The Pavilion in the Middle of the Lake Watching the Snow

What could be more romantic than watching the snow in Lakeside Pavilion?

That would probably be lighting a fire in Lakeside Pavilion, cooking hot pot, warming fine wine, fishing from the lake, killing and eating the fish straight away. With fine wine, delicious food, beautiful scenery, and a beauty...

"What's with this weird vibe?!" Long Qiqi complained with great dissatisfaction.

She didn't understand why Qin Ran had to insist on going to the freezing cold Lakeside Pavilion to eat. Not that she was complaining as her mouth was covered in oil...

The cold-fearing Long Qiqi was wrapped up in layer upon layer of thick clothes, and had already bundled herself up into a ball.

Bundled up so thickly, her movements were already very inconvenient, but this didn't affect the speed at which she waved her chopsticks at all. She was like a sphere, but with one short, fat hand constantly stretching out from the sphere, the hand a blur as it scooped up meat from the bottom of the pot.

"Qiqi! Eat a little less!" Qin Ran cut over some fish slices and dropped them into the pot, laughing, "Look at you, you're as round as a ball now."

"That's my clothes..." Long Qiqi defended herself disingenuously, her chopsticks still flying fast to pick up the freshly cooked fish slices.

"Is it cooked yet?" Qin Ran said with a laugh and a scolding. "You look like a starving ghost."

"I can eat the fish slices raw too." Long Qiqi retorted.

She was eating on the table, while Chasing the Wind, who had taken over half of Lakeside Pavilion, was eating while lying on the floor.

Chasing the Wind's food bowl had naturally been upgraded and replaced. After all, how could his previous milk-drinking bowl be suitable for his current gluttonous appetite?

After the fish slices were cooked in the pot, Qin Ran deftly scooped up over half and dumped it into Chasing the Wind's "big food bowl", before turning back to prepare other meats and vegetables.

Tian Wenjin sat at the stone table, watching the two big eaters of Mount Danfeng eat with relish. Her face was expressionless as she raised her wine cup and took a sip of the warm wine.

Originally there were three big eaters on Mount Danfeng, but due to her race's physical deficiencies, Li Shiyin could no longer compete with Long Qiqi and Chasing the Wind. Now she sat quietly and elegantly next to Tian Wenjin, occasionally taking a sip of wine with her, like a proper young lady.

Li Shiyin picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks and put it in her own small plate, but didn't eat it. Instead she asked Tian Wenjin, "Where have you been these last few months?"

"Reforging my lifebound weapon." Tian Wenjin was even more like a swordswoman now, cold, reserved, taciturn.

"Who did you ask to forge your sword?" Li Shiyin asked. "Was it Xu Zhiye?"

"No..." Tian Wenjin replied. "I went to the Shenlian Sect to forge it."

"Shenlian Sect?" Li Shiyin hadn't heard of this sect before.

"The Shenlian Sect is in the northwest of Northern Chu, on the banks of Lake Mengze. It's a sect that specializes in forging weapons and artifacts," Qin Ran explained as he walked over and added more spirit beast meat slices to the pot.

"Lake Mengze?" Li Shiyin looked at Tian Wenjin. "Isn't that very far from the Daojian Sect?"

"It just crosses the whole of Northern Chu." Qin Ran said with a laugh as he finally got a chance to sit down and eat a few bites.

"Wenjin, you're so amazing!" Li Shiyin couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"It was just unavoidable." Tian Wenjin shook her head.

If she could have gotten her lifebound weapon from Xu Zhiye, why would she have gone through such trouble to go to the Shenlian Sect?

Qin Ran ate a few bites and drank some wine, then asked Tian Wenjin, "Why don't you store your sword in your dantian?"

"This is an unfinished sword..." Tian Wenjin said, taking the sword off her back. "There were too many people trying to steal it back then. It had to come out prematurely before it was ready, as the sword furnace was broken."

She stroked the sword, like a mother stroking her child, extremely gently. "It can't be stored in my dantian, it can only be tempered with my lifeblood."

Tian Wenjin spoke matter-of-factly, breezing past the matters of sword forging and sword stealing. But Li Shiyin had forged her own lifebound weapon before, so she knew just how bloody the battles would be with so many people trying to steal a finely forged lifebound weapon.

And how lucky she, Li Shiyin, was! She and Tian Wenjin became disciples under the same master at the same time, cultivated the sword arts together, walked the same path of cultivation, yet she and Tian Wenjin seemed to be living in two different worlds.

She was also very clear that the world Tian Wenjin had gone through was the normal cultivation world, while she was protected by her master, living in an ivory tower.

Li Shiyin felt pity well up in her heart. She reached out and put her hand on Tian Wenjin's, wishing to comfort her. "Wenjin..."

"I'm fine." Tian Wenjin gave Li Shiyin a smile. But the smile seemed forced, as if she hadn't smiled for a very long time.

Li Shiyin sighed inwardly again. She couldn't help but look towards her own master. She realized how lucky she was.

Qin Ran glanced back at Li Shiyin, knowing what his silly disciple was thinking. He didn't say anything, but gestured for Tian Wenjin to hand over her sword so he could take a look, saying, "Unable to store it in your dantian? There must be a problem with the spatial inscription arrays."

Knowing Qin Ran was a master of arrays, Tian Wenjin was happy to seek his help. She immediately passed the sword over.

Qin Ran took the sword and examined it carefully, especially the interior structure and inscription arrays.

After a good while, he nodded and said, "As expected, the temporal and spatial inscription arrays are not integrated with the sword body, so it can't change size."

When it concerned her own lifebound weapon, even someone of Tian Wenjin's current temperament couldn't help anxiously asking, "Master Uncle, is there any chance of remedy?!"

"I can repair and perfect the inscription arrays, it will just take some time," Qin Ran said thoughtfully. "But I don't understand forging. Even if I perfect the arrays, I can't integrate them with the sword body."

"Oh!" Tian Wenjin nodded disappointedly.

Seeing her reaction, Qin Ran added, "I remember there were people in the Daojian Sect who understood sword forging. I wonder if they're still around. You can ask around yourself and seek their help.

"Or you can look for some books yourself on sword forging, you just need to study the knowledge about integrating arrays and the sword body. I can help you with the arrays. There should be books on sword forging in the Main Peak Library Pavilion."

"Alright!" Tian Wenjin could only nod. "I'll go take a look afterwards."

"Afterwards?" Qin Ran was puzzled. A lifebound weapon was a matter of great importance, shouldn't she rush to deal with it immediately? Why did it sound like Tian Wenjin was putting it off for later?

"I accepted a sect mission..." Tian Wenjin explained. "I came today to ask Shiyin to go together."

"A sect mission?" Qin Ran looked deeply at Tian Wenjin. He remembered suggesting earlier that she bring Tian Wenjin on some sect missions to experience the harsh realities of the cultivation world.

What a grateful girl... He couldn't help but curse Huang Feiyu again.

"Are you going?" he asked Li Shiyin.

"Why wouldn't I go?" Li Shiyin retorted.

With her personality, she'd feel antsy if she didn't get to go out and adventure every day. Now there was a chance to go on a mission, how could she pass it up?