"We have arrived, this is Mount Taixu." Hua stopped in front of the ancient Taoist temple.
"Speaking of which, this architectural style was originally designed by Danzhu and Cangxuan... although it has been renovated many times over the years..."
Perhaps because Tian Shi was by her side, Hua was particularly prone to remembering the past.
"Back then, everyone..." Hua shook her head in silence.
"There is nothing we can do about it." Tian Shi said in a low voice.
Although he did not feel the same as Hua, he could still understand it.
"And somehow, Danzhu and Cangxuan left behind what they wanted to transmit, didn't they?"
After all, the entire civilization of Shenzhou originated from these two sisters...
"Mmm." Hua did not dwell on her memories for long.
She is a very realistic person, and if she hadn't met Tian Shi now, perhaps she wouldn't have so many feelings. After all, Hua had already been quite sad in the past.
Then, a voice sounded from the door: "Master, have you returned?"
The group of people standing in front of the Taoist temple still attracted the attention of others, that is, Hua's disciples.
However, since Hua is now the one leading the way, the arrival of the newcomers is more of a pleasant surprise than an unexpected one.
Otto looked at the newcomer; she was very young, but looking closer, one could see that the other person already had some barely perceptible wrinkles on her face.
"Zhaoyu."
Hua nodded to the one who arrived: her eldest disciple, Lin Zhaoyu.
She appeared indifferent, but Lin Zhaoyu seemed to be used to it.
"Your journey this time... um, and who are they?"
Lin Zhaoyu was somewhat curious as to why her master had returned so quickly this time.
However, she soon realized that her question was somewhat redundant for her master; after all, given her master's personality, she would probably only respond with something like "going for a walk."
To them, their master's sudden disappearance without a word might seem like a big deal, but to their master herself, it might be a trivial matter.
Then Lin Zhaoyu turned to ask Otto, who was following Hua.
"Do they look like visitors from the Western regions?"
"Friends." Hua said indifferently.
If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't know how to respond to Hua's attitude, but fortunately, Lin Zhaoyu had served Hua for many years and was already used to this attitude.
But... Master's friends?
This word is truly new.
No, it is amazing in every sense of the word.
"Suddenly I feel that God's concerns are justified... Isn't this attitude a bit cold?"
Otto thought to herself.
"Is it because this person is not very good at socializing, and maybe she has been spending too much time alone, so she is having relationship problems?" Void Archive also wanted to complain about this aspect.
Meanwhile, Hua looked at her eldest disciple and suddenly felt a pang of emotion.
"Speaking of which, if I remember correctly, Zhaoyu, you are already..."
Hua paused in the middle of her sentence, with a look of memory and contemplation on her face.
Looking at her master who had stopped in the middle of her journey, Lin Zhaoyu couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"I am thirty-three years old this year... and I have been serving master for twenty-seven years."
She thought her master had forgotten her age, and thinking about it, it made sense: what did the years of a mortal have to do with those of an immortal?
"Thirty-three… twenty-seven…" Hua nodded.
"That's right."
She had not forgotten her eldest apprentice's age.
The brain of the fusion warrior allowed her to remember most things in her life, let alone something that "only" happened twenty-seven years ago.
Her momentary pause was simply because she suddenly remembered something else.
"Zhaoyu, go prepare the rooms for these two guests." Hua pointed to Kallen and Eleanor next to Otto.
"Yes, Master." Lin Zhaoyu nodded and then gestured for the two of them to join her.
"Please come with me, ladies."
Kallen, Eleanor, and Otto exchanged glances before following Lin Zhaoyu.
Meanwhile, Otto stared at the receding figure of Lin Zhaoyu, lost in thought.
Thirty-three years old.
In Shenzhou, that is considered middle-aged.
But now she is still...
"You can see the whole picture from a small part, although the immortal has only been accepting disciples for less than thirty years, there are already some deep problems that are difficult to change."
Otto thought to herself, half-amused, and her tone was quite mocking.
But she probably didn't understand the joke well enough.
After all, this was no laughing matter for God.
