Chapter 153: I Urge You Not to Treasure Your Robe of Brocade

After Ye Junze began his cultivation session here, Lingling continued to happily munch away on that pile of pastries.

Although Ye Junze had advised buying a smaller quantity, the heap he brought back for Lingling was still quite substantial. Consequently, even after eating for a long time, there was still plenty left over.

As she devoured these exquisite pastries—delicacies she had never tasted in all her years of life prior to this—she would occasionally let out gasps of admiration, seemingly utterly enchanted by their delicious flavor.

After some time, unconscious of how long he had spent in deep cultivation, Lingling finally swallowed the very last piece of pastry in her hand.

Gradually finishing off the sweet treats, Lingling rubbed her slightly protruding belly and let out a hearty, satisfied burp.

Then, Lingling slumped right where she sat, mumbling under her breath: "The pastries brought by Master are so delicious... I love this world so much, with so many tasty things I've never eaten before. And I especially love Master the most!"

After murmuring these somewhat indistinct words, Lingling closed her eyes directly, as if she had eaten herself into exhaustion and drifted straight off to sleep.

Soft, steady breathing noises continuously emanated from Lingling's nose and mouth.

Meanwhile, Mengyuan had all along been keeping tabs on the goings-on inside the Void Illusion, so it naturally took note of Lingling's behavior here.

Suddenly, a small blanket materialized in mid-air and floated directly downward, draping itself over the soundly sleeping Lingling.

Even though Lingling was a spiritual entity and logically shouldn't feel hot or cold like humans do, let alone catch a cold, Mengyuan had still observed the scene and acted accordingly.

And this, perhaps, was that hidden, tender side deep within Mengyuan's heart.

Strictly speaking, such gentleness actually originated from Ye Junze, learned directly from him.

One grows like the company one keeps, and black ink makes one black—this old saying was certainly not without reason.

Especially since Mengyuan had been living in close quarters with Ye Junze for so long, it was hardly strange for it to possess such tenderness under Ye Junze's subtle, imperceptible influence.

Perhaps, once Lingling spent enough time with Ye Junze, she too would inherit the gentle side of his personality.

Yet Ye Junze, immersed as he was in his cultivation, remained completely unaware that after such a long period of coexistence, he had already invisibly wrought this kind of change within Mengyuan.

Regardless of how the world turns, a person whose heart is like sunlit flowers and burgeoning spring grass—treating everyone with gentle kindness—will naturally always win people's affection.

Therefore, gentle people like Ye Junze should always be more numerous, ever more numerous, so that this world might become something people cherish from the bottom of their hearts and wish to guard carefully.

Yet these thoughts were not things Mengyuan would ever proactively voice to Ye Junze. As long as he remained true to his original intentions no matter the circumstances, then no matter how great the tribulations he might face, he would never be broken; instead, he would rise up time and time again to confront those hardships head-on.

Watching Ye Junze cultivate with closed eyes, Mengyuan could not help thinking inwardly: "After all, he has always been that kind of person."

......

The setting sun dipped low, turning the moment once again into dusk.

For the students of Anze who had so eagerly anticipated the weekend, today marked its end, after which they would have to bid it farewell and await the arrival of the coming week along with the next weekend.

At this moment in Anze, whether in the academic district or the entertainment district, quite a few students had already begun setting off on their return journey back into the campus grounds.

Yet judging by their pace, they walked very slowly indeed, as if they were profoundly reluctant to return.

No, rather than saying they were unwilling to return, it would be more accurate to say they were unwilling to accept the reality that such a wonderful weekend was coming to an end once again.

However, the passage of years is always merciless, and time is no different.

Time is not something that accelerates or slows down simply because of the speed of human footsteps; it merely flows onward in accordance with its established rules, neither too fast nor too slow.

Regardless of whether people cherish it or not, time pays no heed. Cherished or uncherished, time never stops for anyone.

I urge you not to treasure only your robes of gold; I urge you to cherish your youthful days.

Of the changes happening in the outside world, Ye Junze, immersed in his cultivation, was naturally entirely oblivious.

Yet as his cultivation session had now lasted for quite a while, Ye Junze's practice was also nearing its conclusion.

As Ye Junze completed one final circulation of his internal energy and exhaled a breath of stale air from his nose and mouth, he opened his eyes and brought his cultivation to an end.

Ye Junze stood up, muttering to himself, "It must be quite late now, right?"

Thinking he was simply talking to himself and that no one would hear, he was suddenly surprised to catch the sound of Mengyuan's voice.

He heard Mengyuan state, "It is already dark outside."

Hearing this, Ye Junze nodded to indicate he understood.

Then Ye Junze said, "Well, that about wraps it up for today. Since it's getting late, I'll be heading back first."

Mengyuan replied aloud, "Very well."

Suddenly seeming to recall something, Ye Junze asked, "By the way, where is Lingling?"

"Still over there, but it seems to have fallen asleep and hasn't woken up yet," Mengyuan answered upon hearing the inquiry.

Hearing Mengyuan's reply, Ye Junze looked rather intrigued, asking with clear curiosity, "Oh? A sword spirit can actually get sleepy?"

Regarding this matter, Mengyuan itself knew very little, so it could only vaguely reply, "I suppose it is possible."

Ye Junze waved his hand and said, "Never mind, never mind. I won't make things difficult for you; I'll go take a look myself."

With that, Ye Junze walked over toward the spot where Lingling was located.

Drawing closer, he saw Lingling curled up into a tight ball with a small blanket draped over her body.

Seeing the blanket on Lingling, Ye Junze guessed whose handiwork it was with just a brief thought.

