Xu Xiaoshou turned his attention back to the liquefied stone.

A ring began to form in the tub before long.

​​

He kept his eyes still while he scanned with his Sense, enabling him to confirm the circumference of Mo Mo's wrist.

A rather thick bangle began to take shape. Xu Xiaoshou frowned, not believing that that thing was his work.

"Too much…"

Thinking so, he siphoned some of the white liquid out, slimming the bangle down considerably. It was only then that he nodded with satisfaction.

He dispelled the flames and flicked his hand, sending the bangle flying.

The bangle was freshly forged and was still hot.

"Well, that's what I feel holding it," he thought. "Anyone else's hands would be burned to a crisp."

He sucked and took out the excessive heat from the bangle before looking at Mo Mo.

"Your hand, please."

Mo Mo was stunned, and she was blushing hard, thinking that Xu Xiaoshou was about to put the bangle on her.

"I'll just do it myself…"

"I'll do it."

An obtrusive noise caused Xu Xiaoshou to slowly turn his head around. Mu Zixi again…

"None of your business, girl."

Mu Zixi puffed out her chest and said adamantly, "Man and woman aren't supposed to just touch each other, get it?"

"Umm, well, that kind of makes sense…" It was only then that Xu Xiaoshou understood what was happening. He held the bangle in his hand, not knowing who he should hand the bangle to. His eyes darted between the two of them.

"I'll just do it myself." With a grin, Mo Mo took the bangle and put it on her wrist. "Thank you," she said.

"Don't mention it."

Xu Xiaoshou narrowed his eyes and grinned, asking, "How's it feel?"

Mo Mo was impressed. "Very good. The sealing was such a success that my powers are suppressed now."

"Umm, I meant how's the size..."

"…"

Her smile froze, and she turned the bangle on her wrist about a little before saying, "It fits nicely, thank you."

"That's what friends are for."

Xu Xiaoshou was pleased to find that she liked the bangle. He'd even gone out of his way to use his spiritual source as a sword to carve some patterns into it.

With the carvings on it, the milky white bangle looked rather nice.

"I kept a little bit of liquefied stone for myself. I hope you don't mind."

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the remaining liquefied stone in the tub and explained, "If I'd dumped all of it into the bangle, it would've made it look super thick and ugly."

"It's fine."

Mo Mo didn't mind at all. In the beginning, she'd simply thought of giving the stone away, so just getting a bangle out of it in return was quite a bargain.

Furthermore, that bangle had some other significance to it…

Mu Zixi pouted as she watched Mo Mo play with the bangle around her wrist, feeling very jealous deep down.

"Xu Xiaoshou, I want a bangle too!"

Xu Xiaoshou rolled his eyes. "What do you want a bangle for? It's not like you're possessed by a demon beast," he said without turning around, going about shaping the remaining liquid in the tub.

The remaining liquefied stone wasn't much, but it was enough to make a ring nonetheless.

He'd been able to invoke the sealing energies from that white stone by siphoning spiritual source into it, and he figured that he might still be able to do the same after making a ring out of it.

So long as he was still able to invoke the sealing energies, be it in stone form or ring form, the item would definitely come in handy.

Mu Zixi thought for a bit and figured that she really had no reason to ask for anything, but that couldn't do. That brother of hers had no reason to give Mo Mo a bangle and give her—the sister—nothing.

"I don't care. I want it."

She glared at him and took note of the remaining white liquid in the tub. She then said, "By the way, you owe me a greeting gift."

Xu Xiaoshou remained unfazed and focused his attention in the tub. The ring started to take shape before long.

He then went about meticulously carving and finally polished it to the point where he considered it perfect.

"No bangle, but there's a ring. You want it?" Xu Xiaoshou said in jest and flicked the ring up, finding it light. It would make a good accessory.

Mu Zixi's ears burned. A ring? Well…

"Isn't this above a bangle?" she thought.

"I want it!"

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

"Man, you actually dared to ask, then?" he thought. "In your dreams!"

Xu Xiaoshou suppressed his twitching brow and asked in a very gentle manner, "How about I put it on your finger, then?"

"P-Put it on my finger?" Mu Zixi thought.

Seeing that Xu Xiaoshou was looking very, very gentle, she felt her chest start to pound very, very hard.

She figured that if this young man were to just behave himself, just that face of his alone would make him extremely attractive.

And he'd look just like the big brother-in-training she'd dreamt of meeting when she first became that elder's disciple.

Suave, gentle… someone who would just come and pat her head, even if she'd done something wrong, and just tell her in a doting manner that everything would be alright, as he was still around.

