Lu Fengmian watched those figures flee as if for their lives, and finally understood what those strange looks along the way had really ant.
Elder Sun.
You really...
He silently shifted his gaze away and sighed inwardly.
Elder Sun had already returned to his kind and amiable smile and leaned in as he said, “Co, co, co, Little Brother Lu, what do you need? I’ll prepare it for you personally!”
Lu Fengmian steadied himself and began listing what he needed: “I need a piece of warm jade that dormant dragons like, spirit liquid to nourish the scales, and food suitable for a young dormant dragon...”
After hearing him out, Elder Sun grandly waved his hand.
“That’s all? Not enough, not enough!”
He turned toward the storeroom and shouted, “Old Wang! Bring over that bag of three-hundred-year-old dragon saliva fruit! And that thousand-year warm jade we collected last month, bring that too!”
Lu Fengmian: “...Martial Uncle Sun, that’s enough.”
“Still not enough!” Elder Sun said without even turning his head. “That Ink Jade Flood Dragon has an ancient bloodline. How could ordinary things possibly do? It must have the very best!”
“It’s really enough...”
“Bring another two bottles of jade marrow paste! That stuff is good for nourishing scales!”
“Martial Uncle Sun...”
“Right, right, and that scroll of ancient records about dormant dragons, make him a copy too!”
Lu Fengmian opened his mouth, then gave up again.
He watched Elder Sun direct the disciples to carry things in and out; in the ti it took for one stick of incense to burn, a small mountain had already piled up before him.
Spirit fruit, spirit liquid, spirit jade, ancient books... everything he needed was there.
He stood helplessly beside that pile of items and could only repeat again and again, “It’s enough, it’s really enough...”
No one paid him any attention.
When everything had finally been packed up, Elder Sun clapped his hands and looked at the result with satisfaction.
Then he leaned close to Lu Fengmian, his eyes full of yearning, almost fawning.
“Well then, Junior Disciple Lu.”
Alarm bells instantly went off in Lu Fengmian’s heart.
“Have you any interest,” Elder Sun said, rubbing his hands together, “in developing your career in the Spirit Beast Garden?”
Lu Fengmian: “...”
“Look,” Elder Sun urged, “your talent is so good, and spirit beasts are so close to you. Staying here with would definitely be much better than being a senior brother under Lingxuan! What could that steward housekeeper possibly teach you? This place is different. There are many spirit beasts here, and the resources are abundant. Whatever you want to research, we have it here!”
Lu Fengmian was silent for a mont.
Not to ntion whether he was willing.
In any case, the system definitely would not agree.
【Reminder to host: This system is bound to the identity of “Lingyun Sect Senior Brother” and cannot be changed.
The System tily issued a prompt.
Lu Fengmian: “...”
I knew it.
He tactfully said, “Martial Uncle Sun, many thanks for your kind intentions. It’s just that as the Sect Master’s first disciple, there are so matters...”
“Ah, I knew it.” Elder Sun sighed, a regretful expression appearing on his face. “That old fellow Lingxuan really had the luck of stepping in dog shit.”
He stuffed the last few items into Lu Fengmian’s arms, stepped back, and looked at him with an almost fatherly gaze.
“Everything is ready. If it’s still not enough, co back and take more; the doors of the Spirit Beast Garden will always be open to you.”
Lu Fengmian nodded, held the pile of things in his arms, and prepared to leave.
“Junior Disciple Lu—”
Elder Sun’s voice ca from behind him.
Lu Fengmian turned back.
Elder Sun stood in the doorway of the storeroom. Morning light spilled over his grizzled hair, and his aged face was full of reluctance.
He looked at Lu Fengmian, and his eyes had actually reddened slightly.
“If you have ti, co play often.”
Lu Fengmian: “...”
A chill ran down his spine. He quickened his pace and left without looking back.
Behind him, Elder Sun still stood where he was, tearfully watching him depart.
Only after that figure had completely disappeared from his line of sight did he withdraw his gaze and let out a long sigh.
