Chapter 55

Wind Lotus Estate covers about three hundred mu, apart from the thirty-odd mu of Spirit Lake at its center, countless tiny waterways extend outward from the Spirit Lake like the meridians of a human body, encircling all the residences of Wind Lotus Estate.

Although the quality of this Spirit Lake is far inferior to that of the Spirit Lake on Pill Peak, it is still a fine cultivation treasure; at least the disciples of the Azure Phoenix Sect think so, and Wei Yuning's residence has the Spirit Lake right outside its gate, with nothing but lush green lotus leaves in view, which is quite rare, so it's no wonder the price is so high.

The residence is an ordinary courtyard house, one mu in size, with gray tiles and blue bricks, three main rooms, two side rooms, two storage rooms, a kitchen, an animal pen; Spirit Lake water is drawn into the courtyard, where in the center there is a five-meter-square pool containing green lotus, with an artificial hill beside it topped by a small pavilion—though the sparrow is small, it possesses all five viscera.

"Wow, this place is too beautiful, I also want to live here." Thus line: Ye Ying was more excited than anyone.

"Wei Yuning, may I?" Qiu Hu asked.

"Sure, sure, but Miss Thus line: Ye Ying, do you really intend to stay here long-term and not return to the sect?" Wei Yuning asked curiously.

"That senior brother from the Divine Martial Sect is pursuing Thus line: Ye Ying too closely, even having an elder come to act as matchmaker; although the sect hasn't explicitly said so, if they force the issue, I fear Thus line: Ye Ying may really be compelled to marry that senior brother." Qiu Hu said helplessly.

Upon hearing this topic, Thus line: Ye Ying lost her earlier excitement, became at a loss, and her eyes showed obvious fear.

"Then how could you bring her here; won't the Azure Phoenix Sect stop you?" Although Wei Yuning wasn't particularly fond of Thus line: Ye Ying, seeing such a pitiful young girl stirred his compassion, yet he knew his own limits—with his current strength he lacked the power to speak up for others; furthermore, matters of the heart are complicated, and he had no intention of intervening; perhaps Thus line: Ye Ying and that Divine Martial Sect senior brother might eventually become a couple.

"Martial Uncle Yunyan agreed to let me bring her here; his biggest objection is to forced marriage. You may not understand, but a dao companion is different from marriage—dao companions are more like fellow travelers on the cultivation path, not interfering in each other's private lives, able to come together and part ways easily. Although we reside in the Cloud Hidden Sect, we are nominally still members of the Azure Phoenix Sect and can return to the sect at any time; this is also why the martial uncle is willing to facilitate a marriage between eligible female cultivators of the Azure Phoenix Sect and the Cloud Hidden Sect. The Divine Martial Sect, however, is different: a female cultivator who marries a Divine Martial Sect disciple becomes a member of the Divine Martial Sect and may never betray it; even if her dao-companion husband dies, she is still considered part of the Divine Martial Sect—it's an extremely domineering sect." Qiu Hu shook his head while stroking Thus line: Ye Ying's shoulder to comfort her.

"Oh, I see now!" Wei Yuning somewhat understood, "Don't worry, just settle down here peacefully; my Spirit Beast Ranch happens to be short-staffed, so you can count as one—by the way, what spirit root do you have?"

"I have a water spirit root, though my aptitude is very poor!" Thus line: Ye Ying lowered her head slightly ashamed.

"Junior Sister's illusion arts are not bad; she's also done some research on illusion formations!" Qiu Hu said from the side.

"All right." Wei Yuning said.

"Really? I have no experience raising spirit beasts!" Thus line: Ye Ying said anxiously; although she was mischievous, she didn't want to cause trouble for Wei Yuning.

"Don't worry; actually, my Spirit Beast Ranch has no particular requirements for staff—anyone with hands and feet will do!" Wei Yuning spoke frankly.

"You're crazy, why are you still asking?" Qiu Hu couldn't help but speak up for his close friend.

"Hehe, just asking casually!"

After walking around Wind Lotus Lake, the group also applied to the servant disciples in charge of entry and exit for access rights to Wind Lotus Estate's formation for Qiu Hu and Thus line: Ye Ying. Besides the sect's grand protective formation, the Cloud Hidden Sect has many small protective formations in private places; these formations focus not on defensive strength but on early-warning function, and these larger residential areas also have a feature that leaves an image of forcible intruders.

Then the three went to Flowing Cloud Pavilion for a meal. Flowing Cloud Pavilion is equivalent to the food city of Guest Arrival Peak, with hundreds of food stalls and taverns; fellow disciples mostly entertain guests or improve their meals here, and visiting cultivators or merchants also like to come and go here.

The food here is expensive; a meal costs at least three to five low-grade spirit stones, and ordinary disciples rarely have the money to spend here.

As for what to eat, Wei Yuning had no objection; anyway, the flavor here depends mainly on the ingredients—good ingredients naturally taste good, and they are certainly expensive as well. For Wei Yuning, who comes from the culinary powerhouse of Earth, there really isn't much creativity, so he handed the choice over to Qiu Hu.

Qiu Hu was indifferent to everything, had no desire to choose, and passed the decision on to Thus line: Ye Ying.

Thus line: Ye Ying, however, was quite interested; they paused in front of each food stall for a while, strolled around, and finally chose a stall mainly featuring spirit fruits, which not only offered a rich variety of spirit fruits but also various fruit wines, and additionally provided extremely tasty roasted fowl meat.

After finishing a big meal, Thus line: Ye Ying complained, "It's still not as tasty as what we ate in the beast ranch!"

Wei Yuning thought to himself, "Nonsense, moon-arc worms are expensive; which restaurant would bother using that ingredient!"

Afterwards, the group returned to the Wind Lotus Estate residence, sat in the pavilion chatting. After a while, Thus line: Ye Ying, sensing the situation, excused herself to rest and went into a side room.

From their first meeting today until now, the two have truly begun living in a world of just the two of them.

Seeing Thus line: Ye Ying leave, Qiu Hu's faint smile that had lingered on her face faded; she glanced at the side room's location and then said to Wei Yuning, "Daoist friend Wei Yuning, I have to make some things clear to you."

Wei Yuning was startled, then suddenly recalled Qiu Hu's disguise, and a bad feeling rose in his heart.