Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 23.2

However, the sword moves were only strange and inscrutable. Upon a slight encounter or contact, Shen Lezhi’s sword technique would scatter like a sand dune, easily dispersed by the wind.

Shen Lezhi felt nothing, though. She was practicing the sword moves entirely by muscle memory now; her eyes weren’t even watching, and her mind wasn’t here.

She felt the iron sword in her hand getting heavier and heavier, reaching her limit for the day.

Shen Lezhi swung her hand and chopped down with a vertical strike. The sharpness of the blade cut a trail in the air. This was the last movement of the second stance of the Xuan-Yu Sword Technique. She should have ended the move and sheathed her sword, but at that moment, a petal fell onto her rapidly descending blade.

Shen Lezhi suddenly remembered the ordinary flower she had protected in the wind and rain. She went to look later, and the narrow crevice only contained a tiny, broken root stem of the flower.

That flower ultimately did not survive that kind of wind and rain.

Shen Lezhi felt regret about this but was not overly saddened.

In the world, everything has its life and death determined by fate. She had protected it for a while. If it couldn’t survive, that was the small flower’s destiny.

The pink and white petal before her, carried by an unknown gentle breeze, had separated from its stem. After landing, it would become nourishment for the earth, but Shen Lezhi did not want to sever it.

She was indifferent to the life and death of the previous small flower and indifferent to the wilting of this petal. She simply did not want the sword in her hand to cut down this beauty.

But Shen Lezhi’s sword could not be stopped. She was powerless to retract the downward chopping motion.

In that instant, she subconsciously channeled the spiritual energy in her body. Since her sword edge could not avoid cutting towards that petal, then she would make the blade unable to harm it.

All her spiritual energy instantly enveloped the iron sword. The sharp blade still shone with a cold light, but when the pink and white petal collided with the sword edge, the long sword, which usually cut through iron like mud, now cut through the wind and stirred up dust particles, yet the ordinary petal stood on the blade, completely unharmed.

Shen Lezhi did not stop after this move. She shook her wrist, flicking the petal to the front of the long sword, maintaining the spiritual energy on the blade, and performed the moves of the Xuan-Yu Sword Technique again.

The petal danced with the iron sword, repeatedly touching the blade. When the long sword swung, it hit the petal and cut through the void, leaving a cold light in the air, yet the petal was not scratched in the slightest.

In this manner, Shen Lezhi completed the first three stances of the Xuan-Yu Sword Technique taught by Wang Xi. The petal grazed the sword body and slowly descended, falling into the dirt. A gentle breeze blew again, and it quickly vanished without a trace.

Shen Lezhi finally stopped, standing with her sword lowered. She turned her head to look in Wang Xi’s direction. She was usually expressionless when facing Wang Xi, but now she couldn’t suppress her excitement.

She smiled sweetly, her eyes sparkling as if lit by stars, filled with a pure joy and anticipation that she couldn’t wait to share with Wang Xi.

“Master, I understand!” She said happily, her melodious voice wrapped in elation.

Wang Xi looked down at her. The Shen Lezhi in her eyes stood with sword in hand, bright and outstandingly beautiful. Her eyes were crystalline and clear, and her fair cheeks were flushed with a ruby-like blush from joy.

She looked into Wang Xi’s eyes, completely defenseless, full of delight, intense, and pure.

Wang Xi pursed her lips, subconsciously looking away from Shen Lezhi’s eyes, her eyelashes trembling, avoiding the tremor in her heart.

.

Shen Lezhi understood why her sword was empty: it was simply because she was unwilling to harm others.

She wanted to protect herself but was unwilling to harm others. Practicing a sword technique meant to harm others was something she could not internally agree with.

Shen Lezhi thought, if that was the case, why couldn’t her sword embrace all things?

Her own spiritual energy, the enemy’s murderous intent, everything—when it touched the blade, it would be like flowing water, merging with each other, indistinguishable.

Her sword could not hurt anyone, and others’ attacks could not hurt her.

She told Wang Xi her idea. Wang Xi merely watched her in silence.

Shen Lezhi knew this idea was fanciful. Even if it could be achieved, what was the point of a sword that couldn’t harm anyone?

Wang Xi would not approve of her.

This made Shen Lezhi a little disheartened, but this was her truest thought, the Dao she sought.

