Shortly after the core protégé tournament had just ended, Lu Qingyun was walking along the hallway with Qin Keqin as she told him to come along to meet the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds in the guest room.
"I'm going to introduce you to some pretty maidens, aren't you glad?" Qin Keqin teased him with a wryly smile.
Lu Qingyun had now obtained the Divine Profound Pill but he was not feeling too pleased at all. It was because it was too easy for him and primary because he did not even have a chance to show off his skills in the martial tournament.
In fact he had heard some whispers that if it were not for Leng Qiuyue who had conceded suddenly, he would never have won the martial competition.
This was made worse when he had just learnt that he had the lowest odds of winning the martial competition from Leng Xingyuan and Ouyang Xue.
Now he was still a good-for-nothing cultivator…
There were strict rules in the Heavenly Ridge Villa for the use of the cultivation testing stones. A minimum period of three years had to be observed for a re-evaluation as the testing stones were quite expensive to obtain and moreover there were ten thousand protégés in the Heavenly Ridge Villa. If everyone was to request for a retest after every small breakthrough, the Heavenly Ridge Villa would soon be bankrupted of spirit stones.
"Yun'Er, what is wrong? You should be happy am I right? You've won the martial tournament. I'm so proud of you." Qin Keqin said as she gave him a gentle look.
"Keqin, actually today I've wanted to show off my skills in front of you. I want to win in a blaze of glory. Then everyone will also know that I'm not a good-for-nothing cultivator and I am your proud disciple." He sighed.
"So that is what bothering you," she said.
Lu Qingyun nodded miserably.
"Yun'Er, why do you want to hold renown and fame so dear in your heart? So what if you are a low level cultivator? So what if you are a high level cultivator? Your position will not change in my heart, do you know?"
Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Keqin, I want to make you feel proud of me. If I've lost the matches, surely it won't look on you."
Qin Keqin smiled as she stopped in her tracks. She lowered her glances briefly before turning to look up to him, "Yun'Er, having honor or face isn't important to me. Don't you get it? You know that I am the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, don't you?"
Lu Qingyun nodded weakly, "You are the renowned Great Saintess Fan Yuqing, how do I not know? Then all the more I must excel and prove that I am your worthy disciple."
Qin Keqin said gently, "First of all, you are not my disciple but my man. Secondly, do you really think that I like the fame of being the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing? If I do, why do I call myself Qin Keqin now? Qin Keqin is a nameless cultivator in a second tier clan. You have even known who Feng Minyue is, don't you? If we have wanted fame, we can have our three minutes of fame but we do not. Do you know why?"
Lu Qingyun asked curiously, "Why?"
She replied with a soft sigh, "Because we are cultivators. Although we may not like to cultivate as much as most people do but we are at peace with ourselves. Why allow world desires and distractions to invade your heart? It doesn't concern anyone but you if you are strong or weak, am I not right to say so? You should be more humble and not show off whenever you can. Because you are also cultivating your character to be a more worthy person."
Lu Qingyun was startled as he realized how wrong he had been, "Keqin, I am so wrong. I've thought that I may impress you if I am able to show off my skills in front of you. Alas, in the end…I am just a person that likes to show off and not a humble person at all. After all that you have done for me, I am only thinking of myself. I am so wrong…"
Qin Keqin interrupted him softly, "You're already very impressive in my heart, do you know that? As cultivators, we cultivate the heart and not because we want to impress the others."
Lu Qingyun nodded and he was smiling now, "Thank you Keqin. I know what to do now. I should really cultivate my heart first instead of trying to prove to the others."
Qin Keqin smiled endearingly, "Good. Now you are happy and so am I now!"
"Come to think of that, it isn't too bad being a good-for-nothing cultivator after all." Lu Qingyun smiled.
Qin Keqin laughed softly, "If I can get rid of my golden eyes, I don't mind faking as a first realm cultivator as well. Then we will be a pair of good-for-nothing cultivators."
Lu Qingyun laughed, "Unfortunately for my Keqin, you can't get rid of the colors of your eyes. Therefore I am the only good-for-nothing cultivator here."
Qin Keqin smiled, "Well, so be it then. So, are you planning to consume the Divine Profound Pill?"
Lu Qingyun shook his head, "I don't think this Divine Profound Pill has too much of an effect on me at this point. I guess that it is because Keqin you have been giving plenty of powerful divine pills to beef me up. I'm thinking of keeping this Divine Profound Pill for a while."
Qin Keqin nodded, "Yes, you should. There is actually no hurry to consume it so fast. Better wait till you are at the fifth realm."
Lu Qingyun smiled. He was actually thinking of using it for his alchemy…
Qin Keqin took out a purple pill from her pouch, "Yun'Er, take this pill and swallow it now. It is good stuff for you."
There was a weird expression that was on Lu Qingyun. It was because with a sniff, he had recognized that this pill was wholly made of the starforge substances. He was thinking, "Keqin will not harm me but why does she wants me to take it. This isn't the first time…"
But he quietly returned a smile and put the pill into his mouth. But in secret, he did not swallow it but he did not tell her that he had known what this pill was. After all, Qin Keqin still did not know that he was a high level alchemist.
