To everyone's surprise, many of the guests who arrived were from other sects. The Eldest Senior Brother of the Qingling Sect personally delivered a congratulatory gift. Although Senior Sister Lin of the Biluo Immortal Sect could not make it, she sent someone to bring a pair of jade ruyi scepters. The young senior sister of the Piaoyin Sect even showed up in person, waving her Peach Blossom Fan as she chatted and laughed with Liu Fengyao.
An elder from Luohong Valley also arrived. Stroking his beard, he said, “I heard Yanchen prepared a grand gift for his youngest disciple. This old man has come to open his eyes.”
Lin Zhiyue stood in the center of the flower hall, dressed in a newly prepared silver-white robe. In her hair was the white jade hairpin gifted by Cen Xi'er, and on her wrists was a pair of slender silver bracelets returned by Liu Fengyao.
Looking at the hall filled with guests, gifts, and familiar faces, she felt a strange sensation in her heart. In her previous life, she hadn't even had a proper birthday party, yet in this life, her coming-of-age ceremony had actually drawn half of the cultivation world.
The furnishings in the hall were simple. In the center of the seat of honor was a long table, upon which sat a pot of spiritual tea and two celadon cups.
Qi Yan was already standing before the table. Today, he had rarely changed into a more formal black robe. His hair was still bound high, but a dark red belt inlaid with silver was added to his waist. Standing in the candlelight of the side hall, he possessed a sense of solemn gravity that was rare for him.
Lin Zhiyue walked over and stood before the table, and an administrative disciple poured tea for her. The tea in the celadon cup was clear, green, and translucent, with a few wisps of fine white mist floating above it, emitting a crisp and light fragrance.
She raised the teacup, holding it level with her eyebrows with both hands, and gave Qi Yan a formal bow.
“Disciple Lin Zhiyue offers tea to Master.”
Her voice was not loud, but every word was clear.
The hall instantly fell quiet as everyone fell silent, leaving only the slight crackle of the flickering candlelight.
Qi Yan looked down at her. As he reached out to take the teacup, his fingertips lightly brushed against the edge of her fingers, a warm touch that vanished as soon as it felt.
Holding the teacup, he lowered his head and took a sip, his movements unhurried. As soon as the tea touched his lips, he placed it back down.
“Rise.”
Lin Zhiyue stood up and glanced up at Qi Yan.
His black robe today gave him a touch more stability than his usual red-and-black martial attire. The candlelight traced soft contours along his brow bone and jawline. His deep black eyes reflected two flickering flames, and when he looked at her, they seemed slightly less indifferent than usual, carrying a hint of something she couldn't quite put into words.
Qi Yan set the teacup back on the table, then drew two items from his sleeve.
The first was a palm-sized white jade box. When opened, it revealed an exquisitely detailed miniature courtyard.
A small building with upturned eaves, a courtyard with bluestone paths, and a miniature peach tree in full bloom in the yard—even the stone table and benches beneath the tree were carved with flawless precision.
The entire courtyard was enveloped in a gentle white glow, with spiritual runes quietly flowing across the surface of the jade walls.
“The Sifang Courtyard,” Qi Yan’s tone was as flat as usual, but the expressions of several elders and guests in the flower hall had already changed. “A portable residence.”
“When camping in the wild, injecting spiritual energy will expand it into a real-sized courtyard. Inside, there is a spiritual spring and three quiet rooms. A protective array covers the entire courtyard, capable of defending against any attack below the Golden Core Stage.”
Lin Zhiyue accepted the white jade box with both hands, feeling its cool touch.
She looked down at the miniature courtyard. The petals of the pocket-sized peach tree swayed slightly, as if a real breeze were blowing through it, and her throat suddenly tightened.
Since coming to Tiance Palace, she had seen records of such portable residence spiritual artifacts in books. Each one was a priceless treasure that could not be bought with money, and the materials to craft them had to be gathered from the depths of secret realms. To obtain this, Qi Yan had likely emptied out a large portion of his accumulated collection over the years.
Before she could even open her mouth to express her gratitude, Qi Yan produced a second item.
It was a palm-sized jade plaque, pure white with a hint of pale green. At its center, a thread of crimson spiritual light as thin as a hair slowly drifted, resembling a flame sealed within the jade.
“A Soul Jade Plaque, a birthday gift,” Qi Yan said. “It contains a wisp of my divine soul. If you encounter danger, crush it. The divine soul will automatically protect you once, blocking a full-strength strike from anyone below the mid-stage Soul Transformation Stage.”
