“Mmgh…!”
A muffled sound came from across the table, followed immediately by a faint, resentful gaze.
Su Zhan’s expression did not change.
She picked up the steaming meat soup in front of her, scooped up spoonful after spoonful with her spoon, and stuffed the entire bowl into her mouth.
Under careful chewing, her brows and eyes gradually relaxed.
“Gulp—!”
An even more obvious sound, deliberately expressing dissatisfaction, came again from across the table.
“Junior Sister’s craftsmanship is truly excellent. It is a great fortune to be able to taste it tonight.”
Su Zhan had noticed the girl’s resentful eyes.
She gently set down the empty bowl, tilted her head slightly, and looked across at her.
Under the candlelight, her brows and eyes lost some of their usual cold aloofness and gained a touch of softness.
Perhaps because she had just teased Yun Li a bit, Su Zhan’s originally troubled mood had calmed considerably.
Even the vigilance she usually maintained toward Yun Li had relaxed slightly.
After the hot soup entered her stomach, combined with the late hour, she could not help feeling some drowsiness.
She let out a long breath, her posture lazy as she narrowed her eyes, propped her elbow on the table, rested her chin on her hand, and smiled at Yun Li.
The girl’s cheeks were puffed out full, her mouth chewing one bite after another.
Her dark, round eyes seemed to have the words “I am very angry” written large inside them.
Yet she did not know that this very appearance only made Su Zhan’s mood even more pleasant.
“If I remember correctly, Junior Sister is currently at the late stage of Qi Refining?” Su Zhan asked in a gentle voice.
Yun Li did not speak.
She only kept glaring at Su Zhan, humming once through her nose while her mouth was full of soup.
During the process of cooking the meat soup, Su Zhan had frankly told Yun Li that she had also come to steal food.
Therefore, from the very beginning, Yun Li had not needed to worry about being reported.
Hence Yun Li felt depressed.
She had deliberately made noise precisely to make Su Zhan say something.
What she wanted to hear was Senior Sister apologizing and coaxing her, not questions about her cultivation level.
The moment she thought about her cultivation, Yun Li felt even more stifled.
Among the six inner sect disciples of Qingyun Sect, she had the lowest cultivation.
“If one could cultivate to the Golden Core stage, it would surely become much easier.” Su Zhan said slowly.
“…?”
Seeing that Su Zhan had no intention of coaxing her, Yun Li secretly sighed and lamented the wooden nature of the Ruthless Dao.
Her expression turned bitter for a moment.
Her small face scrunched up as she fiercely bit off a piece of fatty meat and stuffed it into her mouth.
“It is not that simple.”
She muttered indistinctly in a muffled voice, snorted from her nose, pouted, and grumbled.
“Senior Sister wants me to go from Qi Refining all the way to Golden Core in one breath. That might as well be as real as eating a bowl of meat soup.”
“Then, I shall respectfully comply.”
Su Zhan raised an eyebrow, pretending not to understand, and pushed the bowl beside her toward Yun Li.
“I’ll trouble Junior Sister.”
She had only said she wanted a taste earlier and had not felt comfortable asking for more.
Since Yun Li had brought it up herself, she would not stand on ceremony.
After all, she had come in the first place to fill her stomach.
“……” Yun Li fell silent again.
She had originally wanted to say “Senior Sister, why not eat meat porridge?” but saying it in such a pedantic way would sound too sour.
That was not what she meant at all!
“Has Senior Sister not had dinner yet?”
Yun Li hinted unwillingly once more.
The subtext was that since Senior Sister had already eaten dinner, she should stop competing with her for food.
Su Zhan shook her head lightly.
“Not yet.”
Yun Li sighed helplessly.
She stood up to help serve Su Zhan another bowl.
She gritted her teeth and divided the remaining meat soup in the pot into two portions, then casually pushed one toward Su Zhan.
“Then Senior Sister should eat more.”
Senior Sister’s eating speed was much faster than hers.
If they divided the food bowl by bowl like this, she feared she might not even get her half portion in the end.
“Thank you, Junior Sister.”
Su Zhan smiled.
Yun Li’s thoughts were not hard to guess.
