Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 24.2

The last time Wang Xi was like this, Shen Lezhi was punished to endure wind and rain on Exquisite Peak for an entire day and night.

“Immortal Venerable Jiyue, my courtyard cannot withstand your domineering spiritual power,” True Person Hundred Herbs spoke up at this moment. She was still smiling, her gentle face and elegant tone making it hard for anyone to speak harshly to her.

“True Person Hundred Herbs, this Venerable One is here to retrieve my disciple,” Wang Xi responded coldly.

Her vermillion lips were lightly pursed, her expression was emotionless, but the aura around her was still intimidating.

Shen Lezhi felt she was not here to retrieve someone, but to kill someone.

True Person Hundred Herbs was not intimidated by her aura, but Immortal Venerable Jiyue’s reputation was great, and her status in the Jade Profound Sect was honorable. Even the Sect Master did not dare to directly address her by name. True Person Hundred Herbs was indeed unwilling to confront her head-on.

She could only lower her head slightly, humbling herself, and spoke gently to Wang Xi: “I do not wish for Lezhi to abandon you and take me as her Master anew. I only hope she can be registered on Herb Peak so I can impart the inner sect profound arts of Herb Peak to her.”

Wang Xi did not respond upon hearing this. Her deep eyes gazed at True Person Hundred Herbs, fixated on her.

Although True Person Hundred Herbs felt she had lowered her posture, she was actually not afraid of her. The two of them were not strangers, after all. Wang Xi used to frequently plead with True Person Hundred Herbs to save Shen Lezhi’s life. [1]

She’s just trying to steal the only inheritor, so she feels guilty and concedes.

“This bottle of elixirs was refined by your disciple.” True Person Hundred Herbs took out the low-grade trauma salve that Shen Lezhi had previously given to Elder Sister Qi from her storage ring.

She opened the jade bottle and poured all the elixirs into her palm, then displayed them to Wang Xi.

Golden energy circulated on the surface of the elixirs. With Wang Xi’s knowledge, she did not need True Person Hundred Herbs to say more; she naturally understood why the True Person wanted to take Shen Lezhi under her wing.

“She only has a single Water Spiritual Root,” True Person Hundred Herbs said to Wang Xi.

True Person Hundred Herbs had already asked Shen Lezhi in detail how she refined the elixirs. With a single Water Spiritual Root, let alone refining elixirs, it was extremely difficult to control the spiritual flame.

Other cultivators could certainly control fire with spells, but water and fire are incompatible. For Shen Lezhi, even using a high-grade fire talisman, controlling the flame was nearly impossible.

However, the refining furnace Shen Lezhi described had repeatedly astonished both True Person Hundred Herbs and Elder Sister Qi. If Shen Lezhi had not left that entire setup behind, the two would have asked her to demonstrate refining an elixir on the spot.

Yet, refining elixirs is not as simple as controlling the flame. The fundamental essence of elixir refining lies in blending the elixirs and controlling the energy released from the herbs during the refining process.

Elder Sister Qi said that Shen Lezhi had only encountered elixir refining in the large classroom on Herb Peak. With such shallow knowledge, other cultivators would not even touch the threshold of elixir refining, let alone Shen Lezhi, who refined such high-grade elixirs.

The elixirs had golden energy rings. Even Elder Sister Qi could not achieve this, yet all three of Shen Lezhi’s elixirs were of the same quality, and she was only at the Qi Refining period at the time. This was beyond what an ordinary genius could accomplish.

“Since the founding of Herb Peak, only one person has ever achieved this, Jiyue. You should know, shouldn’t you?” True Person Hundred Herbs looked up and met Wang Xi’s gaze, her eyes shining brightly.

Wang Xi naturally knew. Though she was not an elixir refiner, she understood that few elixir and medical cultivators achieved fame at a young age.

Even for people with extraordinary talent, precise control over the elixir energy could only be achieved through diligent practice.

Elixir refining emphasized a pure heart, stable energy, and concentration. The slightest deviation, when the herbs fused, would lead to chaotic elixir energy, directly affecting the final quality of the elixir.

Below the Nascent Soul stage, one golden energy ring appearing in a furnace of elixirs already marked a person of great talent.

After all, the lower the cultivator’s cultivation, the weaker their control over spiritual energy.

To produce three golden-ring elixirs in one furnace at the middle stage of Qi Refining—in the Jade Profound Sect, only the founding ancestor, Qi Xuanyu, could achieve this.