The flower hall fell dead silent for a moment. An elder from another sect whispered, “For Venerable Yanchen to separate a wisp of his divine soul, his own cultivation must have been reduced by at least five percent.” The person next to him nodded in agreement.
Lin Zhiyue overheard this, and her fingers paused slightly as she accepted the jade plaque.
She looked up at Qi Yan. His face still wore that same indifferent, expressionless look, but there was a slight movement in his deep black eyes—they were a fraction softer than usual, as if what he had given away was not a wisp of his divine soul, but some utterly ordinary trinket.
“Master,” she began, her voice a bit lower than she had intended. “This is too precious—”
Qi Yan interrupted her. His tone was still flat, but there was an unshakeable certainty in his voice. “Keep it.”
Lin Zhiyue tucked both the white jade box and the Soul Jade Plaque into her robes, then bowed.
When she straightened up, she saw her three senior brothers and sisters in the corner of the flower hall. Chu Zhixun was leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed, smiling. Cen Xi'er was covering her mouth with her sleeve, whispering something to Xiao Yuan, who actually had a rare curve to his lips, a trace of genuine warmth appearing on his otherwise cold face.
The young senior sister of the Piaoyin Sect winked at her from the crowd. Hiding half her face behind her Peach Blossom Fan, she remarked, “You really hit the jackpot with this master.” The old man from Luohong Valley next to her stroked his beard and added, “More than just hitting the jackpot. This old man has lived for over a hundred years, and I’ve never seen a master prepare such a grand gift for their disciple.”
Lin Zhiyue stood in the center of the flower hall. Amidst the laughter and congratulations of the guests, her gaze drifted past the crowd to rest on Qi Yan’s back.
He was currently being pulled into a conversation by Chu Zhixun, tilting his head slightly to listen, his ponytail draping over his shoulder.
She looked down again at the white jade box in her robes. The miniature peach tree in the pocket courtyard was blooming with pinkish-white flowers, the petals so fine they were almost invisible, yet they unfurled trembling in the jade’s glow.
After the coming-of-age ceremony concluded, Lin Zhiyue carried her mountain of gifts back to her courtyard.
She spread everything out on her desk and spent a good while taking inventory. There were gifts from her senior brothers and sisters, from Liu Fengyao, from familiar disciples of various peaks, and those brought by guests from other sects. Big and small, they piled up to cover half the table.
She examined each item carefully, categorized and stored them away, and finally placed the Sifang Courtyard and the Soul Jade Plaque separately in the safest spot on her desk.
Just as she was about to wash up and rest, the system light screen suddenly popped up, flashing a series of glittering gold notifications across the screen.
【Task Completed: Received Master's apprenticeship gift (Sifang Courtyard). Reward: Premium Draw Ticket x5.】
【Task Completed: Received Master's birthday gift (Soul Jade Plaque). Reward: Premium Draw Ticket x5.】
【Task Completed: Received birthday gifts from fellow disciples and friends (Total of 12 items). Reward: Premium Draw Ticket x3.】
【Task Completed: Attracted the attention of other sects (Total of 8 external sect guests visited). Reward: Premium Draw Ticket x3.】
Once the four notifications finished scrolling, Lin Zhiyue blinked and opened her draw ticket panel. Her hand, which previously held only one or two loose tickets, now suddenly possessed sixteen.
She froze for a split second, then quickly flipped to the Jinyao Fairy card pool interface. Today happened to be the final day the card pool was open, with only a few hours left on the countdown.
She did not hesitate. Tapping the "10-pull" button, she slammed it down.
The light screen burst into a moon-white vortex, and ten spheres of light fell one after another. Holding her breath, she flipped them over one by one—Crown, duplicate. Silk sash, duplicate. Armlet, duplicate. Waist chain, duplicate. Inner lining, duplicate. Duplicate. Duplicate. Duplicate. Every single one was a duplicate.
After the tenth sphere of light faded, a familiar notification popped up in the center of the screen: "Current Progress: 11/12. Main Dress (Moonlight Flowing Fairy Dress) not obtained."
Lin Zhiyue stared at those words, feeling her temples throb.
“You...” Gritting her teeth, she muttered, “A 10-pull of pure duplicates? I have eleven out of twelve, and you give me ten duplicates? You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!”
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