After My Paranoid Act to Woo My Cold Master Failed - Chapter 11

The book had a blue cover with its title written in gold powder across the center. As Shen Shuheng picked it up, she noticed the cover was nearly detached from the spine; it trembled in her hands as if terrified that a single heavy-handed movement would cause the two to separate forever. True to its name, the book looked incredibly ancient, as if it had weathered ten thousand years of storms. When she touched it, her hand came away covered in dust.

Shen Shuheng cautiously lifted the cover, ready to experience alchemical methods from ten millennia ago. Her movements kicked up wisps of dust that floated into the air, making her cough several times. She held the book at arm’s length with a look of slight disdain and gave it a few slaps to ensure the dust was cleared before bringing it back to her face.

As she opened the book once more, a golden light flared, and she was sucked into its pages.

She found herself standing in a sealed, private space, and a steady stream of alchemical knowledge began to pour into her mind. Following the instructions in the book, she began to experiment. First, she summoned the Abnormal Fire, and a red flame rose from her palm. She intended to refine the “Qi-Gathering Pill” that Feng Ya had mentioned.

Refining a Qi-Gathering Pill required five ingredients: Green Shadow Grass, Soaring Fruit, Purple Bulrush, Blood Coral Fruit, and Condensing Qi Grass. As Shen Shuheng recited the names of these herbs in her mind, they suddenly appeared within the space.

Are these illusions within this space? Shen Shuheng speculated. This book might have been a classroom for alchemists of the ancient era. Refining here meant that even if she made a mistake, she wouldn’t be wasting real materials.

She gathered the ingredients from the ground and tossed them all at once into the Abnormal Fire in her hand. She focused on sensing the elemental powers within the herbs; her task was to use the Abnormal Fire and her divine sense to fuse these various elemental energies together.

Through her divine sense, she saw that each of the five herbs emitted a different aura. The metal-attributed material glowed with gold light, the wood-attributed was green, the water-attributed was aquatic blue, the fire-attributed was red, and the earth-attributed was yellow.

The five elements generate and overcome one another, so fusing them was no simple feat. However, because Shen Shuheng possessed a natural Heaven-grade Five-Element Spiritual Root, the task was slightly easier for her than for others.

She increased the intensity of the fire to purify the elemental essence within the materials, making their five-colored glows even more vibrant. First, she attempted to fuse Metal and Wood. As soon as these two opposing elements touched, a violent repulsion occurred, and the materials nearly leaped out of her hand.

She intensified her divine sense, forcing the Metal and Wood to mix under the sheer pressure of her will. Once combined, the gold and green colors formed a circle that rotated continuously like a Taiji Yin-Yang fish, generating an endless cycle of energy.

Using the same method, she used her divine sense to press Water, Fire, and Earth together. These three elements formed a sphere that radiated a dazzling light. By the time she finished this, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead; this method of alchemy was incredibly taxing on one’s divine sense.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to finish the job in one go by mixing all the elements together. Her divine sense manifested as two hands that grabbed the restless elements and slammed them together with force. The repulsion was immense, and they nearly escaped her mental shackles several times. Shen Shuheng grit her teeth and released the full extent of her divine sense to compress the elements until they finally merged into one.

A colorless, shapeless mass tumbled within the Abnormal Fire. Shen Shuheng had successfully fused the five elements, returning them to their primal state: Qi

She lowered the flame slightly and used this primal Qi to envelop the refined medicinal essence. Gradually, five black pills took shape in her hand. She extinguished the fire and sniffed the pills; there was no medicinal fragrance at all. Every bit of the medicinal power was sealed within the pills rather than evaporating into the air.

Shen Shuheng produced a pill bottle and poured her creations inside. She then attempted several other types of pills within the space and succeeded with all of them, except for the “Nine-Tripod Restoration Pill.” Perhaps her cultivation was still not high enough for that one.

As the thought of leaving surfaced in her mind, she was immediately sent back to the outside world. She was still in the same position as before she entered the space, holding the tattered book in her hand. Suddenly, the book transformed into a streak of golden light and dove into her storage bag of its own accord.

While inside the space, Shen Shuheng had guessed that the materials were merely part of a simulated illusion. To verify her theory, she took out the bottle she had used in the space; inside lay several pitch-black pills—the ones she had refined while inside. Could this book be an independent miniature realm? She hadn’t expected to gain such a powerful treasure this time.

Shen Shuheng went back down to the first floor to find the Spirit of the Library. Seeing the spark in Shen Shuheng’s eyes, the Spirit knew she had taken the advice and read the book.

“Well? I didn’t lie to you, did I?” the Spirit asked. “The other disciples don’t know quality when they see it. Once, I kindly told Feng Ya about this book, but he couldn’t use it. Instead, he went around slandering me, saying I’ve lived too long and gone senile,” the Spirit huffed indignantly.

Shen Shuheng smiled. “Thank you, Senior”

“Help me bring some novels and come talk to me from time to time,” the Spirit interrupted, her eyes wide as she thought. “Oh, right! You also have to help me teach Feng Ya a lesson. Since he started that rumor about me being senile, the disciples of Rejuvenation Peak often make fun of me.” The Spirit’s little mouth pouted at the memory; she felt deeply wronged.

Shen Shuheng nodded. “Rest assured, Senior, I will definitely help you teach him a lesson. I’ll be going now and will come back to see you next time.”

The following day, Shen Shuheng arrived at the classroom on time. When Feng Ya saw her, he immediately thought of how she had believed the Spirit and read that “useless piece of junk” book. A look of disdain touched his lips before he quickly masked it.

