Jiang Yifan felt a chill down his spine. Without showing any emotion, he raised his hand to tidy his sleeves and turned back as if naturally.
He saw Lu Tingyun standing not far away, his dark gaze piercing like a knife. Resentment and a faint hostility surged in those eyes, but the moment they met Jiang Yifan's gaze, he quickly looked away and strode off.
"Fourth Senior Brother!" Li Nanzhu stepped forward quickly, following his gaze. "Was that Lu Tingyun?"
Jiang Yifan nodded slightly. "It’s nothing."
Feng Qingping mused, "It seems this direct disciple of the Water Moon Sect has quite an unstable state of mind."
"He blew up two furnaces yesterday, and today he finally finished first, only to..." Duan Xianxing counted on his fingers. "First he was suppressed by Chu Chenzhou, then Fourth Senior Brother's fan stole his spotlight, and finally he ran into that whole mess..."
"Anyone in his position would likely feel disgruntled."
Li Nanzhu watched Lu Tingyun’s departing figure thoughtfully.
In the original story, while this direct disciple of the Water Moon Sect was exceptionally talented, his temperament was indeed not steady enough. Later on, he would take many wrong turns because of his refusal to accept being surpassed by Chu Chenzhou.
"Fourth Senior Brother, he..." She hesitated to speak.
Jiang Yifan shook his head. "I can feel that he actually bears no true malice." His voice remained flat, but a trace of understanding flashed in his eyes—as a fellow refinery master, he understood Lu Tingyun's current sense of frustration.
Moreover, he had never cared for such hollow fame, so he naturally wouldn't take Lu Tingyun's hostility to heart.
Just as everyone was about to leave, a figure sneakily approached.
"Duan Xianxing!" Liu Qingyang had somehow slipped over to them, familiarly throwing an arm around Duan Xianxing’s shoulder. "I finally found you!"
Duan Xianxing was confused by this sudden enthusiasm and scratched his head. "Qingyang, were you looking for me?"
"Ah... right, right, right!" Liu Qingyang's eyes darted around, his gaze constantly drifting toward Jiang Yifan. "Um... didn't you ask me last time how I dyed my hair red?"
Duan Xianxing grew even more bewildered. "When did I ever—"
"I used a mixture of cinnabar and red flame grass juice!" Liu Qingyang spoke rapidly, giving Duan Xianxing no chance to interrupt. "But you have to watch the temperature. If it goes over sixty degrees, it will... uh... it'll go off like explosive flame sand... wait, no! I mean it’ll get mushy like overcooked spirit rice!"
His frantic attempts to correct himself made Li Nanzhu let out a light laugh.
Upon hearing the laughter, Liu Qingyang turned toward Li Nanzhu as if grasping for a lifeline.
"Oh, right! This is for you!" He scrambled to pull out the evil-energy warning disk he had just made. "You saw it, my creation works fine. it can detect evil energy fluctuations within a hundred-yard radius!"
Li Nanzhu took the disk. It felt warm and smooth like jade, and the red lines on its surface formed a complex pattern.
She blinked playfully. "Why is Liu Qingyang suddenly giving me such a valuable magic tool?"
"T-this..." The tips of Liu Qingyang's ears turned red as he stammered, "I just, I thought it might be useful to you..."
"Then, thank you." Li Nanzhu pretended not to notice anything and smiled. "But shouldn't you head back to the Water Moon Sect's area? It's getting late."
"I, well..." Liu Qingyang rubbed his hands anxiously, his eyes once again uncontrollably drifting toward Jiang Yifan.
Zhu Yinxi couldn't stand it any longer and spun the white jade flute in his palm. "Stop teasing him."
Jiang Yifan also shook his head slightly, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.
Liu Qingyang finally let out a sigh of relief and grinned. "Hehe! Actually, I wanted to ask Senior Brother Jiang for advice..." He rubbed his hands together, looking at Jiang Yifan expectantly. "It's about that technique for neutralizing the properties of explosive flame sand..."
Duan Xianxing finally realized what was going on. "Oh! So Senior Brother Liu came here for Fourth Senior Brother!"
"I... I didn't..." Liu Qingyang started to stutter again but soon regained his confidence. "In the path of refining, isn't it normal to exchange pointers?"
Li Nanzhu toyed with the evil-energy warning disk in her hand, the corners of her mouth curling up. "Then why didn't you just say so?"
"Well, I..." Liu Qingyang scratched his head, looking uncharacteristically bashful. "I was afraid of being too forward."
Jiang Yifan glanced at him, took out a jade slip from his storage bag, and handed it over.
Liu Qingyang froze as he looked at the jade slip held out before him. He blinked, rubbed his eyes hard, and repeatedly checked to see if he was seeing things.
"T-this is..." His voice was trembling, his hands hovering in mid-air, wanting to take it but not daring to. "Senior Brother Jiang, is this... the method for neutralizing explosive flame sand?"
Jiang Yifan nodded and pushed the jade slip a bit closer.
"But! But..." Liu Qingyang stammered, "Isn't this a secret for every refinery master? I, I only wanted to ask a few questions..."
In the cultivation world, every refinery master had their own unique techniques. Especially for someone like Jiang Yifan, who came from a refining clan, such secret methods were treated as precious treasures.
Liu Qingyang had originally only hoped for a few words of guidance; he hadn't expected Jiang Yifan to give him the entire method.
Duan Xianxing watched from the side with amusement. "Liu Qingyang, your expression right now is more exaggerated than when we encountered those filaments."
Hearing this, a flash of insight suddenly crossed Li Nanzhu's mind, but it vanished instantly. She frowned slightly, trying to catch that fleeting thought, but she couldn't remember it no matter how she tried.
"Little Senior Sister?" Feng Qingping noticed her strange behavior and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
Li Nanzhu shook her head. "Nothing, just..." She rubbed her temples. "I felt like I thought of something, but I can't quite recall it."
At this moment, the afterglow of the setting sun happened to fall on that black disk. The red lines on its surface glowed faintly, making Li Nanzhu's heart skip a beat again.
"Little Senior Sister?" Seeing her dazed, Feng Qingping called out again.
Li Nanzhu finally snapped out of it and forced a smile. "Maybe I'm just too tired."
While she was distracted for that moment, the atmosphere in the field had quietly shifted.
Liu Qingyang finally took the jade slip with trembling hands, cradling it in his palm like a rare treasure. His eyes were turning red. "Senior Brother Jiang, I, I..."
"It is fine." Jiang Yifan's voice was still calm, but a rare gentleness flashed in his eyes. "Since we share the same path, I naturally will not hide my knowledge."
These simple words made Liu Qingyang's eyes widen instantly, and his voice cracked with excitement. "Don't worry, Senior Brother Jiang! I will never let anyone else know! I can make a heart-demon oath!"
"There is no need." Jiang Yifan shook his head slightly. "With your talent, you would have figured it out yourself sooner or later even without this jade slip." He paused. "Besides, this is a technique I developed myself; it has nothing to do with the Jiang family."
Li Nanzhu and Feng Qingping exchanged a look, both understanding Jiang Yifan's intention—rather than hoarding refining insights, it was better to seize the opportunity to do a favor.
Not only did it help Liu Qingyang, but it also forged a good bond for the Five Elements Dao Sect.
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