Li Luoqi hesitated for a moment.
The Protector continued, "Demon Sovereign, Yao Ranran still has value. Why don't we satisfy her demands, send her these treasures, and let her cultivate further?"
Li Luoqi smoothed his sleeve, glancing sideways at him.
The Protector immediately understood and chuckled slyly. "Demon Sovereign, with the demon seed already planted in her body, Yao Ranran's cultivation grows deeper by the day. When you eventually harvest the fruit, it will taste all the sweeter."
Li Luoqi arched a brow, a smile tugging at his lips. "True enough. Even if Yao Ranran loses her mind, it doesn't matter. As long as she keeps cultivating, meddling in Pei Xianqiao and Shen Yuefu's bond, there is no harm in granting her these things."
"Exactly, exactly! Yao Ranran is already in the Demon Sovereign's palm, like a gu worm raised in a jar. What's a little madness to worry about?" The Protector laughed along.
Li Luoqi's gaze narrowed toward the words blazing across the sky, his smile deepening. "Then let her have them."
-
On Gu Ling Mountain.
"Hah! The Demon Sovereign is truly generous!"
Yao Ranran shot upright from her bed.
"He didn't even question me, just agreed straightaway. Am I dreaming?" She pinched her cheek, then turned to the fading message in the air. Li Luoqi was really sending her all these treasures!
"I'm rich!"
Her eyes glittered with the light of countless spirit stones. But soon, she slumped back onto the bed with regret. "I was too honest. If I had known Li Luoqi was so generous, I shouldn't have asked for just that little bit…"
Yao Ranran sighed heavily, lowering her head in pity for herself.
If Li Luoqi and his Protector were here in person, they would surely curse her shamelessness.Honest? You call this honest? Do you even know what that word means?!
After finishing her exchange with Li Luo qi, Yao Ranran opened up her blacksmith's workshop. She poured out materials from her storage ring, thought for a while, and then began her work.
Lu Ziqian would soon be leading demon cultivators into battle. As his nominal master, she had to think about her disciple's safety. So she put her mind to work, stayed up late, and forged him a fifth-grade spiritual treasure.
A brush.
She couldn't think of any weapon that suited him, but he was always carrying the brush of a scholar.
After much effort and the painful use of her finest materials, she crafted a brush brimming with spiritual energy. She admired the elegant brush in her hand, nodding repeatedly. "I'll call it the Good Fortune Brush."
The forging drained a thread of her spiritual power, like losing a single strand from a head of three thousand hairs.
Stretching her arms, she yawned. "I haven't been this exhausted in ages. The last time I was this tired… was the last time."
She lazily kicked aside the scattered materials. A few discarded jade pieces rolled outside the workshop, but she didn't notice.
Clutching the Good Fortune Brush, Yao Ranran flopped onto her bed and immediately drifted into sleep.
Late into the night.
All was silent.
A pearl-like light slipped from her arms.
The palm-sized Shu Xi Palace slipped from her sleeve, spinning three times in the air before releasing a tall figure in azure robes.
An Xiaolin smiled at her sleeping face, but his gaze quickly caught on the messy surroundings.
"I didn't have time to look yesterday, but my good disciple's chamber is a little…"
For a moment, he couldn't find the words.
This chamber was one part shabby, two parts chaotic, and seven parts plain.
His lips twitched.
"This disciple of mine… seems a bit stingy."
He stepped outside and circled the entire temple.
At last he concluded, "Not just stingy—extremely stingy."
Could anyone even live in a place like this?
Glancing around, An Xiaolin's impression of Yao Ranran shifted again.
"Even Shu Xi Palace's lowest dungeon wasn't this rundown…" He sighed helplessly.
"I can't restore Shu Xi Palace's former splendor for you, but at the very least, I can make this place look like… a newly cleaned ruined temple." Azure light wove between his fingers, knitting into a vast net that fell from the sky, enveloping the entire temple.
-
At Ranxian Shrine.
The villagers who hadn't yet gone to sleep stared wide-eyed at the enormous azure net over Gu Ling Mountain.
"Is… is Fairy Ranran responding to us?"
"Fairy Ranran is still awake?"
"She must have stayed up all night to hear our prayers!"
Moved to tears, the gathered villagers fell to their knees. White lights flew from the center of their brows, riding the night wind to Gu Ling Mountain.
And there, the light sank into the sleeping Yao Ranran's body.
The net fell. The temple was spotless in an instant.
An Xiaolin brushed aside the last speck of ash, smiling faintly at the clean blue bricks.
"Better. At least it's somewhat bearable to look at. Tomorrow night, I'll speak to my disciple about rebuilding this place."
He floated gently back down, returned to Yao Ranran's room, and carefully organized her scattered materials.
When everything was finally in order, An Xiaolin turned to leave, ready to return to Shu Xi Palace.
But as he neared the palace, he paused.
"Wait… did I forget something?"
His warm gaze fell back to Yao Ranran's pale, sleeping face.
He stared at her quietly for a long time, then slowly stepped closer to the bed. At the very edge, he froze.
"Should I… bow to her?"
"…"
His body jolted violently. Half-bent knees straightened by sheer force of will.
"What nonsense! What master bows to their disciple?!"
He staggered against the bedpost, startled by the thought that had just flickered through his mind. After steadying himself, he finally understood. "My disciple's power of faith has already reached such a level?"
-
Before dawn.
Yao Ranran stirred awake on her wooden bed, instinctively reaching into her arms for her treasure.
Her hand groped about. Nothing.
In an instant she was wide awake, springing out of bed.
"Someone broke into Gu Ling Mountain!"
She shouted, only to spot the treasure she sought sitting quietly on the table.
"…Shu Xi Palace? How did it get there? Did I take it out last night?"
Scratching her head with the Brush of Good Fortune, she picked it up and studied it carefully.
After a while, she noticed something strange.
Her eyes widened, scanning the room.
"My room… it's clean?!"
Even the discarded scraps she'd kicked away yesterday had been neatly stacked in the corner.
Did she sleepwalk?
Yao Ranran slapped her own cheeks, trying to wake herself.
"No, this isn't a dream. My room really is spotless!"
Her cry startled Xiao Rong and Tang Xiangyin from the next room.
They rushed in, clutching blankets and pillows.
"What happened, Boss?"
"Is Gu Ling Mountain about to collapse?!"
Tang Xiangyin's face was pale with fear.