“Junior Niece Shen, I assume you failed to refine the Qi-Gathering Pill I asked for. I won’t ask you for it then; I forgive you for your insolence last time,” Feng Ya said with a gentle smile, putting on the air of a broad-minded elder.

Shen Shuheng responded by taking out a Qi-Gathering Pill and handing it directly to him. The best way to deal with a hypocritical male lead was to provoke him with facts and force him to reveal his true colors.

The moment he took the pill, Feng Ya’s eyes widened. After staring at it, he looked up and smiled. “Junior Niece Shen, the quality of this pill is above the ‘Heaven-grade.’ There is no way a beginner like you could have refined this. Since your Martial Uncle has forgiven you, do not try to deceive me. Just learn to respect your elders in the future.” Feng Ya looked pained, as if he were truly trying to guide a wayward junior.

Shen Shuheng gave a calm smile, knowing exactly what he was up to. “If Martial Uncle doesn’t believe me, how about I refine it again in front of everyone?”

Seeing her confidence, Feng Ya countered, “If you can refine a high-quality Qi-Gathering Pill, then you should be able to refine other high-quality pills as well. I will demonstrate the refinement of a ‘Bone-Growing Pill’ on stage. You will follow my method. If the resulting pill reaches the Heaven-grade, I will apologize to you.”

Even if that high-grade Qi-Gathering Pill was truly hers, he reasoned it was only because that pill was simple. Refining a Bone-Growing Pill would not be so easy.

However, Shen Shuheng had already practiced the Bone-Growing Pill inside the book’s space; she was confident she could reach a level beyond Heaven-grade.

Feng Ya opened his furnace and began adding herbs in order, looking smugly at Shen Shuheng. In response, a ball of fire rose from Shen Shuheng’s hand, and she tossed all the ingredients into the flames at once.

Once Feng Ya recognized that flame, he could no longer maintain his gentlemanly facade. He glared at Shen Shuheng with a look of pure malice, his face darkening like a storm cloud. He had taken that Abnormal Fire from the peak, borrowing it from the Peak Master. He had intended to use it to punish her, never expecting it would recognize her as its master instead.

Shen Shuheng watched Feng Ya’s every move. He was glaring at her so intensely that he wasn’t focusing on his own furnace. She intentionally split off a tiny wisp of fire, turned it a bright yellow, and let it sneak under his furnace.

As she refined her pill at a leisurely pace, Feng Ya smelled a strange fragrance coming from his furnace, and the lid began to rattle. His pill was almost finished. Shen Shuheng communicated with the Abnormal Fire under his furnace via her divine sense, telling it to increase the heat—ideally high enough to shoot up several yards.

BOOM!

A violent blast of fire erupted from Feng Ya’s furnace. Bright yellow tongues of flame shot up several feet, and a sea of fire engulfed him. Feng Ya let out a pained howl as his skin sizzled and cracked under the assault of the flames. He could actually smell his own flesh burning.

Discarding all dignity, he scrambled away, climbed out the window, and dived into the river, creating a massive splash that sent ripples across the calm surface. The sparrows on the willow trees flapped their wings and flew away in disgust; the smell of burnt flesh on this man was far too pungent.

All the disciples crowded the windows to watch, many of them covering their mouths to hide their snickering. “I’ve never seen an alchemist blow themselves up like that,” Chu Qingshui laughed, pointing at Feng Ya.

Shen Shuheng felt a lingering fear; if she hadn’t been able to control the Abnormal Fire last time, she would have been the one burned like that. But that didn’t stop her from mocking him. “Are you alright, Martial Uncle? Would you like to come up and examine the pill your niece has refined?”

She had retracted the Abnormal Fire before Feng Ya hit the water to ensure no evidence remained. Feng Ya stayed submerged until the fire was completely extinguished. When he finally emerged, everyone saw that he was charred black from head to toe. His hair was gone, and even his scalp was blackened. Standing there by the lush, green riverbank, he was a total eyesore.

The breeze blowing through the willows should have been poetic, but Feng Ya completely ruined the mood. Shen Shuheng called for him to come up and check her pill; if he refused, it would damage his reputation further. His robes were “Dharma robes”—resistant to fire and weapons—so they were mostly intact. He grit his teeth and returned to the classroom.

Shen Shuheng smilingly handed him the pill. As Feng Ya examined it, his squinted eyes filled with the fire of jealousy. The Bone-Growing Pill Shen Shuheng had refined was once again above Heaven-grade a level even he could not achieve. Realizing he was losing control of his expression, he tried to force back his usual composure.

In truth, it didn’t matter what face he made; no one could see it through the layer of soot. Looking at his state, the disciples could no longer hold back and burst into laughter right in front of him.

Sensing something was wrong, Feng Ya hastily cast a Water Mirror spell. Seeing himself completely black and hairless, he reached up to touch his scalp, only for clumps of ash to fall to the floor. His Dharma robes were scorched into tattered strips hanging off his body, offering no protection at all.

Feng Ya turned to leave immediately.

“Martial Uncle! You’re leaving without apologizing? How can you not keep your word?” Shen Shuheng called out. Chu Qingshui egged on the other disciples to join in, accusing Feng Ya of being untrustworthy.

“I… apologize to my niece,” Feng Ya’s irritated voice drifted back.

“Host, the Hatred Points from the protagonists have increased significantly! You’ll be able to exchange them for items soon!” the System announced happily.