"Arrrgggghhhh. I'm gonna die!" she thought.

Mu Zixi slowly closed her eyes, her face still head, and answered almost inaudibly, "Okay."

Xu Xiaoshou struggled to keep his eyelids from twitching. How dare you!

He lowered his voice, and, trying to sound as gentle as possible, mimicked Mu Zixi's tone, saying, "Gimme your little hand, then."

"Huh?" she thought. "Gimme your little hand?"

Mu Zixi felt like she were about to pass out. She extended her trembling hand and heard the man before her say, somewhat hesitatingly, "Hmm, which finger should I put it on?"

"No, not this right now…" she thought, resisting the impulse. Finally, rationality prevailed over her emotions, and she put her ring finger down.

"An-Any finger would do…"

Before she finished speaking, she felt something warm come over her fingertips, and she shuddered like she'd been electrocuted as she felt something being put on her index finger.

The seconds felt like years.

Time passed, and the ring was finally put on her finger. Unable to take the embarrassment anymore, she turned around, covering her face.

"Thank you," she said in a nearly inaudible voice.

"So hot!" she thought. "It's scorching!

"Why is my face so hot? Cool down, quick!"

"You're welcome," she heard Xu Xiaoshou say behind her, but...

He sounded rather far away.

Dumbfounded, Mu Zixi turned to find her brother-in-training actually hovering high above.

Xu Xiaoshou nodded at her and flashed a beaming smile. "Take a look at how it fits."

Her heart thumped again, and she pulled her gaze away from her senior brother and looked at the ring on her finger.

Such a beautiful ring. The carving, the color…

"Huh?" she thought. "Why is it gold?"

Mu Zixi was stunned, her eyes filled with disbelief. Her pupils gradually dilated.

She probed with her spiritual sense and found that there was quite a space inside the ring, and that there was a can of honey in it.

"A-A space ring?"

Feeling like the world had collapsed on top of her, she immediately started fuming.

"Xu... Xiao... Shou!"

Her roar seemed to pierce the heavens, and caused the entire Senluo Woods to echo and tremble.

Cursed, Passive Points +1, +1, +1, +1…

Xu Xiaoshou continued looking suave and gentle while hovering midair. He was sure that Mu Zixi wouldn't be able to hit him from such a distance, which was why he maintained his demeanor.

"Do you like your present? I picked it specifically for you. That was my reward for becoming the champion of the Wind and Cloud contest back then!"

Mu Zixi took a deep breath. She was so angry she felt like she could puke blood.

Seeming to recall something, Xu Xiaoshou snapped his fingers. "Oh, right. There's a story to the ring."

"What story?" Mu Zixi was baffled.

"A champion's ring… does that mean it has some special sentimental value to Xu Xiaoshou?" she thought.

She started to feel somewhat better.

Xu Xiaoshou flapped his sleeve and turned to look at the sky in the distance before beginning his story.

"Back in my hometown, there's a type of pigeon called the pink pigeon…"

Mo Mo was immediately baffled. Why was he bringing up pink pigeons all of a sudden?

Mu Zixi was starting to get a bad feeling about things.

Xu Xiaoshou then continued with his story. "A lot of people like them, but when people who keep pink pigeons become more and more common, you start to see them everywhere.

"Sometimes, back in my hometown, some people would mistake someone else's pigeon for their own and end up feeding the wrong pigeon...

He then looked at that sister of his on the ground and paused for a bit before continuing. "In order to prevent such mistakes, owners started putting rings on their pink pigeons to prevent them from mistaking someone else's pet for their own.

"So you get it now?"

He fixed his eyes on the little girl.

Mu Zixi lowered her head, her pigtails drooping. She was actually keeping quiet.

Xu Xiaoshou checked his Information Bar.

"Weird," he thought. "Why isn't there like a torrent of curses flooding the information bar?"

He turned around to find that little sister squatting on the ground. What was she doing?

Xu Xiaoshou started shaking with fury at what he saw.

Mu Zixi looked up abruptly, her eyes completely bloodshot.

She lifted her hands from the ground, and tightly packed seeds shot out of the earth, immediately turning into towering ancient trees, and rushed at him.

Every single tree seemed to be crimson and was swelling as if they were about to explode soon enough.

Tens of thousands of them were all over the place.

Holy sh**!

Xu Xiaoshou's face turned ashen.

"You go this far over a story? Can't you just play nice?" he thought.

"Just kidding…" he said.

"Don't do anything rash!"