The matter was originally settled just like that.

At this moment, Wen Chi, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly spoke, "Master, you should at least assign one junior sister to me, shouldn't you? Otherwise, wouldn't Senior Brother have to take on too much work?"

Lingxu Zhenren glanced at him with surprise. "Oh? Since when do you have such awareness?"

Wen Chi smiled. "Master, why not let me guide Junior Sister in her cultivation instead?"

Cheng Yan frowned deeply but saw that Lingxu Zhenren had already turned to Qin Shu, asking, "Shu'er, what do you think?"

Qin Shu hurriedly nodded. While Wen Chi might not be very reliable, the shadow left by her senior brother was far too heavy. She feared her heart wouldn't be able to take it if she had to train under him.

Seeing her nod, Cheng Yan's brows furrowed even tighter.

Lingxu Zhenren chuckled, stroking his beard, and then asked, "So, you are not angry with your Second Senior Brother for teasing you like this?"

Hearing this, Wen Chi also looked at Qin Shu with interest.

Qin Shu gritted her teeth and forced out two words, "Not angry."

Lingxu Zhenren, noticing her outward calm but inward struggle, decided to probe further, "Oh? Why is that? Shu'er, are you truly so magnanimous?"

With everyone watching her, Qin Shu decided to bluff her way through and replied, "Because Second Senior Brother is handsome."

Lingxu Zhenren burst out laughing, stroking his beard, while Chi Yu stared at Qin Shu in shock, unable to understand how she dared to say something so bold.

As for Wen Chi, he looked pleased with the answer, while Cheng Yan's face remained unreadable.

Lingxu Zhenren smiled and said, "Very well. Since that's the case, Shu'er shall follow Wen Chi for her cultivation, while Chi Yu will follow Cheng Yan. Should I not be in seclusion, I will provide guidance on the fifteenth of each month. You may all leave now."

Cheng Yan and Wen Chi bowed and left. Qin Shu also eagerly followed behind them.

After leaving, Qin Shu whispered to Wen Chi, "Second Senior Brother, didn't you say Master would give us gifts?"

Though whispered, they were still in Lingxu Zhenren's domain—how could he not hear?

He froze, his temples throbbing.

This little girl had just joined the sect and was already coveting his treasures.

Truthfully, he had prepared gifts for the two disciples, but... he'd simply forgotten about them.

No sooner had Qin Shu spoken than she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head. She instinctively covered it and turned around.

In front of her appeared a storage ring. Similarly, one appeared before Chi Yu, though evidently, Qin Shu was the only one who had been hit.

Qin Shu laughed awkwardly, slightly embarrassed, realizing her whispered comment had been overheard.

Chi Yu accepted the storage ring and glanced at Qin Shu, who had already happily slipped the ring onto her finger.

She bowed in the direction of the cave and called out, "Thank you, Master, for the gift!"

She had already sneakily checked its contents. Inside the ring was a small turtle. Though she didn't know what it was, anything from Master couldn't be bad.

She didn't know if Chi Yu had one as well, so she wisely kept quiet.

As Wen Chi flew off and Chi Yu transformed into his true form to leave Lingxiao Peak's main summit, Qin Shu sighed quietly, preparing to make another run.

But before she could, Cheng Yan, who had already left, suddenly returned.

Looking puzzled, Qin Shu was about to ask why when Cheng Yan, floating in midair, called out to her, "Junior Sister, get on."

Qin Shu hesitated, looking conflicted.

Cheng Yan frowned. "If you dawdle any longer, walk back yourself!"

Qin Shu quickly shook her head. Walking up and down the mountain was too exhausting for her short legs.

But...

"Senior Brother, with the two of us, can your sword handle the weight?" she asked hesitantly.

Cheng Yan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Hurry up."

Only then did Qin Shu slowly shuffle toward him, carefully stepping onto the sword and maintaining the greatest possible distance between them.

The sword itself wasn't even a foot wide, forcing Qin Shu into an awkward T-stance just to stay balanced.

"Hold steady," Cheng Yan instructed.

With that, the sword rose into the air.

Qin Shu felt as though her life hung by a thread. Beneath her was a dizzying abyss, and she had never felt so acrophobic before.

Was this the so-called thrill of sword-flying in the cultivation world? Standing ahead of her was her senior brother, whose robes she didn't even dare touch, leaving her to sway helplessly in the wind.

The wind whipped past her cheeks, turning her already messy hair into a chaotic tangle that stung her face like knives.

She leaned forward slightly, trying to shield herself behind Cheng Yan.

At this moment, Qin Shu sorely missed Junior Brother Rui Ming, whom she had met on her first day in the sect. How considerate he had been, offering her a protective barrier. Her other two senior brothers, on the other hand, were hopelessly clueless.

No wonder they were both over a century old and still single. Hmph, serves them right!

Drawing upon her meager spiritual energy, she formed a barrier to shield her face, worried her features might get disfigured otherwise.

Fortunately, the distance between the peaks wasn't too far. Before long, Cheng Yan landed the sword at the entrance to her cave dwelling.

He leapt off the sword and turned back to see Qin Shu, standing dazed and disheveled on the sword.

Frowning, he suddenly realized he had only placed a protective barrier around himself and not around her.

Awkwardly clearing his throat, he said, "We're here. Get down."

Still feeling numb, Qin Shu forced a smile. Her face finally began to regain some expression as she weakly uttered, "My legs are shaky."

With a thought, Cheng Yan retracted his sword, leaving Qin Shu to wobble before finally finding her footing.

Just as she was about to complain, Cheng Yan coldly remarked, "Cultivation requires courage. You'll need to overcome this."

With that, he turned and left, offering her only the sight of his retreating figure.

Qin Shu: "..."

Frustrated, she scratched her already messy hair and silently vowed to train hard. One day, she too would master sword-flying.

Entering her cave, she activated the restriction with a thread of spiritual energy before taking out the small turtle from her storage ring.

"What is this thing?" she wondered aloud, examining the thumb-sized creature in her palm with great curiosity.

She channeled her spiritual energy into it, watching as the tiny turtle grew to the size of a wooden basin and floated mid-air.

Golden patterns glowed brilliantly on its shell, captivating Qin Shu.

It was a flying artifact! Master really knew how to pick gifts—it was as though he had read her mind.

Excitedly, she stepped onto the turtle and tried controlling it, only for it to shrink back to its original size mid-flight, sending her crashing to the ground.

Damn it, this thing consumed way too much spiritual energy!

After popping a spiritual energy-replenishing pill, she tried again. Several attempts later, she discovered that the larger the turtle's size, the more energy it consumed.

With her current cultivation level, she could only sustain the turtle in its palm-sized form for the distance between her cave and Master's.

Resolving to train diligently, she looked up and noticed a small black snake perched on the turtle.