Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 27.1

Wang Xi still did not give the white flood dragon sword to Shen Lezhi, only saying that she would forge a natal weapon for her and that True Person Hundred Herbs did not need to trouble herself.

So, Shen Lezhi continued to use the small wooden sword to learn sword techniques from Wang Xi. Shen Lezhi was a fast learner. She quickly grasped the later moves of the Jade Profound Sword Technique, and with diligent daily practice, her form soon became quite respectable.

However, whenever she looked at Wang Xi’s expression, it was never one of satisfaction.

In fact, Wang Xi hadn’t criticized her once and had given her no guidance after teaching her the moves.

After several days of practice, Shen Lezhi grew increasingly frustrated. That day on Exquisite Peak, after practicing for a while, she directly said to Wang Xi: “Master, where is your disciple’s sword technique lacking?”

She asked plainly, her dissatisfaction unconcealed. Wang Xi’s gaze shifted to her face, and after a long pause, she finally responded: “There is nothing lacking.”

But Shen Lezhi felt there was. She stared straight at Wang Xi, unwilling to back down.

“Then why exactly is Master dissatisfied?” She slightly raised the corner of her eye. Despite her inherently gentle and obedient face, her eyebrows and eyes were sharp.

Wang Xi half-closed her eyes, gazing intently at her.

Wang Xi’s demeanor was cold and arrogant. Few dared to look her directly in the eye, especially when she intentionally released her aura. Not only would one fear making eye contact, but merely being within her field of presence would feel uncomfortable.

Yet, Shen Lezhi still refused to yield.

Wang Xi recalled the time she punished Shen Lezhi. The girl was frail and delicate, yet she kept staring directly at her, her eyes filled with unyielding stubbornness.

Even though the punishment was so severe, forcing her to bend her back while kneeling in the snow, she still spoke frankly and clashed with Wang Xi afterward.

If a knife were held at her throat, threatening her life, she still wouldn’t temper the sharpness in her gaze.

“When did you change like this?” Wang Xi suddenly whispered.

Shen Lezhi’s eyelid fluttered, and her heart instantly filled with panic.

She couldn’t determine the meaning behind Wang Xi’s sudden question—if the Master had discovered anything. Shen Lezhi wanted to evade the question, but Wang Xi raised her eyes again, her gaze directly pressuring her.

“When did you become so serious about learning spells, when did you develop a fondness for growing spiritual plants, and when did you start wanting to refine elixirs?” These were all things the Shen Lezhi of the previous life had never done. It seemed that after Wang Xi’s rebirth, everything was changing.

Shen Lezhi’s heart was pounding in her throat. Cornered by Wang Xi’s questioning, she could only answer: “Your disciple walked once through the gates of death and only then understood the meaning of living in the moment. In the past, your disciple spent her days on a sickbed and never truly lived well. Master spent painstaking effort to save your disciple’s life. Your disciple no longer wants to be like before, pitying herself and wasting time.”

Wang Xi listened to Shen Lezhi’s words, not responding verbally. Her gaze swept coolly across Shen Lezhi, seemingly judging the truthfulness of her words.

Afraid the Master wouldn’t believe her, Shen Lezhi continued to add: “Your disciple cultivated diligently. The constraints that couldn’t be broken before, haven’t they been broken now? Successfully establishing my Foundation is the best proof. Moreover, I have forgotten the past. Since the Heavens wished me to forget, it means the Heavens also wish for my new life.”

She attributed everything to an enlightenment after experiencing life and death and a new start after amnesia.

Wang Xi listened to her words, still offering no response.

“Master?” Shen Lezhi called out again, feeling anxious.

Only then did Wang Xi turn her back, and then coldly stated: “Today, I shall teach you the Art of Water Control.”

Shen Lezhi’s eyebrows lifted upon hearing this. She knew Wang Xi must have believed her words, and she was surprised and delighted that the Master was finally going to teach her spells.

She was extremely interested in these types of spells and wanted to see if they were truly as magical as they were portrayed on television.

Although Wang Xi had turned her back, her spiritual consciousness was always extended. She didn’t need her eyes to see exactly what Shen Lezhi looked like.

Shen Lezhi’s purely delighted expression was completely perceived by Wang Xi.

Those clear eyes were like spring water in a stream, like a crystal-clear gem underwater.

Wang Xi took Shen Lezhi to a cliff on Exquisite Peak where water flowed straight down, forming a waterfall. As the two walked closer, Shen Lezhi could feel the bone-chilling coldness of the waterfall without even touching it.

Wang Xi wouldn’t actually make her stand naked under the waterfall, enduring the impact of the water flow to temper her willpower or something, would she? Just like in the dramas.

Shen Lezhi retreated half a step, her mood instantly soured.

Although cultivation required diligence, it didn’t need to be this simple and crude, right?

However, Wang Xi had no intention of making her bathe in the water to temper her willpower. She led Shen Lezhi beneath the waterfall. The swiftly falling water gathered into a small, shallow ditch, flowing along the channel and heading into the distance.

