My CEO Harem Cultivation System

"...Right, edible." Bo Lifen gave him a sideway glance but then slowly nodded. Edible was a bit helpful but it was not the final thing. There were a lot more considerations, either way, she would do her best. 

Li Yang gave her a look that almost seemed like he was judging her cultivation skills by making tea and that was making her a bit more nervous than usual. Also a tad confused because she really wanted to swing a sword.

If making tea was enough, Bo Lifen would have splashed hot boiling tea in the heretic cultivator's face and be done with it. She sighed deeply.

"I'll try my hand at making something useful from all of these, however… Please don't expect much, okay?" 

"Aren't you proud of your heritage?" Li Yang quirked a brow. "There's a certain expectation when you realize that from someone whose ancestors were said to have actually served gods in the past."

"Those were my ancestors." Bo Lifen muttered. "I highly doubt that every piece of knowledge was inherited and taught step-by-step even to those among our bloodline. Who knows if I'm missing a secret crucial step that allows our tea to become divine-grade?"

Li Yang nodded. "That's probably true… but I'm sure you'll still make something great out of this, Lifen."

"Wait, what?" Bo Lifen blinked and then turned to him looking both shocked and embarrassed at the same time. There was a heat crawling beneath her cheeks as she gave him a slightly flustered expression. "I have no idea how you jumped to that kind of conclusion after what I said."

"Well, it is you we're talking about." 

Bo Lifen bit on her lip and then turned away. "Is that your way of making me feel… well, you know what, fine." She glanced back at Li Yang and managed a grin. "I'll do my best and show you what the Gofung Cha Method is all about."

"That's more like it." Li Yang chuckled and looked at her with a smile. "I'll be looking forward to what you can brew for us today, Lifen."

"We have our tea set right here." Bo Lifen gestured at the low table that was in front of Li Yang. "I'm not going to ask where you found this cha ban, but I'm impressed that you have everything with you thanks to… well, whatever you call it."

"Call what? Bossman probably has this tea set in his spatial ring or necklace." Taiga pointed out. She wanted to insert herself in the conversation because of how the two seemed to gel really well when it came to their interactions.

Except for Taiga, both Lifen and even Narissa who went off for a walk could probably guess that Li Yang probably purchased it from the Points Shop.

Either way, Bo Lifen pulled up to her feet and unsheathed her sword. She walked to the tree and glanced over her shoulder. "We have fire but we still need firewood, and we're lucky enough to be in the forest."

"Wait, you just can't cut trees here!" Taiga pouted. "That's illegal wood cutting! After the stunt that the old fox pulled two years ago, we're all about tree preservation now!"

"I don't plan to restart the fox fire incident so no need to be silly. I'm not cutting the entire thing down." Bo Lifen grinned and then leapt up to her feet. She swung her sword and slashed at some of the branches.

The wood fell to her feet intact and Bo Lifen sheathed back her sword.

All the while, Li Yang couldn't help but only look at her at that moment. While the Tea Sommelier truly claimed to hate violence, there was that swift and agile way that she handled her blade that truly revealed her expertise and appreciation for sword techniques.

"Do you need some help?" Li Yang offered and pulled up to his feet.

"I can do it by myself," Bo Lifen picked up the tree branches and only smiled a bit. "You don't need to be a gentleman. In this situation, you're my Master and I'm your disciple, so this comes along with the tasks of a disciple, right?"

"Wait. What did you just call me?" Li Yang blinked for a moment. 

Bo Lifen tilted her head. "Master?"

Her expression was innocent and clueless in such a way that made the woman look youthful. For a moment, Li Yang was a bit dumbfounded at how she managed it. The man was aware of Taiga's penchant for acting cute… but Bo Lifen managed to do it naturally.

A frantic expression appeared on Taiga's face as the alarm bells in her head started ringing and she wailed dramatically beside Li Yang. She grabbed his arm and gave it a small wag. "Wait, does Bossman like being called Master? Is that your kink, Bossman?"

"Uh, no." Li Yang coughed. "I was just surprised… I think the title of Teacher can suffice at this point."

Bo Lifen shrugged and returned back to the table. She carefully placed the wood on the table and bit back an amused smile. Even she had noticed how it shocked him and it was kind of nice to see more expression on his face. "Whatever floats your boat."

"I really have no preference for any title you may refer to me as, but I don't really see myself as your Master." Li Yang shrugged a bit helplessly. "Let's just proceed with the tea-making process, shall we?"

Bo Lifen rested a hand underneath her chin and nodded. "Of course." 

"Taiga will smoke out the excess tension in the air." Taiga pouted and restarted the fire she did from earlier and helped Bo Lifen prepare for the tea ceremony.

.

.

.

"Ugh, I can see it now… you can see it too, right, Fishfolk?" Bao appeared beside the Mermaid Narissa and gave the official harem member a look that showed it was highly possible for a Panda to experience cringe.

"See what?" Narissa pursed her lips. She hadn't exactly gone very far and actually observed the little interaction between the trio.

"Are you playing dumb?" Bao asked. It finally decided to talk more with Narissa because of her rank. "You're supposed to be one of the harem candidates for a reason but now you're getting outshined. I could even do a better job than you."

The interaction between Li Yang and Bo Lifen was enough to reduce it to shuddering. There was high affinity between the two and though it may have had some of the Observers shipping, it was starting to get out of hand.

There was still a list of potential harem members and she was not one of them.

The Mermaid cocked a brow at him. "My business isn't yours, bear." 

"It's everyone's business." Bao indicated the sky. "We're in show business."

"You mean everyone's being incredibly nosy?" Narissa raised a brow.

"Bah, same thing. You guys should be thrilled that some gods consider watching you folks as entertaining. In my eyes, it's nothing more than a human idly watching ants go up an ant hill, inherently boring."

"And yet here you are…" Narissa shook her head. 

She had interacted with numerous sea creatures in the past and communicated with them before, but there was a certain way in Bao's way of speaking and mannerism that told her she may be with someone who saw itself at a higher ranking.

And possibly a woman if it said it could do a better job than Narissa. 

"It's like he's got his own band of professional stalkers recording every little thing that he's doing." The Mermaid crossed her arms and let out a sigh. She could see why Li Yang called this a curse and threw a look at the Panda. "I hate reality television for this very reason." 

—-—-

Author's Note: My existence is the bane of all individuals, both of Li Yang and perhaps of the impatient reader? I am the 'stalker' doing all of the recording and you are the Observer of these events. xD 

Ahem, a part of me likes meta jokes and commentary. 

Did you know that the 1 year anniversary of this book was last November 17? I missed it and you missed it too. I'm sentimental. Writing this has been… a great mix of ups and downs. A part of me tends have difficulty writing this besides my work schedule, so thank you to those who are dedicated to this story!

Lowkey, folks like FallenReaper on the discord who's interested in the lore and even gives me guides to cultivation is truly going beyond dedication T^T GegeSadewa who's always giving an Ice Cola. Then there's everyone who's giving Power Stones despite my terrible updates. You guys encourage me to keep publishing.