My Master Disconnected Yet Again

The shortie had been in Invincible Sect for nearly a month now. Apart from being unfortunate and getting injured exceptionally often, she was mostly fine. The only thing that could not be changed was the offerings she made to Shen Ying three times a day each day. Shen Ying could not figure out where she got them from, but she would find a small pastry, or a bag of snacks, or various fruits neatly arranged outside her window each morning.

No matter how hard Shen Ying tried to make clear that she did not want them, the shortie did not seem able to kick the habit.

One fine day, as she carried a bunch of wildflowers into the sect, she bumped into Radish. Radish got so angry that it looked like it was about to explode. Both of them were young, so they began to fight. Radish insisted that only she had the privilege of giving Shen Ying’s flowers – it refused to let Shortie go anywhere near Shen Ying with the wildflowers. Radish tried to force the wildflowers out of Shortie’s hands and exchange them for its own dandelions. It even said that if Shortie ever wanted to give Shen Ying flowers again, she would have to ask for Radish’s.

After that, not a single wildflower appeared outside of Shen Ying’s window.

Shen Ying glanced at the three dandelions which were stuck outside her window. They stood straight up like three joss sticks. Each time the wind blew, they would lose a few of their flowers. She pursed her lips. Is this… the equivalent of the three joss sticks Shortie would offer at the tablet?

-_-|||

“Sect Master, Elder Lonemoon is here.” Yu Hong held Shortie’s hand as they walked into the hall. She had not seen Shortie in a few days; it seemed that she had grown a couple of inches. She was now almost at Yu Hong’s upper arm.

“Divine Immortal, please return…” Just as she entered the rear hall, Xuan Tong’s eyes brightened up. She was just about to run to Shen Ying’s side, but stopped herself, as if remembering something. She bowed to Shen Ying, just like Yu Hong did. “Xuan Tong greets Sect Master and two Elders.”

“Xuan Tong, did you throw these things around the house?” Lonemoon asked.

Xuan Tong flushed and nodded. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“They’re offerings to Divine… Sect Master.”

Lonemoon felt a headache coming on. “You’re already a disciple of our sect. You don’t have to make offerings.” She’s taking all of these things from their sect!She was lucky enough that Yi Qing hadn’t beaten her up yet.

“But… but I promised Divine Immortal!” She exclaimed seriously. “Big Sister Hong says humans must keep their word, and immortals should do so all the more. I have to keep my promises!” Divine Immortal protected her and she promised to make offerings every single day. She could not go back on her word.

Lonemoon: “…”

Yu Hong, who was implicated: “…”

“What’s more…” She frowned and looked a little indignant. She turned to Shen Ying. “I have not seen Divine Immortal for a few days. I thought… thought…”thought that she didn’t want me anymore. Her voice faded. Awhile later, she continued, “I knew Divine Immortal would come back, so… This time, I’m ready to only offer food with long shelf lives. They won’t spoil.” It was not easy for her to find the food. She spent a long time digging for them.

The true owner of the food with long shelf lives: “…” I really want to throw her down the mountain.

“Did I… do something wrong?” Xuan Tong looked around at everybody, confused.

“…” Lonemoon frowned. He could not say that she did anything wrong. He sighed, not knowing how to help the child, whose good intentions turned out so badly. She was still a child after all! He turned to Shen Ying and said, “Hey, she’s your fan. You call the shots!” I’m washing my hands off this!

Shen Ying stopped chewing on her fruit. She turned to face the little girl, who was still staring at her, eyes twinkling. She hadn’t even eaten, and now she was expected to educate the child… How troublesome!

She sighed and walked toward the child.

“Hey… Shortie!”

“Sect Master Divine Immortal,” Xuan Tong greeted, straightening her back. She looked absolutely enchanted. Heh heh heh… Divine Immortal is finally speaking to me!

“Let me tell you a secret.”

“Huh?” She stared expectantly at Shen Ying.

“Actually, we don’t normally offer food to Divine Immortals, so it’s utterly… useless for you to offer these things!” Those are just vegetables that are used as garnishing!

“Re… really?” She looked stumped. She slouched, looking like a deflated balloon. Her eyes began to well up, as if she would burst into tears at any time. “Well… well, what should I give as offerings then?”

“That’s difficult. You won’t be able to learn it in an hour and a half.”