Even if only for a short time, Shen Lezhi truly regarded Wang Xi as her Master. The other party had saved her several times and taught her much. At least in terms of identity, she had long been recognized by Shen Lezhi. Therefore, not gaining Wang Xi’s approval made Shen Lezhi feel somewhat dejected again.

But she was stubborn. Even if Wang Xi didn’t agree, she had no intention of changing.

She picked up her sword again and demonstrated it to Wang Xi using the same method, showing Wang Xi that this was her resolve, this was her Dao of the Sword.

Wang Xi remained silent. After a long while, she walked toward Shen Lezhi.

With a flick of her finger, Shen Lezhi was forcefully pulled over by her. Wang Xi didn’t explain, but took Shen Lezhi and rose up on her sword. In just a few breaths, the two were in a different setting.

Below her was a mountain forest, but it was completely shrouded in white mist, making it impossible to see with the naked eye. The spiritual Qi below had a changed scent. Shen Lezhi didn’t even need to carefully sense it to smell a very obvious dangerous aura.

“This is the Demon Forest. The front section is where the Xuan-Yu Sect raises demon beasts, but this area is not,” Wang Xi said, turning to glare at Shen Lezhi, her eyes cold and emotionless.

“Go down.” Her voice was the cold that Shen Lezhi was familiar with—that crisp, snowy chill. Shen Lezhi actually liked it most of the time.

However, she only simply liked the other party’s voice, not Wang Xi’s intention to send her to her death after that cold command.

But even if she was unwilling, the decision was not her own.

Wang Xi flicked her fingers, and Shen Lezhi plummeted due to the loss of gravity. Fortunately, her spiritual energy circulation was now adequate, and she managed to slow her descent just before landing.

The noise of her landing quickly attracted the attention of the creatures in the forest. Wang Xi said this was the Demon Forest, but only the front was where demon beasts were kept. This area was not.

Then why was this area not?

Shen Lezhi already had the answer in her heart.

The demon beasts here were fiercely abnormal, and the Xuan-Yu Sect did not control them, or rather, did not need to control them.

Shen Lezhi tightly gripped the long sword in her hand, not daring to relax in the slightest.

“How does a sword that cannot hurt anyone survive when facing an enemy?”

At that moment, Wang Xi’s voice rang out in Shen Lezhi’s ear. The sound was transmitted directly into her eardrum. Shen Lezhi guessed that the other party had used a spiritual message.

Shen Lezhi did not answer. With her cultivation, she couldn’t sense Wang Xi’s presence. She glanced at the sky above her head, but her vision was obscured by layers of white mist, and she couldn’t find Wang Xi’s location.

But her lack of response wasn’t because she couldn’t answer.

She believed Wang Xi would be watching, so she raised her long sword and provided her answer with action.

Shen Lezhi already saw a demon beast preparing to strike in front of her. The Qi emanating from Shen Lezhi’s body was very weak. The demon beast exposed its sharp teeth, making no attempt to hide it, clearly regarding her as weak prey.

Shen Lezhi did not retreat, but instead advanced. Her spiritual energy instantly enveloped the sword body. When the long sword was swung, the afterimages appeared like flowing water.

Seeing Shen Lezhi dare to come forward, the demon beast did not stand on ceremony and directly collided with Shen Lezhi’s sword edge. Its sharp claws could tear through giant stones, and the tips had been stained with the blood of countless prey.

The human in front of it was so weak, and that iron sword didn’t pose any threat to it.

But when the sharp claws struck the long sword, there was no force as it had imagined. In that instant, its whole body was enveloped by unfamiliar spiritual Qi, and the prey in its sight suddenly became elusive and strange.

It broke free in confusion, feeling that danger was approaching, but a cold light burst forth before its eyes. The sharp blade passed over its body, yet it was not injured in the slightest.

The demon beast was puzzled and warily distanced itself from the prey in front of it, but the spiritual Qi, like flowing water, still clung to it.

It angrily waved its sharp claws, but every attack was like falling into a bottomless pool of water. It caused a splash on the surface and then disappeared without a sound.

The demon beast couldn’t understand what this was, only knowing that its prey was already closing in on it. A suffocating feeling swept over it, overwhelming it, as if it had fallen into deep water, unable to breathe, unable to surface.

