Chapter 155: Big Idiot... (Two-in-One)

Before the sect tournament, this brief segment involving Jiang Dapao and the Sun-Moon Cult may lean more toward everyday life, sweet romance, and warmth...
This is truly not the lazy author padding the word count~~~ There really is a lot of foreshadowing~~~ Everything will be useful later on......

......

Looking at the newspaper report concerning Chen Jia, Jiang Lin was momentarily stunned.
No wonder he had been back at Twin Pearls Peak for almost a week without even catching a glimpse of Chen Jia—it turned out she had gone to Myriad Buddha Continent (Bodhi Continent).
And she had gone straight to their temples to spar......
Looking at the pure and lovely profile in the newspaper, for some reason, Jiang Lin felt a mounting wave of pressure.
Could this little girl have broken through her realm again?
Was this even acceptable?
In case she delivered another one of her little punches to his chest, his sternum would surely be broken......

Furthermore, Jiang Lin discovered a serious problem.
That was, everyone around him seemed to be progressing.
Of course, it wasn't as if he hadn't made progress, but the others seemed to be ascending realms by much larger margins......
Especially his master. Despite the fact that his master looked like a child—even when he gently flicked her little head, she would only pout and look at him with a resentful gaze—his master was already at the mid-stage of the Jade Pure Realm, which meant she possessed a lifespan of ten thousand years.
Even if he reached the Dragon Gate Realm, he would still only have a thousand years. How could this do?
In case he turned into an old man while his master's appearance remained unchanged and she stayed a young maiden, wouldn't that just break his heart......

Then there was the matter of proposing marriage to Dragon Gate Sect.
Even if he wanted to smash both of the opponent's heads in, he needed the strength to do so; otherwise, it would be his own dog head getting smashed by them......
There was also the sect grand tournament. The minimum strength requirement for the grand tournament was the Dragon Gate Realm, while he...... was still in the Sea-Watching Realm......
He didn't even possess the qualifications to enter the arena, dammit.

All in all, Jiang Lin felt an urgent sense of needing to level up.
There were five months left until the sect grand tournament.
Jiang Lin felt he could not waste these five months in vain; he had to cultivate properly, and he also had to ask Xiao Hei to forge some equipment for him.

"Daddy~~~ Daddy~~~"
Just as Jiang Lin was pondering his "guide to rapidly leveling up in five months," little Niannian crawled onto Jiang Lin's knees, burrowed into his arms, and tugged at his clothes with her cute little hands.
Jiang Lin kissed Niannian's chubby cheeks: "What's the matter, Niannian?"
Wearing little white socks, little Niannian stood up on Jiang Lin's lap, her cute toes tiptoeing gently as if she wanted to whisper a secret to her daddy. Jiang Lin obediently lowered his head.
Little Niannian's warm breath gently brushed against Jiang Lin's ear: "Daddy...... Mommy seems a little unhappy...... Daddy shouldn't bully Yuni Mommy......"

[Hmm, Master is unhappy?]
Jiang Lin poked his eyes out from behind the newspaper and sure enough, saw his master pouting her little lips, angrily munching on her bread with an "humph, humph" sound, not even dipping it in honey.
This adorable appearance was clearly a fit of pique, though Jiang Lin had no idea what had happened......

"Master?"
Lowering the newspaper and taking Niannian into his arms, Jiang Lin asked tentatively.
"Humph!"
Jiang Yuini, who was eating her bread, turned her head away.

Jiang Lin scratched his head, put little Niannian's little shoes on her, and gently set her on the floor. He walked over, squatted down in front of Jiang Yuini who was sitting on the stone stool, and called out softly,
"Master?"
"Humph!" Jiang Yuini turned her little head away again. "Master doesn't want to talk to little Linlin anymore."
"Master, I was wrong." Jiang Lin smiled and gently brushed a crumb of bread from the corner of his master's mouth. "I really was wrong."
Jiang Yuini crossed her arms: "Then where does little Lin say he was wrong?"
"Well, about that......" Jiang Lin smiled. "I don't know......"
"Bad guy! Big bad guy! Little Lin is a big bad guy, you only know how to brush Master off, big bad guy!"
An angry Master pinched her little fists and kept pounding on Jiang Lin's chest. Jiang Lin felt no pain at all; coupled with the "da-da-da" special effect of the little fist pounding his chest, he felt like he was going to bleed from pure cuteness.

"Alright, alright, Master, please really don't be angry anymore." Jiang Lin smiled as he enveloped Jiang Yuini's dainty fists in his palms. "Little Lin owes Master a favor, and Little Lin remembers it. What does Master want?"
"Little Lin still remembers?"
With her hands held, Jiang Yuini didn't struggle, but turned her little head slightly, still nursing a tiny grievance.
"Of course I remember." Acting just like someone coaxing a child, Jiang Lin rubbed his master's little head.
Little Niannian also walked over, tugging at the hem of Jiang Lin's clothes, her bright, sparkling eyes looking up at her daddy with anticipation: "Daddy~~~ Niannian has also been working very hard to miss daddy, and has been working very hard to study and learn swordplay."