“With such talent, Jiyue, how can my Herb Peak let her go?”

True Person Hundred Herbs spoke helplessly. It was indeed unreasonable for her to snatch a disciple, but as she said, given Shen Lezhi’s talent, she should fundamentally be learning elixir refining.

With the two Peak Masters in fierce contention, the person at the center of the dispute, Shen Lezhi, was completely lost in thought. She was not sure if this plot point about Herb Peak wanting to take her in was in the original book, but Shen Lezhi thought it probably wasn’t.

After all, her colleagues did not mention the original female protagonist having an elixir refining plotline.

Shen Lezhi did not feel strongly about her achievement in elixir refining; she preferred farming and studying the growth of spiritual plants.

However, the process of blending the herbs while refining elixirs was very interesting to her. In that moment, she could perceive the reactions of different herbs. Therefore, when Wang Xi turned and asked if she was willing, Shen Lezhi did not take long to consider, and she nodded under Wang Xi’s cold gaze.

She would not formally take True Person Hundred Herbs as her Master, but only be registered on the Herb Peak roster. True Person Hundred Herbs was very satisfied with this result and immediately gave her a pile of herbs and elixir manuals, instructing her to study them thoroughly.

Wang Xi watched True Person Hundred Herbs affectionately pull Shen Lezhi closer. Her gaze shifted, and she did not linger in the area, flying away on her sword, leaving behind only the lingering low temperature in the air that had not yet warmed up because of her.

“How did Jiyue’s personality produce such a well-behaved disciple like you?” True Person Hundred Herbs was loving. She wasn’t inherently bothered by Wang Xi’s disposition, but now that she had taken Shen Lezhi in, she naturally felt a partiality.

Shen Lezhi slightly raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. The original female protagonist looked even more obedient and sensible, but it was all fake, with a heart like a snake. If Wang Xi had known in advance, she would probably have been eager to kill her with a single palm strike.

However, Shen Lezhi lowered her eyes. The half-Exquisite Heart in her chest beat steadily. In Shen Lezhi’s eyes…

“Master is a Celestial Being.”

Whether it was pulling out her heart for her original disciple and losing her cultivation without regret, or appearing several times to save the transmigration-Shen Lezhi, to Shen Lezhi, Wang Xi was like a person from the heavens.

Although Wang Xi was sometimes a bit overbearing, extremely strict when teaching her, and her face was always unpleasant, looking cold enough to freeze someone all day, she suppressed her with spiritual power, was overly controlling, and didn’t know how to speak properly…

Shen Lezhi was furiously adding to the list in her heart.

True Person Hundred Herbs was secretly astonished by her answer. She hadn’t expected Shen Lezhi to reply like that. But then she thought, Jiyue was indeed like that—a person of astonishing and aloof genius in the eyes of the world.

“True Person, how can a spiritual plant whose stem has been completely broken be resurrected?” Shen Lezhi was still worried about the Crying Soul Strand. She thought that since True Person Hundred Herbs was the Herb Peak Peak Master, she might have some methods.

However, she concealed the Crying Soul Strand’s description of her special spiritual power, only describing the current state of the Crying Soul Strand.

If it were an ordinary person hearing about a completely broken root and stem, they would have likely pronounced the spiritual plant dead, but True Person Hundred Herbs understood Shen Lezhi’s words.

Shen Lezhi asked “how can it be resurrected,” not “can it be resurrected.”

She was so certain, with no trace of doubt in her tone, that True Person Hundred Herbs surmised there might be some kind of special miracle involved.

“All things have a spirit; spiritual energy is the energy of life,” True Person Hundred Herbs replied.

Shen Lezhi’s eyelids lightly fluttered, and she nodded seriously.

After bidding farewell to True Person Hundred Herbs, Shen Lezhi returned to her cottage.

True Person Hundred Herbs’ words were not cryptic. The Crying Soul Strand had also said that Shen Lezhi’s special spiritual energy had awakened it.

Shen Lezhi had never known what was special about her spiritual energy until she established her foundation yesterday, when she finally started to perceive something.

Wang Xi said she had a single Water Spiritual Root, but she could communicate with spiritual plants. True Person Hundred Herbs said her talent in elixir refining was excellent, mentioning the difficulty of controlling elixir energy.

But Shen Lezhi only followed the preference of the herbs when refining elixirs.

Whether they were planted spiritual plants or refined medicinal herbs, they were all of the Wood element.

