Stealing the female lead's favor turns her from a heartthrob to a universally disliked figure.

Qiu Shaoze took a light breath. "So, it's because Master touched us that we could hear him?"

“According to Third Senior Brother, he couldn’t hear anymore by the next morning, so this situation might not be long-lasting. Besides, judging from Master’s expression, it seemed like he was unaware of it,” Lan Cen said, offering his guess.

Qiu Shaoze had been a member of the Nine Spirits Sect for a long time, and suddenly something came to mind.

“Our master dislikes crowded places. She feels uncomfortable whenever there are many people and it is noisy. For several years before, she even asked to go to the forbidden area to be punished, saying that she felt comfortable there.”

"Do you think it's possible that Master has been able to hear all these noises all along, which is why he's so weak and unable to cultivate for seven years?"

Lan Cen nodded, "It's not impossible."

Imagine if someone suddenly buzzed and shouted in the ear of the Master at a critical moment in cultivation; it would very likely cause the cultivator to become agitated and have problems.

Especially at the critical junctures that need to be overcome.

In the past, people from Lingqin Peak might not have disturbed them under such circumstances, but who can control their inner voices?

Yao Han also sighed, "No wonder Luo Liang from Lingyi Peak said that Master's soul was damaged and there was a problem."

After a moment of silence, Xia Nanfeng asked, "Master just asked me if I wanted to go to the small secret realm in the Northern Continent's Ice Sea. What are your thoughts? Can Third Junior Brother go?"

Yao Han shook her head, "My leg isn't healed yet, I'd only be a burden if I went, so I won't go!"

"Then my third junior brother and I will stay here, while my second and fourth junior brothers and Master will go to the Northern Continent Ice Sea!"

Qiu Shaoze nodded. "I'm fine."

Lan Cen hesitated, "I've only just established my foundation. Would I be a hindrance if I went?"

Xia Nanfeng looked helpless. "I haven't established my foundation yet."

At this moment, Qiu Shaoze said softly, "Have you noticed that the dual-space storage rings that Master gave us are different from other things? When someone puts something into the shared resource space, we can see that person's information."

"Really?" Lan Cen asked in confusion, having not noticed the dual-space storage ring on his hand.

Qiu Shaoze nodded. "Last night, Third Junior Brother must have misplaced something. He put a jade flute in the white shared space, but then took it away quickly. At that time, I saw your information written on it, that your cultivation level was early Foundation Establishment."

"Really? I'll give it a try." So, Lan Cen put a bag of spirit stones into the shared space.

Xia Nanfeng and Yao Han probed the shared space with their divine senses and instantly saw a line of text above the bag of spirit stones.

"Lingqin Peak's fourth disciple: Lan Cen. Cultivation level: Early Foundation Establishment stage. Shared resources: 5000 low-grade spirit stones."

"This thing is really useful!" Yao Han said, taking out the bag of spirit stones, then taking out a thousand spirit stones and putting them back.

Then, everyone noticed a new line of text below the information on the spirit stone bag.

“Yao Han, the third disciple of Lingqin Peak, has already used 1000 low-grade spirit stones.”

"Incredible! This is a storage ring that is unique to our Lingqin Peak!" Qiu Shaoze was stunned.

Xia Nanfeng laughed, "No wonder Master told me earlier that any supplies would be placed here so that everyone could take them as needed."

As soon as he finished speaking, twenty bottles of fasting pills, twenty bottles of hemostatic pills, twenty bottles of low-grade spirit gathering pills, twenty swift wind talismans, and two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones suddenly appeared in the shared space.

And the source of all these things was their master, Li Qingqing.

Clearly, these are supplies prepared for their journey to the Arctic Ocean.

While the others were still in a daze, Xia Nanfeng's ears suddenly twitched.

"Junior brothers, our master sent us a message, instructing us to retrieve the spirit stones and quickly go to Lingtian City to purchase supplies for the Northern Continent's Ice Sea. We are to meet in two hours. All four of us are going to the small secret realm; it's said to be the sect leader's order."

“Then let’s all go!” Yao Han didn’t refuse again.

