciousness arrived beneath the Bodhi Tree.

She didn't see the two sisters...

This left Su Qing a little speechless. These two had called her in, only to not show themselves.

Su Qing sighed inwardly, looking up at the Bodhi Tree...

The Bodhi Tree now looked significantly different from when Su Qing had last seen it.

The grafted branch was growing very well now...

As if another tree was growing on the same tree.

'It seems these two sisters have given a lot of nourishment to this grafted branch?' Su Qing stroked her chin, thinking to herself.

And just as Su Qing was pondering...

The two sisters, who had been hiding, finally emerged.

Yan'er and Ying'er leaped down from the tree, landing before Su Qing.

Yan'er maintained her usual aloof demeanor, while Ying'er was as playful as ever.

Although they both seemed unchanged, Su Qing could tell that they were a little weaker than before.

Su Qing could probably guess the reason for this change...

Clearly, it was because of the newly grafted tree...

Su Qing looked at them and asked, "So... why did you call me? Don't tell me you were just bored and hoped I'd come chat with you?"

Ying'er smiled, hands behind her back, and said, "Of course not! If I were just looking for you to play, I would have said so directly. Calling you here this time means there's something very important to discuss."

This didn't surprise Su Qing...

After all, Su Qing understood these two to some extent...

Su Qing nodded, then sat down at the table under the tree and asked, "So, can you get straight to the point and tell me what's going on? Since it's important, let's not waste any more time, shall we?"

Su Qing still hoped to clarify the situation quickly...

As for other matters, it wouldn't be too late to discuss them after the main business was done.

Hearing Su Qing say this, Ying'er couldn't help but chuckle, saying, "I wasn't planning to beat around the bush with you! You're the one beating around the bush with us! As for why we called you over this time—it's actually just about that grafted branch."

Su Qing looked at Ying'er in confusion, then glanced up at the branch again, asking, "Tell me exactly what's going on? I think this grafted new tree is growing quite well, isn't it?"

Su Qing really couldn't see any problem with the branch...

Ying'er replied, "Who told you we called you because there was a problem with the branch? Everything is going smoothly with it right now... in fact, almost too smoothly."

"What does that mean?"

"What else could it mean? I called you over precisely because everything is going smoothly!" Ying'er said, crossing her arms. "However, besides that, there are indeed some other reasons! Now that this thing is growing well, it has also begun to grow upwards. If nothing unexpected happens, in a while, you'll be able to successfully overcome the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth. You might even be able to bring a few others with you..."

Su Qing raised an eyebrow at this. It didn't surprise her much, as she had known this for a long time.

She only asked, "So, how many can I take with me?"

"Two or three? Four or five? Anyway, you don't need to rush. Although it's only grown a little, it's been dry for too long, so it still needs a lot of time to fully recover. Once it's fully recovered, then we'll know the exact situation."

Su Qing nodded, not questioning too much, but instead asked, "Actually, I'm a little curious, what exactly is this thing?"

Although Su Qing had never doubted whether this thing was useful, she had indeed never known... what it actually was.

Hearing Su Qing's question.

This time, Ying'er didn't hide anything.

She spoke, "You might not believe it... This is actually a branch from the Jianmu Tree from ancient times, close to its roots... It just withered because of how incredibly old it is! But now, we've successfully brought it back to life..."

"Jianmu Tree?" Su Qing was startled, asking, "It's that thing?"

Su Qing knew a little about the Jianmu Tree...

However, her knowledge of it was limited to some legends from her past life's memories.

She couldn't even recall the specific legends.

She only knew that this thing was indeed very powerful.

"Eh? So you know about this thing? Hehe, since you know about it, then I don't need to explain further. It saves me a lot of trouble!" Ying'er said, seeing that Su Qing seemed to know the legends of this thing.

Who would dislike being lazy?

Since Su Qing knew about it, any further explanation would only make her seem condescending.

Su Qing's mouth twitched, feeling a little speechless...

What she really wanted to say was that she only knew of its existence... other details were unclear.

But...

Speaking up now seemed a bit embarrassing.

However, after pondering for a while, Su Qing still felt that understanding the specific situation was more important than her pride.

So she said, "I know of its existence, but I don't know what specific role it plays for me here... How will it help me overcome the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth?"

Seeing Su Qing ask, Ying'er, who had originally planned to be lazy and not explain, now had no choice but to elaborate.

"Well, actually, there isn't much difference from before... It's just that with this thing, our chances will be much greater. We were originally meant to facilitate your escape... Adding this thing will increase our chances from eighty percent to ninety percent."

Ying'er didn't dare to overstate it, as such matters were truly hard to predict, so it was better not to speak too confidently.

Hearing Ying'er's words.

Su Qing wasn't too surprised or strange.

Not speaking too confidently was a perfectly normal thing.

Su Qing nodded and said, "No matter what, as long as the chances increase, that's good. Alright, besides this, do you have anything else to tell me?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes!" After finishing the serious business, Ying'er put her hands on her hips and said, "Of course I do!"

