Jian Dan looked at the boy standing before her, barely reaching her knees. Dressed in violet robes with a matching sash embroidered with faint formation patterns, he appeared to be around six years old based on his bone structure. His cultivation had reached the fifth layer of the Qi Refining stage.
"Who was this little master from the Purple Sky Sect?"
Hands on his hips, the boy stared up at her with sharp, fox-like eyes, waiting for a response.
Jian Dan simply smiled and asked gently, "She's my spirit beast. Why would I give her to you?"
"I am a guest of the Heavenly Sword Sect. You're my senior, so you should give her to me as a welcome gift."
"But I don't want to." With that, Jian Dan stepped around the child and continued walking toward her new cave residence.
"Hmph! Is this how the Heavenly Sword Sect treats its guests? I'm the grandson of the Purple Sky Sect's Sect Master!"
Jian Dan didn't even turn her head. What did his background have to do with her?
The boy, seeing that this Nascent Soul cultivator refused to entertain him, pulled out a talisman treasure from his storage pouch. Just as he tried to activate it, it was already in Jian Dan's hand.
"Tsk. Quite the lavish item," she thought. The talisman contained the power of a Divine Transformation cultivator's full strike. Clearly, this brat had strong backing.
The boy shouted angrily, "Return that to me! Or I'll have your sect master punish you!"
"Oh no, I'm so scared. Please don't report me to the sect master," Jian Dan replied with exaggerated concern as she slowly walked over, smiling with obvious mischief. "You seem to like Yue Liang quite a bit. How about this: I'll let her play with you. If she's willing to go with you, I won't stop her. How about it?"
"Alright!" the boy replied cheerfully, reaching out to hug Yue Liang.
Yue Liang gave him a reluctant glance, swishing her fluffy tail and clinging tightly to Jian Dan's neck.
Jian Dan sent a voice transmission, "Play with him for a bit. Consider it training with your new skills. Just don't kill him."
Only then did Yue Liang let herself be taken.
Perched on the boy's shoulders, she wrapped her tail around him. In the next instant, the two vanished into the sky. Before the boy could cheer, Yue Liang let go, and his scream echoed down the mountain. Just as he was about to hit the ground, Yue Liang teleported and caught him again, only to toss him into the air once more. His shrieks rang out from all directions as the teleportation cycle continued.
Meanwhile, Jian Dan reached a suitable spot halfway up the mountain and began opening her new cave residence. The main hall was about thirty square meters, furnished with chairs and a tea set. A separate chamber served as her cultivation room, with additional rooms for Yue Liang's training and her own smithing work.
At the entrance, she transplanted the banyan tree from her lower realm storage. The tree rustled its leaves in gratitude. While it had thrived in her spatial realm, the outside world was more conducive to proper cultivation under the supervision of the Heavenly Dao.
Jian Dan always believed a beautiful immortal should live among flowers. She scattered seeds she had gathered in the lower realm, loosened the soil with earth arts, and summoned rain and wood-nature spells. In moments, vibrant blossoms bloomed all around, creating a breathtaking scene.
Under the banyan's shade, she placed a jade table and recliner, poured herself a cup of her own Redfruit Spirit Wine, and leisurely took a sip.
"Thud!"
A lump of purple fur landed at her feet. Yue Liang reappeared on the table, sniffed the wine with her little nose, and looked at Jian Dan with a clear message.
Smiling, Jian Dan poured her a cup.
The boy lay on the ground, pale and trembling, his face flushed with anger. "You call yourself a true cultivator? You bullied me!"
"I told you Yue Liang would play with you. Didn't get along?" Jian Dan feigned innocence, not the least bit sorry.
"Hmph! I'm going to tell the sect master you bullied me!"
"But I didn't do anything."
"I say you did!"
"Oh? In that case, I won't disappoint you. Yue Liang." Yue Liang was still digesting the spiritual energy from the wine, but at Jian Dan's call, she perked up, instantly catching her meaning. She landed on the boy's shoulder again, and a fresh round of screams echoed through the peak.
Half an hour later, the violet figure dropped back down in front of Jian Dan. This time, the boy didn't even have the energy to speak. He simply glared, his eyes full of exhausted indignation.
Jian Dan raised an eyebrow and called out, "Yue Liang."
That got a reaction. In a hoarse voice, he said, "I don't want her anymore. Just make her stop. I want to go home."
Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Well, now you're being reasonable. Summon your attendants to come pick you up."
"Yes," he muttered, sending out a message talisman.
Jian Dan cast a cleaning spell on him, scrubbing off the dirt and dust and removing lingering traces of energy. "You've been here all this time, and I still don't know how to address you. What's your name, young master?"
"I'm Lu Xuanyuan."
At the name, Jian Dan felt a strange mix of amusement and irony. A century from now, this boy would become a notorious troublemaker, known for his reckless arrogance. He would stir up trouble across the cultivation world, protected only by his identity as the Purple Sky Sect Master's grandson.
Not long after, six people in Purple Sky Sect robes arrived, purple sashes marked with white and violet formation patterns. They followed the message talisman to her cave.
"Young Master, you had us worried. Come with us. Zhēnjūn is looking for you!"
A woman in violet robes hurried over. But the moment her gaze met Jian Dan's, she froze. In the next breath, a ring of fire snapped around her neck, locking her in place.