Lilian's aura of death suddenly faded away, and her cold eyes turned back to normal as she noticed John's arrival. John couldn't help but sigh in relief as he watched Lilian stand up, her eyes locked onto him.
He stood there motionlessly, not sure whether his intrusion would be met with swift violence or not. However, he had disturbed her cultivation, and would hate for others to do so, so he braced himself for whatever punishment followed.
"To think you have the gall to interrupt me during my cultivation sessions…it seems as though I have not trained you properly," Lilian said calmly as she walked over to him.
"I didn't know you were cultivating…sorry, Master," John apologized, as he was truly in the wrong.
"It makes no difference," Lilian replied. "My cultivation session was coming to a close anyways. You didn't disturb anything."
A soft towel appeared in her hands as she began wiping the sweat off her brow, while her blue hair, tied up in a ponytail behind her head and slick with sweat dripped slightly. Clearly whatever she had been doing had been incredibly taxing on her body, and she didn't even have the concentration to spare to wash away the sweat with her Qi.
Her clothing was a casual shirt and short pants, which surprised John slightly. He had only ever seen her in expensive and luxurious robes, and so seeing her dressed casually like this was completely new to him. However, she had expected to be alone the entire time while cultivating, which John had interrupted.
Not only that, but her clothing was also drenched in sweat as well, which clinged tightly to her body as a result. John's eyes couldn't help but look at his master's body, which was normally clothed in a loose robe. Now however, the slicked clothes readily revealed the curves she possessed. John couldn't help but look at what he was seeing, as his master's body was far more enticing than he had been expecting.
He quickly realized he was openly staring at his master's body, and quickly averted his gaze. However, his initial gaze did not go unnoticed, and a small smile appeared on Lilian's face as she approached him.
"To think my disciple not only interrupts his master during my cultivation, but also openly gazes at my body… I really haven't trained you properly it seems," she said calmly with a raised eyebrow as she arrived before him.
"Ah…sorry," John apologized without any further words, as he didn't know what to say. It was one of the few moments of his life thus far that he was at a loss for words.
Lilian remained silent as she allowed John to remain uncomfortable for a moment longer, before she finally spoke up once more.
"What do you want? I know you didn't come all the way down here just to say hi," Lilian asked.
"Ah…I came for the spirit crystals from the agreement we made," John replied quickly.
Lilian raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and couldn't help but gaze at John with a look that caused him to avert his gaze.
"So…not only did you interrupt my cultivation, and take a peek at my body…you are also asking me for money. I really raised a useless disciple," Lilian replied, trying to make him feel guilty about wanting the money.
John's averted gaze locked back onto his master's face, as his gaze hardened upon hearing her last words.
"The first two things were my fault, but don't try to blame me for coming for the spirit crystals. We both agreed to it, so don't try to make me feel guilty for that part," John replied, his voice hardened.
Lilian once again raised an eyebrow at John's quick attitude change and firm tone, and nodded her head in slight approval.
"It seems like I didn't raise a completely useless disciple I suppose," she mused while staring at him. However, one of her greatest joys in life was gathering money, and so she did not wish to easily part from it.
"Surely there is something else you want," Lilian spoke up again. "Weapons, battle arts, flying ships. How about I give you those instead."
John remained silent for a moment as he considered his masters offer, but eventually decided against it. While his master was strong and surely possessed powerful battle arts, her cultivation pathway was unique. The Elders from the Yuan Continent branch already said she was not a good lightning cultivator, and those were the skills John needed at the moment.
Not only that, but despite his master's power, she had spent most of her time on the Yuan Continent, where the quality of battle arts was lower. Lastly, his master was surely unable to offer the same amount and quality of battle arts as a trade guild dedicated to such things, so John decided in the end that the spirit crystals would still serve him better.
"I need the spirit crystals…as we agreed to," John replied firmly.
Lilian once again raised an eyebrow and remained silent for a moment at John's response. John stood there silently as well, and the two stared at each other in a stalemate. Lilian suddenly leaned closer to John, her face resting right next to his.
John's face lit up in surprise by such a thing happening, and he felt the hot breath of his master on his ears.
"How about I give you something else then," Lilian whispered in his ears.
John's surprised face turned red, as it was the last thing he ever expected to have heard from his master. Before he could reply, Lilian leaned back and began laughing heartily at the expression she saw on John's face. Her laughter lingered for a short while before it finally died down.
"To think a newborn like you would consider such an offer. Just seeing this look on your face was worth doing such a thing," Lilian said while chuckling lightly. Clearly her whispers had been done just to tease John.
"Here," Lilian said as a spatial ring appeared in her hands and she threw it to John. John snapped out of his stunned daze and quickly caught the ring. He inspected it and saw an absolutely massive pile of spirit crystals within, over a hundred million in total.
"You have the agreed amount of spirit crystals…now leave me. I still have some training to do," she said to John as she turned around and began to walk back towards the center of the room.
John stood there for a moment, gathering his wits after all that had happened, before he turned around to leave.
"Oh, and one other thing," Lilian said without looking back at him, while John turned around to listen to what his master had to say.
"I heard about the Jade Dragon Empire training grounds that are to open in three months. The sect will leave for those lands in two months, so whatever you plan on doing with the money, you better do it within the next month and return to the sect," she said to John.
"Within the next month?" John asked. "Why would I need to return in a month if we're leaving in two months?"
"Because," Lilian replied as she arrived in the center of the chamber and turned around. Her gaze locked onto John's, a gaze which made John shiver slightly. "We have not had a training session in quite some time, and so we will use that month to train you once again," she explained. However, her gaze at the moment told John that the training was going to be far more severe than ever, most likely to get back at him for what he had done today.
John's gaze hardened as he heard this, and he wanted to argue against it, but decided against arguing at the last moment. He turned around silently to leave, and Lilian's voice trailed into his ears as he left the chamber.
"Oh, and make sure to bring plenty of healing pills…you're going to need it."