Qin Keqin had a look of relief when she saw that he had taken the pill right in front of her eyes. She returned a quiet smile as she chuckled, "Let's go! We shouldn't keep the important guests of the Heavenly Fragrance Villa waiting for us. Or rather, these pretty maidens can't wait to meet you."
Lu Qingyun smiled weakly, "Keqin, is it alright for me to meet the Heavenly Fragrance Heralds? I am just a lowly cultivator…"
Qin Keqin gave him a soft kick, "You have already flirted with Feng Minyue and yet you are so shy in front of her protégés. Be real!"
Lu Qingyun protested bitterly, "Why did I ever flirt with Senior Feng…"
"She told me!" Qin Keqin gave him a pretended icy look.
Lu Qingyun laughed, "I don't believe…"
Elsewhere in the Heavenly Lotus Teahouse, Feng Minyue had almost choked on her tea when she had overheard the conversation between Qin Keqin and Lu Qingyun.
Xuan Danfeng was laughing, "She did not turn off the transmission and did not know that we can still hear her…"
Feng Minyue sighed softly, "As usual, she is so wasteful. She is burning spirit stones as though it is free by not turning off the transmission after the martial competition had ended."
Xuan Danfeng was laughing jovially, "Minyue, so you are flirting with Lu Qingyun-"
Feng Minyue interrupted softly, "That is simply not true at all. Don't listen to her. Also she is just bullshitting him with her talks of cultivating the heart."
Xuan Danfeng was laughing until her eyes had turned watery, "Yes, we all know she is lying to him. The only cultivator in the Nine Celestial Fraternity that doesn't want to cultivate the heart is actually she. I can't believe that she had actually told him that. If Lu Qingyun knows that she had cheated in the martial competition for him, he will surely flip upside down…"
"Cultivating the heart…" Feng Minyue muttered, "More like cultivating her love-struck heart…"
Xuan Danfeng smiled, "She just enjoys badmouthing us. What cultivating the heart, my foot!"
Feng Minyue shook her head as she sighed softly, "To think that I was fooled by her when she was pleading so hard to me to make her a Fragrance Elder of my clan…"
Xuan Danfeng interrupted with rolling laughter, "As typical of her. Her sincerity only lasts for three short minutes and after you had granted her request, she didn't even bother to say a thank you to you. This is her cultivating of the heart…"
Feng Minyue and Xuan Danfeng were both laughing together.
"Let record this now. I'm going to use this matter to tease her in the future." Xuan Danfeng suggested playfully.
If one did not know their relationship, they would think that Qin Keqin was badmouthing them and that Xuan Danfeng and Feng Minyue were also badmouthing her. The truth was that Qin Keqin had helped them all too many times in the past and they were really close friends.
For Qin Keqin to badmouth/ tease them endlessly, spoke of their weight in her heart. This was something that they actually felt proud of because she was the Great Saintess Fan Yuqing!
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Elsewhere, the grand elders were all having a secret meeting.
Kong Guxin was smiling weakly, "I really didn't know that our sect leader is actually an elder of our patriarch clan. This is even big news."
Yun Xing was also saying weakly, "Seems that we know very little of our this sect leader."
Shi Guanyin nodded and said, "We all know that sect leader obviously rig the ballots. But we must not expose her, so let's keep this a secret."
Mu Han smiled weakly, "She is the sect leader. Even if she wants to openly cheat the system, she can also do it. No one will dare to say no to her request. I just don't get it or am I being too stupid?"
He turned to look at Wang Ming, "Can you figure it out?"
Wang Ming was shaking head, "I guess that I am stupid too. She doesn't need to cheat, right? Also, she has donated out the Divine Profound Pill for the tournament. She can simply give it to Senior Brother Lu Qingyun instead. Why does she even bother to lose her reputation by cheating in this manner?"
Yun Xing was smiling weakly as well, "Isn't it too obvious?"
She turned to look at Ouyang Xue, "Xue'Er, what do you think?" The reason why she had asked Ouyang Xue was because she was exceptional bright and also because Ouyang Xue was weirdly quiet for the entire session.
Ouyang Xue said quietly, "I think that sect leader is actually playing a mind game on us. She had purposely made it so plain obvious to us that we cannot miss the obvious. It is as though she is waiting for us to 'expose' her later."
Yun Xing and Shi Guanyin said at the same time, "Why did she do that for?"
Ouyang Xue smiled weakly, "I really do not know. There is certain type of people like the Golden Mask Devil Goddess that likes to observe the reaction of different people. I am guessing that she is enjoying watching what we will do to her."
Shi Guanyin smiled weakly, "I think our sect leader is really too free…"
Yun Xing nodded, "Either our sect leader is being careless or she is a genius, I really cannot tell…"
Ouyang Xue pondered for a while before she gave an answer, "Maybe she just wants us to enjoy the whole show with her?"