Chapter 45: The Axe at the Door

  "Congratulations to Xiao Yao for successfully advancing to the Building Foundation stage!"

  Before the deadline, before leaving the Ziyuan boundary, after re-applying makeup for herself, she had just handed over a token to control the stone gate of this quiet room to a middle-aged male cultivator of the Naqi stage waiting at the door, when a familiar voice had already been transmitted to Zuo Xiaoyao's ear.

  "Congratulations to Xiao Yao!"

  Turning back, it was indeed Ruo Hongtian and the three of them. Seeing her turn around, Qin Xiao, who was standing behind with a faint smile and his hands behind his back, also congratulated her afterwards.

  "Xiao... Xiao sister is so amazing! Three days! You actually succeeded in building the foundation in just three days, fortunately you came out safely. My master and Hongtian Master have been worried for the past few days, thinking that there were some things that weren't explained clearly during the foundation-building process, and no one was there to protect you, so they didn't know if your foundation-building process went smoothly!"

  Zuo Xiao Yao was about to respond when Qin Liang Ke, who had been standing behind Qin Xiao, quickly stepped forward and stood beside her, smiling as she said in a clear and pleasant voice full of praise, "Your skills are truly impressive!" Her eyes shone brightly with admiration and expectation, and her expression showed genuine delight. However, just as she was about to put her hands around her own arms out of habit, she seemed to remember something and hesitated for a moment before awkwardly putting them behind her back, clearly showing restraint.

  "Thank you, Brother Luo and Brother Qin, for your concern. Fortunately, I received guidance from both of you earlier, and also had the blessing of heaven, so the foundation-laying process went very smoothly! ...But why doesn't Ke'er seem to care about her sister at all?"

  After expressing gratitude to Hong Tian Qin Xiao, he raised his hand and wrapped it around Qin Liang's left Xiaoyao, saying jokingly.

  Qin Lian finally put down the discomfort caused by the sudden realization of the huge gap in cultivation between herself and Zuo Xiao Yao, and stomped her foot in protest, emphasizing that she cared more than anyone else. This not only made the atmosphere on the scene more lively and warm, but also let the three people know that nothing had changed, this is an attitude!

  It feels really good to be cared about! Seeing the three of them waiting for her outside the quiet room, Zuo Xiaoyao felt a warmth in her heart and couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Although she wasn't sure how old she was, there were few people around her who would care about her, and after she fled alone to Shennongjia, she had been living a life isolated from the world. Now, being able to experience this long-lost feeling of being missed by others again was naturally touching!

  To celebrate, the four of them didn't go back to the inn directly and instead went to a nearby wine house where they ordered a private room. Although it was almost noon, still some distance from peak dining hours, there were only a few tables of people scattered around the main hall of the wine house. As they followed the waiter upstairs, the four of them in high spirits suddenly heard an excited voice behind them saying "Rong senior! Qin senior! I saw you two from outside and thought it looked like you, so I followed you in to confirm, didn't expect to actually run into you here, what a coincidence!"

  As the sound faded away, only three female cultivators with outstanding looks and wearing long skirts were seen walking quickly into the wine house. The first to speak was the red-clothed woman in the middle, but before Rong Hong Tian could respond, Qin Lian Ke had already smiled joyfully and said "Yue sister, you've finally arrived! I knew we would definitely meet this time!"

  "Yes!"

  The nun in blue on the right looked at her, slightly hooked up the corner of her mouth and nodded in response. The absolutely beautiful face that was slightly cold and indifferent suddenly became much softer.

  The white-clothed woman standing on the left smiled softly and said, "Ke'er sister, isn't it a bit too much to be so thick with one person and thin with another? Why only greet Huiyue sister and forget about me and Huiyu sister?"

  "Huixue sister, why not say Huixue sister only has Master and Hongtian Shushu in her eyes, but also didn't think about greeting me, this little yellow-haired girl! Yue sister, let me introduce you, this is Xiaojie, she's friends with Hongtian Shushu and my master, she's a great person. We were just talking about celebrating her recent promotion to Building Foundation Upper Person! It's perfect timing that you're here too, let's do it together!"

  At this time, Huī Yù's complexion was not good, and she had obviously offended Qín Liàng Kě. After a slight self-mockery with a hint of sharpness, while introducing Huī Yuè to Zuǒ Xiǎo Yáo, she smiled and pulled Huī Yuè over, without any intention of inviting the other two female cultivators who were slightly embarrassed, her attitude of differential treatment was very obvious.

  Up to this point, Qin Xiao finally spoke up and said "Ke'er must not be rude, the three of you are probably here with Ming Hui Daoyou, I wonder if your master will come this time?"

  "Returning to Qin, I was invited by a senior fellow. Our master brought our family's teacher and several other seniors to Fei Xian Tai this morning to meet old friends, leaving the three of us juniors here. Unexpectedly, I had the fortune to meet two seniors... and Ke Er's sister."

