The words had already been spoken, so Ning Qingxue could hardly back out of tying his hair now. She was quite skilled at tying her own hair, but this would be her first time doing it for someone else.
Seeing Ning Qingxue standing there in a daze, Mo Wudu asked, “What’s wrong? Weren’t you going to help me tie my hair? Oh, right. It’s probably difficult without a mirror. Come inside with me. I have a mirror in my room.”
After saying that, Mo Wudu walked into his room.
Ning Qingxue had already lost count of how many times she had been shocked today. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that one day she would actually be allowed inside her Master’s room.
Before she could recover, Mo Wudu’s voice came from inside, “Qingxue, why haven’t you come in yet?”
Ning Qingxue quickly replied, “Oh, right. Coming, Master.”
Ning Qingxue entered Mo Wudu’s room. Although Mo Wudu had spent the past few years wasting his days away, he had never neglected to clean the place. At the very least, everything looked remarkably neat and tidy.
Ning Qingxue had never expected her Master’s room to be even tidier than her own. At that moment, Mo Wudu was already sitting in front of the mirror, waiting for her to tie his hair.
Ning Qingxue asked, “Master, do you have a hair ribbon?”
Mo Wudu thought for a moment before taking a hair ribbon from his spatial ring. Although it appeared to be nothing more than a hair ribbon, it was actually a defensive spiritual artifact.
As for where it had come from, naturally, it had been a gift from Mo Wudu’s wealthy ex-girlfriend.
Ever since the two of them broke up, Mo Wudu had stopped tying his hair altogether and simply stored the ribbon inside his spatial ring.
Ning Qingxue accepted the ribbon from Mo Wudu. Her fingers trembled slightly as she gathered her Master’s silky hair, then simply tied it into a bow.
Yes, a bow.
Ning Qingxue did not know what had gotten into her. Some strange impulse made her want to see whether doing something like this would anger her Master.
However, Mo Wudu did not seem to care at all. He turned his back toward the mirror and glanced at his reflection before nodding in satisfaction.
Sure enough, tying his hair up was much more comfortable.
Meanwhile, Ning Qingxue stared at her Master’s reflection in the mirror and froze.
She had always known that her Master’s appearance was probably among the finest in the entire world. However, because he had spent years wallowing in despair with his hair hanging loosely around him, he had always seemed somewhat listless and dispirited.
Perhaps this was what people meant when they spoke of bearing and presence.
Now that Mo Wudu had tied his hair up, his features looked as though they had been carved from flawless jade. Combined with his captivating peach-blossom eyes, he truly resembled an immortal who had descended into the mortal world.
Mo Wudu noticed through the mirror that Ning Qingxue was staring at him in a daze and asked, “What’s wrong? Does my hair look bad tied up?”
Even with his hair loose, he was already incredibly handsome.
Of course, Ning Qingxue could never bring herself to say something like that aloud. She replied, “Master, it looks very good.”
An idea suddenly occurred to Mo Wudu.
His disciple had helped him tie his hair. There should be nothing wrong with giving her a small reward, right?
Mo Wudu took a small jade pendant from his spatial ring and said, “Qingxue, this is for you. Consider it payment for helping me tie my hair. Wearing it can increase your cultivation speed.”
Seeing Ning Qingxue frozen in place, Mo Wudu simply reached his arms around her neck and personally fastened the jade pendant for her.
He looked at it for a moment and nodded, “Mm. It suits you quite well.”
Ning Qingxue had not even reacted before a jade pendant was already hanging around her neck.
The instant she put it on, she felt a gentle warmth spreading from the pendant throughout her body. Clearly, this jade pendant was no ordinary object.
Ning Qingxue said, “Thank you, Master.”
Looking at things now, Ning Qingxue did not seem nearly as distant from him as before. However, his mission was far from complete, and he still had a long way to go.
If he raised her favorability toward him little by little every day, sooner or later, he would be able to rely on his powerful disciple for protection.