Lin Zhaoyu…
Although she still seems to be filial and respectful to the immortal, if there is a trigger, Lin Zhaoyu, who is most familiar with the immortal, will definitely be the sharpest knife.
She had heard along the way that when the immortal lady by her side traveled killing demons, she was almost always accompanied by Lin Zhaoyu.
While watching Lin Zhaoyu walk away from the two of them, Otto asked Hua with some curiosity.
"Did the immortal ask me... or rather, did she ask God to do something?" Otto was well aware of her own limitations.
She knew that she could only attract the other party's attention thanks to the blessing of her own God, and she didn't think she deserved to be especially protected by them.
"Yes, I just remembered that there are some ancient objects in the Fuyun Temple warehouse, I hope Master can take a look at them."
"An ancient object?"
Tian Shi was puzzled for a moment, then smiled.
"I think it's something left by Danzhu or Cangxuan that you can't repair, right?"
"..." Hearing this, Hua showed an unusually embarrassed expression.
"In recent years, I have really neglected my studies."
Otto's expression became somewhat strange upon hearing this.
So, God taught this immortal not only martial arts, but also knowledge? Otto felt a bit of envy.
"No, I have always taught academic knowledge, martial arts are Hua's own talent."
Tian Shi corrected, as if he had read Otto's thoughts.
"..." Otto blinked and her mind immediately calmed down.
Ah, I see. So it seems that's a bit better?
At least she didn't learn less. Well, although she neglected some subjects, it wasn't a regression, just a lack of progress.
"Come on, Hua, you can show me the Fuyun Temple and introduce me to my good disciples."
"That is natural." Hua nodded and then led Otto and Tian Shi to the backyard of the Fuyun Temple.
However, Otto and Tian Shi did not see a single person on the way until they reached the warehouse, where they finally saw a white-haired girl.
Cheng Lingshuang.
"Master." Seeing Hua arrive, Cheng Lingshuang immediately stepped aside obediently to greet her.
"Lingshuang? What are you doing here?"
"I am informing Master, Lingshuang is looking for needle and thread, she discovered a hole in her clothes while practicing swordsmanship this morning, so she wanted to find needle and thread to sew it."
"If you need needles and thread, you can ask your elder sisters, there's no need to rummage through the warehouse... besides, even if you find these old objects, they will probably be rusted beyond recognition." Hua looked at the warehouse and shook her head.
It's been a while since I was here and I almost don't recognize this warehouse.
"My elder sisters, younger sisters, and younger brothers ran to join the fun after hearing that Master had brought a friend back." Cheng Lingshuang said obediently.
Hmm...
Although she is considered well-behaved, Tian Shi always felt that this girl was actually a bit cunning.
"Nonsense."
Although her tone remained calm and serene, Hua's eyebrows furrowed noticeably.
However, she didn't need to get angry about that: by now, those who had come to join the fun had probably been sent back by Lin Zhaoyu.
Hua shook her head, putting the matter out of her mind, but looking at the completely changed warehouse, Hua frowned again.
"It's useless to keep these things here, let Zhaoyu clean them up someday."
As Hua spoke, she waved her sleeve toward the pile of clutter, and the clutter piled on top immediately moved to another location, revealing the box underneath.
Then, Hua crouched down, carefully picked up the box and opened the lid, revealing a doll shaped like a girl.
"?" Cheng Lingshuang, who was watching from the sidelines, was a little surprised.
There was no other reason than the doll was so realistic that Cheng Lingshuang would have thought it was a living person if it weren't completely devoid of life.
"Energy exhausted." Tian Shi didn't trust his memory; he saw the problem at a glance.
But then he felt a little worried. "This problem is really very critical nowadays..."
If any part breaks, we can always fix it with what we have. But this energy is gone...
Although advanced technology and the power source of the Honkai world is Honkai energy, it's definitely not something that can be solved simply by inserting a Honkai crystal.
If it were that easy, Hua wouldn't have let this puppet, The Book of Fuxi, collect dust here.
Furthermore, she possesses complete intelligence and technology.