What a good child.
Why couldn’t he have co from his Spirit Beast Garden?
*
Lu Fengmian walked quickly the whole way, only slowing once he was completely out of sight of the Spirit Beast Garden.
He lowered his head and looked at the pile of things in his arms. Recalling Elder Sun’s tearful old face, he could not help but shiver.
Too terrifying.
Far too terrifying.
He quickly returned to Luo Xia Peak and pushed open the side hall door.
The Ink Jade Flood Dragon was coiled on the pillow; hearing the sound, it lazily lifted its little head, its silver-white vertical pupils seeming to say three words:
Back so soon?
Seeing how solemnly serious it looked, Lu Fengmian could not help wanting to laugh.
He set down that pile of things and began building a new nest for this little ancestor.
Warm jade as the base, spirit spring jade dew placed to one side as a water basin, spirit fruit arranged as snacks...
The Ink Jade Flood Dragon slid down from the pillow, swam to his hand, and curiously watched him work.
Lu Fengmian lowered his head and t those bright, glittering eyes.
“Are you satisfied?”
The tip of the little dormant dragon’s tail lightly flicked, which counted as a response.
Lu Fengmian curled his lips and continued working.
Over the following few days, Lu Fengmian finally experienced firsthand what it felt like to be popular yet left with no peace.
Every day when he went out to do things, no matter where he went, he could feel gazes from all directions fixed on him.
He was far too familiar with that kind of look; in his previous life, that was the exact look he had used when he went to the zoo to see pandas.
The inner sect disciples looked at him, and the outer sect disciples also looked at him; the stewards in the assembly hall looked at him, and the masters in the dining hall looked at him; even those old nial disciples who squatted under the sect corridors all year round basking in the sun would straighten their backs and look at him respectfully when they saw him.
On the surface, Lu Fengmian maintained a smile, but deep inside, he had already begun thinking about how to hide away and reclaim a mont of peace.
Because of that, over the past few days, the routes he took had beco increasingly remote.
The main thoroughfares during peak hours? Avoid them.
The area around the martial practice hall? Take a huge detour around it.
The necessary path leading to the dining hall? Set out before dawn, finish eating, then run.
On this day, he once again set foot on that secluded forest trail.
It was called a trail, but in reality, it was just a prival forest between two mountain peaks. Even service disciples normally did not like taking this road, because it was distant and isolated, and taking the detour would add another half hour.
But for the current Lu Fengmian, this road was practically heaven.
He walked along the path. Around him there was only the rustling sound of wind through leaves and the occasional birdcall. At last, he no longer had to worry about a disciple with burning eyes suddenly popping out.
Lu Fengmian let out a satisfied sigh. Thinking back on the experiences of the past few days, he could not help shaking his head and sighing.
This illustrious Lingyun Sect Senior Brother actually had to sneak through a small forest to go out.
Who would believe it?
He decided that until everyone lost interest in this matter, he would keep taking this road.
Just as he was thinking about this, his footsteps suddenly paused slightly.
There seed to be movent ahead, like the dull heavy thud made when a fist struck sothing.
Lu Fengmian slightly raised his brows.
Seriously? This road was so remote, and there was still soone here?
Before he could think it through, his body had already moved faster than his brain.
By the ti he ca back to himself, he had already leaped onto the nearest big tree, landing steadily among the branches and using the dense leaves to conceal himself.
He sat in the tree and looked downward.
In the mottled light and shadow cast by the trees, a young man was throwing punches.
He wore the clothes of an outer sect disciple, already washed to a pale color. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing lean but sturdy forearms.
His forehead was covered in sweat, and a large patch of cloth on his back was soaked through as well. Clearly, he had already been practicing for a long ti.
One punch after another.
Every punch was simple and unadorned, with no fancy movents at all, just the most ordinary straight punch. But each ti he threw a punch, Lu Fengmian could clearly see ripples spreading through the air.
This was genuine hard work.
From the tree, Lu Fengmian watched with great interest.
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