Has Jiang Che Grown a Conscience

"Slurp, slurp—"

Jiang Che set up a grill right there and began making small barbecue skewers, all using supreme immortal ingredients like dragon liver and phoenix marrow. These were already divine ingredients, and with Jiang Che's supernaturally perfect cooking skills, the aroma that hit one's senses was simply overpowering.

Jiang Che even secretly used a wind-control spell to deliberately blow the fragrance toward Ji Qingyi, leaving her completely dazed by the scent. No matter how reserved Ji Qingyi was, she couldn't help but drool at this point.

She stared wide-eyed as Jiang Che grilled skewer after skewer, each one even glowing faintly with golden light.

Ji Qingyi was so tempted she couldn't sit still.

"Gulp—"

"Here!" Jiang Che held out a skewer of grilled dragon heart, brushed with a sauce made from immortal herbs. When it came to food, the Nine Heavens absolutely left the mortal world in the dust—many flavors were beyond Jiang Che's ability to describe, yet they were so delicious they made one's soul tremble.

Ji Qingyi reached out her little hand, ready to take the skewer from Jiang Che.

But just as she was about to grab it, Jiang Che pulled it back.

"Call me Master," he said.

Otherwise, no food!

Jiang Che's mischievous side showed through.

Ji Qingyi: "..."

No matter how reserved she was, faced with intense hunger, she chose to speak.

"Mas... Master."

Hearing this, Jiang Che chuckled lightly and handed the skewer to Ji Qingyi.

The moment she took it, the girl wolfed it down, scarfing the entire skewer in one go. Then she fixed her eyes on the other skewers on the grill, drooling again.

"Master..."

Seeing that Ji Qingyi was finally willing to call him Master, Jiang Che waved his hand with a smile. Wasn't there nothing he, Mr. Jiang, couldn't handle?

Even though Ji Qingyi was only three or four years old, her appetite was simply terrifying. Her small body could weigh at most thirty or forty pounds, yet she managed to eat several hundred pounds of skewers in one sitting?

"Master..."

Ji Qingyi looked up, her little mouth covered in grease, her eyes still filled with longing.

Damn, are you a starving ghost reincarnated? How can you eat so much?

"All gone!" Jiang Che flicked his sleeve.

He almost lost his cool, aloof master vibe.

...

In the blink of an eye, several more years passed. Ji Qingyi had grown up, now looking like a seven- or eight-year-old. She was even cuter than Mo Shangxie had been at eight, though her personality remained just as quiet and withdrawn.

As for Mo Shangxie... she had fully grown into a graceful young woman, now eighteen years old~

"A Yi! I plan to go to the Demon Abyss and use its ancient evil energy to break through to the Emperor Realm! Master is going too... are you coming?"

Mo Shangxie approached Ji Qingyi.

She treated her junior sister Ji Qingyi almost like her own blood sibling. Although A Yi was reserved and quiet, she was now willing to call her "big sister."

Ji Qingyi nodded obediently. Wherever Master went, she would go.

...

"Master, I'm about to break through to the Emperor Realm!"

The moment Mo Shangxie saw Jiang Che, she couldn't wait to rush into his arms for a hug. Jiang Che wore a helpless expression.

The eighteen-year-old Mo Shangxie was incredibly beautiful, balancing innocence and maturity. Now that she was of age, if it had been the old Jiang Che, he would have been eager to "pluck this little fruit."

But Jiang Che had discovered a problem.

He could no longer feel any desire toward his young apprentice.

Over the course of more than a decade together, Mo Shangxie could almost be said to be a girl raised by his own hands—from the age of eight all the way to eighteen. The bond between master and disciple had become deeply rooted.

He wasn’t truly a native of this world, and although many people claim to enjoy the idea of "raising a child," when it actually comes down to it, not everyone can bring themselves to act on it.

Just like with Gu Xian’er, Jiang Che would never lay a hand on her. Even if she spent tens of thousands of years growing into a graceful and beautiful young woman, he would still only see her as a little sister.

The path of emotions is infinitely complex. Every living being is entangled by it, and even someone like Jiang Che, a being who has transcended ordinary existence, cannot break free from the bonds of affection.

"Tch—" Mo Shangxie muttered under her breath, secretly cursing him as an old fuddy-duddy in her heart.

Her feelings for Jiang Che were definitely not normal—in fact, they were highly abnormal.

After all, when a young girl on the cusp of adolescence encounters the most handsome, strongest, and most awe-inspiring master in the world, how could she not develop feelings?

As for whether Mo Shangxie might be lured away by some random punk with dyed hair?

What? Are you suggesting there exists a young man with bleached hair who could cross tens of thousands of light-years of demon abyss, fierce miasma, and deadly barriers to break into the Demon Palace, slip past the notice of over a dozen demon emperors and hundreds of demon lords, penetrate a conceptual barrier capable of shielding the limitless immortal emperors, and successfully kidnap Ji Qingyi?

Even if the River God himself showed up, there’s no way he could take someone away right in front of Jiang Che.

"The emperor realm is merely the starting point of cultivation," Jiang Che said. "You possess the Demon-Sealing Dao Body. When you undergo your tribulation, it will inevitably summon the highest level of heavenly tribulation. But with your master here, the tribulation wouldn't dare to act recklessly."

Mo Shangxie giggled at Jiang Che’s words. With her master around, everything always felt so reassuring.

At the same time, she glanced over at her junior sister, Ji Qingyi. When had A Yi managed to burrow into their master’s arms?!

Not like this, Sister... In the past, it was always me clinging to Master! Now his embrace has become my junior sister’s exclusive spot. She was quietly feeling a hint of jealousy. Ever since A Yi joined the sect, many things that once belonged to her had been taken away.

Still, she had no regrets. After all, little sisters were meant to be cherished.

"Master, don’t worry. That tribulation? I’ll face it in a way that will shake all of the nine heavens!"

"Master, I heard the celestial path will open wide in the next few years. I intend to set foot on it and compete with all the prodigies across the three realms!"

Hearing Mo Shangxie’s words, Jiang Che just felt a headache coming on. My disciple... it’s not that I don’t have faith in you, but do you realize how unfair it would be for someone with your Dao Body to enter that competition?

Right now, across the entire three realms, fewer than ten prodigies possess a Dao Body. Furthermore, Mo Shangxie’s Demon-Sealing Dao Body is enhanced by the Demon-Sealing Dao Scripture—she would undoubtedly be unbeatable all the way through!

Still, Jiang Che nodded in agreement. Letting Mo Shangxie go out and make some mischief might be good—it would at least give him some peace and quiet.

Lately, the little apprentice’s feelings had been straying in a direction that worried him. Jiang Che could clearly sense it.

But honestly speaking, he really didn’t want their master-disciple relationship to change. So he kept evading it. Once, Jiang Che had thought he would be an expert in the "raise the child" game, but looking at it now... true feelings are still hard to act upon.