“I’m not afraid! Please teach me, Sect Master. I will do it!”

“Good! Then…” She turned around and pointed toward the inside of the house. Very seriously, she instructed, “Put all those things back where they came from first!”

“I’ll do it right away!”

She grinned and bent over to pick up all the vegetables she had plucked.

Lonemoon: “…”

Is this negligence? This is definitely negligence. She just wanted someone to clear the house, didn’t she? She wouldn’t even let a child off! Are you not ashamed of yourself?

“Come, I have a storage bag. It might be more convenient for you to use it.”

“Thank you Sect Master!”

“You’re welcome. After you’re done replanting them, just come back and clean the house. I’ll be very impressed with you if you do well.”

“Yes, Sect Master! No problem, Sect Master!”

Lonemoon: “…” F*cking retard.

Wait, Yu Hong, what kind of look are you giving her! Don’t learn from Shen Ying, and don’t teach the other disciples this!

——————

The little child looked elated as she grabbed the storage back and ran toward the garden. Yu Hong seriously contemplated whether she should help Shen Ying re-plant the vegetables. Afterall, that was how Xuan Tong got complimented!

Oh, how she envied her…

“Sect Master, two Elders, about Junior Sister Xuan Tong… Your disciple has something to report.” Yu Hong suddenly recalled the matter at hand and momentarily suppressed her urge to follow the child. Yes, I will wait until I report the matter before I follow the child to the garden!

“What’s the matter?” Lonemoon looked up.

“It’s about her cultivation level,” Yu Hong said with some difficulty. “She is naturally weak and is not fit for body cultivation, so the sect’s way of training would not work with her. She would not be able to follow it. She’s not going to be able to train her sword techniques either. Bitao was the one who taught her how to gather Qi into her body, but he is a Dan cultivator, with fire-elemental character. Junior Sister is the only one who has a water-elemental spirit root. She’s not suited to continue learning from Bitao.”

That was indeed a problem.

“She’s the only one with water-elemental spirit root!” Qi Chengyu exclaimed and looked at the other three in shock. “Could she also be…”

Lonemoon stayed silent for a few seconds before he nodded. “That’s right.”

Qi Chengyu clenched her fists by her side. She knew full well the kind of fate that awaited someone with a pure Yin body-type. Although they were in the immortal realm, and she would not live as miserable a life as Qi Chengyu did. Shortie’s body would still be ideal for training various immortal weapons and immortal pills.

“Let me do it. I’ll teach her.” She also had a pure Yin body-type. Nobody understood the training methods better than she did.

Lonemoon shook her head. He suppressed his urge to talk about the plot. “She already knows how to take Qi into her body. Unless she restarts her entire training… Afterall, you are… Eh? Your skills!”

It was only then that he realised there was immortal Qi surrounding Qi Chengyu, and not demonic or Yin Qi.

“I trained as a demon only to take revenge.” Qi Chengyu smiled wryly, “Once I got to the Azure World, I got rid of all my skills and re-cultivated. Now, I am an immortal cultivator.”

“That’s quick!” Lonemoon could not believe his ears. It was a painful process for an ordinary mortal to get rid of all the skills and training that she learned. Qi Chengyu even had to re-train her Qi from the beginning. She actually managed to do all of this in a few short years!

“It wasn’t quick. I spent a full 500 years doing that.” It was also because she restarted twice that she did not manage to go through the Lightning Tribulation and became a spirit.

“500 years!” Lonemoon exclaimed. “How can that be? Has it not only been a few…” Wait! Could it be that there was a difference in the way time worked in the immortal realm and the mortal realm?

“How long after you restarted did you make your way to the upper world?”

Qi Chengyu counted in her head and answered, “200 years.”

“…” Did she really spend 700 years looking for them in the lower realm? By the looks of it, a day in the upper realm was akin to a year in the lower realm.

He turned to look at Qi Chengyu admiringly. “You’ve restarted twice and managed to ascend to immortality in just 200 years. That’s very impressive already.”

“That’s right.” Yi Qing nodded. She was indeed someone saved by Master. “Ordinary cultivators would need about that long to become a Soul Formation.

Qi Chengyu: “…”

Feng Ying: “…”

Why did it feel like Lonemoon and Yi Qing were mocking them?