The male lead's reason for "borrowing" the Qiankun Cauldron is equally baffling. He needed it to refine a miraculous elixir that could detoxify the daughter of the Liuyun Sect Leader, restore her Spirit Root, and allow her to resume cultivation. That daughter is the first female lead.
Although Xiao Feng was deeply infatuated with the Sect Leader's daughter even before joining the Liuyun Sect, it didn't stop him from flirting with other female supporting characters during the year leading up to robbing the Qian Ding Sect…
Chen Muxue shivered at the thought, wondering how she managed to read such stories in the past. But, well, ancient novels targeting male readers often featured harems.
Xiao Feng waited for quite a while without receiving a response from the woman in front of him. Only then did he realize she seemed distracted and couldn't help but frown as he reminded her: "Ma'am?"
Chen Muxue snapped back to reality, cleared her throat twice, and said, "I am the Sect Leader. What business do you have?"
A glint flashed in Xiao Feng's eyes: "I am here to request borrowing your Sect's magic treasure, the Qiankun Cauldron."
Better to avoid unnecessary trouble. Just as Xiao Feng expected her to refuse, Chen Muxue burst into laughter: "Oh, that's a small matter, not a problem at all. Please, young hero."
Xiao Feng was taken aback momentarily, suspecting this might be a trick, but he wasn't backing down just yet.
He had done his research. Currently, Qian Ding Sect only has its Sect Leader, Chen Muxue, as a cultivator. Her Spirit Root is merely an unremarkable mid-grade Water Spirit Root. In the sect, there are also three little children - one was a foundling, and the other two were bought from human traffickers.
None of the three children displayed any cultivation talent. If they had, they wouldn't have been abandoned or sold.
In this world, even possessing the lowest grade of Spirit Root could earn one a place in minor sects, as cultivators are often indifferent to mundane affairs, requiring servants for chores and errands.
The blow from Chen Muxue just now must have caught him off guard.
Thinking this, Xiao Feng entered the Qian Ding Sect.
It sure was a shabby sect. A courtyard built on a mountain, daring enough to call itself a sect. The buildings were dilapidated, although the place was decently cleaned.
"This way, please." Chen Muxue was all politeness, as having read the novel, she knew the Qian Ding Sect had no chance against the Liuyun Sect. After all, she is the only one in her sect with a Spirit Root, and it's a very ordinary mid-grade Water Spirit Root.
Qian Ding Sect held no significant status in the Immortal Cultivation World. The original owner received this mess from her father. In the original owner's memory, there were a few senior brothers when she was young, but by the time she took over, she was the only one left to guard the ramshackle mountain gate and a dusty cauldron.
Qian Ding Sect had no source of income. Forget Spirit Pills and Magic Elixirs, even food was scarce. The original owner cultivated a few acres of land within the sect, foraged wild vegetables, and hunted to get by, only beginning to adopt unwanted children after encountering the abandoned infant Chen Xiaohu.
Though the original owner couldn't ensure every child was well-fed, they at least survived, and the Qian Ding Sect gained a semblance of vitality.
Yet, in the mouth of the male lead, all of this turned into child snatching and child abuse…
Chen Muxue couldn't help but grip the iron pot firmly.
Suddenly, Xiao Feng felt a hint of murderous intent behind him. When he turned around, all he saw was Chen Muxue's smiling face. After observing briefly and noticing nothing amiss, he thought nothing more, but became a bit more cautious.
Upon reaching the main hall, Xiao Feng saw a small cauldron, no bigger than a palm, sitting all alone in the center of a large open space. His mouth twitched involuntarily.
Chen Muxue also didn't know how the previously large Qiankun Cauldron had suddenly shrunk, clearing her throat: "Young hero, this is the Qiankun Cauldron."
Xiao Feng gave her a glance but didn't argue much. Whether it truly was the Qiankun Cauldron, he would know once he got hold of it.
He stepped forward, reached out to grab the Qiankun Cauldron—
He couldn't move it!
After tugging it a few times, Xiao Feng's face turned bright red. He looked at Chen Muxue, questioning with his gaze.
Is this guy weak? Chen Muxue was puzzled. It was understandable if he couldn't move the cauldron when it was big, but now that it was palm-sized, still immovable? Was he acting for her?
Xiao Feng noticed Chen Muxue giving him a cautious once-over, and his face reddened further, anger rising within him: "Sect Leader, this…"
Could it really be immovable?
With some doubt, Chen Muxue approached with a stance ready for a tug of war, reached out to grab it. She had barely exerted any force when the cauldron floated lightly. Consequently, with quite a bit of stored strength, Chen Muxue fell on her butt again.
"Are you messing with me?" Chen Muxue got up, holding the cauldron effortlessly.
Xiao Feng narrowed his eyes slightly: "Are you the one messing with me?"
"What sort of illness…" Chen Muxue muttered, casually handing the cauldron over, "Take it, use it as you please!"
Instinctively, Xiao Feng accepted it, and the next second it felt as if he was holding a mountain. He quickly withdrew his hands. If he had been any slower, his hands might have been crushed.
"I knew there was a trick here! I will remember this humiliation!" Xiao Feng, enraged and embarrassed, flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.
What trick? What humiliation?
Chen Muxue was a bit baffled, not understanding why Xiao Feng was suddenly angry. This male lead probably has some issues!
She chased after him only to see Xiao Feng turning back with a huff, "Thirty years on the east of the river, thirty years on the west, don't underestimate the youth of today!"
With that, he waved his sleeves, and an unobtrusive sword came flying, allowing Xiao Feng to depart on it.
Leaving Chen Muxue to stand bewildered in the wind.
In the end, he did utter that line. It seems that in a year, this sly character will return for revenge.
"Sect Leader! Xiaohua picked vegetables, Xiaohua is hungry!" Suddenly, an irresistibly adorable voice pulled Chen Muxue back.
Looking down, Chen Muxue saw a little girl, four or five years old, with two small pigtails adorned with tiny pink wildflowers. The girl appeared fair-skinned, though wearing the old Qian Ding Sect's robes, and with her face smeared with dirt from who knows where, she wasn't particularly conspicuous.
Chen Muxue felt a twinge of heartache. She had momentarily overlooked this Chen Xiaohua! Xiaohua was saved by the original owner not long ago while buying spices down the mountain. She had been abducted by traffickers and was crying incessantly. The traffickers were trying to silence her with drugs to avoid attracting attention when the original owner noticed and rescued her.
Initially, the plan wasn't to keep her in the sect. But days had passed, and the original owner not only published a notice in town but also inquired at the government, yet no one came to claim Xiaohua…
In the book, when the male lead returned for revenge, Xiaohua happened to be picking wild vegetables, came across a small white rabbit, ran off too far, and due to the male lead's prior investigation only revealing that there were three children in the sect, Xiaohua managed to escape the disaster.
When Xiaohua returned to see the original owner, crippled, lying on the ground, she vowed revenge. Eventually… eventually, this incoherent author made her one of the male lead's harem members!
It was a case of love after being forcefully taken! When taken, Xiaohua had just turned eighteen, prompting the original owner to go dark.
Finally, when the original owner was defeated by the male lead, it was Xiaohua's plea that saved her life…