At that moment, Jiang Lin realized that his little Niannian was also feeling a bit wronged and upset.
After all, little Niannian had been looking forward to him coming home, but for the past three or four days since his return, he had been leaving early and returning late every day to the Mission Hall to report on the Donglin City mission and handle the matter of Lianhua, completely forgetting about his family for a time.
He had even been reading the newspaper during mealtime.
Viewed this way, his master wasn't just upset about the "promise," but also about his busyness these past few days.

"I'm sorry, Niannian. It's daddy's fault. Niannian has already been very obedient and good." Jiang Lin tousled little Niannian's silvery-white hair. "When Niannian comes back from school, she can perform sword dances for daddy to see, alright?"
"Mhm mhm, Niannian is actually very strong now."
Seeing little Niannian's chubby little tail wagging happily, Jiang Lin felt a warmth in his heart and planted another loud kiss on her cheek.
"Look, Master, even little Niannian has forgiven me. Master is the mommy, after all, so it won't do to keep throwing a tantrum."
"I......"
Jiang Yuini lowered her little head, her face flushing slightly.
[Ah, ah, ah! Little Linlin is so cunning! Clearly, I wanted to act spoiled a bit longer, but he just knows to use Niannian to keep me in check. Humph! Too bad!]

Just as Jiang Yuini was grumbling inwardly, the young woman felt a shadow fall before her as Jiang Lin leaned in close.
"Eh?"
Jiang Yuini's long hair behind her back was gently gathered up, and by the time she snapped back to her senses, a crystalline white jade necklace had already been tied around her fair neck.
The raw jade of this necklace was found when Jiang Lin went to buy a jade pendant to fool Lianhua.
Perhaps it was fate at first sight; the moment he laid eyes on this piece of jade, Jiang Lin imagined what it would look like worn by his master.
Originally, this small piece, less than half the size of a thumb, was some sort of town-dowsing treasure belonging to that shopkeeper. However, using his money-cheating ability combined with a drawing he had personally sketched of a beautiful woman playing the xiao flute, the boss finally sold it to him.
This piece of jade was certainly not the pendant given to Lianhua—that one was ordinary, meant merely to fool Lianhua, and Jiang Lin would truly have begrudged a real treasure.
When Wu Ke returned, Jiang Lin even intended to have Wu Ke reimburse him for that ordinary pendant.

Before his master could recover from her astonishment, Jiang Lin slipped a small red string around little Niannian's wrist.
Hanging from the red string was a small glazed bead. Although this glazed bead was also a mortal item, it was likewise a shop-guarding treasure of the establishment.
To ordinary people, the jade on Master's neck and the glazed bead on Niannian's wrist might be very expensive, but to cultivators, no matter how expensive a mortal item was, it couldn't cost much.
And there were probably very few cultivators like Jiang Lin who took an interest in mortal trinkets.
Yet Jiang Lin always felt that when giving gifts to people, whether they were mortal items or magical treasures didn't matter.
To give the thing you consider your most cherished to the person you love—that was the best choice.

However, Master's bracelet and Niannian's necklace had indeed undergone some processing.
Half of the fine threads used to string the pendant and the glazed bead were obtained by Jiang Lin at the divine temple in Donglin City, while the other half were the "Fortune Threads" from the system mall.
Unbelievable! Those few fine threads from the system actually cost ten thousand notoriety points! Jiang Lin felt like hacking the system to pieces!

"It's so pretty, is daddy giving this to Niannian?"
"Mhm, it's a gift from daddy to Niannian."
Jiang Lin's old face flushed red as well. He had originally planned to wrap it up nicely tonight to give Niannian and Master a surprise, but he hadn't expected to take it out now.
"Does Niannian like it?"
"I like it, I like it, thank you daddy."
Niannian stood on tiptoe and kissed Jiang Lin on the cheek, turning Jiang Lin's happy eyes into a comical squint.

Turning his head, he saw his master gazing with hazy eyes, gently caressing the small pendant resting on her chest, and Jiang Lin's heart skipped a beat!
Was she moved to tears by him, or was she crying because the pendant was too ugly?
Surely not? He had at least used that lotus pendant he gave to Lianhua (dog head) for practice.
Was this pendant really still that hideous? Did it actually ugly-cry his master?
"Master, I actually carved this pendant myself. It seems a bit crude; how about I take it back and refine it?"
Jiang Lin reached out, intending to loop his hand behind his master's fair neck to take the necklace off.
"No!"
Like a little hamster guarding its chestnuts, Jiang Yuini cupped the necklace and turned to the side.
Only to see his master holding the necklace in the palms of her hands, her eyes shimmering like a brilliant galaxy, the corners of her lips curving upward into a smile even more breathtaking than the full moon of the fifteenth, captivating the soul:
"Little Lin already gave it to me, Master...... already likes it very much......"

