Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 11 

Such an accusation was something Shen Lezhi truly dared not blurt out directly. She could only grumble internally, while on the surface, she lowered her head and replied to Wang Xi, unwillingly: “Your disciple dares not.”

Dares not.

Wang Xi let these two words linger in her ears, feeling more and more that Shen Lezhi was somewhat different these days.

In the past, Shen Lezhi had never defied her like this, nor had she heard a single complaint.

Wang Xi used to often feel that her disciple was too docile and obedient.

Was this because her attitude had now changed, so Shen Lezhi had also adopted a different method of disguise?

Wang Xi didn’t reply. She wasn’t killing Shen Lezhi right now because she didn’t want to alert the people hiding in the shadows, and also to observe Shen Lezhi’s current act.

Shen Lezhi had low spiritual power, but her skill in reading people was extremely high. If Wang Xi hadn’t already known her true face, she might not have detected anything wrong with Shen Lezhi.

She was perfectly courteous, her behavior was docile. Although not as intimate with Wang Xi as when she was little, she wasn’t distant either, and the occasional glance she stole was clean and pure.

Even though Wang Xi had demonstrated so many fierce and aggressive behaviors recently, she hadn’t uttered a single word of complaint.

She rarely even resisted.

What a spirited and obedient good disciple.

Wang Xi curved the corners of her mouth downwards, her expression growing colder.

Shen Lezhi was sensitive and immediately noticed it, sneaking a peek at Wang Xi, but she still couldn’t guess the latter’s thoughts.

Only when Wang Xi spoke again did she dare not disobey.

“Come closer.” Wang Xi’s tone was also cold, but Shen Lezhi was already used to it. She only secretly pouted, her body already being obedient.

Shen Lezhi walked in front of Wang Xi. The other party didn’t specify how close, so Shen Lezhi stopped one step away.

She didn’t know why Wang Xi wanted her to get closer. She only saw Wang Xi speak no further, directly reaching out a hand, grabbing her wrist, and pulling her forcefully close to her without room for refusal.

Shen Lezhi was practically pressed against Wang Xi’s face.

This again, Shen Lezhi felt troubled. Did this pair of Master and Disciple suffer from some kind of skin-to-skin intimacy craving? Did they absolutely have to cling to each other?

In reality, Wang Xi was not intending to do anything intimate. While Shen Lezhi was complaining internally, Wang Xi brought two fingers together and placed her fingertip on Shen Lezhi’s brow.

This was to complete the breath regulation guidance that she had failed to complete yesterday. This time, Wang Xi proceeded directly.

Wang Xi possessed an Ice-element spiritual root. Her already mature spiritual energy was unusually dominating if she didn’t restrain it. In the past, she would naturally have felt affection for her disciple and been careful to contain it. But now, as it invaded Shen Lezhi’s meridians, the cold spiritual energy was like a frigid wind from the winter ice fields, carrying a sharp edge that was enough to lacerate the skin.

Shen Lezhi endured this pain. Her teeth couldn’t stop chattering. Yesterday, when she taught herself a little, it wasn’t painful at all; instead, it made her feel comfortable all over.

At that time, the spiritual energy slowly integrated into the qi surrounding her, and then traveled through her meridians little by little, feeling as if her body had been purified and cleansed.

But Wang Xi was now forcefully driving the chilling spiritual energy, aggressively pulling her qi to rapidly crush through every part of her internal body.

There was only pain, a numbing pain.

After the pain came the swelling sensation of her meridians being forcibly stretched.

Shen Lezhi struggled, unable to bear it, but Wang Xi, who had anticipated her reaction, pressed her down, only releasing Shen Lezhi to break free after forcibly sorting through her meridians.

Shen Lezhi was in such pain that she knelt on the ground. The surrounding spiritual energy rushed into her meridians like a strong wind, unrestrained and unstoppable.

Her fragile meridians would soon be explosively ruptured. A greater surge of pain struck her.

“Wuu…” She whimpered in distress, completely curled up.

“Guard your Dantian. Concentrate your mind and make the spiritual energy in your body circulate,” Wang Xi’s voice came from above Shen Lezhi’s head.

Shen Lezhi couldn’t see the other party’s cold eyes, looking down at her agonizing state with emotionless indifference, like a deity.

But she took in what Wang Xi said. After all, besides listening, Shen Lezhi had no other choice right now.

This time was different from before. Last time, Shen Lezhi hadn’t felt what spiritual energy was. Everything was unknown, so naturally, she couldn’t understand Wang Xi’s words. But now, she had seen spiritual energy, tried to control it, and had just been forced by Wang Xi to experience the path through all her meridians.

At Wang Xi’s reminder, she was immediately able to collect her mind and control the constantly surging spiritual energy in her body.

It was very difficult at first. The external qi was overbearingly aggressive, and Shen Lezhi couldn’t control it. But as time went on, she became more skillful. The spiritual energy began to circulate regularly around her, and her swollen meridians slowly recovered.