Regarding energy, she can manage it on her own, so why would she need to be turned off?
Although Tian Shi's skills with puppets are not bad, and he also has Void Archive by his side, if this really continues...
"The energy problem is not something I can solve out of thin air."
"And what about questionable methods?" Hua hesitated for a moment before asking.
Cheng Lingshuang, standing next to her, was completely stunned.
Umm... did the air just speak?
And her master actually responded? Can this be considered a divine power of the immortals?
I guess it's because my skills are too weak that I couldn't see the person talking to my master? Cheng Lingshuang convinced herself very quickly.
Meanwhile, Otto, who was nearby, had been observing the fifth disciple of the immortal, who was... considered by the immortal to be the strongest disciple.
No, perhaps there is no need to question her skills; her white hair is the best proof.
White hair most of the time represents extremely high Honkai energy adaptability, or to put it more directly: talent. Does it seem they must have awakened their stigmata?
Otto didn't pay much attention to Cheng Lingshuang's strength, instead focusing on observing her personality. But Otto was disappointed.
She can't tell. The other person seems indifferent to everything.
She clearly heard God's voice, but her expression remained completely unchanged. Hmm...
Usually, this kind of person is very calculating or, like Kallen, completely stupid. But this girl's appearance cannot be defined so simply...
"Don't you think this girl has at least three-tenths of the air of the immortal next to you?" Void Archive then offered a reminder.
"She lives in the world and yet feels separate from it... In a sense, this person is a patient... What do common sense, rules, logic, rationality, and worldly affairs mean to her?"
"..." Only after Void Archive reminded her did Otto understand.
She had little experience with those weirdos, but Otto was quite accurate in her assessment of those who were firmly locked in worldly desires.
With Void Archive's reminder and the Hua benchmark nearby, Otto had a rough idea of Cheng Lingshuang.
"Although these people are mostly indifferent to worldly affairs, they have things they care about in their hearts... For example, if the fairy lady is an old friend and a god, then she..."
"It's simply a choice between the Immortal Hua and her fellow disciples, according to my observation, I'm afraid the latter is more likely to win."
After all, this fairy is completely inept in matters of education compared to her own god.
If a deity came... Tsk, this kind of thinking is always a mixture of pride and anger.
Otto's feelings were somewhat complicated, but the next moment, Tian Shi's voice brought her back to reality.
"Ask Void Archive if she will take charging jobs."
"I'm not answering! Get lost!" Void Archive roared immediately in Otto's consciousness.
Tian Shi's solution was to find Void Archive to recharge The Book of Fuxi.
"..." Otto shrugged helplessly.
Although she didn't say it directly, the meaning was quite clear.
"It's okay if it doesn't work." Hua was quite open-minded, anyway, The Book of Fuxi has been closed for seven or eight hundred years, so it's not a big deal if it doesn't work now.
"However, since it cannot be repaired for the moment, Master, why don't you temporarily use the body of The Book of Fuxi?"
"?"
"?"
Otto and Cheng Lingshuang were surprised.
But Otto thought: "Is there also this way to play?"
Cheng Lingshuang thought: "Master's master... Grandmaster?"
Wait, wait, wait! Why did a grandmaster suddenly appear?
Although Cheng Lingshuang has a somewhat eccentric personality, she is still a thirteen-year-old girl, and this time she couldn't hide the surprise on her face.
"Furthermore, the original form of The Book of Fuxi was the Soul Steel figure that Danzhu bought with extra money after the cooking competition." Hua smiled slightly as she recounted the past.
"It wouldn't be presumptuous of you to possess it this way."
"Okay then." Tian Shi hesitated for a moment, but nodded.
Then, without further pretense, he directly took over The Book of Fuxi.
However, since the Book contains many pieces that are not soul steel, Tian Shi could only change his appearance.
Regarding clothes and such... well, does it look like it's hand-sewn?
And then the puppet came to life in an instant. Hua's gaze then turned to the stunned Cheng Lingshuang.
"Lingshuang, why haven't you paid your respects to the Grandmaster yet?"