After establishing her foundation, Shen Lezhi’s perception of spiritual energy became stronger. She keenly noticed that not only Water Spiritual Energy but also the Wood Spiritual Energy of the natural world was unusually close to her.

It was a closeness that felt like extreme fondness, though the energy was not naturally absorbed into her body.

Shen Lezhi pushed the door open and walked into the house. She had been too confused yesterday to delve into this, but today, after hearing True Person Hundred Herbs’ words, it was like a sudden illumination. Everything before her seemed clear.

Shen Lezhi walked to the square table as usual, sat down, and held the Crying Soul Strand in both hands.

She did not rush to concentrate and call out to the Crying Soul Strand. Instead, she completely calmed down and explored the meridians throughout her body.

If the Wood Spirit was close to her, intensely expressing its fondness, why wouldn’t it drill into her meridians and merge to become her spiritual energy?

What was obstructing them?

Shen Lezhi made a bold guess: her body should contain the existence of a Wood Spiritual Root, but until now, no one knew of it, and it was being blocked by something.

Shen Lezhi explored inch by inch. She didn’t know if she could find it, since even Wang Xi hadn’t discovered it after several explorations of her meridians, and it wasn’t even recorded in the original book.

But she believed there must be a natural law. Wood Spirit would not be close to her for no reason, and the special secret on her body would not remain untraceable forever.

She searched meticulously, unwilling to overlook a single detail. Finally, near the neck vertebrae, Shen Lezhi discovered an extremely tiny, blue-green dot attached to that meridian.

In that instant, Shen Lezhi’s heart pounded like thunder. She tried to focus all her energy to hook onto that spot and then release Wood Spiritual Energy.

It didn’t work at first, but slowly, Shen Lezhi discovered that as long as the Water Spiritual Energy was completely depleted, the Wood Spirit would suddenly surge.

But the complete lack of spiritual energy was extremely uncomfortable. Shen Lezhi had experienced it before, but she disregarded the pain. If she could truly release the Wood Spirit, and release the Wood Spiritual Energy to the Crying Soul Strand before her, would she be able to…

Shen Lezhi held the Crying Soul Strand and walked into the courtyard. The fastest way to deplete Water Spiritual Energy was to practice her sword dance.

Immense Water Spiritual Energy attached itself to the wooden sword. Her previous iron sword had been cut in two during the fight with the white bear yesterday. This wooden sword was one she had temporarily found in her storage ring.

The continuous flow of Water Spiritual Energy made her sword moves more ethereal. As she constantly swung the sword, water ripples seemed to appear in the air. Shen Lezhi completely unrestrained her aura. Her sword moves became faster and faster, and she actually waved a layer of mist into the sky.

The mist was filled with a dampness. The endless water ripples made Shen Lezhi’s figure even harder to capture. This was the first time Shen Lezhi had seen her sword moves achieve this level, and she released her spiritual power even more tirelessly.

Finally, when her spiritual energy was exhausted, Shen Lezhi immediately plunged the wooden sword into the soil, then sat down on the ground, concentrating her consciousness on that tiny Wood Spiritual Root.

The Wood Spirit surrounding her, which was fiercely fond of her, finally drilled into her body at this moment, turning into her spiritual energy. Then, the blue-green Wood Spirit surged out of her body. Shen Lezhi smelled a strange, clean fragrance within it.

She ignored the need to explore what was special about this spiritual power. Enduring the pain, she desperately channeled the Wood Spirit into the broken root and stem of the Crying Soul Strand.

Shen Lezhi did not know how much spiritual energy to give, so she continued until she had no strength left.

The continuous depletion of spiritual energy made it difficult for Shen Lezhi to even breathe. She fell to the ground, her body twitching uncontrollably.

The emptiness of her meridians left Shen Lezhi unable to circulate her energy for meditation. She clenched the porcelain pot holding the Crying Soul Strand, groaning in pain, and frantically pulled a spirit stone from her storage ring, trying to absorb the spiritual energy from it to save herself.

And in the midst of such agony, Shen Lezhi suddenly heard a sound.

The voice was extremely faint, yet it was incomparably clear in her mind.

Shen Lezhi’s breathing stopped at this sound.

She weakly curled her body. The continuous stinging pain in her meridians could not block her joy at this moment.

Her whole body was spasming, and her voice was shaky, yet she could not help but whisper.

“Little crybaby, welcome back.”