Jin Nianzu sat up in his chair as his brow rose "That's quite a request, do you know how valuable memory thread is? It's worth its weight in middle tier spirit metal! I don't think a fresh disciple like you would be able to afford it." He stated clearly before his tilted his chin to gesture towards Little Xue "And for this little one? It's certainly a spirit animal I haven't seen before but are you implying what I'm thinking?" he sent a questioning glance to Shu He.
"About that-" Shu He reached into his robes and pulled out the letter Elder Bai had given him "-my division Elder gave me a letter to hand to you, here" he presented it to the old man who gave it a cautious glance, yet when he saw the seal on it his brows seemed to jump as he snatched it away and tore it open like a ravenous shark.
Shu He glanced at Yun Jiang who returned it as they both questioned the reaction with their stare, on the other hand Bai Lian watched on silently, it was clear she wished to speak with the Elder yet decided to wait.
"That old snake…" Jin Nianzu murmured to himself, his voice laced with annoyance before flames engulfed the letter, reducing it to ashes in a mere second. "Fine, I'll make those clothes for you, but just this once! You're paying me in the future!" he spat at Shu He.
'What on earth did that letter say?!' Shu He thought as he bowed "Thank you Senior, I'll remember this favour".
"You damn well better" he stood up from his chair before walking in front of Shu Hu "So, this little one can transform? It doesn't seem like it should be able to, but since that man said so then it should be true, I'll need to see it first though, I'm not preparing something when it's not needed" the old man said as he scrutinized the little duck that was cocking its head in confusion.
"Transform? Teacher what are you talking about? What even is memory thread?" Yun Jiang finally managed to ask from the side as he listened in, Bai Lian had also become curious as she heard the word 'transform' mentioned as she stood a bit closer.
"It's a resource that's far too expensive for you to use right now, its can remember complex shapes and forms depending on the Qi signatures and wavelengths that are channelled through it, for us human cultivators it has a limited use, but for transformation users it can be a godsend, since they usually destroy their clothing when using their technique".
"Are you saying Little Xue can transform? She has that ability?" It was Bai Lian who asked this time as she crouched down and picked up the little duck with sparkling eyes "Is it some sort of bloodline technique? Or her Innate Technique?" she questioned Shu He.
"…Not quite, uh how should I put this? Do you know that once they reach a certain stage, spirit animals can gain human form?" he explained.
"But isn't she basically a newborn?" Bai Lian looked at Little Xue in her hands who returned a confused glance.
"Just put her down and stop messing around, I'd like to start my work as soon as I can" The old man grunted making Bai Lian place the duck down "Get her to transform" he told Shu He who nodded and removed his upper robes before placing them around the duck who looked up at him.
"Quack?" [Do it?] she asked with excited eyes.
"Yeah, go ahead" Shu He nodded.
And in the next moment a flash of light filled the room as a new figure appeared clad in Shu He's upper robes that reached down to her calves, her long pure white hair that was adorned with strands of fiery red gently rustled as her rubellite eyes sparkled with joy.
"Did it!" She said with pride towards Shu He who rustled her hair with a smile "Yeah, good job" he said before he looked towards the old man who was rubbing his forehead in pain while muttering "Heavens, there's another one…".
"What in the heavens?! A duck turned in to a little girl?!" Yun Jiang was currently wide eyed with surprise as he took careful steps as he observed the new addition to the room "To think that such a thing could happen… does this mean any spirit animal could suddenly turn in to a human?!"
"No, Little Xue is special so that shouldn't happen" Shu He replied while laughing lightly, seeing Yun Jiang react like this reminded him that Yun Jiang was much older than him.
"Special is an understatement! This is heaven defying! And she's…" Bai Lian couldn't help but pinch the red cheeks of Little Xue "She's so cute! This isn't fair!". Little Xue struggled to turn around as her cheeks were pinched as she asked with teary eyes "Shuu Hee hwelp mweeee" she pleaded.