"Then tell me, what is it?" Su Qing saw her posture and probably knew that what she was about to say wasn't serious business either.

So her tone also relaxed a lot.

No longer as solemn as before.

Seeing Su Qing ask, Ying'er said, "Of course it's about you celebrating the festival with everyone and not inviting us! Don't think we can't see it!?"

Su Qing smiled helplessly and asked, "You're both in my head, even if I told you, you couldn't come out and celebrate with us, could you?"

"Who told you we couldn't?" Ying'er said, hands on her hips. "Don't underestimate us! We're very strong now. Manifesting a body in the outside world is no difficult task at all."

Su Qing looked at her, still somewhat unconvinced...

"Really?"

"Of course it's real! I'm not Yan'er, I never brag. Hiss... don't hit so hard, hitting my head will make me stupid."

Su Qing ignored Yan'er, who was looking displeased, and continued, "Then why didn't you say so earlier!"

Su Qing had indeed not forgotten to tell them, but rather didn't know they could do such a thing. If she had known, she would certainly have invited them.

After all, it would be livelier, wouldn't it?

"You didn't ask me either!?" Ying'er retorted unceremoniously, "Hmph, you make me so angry!"

Su Qing smiled helplessly, then spread her hands and said, "Alright, alright, I definitely won't forget you next time."

Ying'er snorted at this and said, "And Yan'er can't be forgotten either."

"That's for sure," Su Qing nodded seriously.

Since she would invite Ying'er, how could she not invite Yan'er?

These two were together all day, and if one was called, the other would certainly know.

Seeing Su Qing say this, Ying'er finally stopped dwelling on it.

She nodded and said, "Consider yourself to have some conscience."

Su Qing chuckled, also nodding, and said, "Alright! Besides this, there shouldn't be anything else, right?"

"There really isn't anything else~" Ying'er thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Because I have other things to do!" Su Qing nodded and said, "I'll come back to keep you company tomorrow."

Hearing this, Ying'er looked at Su Qing, then nodded and said, "Hmph, you really are an old flirt! Go on, go on~"

Ying'er actually knew what other things Su Qing had to do...

Moreover, even if she didn't know, she could probably guess.

After all, it was late at night, what else could Su Qing be doing besides those things?

From Ying'er's understanding of Su Qing...

Su Qing clearly had nothing else to do besides that.

That's why she teased Su Qing like that.

And hearing Ying'er's teasing.

Su Qing didn't mind much...

She just smiled at her, then said, "Then I'll be going now."

Su Qing had been teased by others countless times; she had long since developed a thick skin.

Su Qing's mind sank, and she withdrew herself from her mental space, returning to reality.

And after returning to reality.

Su Qing stretched, then got up to do the things she needed to do.

Time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, the night was over.

Su Qing had truly enjoyed herself that night...

If it weren't for the soundproof array, many people probably wouldn't have slept a wink.

After dawn.

Su Qing yawned.

Then, as promised, she went to chat with the two sisters.

On the other side.

In Xingyang City.

Su Qing had no plans to open for business today...

After all, it was the first day of the New Year, so it was best to relax properly.

That's right, the clone also celebrated the New Year with her friends yesterday.

Since she was in the Mortal World, she naturally had to follow local customs.

So, yesterday, Su Qing's clone also had a blast... which also made up for Ao Yiyi and the others' regret of not being able to celebrate the New Year in the Northern Continent.

However... here, at least she could celebrate the New Year with her clone.

But for Little Bai, there was truly nothing that could be done.

The only way to make up for it was for the main body to go celebrate the festival with Little Bai today... to make up for yesterday's absence.

Of course, these were things the main body needed to do...

Her clone, being in the Mortal World, didn't need to worry about so much...

Taking care of everything around herself was enough.

Su Qing stretched...

Walked into the courtyard.

In the courtyard, fine snow fluttered down, covering the entire garden, as if laying a silver carpet across it, truly beautiful.

However.

Su Qing was someone who had seen enough snowscapes.

She had no interest in this snowy scenery.

She just wanted to feel the cold wind and clear her mind.

"Sister Xiao Qing~" Jin Xin saw Su Qing after coming out, walked over to her, and said, "Last night, Sister Xiao Qing was truly amazing~"

Su Qing's eyelids twitched at these words, and her somewhat hazy mind immediately cleared up quite a bit.

She flipped her hand and pinched Jin Xin's face, saying, "Don't say things that cause misunderstandings. I just gave you a New Year's gift, don't act like you had a great time in that way."

Jin Xin chuckled, then nodded and said, "What a pity, if it really was that kind of great time, that would be truly wonderful."

"..." Su Qing was helpless with the outspoken Jin Xin, and could only say, "Don't corrupt the children."

"No worries~ I don't mind sharing Sister Xiao Qing with others."

"..."

Su Qing was utterly helpless with Jin Xin.

She had a pile of things she wanted to complain about, but for a moment, she didn't know where to start.

And just as she was feeling frustrated.

A maid came running over.

"Miss, someone is looking for you outside the gate!" The maid said breathlessly. "She said she's the Commandery Princess's servant."