Finally, it completely lost consciousness and collapsed.

When the demon beast fell, Shen Lezhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. This was her first time doing this, and her spiritual energy control was not proficient. The demon beast almost broke free several times, but fortunately, she managed to keep it restrained.

“Master, this is my answer,” she looked up towards the sky, answering Wang Xi’s previous question.

Shen Lezhi was certain Wang Xi could hear her, but the other party was slow to respond.

Just as Shen Lezhi was about to call out to Wang Xi again, a dominant spiritual energy descended from the sky, precisely and forcefully pressing down on Shen Lezhi, leaving no room for escape. It was sudden and extremely fierce.

Only the special coldness in the spiritual Qi was familiar to Shen Lezhi—it was Wang Xi’s spiritual Qi.

“Then what about your sword?” Wang Xi’s voice finally came through.

Shen Lezhi was suppressed and couldn’t straighten her back. She plunged her long sword into the ground, forcefully supporting her body, barely managing to kneel halfway down.

She fundamentally didn’t want to answer Wang Xi’s question, because no matter what Dao of the Sword she practiced, she couldn’t contend with Wang Xi at this moment.

Wang Xi was clearly picking a fight on purpose.

“I do not like you doing this, Master,” Shen Lezhi said in a muffled voice.

She truly hated being oppressed by Wang Xi like this all the time. She even suspected that the other party had spent too much time in a position of authority, or was naturally overly controlling, leading her to suppress people with force whenever Shen Lezhi had a slight objection.

If this were in the modern world, she would purely be exhibiting “tyrannical CEO” behavior.

While Shen Lezhi complained internally, she silently chanted, “Don’t get angry, don’t get angry.”

Wang Xi raised her eyebrows slightly upon hearing Shen Lezhi’s words, knowing Shen Lezhi was getting annoyed again.

Perhaps even Shen Lezhi herself hadn’t noticed that she would use very polite terms to address Wang Xi when she was angry, and would slightly emphasize that specific word.

But Wang Xi was in no mood to deal with the other party’s little habit, because she heard Shen Lezhi use the word “like.”

In Wang Xi’s view, this was a relatively intimate word. Shen Lezhi had not answered her question and was acting as if she had given up resisting.

She was expressing her dissatisfaction to Wang Xi with “I do not like,” almost like she was pouting at Wang Xi.

Wang Xi’s eyebrows trembled, and she waved her hand, withdrawing the suppression on Shen Lezhi.

She felt even more disgusted by Shen Lezhi’s hypocrisy. How could the other party truly pout at her? It was just her usual tactic to curry favor with Wang Xi.

Wang Xi didn’t want to continue and prepared to take Shen Lezhi away, but then another demon beast was attracted by Shen Lezhi’s previous fight.

A white bear-like demon beast, nearly two meters tall, had appeared in Shen Lezhi’s field of vision.

It had horns on its head, and its four limbs were slenderer than the bears Shen Lezhi had seen before.

The white bear was incredibly fast, rushing forward like a gust of wind. Shen Lezhi merely met its gaze and was shaken by the fierce, bloody aura of the beast, causing her hands to tremble.

Shen Lezhi stood rooted to the spot. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to flee, but at the speed the white bear was running, she would probably be caught after only two or three steps. It was better to grip her weapon and face the oncoming attack.

With life and death hanging in the balance, Shen Lezhi had no other choice.

All her spiritual energy was mobilized at this moment. The combination of the Shu Footwork and the Xuan-Yu Sword moves made her figure elusive. This wasn’t her randomly making it up. A few days ago, her sword practice was so chaotic that she realized her sword moves were morphing. Shen Lezhi originally wanted to correct them but discovered that many of the footwork movements in the Xuan-Yu Sword Technique were similar to the Shu Footwork.

So, she carefully studied it and finally experimented with this strange set of body movements.

However, in the eyes of an absolute powerhouse, such body movements were no different from any other. The giant bear claw pressed down, and the sharp claws were incomparable to the previous smaller demon beast.

Shen Lezhi’s sword was already glowing with faint water ripples, caused by the spiritual energy attached to it, like flowing water.

She gripped the sword tightly, giving everything she had to take on this blow.