The splashing water filled the surrounding air with moisture. Shen Lezhi stood beneath the waterfall, following Wang Xi, and her clothes became damp from the spray.

She watched Wang Xi pull out the White Jade Azure Dragon Sword. This was only the second time Shen Lezhi had seen it. Before, Wang Xi rarely took out this natal treasure sword.

When the sword was drawn, its chilling light reflected in the sunlight. Shen Lezhi was surprised to find that the sword’s reflection was not a cold white, but carried a faint, deep blue glow.

Wang Xi leaped up. The water droplets that had soaked Shen Lezhi could not cling to her at all. With a flick of her wrist, the White Jade Azure Dragon Sword slashed a cold light straight across, following her movement.

Shen Lezhi’s heart pounded in sync. Everything before her astonished her.

In that instant, she felt Wang Xi’s immense spiritual power, and before her was the water of the waterfall sliced by Wang Xi’s sword.

It was truly sliced. The water flow of the waterfall seemed to evaporate instantly, breaking in the middle. The cascading water completely vanished for a moment before it started flowing again.

“Your turn,” Wang Xi only demonstrated this one move before she retracted the long sword, standing on a rock high up, looking down coldly at Shen Lezhi.

Shen Lezhi did not follow her instruction to walk over.

Slice the water flow? Her turn?

“Please don’t joke, Master.”

The release of spiritual power Shen Lezhi felt in that moment almost completely filled the surrounding space, surging in like a raging sea and yet falling gently like fine rain. She admitted she absolutely could not be like Wang Xi.

“Your disciple is afraid she is incapable,” Shen Lezhi shook her head.

But Wang Xi didn’t care if she could do it or not. She merely pointed to where she had stood before, her gaze signaling Shen Lezhi to hurry and begin.

Shen Lezhi took a deep breath. All her previous fantasies about magic and immortal spells were completely shattered.

She swore Wang Xi was truly terrible at teaching people. Who teaches by demonstrating once and then doesn’t bother with anything else?!

Does she think everyone is a genius?

It was the same when she taught Shen Lezhi the sword technique: one demonstration, and then she’d be ill-tempered. If Shen Lezhi didn’t follow her instructions, she would lower the pressure and freeze people!

What Immortal Jiyue with the bearing of an immortal, what heavenly being… just an overbearing love-fool!

Shen Lezhi walked beneath the waterfall. The splashing water was even heavier here. After standing for a moment, she was completely covered in water stains.

She held up her small wooden sword and, imitating Wang Xi, swung a strike toward the water flow.

She knew that cultivators severing water was not as simple as just swinging a sword. She also gathered spiritual power, recalling the spiritual power burst from Wang Xi, and concluded that one should concentrate the spiritual power and release it at the moment of the swing to form a more lethal burst than usual.

Shen Lezhi was a person who understood analysis. When she tried this, her spiritual power indeed became more agitated at the moment of the burst. She swung toward the waterfall, and where the wooden sword passed, she created a massive splash.

And then it hit her in the face.

“…” Shen Lezhi was speechless.

Now her entire body was soaked.

But the burst of spiritual power still gave her some insight.

Wang Xi’s spiritual power in that instant was not an explosion; it was an extreme contraction, even though it had come surging in overwhelmingly.

But when it washed over Shen Lezhi, it carried an extreme restraint.

It was like a sharp knife, where only the edge of the blade made one feel fear.

Shen Lezhi took a breath. The moisture in the air made her breathing a little uncomfortable, but she had no mind to care.

She half-closed her eyes, tightening her grip on the wooden sword, concentrating her attention, continuously releasing spiritual power, yet continuously restraining it.

She needed to compress the spiritual power onto the edge of the sword. This should have been difficult to grasp, but Shen Lezhi suddenly thought of the way a modern motorcycle starts: pressing the brake and the throttle at the same time. A roaring sound echoed in the air. The surrounding spiritual energy was rapidly vibrating.

The moment she released the brake was the moment for her to swing the wooden sword.

A cold light flashed across the blade. Shen Lezhi’s eyes followed the path of the sword. Although it was just a wooden sword, it made her feel an unparalleled sharpness.

Her heart rate accelerated with this strike, and the water flow of the waterfall did indeed break before her eyes.

But it was only for an instant. The severed water immediately reconnected, more violently than before.

Shen Lezhi wiped her face, which had been doused in water again, and looked up at Wang Xi.

“Master, your disciple does not understand.” Cutting water with a knife—anyone could do it as long as the blade was sharp enough and the speed was fast enough. Severing the waterfall simply required more power. She could achieve this step.

This was logical, and Shen Lezhi naturally understood it through analysis.

But Wang Xi had done more than just this. The water vapor was completely evaporated, yet there was no sign of Fire Spirit in the air. This was what Shen Lezhi couldn’t comprehend.