When Shen Lezhi completely regulated herself, feeling the spiritual energy circulating comfortably in every part of her body, she slowly opened her eyes and looked right at Wang Xi.

The other party was still sitting upright, her posture unchanged.

Shen Lezhi recovered her senses and subconsciously glanced outside, wanting to confirm the time. It was pitch black outside.

“You sat in meditation for two days,” Wang Xi reminded her, seeing Shen Lezhi’s movement.

Two days?

Shen Lezhi sprang up instantly, the qi around her violently fluctuating with her emotion.

“My spiritual plants! I haven’t watered them in two days!”

And the Weeping Soul Strand! That thing was very delicate, needing to be watered twice a day. Missing even one session would make it cry endlessly. If she hadn’t managed it for two days, her home would likely be flooded by its weeping!

Shen Lezhi was truly anxious. Cultivation was fine, but farming was her heart’s treasure.

She turned to bid farewell to Wang Xi, eager to rush back to water her plants. Wang Xi had never seen her so serious about farming.

In the past, Shen Lezhi wasn’t even very focused on cultivation. On one hand, she was sickly and couldn’t cultivate for long periods. Her physical constitution made it difficult for her to sit for extended periods, and she couldn’t actively break through the obstructions in her meridians during breath regulation.

All of this required Wang Xi to explain and guide her, but the effect was very slight.

On the other hand, her naturally deficient meridians meant her aptitude was even worse than that of an average person.

Even with the priceless half of the Exquisite Heart, it only improved some ordinary physical attributes and couldn’t allow her to advance further in cultivation.

However, a complete Exquisite Heart possessed the power to reshape meridians, which was why Shen Lezhi did not hesitate to kill the Master who had raised her.

Wang Xi was actually prepared for Shen Lezhi to fail. She wasn’t truly teaching her with sincerity. Forcibly stretching Shen Lezhi’s meridians so violently—if this were before, Shen Lezhi would have passed out from the unbearable pain right there, let alone managed to sit and regulate herself.

Wang Xi looked up at this disciple, who was anxious to rush back to care for her spiritual plants, seemingly having completely forgotten that she had almost fainted from pain just now. A hint of doubt arose in her heart.

However, she had already investigated Shen Lezhi’s spiritual essence twice, and there was no possibility of possession, nor any signs of reincarnation like herself leaving traces in the spiritual essence.

“Go. Come again tomorrow,” Wang Xi finally spoke, allowing her to leave under Shen Lezhi’s urging gaze.

“Your disciple takes her leave.” Shen Lezhi immediately responded. The words had just fallen when she turned and rushed out.

Shen Lezhi didn’t return directly to her small house. She first ran to the Medicinal Herb Peak to fetch Spiritual Spring Water. After these two days of breath regulation, she clearly felt her body was full of energy.

In the past, the one-way trip to the Medicinal Herb Peak almost exhausted her strength, requiring her to rest for a while to catch her breath. But today, Shen Lezhi practically ran to the Medicinal Herb Peak. She didn’t stop once, yet felt no fatigue.

With every breath, she felt as if her body was being filled with qi, and her limbs became incredibly light.

Shen Lezhi ran all the way back to the small house. This time, she felt the circulation within her meridians while running.

That feeling of exhilaration was something she had experienced for the first time since coming to this world.

Previously, this body was frail, and coupled with the incomplete fusion of the Exquisite Heart, her body was in a state of subtle fragmentation every moment.

Sometimes there was pain, but most of the time it caused Shen Lezhi to feel an anomaly.

In short, nothing felt right.

But now, that sensation was gone. The flow of spiritual energy inside her body was as simple as breathing.

No wonder novels and TV shows depicted everyone wanting to cultivate immortality. This small initial step already felt like a cure-all.

It didn’t take long for Shen Lezhi to arrive at her small house. Pushing the door open, she saw the withered Weeping Soul Strand on the table at a glance.

At the same time, she heard the Weeping Soul Strand’s surprised cry.

“Master!”

“Little Crybaby, I’m sorry, I didn’t make it back in time,” Shen Lezhi rushed to the table in two steps, her tone full of apology.

“Little Crybaby” was the name she had given the Weeping Soul Strand. The Weeping Soul Strand was very happy to have a name and didn’t care about the meaning of the name Shen Lezhi had given it.

“Master, I’m going to wither wuwuwu.”

“Master, don’t miss me too much when you can’t see me anymore wuwuwu.”

“I am the first little flower to wither from lack of water wuwuwu wuwuwu. It’s my own fault for being too delicate, it’s not my Master’s fault wuwuwu.”

“Master, you must take good care of the other little flowers in the future, don’t let them end up like me wuwuwu wuwuwu wuwuwu.”

Shen Lezhi: “…”

Great. It was now playing the passive-aggressive victim.