Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 18

This time, Shen Lezhi did not ask Wang Xi to teach her Sword Riding again. She had asked many times, and Wang Xi had refused every time. Even if Shen Lezhi was foolish, she knew there must be some reason why Wang Xi could not teach her now.

Before arriving, she had prepared a speech on how to persuade Wang Xi to give her a plot of land to grow White Ice Grass. But with the person right in front of her, and under the cold gaze of those eyes, the words she had prepared were instantly unable to be spoken.

“Master,” Shen Lezhi simply lowered her head and bowed to Wang Xi in evasion.

Wang Xi glanced at her but remained silent.

Shen Lezhi grew even more awkward. After waiting for a long time without hearing Wang Xi respond, she couldn’t bear the silent atmosphere any longer. She took a deep breath and prepared to speak herself.

“Master, your disciple wishes to cultivate a spiritual field on Linglong Peak to grow spiritual herbs,” Shen Lezhi said, raising her eyes to look at Wang Xi.

In her mind, she was already thinking about where else she should look for a place of extreme cold if the other party refused.

“You may.” But Wang Xi did not refuse, and her quick agreement genuinely surprised Shen Lezhi.

However, upon reflection, Wang Xi was the same way in the original book. Although she rarely expressed care for the original female protagonist verbally, she would grant almost all of the original female protagonist’s requests.

It was just a pity that the original female protagonist felt that Wang Xi’s attitude meant she didn’t care about her at all, and thus gradually grew distant from Wang Xi.

Thinking of this, Shen Lezhi recalled what Senior Sister Yunsha had told her earlier—to be more intimate with Wang Xi.

Had Senior Sister Yunsha also advised the original female protagonist this way in the book?

Others could see Wang Xi’s favoritism toward the original female protagonist, and Senior Sister Yunsha, being close to the original female protagonist, might have also known about the latter’s subtle estrangement from Wang Xi.

However, Shen Lezhi only entertained these thoughts briefly. She was not good at handling interpersonal relationships to begin with, and she didn’t want to deal with the complex relationships surrounding the original female protagonist. Her mind was focused solely on farming and practicing cultivation, hoping to wake the Weeping Soul Strand sooner.

Since Wang Xi agreed to her request, she felt happy and thanked Wang Xi cheerfully, ready to quickly select a plot of land and plant the White Ice Grass seeds.

The location Shen Lezhi chose was far from Wang Xi’s cave residence. She really didn’t want to look up while farming and see her cold-faced Master.

The chosen plot was roughly halfway up Linglong Peak, next to a withered tree covered in frost.

The terrain here was relatively flat. Although a layer of frost covered the ground, the soil was surprisingly soft after a few strikes with the hoe.

In the large class on Medicinal Herb Peak, Shen Lezhi had also learned how to distinguish the spiritual fields of this world.

Aside from conventional factors like soil quality, fertility, and surrounding climate, the most important factor was discerning the distribution of spiritual energy in the area.

Spiritual energy in nature has attributes. Similar to a cultivator’s spiritual roots, common attributes like Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth exist in the spiritual energy, as do Wang Xi’s mutated attributes. A cultivator must discern if there are any deviations in the attributes contained within the spiritual energy.

For instance, the cavern she visited earlier was nearly overflowing with the Fire attribute, which caused the temperature to become extreme.

The climate on Linglong Peak was created by Wang Xi’s cultivation method, pervasive with the Ice attribute of spiritual energy.

Shen Lezhi chose this spot to cultivate her spiritual field precisely because she sensed a more concentrated Ice attribute spiritual energy here, making it particularly suitable for planting White Ice Grass.

The spiritual field Shen Lezhi was cultivating was small, and with her current physical strength, it wasn’t too strenuous.

After planting the White Ice Grass seeds, the White Ice Grass did not require water to grow. It only needed the temperature to be cold and was extremely easy to keep alive.

Although Wang Xi did not follow Shen Lezhi, her spiritual consciousness covered Linglong Peak. She stood in front of her cave residence, watching Shen Lezhi slowly walk down to the middle of the mountain.

The movements of digging with the hoe were highly practiced. When she knelt on the ground to inspect the soil, the dark green skirt of her robes was stained with dirty mud.

Yet, she didn’t care.

In Wang Xi’s memory, Shen Lezhi always presented an image of a well-behaved and sensible girl. She wouldn’t perform clumsy actions, and even though she looked frail and pale, she maintained a dignified demeanor.

At least she would never kneel in the mud like this, or merely brush off her contaminated skirt when she stood up, utterly unconcerned.

Wang Xi lowered her eyes, a slight doubt rising in her heart.

The cultivators on Medicinal Herb Peak manage spiritual fields using spells, and aside from outer sect disciples with no spiritual power, Wang Xi was seeing for the first time someone actually using an iron hoe to clear land.

She hadn’t paid attention when Shen Lezhi requested this iron hoe previously, but seeing it today truly surprised her.

However, her feelings were only surprise. She couldn’t understand Shen Lezhi in her past life, and it seemed the same was true in this life.

She watched as Shen Lezhi finished everything, stroking the buried soil with a smiling face. Even Shen Lezhi herself did not detect that in that instant, a faint green light flashed from her fingertips.

Wang Xi’s eyes twitched. She remembered this familiar spiritual energy very clearly.

During Shen Lezhi’s near-death experience last time, the spiritual plants throughout the mountainside had turned toward her, and the woods were filled with this special spiritual energy.

It was not ordinary Wood spiritual energy. Spiritual energy in nature always carries impurities, but the Wood spiritual energy surrounding Shen Lezhi was utterly pure.

However, this time it was only for a moment. If Wang Xi hadn’t firmly remembered it, she might have dismissed it as her own hallucination.

Wang Xi’s gaze chilled. This person truly held quite a few secrets.

Meanwhile, after happily planting the White Ice Grass, Shen Lezhi stood up and prepared to leave. After walking a few steps, she thought about it and decided to go back up the mountain one more time to express her gratitude to Wang Xi.

Her cultivation was insufficient to detect that Wang Xi had been staring at her. She walked to the cave residence and bowed respectfully to the other party.

“Thank you, Master. Your disciple will take her leave today.” Since Wang Xi had lent her land for farming, she was genuinely grateful.

Wang Xi lowered her gaze to scan her, and after waiting for a good while, she finally uttered two words: “Stay.”

Shen Lezhi froze.

???

What did you just say?

Her head, which had been lowered, snapped up, meeting Wang Xi’s cold, dark gaze that was no different from usual.

Shen Lezhi was utterly shocked, almost thinking her ears were faulty and she had misheard.

No.

It was getting late. What did Wang Xi want her to do by staying?

Spend the night?

She only borrowed a piece of land; surely she didn’t need to pay such a huge price as a carnal exchange?!

Was it because she had refused the kiss yesterday?

Shen Lezhi felt this was highly probable.

She quickly took a half-step back, her heart sinking.

She truly wanted to open her mouth and say to Wang Xi: Master, why don’t you try to endure it? Cultivators should not indulge in excessive desires.