Blade met claw. At that moment, the sword body seemed to emit a “thud” sound of something dropping into water, as if Shen Lezhi’s sword had truly turned into water.

Water can accommodate all things, it can embrace everything.

The flow of water cannot be stopped. As long as there is a gap, the water flow can pass through.

But what was before Shen Lezhi was a mountain, a mountain so dense it was airtight.

She was just a small cultivator in the Qi Refining stage. The wind from the white bear’s paw was enough to blow her off her feet.

She simply couldn’t withstand the sharp claw. The long sword broke on the spot after the first strike. Shen Lezhi was thrown back several steps, finally collapsing limply on the ground.

Seeing the white bear attack again, Wang Xi finally appeared at that moment, her robes fluttering, blocking Shen Lezhi’s front.

The attack Shen Lezhi couldn’t withstand, Wang Xi didn’t even raise her eyelids. She simply flicked her finger, and the white bear immediately crashed to the ground with a loud roar, its breath gone.

Shen Lezhi watched, then suddenly smiled.

“I dislike this, Master.”

The young girl sat on the ground, blood coughed up at the corner of her lips. She was smiling, yet there was no trace of amusement in her eyes.

Her eyes were still sparkling, but no longer with anticipation directed at her.

What Shen Lezhi disliked was Wang Xi ignoring her feelings, and Wang Xi knowing full well that she couldn’t possibly defeat the white bear, yet still throwing her here.

Shen Lezhi understood the law of the jungle and was well aware that weakness was no excuse.

But she simply abhorred Wang Xi forcing her to do something she couldn’t achieve.

She didn’t need to be here. She had just grasped her Dao of the Sword today and could have practiced more before facing such dangers.

She was indifferent to life and death. If it truly came down to a moment of life and death, and she still couldn’t survive despite her best efforts, then death was merely her fate.

But Shen Lezhi lowered her head, not wanting to say anything more.

Her body was too painful at the moment. Every nerve was spasming with pain. She didn’t know what was happening to her, but Wang Xi beside her had already keenly sensed the change in the surrounding spiritual Qi.

“Are you about to break through?” Wang Xi looked down at Shen Lezhi.

Breakthrough?

Shen Lezhi was unaware of such a thing; she only felt pain. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, and the intense burning sensation made her feel like she was collapsing.

She couldn’t help but groan aloud, the fragmented sounds becoming intermittent.

It was too painful.

Shen Lezhi’s only remaining consciousness could only feel pain, as if she had fallen into a bonfire, or a frying pan of oil.

She wondered if her skin was being burned away, or why else would she be in such agony.

Her muffled cries were continuous, soft, and short, making it seem as if others’ hearts were also clutched in pain, experiencing her suffering.

Wang Xi stood in place, watching coldly. Because Shen Lezhi had taken pills for a long time and her body was naturally frail, her meridians were more blocked than ordinary people’s. It was inevitable that she would experience pain as the spiritual Qi circulated through all her meridians during the breakthrough.

Wang Xi could have cleared Shen Lezhi’s path for her, but she chose not to.

Watching Shen Lezhi’s appearance, a hint of pleasure actually rose in Wang Xi’s eyes.

Unfortunately, Shen Lezhi was only in the Qi Refining stage, so the breakthrough did not take long. After only the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, Shen Lezhi’s pained groans subsided.

After waiting for another quarter of an hour, Shen Lezhi was fully awake.

When she opened her eyes, the Qi around her had changed. Wang Xi casually scanned her, but then suddenly froze.

This was not the aura of a breakthrough to the late Qi Refining stage.

Shen Lezhi had actually reached Foundation Establishment?!

Wang Xi, who possessed all the memories of her past life, was suddenly thrown into confusion. In her past life, Shen Lezhi never reached Foundation Establishment until her death. Her cultivation remained in the late Qi Refining stage, and it was impossible for her to advance further.

Wang Xi tightly pursed her lips. Ignoring Shen Lezhi’s resistance, she pulled the person in front of her, staring intensely at the other party.

Shen Lezhi felt the sudden drop in the surrounding temperature and the cold hand gripping her waist, restricting her.

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes inwardly.

This posture, this distance, this atmosphere.

Does the old woman have the urge to engage in intimate contact again in this wilderness?

Can’t we just go back to the house for this?!