If the master says so, then naturally it is allowed.

Eastern Victory Divine Continent, Cloud Rhyme Hall's temporary command center.

Today, Chen Baiqing's demeanor was unusually gentle. In his hand, he held not a jade token, but a teapot.

As for the reason, it went without saying—Chu Xingchen was currently lounging leisurely in the great hall, sipping the very tea Chen Baiqing had brewed.

Ye Antao, the mascot of Cloud Hall selected by Chu Xingchen himself, was also holding a teacup while seated nearby, her expression thoroughly satisfied.

After all, she had thought this would be a tough assignment, yet as the work went on, she ended up doing nothing at all.

Cloud Hall’s outpost tasks came with extra subsidies.

Moreover, the subsidies increased in line with the mission’s difficulty.

As it happened, Cloud Rhyme Hall had rated this task as difficult, so Ye Antao was drawing a very high subsidy.

Though Ye Antao currently had nothing to do, she was still genuinely on outpost status.

No work to do, yet collecting the highest subsidy.

Occasionally, she could enjoy a cup of tea brewed by Bai Qing, and when truly bored, she could wander around a bit.

Despite Ye Antao doing nothing, everyone treated her with great respect, since she now nominally held the highest command in Cloud Rhyme Hall, making her the direct superior of them all.

Yunxiao used to visit frequently, but after seeing Chen Baiqing’s arrangements and command, his visits grew sparse.

When he did visit, he only glanced at Chen Baiqing’s arrangements, found no fault, and then left.

However, Yunxiao would occasionally remind Ye Antao to stop coasting, urging her to stay close to Chen Baiqing, watch her work, and learn a few skills, rather than simply pestering Chen Baiqing for tea.

With Yunxiao out of the way, the temporary command center felt even more comfortable for Ye Antao.

Moreover, Chen Baiqing, who was actually running the command center, treated her extremely well—always gentle in tone, ready to answer any question, and even sending her small gifts from time to time.

Good-looking, pleasant in manner, and very skilled in handling people.

Ye Antao sometimes couldn’t figure out how someone as arrogant as Chu Xingchen could have raised such a well-behaved disciple.

Taking a sip of her tea, Ye Antao shook her head helplessly.

When the time came for her to take on disciples, she was determined to find one as attentive and caring as Chen Baiqing, following the same mold.

“Well, I underestimated Cui Hao—he does have a touch of your style.”

Bai Xuanling held a jade token in her hand, her gaze drifting to Chu Xingchen beside him, and said teasingly, “These little tricks are exactly like what someone used to do in the past.”

Chen Baiqing, hearing this, curled his lips into a smile and turned his gaze to his own master.

The text messages from Cui Hao via the jade token flowed back to him as well, so he knew very well what Cui Hao had done.

Cui Hao directly targeted the believers, while disguising it as the incense gods betraying their end of the deal after receiving benefits, making it seem like the incense gods were maliciously striking first to prevent the Evil Spirit Sect from using incense worship as a means to control the nation.

The Evil Spirit Sect was never known for patience. If it weren’t for the massive upheaval Chu Xingchen caused the last time, combined with the obvious trend of purging evil cults now, the Evil Spirit Sect wouldn’t have swallowed their pride and used spirit stones to negotiate peacefully.

Cui Hao, on the other hand, skillfully redirected the blame, leading the Evil Spirit Sect to believe that the incense gods of Northern Continent Jade Lotus were isolating them. The sect then thought the incense gods there had taken their money and gone back on their word, making them unsuitable as genuine partners.

Now, Cui Hao didn’t even need to mobilize the Cloud Dream Pavilion; the incense gods and the Evil Spirit Sect were already at each other’s throats.

The Evil Spirit Sect was currently deciding whether to swiftly suppress the leading incense gods in Northern Continent Jade Lotus, without exposing the entire plan to the Eighteen Immortal Sects.

Judging by appearances, they seemed ready to make a serious move.

Those incense gods were hardly innocent. If chaos truly struck, they might well align themselves with the Heavenly Demons.

If they could be purged in this manner, the Eighteen Immortal Sects would have a good excuse to clamp down on them, making things much easier to handle in the future.

Moreover, Cui Hao’s actions had already significantly reduced the faith of many in Northern Continent Jade Lotus in the incense gods, which was a good thing in itself.

Although Cui Hao often came across as unreliable, always grinning and joking around, the work he did was ultimately solid.

Back when Cui Hao had accompanied Chen Baiqing on missions, Chen Baiqing had genuinely taught him some closely guarded insights.

Chu Xingchen took a light sip of his tea and said with a proud tone:

“My disciples naturally ought to have some of my style. Just look at Bai Qing—steady even in major matters. Truly a true heir to my legacy.”

Bai Xuanling let out a mocking laugh: “Stop putting gold on your own face.”

“What do you mean, ‘putting gold on my face’?” Chu Xingchen raised an eyebrow and turned to Chen Baiqing with a grin. “Come on, Bai Qing, tell her.”

Chen Baiqing set down the teapot and, speaking as if stating a simple truth, replied naturally:

“You, Master, are still better than I am. I have yet to learn even three-tenths of your skill. I still need to follow you and diligently study all your fine qualities.”

Chu Xingchen arched an eyebrow smugly at Bai Xuanling, as if to say, “Hear that truth for yourself?”

Bai Xuanling let out a scornful laugh and didn’t bother to reply.

After all, everyone knew Chen Baiqing was the real “little warm quilt.” Asking her to say anything wrong about her master was as difficult as crossing through tribulation to become an immortal.

Even in jest, that held true.

Ye Antao looked at Chen Baiqing with a mixture of touched and slightly disapproving eyes.

Attentive, yes—but attentive to the wrong person.

Chu Xingchen withdrew his gaze and asked softly:

“Bai Qing, what do you think of your junior brother’s performance so far?”

“Junior Brother Cui has probably realized that your test was intentional,” Chen Baiqing said, continuing. “Now, he can handle things on his own, but he still has a small flaw—sometimes he’s too soft-hearted, doing unnecessary work that carries risks.”

“Still, he’s good at reading the situation and can be decisive when needed.”

Chu Xingchen raised an eyebrow slightly:

“So you’re saying you think Cui Hao will manage to wrap things up well, and there’s no need for me to show up anymore?”

Chen Baiqing stood up, walked over to Chu Xingchen with a freshly brewed pot of tea, and refilled her master’s cup, saying:

“That depends on whether Junior Brother will end up doing anything unnecessary.”

“But knowing how you are, even if you believe he can succeed, I suspect you’ll still go to the Cloud Dream Pavilion yourself, just to provide a final safety net for Junior Brother.”

Bai Xuanling sat nearby, eyeing the teapot as she listened. In her heart, she couldn’t help but deeply admire this—not only did Chu Xingchen know Chen Baiqing inside out, but Chen Baiqing also truly understood her master.

Chu Xingchen had already revealed his itinerary to her later on. Just as Chen Baiqing had said, his next stop would be the Cloud Dream Pavilion.

“Your master is quite busy; I don’t have time to clean up after Little Cui,” Chu Xingchen said, his expression unchanged. His gaze rested on Chen Baiqing’s warm and calm profile as he chuckled. “If there are any problems along the way, I was hoping your Third Senior Sister could lend him a hand.”

Chen Baiqing set down the teapot, a sweet smile spreading across her face.

“If you, Master, say so, then naturally I will.”