Chapter 28 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The sky was clear, and there was a gentle breeze as the sun warmed up the surroundings.

In one of the accommodations of the Nine Jiu Immortals on the Heaven-Breaking Peak…

Jiu Wu supported his back with his hand. His five-feet-tall body swayed in front of his own building, as his immortal powers flowed weakly. He no longer felt exhausted.

Three days had pa.s.sed since he and Jiu s.h.i.+ had returned from the Little Qiong Peak. He just sent his Dao companion into seclusion. In his heart, he began to think about whether he should continue cultivating or walk around the Bai Fan Hall.

At that moment, a huge wine gourd landed from above.

Jiu Wu immediately perked up and clasped his hands behind his back, looking as serious as he would on any ordinary day. He cleared his throat and shouted, “Little Jiu! Come to Senior Brother’s for a while.”

“Senior Brother? I was going to look for you. I brought you what you wanted… Ha…”

Jiu Jiu stuck out her head from the wine gourd. Unable to hold in her yawn, she put her hand over her mouth. Jiu Wu noted that even her body seemed to be slumped over.

The wine gourd swayed back and forth and finally landed in front of Jiu Wu’s building.

The Nine Jiu Immortals each had great potential. They were also some of the best cultivators of their generation. Apart from Jiu Jiu, each of them had developed their own ‘side occupation’.

Jiu s.h.i.+ was an expert in refining equipment and treasures, while Jiu Wu was an expert in brewing wine and refining pills. Thus, every corner of the ground floor of Jiu Wu’s building was filled with wine vats, materials for treasure, and pill furnaces.

It was obvious that this was the source of Jiu Jiu’s habit of not cleaning up after herself. The only difference was her habit seemed to be more intensified.

Jiu Wu yawned again. Treating Jiu Wu’s house like her own, she sat at a round table without invitation and threw a little cage over to Jiu Wu.

“Senior Brother, this is the little spider you wanted. Don’t kill it. Don’t you feel embarra.s.sed asking a junior for things all the time?!”

“It’s rare that you didn’t forget,” answered Jiu Wu. He opened the wooden cage and glanced at the black cloth. A grin spread across his face.

There was a pair of spiders inside, which were separated from each other. Each of them had three huge heads and many strong pupils.

Jiu Jiu yawned once again, looking exhausted. “Senior Brother, if there’s nothing else, I’m going home.”

“Wait, let me look for some things.” Jiu Wu jogged to a cool, dark place in his house and hung the cage there. Then, he turned around and jogged to a bookshelf.

Jiu Jiu slumped onto the table listlessly. “Senior Brother, what are you doing? I’m very tired now. I want to drink something and sleep for a few days.”

‘Tired?’

Jiu Wu, who had been searching the bookshelf, turned around to study Jiu Jiu. It was only then that he recalled he could not tell his junior sister’s cultivation level just by looking at her now, much less her physical situation.

However, when he thought about the scene he witnessed in the Pill Chamber, he immediately sighed in his heart. He felt the sadness of a father.

‘Forget it, when a girl is of age, she must be married off. Dao companions are prevalent in the sect. My Junior Sister would not be able to escape her fate…

‘Where did this practice come from?

‘One had to look at the older generation of Heaven Immortals. Among the ten-odd elders of our Immortal Du Sect, there were four pairs of loving Dao companions. The young follow the examples set by the old. There’s really no one else to blame.’

Jiu Jiu sighed in frustration as she lay on the table, thinking about her experience refining pills with a certain martial nephew…

Although it was an interesting and curious experience, and her martial nephew gave her many benefits, including poisonous pills that could poison Perfected Immortals, she could not relax the entire time. To her, this was quite exhausting.

Jiu Jiu had never felt this tired in her life. Faintly, Jiu Jiu mumbled, “He is just a kid in the Void Return Realm, yet he was able to torment me for so long. I’m so tired!”

Crack!

The jade slip in Jiu Wu’s hand slipped out and landed on the floor. The short Daoist raised his hand and heaved a long sigh. His eyes began to well up.

‘Little Jiu has really… grown up…’

It was finally time for this Fifth Senior Brother, who had played her father for so long, to let her enjoy her life of cultivation.

Jiu Wu picked up the jade slip once again and looked at the huge words carved into it.

‘Overall Principles of Array Formations, by the useless w.a.n.g Qing.’

Jiu Wu took two more jade slips out from the bookshelf’s corner before walking back towards Jiu Jiu.

“Little Jiu, hand these things to Martial Nephew Changshou on my behalf,” said Jiu Wu warmly as he used his immortal powers to transport the jade slips in front of Jiu Jiu. “These are outlines of array formations written by Master, as well as the lessons Third Senior Sister and I have learned after studying array formations all these years.”

“Eh?” Jiu Jiu picked up the jade slips and then threw them into her storage Dharma treasure. Confused, she asked, “Senior Brother, why are you suddenly so concerned about Little Shoushou?”

‘Little… Little Shoushou? Didn’t I only develop a nickname like that for Little s.h.i.+ s.h.i.+ when we were flirting?’

Jiu Wu raised his head and sucked in a deep breath. Then, with a kind and warm smile on his face, he said gently, “After we met in the North Continent the last time, I realized he is quite an earnest young man. That’s right. Your Fourth Senior Sister has also made several new clothes for you.”

Jiu Wu retrieved a sack and handed it to Jiu Jiu.

“Here are some rouge and jewelry for women as well. If you like them, you can ask your Senior Sister to make more for you…”

“Clothes? What clothes?”

Jiu Jiu picked up the sack and reached in, pulling out a thin, gauzy dress at random. Immediately, a few black lines appeared on her forehead.

“Senior Brother… since when have I worn something like that?”

“Cough, don’t blame your Senior Brother for being nosy. Junior Sister, although you are naturally beautiful, you need to dress up once in a while. That’s right, did you and Martial Nephew Changshou… start two years ago?”

“Two years ago? Start?”

Jiu Jiu scanned Jiu Wu from head to toe, frowning and pursing her lips. Suddenly, she threw the gauzy dress back into the sack. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, she asked, “Don’t tell me that you think Little Shoushou and I are together!?”

Jiu Wu paused. “Aren’t you?”

“Pfft!” Jiu Jiu made a face of disgust. “What do you take your Junior Sister for?! Am I the kind who would go after martial nephews?! I can’t bring myself to go after young, tender fles.h.!.+”