Dual cultivation makes you stronger, everyone else is a prodigy, and I'm the only one slacking

Actually, it started from the day he came to say goodbye before going to the secret realm.

He just kept waiting, waiting for her to remember him and come back to see him.

When he misses her, he takes a sip of milk tea. It's sweet, and it fills his heart completely. He can't describe the feeling.

But the feeling was like an addiction; he desperately wanted to relive it.

"I don't want you to leave," Xing Qi said quietly, looking at her, each word distinct.

Yu Luoning paused for a moment, curled her fingers, and smiled, "I know you'll miss me. I'll come see you again next time, good boy."

Xingqi didn't understand the rest of the meaning, but he knew it: she was leaving.

He looked down at the ground and didn't say anything.

Yu Luoning had just lifted his foot, preparing to cast a spell with his fingers.

Turning around, I saw Xing Qi with drooping eyelashes, looking like an abandoned kitten.

Those obsidian-like eyes, watery and not looking at him, were just lowered, as if little pearls were about to fall at any moment.

He swallowed back the words of farewell.

Yu Luoning remained silent for a moment, sighed, walked back, and sat down next to him.

"Oh dear, I suddenly don't want to leave anymore. Can I sit here a little longer?"

Xing Qi raised his head, a smile blooming on his face, as bright as the spring sunshine, impossible to hide.

"Last time you said that the spiritual energy here is far superior to that outside, so why don't you cultivate here and achieve twice the results with half the effort?"

Yu Luoning hesitated for a moment, then waved her hand: "That would be too much trouble for you."

Xingqi shook his head, his eyes filled with a seriousness she couldn't understand.

Just as Yu Luoning was about to say something, her stomach rumbled at an inopportune moment.

She looked a little embarrassed.

Xing Qi stared at her stomach, as if he had seen something strange, his eyes full of confusion.

Why is your stomach making noises?

Yu Luoning turned to look at him, her eyes unreadable. "Aren't you hungry?"

What does hunger feel like?

Yu Luoning was stunned for a moment. She looked at Xing Qi and felt sorry for the child, who didn't even know he was hungry.

That makes sense, given the abundance of spiritual energy here. He has practiced abstinence from grains since childhood, so he probably has never tasted human food.

The milk tea she brought last time amazed him, which shows how lacking he is in terms of food.

Yu Luoning sighed inwardly and began taking things out of her Qiankun bag.

All sorts of pastries and dishes were stockpiled before entering the secret realm. I thought I would stay there for several years, but I didn't expect to get Game Over halfway through.

Fortunately, the Qiankun Bag has a preservation function, so the items are still in the same state as when they were put in.

Before long, the small white jade table was filled with all sorts of food.

Yu Luoning sat up straight and pointed at the dishes, introducing them to him one by one like a seasoned tour guide.

"This is hibiscus pastry, this is lychee pork with longing filling...and over here, there's blanched water bamboo shoots, braised duck with dew, and lily bulb and shrimp dumplings..."

"These are all my favorite foods. I'll just grab a little bit, and you can try them all to see if you like them. If you don't, that's okay too. I have plenty of food in my storage bag!"

Xing Qi sat opposite him, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

From the introduction of the first dish to the last, the expression on his face went through stages of confusion, novelty, shock, and finally, near bewilderment.

There are so many things in this world that he can't name.

"Are all of these edible?"

"Of course, these are all foods that ordinary people use to fill their stomachs. Some are complicated to make, and some are simple, but it's not easy to have a delicious meal; it takes a lot of time."

"Stop talking, hurry up and try it."

Yu Luoning pushed a plate of hibiscus pastries in front of him. Xing Qi picked up a pastry, took a small bite, and then stopped.

A taste he had never experienced before slowly spread in his mouth, and he didn't know how to describe it; it was an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

Yu Luoning couldn't help but laugh when she saw him like this.

"How was it? Not bad, right? I may not have many other redeeming qualities, but when it comes to food, I absolutely refuse to compromise. Back when I wasn't well-off, all the little money I earned went to my cravings. I'm the type who can live poorly, but I absolutely cannot eat poorly."

Xing Qi listened, swallowing the pastry in his mouth. He looked up and said, "I won't let you be poorly dressed or poorly housed."

He spoke very seriously, then took out a small, transparent jade bottle from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Yu Luoning.

"This little trinket my brother gave me, I'm giving it to you."

Yu Luoning looked down and saw a jade bottle the size of her palm. Inside the bottle was a hidden world, with a flying boat floating inside, with carved railings and jade steps, layered in a pleasing manner.

This is practically a flying palace.

She stared at it for a full three breaths. Who wouldn't want a fantasy version of Howl's Moving Castle?

She took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the overwhelming feeling of excitement, and pushed the white jade bottle back.

"Put it away."

Xing Qi was taken aback. "You don't want it?"

Yu Luoning nodded, thought for a moment, and then said, "Xing Qi, I'm asking you, this is something your brother gave you, right?"

"Um."

"You just casually gave away someone else's good intentions. If your brother knew, wouldn't he be upset?"

Xingqi was silent for a moment. He didn't know if his brother would be sad, but his brother had many good things.

Ningning didn't want it, probably because it was something his brother had given him. If he went to his brother's storeroom to get it, then it wouldn't count as a gift.

Xingqi thought about it and felt that this logic made sense.

Yu Luoning continued, "Xing'er, have you ever thought that since you gave me the flying boat today and I accepted it, I'll accept anything good you give me next time. How do you know I'm not the kind of person who gets greedy and insatiable?"

"I consider you a friend, so I can't accept this. Friendships need to be on roughly equal footing to last. Giving me something so significant makes our relationship feel different, and that's not what I want."

After saying that, Yu Luoning didn't wait for his reaction, quickly stuffed the jade bottle into Xing Qi's arms, then turned her head and pretended to be focused on eating.

She was afraid that if she looked at it again, she would change her mind on the spot.

Those were just her excuses. If she really had a friend who was willing to give her a big villa and a luxury car, she would treat that person like a god.

However, Xingqi was too naive. She always felt that the other person was a child. If a child offered you a villa, would you accept it? Would you dare to accept it?

Xing Qi held the jade bottle and looked down at it for a long time before suddenly saying, "So those who ask me for things aren't necessarily sincere towards me."

He muttered to himself, as if he had figured something out.

"You don't want what I offer because you're genuinely thinking of me and care about me?"

"You could say that," Yu Luoning nodded.

Xing Qi put the jade bottle into his spatial storage, thought for a moment, and then looked up and said, "But you treated me to so much food, I also want to make you happy."

"That's easy. Your Star-Picking Palace is rich in spiritual energy, so why don't you let me cultivate here for a while?"

Xingqi's eyes sparkled. "Is this enough?"

Yu Luoning smiled and said, "That's enough."

Xing Qi stared at her for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

That smile was just like the expression on his face when he ate the hibiscus pastry; it couldn't be hidden.

The white mist outside the palace was still the same white mist, but for some reason, it didn't look so monotonous today.