"…"
Leng Ruoxue was flabbergasted. Junior aunt! How did I become a junior aunt?
"Elderly…"
"Don't call me elderly. Just call me Old Man Zao," the old man protested.
"Alright then, Old Man Zao. I'm not their junior aunt!" Leng Ruoxue said. This old man's identity was a mystery, and she really didn't want to have too much involvement with him.
"Why aren't you? We're on par, and they're my disciples, so of course they have to call you junior aunt!" the old man said very matter-of-factly.
Leng Ruoxue was really speechless about the old man's thoughts. Must this old man insist on being related to me?
"Junior Aunt, please take care of us in the future," the two middle-aged men said tactfully. Following whatever their master said would definitely not go wrong.
Don't these two people have no opinions at all at such an age? Why are they so obedient to their master? Leng Ruoxue was helpless…
In fact, this was something Leng Ruoxue didn't know. The master-disciple relationship in this world was more intimate in certain aspects than blood relations, especially for special professions such as artificers, alchemists, and beast trainers.
Leng Ruoxue sized up the three of them. She couldn't tell the level of the old man, but these two disciples were elementary Spiritual Monarchs with ordinary aptitude. After some thought, Leng Ruoxue took out two remolding pills.
"These are two remolding pills. I'll give them to you!" Leng Ruoxue said. She originally didn't want to give them any gifts, but now that these two middle-aged men were calling her junior aunt, she felt strange if she didn't express her gratitude.
"They're from your Junior Aunt! Hurry and put them away!" the old man hollered.
"Thank you, Junior Aunt." The two of them hesitated and obediently took the pills from Leng Ruoxue's hand. In fact, they didn't want them at first. After all, remolding pills weren't precious pills, and the effects after use were very ordinary. Moreover, with their status, they could obtain any pill they wanted! So they didn't take this small remolding pill seriously at all, but they dared not disobey their master's words.
Leng Ruoxue could naturally tell that they didn't care about the remolding pills, but she didn't mind because she knew very well that remolding pills were of little value to most. Moreover, this was the normal reaction of people. She would really be disgusted if they pretended to be grateful when they obviously didn't care about them!
"Lass, you still have to compete the day after tomorrow, so I won't bother you anymore. Take this. If you have any issues in the future, feel free to look for these two brats in the Artificer Association to help you." The old man threw Leng Ruoxue a black badge and left.
"Farewell, Great General Leng and Junior Aunt." The two middle-aged men left with their master.
"Grandpa, who are they?" Leng Ruoxue asked in puzzlement. She still didn't know the identities of these three people.
"Grandpa doesn't know either. They only said that they are from the Artificer Association," Leng Qingtian said. The Artificer Association had always kept a low profile, so he didn't know much about its people.
"Grandpa, is Elder Qiu back?"
"Yes. He went into his room as soon as he returned," Leng Qingtian said.
"I'm going to look for Elder Qiu."
…
"Master, why didn't we invite Leng Ruoxue to join the Artificer Association?" a middle-aged man couldn't help asking after they left the Elegance Lagoon Pavilion.
"Our Artificer Association is too small to accommodate her!" the old man said with emotion.
"Master, you are…"
"When you see her in the future, you must show her as much respect as you show your master. Also, take the two pills she gave you when you go back. There might be a miracle," the old man interrupted his disciple and half ordered them. He believed in his eyesight. That girl might become their benefactor in the future.
"Yes, Master." Although they were skeptical of Leng Ruoxue's strength, they firmly believed and even blindly worshipped their master.
…
"Elder Qiu." Leng Ruoxue came to the door of Elder Qiu's room and knocked.
But there was no response for a long time. The door suddenly opened just as Leng Ruoxue was about to leave.
"Elder Qiu, did you get my armor back?" Leng Ruoxue asked as she walked into the room.
"I brought it back," Elder Qiu said.
"Give it to me."
"Here." Elder Qiu had reluctantly examined it for a long time. But he couldn't figure out anything about this armor, so he handed it to Leng Ruoxue.
"Lass! I almost lost my old life for this armor. Shouldn't you compensate me?" Elder Qiu said expectantly.
"Elder Qiu, what does this have to do with your life?" Leng Ruoxue asked in puzzlement.
"It's all because of your armor! You became the champion of the artificer competition with this armor. Do you know how chaotic the scene was? Many academies asked the judges to give an explanation, and the scene was only controlled when the judges said that your armor was the highest-grade equipment refined in this competition." Elder Qiu relayed the grand scene to Leng Ruoxue.
"Oh? Did they mention the grade?" Leng Ruoxue asked casually.
"No! Oh right, Ruoxue, is this armor a spirit artifact?" Elder Qiu asked curiously. Apart from Leng Ruoxue's armor, the highest grade of equipment refined at that time was a long saber of the treasured artifact grade, so he guessed that the armor should be a spirit artifact. Spirit artifact! Only a Master Artificer can refine one.
"Elder Qiu, what do you plan on doing about Cong Min?" Leng Ruoxue changed the topic.
"Her? Her results were disqualified," Elder Qiu said happily.
"Was her identity exposed?" Leng Ruoxue asked.
"How did you know?" This girl is really shrewd. She wasn't even there at the time, yet she could guess it.
"Why else would her results be disqualified? With her strength, it shouldn't have been a problem for her to get into the top three," Leng Ruoxue said objectively.
"She was originally third, but the Flying Bird Academy exposed her identity as a student of our academy who participated in the competition for the Lunar Shadow Academy. So she was stripped of her ranking," Elder Qiu explained gloatingly.