Preparing to Head to Shuyu Sect

Gongsun Qingling did not hesitate at all. Right in front of everyone, she immediately performed the formal disciple-acceptance bow to Yue Lingxi.

"Disciple Gongsun Qingling pays respects to Master!"

Yue Lingxi stepped forward to help her up, her smile warm and approachable.

"Good."

With a wave of her right hand, an exquisite spatial ring appeared in her palm, which she handed to Gongsun Qingling.

"This is my apprenticeship gift to you. Inside, there are resources suitable for your cultivation, as well as some soul-attribute cultivation methods. If there is anything you don't understand in the future, you can come ask me at any time."

Gongsun Qingling received it with both hands and bowed again.

"Thank you, Master."

Yue Lingxi smiled and nodded, then stepped back to Gu Changyuan's side.

Gu Changyuan watched this scene and nodded in satisfaction.

He also waved his right hand, and another spatial ring floated in front of Gongsun Qingling.

"Since you have entered my lineage, as your Grandmaster, I naturally cannot lack a meeting gift. Take it."

Gongsun Qingling took it and said respectfully,

"Thank you, Grandmaster."

Gu Changyuan waved his hand, then looked at Gongsun Qingling and instructed,

"For the next few days, stay with your father and spend more time together. Later, when your Gongsun family sets off to return, you can follow Lingxi back to the Holy Land to cultivate."

Gongsun Qingling nodded.

"Yes, Grandmaster."

Seeing this, Gu Changyuan did not stay any longer.

"Alright, then I will take my leave first."

As soon as his voice fell, his figure vanished into thin air.

Yue Lingxi nodded at Gongsun Qingling, gave a slight nod to Dugu Qirong, Gongsun Yanguang, and the others, and then also transformed into a streak of light, leaving the courtyard.

After the two left, the atmosphere in the courtyard instantly relaxed a lot.

Dugu Qirong took a step forward, cupped his hands to Gongsun Yanguang, and congratulated him.

"Congratulations, Brother Yan! For Qingling to be favored by the seniors and accepted into the Celestial Holy Land, her future will definitely be bright!"

Gongsun Yanguang's face was full of smiles, and he returned the gesture.

"The same to you, Brother Qi! Shiling is also a disciple of their lineage; her future achievements will naturally not be low."

Gongsun Zhihe was even more flushed with excitement. He looked at Gongsun Qingling, his eyes full of gratification and pride.

"Qing'er, from now on, you and Shiling will be fellow disciples. In the future, among your peers, you must take care of and support each other."

Dugu Qirong also looked at his daughter.

"Yes, Ling'er. In the future, you and Qingling must get along well and help each other."

Dugu Shiling and Gongsun Qingling exchanged a glance and nodded at the same time.

"Yes, Father."

Dugu Qirong said,

"Since that's the case, we old fellows won't stay here and disturb you young people. You two can chat and get to know each other."

After saying that, he went into the house with Gongsun Yanguang and Gongsun Zhihe, leaving the two young women in the courtyard.

Only then did Gongsun Qingling have the time to send her divine sense into the two spatial rings given by her Master and Grandmaster to examine them carefully.

Most of the cultivation resources given by her Master, Yue Lingxi, were materials that the Gongsun family also had but were extremely scarce, along with several scrolls of soul-attribute cultivation methods.

These methods were much more profound than the similar ones collected by the Gongsun family, clearly coming from the hands of an expert.

However, when her divine sense swept over the ring bestowed by her Grandmaster, Gu Changyuan, a look of unconcealable shock instantly appeared on her face.

Inside, it was uniformly filled with top-tier heavenly materials and earthly treasures, each one so precious that it made her heart tremble.

Even if the entire Gongsun family were to exhaust all their current power, they might not be able to produce even a few of these items. Yet her Grandmaster had casually given them to her as a meeting gift.

Gongsun Qingling stood frozen in place, her face full of unbelievable shock.

Dugu Shiling noticed her unusual behavior and asked softly,

"What's wrong, Qingling? Did you encounter something surprising?"

Gongsun Qingling finally came back to her senses. She took a deep breath, suppressed the shock in her heart, and looked at Dugu Shiling with a complex gaze.

"It's just... I was thinking, what kind of person is Grandmaster, to be so incredibly powerful."

Hearing this, Dugu Shiling was slightly taken aback.

Immediately after, a faint smile curved the corners of her mouth.

She guessed it—Gongsun Qingling must have seen the meeting gift from their Grandmaster.

When she had first scanned that ring, the shock in her heart was no less than Gongsun Qingling's.

But right now, hearing Gongsun Qingling ask about their Grandmaster, what surfaced in her mind was the scene of when she first met him.

Passing through the Immortal Ascension Platform without any obstacles, reaching the ninetieth step.

And then, while passing by, helping her heal the injuries caused by climbing the platform.

As well as just now at the Yaomeng Residence, the casual and somewhat teasing manner their Grandmaster had when bickering with her Master.

"Grandmaster is actually quite approachable."

She spoke slowly, her voice gentle.

"Especially towards his own disciples. So when facing him, you don't need to be so restrained."

Gongsun Qingling nodded thoughtfully.

Dugu Shiling looked at her, a smile appearing on her face.

"By the way, Qingling, your cultivation base is higher than mine, and your physique is superior to mine. In the future, among our fellow disciples, I will have to rely on you to take care of me."

These words were spoken playfully, carrying a hint of a joke.

In truth, Dugu Shiling's usual personality leaned towards being aloof and cold.

Even when facing acquaintances, she didn't smile much, let alone make jokes.

But after seeing the interaction between their Grandmaster and Master just now, she suddenly felt—

She should be a bit more outgoing, so she tried to make a joke.

Otherwise, in the future, she wouldn't know how to get along with that seemingly very lively Master.

Hearing her words, Gongsun Qingling couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not that exaggerated. As fellow disciples, we will naturally take care of each other. Besides, you entered the sect earlier than me, so I should be calling you Senior Sister."

Dugu Shiling blinked.

"Then it's a deal. We'll take care of each other in the future."

Gongsun Qingling nodded, her smile bright.

"It's a deal."

...

Gu Changyuan arrived at Lin Jingyu's courtyard.

A few green bamboos were planted in the yard. As the breeze blew by, the bamboo leaves rustled.

There were two wing rooms in the courtyard, one in the north and one in the east, each independent and not interfering with the other.

Lin Jingyu lived in the north wing, and Wang Yutang lived in the east wing.

As for why they didn't live together, on the surface, it was proposed by Wang Yutang, but in reality, it was for Lin Jingyu's sake.

Over the past century, Wang Yutang had spent more time with Lin Jingyu than anyone else.

She understood his personality too well—cold, taciturn, and bad at expressing himself. Even if he had feelings in his heart, he couldn't adapt to such an intimate relationship in a short period of time.

Having just confirmed their relationship as Dao companions, Lin Jingyu was naturally happy in his heart. But to make him immediately adapt to sharing a room with another person and being together day and night would probably leave him at a loss.

Therefore, Wang Yutang took the initiative to propose living separately.

Nominally, it was "used to cultivating alone, afraid of affecting each other," but in reality, it was to help Lin Jingyu out of a predicament, preventing him from proposing to live separately because of his discomfort, which might accidentally displease their Master, leading to an awkward situation.

Gu Changyuan naturally saw this clearly.

But he wouldn't say anything.

The romantic affairs between his disciples should naturally be allowed to progress step by step on their own.

As a Master, what was there for him to interfere with?