Three months later, deep in the East Sea, above the Crystal Palace.
After a series of events—the dragon prince's rebellion, the Dragon Mother's pleas, the Dragon King's order for a thorough investigation—a fish-spirit musician who had been teaching the dragon prince was made the scapegoat, sliced on the spot, seasoned with scallions, ginger, vinegar, and garlic...
What a pity, what a tragedy.
The Primordial still had no wasabi, so the art of sashimi remained incomplete.
Now, the Dragon Palace's Second Prince Ao Yi was bound inside a massive immortal clam-shell vessel, speeding toward the border between the Southern and East Seas.
Inside the vessel, besides Ao Yi, there were only a few celestial flood dragon soldiers and a turtle immortal with completely white eyebrows and beard.
This long-retired turtle immortal sat beside Ao Yi, sighing as he urged:
"Your Highness, why must you insist on this little Du Xian Sect?
What virtue or ability does the Du Xian Sect possess? Even if His Majesty allowed you to go there as a disciple, they wouldn't dare accept you.
Moreover, you should consider His Majesty's position. He has already gone against all opposition, silencing every voice, to allow you to leave and apprentice at a Sage's door!
This time, this old minister will set aside my dignity and take you to apprentice under the great immortal Wu Yunxian, a disciple of the Jie Teaching's Three Sages.
Although this great immortal isn't widely renowned, he leads the Seven Attendant Immortals of the Jie Teaching and is deeply favored by the Daoist Three Sages. His origin is also that of a golden tortoise, making him of the same clan as this old minister. We had some dealings in the past.
Your Highness, this should satisfy your wishes.
Please, whatever you do, don't cause any more major incidents!"
Ao Yi turned his head to the side, his expression still carrying a trace of unwillingness.
But after all, he was only ten years old. Although he had received many years of "egg education," he had truly been out in the world for only a decade.
The old turtle kept persuading him, and Ao Yi gradually began to hesitate.
"Does this great immortal possess the Sage's wondrous techniques?"
"Of course!"
The turtle immortal seized the opportunity and began telling Ao Yi how magnificent this great immortal Wu Yunxian was, how favored he was by the Grand Pure One, Lord Tongtian, yet how extremely low-key he was, never showing off outside.
Soon, the turtle immortal sighed again and used voice transmission to tell Ao Yi:
"Your Highness, this old minister can see what you're trying to do, but this matter isn't as simple as you think. It's not just about making a fuss and expecting good results.
Illusory splendor is like a dream; when the dream ends, reality hits like ice. No one wants to wake from it.
You must understand His Majesty—he sits at the very top of the dragon race's hierarchy. He cannot act lightly. If he moves and fails, the entire edifice will be in danger."
Ao Yi's face showed contemplation, then he slowly nodded.
*'In any case, once I leave the Dragon Palace, with the vastness of the Primordial, I can roam freely as I please!'*
Apprenticing under a great immortal was still leveraging his status as the Dragon Palace's second prince—how did that address the Dragon Palace's predicament?
How many other Dragon Palace disciples could apprentice under such a great immortal?
What he sought was the path forward for the dragon race, not just the path forward for the East Sea Dragon King's second prince!
For now, he would placate this old minister. The future could be dealt with later.
In the howling sea wind, Ao Yi gradually showed a hint of a smile, acting "innocent" as befitting his age. The turtle immortal gradually relaxed.
...
Du Xian Sect, deep in the dense forest of Potian Peak, where the nine "Jiu" immortals cultivated.
Jiu Jiu's large gourd floated back from the direction of Xiaoqiong Peak. She seemed to have lost all strength, trudging back to her small tower dejectedly, then slowly sitting down on the wooden steps before it, her body gradually reclining.
Her entire body was limp like a melted clay figurine, clutching her large gourd, lying there sighing long and loud...
"So boring. Little Shou Shou has only been in seclusion for three months, but it feels like three years. No one's around to play with me anymore...
Sigh, all the senior sisters have senior brothers to accompany them, and the senior brothers go off to accompany others.
First Senior Sister and Second Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Sister and Fifth Senior Brother, Sixth Senior Sister and Seventh Senior Brother. I finally thought Eighth Senior Brother would be paired with Ninth Junior Sister, but unexpectedly, Eighth Senior Brother followed Third Senior Sister's example and defected from Potian Peak...
Sigh, poor old ninth junior sister—just because she's an odd number, she has to be alone and unaccompanied...
And on top of that, I'm Master's final disciple, so..."
The window of the adjacent small tower pushed open. Radiant and rejuvenated—as if she had become several hundred years younger—Jiu Shi poked her head out toward this side. Hearing Jiu Jiu's muttering, she couldn't help but laugh.
Jiu Shi floated out from the window, like a fairy from a painting in rainbow robes, descending gracefully beside Jiu Jiu. She sat on the wooden steps and reached out to pinch Jiu Jiu's nose tip.
