Chapter 584

In the early morning, sunlight shone through the window onto the bed.

Lingyun, eyes closed, felt his eyelids twitch before he slowly opened them. In his arms, Nanjou Nagisa, who had reverted to her loli form, was breathing evenly in her sleep. A smile tugged at the corners of Lingyun's mouth as he shifted slightly to make her more comfortable.

Perhaps due to the sunlight, Nanjou Nagisa slowly opened her eyes. Seeming a bit drowsy, she let out a small yawn, completely shedding her usual dignified air and revealing a touch of the charming naivety unique to a young girl.

Suddenly, Nanjou Nagisa froze. She realized that her current position seemed a bit off. She looked up in astonishment, meeting Lingyun's smiling eyes.

"Lingyun..." Nanjou Nagisa's tone was strained.

"That's right, it's me!"

"Last night, we..."

"Nagisa-chan, you were so cute when you were expressing your feelings so earnestly!" Lingyun sat up and pulled Nanjou Nagisa into his embrace.

"I, I..." A flush instantly spread across Nanjou Nagisa's face.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

"Master, are you not up yet?"

"Is that Yexi?" Nanjou Nagisa's expression shifted slightly, and then Lingyun felt his arms go empty as she used space-control magic to slip right out of his grasp.

"Are you shy, Nagisa-chan?" Lingyun chuckled as he got up to get dressed.

On the other side of the room, Nanjou Nagisa, who was putting on her clothes, kept glancing toward Lingyun, the blush on her face refusing to fade.

Although they hadn't taken the final step, it no longer mattered. Nanjou Nagisa and Lingyun had confirmed their feelings for each other; as for everything else, they had plenty of time in the future to work things out.

Seeming to think of the future, a smile appeared on Nanjou Nagisa's face.

"Sister Nagisa, what are you doing here?" A voice came from nearby just as Nanjou Nagisa was lost in thought.

"Eh? Nothing, nothing at all." Nanjou Nagisa's reverie was interrupted, and a flash of panic crossed her face.

"Alice, why are you here?" Nanjou Nagisa asked after taking a deep breath.

"Sister Saeko and the others have all gone to eat, but they couldn't find you, so Brother Lingyun asked me to come and get you," Alice said crisply.

"Have I been here for a long time?" Nanjou Nagisa asked, patting her cheeks.

"Not really, just over half an hour," Ciri Alice replied with a serious expression.

"Slap—" Nanjou Nagisa slapped her own face. Half an hour of spacing out—was that not long enough? Everyone probably knew her situation by now.

"Ugh, I feel like dying," Nanjou Nagisa muttered.

"Sister Nagisa, aren't you going to eat?" Alice asked again.

"Ah, I know, you go ahead first, I'll be there in a moment," Nanjou Nagisa said hurriedly.

"Oh, okay, but you have to hurry, Sister Nagisa. Brother Lingyun is cooking this time; if you're late, there won't be any food left," Alice said before skipping away from the room.

"What a child who never grows up," Nanjou Nagisa said, shaking her head as she watched Ciri Alice leave.

"Nagisa-chan, you're the only one missing." When Nanjou Nagisa arrived at the dining table, everyone else was already in their seats, seemingly waiting for her.

"Sorry, I'm late," Nanjou Nagisa said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"That kind of thing is understandable, totally understandable," Busujima Saeko said with a mischievous smirk at Nanjou Nagisa.

A blush rose to Nanjou Nagisa's face again, but she quickly suppressed it.

"Alright, the last dish is here, let's eat!" Lingyun walked quickly out of the kitchen and placed a large pot on the table.

Hearing this, everyone at the table picked up their chopsticks simultaneously and launched an all-out assault on the food; opportunities to eat Lingyun's home-cooked meals were rare.

"Lingyun, the first half of the month is mainly for various trade fairs, discussions, and life-or-death duels. The martial arts tournament doesn't start until after half a month. What are we going to do during this time?" Chen Jing asked Lingyun vaguely, fishing the last piece of greens from the pot into her bowl.

"This half month? Let's just have some free time," Lingyun said. "Besides, aren't you all interested in the various trade fairs? You can go check them out. As for the expenses, just leave that to me."

"Lingyun, you aren't planning on selling more medicinal pills, are you?" Su Wan'yue asked, blinking.

"Is there a problem with that?" Lingyun asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you frequently bring out high-quality pills, it's easy to arouse suspicion and covetousness from others," Su Wan'yue said. "Because of the upcoming tournament, very few people sell pills in bulk. If we sell too many, it might be hard to explain."

"That's simple. Doesn't the free trade market this time have a large amount of medicinal herbs for sale? You can just buy a bunch for me, and I'll refine them into pills directly," Lingyun said with a smile.

"That is indeed a method, but we might attract even more attention, especially since alchemists are a rare profession," Chen Jing said.

"If that really happens, we can just steamroll over them. On this island, we don't need to fear anyone!" Lingyun said confidently. "However, I'm more curious now about how many big fish the net Long Jingtian has cast will catch."

"A net cast over the entire Huaxia continent, taking decades to prepare—it's no ordinary net. I think this time, no fish that enters the pond will be able to escape," Nanjou Nagisa said, sipping her black tea and squinting her eyes. Judging by her expression, she was clearly very satisfied with her tea.

"Eh, Lingyun, what about Ruri and Esdeath?" Su Wan'yue asked suddenly.

"Them? They are still in Huaxia. They are part of this operation too," Lingyun said. "Long Jingtian made this request in his invitation, and after discussing it with them, I let them stay in Huaxia. After all, there are still some tough nuts to crack over there. Once they finish their business, they will come here to rendezvous with us."

"I see." Chen Jing nodded thoughtfully, clearly having an idea of who Ruri and the others were dealing with.

"By the way, are you all going to the auction this afternoon?" Lingyun asked.

"Alice wants to go," Ciri Alice said first.

"I want to go too," the other girls said, feeling tempted.

"Then let's go and see what interesting things are at this auction," Lingyun said, standing up.

"Then let's go and see what interesting things are in this auction," Lingyun said as he stood up.