An Shihuai watched the group chatting animatedly and suddenly snapped out of his thoughts.
Oh no. That day, he had been so completely immersed in the ecstasy of the ten million spirit stones that he had actually forgotten to give his junior sister and junior brother meeting gifts.
Usually, when he gave gifts to Ji Laizhi and the others, he would just give them spirit stones directly. But Sixth Junior Brother and Seventh Junior Sister...
He recalled the scene of his little junior sister casually taking out ten million high-grade spirit stones, and he fell silent for a moment.
After pondering for a long time, he pulled out two small packets of tea leaves from his storage bag. “This is Pine Torrent Snow. Drinking it long-term can nourish one's spiritual roots.”
Xue Mingzhao took them. Looking at the meager amount of tea leaves, she understood in her heart that this was probably the absolute best thing the Second Senior Brother could offer.
With a wave of her hand, several spirit stone bags materialized in front of everyone. Xue Mingzhao said generously, “Since this is our first meeting, my brother and I didn't prepare anything special. We can only give our senior sister and senior brothers a few spirit stones as a meeting gift.”
The others swept their divine senses into the storage bags—ten thousand high-grade spirit stones!
Qi Wuyang, Ji Laizhi, Ji Anzhi: !!!
Their hands shook, nearly dropping the spirit stone bags to the ground.
Seeing the shocked expressions of his senior sister and two junior brothers, An Shihuai felt a sense of balance in his heart.
That day, he and the elders had worn the exact same expression, if not an even more exaggerated one.
He accepted the spirit stone bag, trying his best to maintain his composure as the Second Senior Brother. “Thank you, Junior Sister, Junior Brother.”
Qi Wuyang gripped her storage bag, her mind rapidly calculating—ten thousand high-grade spirit stones were equivalent to a whopping one million low-grade spirit stones.
With the sect's monthly allowance of fifty low-grade spirit stones, she wouldn't be able to save up this amount even if she cultivated for over a thousand years.
Clutching the storage bag tightly, she looked at Xue Mingzhao with a complex expression. “Isn't this a bit too valuable?”
Ji Laizhi also nodded. Even for a meeting gift, this was simply too much. No matter how rich their little junior sister was, this wasn't the way to spend it.
As for Ji Anzhi, he still hadn't recovered from the shock of the spirit stone critical hit.
Xue Mingzhao waved her hand. “We're all family. You, Senior Sister and Senior Brothers, also gave us your best. It's just a small amount of pocket change, nothing to worry about.”
Standing to the side, Su Ye chimed in with a deadpan expression, “Exactly. Senior Sister, Senior Brothers, you should just accept it. Otherwise, our little junior sister will feel isolated, and she definitely won't be able to sleep tonight.”
Xue Mingzhao opportunely put on a pitiful, aggrieved expression and sighed. “Yes, I've only been at the sect for a few days, and my biggest fear is that you will treat me like an outsider. If you don't accept these spirit stones, I won't feel at ease.”
Qi Wuyang screamed in her heart: This is a small amount of pocket change? This is enough to empty Master's entire life savings!
An Shihuai cleared his throat and explained in a low voice, “Eldest Senior Sister, just accept it. Little Junior Sister... is very rich. This amount of spirit stones really is nothing to her.”
Qi Wuyang took a deep breath and solemnly put away the spirit stone bag.
An Shihuai nodded to the Fourth and Fifth Senior Brothers, and only then did they suppress the shock in their hearts and accept the meeting gifts.
Ji Anzhi's eyes sparkled. “Thank you, Junior Sister! From now on, I'll take full charge of your meals! I guarantee you won't have the same dish twice!”
Qi Wuyang solemnly warned the two of them, “Junior Brother, Junior Sister, you must never be this generous when you are outside in the future. It can easily attract the greed of ill-intentioned people, which will bring endless trouble.”
Then she turned to look at the other youths nearby, her tone remaining stern. “Keep your mouths shut about what happened today. Not a single word is to be leaked to the outside.”
