But clearly, she herself was already used to it. She leaned closer to Luo Huangjun and lowered her voice.
"Master, are you also here to wait for Junior Brother?"
They were both women, and since Su Lingyuan had grown up under Luo Huangjun's care, she naturally felt no need to avoid anything.
Thus, her full and soft body directly made contact with Luo Huangjun. Those two "ferocious bears," being far too imposing, were the first to bear the brunt of it, lightly bumping into Luo Huangjun's arm.
Luo Huangjun only felt a wave of soft, yielding pressure against her arm, filling her with an indescribable awkwardness and discomfort.
She immediately stepped back once. Seeing that the distance was still too close, she retreated two more steps in quick succession.
This left Su Lingyuan dumbfounded.
'Master… are you seriously backing away like that?'
She even clearly saw a flash of disgust in Luo Huangjun's eyes.
Only, it wasn't directed at her face—but at another part of her body.
Realizing that her reaction had been somewhat excessive, and seeing Su Lingyuan's small mouth beginning to pout, Luo Huangjun coughed lightly to cover her embarrassment.
"Ahem… Lingyuan, although we are both women, we should still maintain a proper distance…"
Hearing this, Su Lingyuan thought about it and found the reasoning sound. She immediately tossed that tiny bit of grievance to the back of her mind.
She was cheerful by nature and would not let such trivial, insignificant matters affect her mood.
"Master, Junior Brother is still cultivating. You saw yesterday's diary too, right? That Dao-ring!"
Of course Luo Huangjun knew what Su Lingyuan was referring to—but she had a little selfish motive of her own.
"Let us put that matter aside for now."
"I observe that the flow of your vital energy is still somewhat unsteady. The fusion of your source is not yet completely thorough."
Luo Huangjun spoke with feigned seriousness.
"Ah? Is that so?"
Su Lingyuan widened her eyes in confusion. She herself hadn't sensed anything wrong.
Her realm felt very stable, and the fusion of her source seemed extremely complete to her.
But her master's cultivation was unfathomable—how could she deceive her? Since her master said she had these problems, then they must truly exist.
That was what Su Lingyuan concluded.
"Indeed. Come—your master will test you."
A trace of light flashed through Luo Huangjun's eyes, nearly impossible to detect.
Hearing this, although Su Lingyuan felt somewhat unwilling in her heart, she had been an obedient child since young and would naturally not defy her master.
"Alright."
The two of them left the Taihuang Hall together.
Su Lingyuan quickly cast aside that faint unhappiness, yet she failed to notice the subtle stiffness on Luo Huangjun's face.
'Lingyuan, forgive me—this will be the only time.'
Luo Huangjun thought this to herself. Tricking her disciple for the first time truly made her feel a bit ashamed.
Chu Ge's very first ring had been given to Shui Qianrou, but there was nothing that could be done about that. At the time, she had been in seclusion—missing it was missing it. There was no one to blame.
But the second ring—she did not want to give it up.
It wasn't because she coveted the effects of the Dao-ring. To be honest, it might offer her a little benefit—but only a little.
What Luo Huangjun truly cared about was the meaning of Chu Ge personally placing that ring on her finger.
Although Chu Ge had never explained what special significance it held to wear the ring on the left middle finger…
Her intuition told her that the meaning of putting on that ring was anything but ordinary.