Items like Qi Nan agarwood from the Ascending Realm, a top-tier auxiliary substance, were hard to come by. Zhao Rong had already used up nearly twenty years’ worth of the Lin family’s stock in Lanxi. Now, he needed to find other auxiliary materials. Mere relentless practice like drip stone piercing was too slow and not a sustainable solution.
Zhao Rong exhaled a murky breath from his chest and decided that after this gathering, he would take the opportunity to visit Du You City to thoroughly search the Immortal marketplace for other auxiliary substances...
He was daydreaming alone at the back, his thoughts drifting off somewhere as he contemplated the post-gathering matters. After all, he was only pulled into this gathering by his eldest martial brother to make up the numbers, and he planned to leave immediately after it ended.
However, at the moment, only less than half an hour had passed in the gathering, and Ye Ruoxi at the front had almost finished introducing the attendees. Of course, Zhao Rong was hardly involved, merely blending into the crowd and mentioned in passing as "younger brothers of Master Li," huh, and even received a compliment as "pillars of the Academy.".
At that moment, Ye Ruoxi turned her head and smiled at a woman sitting by the warm stream not far away:
"Who this is, I presume needs no further introduction. All the men from the Academy should know her, Junior Sister Kongyi. Why are you sitting alone here not speaking, do you have something troubling you? You can share with us, and we can give you some advice."
Liu Kongyi was sitting by the stream, stretching out a hand, trailing her fingers upstream through the water.
She was originally lost in thought watching the red carp swimming in the warm stream, but upon hearing this, she slowly looked up, her gaze reluctantly shifting away from the water.
Liu Kongyi snapped out of her reverie and smiled at everyone, "It’s nothing, thank you for your concern, Sister Ruoxi."
At this moment, a crimson dragon carp emerged from the water next to her without causing a ripple.
The crimson dragon carp flew around Liu Kongyi in a circle before plunging back into the clear warm stream, playfully swimming in circles with the other carps.
Many people looked on with curiosity.
Ye Ruoxi asked, "Junior Sister Kongyi, what is this creature? It’s so extraordinary."
Liu Kongyi glanced around, her gaze lingering momentarily on a man engrossed in reading, before quickly sweeping over the others. She responded with a hint of melancholy, "It’s nothing, just a little trinket I happened to come by not long ago."
Seeing Liu Kongyi unwilling to elaborate, Ye Ruoxi didn’t pursue further and turned to introduce the remaining few people.
Liu Kongyi noticed that many men at the gathering were staring at her, but she didn’t mind, as she was used to it. She had only paid a bit more attention to Li Jinsu upon his arrival; the other scholars from the Academy didn’t catch her prolonged interest.
Suddenly, Liu Kongyi turned her head and gently smiled at Du Yifu, who was frequently glancing her way from a short distance.
The latter’s expression immediately brightened, his smile beaming.
Unfortunately, before he could make a next move, Liu Kongyi shifted her gaze away, no longer looking at him. However, Du Yifu was not discouraged, feeling that he had gotten a bit closer to this Fairy Liu.
Over these days, they often attended literary meetings together. Fairy Liu enjoyed poetry, and they frequently discussed poems. Du Yifu felt that they had become quite familiar, although Fairy Liu sometimes seemed somewhat elusive. Nevertheless, Du Yifu believed that with his scholarly talents, he would one day win over this fairy who had made many Academy scholars infatuated to distraction.
Liu Kongyi, bored, took her gaze back to the carp in the stream. She continued to ponder the lyrics she had written a few days ago, revising them over and over in her mind, yet still unsatisfied. Her brows lightly furrowed, she lapsed back into daydreaming...