Dual Cultivation God Returns-Chapter 703 A favor

The door of the room with heavy curtains blocking most of the sunlight was knocked on several times before opening.

"Master… haa~... how come it's like this every single time…?", Hua Ziyan walked into the room with a sigh.

She came toward a large comfortable bed, and grabbing the bedcover, flung it open with a big motion, only to meet resistance that held it in place.

"Mnhh~... just a few more minutes…~", Lian Zhiqiu's sluggish voice barely reached her disciple's ears as she mumbled under her nose.

"Master, do you really think I would fall for that 'few more minutes' line? It didn't work the last few times, what makes you think it will work now?", Hua Ziyan shook her head as she continued to gradually peel the bedcover from the beauty who struggled to preserve that bastion of comfort.

"Haa~, if I knew this would happen I wouldn't have agreed to succeed the Palace Master position…", Hua Ziyan's sighs grew heavier as she recalled that ever since she started getting ready to become the master of the Twin Essence Palace, this beauty was getting increasingly more like this.

Lian Zhiqiu was never that involved in the sect's matters anyway, but she still did the bare minimum of what was required of her to keep it going, and the sense of responsibility made her at least keep up appearances.

Nowadays, however, she was far more prone to indulge her inherent lazy nature, falling into deep sleep every other day, preferring this method of recovering her stamina rather than relying on the ability to ignore sleep with Spiritual Qi.

Even her waking hours were spent leisurely, as she quietly continued her studies of Formations, only occasionally interacting with others. The only part of her daily life which was very active was periodically visiting Wu Long's bedroom... or any other place they chose at the time.

Thus, it was Hua Ziyan who kept this beauty's laziness at least somewhat in check. "Should we just cancel the succession of title and keep you as Palace Master?"

As Hua Ziyan's words fell, Lian Zhiqiu flinched, and then with a heavy groan slowly and sluggishly sat up on the bed.

Her luscious hair naturally had a lot of volume, so in the unkempt state after heavy sleep it was a truly... interesting sight to see. More so since she had a habit of snuggling her head under the bedcover when it was bright outside.

"Haha~... Master~", Hua Ziyan chuckled as she saw that familiar sight, and taking a hair comb started slowly turning her Master's appearance into a more presentable state.

This was a routine that began only recently, but Hua Ziyan liked taking care of Lian Zhiqiu like this. In noble houses, houses with wealth or military power, like the Wu house they both now belonged to, there were servants who did these kinds of tasks, but the Great Seductress was always very guarded about her personal space.

Even in the old mansion atop the Peak of Unity, the private part of the mansion was a place where no one but her and her Direct Disciples could set foot into. Of course, later Wu Long and the Dao Family moved there as well.

And in this mansion, Lian Zhiqiu's living quarters were off limits to servants as well.

Hua Ziyan, however, was always welcome. Though Lian Zhiqiu told her that she did not need to do this, since Hua Ziyan was unusually stubborn about this, she decided not to argue about it. Not to mention, while she would feel uncomfortable with a servant, since it was Hua Ziyan whom Lian Zhiqiu adored as much as Ye Ling, and she seemed to enjoy it, who would actively resist such pleasant treatment? After all, it was nice being taken care of.

"Haa~ I can't believe your luck… how come you get a Disciple who cares so much for you and I have a Student who barely visits me?", a voice resounded from the door, and as Lian Zhiqiu's sleepy eyes listlessly turned to that direction, they captured Madam Liang's figure.

"Didn't you have Direct Disciples of your own?", Lian Zhiqiu spoke with a note of pride in her voice.

"None of them as sweet and caring as Lady Ziyan, unfortunately", Liang Yuhan chuckled, drawing on her herbal smoking pipe.

"Heh, luck is a skill too", Lian Zhiqiu chuckled while Hua Ziyan slightly awkwardly smiled at this conversation.

"So, what is my great Teacher whom I care so~ much about doing here at this hour?"

"You're saying that as if it's early, or rather, as if you know what hour it is"

"...", Lian Zhiqiu's eyebrows twitched, as her head started clearing a bit from the sluggishness of sleep, "Surely you didn't come here to point this out?"

"Haha, you're right", Madam Liang smiled while puffing a cloud of herbal smoke into the air, "I came to ask for a favor"

"A favor?", Lian Zhiqiu raised her eyebrows, "That's a first…"

Hua Ziyan suddenly became a bit restless, as it felt like a more personal conversation than she initially thought. But Madam Liang did not show any discomfort with her presence, and Lian Zhiqiu never hid anything from her.

"Do you remember the earrings we made together for the Song Family?", Madam Liang asked, taking Lian Zhiqiu's words as an indirect prompt.

"How could I not, that incredibly annoying thing?"

"Haha, it was one of the things that made you personally untouchable on the continent even without my protection, and a deal that first put you on the map, to say it was annoying…", Madam Liang chuckled at the dismissive way it was talked about.

"No matter how many profits 'we both' received from that deal with the Imperial Family, producing that many of them was still tedious, and it's not like it was easy to make each one... Why do you even bring that u-… don't tell me…?", Lian Zhiqiu had an expression of annoyance just remembering the amount of work they did, even if it was very long ago, and then flinched, raising her eyes to the former Great Seductress.

"Haha, you guessed correctly, I was troubled by being unable to operate my people, and upon consulting with Daoist Wu, he reassured me that there was a way. But since he still has to procure a special ingredient for it, he did mention a temporary solution…"

"No way, do you want us to make those earrings for all of your subordinates or something?", Lian Zhiqiu's eyes finally fully opened awake as she recalled the massive size of Madam Liang's Thousand Eyes Palace.

"No no! I only need around a 100 people who can move around freely to start establishing a foothold…", Madam Liang made a slightly awkward smile, knowing how much Lian Zhiqiu despised repetitive and tedious work like that, adding "...for starters…" in a quiet voice, and then continuing to persuade her with " Of course… the formula has to be a little different for that purpose, maybe a bit... more difficult... and it would be good to make it a necklace or a bracelet that could be hidden under clothing this time which would increase the trouble making it…"

"Ugh…", Lian Zhiqiu made a sour expression while Hua Ziyan slightly giggled, putting in a golden hairpin as a last accent into her Master's hair.

Both Hua Ziyan and Madam Liang knew perfectly well that the only reason she did not flat out reject that favor as soon as she heard, and thus the latter of the two avoided having to bring it up over and over while persuading her former Student, was because Wu Long's name was brought up. "Mm… hmm… uuh…", Lian Zhiqiu continued to groan as an internal battle was raging inside her mind, before finally making a defeated sigh.

"Then…!", Madam Liang's face brightened seeing that expression.

"Wait!", but Lian Zhiqiu was quick to put a stop to that hopeful attitude, grumbling "I just want to hear what Wu Long thinks…"

Madam Liang gently smiled and nodded with "thank you", while struggling to not make a win pose and shout 'success!'. Since when it already came to this, this deal was as good as done. She knew Lian Zhiqiu too well, and this was just a formality, or a final stubbornness which was more for show, to announce just how tedious it was and how much of a favor she was doing by agreeing.