Mu Zirun handed the three demon spirits a piece of paper. “Can you read?”
The demon spirits looked at each other, “Yes, we can.”
Mu Zirun smiled gently, “I’ll trouble you all to purchase the items mentioned above.” He paused, as if remembering something, and then handed over a low-grade magic artifact, “As for the cost, we’ll exchange it for this, how about that?”
He had just studied the matter; these demon spirits all had their own channels. Sure enough, the demon spirits had already been informed of this “errand boy’s” affairs by Yu Tianze through divine sense and knew that he was their superior. Of course, they dared not neglect him at this time, so they quickly took the artifact with their claws and left using earth magic.
Before leaving, one demon spirit hesitated, “Then, what about the Zhenren’s matter?”
Mu Zirun calmly said, “I will go and report to the Peak Master now.”
Only then did the demon spirits scatter and leave. Mu Zirun quickened his pace slightly and returned to the Thunderfire Hall. When he arrived in front of Yu Tianze’s residence, he knocked on the door, “Peak Master, are you there?”
After knocking, he waited leisurely. Not long after, a loud crash echoed from the residence, followed by the doors swinging open. A figure clad in a heavy robe appeared, the residual lightning sparks still emanating from him, making him appear somewhat frightening at first glance. It was as if this venerable one was about to unleash a thunderous wrath.
Mu Zirun’s heart pounded slightly, but having lived two lives and experienced life and death, he felt no fear beyond a slight tremor in his fingers. So he looked up to observe Yu Tianze’s expression. As he expected, Yu Tianze wasn’t about to erupt in anger; rather, his cultivation was imbued with a radiant aura of lightning, a leak of energy. His face, initially expressionless, softened for a second upon seeing Mu Zirun’s small figure standing before him.
Of course, his tone remained unfriendly, “What is it?”
Mu Zirun chuckled inwardly. But his expression remained respectful and serious, “Reporting to the Peak Master, the demon spirit reports that True Immortal Mingyuan requests your presence… He… misses you.”
After speaking, he observed Yu Tianze’s expression even more closely. Then, Mu Zirun clearly saw a hint of impatience appear in Yu Tianze’s eyes. Although he tried to conceal it, it was obvious his patience was very poor; it had taken a great deal of effort to achieve this. At the same time, a mocking smile quickly appeared on Yu Tianze’s lips, precisely when he heard the words “misses you.”
Mu Zirun immediately understood that True Immortal Mingyuan must be truly hypocritical for this straightforward person to react this way. It seemed that Yu Tianze had completely lost all feelings for True Immortal Mingyuan. Upon hearing the other’s name, he seemed to hear something repulsive, genuine, and uncontrollably repulsive. At this point, Mu Zirun became even more interested in True Immortal Mingyuan himself. What exactly had that True Immortal done to anger such an honest man?
Amused, Mu Zirun spoke again, as if to remind him seriously, “Peak Master?”
Yu Tianze then remembered someone was waiting for his reply. He took a deep breath, “…It’s nothing.” He felt his cultivation mood had been completely ruined. “I’ll go right now!”
Even with just a few simple words, Mu Zirun could hear a hint of gritted teeth. Yu Tianze clenched his fists, barely suppressing his displeasure, and glanced at Mu Zirun, “You’ll come with me, so Master can see your face. You don’t need to say anything, just stand behind me.”
Mu Zirun lowered his head, “Yes, Peak Master.”
He had originally been thinking about how to persuade Yu Tianze to take him to see the legendary Mingyuan Zhenren, but he hadn’t expected to achieve it without even trying. However, such obvious dislike, so easily displayed in front of him, a mere “servant,” was it trust, or just naivety?
Well, here, trust and naivety were practically synonymous. After speaking, Yu Tianze tucked Mu Zirun under his arm as usual, and Mu Zirun adjusted to a comfortable position—he hadn’t wanted Yu Tianze to change his carrying method anyway.
Hypothetically, if the method changed, whether it was a princess carry, holding a child, or carrying him by hand, none would be better than this. And as for Yu Tianze to carry him on his back? Mu Zirun felt that Yu Tianze didn’t have the patience to wait for him to climb; he’d still have to lift him up and toss him on his back, and if he lost his grip, he’d fall even harder.
Therefore, the carrying method that his instincts triggered might actually be the most appropriate. After a flash of lightning, Yu Tianze landed directly on Yinxiao Peak, in front of Minghua Mansion. In the past, he would have walked over step by step to show respect, but now, even though they hadn’t broken off relations, he preferred the simpler method. A person’s heart changes, and so does their behavior.
No wonder Ming Yuan, although unaware of Yu Tianze’s change, felt a vague unease. As usual, a demon spirit led the way, and Yu Tianze took Mu Zirun’s hand as they entered. He didn’t truly treat Mu Zirun as a servant, but rather as a future disciple, so his behavior was more intimate. This also inevitably made the surrounding demon spirits dare not neglect Mu Zirun.
This was about status; even though Mu Zirun’s appearance remained the same, his treatment was vastly different. Mu Zirun remained calm, not looking around, only glancing at Minghua Mansion out of the corner of his eye. As a Golden Core cultivator’s cave dwelling, this residence was already very, very good.
