Stinky Senior Brother, despicable Senior Brother. He wouldn't even give me a few Spirit Pills, HMPH... In the past, as the Demon Emperor, I had as many as I wanted; I even ate ninth-grade Spirit Pills like snacks! He even took back that shabby skirt.
Guang Xiaoyu cursed inwardly. She decided that once her cultivation recovered, she would definitely suppress Chen Pingping in an outhouse for ten thousand years—not a year less.
But for now! I must endure humiliation and cultivate diligently. After all, I'm only at the fifth level of Breaking Sun and still need Senior Brother for many things.
「Nightfall!」
She sneaked into the cowshed. Carefully sensing the Spirit Qi around Lao Huang, the ox, she found it was indeed richer than in other places.
This ox is no ordinary creature! A Spiritual Beast? But as the Demon Emperor, I've seen plants and trees gain sentience, and common wild animals develop spiritual intelligence, but I've never seen domestic livestock do so. This is too strange.
When Lao Huang saw her, it lowed a few times, signaling her to leave quickly and not disturb its rest.
Guang Xiaoyu suddenly laughed, "We fought side by side during the day! And now you're sick of me?"
Leaving is out of the question. Since this Lao Huang has a Spirit Gathering effect, I'm staying in the cowshed no matter what.
Hmm! I wonder if Senior Brother knows about Lao Huang's unusual nature?
「Meanwhile, on the other side.」
Chen Pingping, who was preparing for bed, was startled awake by the system's voice.
System Notification: A "Descendant of the Ancient Phoenix" has appeared outside the borders of Stone Country. Please proceed immediately to Stone Country to tame the Descendant of the Ancient Phoenix.
Oh? A mission has arrived.
Chen Pingping narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the quest: "Stone Country, Descendant of the Ancient Phoenix."
If I'm not mistaken, it's probably a chicken, right?
When he tamed that little black dog last time, the system even called it a "Demon Emperor"! He had been excited for a very long time, only to end up raising a creature that grew increasingly dull-witted over the half-year he'd had it.
I seriously suspect this dog has regressed to its ancestral state.
「In the cowshed!」
It really does have a Spirit Gathering effect! The circulation speed of my Zhou Tian is increasing. At this rate, I'll be able to enter the Condensed Soul Realm within half a year.
Guang Xiaoyu snickered to herself.
After a few days, she took the initiative to care for Lao Huang's daily life: feeding, bathing, and even at night, she would lay down and sleep right there in the cowshed.
The longer she spent with him, the more extraordinary she found Lao Huang to be.
He's too intelligent. Those eyes look as if they could speak. But it's clearly just a domestic animal. Although it can gather Spirit Qi, there are no spiritual energy fluctuations within its body.
"Lao Huang, do you know you're an ox?"
"Why are you glaring at me? Don't be like that!"
"Hehe... from now on, you'll follow me! Don't stay with Senior Brother anymore. He's just a mortal; he can't give you the happiness you want, believe me," Guang Xiaoyu cajoled.
Just then, Baili Jiansan happened to come by and saw this scene. He froze for a moment, his expression instantly darkening.
On the hillside, a girl and an ox.
The ox was grazing, the girl was chattering.
This scene before him, how familiar it was.
Isn't this Chen Pingping's way of life?
Baili Jiansan hurried over. "Xiaoyu, what are you doing?"
He was heartbroken.
It was one thing for Chen Pingping not to cultivate diligently, but to think he would lead Guang Xiaoyu astray! She was Qingfeng's only hope, after all.
"Oh? Good morning, Headmaster!" Guang Xiaoyu turned around. "I'm feeding the ox!"
"..."
Baili Jiansan's face turned ashen. "Xiaoyu! Although your aptitude is a bit lacking, you can still cultivate. You are far more promising than your Senior Brother. So, let your Senior Brother do things like tending the ox, alright?"
Guang Xiaoyu: "???"