A warm sensation welled up in his heart; he truly hadn't expected Mengyuan to possess such a meticulous and considerate side.

Ye Junze said softly, "Well done, deserving of praise."

Mengyuan naturally heard his voice, but in response, it only let out a soft hum of acknowledgment without saying anything more.

Meanwhile, looking at the soundly sleeping Lingling, who was letting out faint snores with her nose slightly scrunched up, Ye Junze found her rather adorable.

Ye Junze smiled, reached out, and gently ruffled the sleeping Lingling's hair.

The moment he made this movement, Lingling seemed to sense something, shifting her body slightly as if she were about to wake up immediately.

Seeing this, Ye Junze instantly withdrew his hand.

A short while later, the sleeping Lingling abruptly opened her eyes, and with deeply human-like gestures, rubbed them as if she had just woken up and couldn't see things clearly yet.

Shortly after, Lingling raised her head and spotted Ye Junze standing right in front of her.

Catching sight of Ye Junze, Lingling instantly beamed with surprise and said, "Ah, Master! Why are you here? Has cultivation ended?"

Ye Junze smiled and nodded, responding, "That's right, it's over. I'm about to head back, so I came over to check on you. I didn't disturb your sleep, did I?"

Hearing this, Lingling scratched her head with a somewhat bashful expression, waving her hands and saying, "No, no, how could you? It's just that the snacks brought by Master were so delicious that I ate a bit too much, and getting too full made me sleepy. Master, I really wasn't slacking off!"

Ye Junze smiled, patted Lingling's little head, and said, "Alright, alright, I believe you. Since you like eating them so much, I'll bring you some different ones next time I come."

Lingling accepted the head pats with evident satisfaction, nodding happily as she said, "Then thank you so much, Master!"

Withdrawing his hand, Ye Junze smiled and said, "Alright then, that's it for today. I'll be heading back first, see you tomorrow."

Lingling nodded and replied, "Goodbye, Master, good night."

Ye Junze nodded in return and said, "Good night."

Then, with a wave of his hand, Ye Junze departed from the Void Illusion.

Opening his eyes, Ye Junze glanced out the window at the significantly darkened sky and felt a wave of fatigue washing over him.

Following that, Ye Junze rubbed his stomach.

Massaging his belly, Ye Junze muttered to himself, "First things first, though—gotta fill this stomach before anything else."

Right after, Ye Junze got up from the bed and skillfully placed an order for dinner.

While ordering, Ye Junze thought once more, "Although this is a school centered primarily around cultivation, it really makes a lot of things vastly more convenient."

Having ordered his dinner, Ye Junze stood up and walked into the bathroom, intending to clean up.

After all, between practicing sword techniques, drilling sword moves, and undergoing his routine daily cultivation all day long, his body had long since accumulated a fair bit of exhaustion.

When he emerged from the bathroom, the dinner he had just ordered had already been delivered via transit.

Ye Junze smiled with satisfaction and wasted no time, sitting down to enjoy the meal spread out before him with peace of mind.

Once a sumptuous and appetizing dinner had fully replenished his expended physical strength, the meal was finally cleaned down to the very last scrap.

Looking at the plates before him, which were so spotless they could double as mirrors, Ye Junze rubbed his stomach contentedly. At last, the earlier exhaustion and hunger were completely gone.

Even so, when it was time to sleep, one still had to sleep.

As Ye Junze slumped relaxedly in his chair, his cell phone suddenly rang out.

Pulling out his phone to check, Ye Junze saw he had received a notification. Tapping it open, he discovered it was a message in their Daoist Magic Department class group chat.

The message had been sent by Li Xi, which read: "Attention all students. Following the end of tomorrow morning's Daoist insight class, we have a few more matters to discuss in the afternoon, which will serve as our class meeting. Therefore, everyone must return to the classroom in the afternoon, and don't forget."

At the end of the message, Li Xi had even specifically tagged all members, which explained why Ye Junze had received a notification alert.

Not long after Li Xi posted the message, many of the classmates who had been active in the chat quickly chimed in below with: "Received."

Seeing this, Ye Junze followed suit and sent a reply as well, since basic politeness was something he possessed. Moreover, seeing someone else's message and replying after noting the information was hardly a difficult task for him.

As Ye Junze stared at his phone, a flurry of thoughts spun endlessly in his mind: "A class meeting? It shouldn't be as simple as just that. There must be other matters to discuss, which makes me quite curious about what it could be. Could it be the academy tournament that was mentioned previously?"

A moment later, Ye Junze shook his head and muttered to himself, "Oh well, better not overthink it. I'll find out tomorrow anyway; thinking too much will just give me a headache."

With that said, Ye Junze glanced at the group chat one last time, and seeing that aside from that single announcement, there were only idle chats among the others with no further updates, he closed his phone and prepared to turn in for the night.

Putting his phone away and tidying up, Ye Junze lay straight down on his bed.

Closing his eyes, Ye Junze began reviewing the gains and insights from the entire day.

He had practiced the Canghao Sword Technique, successfully cultivated the Canghao Sword Intent within him, and now the Canghao Sword Intent was being properly nourished inside his body. Presumably, it was only a matter of time before the sword intent grew stronger.

"All things considered, it was pretty good. Am I now roughly considered a sword cultivator?"

Pondering this, Ye Junze shook his head again. How could it be that easy? He was probably overthinking things a bit.

With that, Ye Junze stopped pondering further, emptied his mind, and prepared for sleep.

Before long, exhausted in both body and mind after a busy day, Ye Junze sank deeply into dreamland, his breathing slow and even.

The moonlight reflected his thoughts, the long night stretching on peacefully.