"Senior Sister," Jiu Jiu grabbed Jiu Shi in return, eyes closed as she wailed, "come with me to Xiaoqiong Peak! I want to play 'Battle the Great Spirit'! I want to play 'Simulated Immortal Life'!"
Jiu Shi laughed softly and patted her little junior sister's head. "Silly junior sister, Xiaoqiong Peak—is that a place I can go?"
"Hmm? Why can't you go, Senior Sister?"
"If I went, wouldn't you feel awkward?"
"This... awkward about what?"
Jiu Jiu tilted her head. "Fourth Senior Sister, are you misunderstanding something? Little Shou Shou and I have a purely junior-aunt-and-nephew relationship."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Jiu Shi squinted with a smile, her gaze full of predatory intensity.
Jiu Jiu couldn't help but blink and shrink her neck. "No... it is?"
"Yes, a purely junior aunt and nephew refining pills and setting up formations together every day, in constant close contact, intimate as can be."
"We're not intimate as can be! He's sick!"
Jiu Shi was taken aback. "What illness? Does Senior Nephew Changshou have a hidden ailment? That's a serious matter."
"It's not a hidden ailment. Little Shou Shou can't be touched by any woman besides his junior sister, or he goes into convulsions."
Jiu Jiu continued: "His junior sister grew up under his watch, so that's fine. And with me, if it's limited to fist bumps or high-fives, that works too."
Jiu Shi folded her arms in thought, then suddenly asked, "How did this condition come about? Can you tell me in detail?"
"It was when I took Little Shou Shou to the Northern Continent last time..."
A moment later, Jiu Shi was holding her ninth junior sister, laughing so hard her body shook, whispering something in Jiu Jiu's ear. Jiu Jiu froze, then couldn't help but slap her own forehead.
"This guy actually dared to trick this junior aunt!"
"Hey, calm down, Little Jiu. A man who preserves his purity is a rare treasure in this world. Don't let him slip away."
Jiu Jiu blushed furiously, stamping her feet in frustration. "Senior Sister, what nonsense are you talking! How could I possibly—with—! Ah, I'm going back to seclusion!"
"Weren't you supposed to be a guard at the Training Assembly in a few days?"
"Oh, right... Can't I go into seclusion for a few days first!"
Jiu Jiu spun around and headed toward her tower. Jiu Shi chuckled softly and floated after her.
"Little Jiu Jiu, why so shy with Fourth Senior Sister? Let Fourth Senior Sister teach you how to dress up..."
"Eww, no thanks."
"Come on, let Fourth Senior Sister see how my little Jiu's figure looks nowadays."
"Fourth Senior Sister, don't touch me there... Stop it, aiyah!"
As the sun set, the cheerful laughter and chatter of the two immortals drifted back and forth nearby.
In the adjacent small tower, a short Daoist with sunken eyes and gaunt face shook his head and casually activated the formations outside Jiu Jiu's tower.
Then, the short Daoist looked at the "Tonic Feast of Supreme Fortification" laid out on the table before him and couldn't help but twitch his mouth several times...
For this Training Assembly, Jiu Jiu would again serve as a guard in the Northern Jambu Continent. Due to a minor incident last time, the sect had dispatched an additional True Immortal to accompany her.
However, this time only two people were going to the Northern Continent.
On the day of the Training Assembly, the current generation's publicly acknowledged foremost disciple, Youqin Xuanya—whose reputation within the sect had been growing ever higher—arrived on time with her great sword strapped to her back, wearing that fire-red long skirt.
But after waiting until everyone had been assigned to their teams, she did not participate in this training. Instead, she turned and returned to her cave dwelling for seclusion.
Thus, the two disciples heading to the Northern Jambu Continent received the extraordinary treatment of having a dedicated True Immortal secretly guarding them, one-on-one...
A round trip to the Northern Jambu Continent took roughly a month. Added to the several months after her return, Jiu Jiu had been pondering the words Fourth Senior Sister had said.
Gradually, Jiu Jiu—who had originally believed she had no romantic feelings for Li Changshou and simply enjoyed his company—began to doubt herself.
Could it be that she had truly developed feelings for Little Changshou without realizing it?
That couldn't be right. Although the junior-aunt-and-nephew dynamic was a little thrilling, she had always treated Little Changshou as a junior to care for. She had just... accidentally been won over by his constant attentiveness.
The more she thought about it, the more tangled she became, until she couldn't even find peace in meditation.
Several months passed like this. When a paper crane carrying news of Li Changshou's emergence from seclusion landed in her hands, Jiu Jiu immediately leaped up with joy.
Then she froze.
"Could it be... have I really fallen for a senior nephew who's barely over a hundred years old?"