Everyone present hurriedly agreed.
Su Ye nodded obediently while grumbling in his heart: Eldest Senior Sister, you can rest easy. When she's outside, our little junior sister would love nothing more than to split a single low-grade spirit stone in half to use it.
After bidding farewell to the others, the two of them headed to the Library Pavilion.
“Old Chen, did you miss me?”
Hearing footsteps, Chen Huaizhi looked up at them.
When his gaze fell upon Xue Mingzhao, he froze slightly. “You've reached Foundation Establishment?”
Su Ye quickly leaned forward, reminding him reluctantly, “Elder, look closely. I've also broken through in my cultivation.”
Chen Huaizhi glanced at him. “It seems you two obtained quite a grand opportunity in the mystic realm.”
Xue Mingzhao approached the counter and placed a packet of tea leaves on the table. “I see you doing nothing but sleeping every single day, so I brought you some tea leaves to help clear your mind. The older you get, the more active you need to be, Old Chen.”
“Go read your books. Don't bother me.”
Xue Mingzhao pushed the tea leaves forward. “I couldn't even bear to drink this tea myself.”
Chen Huaizhi glanced at it. “Mind-Clarifying Tea? It's just so-so. And here I thought you brought back some sort of treasure.”
Xue Mingzhao: “...” This old man actually knew his stuff; he hadn't been fooled by her.
Her eyes darted around, and she fished out a wooden box, handing it over. “Then what about this?”
Chen Huaizhi looked at the unremarkable wooden box. “What is it?”
Su Ye smiled and chimed in, “Elder, won't you know once you open it and see?”
Chen Huaizhi took it and opened it. “I knew you two were up to no good—a supreme-grade Nascent Soul-Forming Pill?!”
Was this something the likes of them should be able to produce?
And it was even kept in such a shabby wooden box.
Restraining his expression, he looked up at the two of them. “Where did you get this?”
Xue Mingzhao instantly put on a heroic, self-sacrificing expression. “I risked my life to snatch this right out of the jaws of a sixth-tier demon beast! We fought it for three hundred rounds, escaping death by a hair's breadth to obtain it!”
Su Ye immediately played along, nodding like a chicken pecking at grain. “You have no idea how that demon beast beat my junior sister until she was spitting up blood repeatedly! In the end, it was only because we were thinking of you, Elder Chen, that we gritted our teeth and won!”
Chen Huaizhi: “...”
“Stop talking nonsense. With just the two of you, even ten of you put together couldn't beat a sixth-tier demon beast. Tell the truth, where did it come from?”
Xue Mingzhao instantly dropped the act and grinned. “I refined it.”
Chen Huaizhi had a look of disbelief, but since the two kids wouldn't say, he didn't press further.
Looking at their grinning, playful faces, his heart softened for some reason.
He usually didn't show these two kids any good attitude, only helping them find books at most.
Yet, after taking a trip to a mystic realm and obtaining opportunities, they still thought to bring him such a valuable item.
The old man's heart felt warm.
Xue Mingzhao's next sentence immediately shattered this touching moment to pieces: “You should hurry up and break through. Don't let it be that when I come to borrow a book next time, you say, 'I'm getting old and can't remember where I put it,' and delay my cultivation.”
Chen Huaizhi: “......”
This time, he rarely didn't argue back, simply turning around.
Su Ye leaned in with a mischievous grin. “Are you crying from being touched?”
Chen Huaizhi reached out and pushed the two of them aside. He carefully put away the pill, the warmth in his heart now thoroughly tangled with exasperation.
He had actually been quite touched, but that girl's single sentence had ruined it completely.
Xue Mingzhao chuckled. “That's more like it. You have to look after me well in the future.”
Ignoring her, Chen Huaizhi muttered to himself, “Now that you've reached Foundation Establishment, you can go to the second floor and choose a few cultivation methods.”
“Since your master isn't here, I'll take you two up to choose.”
With that, he stood up and walked toward the second floor, the two of them eagerly following close behind.
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