"Yes...yes, I will be more careful next time." Lin Qiongyu quickly bowed in response, but her heart was filled with bitterness.
Lu Zhiwei did not like her.
This dislike was not due to jealousy or hostility.
It was a kind of alertness and repulsion, like a young beast guarding its food.
Faced with this, Lin Qiongyu had no means to explain, nor any strength to defend herself.
She even harbored a vague fear towards this dark-haired little girl—the girl seemed to be completely different from normal girls.
All day long, apart from cultivating, she did nothing but cultivate.
It seemed she had no interest in anything in the world.
She practiced every day until late at night, stopping only when Chen Ye returned home, then she would go to bed and rest.
Lin Qiongyu sighed and continued cleaning Chen Ye’s quiet chamber.
This was already her seventeenth day as a maid.
It’s said that in two days, Lisong Valley will begin the quarterly evaluation...
Inside the quiet chamber, the furnishings were simple.
The air was filled with a faint scent of grass and wood, and... the unique presence of that man.
Lin Qiongyu dared not look too much, keeping her head down as she picked up the broom and cloth, carefully cleaning.
She cleaned very seriously, thoroughly, not daring to miss a corner, afraid of displeasing the master.
Yet, as she wiped the desk, her eyes unavoidably were drawn to something on it.
It was a painting.
In the painting was a lively little figure.
Silver hair like snow and eyes like phoenixes smiling—who else could it be but Qing Jun?
Next to the painting was another, depicting a girl in a white dress with dark hair, with a cold expression, yet carrying a hint of gentle warmth at the corners of her eyes.
"The master truly cares for them..."
Lin Qiongyu bit her red lips.
And her sister was also Chen Ye’s pupil.
But... she spends all day sitting quietly in the cold room.
Chen Ye occasionally comes to guide her once in a while.
Though she didn’t have much expectation, nor hoped for Chen Ye to treat her sister differently,
there was a hint of sourness in her heart nonetheless.
...
In Xiaguang Garden, spiritual qi flowed like mist, swirling and meandering.
Thanks to Chen Ye’s dedication and nurturing with spiritual power, this once languid and lifeless glazed flower field had now restored its former charm to seventy or eighty percent.
One by one, the glazed flowers stood tall, with petals shimmering in radiant colorful lights, resplendent and captivating.
This day marked merely two days before the sect guardian arrives for evaluation.
Chen Ye sat cross-legged at the center of Xiaguang Garden, which was also the core formation of the wood element array.
He did not relax in the slightest.
He knew that mere recovery was not enough—at best, he would receive an award from the sect.
What he sought was not merely to go through the motions!
"Evergreen Technique!"
Chen Ye’s heart roared softly, the cultivation technique already elevated to the realm of the grandmaster, pushed to its limit once more!
A rain imbued with boundless vitality, hidden with the power of the Evergreen Technique descended from the sky, enveloping the entire Xiaguang Garden.
This was precisely the Limit Break stage of the Cloud Rain Technique.
However, this was just the beginning.
"Though the Limit Break Cloud Rain Technique can restore earth power and benefit all things,"
Chen Ye’s eyes sparkled with brilliance,
"for such extremely delicate spirit plants, it still lacks the purest nourishment."
He extended both hands, and on his ten fingers, droplets began to form, akin to the morning dew, emitting soft white light—spiritual liquid.
This was the Spirit Plant Technique reaching the Realm of Perfection—Ganlin Nourishing Technique!
"Go!"
With his soft command, those dozens of drops of pure vitality power coalesced into Ganlin, as if endowed with life, delicately and precisely landing on the stigma of each glazed flower!
"Buzz...buzz..."
As the Ganlin merged into the flower stigmas, Xiaguang Garden emitted a joyous hum.
The initially splendid glazed flowers seemed to have been injected with miraculous medicine, the colorful glow on the petals surged instantly!
Among them, one particularly thriving glazed flower sprouted a new bud beside the main blossom under the nourishment!
Then followed the second plant, third plant...
Ultimately, nearly a third of the glazed flowers miraculously bloomed a second flower!
One plant, two flowers!
This was an exceedingly rare spectacle in the cultivation history of glazed flowers!
It’s known that this flower is exceedingly precious, demanding extremely stringent growth conditions, for it to bloom one flower is a heavenly fortune.
Rumor has it only under the meticulous cultivation of Second Tier Spirit Plant Masters can the glazed flower be induced to bear two blossoms!
"Phew..."
Chen Ye slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the Xiaguang Garden which was more radiant than even in its glory days, revealing a genuine smile on his pale face.
"Uncle Chen... you... you succeeded!"
Beside him, Li Qiuyun, witnessing the fairyland-like scene, had her heroic eyes filled with admiration.
She was so excited that her words were somewhat incoherent,
"Such... such divine Spirit Plant Technique, if the sect were to know, surely... surely everyone would be astonished!"
"Astonished?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Ye slowly shook his head.
He looked at the garden full of blooming, dazzling flowers, his face devoid of much joy, instead showing a faintly amused smile.
"What use is astonishment?"
He said calmly,
"What the sect needs was never astonishment, but something tangible, that can be presented before the Golden Core True Men, thirty-three glazed flowers."