Not long after entering, the two found Ming Yuan’s trace on a soft couch among the flowers and trees. He was currently holding a flower hoe, his sleeves rolled up, burying some fallen flowers and fruit. Then, as if hearing the movement, he turned back and smiled gently, his eyes seemingly full of affection when he looked at Yu Tianze.
Mu Zirun silently felt awkward. As someone who keeps up with the times, he felt that the aura emanating from the person before him was nothing short of “holy light.” Simply put, from appearance to voice to behavior, he bore a striking resemblance to the “white lotus” or “saintly mother” often mentioned online.
But now he was… burying flowers? People in this world would probably think that Master Mingyuan was kind and gentle, but only three words flashed through Mu Zirun’s mind: Lin Daiyu. However, although Lin Daiyu was aloof and somewhat wilful, she was still very perceptive and detached from worldly affairs. Why did Master Mingyuan… feel so out of place?
Mu Zirun pondered for a while and thought that this was probably the reason.
Master Mingyuan’s cultivation was built up with pills, and most of the ingredients in the pills were spiritual herbs. Moreover, even at his most mediocre, he hadn’t experienced any major hardships in his life. It was unlikely that he would resonate with falling flowers, right? Burying flowers like this… even many young girls in the modern world wouldn’t do this when they were being a bit dramatic.
Yu Tianze had no opinion on Ming Yuan’s actions of planting flowers last time and burying flowers this time. In any case, he thought everything Ming Yuan did was good in his past life, but in this life, he thought everything he did was bad. So, it didn’t matter to him what Ming Yuan did.
He didn’t want to stay here long, and roughly knew what Ming Yuan wanted to do by calling him over, so he slightly raised the hand he was holding, which was holding Mu Zirun’s, “Master, this is my newly taken-in servant. Mu Zirun smiled and accepted the gesture, then stepped forward, preparing to kneel and pay his respects.
That’s the downside of this cultivation world; when a servant like him meets a great figure of the True Person level, he is better off observing proper etiquette until familiarity is established. He was a bit stunned when he met Yu Tianze last time, and Yu Tianze didn’t make this request at all, but with this Ming Yuan, who might be two-faced, he’d better be careful.
Ming Yuan seemed to realize what was going on, and he hurriedly reached out his hand, “Silly child, no need to kneel…”
Mu Zirun stood up smoothly, “Thank you for your kindness, Zhenren.”
Since the other party was making this gesture, regardless of whether it was genuine or not, he would “go with the flow.” He had never even knelt before Yu Tianze, so he didn’t want to kneel before this one even more; he would avoid kneeling if possible.
Yu Tianze coldly said, “Master is kind-hearted; there’s no need for such formalities in the future.”
Ming Yuan’s smile froze slightly. He felt that as a dignified Zhenren, it was only natural for a servant to bow to him. It was also proper etiquette for his disciple’s servant to come and pay respects. Although he casually stopped him as usual, which of the younger generation would dare not actually bow? Therefore, Mu Zirun’s actions were truly unexpected.
However, thinking about it, this little servant was so young and had grown up in the outer sect; it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t know how to behave. Of course, he didn’t think Yu Tianze’s actions were wrong. His disciple never worried about such things and trusted him completely; whatever he said, Tianze believed—that was perfectly normal.
Ming Yuan’s smile quickly returned to normal as she looked gently at Mu Zirun, “What’s your name?”
Mu Zirun respectfully replied, “This humble one is Mu Zirun, currently serving the Peak Master.”
Ming Yuan became even gentler, “Tianze has a bad temper; you must be patient with him.”
Mu Zirun, “…”
What did he mean by telling everyone that his disciple had a bad temper? Speaking modestly to peers was one thing, but saying this to a servant, too, wasn’t that trampling the face of a Nascent Soul-stage exalted figure countless times?
Mu Zirun’s face immediately showed a look of adoration. “The Peak Master has taken a liking to me, so I must serve him wholeheartedly to live up to the Peak Master’s good intentions. A person like the Peak Master… I, I cannot respect him more!”
Ming Yuan paused and said, “Tianze is indeed very strong.” He then smiled and handed over a bottle, “Zirun, you haven’t drawn spiritual energy into your body yet, right? Here is a bottle of Qi Gathering Pills. You can take one after you achieve Qi Induction.”
How generous! A bottle of Qi Gathering Pills as a greeting gift? Mu Zirun knew that even inner disciples could only receive one bottle a month. No wonder everyone spoke highly of Ming Yuan’s benefits; he was certainly good with his money. But Mu Zirun did not take it immediately. Instead, he turned to look at Yu Tianze, showing a questioning expression.
Yu Tianze, with a stern face, said again, “Master is kind-hearted, you should take it.”
Mu Zirun accepted it and said happily, “Peak Master also gave me three bottles beforehand, but my aptitude is too poor, so I thought it wasn’t enough. I didn’t expect the Zhenren to give me such a generous gift. Zhenren is indeed kind-hearted, thank you very much!”
Ming Yuan’s smile faded slightly. “That’s good.”
For some reason, Yu Tianze suddenly felt a little happy.