Ning Qingxue said, “Master, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”
Mo Wudu waved his hand and replied, “Mm. Go cultivate.”
After Ning Qingxue left, Mo Wudu remained seated in his room and suddenly remembered something extremely important.
In the novel he had written, Ning Qingxue was the princess of a fallen empire.
According to the original plotline, Ning Qingxue would only begin her rise after Mo Wudu died. Once she cultivated to the Golden Core Realm, she would head to the Great Flame Empire to take revenge.
However, the Great Flame Empire was still an empire, after all. Naturally, it had Golden Core Realm elders protecting it.
When Ning Qingxue went alone to seek revenge against the Great Flame Empire, she naturally suffered a crushing defeat and was forced to flee in a miserable state.
Afterward, she encountered the male lead again. The male lead then accompanied Ning Qingxue back to the Great Flame Empire and directly destroyed the royal family’s stronghold, ultimately causing the entire Great Flame Empire to collapse.
Mo Wudu also remembered why Ning Qingxue had been so desperate to take revenge.
She wanted to recover the jade pendant her mother had left behind for her.
The pendant itself was merely an ordinary object, but its sentimental value to Ning Qingxue was immeasurable.
Therefore, Mo Wudu decided to retrieve that jade pendant for Ning Qingxue ahead of time and give her a surprise.
Wouldn’t her favorability toward him soar after that?
Once Mo Wudu made up his mind, he immediately decided to act.
According to the novel, the jade pendant was stored inside the treasury of the Great Flame Empire’s royal palace. Of course, the novel had never specified its exact location. If he had described something like that in too much detail, wouldn’t the readers have accused him of padding the word count?
The Jade Flower Sect was not far from the Great Flame Empire. Traveling by flying sword would take only a little over ten minutes.
The real problem was that the Great Flame Empire’s royal palace was protected by a formation, and there were also Golden Core Realm elders stationed inside.
Even Ning Qingxue, after awakening her special physique, had been forced to retreat after suffering a crushing defeat. Mo Wudu was merely a Golden Core Realm cultivator without any special physique, so breaking into the palace would probably be difficult for him as well.
Still, he had nothing else to do right now. He might as well go there first and investigate the situation.
Once he reached the Nascent Soul Realm, he could simply force his way inside, and no one would be able to stop him.
Time to go!
Destination, the Great Flame Empire!
Mo Wudu stepped onto his flying sword and flew toward the location in his memories.
After his earlier practice, controlling the flying sword had already become second nature. At least now, looking down from such a great height no longer made his legs go weak.
About ten minutes later, Mo Wudu arrived above the royal capital of the Great Flame Empire.
Mo Wudu had never actually visited the Great Flame Empire’s royal capital before, but he had visited the Great Dragon Empire’s royal capital.
The Great Flame Empire had originally been established by a group of rebels who seized territory from the Great Dragon Empire. They had never bothered constructing an entirely new royal capital. Not only would such a massive undertaking drain the people’s wealth and labor, but it was also not something that could be completed in a short period.
Therefore, the current royal capital of the Great Flame Empire was actually the former royal capital of the Great Dragon Empire.
The royal palace stood at the very center of the capital.
Entering the capital itself was easy for Mo Wudu. However, the royal palace was protected by a formation, and the only safe way inside was through the main entrance.
Trying to enter from anywhere else would activate the formation, and the intruder would immediately be annihilated.
Mo Wudu was nowhere near arrogant enough to believe that his Golden Core Realm cultivation could withstand even a single strike from that formation.
That left him with only one option.
He had to sneak in.
Mo Wudu bought a mask from a roadside vendor and put it over his face.
There was no deeper reason behind it. With his appearance, simply standing on the street was enough to attract both men and women alike.
Therefore, to conceal his devastatingly handsome face, Mo Wudu had deliberately bought himself a pig-head mask.