The morning sunlight slowly poured down, falling upon his master's radiant smile. The young woman gazing deeply at the pendant looked as if she were looking at the most precious treasure in the world, a strand of hair brushing across her cheek.
Master was really so easy to coax.
Although Jiang Lin felt this kind of thought was very selfish and wrong,
If it were possible,
Jiang Lin hoped his master could just maintain her current mental state, remaining pure, cute, and carefree for a lifetime—that alone would be enough. Everything else could be left for him to handle.

Looking at the stray lock of dark hair grazing his master's fair cheek, Jiang Lin reached out and gently tucked it behind her ear, tracing his finger to lightly wipe away the bread crumb at the corner of her mouth. The charming curve of her lips, drawn like vermilion ink, tugged at Jiang Lin's heartstrings.
"What is it?"
Noticing Jiang Lin's gaze, Jiang Yuini lowered her eyes slightly.
Being stared at like this by the person she deeply loved, the young woman who usually acted with such high-profile aggression found her cheeks burning red. Lowering her gaze slightly, her shy appearance resembled a bride just lifting her red bridal veil.
High offensive power with zero defense seemed applicable to more than just tsunderes.

Jiang Lin smiled: "Nothing, I just realized that Master is actually extremely good-looking."
"What do you mean 'actually extremely good-looking'? Master has always looked good."
Jiang Yuini gave a little humph and turned her head away. Though she was pouting, deep in her heart, flowers were already blooming with joy.
Usually, only when she acted spoiled would little Lin coax her and continuously praise her looks.
Yet just now, little Lin had taken the initiative to praise her......
Hehehe......
So happy.
If she hadn't used her spiritual energy to forcefully suppress her rapidly surging blood flow, the blush on the young woman's cheeks would have spread all the way to her delicate collarbone.

Having spent nearly ten years with his master, Jiang Lin naturally knew her anger was subsiding.
Pressing the advantage and following the original routine, Jiang Lin continued to coax his master just like a little girl.
In the end, his master proudly declared:
"Little Linlin has to kiss Master once, and then Master will forgive Little Linlin."
"Stop joking, Master, or else I'm taking the gift back."
Hearing his master's outrageous (and exciting) demand, Jiang Lin stood up and gently flicked his master's fair forehead.
Although back when he was small he often took advantage of his youth to kiss his master's cheek from time to time,
Now that they were both grown up, if he were to kiss her again, it would genuinely be quite embarrassing.
"Then Master will kiss Little Lin."
Before Jiang Lin could react, Jiang Yuini leaped up with a mighty bound, kissed Jiang Lin on the cheek, and then hurriedly bolted back into the room.
"Ah...... Mommy is so cunning, Niannian wants to too."
Little Niannian flew over—a flying dragon landing right on his face—and planted a kiss on the other side of Jiang Lin's cheek.
Stroking little Niannian's head and looking at his shy master hiding in the room, Jiang Lin felt a transient peak of his life.
Moreover, his master's shy appearance was so adorable......
"Master, I'm taking Niannian to school now."
Having decided not to wash his face for the entire day, Jiang Lin shouted toward the small thatched cottage.
After clearing away the bowls and chopsticks, Jiang Lin took little Niannian and left Twin Pearls Peak.

After Jiang Lin left, inside the thatched cottage on Twin Pearls Peak, the young woman cautiously poked her little head out, pouting angrily and scolding softly:
"Big idiot......"
Opening the door to step out of the thatched cottage, she sat on the small stone stool, cupping the pendant at her chest as if she could never look at it enough.
"I thought our dear Cult Master only obsessed over the clothes of that brat Jiang Lin, but I never expected her to be like this over a mere pendant. It was a gift from Jiang Lin, wasn't it?"
After Jiang Lin left, Fang Ruo, timing her arrival, drifted slowly downward.
Yet the moment she arrived, she saw her adorable Cult Master cradling a pendant, shaking her little feet in utter delight.
"Humph, what do you know?"
With her little secret exposed, Jiang Yuini blushed slightly and tucked the pendant inside the collar of her dress, before transforming herself in a flash.

Her neat, raven-black hair cascaded past her waist, and a black dress instantly materialized on her body. Her willow-leaf eyebrows were lightly painted, and her exquisite features paired with her slender, perfect figure were no less striking than the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox hidden beneath a veil.
The Sun-Moon Dual-Cultivation Great Art possessed a derivative transformation technique.
Unlike other illusion and disguise techniques, this was a true alteration of form—though naturally, there were only two forms.
For the young woman, one was the appearance of the cute and spoiled Jiang Yuini, while the other was the aloof and stunning Sun-Moon Cult Master Jiang Yuni.

"Greetings, Cult Master."
Fang Ruo offered a weary yet familiar bow to her close friend.
"What is the matter?"
Sitting on the stone stool Jiang Lin had just occupied, Jiang Yuini crossed her slender jade legs, her expression serene and beautiful.
Straightening her posture, Fang Ruo turned solemn for the very first time:
"Reporting to Cult Master, in the East China Sea's Penglai Continent, the Demonic Sword has manifested."