CHAPTER 114: CHAPTER 107: QIUYUN EMBARRASSED, CHEN YE COMES TO THE RESCUE

Chen Ye couldn’t help but glance out the window.

Only to see outside the Spirit Ship, a few disciples were flying on their swords, playing around the ship with bursts of exclamations.

Among them, there was a long-haired cultivator, but clearly a male cultivator!

Chen Ye rolled his eyes at the little girl: "Open your eyes wide and take a good look, is it a man or a woman!"

The little girl shrank her neck, widened her eyes, and stared at the cultivator outside the window carefully: "Clearly... it’s a big sister?"

The three-master disciple bickering made Li Qiuyun smile gently, "Uncle Chen’s disciples are really lively and adorable."

Within her words, there was a hint of inexplicable envy.

She thought of her father, the Outer Sect instructor of the Lingyin Sect, always with a stern and unsmiling demeanor.

Although an instructor, in fact, his cultivation was only at the Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer, quite ordinary within the sect.

When young, her father couldn’t enter the Inner Sect, so he had high expectations of her.

Growing up, her memories were only of endless solitary cultivation, with her ears filled with parental exhortations of "do not slack off" and "diligence makes up for clumsiness."

Playing and frolicking seemed to be terms alien to her.

Even when occasionally stepping out of the Quiet Chamber, facing the enthusiastic or curious sect members, she always felt at a loss, not knowing how to respond.

Over time, she gained the reputation of being an "Iceberg Senior Sister."

But where was she an iceberg? She just... just didn’t know how to interact with people.

Even when being teased by peers, she could only feel helpless...

Seeing the natural intimacy between Chen Ye and his two disciples, with their bickering and tender moments, a feeling difficult to express surged in Li Qiuyun’s heart.

Such familial warmth akin to ordinary households was something she had never experienced.

"Uncle Chen is truly good to them."

Li Qiuyun thought silently in her heart, her eyes unconsciously softened.

"Qiuyun?" Chen Ye saw her in a daze and called out softly.

Li Qiuyun snapped back to reality, hurriedly withdrew her gaze, with a barely noticeable blush on her cheeks: "Uncle Chen, if there’s nothing else, Qiuyun will take her leave now. There are matters in the sect to handle."

"Thank you, Qiuyun," Chen Ye nodded.

After Li Qiuyun left, Qing Jun immediately snuggled up to Chen Ye, looking up with a curious face: "Master, why was Qiuyun sister so fat just now? Can Qing Jun be that fat in the future?"

Chen Ye was left both amused and helpless, scratching Qing Jun’s small nose: "Kids, what are you thinking? Sister Qiuyun is just... just well-nourished, don’t be impolite!"

"Pfft, clearly she’s just fat! And doesn’t Master know? Master... peeked at her, didn’t you?"

Qing Jun made a face, and continued speaking in earnest,

"Sister Qiuyun’s legs are so long! Longer than the two senior sisters!"

Chen Ye and Zhiwei both coughed simultaneously:

"Cough—"

The older girl, appearing meditative, couldn’t help but glance at her own short legs upon hearing Qing Jun’s words.

Clearly... eaten a lot these days...

...

The night was like ink, and the Spirit Ship sailed silently in the sea of clouds, only occasionally illuminated by starlight streaming past the porthole, mingling with the flickering lights inside the cabin.

Chen Ye sat cross-legged on the mat, his eyes half-closed, and his mind plunged into the sea of consciousness, continuing to visualize the Seven Luminaries Soul Nourishing Technique.

The vast star chart within the jade scroll slowly unfurled in his consciousness, with the seven main stars revolving in his sea of consciousness according to an arcane trajectory.

He tried to focus his mind and visualize one of the stars.

Initially, his jumbled Five Elements Spiritual Roots made his perception like a messy spider web, often disturbed by other stars, making it difficult to capture the pure power of the stars.

But as his proficiency gradually increased, he could barely sketch a blurred shadow of Saturn in his sea of consciousness, feeling that faint warmth of vitality nourishing his divine soul.

Saturn’s attributes were most compatible with the Evergreen Technique, making visualization much easier than other stars.

[Seven Luminaries Soul Nourishing Technique (Visualization Chapter): 8/10]

Every improvement in proficiency made him feel that his divine soul was more refined, and his five senses became sharper.

