By the time the two of them finished picking the tea leaves, it was already evening. Since Qin Yiqiu was heading back to her courtyard anyway, she planned to take Luoyun Huan along with her.
She summoned her flying sword, which she hadn't used in a long time. Ever since she broke through to the Golden Core realm, she had simply relied on riding the wind for flight, rarely using a flying sword anymore.
This flying sword was extremely plain—just a simple iron sword. Although many people's flying swords were flashy and ornate, once one's personal ability reached a certain level, even a tree branch could be used to fly; there was no need for a specially crafted magical flying sword.
"Going down the mountain on foot is quite troublesome now, and the mountain forests become exceptionally dangerous at night. Let me take you down."
With that, Qin Yiqiu stepped onto her flying sword. She extended a slender hand; her palms were not particularly fair and tender, however. At the base of her fingers, on her fingertips, fingerpads, palms, and beneath her thumbs, there were very distinct calluses.
These were sword calluses.
Almost as if in a trance, Luoyun Huan reached out and rested her hand upon Qin Yiqiu's palm. Though her own hands could hardly be called delicate—being an outer disciple, after all, she had to do quite a lot of rough chores—the difference was still apparent.
"Are you standing firmly?"
Qin Yiqiu asked patiently, and only after hearing a soft "mm" from behind did she let go.
"Hold onto my waist. You're only at the Qi Condensation Stage and don't know how to fly with a sword; you'll easily fall off."
Hearing the Eldest Senior Sister say this, Luoyun Huan felt her heart skip a beat, but the corners of her lips immediately curled upward in spite of herself. This was an opportunity dropped straight from the heavens!
She reached out. At first she hesitated slightly, but once she made up her mind, she abandoned all hesitation and wrapped her arms straight around her.
The Eldest Senior Sister's waist was as slender as she had imagined, curving with the perfection of a mermaid. With her palms pressed flat against it, she could feel the subtle rise and fall of her hips and the taut lines of her muscles.
No sooner had Luoyun Huan settled her grip than a gust of wind surged toward them. Qin Yiqiu accelerated the sword flight to an incredible speed, blurring everything around Luoyun Huan until she could barely make anything out.
She could only conquer her fear of heights, hold onto Qin Yiqiu tightly, and press the tip of her nose against the back of the other woman's neck.
Perhaps it was because they were flying too high, and too fast?
Qin Yiqiu naturally sensed the trembling, frightened body of the person behind her, and her mind drifted slightly toward her own neck, where hot breaths brushed against her skin.
For someone like her who was naturally cold-blooded, this warmth was all the more distinct.
It felt like a feather gently scratching at her heart.
The tip of the sword shuddered. Qin Yiqiu quickly noticed that she had drifted off course and hurriedly reined in her wandering thoughts, flying straight toward the Main Peak where her dwelling was located.
Yet how could she possibly keep anything from the System?
The System didn't rush to report the 0.1 increase in the affection score, because speaking up now would only ruin this ambiguous atmosphere.
After all, it was a super-duper considerate System; it would never do anything so tactless.
At first, Luoyun Huan could still feel the suffocation brought on by their rapid progress through the air, but after flying for a moment, that sensation vanished.
Luoyun Huan half-opened her eyes. All she could feel was the tickle of the Eldest Senior Sister's dark hair brushing against the tip of her nose, carrying a faint, lingering fragrance within the strands—like a subtle sandalwood scent.
Mixed with cypress leaves.
Clearly, this was the kind of fragrance only pedantic old scholars from ancient times would use to scent their clothes, but on the Eldest Senior Sister, it gave off an extraordinarily cool and ethereal beauty.
Unable to help herself, Luoyun Huan pressed her cheek against it.
At that, the flying sword completely lost control and pitched forward into a nosedive. Frightened out of her wits, Luoyun Huan wrapped her arms around Qin Yiqiu even tighter.
"What's wrong?"
Her voice was laced with urgency and panic.
"It's nothing. You're holding me too tightly."
Qin Yiqiu spoke the truth, feeling somewhat embarrassed. She had originally thought that her rigorous training over many days would allow her to remain completely immune to the touch of others, but she still experienced some uncontrollable emotional fluctuations.
"Ah, Eldest Senior Sister, I didn't mean to!"
Flustered, Luoyun Huan released her grip, her heart filled with apologies.
"It's fine."
Qin Yiqiu erected a spiritual Qi barrier around herself, which blocked the fierce wind whipping past from their rapid flight.
She picked up speed again and soon arrived at the Main Peak.
Luoyun Huan was dropped off. The moment Qin Yiqiu deposited her, she hurried away on the pretext of some urgent business, leaving Luoyun Huan to watch only her retreating figure.
"How strange. I'm not ugly, why is the Eldest Senior Sister running away so fast?"
Luoyun Huan reached up to scratch her cheek.
[Haha, well of course it's because your affection score went up.]
Hearing the System say this, Luoyun Huan realized that her affection score had indeed increased by another 0.1. Though not much, it still counted as progress.
Could it be because of hugging her waist on the flying sword just now?
Luoyun Huan couldn't help falling into deep thought. Facts proved that physical contact still worked, but it definitely couldn't be deliberate—it had to be completely accidental.
This was really difficult...
Irritated, Luoyun Huan gave her own head a pat.
Looking at the fresh tea leaves in her hand, she immediately decided to find someone to help her roast them.
The Yunjian Mountain Sect was a major sect, and the tea leaves were roasted by specialists; otherwise, they wouldn't taste so exquisite.
Usually, outer disciples or handymen did this kind of work. However, if one could build an exceptionally good reputation for tea roasting, one could more or less be considered a tea-roasting immortal.
So their status was still decent enough.
Since Luoyun Huan had the System, investigating or asking about someone was a relatively simple matter.
She had once asked the System if there was a so-called mall—after all, having read too many novels, she couldn't help harboring expectations. If she ever couldn't beat these immortal cultivators in a fight, she could at least pull out a rocket launcher and blast the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators.
As for fighting a Golden Core expert, she shouldn't even bother thinking about it.
According to the rules of the Immortal Cultivation World, even if blasted by a rocket, a Golden Core cultivator wouldn't die right away.
Arriving at the quarters where the outer disciples lived, Luoyun Huan caught the scent of tea from afar and went straight up to find the person responsible for roasting the tea leaves.
She paid the person a few Spirit Stones and urged them to rush the production.
Then, Luoyun Huan walked back with light, cheerful steps.
[Ahem... Host, even though you've given these self-picked tea leaves as a gift, what if the target doesn't like them all that much? Wouldn't all your hard work and efforts go to waste?]
Hearing the System say this, Luoyun Huan began to hesitate as well. She didn't actually feel there was anything wrong with slowly pursuing the Eldest Senior Sister like this, but the damn System mission had a time limit.
"Are you saying this because headquarters sent down a new quota?"
[Oh my, Host, you're so smart to have guessed it...]
Embarrassed, the System could only prompt Luoyun Huan to check the mission details herself.
A pop-up window appeared before her eyes.
[Please secure 3 points of the affection score within seven days. Failure to do so will result in a five-year reduction of your lifespan.]
Luoyun Huan: !
This was a blatant, unadulterated threat! Had it no shame left?
Yet right now, she was still short by 0.9 affection points.
If it were any other novel—no, if it were any other target—Luoyun Huan figured she would have farmed the points much faster than this.
But she genuinely liked the Eldest Senior Sister, which was precisely why she found herself caught in a dilemma.
[Host, I don't think you need to worry so much. Didn't you draw the Tears of the Succubus? Just dropping a tiny bit of it into the gift will make the target's heart flutter with romantic longing for you.]