*'Some questions, you only know the answer once you ask.'*
Fourth Senior Sister's laughter still echoed in her ears. Jiu Jiu sat on her bed in deep contemplation, then finally raised her fist and slammed the bed frame.
What was there to fear? Just ask!
Right away, Jiu Jiu changed into a clean set of linen robes and rode her large gourd to Xiaoqiong Peak.
This time, Li Changshou was going to refine poison pills to prepare for his upcoming tribulation departure.
When Jiu Jiu arrived, Li Changshou had already prepared various poisonous herbs and encased himself layer upon layer in protective equipment.
After Jiu Jiu first put on the cumbersome "protective suit," she had refused Li Changshou's劝说 to wear it a second time. This forced Li Changshou to exercise extra caution each time he refined poison pills, carefully controlling the toxin flow to avoid accidentally harming the junior aunt providing immortal qi support.
During the refining, the two chatted occasionally, as usual.
But Jiu Jiu kept hearing Fourth Senior Sister's words in her mind. Over the sixteen-hour refining process, she wanted to speak dozens of times but couldn't find the right context.
*'Just one question—why is it so hard to say?'*
*'Could it be that I actually...'*
*'Impossible! Am I the type of old cow who eats tender grass?*
*Ask!*
*Just ask and it'll be fine!'*
Jiu Jiu took a deep breath, raised her hand to brush the hair beside her ear, and looked at Li Changshou, who was focused on the pill-formation stage at her side.
She used all her strength to produce the weakest possible tone:
"I... this time... how did I do... with the refining?"
"As excellent as always," Li Changshou replied with a smile from inside his protective dome. "Junior Aunt, your immortal qi truly made a huge difference."
The poison pill trembled slightly. Li Changshou immediately adjusted the medicinal potency.
Jiu Jiu blinked and lowered her voice further...
"Then, Senior Nephew Changshou... what do you think of... Junior Aunt..."
At the critical moment of pill formation, Li Changshou was fully focused on controlling the poison pill's properties. Wearing so many protective devices and with Jiu Jiu's voice so faint, he didn't hear clearly—he only caught "Senior Nephew" and "what do you think."
But the topic they had been discussing before seemed to be...
Li Changshou nodded gently, not turning his head, and smiled as he said:
"Very strong, and very stable, and most remarkably, very pure—with absolutely no impurities."
He paused, brow furrowed, staring at the poison pill about to form in the furnace, then added:
"If only I could have that too."
Jiu Jiu's mouth fell open. She instantly petrified, one finger pointed at Li Changshou, but the fingertip trembled wildly.
"Do—do you know what you're saying?"
Li Changshou answered, "What's wrong? Is something off?"
Of course something was off!
Very strong, and most remarkably very pure—pure to the point of having no impurities...
If only I could have that too...
Have—have what?
This—this—this was the height of indecency!
Jiu Jiu's slightly rounded pretty face instantly flushed crimson. The blush spread from her neck all the way down, and wisps of white steam rose from her forehead.
She stumbled half a step back, wanting to say something, but only trembles came out. She spun and dashed into the distance, and after two steps she was soaring through the air, flying blindly toward Potian Peak.
"Hm?"
Li Changshou, disturbed by the rush of wind, looked over with some confusion.
She left?
Without even taking today's payment wine?
Junior Aunt Jiu Jiu's immortal qi was indeed very stable, very strong, and very pure. Otherwise, the first batch couldn't have reached the pill-formation stage, saving the eight other sets of materials he had prepared.
If only he could have such rich and pure immortal qi. But he was approaching his tribulation soon too...
Wait—had Junior Aunt misunderstood something? Li Changshou quickly realized it.
Never mind. Focus your mind and prepare for pill formation.
He could clear things up with her later.
Among the peaks of the Du Xian Sect...
Jiu Jiu, riding her large gourd at breakneck speed, yanked the wine gourd from her waist, tilted her head back, and chugged—*gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp*—then like an arrow loosed from the bow, she crashed straight into the forested mountainside of Potian Peak. The entire grove shuddered from the impact, birds scattering in all directions...
Under a tree in the forest, among fallen leaves and grass, the young fairy in linen robes lay there, one delicate hand covering her face, her breathing ragged.
But soon, she let out a soft sigh. Her lovely cheeks still carried a hint of flush. One fair arm shielded her eyes from the dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy; the other arm rose to shade her forehead.
"Very pure...
Pfft, what nonsense. Truly."
She fished out a treasure pouch at random. Inside were exactly those colorful, flowery immortal gowns that Fifth Senior Brother had brought over—made for her by Fourth Senior Sister.
"What am I thinking again! That's a senior nephew!"
Jiu Jiu hastily threw the pouch away. But no sooner had she tossed it than she turned to look back.
Just a try—would it really be so bad? As long as no one else saw...