What is he saying? How could I let Senior Brother do it? I, the Demon Emperor, have just started building a rapport with Lao Huang!
"You, come here. I have something to tell you," Baili Jiansan said helplessly, and proceeded to explain the agreement between the Wuji Sect and Stone Country...
He added, "Of course, I'll respect your opinion. If you don't want to go to Stone Country, that's fine too."
To preserve Qingfeng's last hope, he was like a worried father; otherwise, his tone would have been, "You will go to the duel next year."
The winner of the new disciples' competition was obligated to go to Stone Country to fulfill the agreement.
Guang Xiaoyu raised her eyebrows and asked, "What did my Senior Brother say?"
Baili Jiansan replied, "He said it's up to you to decide."
As expected… there isn't a single good man in the world. I, the Demon Emperor, just made significant contributions to Qingfeng, and now Senior Brother is abandoning me. Despicable!
Guang Xiaoyu thought for a moment and asked, "Are there any rewards?"
Baili Jiansan answered, "No, but... my Master might have something. This duel could very likely conceal a Great Opportunity."
After hesitating for several days, he finally decided to let Qingfeng make the choice.
Because he too didn't know what exactly this so-called Great Opportunity was.
Guang Xiaoyu hesitated.
"You need to think this through carefully. The one from Stone Country is a Divine Body," Baili Jiansan said gravely. "You are different from her. It's only because a Great Opportunity might be hidden behind this duel that I came to discuss it with you."
As her martial uncle, he felt he should protect his junior martial sister's disciple.
But he was also the Sect Leader of the Wuji Sect, and often his hands were tied.
What difference could there be? Guang Xiaoyu inwardly scoffed. I am the Demon Emperor! Suppressing a Divine Body would be a simple matter. If there were no rewards, no Great Opportunity, I definitely wouldn't go to Stone Country; I wouldn't even bother to look. However, those words, 'Great Opportunity,' deeply attracted me…
Guang Xiaoyu nodded. "I'll go!"
"You can take more time to consider," Baili Jiansan said. "The duel is next year; there are still several months."
"No need!" she shook her head.
"Are you sure?" Baili Jiansan asked solemnly.
"Sure!"
"Alright. Since you've made your choice, as Sect Leader, I should support you. In the coming months, if you have any questions, you can come to me—including about... cultivation..." he said.
WOW!
Guang Xiaoyu loved to hear such words and immediately said excitedly, "Just give me tens of thousands of Spirit Stones and a few hundred Spirit Pills!"
"..."
Cultivation resources in the Wuji Sect had always been scarce, though they had an abundance of cultivation techniques.
Baili Jiansan led her into the Book Collection Pavilion: "Three hundred cultivation methods, eight hundred Attack Skills, including Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Sword Dao, Fist Arts, and Fist Skill..."
"Are there any Divine Skills?" Guang Xiaoyu asked.
"No!" His face stiffened.
"Then? Are there any Emperor Scriptures?"
"..."
I am the Demon Emperor, after all! Ordinary cultivation techniques naturally wouldn't catch my eye.
After looking around twice, Guang Xiaoyu lost interest.
Seeing this, Baili Jiansan couldn't help but say, "Are you sure you don't want to pick a few? Anything at all. There are many high-level cultivation methods."
Guang Xiaoyu shook her head and walked straight out.
The stunned Baili Jiansan watched her departing figure, feeling quite dejected. It seemed the cultivation techniques painstakingly collected by the Wuji Sect for generations were being snubbed!
After returning to Qingfeng, she found a letter in Chen Pingping's room. The message was simple: "Cultivate diligently, take good care of Lao Huang. I'm off to Stone Country."
Guang Xiaoyu immediately became unsettled. Could Senior Brother be planning to secretly go to the duel? A disheartened mortal, for my sake, is actually… disregarding the danger to his own life to challenge a Divine Body? WHIMPER! I'm so touched! I, the Demon Emperor, misjudged Senior Brother.