They were written all over her face.
“However, Junior Sister is only one step away from Foundation Establishment. You should first consolidate your foundation. That way, Golden Core will not be far off.”
She did not want to tease Yun Li too much and make their relationship too stiff.
After satisfying herself appropriately, Su Zhan brought up the previous topic again.
“I naturally understand this principle… But saying and doing are completely different matters. Sigh. If only there were something that could help me break through.”
Yun Li sighed lightly, complaining mournfully.
If she could form her core in one go, of course she would want to.
It would allow her to catch up with her Senior Sisters’ pace and spare her the suffering of coursework.
But she had already attempted it more than ten times, all ending in failure.
She had even considered asking Fifth Senior Sister Xia for help to obtain a few Foundation Establishment Pills, but had been sternly refused.
The reason given was that during the foundation-tempering stage, one must not rely on external forces.
Otherwise there would be endless future troubles.
Even if the breakthrough succeeded, it would be nothing more than a castle in the air.
“Perhaps there is still a way.”
Su Zhan asked softly.
“Does Junior Sister know about the Little Pan Peach Meeting in seven days?”
“Of course I know. Elder Liu mentioned it.” Yun Li nodded.
As if thinking of something, her expression gradually turned bitter.
She revealed an ugly smile full of despair.
“It is because of that Pan Peach Meeting… Elder Liu said my coursework progress would definitely fall behind, so he moved the homework check forward. That is why I have been punished for three days in a row…”
As she spoke, the girl grew sad.
Her actions of eating the meat soup became several degrees more indignant.
“So that is how it is…”
Su Zhan rubbed her own nose, not knowing what to say.
She remembered that in the original novel this girl should have been in a state of having almost nothing to do all day.
In the plot, she was either flirting with this person or teasing that person…
But then again, if the original novel only described how heavy the coursework was, it would surely be too boring.
Readers would have dropped it long ago to go read Harry Potter.
“Speaking of which, why did Senior Sister suddenly bring this up?” Yun Li asked.
She chewed the food in her mouth, muttering to herself.
“Well, earlier this evening the Eldest Senior Sister also came to find me and mentioned this matter.”
“She said this grand event requires two people to participate together and asked me who I want to team up with at that time.”
Her impression of the Pan Peach Meeting was still limited to it being an activity where one could leave the sect.
She felt it was no different from ordinary外出 training.
After all, the Pan Peach Meeting had not been held for nearly a hundred years.
The girl who usually buried herself deep in books did not even know what the Immortal Alliance was.
“The Pan Peach Meeting is similar to a grand sect competition.”
“Different sects compete and exchange with each other through sparring and matches.”
“The winners will receive immortal peaches as rewards.”
Su Zhan explained.
“Immortal peaches have miraculous effects such as prolonging life, increasing cultivation, and stabilizing the foundation. If Junior Sister can obtain one, Foundation Establishment will come naturally.”
This was not nonsense.
In the original novel, Yun Li had only begun to cheat her way forward after eating an immortal peach.
“Senior Sister only knows how to coax people.”
Yun Li had just bitten off a piece of fatty meat and spoke vaguely.
“I do not have Senior Sister’s strength. If I participate in the competition, I will only be treated as a sandbag.”
“That may not necessarily be the case.”
Su Zhan rubbed the bowl she was holding.
She looked at the meat soup inside and inexplicably shook her head.
Even though the plot of this novel world had been changed somewhat by her, Yun Li was still the destined female lead after all.
The good things in the plot would naturally fall into Yun Li’s hands.
Although she did not know why this Pan Peach Meeting was suddenly being held, the paired participation requirement had also been introduced.
It was clearly to let Yun Li be brought along to receive benefits.
Others might not know, but Yun Li would definitely obtain an immortal peach at that time…
Hmm?
Su Zhan noticed a blind spot.
Her heart stirred.
She pretended to be casual and spoke.
“Since I ate Junior Sister’s food, then at that time, how about letting Senior Sister team up with you?”
Since she is the destined female lead… then if she teams up with Yun Li, couldn’t she also get some benefits because of it?
Su Zhan thought so.
Worth a try.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.