In order to save time, Qiu Shaoze took them directly to the sect's teleportation array down the mountain.

However, as disciples, they have no special privileges and each person has to pay a teleportation fee of ten low-grade spirit stones.

……

Qingyin Pavilion.

After receiving the sect leader's order, Li Qingqing immediately became a hands-off manager.

She instructed her disciples to prepare supplies, while she herself sat beside the Great Sound Mystic Spirit Qin, learning to play the instrument under the guidance of the Qin Spirit.

She has only studied five volumes of the nine volumes of Huayin, and today she is learning the Guiding Song.

When a zither piece is practiced to its fullest potential, it can draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, creating an effect similar to using a large-scale spiritual energy gathering array.

Moreover, the spiritual array formed by such musical notes can accelerate the growth of spiritual plants, so Li Qingqing studied it very diligently.

After meticulously working out the pitch details, Li Qingqing tried playing it once.

Since she couldn't activate the surrounding spiritual energy, she played it again.

After repeating it more than ten times, she played it more and more fluently each time.

Finally, when the Master of the Spirit Chef Peak came to find her, her zither music finally stirred a trace of spiritual energy.

By the time the Spirit Chef Peak Master approached Qingyin Pavilion, the dense spiritual energy had already enveloped the pavilion like a layer of mist.

The Spirit Chef Peak Master took a light breath, "If it weren't for the fact that you were still quite rusty when you first started playing, I would have thought you'd been playing the Spirit Guiding Melody for ten or eight years."

As Li Qingqing stopped playing the zither, the surrounding spiritual energy immediately dispersed.

She sighed softly, "I'm still no match for my master. I can't even draw spirits to form an array."

The Spirit Chef Peak Master coughed lightly, "Don't think like that! Your master spent twenty-two years practicing the Spirit Guiding Melody to perfect the spirit array."

Who is this little girl trying to kill?!

"Uncle-Master, is it time to depart?" Li Qingqing asked, getting down to business.

"It's almost time, so I came to check on you. Did you bring warm clothes? The Northern Continent's icy sea is exceptionally cold, so you, a little girl, should prepare more. Don't think that your little bit of spiritual energy can protect you from the cold."

"I saw that the sect leader had included temperature-regulating talismans in the supplies he distributed to me, so I didn't prepare any." Li Qingqing hadn't thought that far ahead.

Upon hearing this, the Spirit Chef Peak Master sighed, "The constant temperature talisman is completely ineffective there. Its effect will wear off in less than half an hour."

"Alright, I know you're overthinking it. I got you a Fire Spirit Beast Armor from the sect leader. You won't be so cold wearing it underneath."

As he spoke, the Spirit Chef Peak Master took out a crimson soft armor and handed it to her.

"Thank you, Senior Uncle!" Li Qingqing said with a smile.

Throughout the entire Nine Spirits Sect, only this Senior Uncle Yu treated her like a junior, caring for her and wishing her well.

"No need to thank me, the gifts were given by the sect leader. I only have one mouth."

"By the way, this Great Sound Mystic Spirit Qin has been sealed here for over a thousand years and cannot be moved, so you can't take it with you when you go out. The best qins were also destroyed when your master and the others left. What are you taking this time?"

As the Spirit Chef Peak Master spoke, he began to worry about her again.

"There are still quite a few spirit zithers in the Qin Pavilion. I'll take the one called Listening to the Wind!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Tingfengqin, whose name had been chosen, was flown out of the Qin Pavilion.

Seeing this, the Spirit Chef Peak Master couldn't help but laugh, "Alright! It's happy to have been chosen."

The two exchanged a few jokes, and Xia Nanfeng and the others had already returned.

Seeing this, the Spirit Chef Peak Master smiled and said, "Once you're ready here, hurry over. I'll go take a look first."

"Okay, Senior Uncle."

After the Spirit Chef Peak Master left, Qiu Shaoze handed a bundle to Li Qingqing.

"Master, this is what the people from the Brocade Pavilion asked me to give you. They said that an extremely handsome young nobleman made two sets of Xuanling Robes for you."

Li Qingqing was taken aback. "Who?"