Chapter 016: Such Ingratitude-Cultivation Strategy: Winning the Male Lead’s Favor from the Start(The young lady walks with confidence, unafraid to go her own way.)

Yan Shu's eyelids twitched, and she hurriedly said, "Senior brothers, aren't you here to instruct him in the arts of alchemy and forging? It's getting late, so let's begin at once."

Hearing this, Bing Shien and Liu Zhiqing withdrew their gazes and nodded. "Come, let's go to the alchemy room."

Xiao Jihan showed a flicker of surprise in his phoenix eyes, but quickly masked it, lowering his gaze as he said, "Please, uncles."

Bing Shien and Liu Zhiqing had assumed that Xiao Jihan's alchemy room would be inside the main hall, but unexpectedly, Xiao Jihan led them straight to the adjoining room.

There, traces of spiritual energy from immortal herbs still lingered in the air. As a fifth-rank alchemist, Liu Zhiqing immediately recognized it.

He looked at Yan Shu with a hint of displeasure. "Junior sister, did you give him the immortal spirit herb I gave you?"

Yan Shu's face flushed red at his words, and she replied awkwardly, "I know nothing of alchemy, nor did I realize how precious the immortal spirit herb was. When I saw him refining pills, I just tossed the herb in, which ended up exploding his furnace."

Both Liu Zhiqing and Bing Shien were stunned by this explanation.

Liu Zhiqing felt a bit better and said earnestly, "Junior sister, if you ever need anything, just let me know. Listen to your senior brother and stay away from the pill furnace."

Yan Shu nodded in embarrassment.

Bing Shien glanced at Yan Shu, then at Xiao Jihan, who still wore the same pale blue robe, now faded almost white, and suddenly thought that perhaps their junior sister was merely trying to make amends for the harsh treatment she had shown her disciple in the past.

He looked at Xiao Jihan and sighed softly. "You've had a hard time."

Liu Zhiqing also looked at Xiao Jihan, his thoughts aligning with Bing Shien's. He took a pill furnace from his storage pouch and said to Xiao Jihan, "This is the Blazing Fire Furnace, suitable for both alchemy and forging. It was my own, but after your grandmaster passed away, I inherited his Xuanyuan Furnace and set this one aside."

"I've heard from your master that you have considerable talent in both alchemy and forging. Today, I gift you this Blazing Fire Furnace. I hope you will not disappoint your master's intentions."

Xiao Jihan glanced at the furnace, then lifted his gaze to Yan Shu, the expression in his phoenix eyes unreadable.

He neither accepted nor refused, and for a moment, the atmosphere grew tense.

Liu Zhiqing was instantly displeased. The Blazing Fire Furnace could refine up to seventh-rank pills, making it a rare treasure. He had intended it for his most favored disciple; if not for Xiao Jihan's suffering, he never would have brought it out.

Yet Xiao Jihan seemed ungrateful, not appreciating the gesture at all!

Liu Zhiqing's eyes grew cold. "What is it? Is it not good enough for you?"

Yan Shu's heart skipped a beat, afraid that Liu Zhiqing and Xiao Jihan might come into conflict. She hurried to smooth things over, "Senior brother, how could he possibly disdain your gift? It's just that he's grown up with hardship and isn't used to being given treasures so suddenly—he's just a bit overwhelmed."

"Moreover, he's only just started learning alchemy and forging. Using such a fine furnace from the start would be a waste. Just give him a more suitable one."

This child...

Favorability: -73 (Hatred)

Favorability: -74 (Hatred)

Favorability: -75 (Hatred)

Seeing the favorability drop by three points in a row, Yan Shu stared in disbelief.

Male lead, is your brain filled with water on the left and flour on the right, so when shaken it turns into a muddled paste?!

I'm helping you out, yet you still lower your favorability toward me?!

Yet, Liu Zhiqing and Bing Shien were quite satisfied with her calling Xiao Jihan "this child," though Liu Zhiqing still felt resentment at Xiao Jihan's lack of gratitude.

Losing his enthusiasm for instructing Xiao Jihan, Liu Zhiqing put away the Blazing Fire Furnace and said coolly, "Very well. I don't have anything suitable for you at the moment. When I return, I'll have someone bring you a regular pill furnace. For today, just rest."

With these words, he turned and left.

Bing Shien looked at Xiao Jihan, who stood silent with lowered eyes, then at the faded blue robe he wore. After a moment's thought, he took out a jade slip and handed it over. "This is a record of my insights into forging over the years. Perhaps it will be useful to you."

This time, Xiao Jihan did not refuse. He took the jade slip and bowed. "Thank you, uncle."

Bing Shien regarded him for a moment and said quietly, "It's good for a man to have backbone, but like forging, being too rigid leads to breaking."

Leaving this advice, Bing Shien also turned and left.

Yan Shu glanced worriedly at the favorability score above Xiao Jihan's head, then followed them out, dejected.

Xiao Jihan watched her departing figure, his eyes turning cold.

Backbone?

No, he simply no longer dared to trust, nor to hope. Better to let go of unrealistic hopes and elusive truths from the start than to be ensnared by them later.

As for the jade slip, he considered it interest on the blood and pain he had given—they owed him that much.

Yan Shu accompanied Liu Zhiqing and Bing Shien outside the main hall. After hesitating a while, she finally said to Liu Zhiqing, "Senior brother, give me that Blazing Fire Furnace."

Liu Zhiqing frowned at once. "What? You still want to give it to him? After he showed such ingratitude, you still want to give him more?!"

Yan Shu remained silent.

Liu Zhiqing fumed, "What kind of spell has he cast on you?! Junior sister, beauty is only skin deep. As cultivators, how can we be distracted by appearances?"

Bing Shien added, "Junior sister, I know you feel remorse for him, but there is a limit to everything. We've already expressed our apology—he has chosen not to accept it. Humbling yourself like this diminishes your status. Don't forget, you are his master!"

Seeing their misunderstanding, Yan Shu struggled for a moment before quietly saying, "Senior brother, I truly owe him."

In the original story, even after the senior brothers learned the reason Xiao Jihan killed the original master, they continued to protect her and hunt him down, showing that in their hearts, their junior sister could do no wrong, no matter her faults.

While reading, Yan Shu had thought these senior brothers were pitiful yet infuriating, and now that she had become the original master and inherited her emotions, she refused to repeat the same mistakes.

She then told them the true reason the original master took Xiao Jihan as her disciple, and how she had repeatedly cut out his heart’s blood to suppress her inner demon.

Both Liu Zhiqing and Bing Shien were stunned beyond belief.

Liu Zhiqing was both furious and heartbroken. "Junior sister! How could you commit such a grave wrong? Even if our master is gone, you still have your senior brothers. At worst, we could have joined forces to suppress your inner demon—you should never have... never have..."

He was so angry he could not finish. To take in a disciple as a pretext, then month after month cut out his heart’s blood—how could anyone on the righteous path commit such an act?

Bing Shien closed his eyes in pain. "Junior sister, how could you have been so foolish? If you hadn't dispelled the inner demon in time, before long, it would have consumed you, and you'd have become a demon yourself!"