"Alright, alright, let her go for now" Shu He laughed as he parted the two, he did happen to agree with Bai Lian though, Little Xue's appearance was far above standard, it was like the heavens decided that all transformed spirit animals would become good looking, even Elder Bai resembled a fragile pretty boy despite who he was.
"Is this enough?" He asked the old man that was stood pondering, Jin Nianzu nodded ever so slightly "This is fine, I'll need to take some measurements first though, I take it you don't mind leaving the designs up to me?".
"That's fine, I don't have any particular requests… what about you, Little Xue?" He asked the little girl that was rubbing her cheeks while glaring at Bai Lian, Little Xue looked towards the old man and pouted "Something comfy" she replied.
"Hehe, that's fine I have perfect confidence that you'll find what I make comfortable" he lifted his hand and his index finger as a light glowed from the tip in the form of a straight line "Now then, hold her still while I take measurements".
"?" Little Xue tilted her head as she felt Shu He place his hands on her shoulders "Shu He?" she asked in confusion. "Just stay still for a while" Shu He smiled back, secretly hoping that this would be straightforward.
The next moment Jin Nianzu crouched in front of her and pointed the light above her arm, it twisted and wrapped around it even through Shu He's robes as the hairs on Little Xue's neck stood up on their ends.
"Pfffffffffffffffffffffft! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH"
The moment the old man started moving she started jittering and laughing, what Shu He hoped wasn't the case, was.
It was incredibly ticklish.
"FUNNY! TICKLES! HELP! HELP!".
She tried to thrash about but Shu He managed to hold her in place, unfortunately he was witnessing the fact that she wasn't a normal human first hand, even though she had a small stature she had the strength of an adult!
Thankfully the process was a quick one, it seems the unique technique the old man was using made for a fast process and was also incredibly precise, it only took 5 minutes; afterwards Jin Nianzu wrote everything down on a scroll as Shu He was consoling an upset Little Xue.
"Mean!" She said with spite.
"We needed to do it, look, I'll take you to try some nice food later, okay?" He baited her for forgiveness. "Food? Okay!" and she took it hook line and sinker. He then turned to Jin Nianzu and asked, "How long will it take the clothes to be made?"
"About a week, it's a complicated process so I won't be able to do much else at the time" the old man explained as he wrote on the scroll. "That's short than I thought…" Shu He couldn't hep but mention to which the old man scoffed "Who do you think you're talking to, I'm the best damn craftsman in this sect".
"So, is that everything you need?" Shu He asked as he stood up. "Yeah, that's all" was the simple reply he got, it seems the old man had begun to focus already, the only thing reflected in his eyes were the measurements and the thoughts in his head.
"Let's go, there's nothing else teacher wants so it's better to not disturb him" said Yun Jiang as he moved to the exit, Shu He nodded as Little Xue grabbed his hand and they began leaving, yet he turned and saw one figure unmoving, her face filled with hesitation.
"Bai Lian?" Shu He said, the young girl looked back at him with her eyes downcast "I…" the words were stuck, she struggled to talk.
"The Bai girl can stay, the rest of you leave" Jin Nianzu's voice echoed over to them causing Shu He to glance at Yun Jiang who nodded, he looked back at Bai Lian and said "See you later then" to which she meekly nodded back before they left.
After they left Shu He took a deep breath of fresh air and exhaled, he hadn't expected the Elder to be such a storied character, he then looked down at Little Xue who was holding his hand "You're going to remain like that?"
She looked up at him with sparking eyes "Food!".
"Wait, I meant in your normal form, we can't have you wandering around in just a robe like this!"
"Mnnnn!" She protested with her eyes, puffing out her cheeks.
"It should be fine shouldn't it, Shu He?" Yun Jiang interjected "We can easily find some temporary clothes for her in the crafting division, so we might as well go grab a bite to eat, I was getting hungry as well, I'll pay even".
Shu He frowned slightly 'She hasn't got great control over her transformation, but it should last a few hours… worse comes to worse I can just grab her and run…' he glanced at her eyes that seemed to be yearning the promised food.
He sighed.
"Alright, let's go then".
"Yay!" The rubellite eyed girl jumped for joy.