That night, when he slowly withdrew from visualization, he felt his hearing and vision acute, vaguely perceiving slight movements in multiple cabins around him.

"Hmm?" Chen Ye’s brow subtly moved.

Outside, there seemed to be some unusual noise.

It wasn’t a fight, rather it sounded like several people were conversing.

It was mixed with Li Qiuyun’s slightly terse and resigned responses, along with several slightly high-pitched and eager male voices.

Chen Ye knew in his heart.

From the teasing Li Qiuyun suffered in the past, it was clear that,

despite her cool demeanor, she was not adept at social interactions.

Rising, Chen Ye slightly straightened his robe and opened the door.

He saw Li Qiuyun surrounded by three or four disciples, all dressed brightly, with a slightly self-satisfied demeanor.

The leader was even an Inner Sect Disciple.

A man with a feminine appearance, delicate features, and long hair reaching the waist.

It was the disciple that Qing Jun mistakenly identified as a female cultivator during the day.

He was incessantly displaying a newly acquired Magic Sword to Li Qiuyun, with a tone full of showing off.

Li Qiuyun stood there with a straight posture, the sky-blue Taoist robe enhancing her graceful figure.

Yet she slightly lowered her eyelids, her slender fingers unconsciously pinching the hem of her robe.

She only occasionally responded with "mm" or "oh" to the enthusiastic words of those disciples, her demeanor somewhat stiff and detached.

The disciples did not notice Li Qiuyun’s discomfort, in fact, her "aloofness" spurred them to further exhibit themselves to gain her attention.

"Junior Sister Li, what do you think of my Flowing Flame Sword? My father personally sought it for me, a Tier One Upper Grade Magical Artifact, which, when activated, can be engulfed in flowing flames with formidable potency!" The effeminate disciple offered the Magic Sword to Li Qiuyun like a treasure.

Li Qiuyun instinctively took half a step back to avoid the blazing Sword Qi, her voice cold: "It’s alright."

Her reaction in the effeminate disciple’s eyes seemed dismissive.

His face flashed with awkwardness, but then he forced a smile and said, "If Junior Sister likes, I can lend this sword to her to enjoy for several days sometime."

The other disciples echoed, some boasting of their Magical Artifacts, others bragging about their achievements in competitions, making the scene somewhat boisterous.

Chen Ye could clearly see that beneath Li Qiuyun’s seemingly calm expression was a desire to escape from discomfort.

She was not arrogant, she simply didn’t know how to handle such situations.

"This girl, indeed a social anxiety," Chen Ye thought to himself.

Seeing those disciples becoming more enthusiastic, and Li Qiuyun’s face increasingly unnatural.

Chen Ye lightly coughed, raised his voice in the direction of Li Qiuyun, "Qiuyun, come over for a second, I have some cultivation matters to discuss with you."

This "Qiuyun" was called naturally, instantly halting the disciples’ noise, all turning to look at him.

Li Qiuyun, upon hearing, received a sense of deliverance, immediately turned around and nodded slightly to those disciples, "Excuse me, Senior Brothers."

With that said, she quickly walked towards Chen Ye, her steps carrying an unusual lightness rarely seen in her daily demeanor.

The disciples were stunned.

"Junior Sister Li, are you leaving already?" The effeminate disciple bore an expression of surprise.

"Yes, Junior Sister Li, we haven’t finished talking yet..." Another disciple said somewhat unwillingly.

"Isn’t that the newly appointed Spirit Plant Steward from a few days ago? Where does he come from? Why is Senior Sister Li so close to him?"

Amid the discussion, Li Qiuyun had already arrived before Chen Ye. She slightly lowered her head and spoke softly, "Uncle Chen, you were looking for me?"

At this point, the disciples suddenly realized, and the hostility in their eyes dissipated entirely.

So, it’s just a senior of Senior Sister Li.

Perhaps... a friend of Instructor Li?

The effeminate male showed a look of realization.

No wonder!

That’s why the stewards gave a Grade A+ rating, apparently this Steward Chen has connections within the sect.

Although Instructor Li is quite ordinary, since he knows Instructor Li, maybe he knows other elders within the sect?

And being a senior of Senior Sister Li... it’s wise to stay close in the future!