“I told you, today I am teaching you the Art of Water Control,” Wang Xi sat cross-legged on the high rock, looking down. Shen Lezhi could only see her cold expression and could not discern the emotions in her eyes.

But Wang Xi’s words made Shen Lezhi hesitate.

If she was teaching her the Art of Water Control, why did she want her to sever the water with her sword?

Shen Lezhi pondered for a long time without understanding. The more she thought, the more tangled she became. She simply leaped directly in front of Wang Xi, half-kneeling on one leg to seek guidance: “Your disciple cannot figure it out. Please enlighten me, Master.”

Wang Xi looked at her, remained silent for a long moment, and then finally spoke, saying only one word: “Think.”

“…” Shen Lezhi felt her blood pressure surge. She wanted to rush up and grab Wang Xi by the shoulders and shake her madly.

Seriously, Master, when teaching knowledge, can’t you just explain things fully and clearly???

Are you a riddle-person?!

I’ve been in school for over ten years, and not a single teacher has taught like this and made the student guess!

Do you understand what scientific teaching is? Do you understand what teaching according to ability is?!

If this were the modern world, Shen Lezhi truly would have reached her breaking point and immediately started arguing with the teacher.

But here, she couldn’t beat Wang Xi and didn’t dare to actually grab her shoulders. She could only swallow her anger and force herself to endure.

She stared intently at Wang Xi’s posture, which had already entered meditative repose, and forced herself to calm down.

After calming down, she still had no results after thinking for a long time, but this time she was no longer restless.

Glancing at the overly quiet Wang Xi in meditation, Shen Lezhi simply emptied her mind, sat down on the ground, and entered meditative repose to regulate her energy.

Around her were only the natural sounds of the falling waterfall and the water flowing eastward. Shen Lezhi listened carefully to these sounds, and gradually, she felt as if she, too, was dissolving into the water.

Only now did Shen Lezhi realize that the Water Spirit in this place was abnormally abundant. Well, it was normal to have a lot of Water Spirit when so close to a water source.

This shouldn’t have been a cause for concern, but when Shen Lezhi tried to interact with these Water Spirits, she found that a large amount of Wang Xi’s spiritual energy remained within them.

Wang Xi’s spiritual energy was extremely overbearing. Shen Lezhi had experienced this deeply.

This spiritual energy, which belonged exclusively to Wang Xi and was attached to the Water Spirits, made it exceedingly difficult for Shen Lezhi to even attempt interaction.

The Water Spirits, which were naturally supposed to be closer to her, seemed to be constrained by something. No matter how hard Shen Lezhi tried to establish a connection with them, she couldn’t.

Shen Lezhi suddenly recalled Wang Xi’s previous words. Wang Xi had said she was going to teach the “Art of Water Control.”

And when Shen Lezhi sought her guidance again, she emphasized those four words.

The Art of Water Control lies in the word “Control.” Wang Xi was not making her practice the sword technique for severing water but was making her learn how to control water.

The Water Spirits in the air right now proved this point. Wang Xi had not let the Water Spirits leave her control for a single moment since she began, precisely to make Shen Lezhi realize this.

Shen Lezhi slowly opened her eyes and looked again at the person sitting silently on the rock above.

She was meditating with her eyes closed, her face clear and transcendent, her robes billowing, like an otherworldly expert among the mountains and rivers.

Shen Lezhi decided to retract her statement that Wang Xi was not a good teacher. The Master was simply teaching Shen Lezhi in her own way, making Shen Lezhi discover the underlying reason for herself, thus learning to think more deeply.

Thinking of this, Shen Lezhi no longer hesitated. She released her spiritual power and began to compete with Wang Xi for control over the Water Spirits in the air.

Logically, Shen Lezhi possessed the Water Spiritual Root. The Water Spirits would be naturally closer to her and easier for her to control. However, Wang Xi’s spiritual power was too overbearing. No matter how hard Shen Lezhi tried, the Water Spirits did not move closer to her.

She felt a little discouraged, thinking that there was a chasm-like difference between her and Wang Xi. How could she possibly steal control of the Water Spirits from the Master?

But the mountain wind calmed her, and the falling waterfall made her less impatient, allowing her to think quietly. Shen Lezhi knew that Wang Xi was doing all this to teach her, not to make things difficult for her.

The Master would not set a problem that Shen Lezhi could not solve. Amidst Wang Xi’s overbearing spiritual power, there must be a method that Shen Lezhi could find to crack it.

At least in learning, Shen Lezhi was not slow-witted, and she genuinely enjoyed the fun of solving problems like this.

She carefully observed Wang Xi’s method of controlling the Water Spirits, which was to completely envelop the Water Spirits with her spiritual energy to achieve control.

But Shen Lezhi thought, Why not integrate her spiritual energy into them?

Shen Lezhi could do this. The first time she connected with a Water Spirit, she fused her spiritual energy with it, then guided the Water Spirit to enter her body and become part of her Qi.