  Qin Xiao stepped forward with a gentle expression and bowed slightly. Huiyu's face cleared up as she smiled in response.

  Without realizing it, he stood up with the demeanor of a senior, and Hongtian smiled calmly, "This is Xiao Yao, today coincides with her happy occasion of leaving the mountain gate. Since that's the case, the three of you will go up with us!"

  "I've seen Senior Xiao!"

  Qin Liangyu led Huiyue and two other women to bow in unison.

  Apart from Hui Xue's cultivation being similar to Qin Lianke's, in the later stages of the Nascent Soul stage, Hui Yu and Hui Yue's cultivations were both at the Nascent Soul stage's completion boundary. Unlike the fifty-gram grade jade bottle given to Qin Lianke, three bottles of mid-grade Beneficial Qi Powder, each containing ten grams, were handed over. Zuo Xiaoyao smiled warmly and said, "The three young friends don't need to be too polite, I'm good friends with Luo brother and Qin brother. These three bottles of Beneficial Qi Powder are a gift for the three young friends as a meeting gift, you don't need to decline!"

  "Yue sister, you must thank Xiao sister properly. This Qi-tonifying dispersing pellet has an extremely good effect and is a rare middle-grade product. I've never seen a Dan medicine that can improve cultivation like this before!"

  After seeing San Niudao express her gratitude, she took the medicine one after another. Qin Liang smiled and nodded in agreement, obviously quite impressed with the effectiveness of Yiqi San.

  As she casually put the ordinary jade bottle into her storage bag, Huī Yù covered up the disdain in her eyes and smiled, saying "We, the Tǐng Mén, have always been skilled in the art of Dan medicine. There are many varieties of Dan medicines, if you're interested, dear sister, you can go to Huì Quán Mountain with Qín Qiānbei in the future!"

  Although she could hear that the other party was hinting at her own move of giving medicine, which was a case of "giving a false sense of security", Qin Liangke's face turned red with anger and she wanted to jump up, but she knew that in front of others, Qin Liangke usually gave the impression of being lively and straightforward, but in reality, at certain times, she was actually very meticulous and sensitive, and this aspect of her personality was quite similar to her own gentle and reserved nature. Left Xiaoyao's expression remained unchanged as she replied warmly, "It seems that since you three are famous masters, stopping here to catch up would inevitably affect the store's business, it's really too rude, let's go upstairs first!"

  After finishing, Zuo Xiang Tian and Qin Xiao Xue looked at her with no objection, turned around and followed the waiter upstairs. Zuo Xiao Yao pulled Qin Li Ke who was holding Hui Yue's hand to follow closely behind, ignoring Hui Xue who wanted to speak but stopped herself, and didn't think of continuing to talk to Hui Yu who had a angry face because of her words, after all she not only rushed to find someone to chat with in the hall affecting other people's business, but also was pointed out by others in public!

  After hesitating for a moment, she saw that the four of them were about to reach the second floor, and not one of them had thought to turn around and care about her. She helped up Huiyu, who also wanted to go upstairs but was somewhat embarrassed, and then quickly walked towards the stairs. Hui Xue smiled and scolded, "Look at our little junior sister, she really is like that, with only a few seniors in her eyes, not even consulting us two senior sisters before following them up. Eldest senior sister, let's hurry up and take a look, lest her aloof personality offends the seniors. This Xiao senior looks really young, we should take the opportunity to learn from her about the art of preserving one's youth!"

  "What's so great about that? She's just an old woman who might be over a hundred years old, what's the big deal about her high cultivation?"

  With the stairs down, Huiyu's face slightly cleared after quietly finishing her criticism. She also somewhat agreed with Huixue's words and glared at Huixue who was being held back by Qin Liang. However, she turned her back on them, not reacting to their actions, leaving her to sulk alone in her heart!

  The original four people had become quite familiar with each other through their interactions over the past twenty days. Now, with the sudden addition of three strangers, not to mention that this was Left Xiaoyao's first meeting with them, Luo Hongtian and Qin Xiao wore a senior's demeanor in front of them, speaking in a tone that completely lacked the pampering, care, and patience they had shown Qin Liangyu.

  Qin Lian got along fairly well with Huiyue, who was quiet and spoke little, but completely ignored Huiyu, who tried her best to liven up the atmosphere and strike up a conversation with Luo Hongtian, as well as Huixue, who wanted to find common topics with Zuo Xiaoyao.

  Even with a sumptuous feast, nearly two hundred pieces of One Product Lingyu were spent on one meal, but the few people didn't move their chopsticks much. Although it wasn't too cold, the scene couldn't be considered lively at all. Fortunately, Zuo Xiaoyao didn't have high expectations for these celebrations that often became mere formalities, so she didn't feel any regret. As long as she could sense the goodwill from her friends, it was already precious enough!