By the time the tournament ended, it was rather late. Mei and the other disciples were dismissed for the day, after being told to report to the body elder's residence the next day.

As she headed back to her dorm, she thought about what she decided on back then, doing something for her friends. Urgh, it seemed like quite a lot of work, now that she thought about it. But it wasn't like she had a deadline.

Mei decided to laze around and read a book for the night. She'll think about it tomorrow. Or maybe the day after.

Morning came, Su Qing waking her as usual.

Mei headed down to the canteen, grabbing a tray. Hmm? Something smelled different. She followed the scent, and to her surprise, sitting on a tray were pyramids of rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, held in place with brown strings. Rice dumplings!

Was there some sort of occasion? They were a little heavy for breakfast, but Mei decided to take one anyway.

She grabbed a bowl of soup to go along with it, before heading to the usual spot. Ning Xing was seated there, stirring a bowl of soup absentminded.

Seeing Mei, she waved.

Huh, it had been a while since she had seen Ning Xing. Mei knew she was a good friend of Xiuying's, but not often did she join their group for breakfast.

"Good morning, um," Ning Xing pondered for a moment, before speaking. "Mei Xiu, was it?"

"Yeah."

Please don't let this be yet another awkward moment... She thought back to the last time she came to the table early and sat alone with Senior Han.

"Was there any reason you came here today?" Mei asked, not wanting a repeat.

Ning Xing raised an eyebrow.

"Hm? Oh, I've had a shocking revelation recently! But I'll spare the details for later." she said.

"Ah."

And just like that, awkward silence. Great.

It didn't seem to bother her senior, however, who just continued to stir the soup.

But Su Qing, who was sitting in Mei's soup as usual, suddenly shot out!

"Ning Ning!" he squeaked.

"What's the matter, little spirit?" Ning Xing looked rather bemused.

"Your soup... I help stir!"

Hearing that, she laughed.

"Sure, why not?"

If Su Qing had eyes, Mei was sure they would be gleaming.

In a swift motion, the little spirit shot into the soup. The soup began to spin into a vortex, before floating into the air! Mei watched in awe as the soup tornado spun, Su Qing glowing in the midst of it.

Seconds later, the soup dropped back into the bowl. Ning Xing looked on the verge of laughing as she tasted a spoonful of it.

"It's cold now. Thanks!"

Too cold, Mei could tell. There was no longer any steam rising out of it. Oblivious that he was being pandered to, Su Qing was very gleeful.

The rest of the group soon arrived, just as she finished unwrapping the dumpling. Xiuying looked a little alarmed after seeing Ning Xing seated there.

She leaned in to whisper something. Naturally, Mei tried to listen in with all her might.

"You're really going to tell everyone?" Xiuying said.

"Huhu. Yup."

The secret had something to do with Xiuying? Did she lose a bet or something? Mei felt a bit of pity for her friend, but now, her interest was piqued.

"Since you guys are Xiuying's friends, I thought I would tell you something, something shocking I discovered yesterday!" Ning Xing smirked.

Wang Wei and Liu Qiang looked to her with curiosity, while Yingyi ate his congee nonchalantly.

"You see, all along I've actually known Xiuying!" she laughed. "I just didn't recognise her since it had been quite a while."

"Back when I was younger and still in the mortal world, there was this little girl I used to play with! Who would have thought I would meet her again, here of all places?"

That's it...? Lame.

Mei decided to take a page out of Yingyi's book and started eating the rice dumpling.

Ning Xing began telling embarrassing childhood stories of Xiuying, who looked on the verge of dying. What a demon. Mei decided to give her a reassuring pat latter. Good thing her friends would never meet her parents.

As Wang Wei listened attentively, he suddenly jolted, his eyes full of shock.

"Wait, Ning Xing..."

"Yes?"

"If Xiuying was still little when you first got to know her and now she's all grown up... You're an Auntie?!"

Mei put down her chopsticks, a respectful look coming over her face. Time to prepare his funeral.

Liu Qiang and Yingyi had looks of alarm on their face, but Ning Xing only laughed, flicking Wang Wei's forehead.

"We're cultivators now, so let's not judge by mortal standards~ if you treat 200 as the new 20, I'm only 3~"

Over 30? Check.

Talks about embarrassing childhood memories to friends? Check.

Despite her not looking over 20 and her words, Ning Xing was a total auntie. Mei suspected Xiuying's friendship with Ning Xing would never be the same.

Mei picked the last of the sticky rice off the plate, licking her lips.

For the first time ever, Xiuying was in a hurry to leave during breakfast, so they arrived outside Ming Jiang's residence early today.

Standing outside the gate with her friends, the first thing that caught her eye was the stone lions.

They were very... unique, so to speak, both of them abnormally muscular!

The lion on the right was pressing on its ball as its muscles bulged, crushing it into the dented pedestal. The lion on the left wasn't any gentler, despite having a cub under its paw instead. Fortunately, the cub was not any less muscular, resisting the paw with ease.

And looking through the barred gate, Mei could see statues of very muscular men and women flexing placed on the path to the residence itself. Wow... some of those women had lost almost all traces of femininity. Had their breasts been devoured by muscle?

If this was what she was going to look after body cultivation, she wanted none of it.

Xiuying must have seen Mei's horrified look because she walked over to pat her shoulder.

"Don't worry, body cultivation doesn't make you that muscular. It's just that some people train their bodies to the extreme, to make the most out of body cultivation!"

Oh, right! She wanted to pat Xiuying's shoulder earlier. Almost forgot.

Xiuying watched, confused as Mei walked behind her, before patting her on the shoulder.

"Um, Mei Xiu?"

"Nothing."