Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 32.2

The crimson-cherry folding fan in the green-robed woman’s hand waved. Senior Sister Xin Lan’s aggressively launched long whip suddenly slowed down mid-attack. The whip began to catch fire, and the sound of burning flames crackled in the air.

Shen Lezhi felt that the intense heat brought by the soaring Fire spiritual energy was uncomfortable, and Xin Lan’s attacks had absolutely no effect on the green-robed woman.

After the green-robed woman ignited Senior Sister Xin Lan’s long whip once more, she seemed annoyed with the game. She leaped up, opened her folding fan wide, and the sharp edge of the fan aimed directly for Senior Sister Xin Lan’s face.

Shen Lezhi’s eyes narrowed. Wind generated under her feet, and she raised the Xiao Bai sword, blocking the blow in front of Senior Sister Xin Lan.

Blades clashed, and the crisp clang of cold weapons burst in Shen Lezhi’s ears.

But before she could think about anything else, an orange-red flame suddenly appeared before her eyes.

The fire followed the Xiao Bai sword and rushed toward her face, like a fire serpent, its fangs seemingly bared, trying to devour her!

Shen Lezhi remained completely calm at this moment. Her heart was as peaceful as usual. This was probably because the opponent’s spiritual power looked fierce and dominant, but it was nowhere near the oppressive aura Wang Xi had exerted on her.

Wang Xi’s surging, mountain-and-sea-like aura had made Shen Lezhi’s breathing difficult and her body instinctively afraid.

The tiny flame before her now gave Shen Lezhi no sense of danger at all.

Shen Lezhi mobilized all her spiritual energy. The gently flowing, continuous energy, like running water, wrapped around the Xiao Bai sword.

The Xiao Bai sword was originally forged from the White Flood Dragon, a water-attribute creature. The thin layer of scales on the sword blade was the Flood Dragon’s skin.

The Water Spirit permeated the surrounding air. Shen Lezhi’s spiritual power became more humid through the Xiao Bai sword, but this humidity was momentarily imperceptible to the green-robed woman.

She was surrounded by a dense Fire Spirit, making her unable to detect that the living space of the Fire Spirit in the air was shrinking little by little, becoming narrow.

She only saw that the flames she released, which were supposed to hit the enemy, suddenly stopped strangely and then instantly extinguished.

The green-robed woman was stunned, but she still didn’t sense any killing intent from Shen Lezhi, not even a threat, so she still didn’t take the girl seriously.

Instead of retreating, she advanced, waving her folding fan again, launching an attack that was again blocked by Shen Lezhi.

Her movements were already very precise, aiming at the weakness the enemy exposed, but just as she was about to strike the opponent, that figure suddenly dodged completely with a fluid and strange footwork.

The green-robed woman finally realized something was wrong. Shen Lezhi’s footwork was unpredictable. She could follow it with her eyes, but she was always a step too slow.

Twice she thought she could catch the opponent, but the person seemed to have slipped away from her grasp, right before her eyes.

Like running water.

The green-robed woman instantly froze.

Water?

She took a deep breath. When did the air around her become so humid?

When did the Fire Spirit around her become so scarce?

She finally looked at Shen Lezhi in a panic, subconsciously unleashing a Fire spell. The Fire spells of the inner disciples of the Confucian Style Manor are the purest of the pure, and ordinary water cannot extinguish them.

But she watched helplessly as the flames she unleashed extinguished in mid-air, not even reaching the hem of the enemy’s clothes.

The humid air grew stronger. A wave of watery freshness overwhelmed her senses. She felt as if she were immersed in a deep, bottomless stream, her entire body soaked by the cool water.

Next came the suffocation of the water.

Water vapor drilled into her nostrils. A suffocating feeling surged forth. She wanted to gasp for air, but as she opened her mouth, her throat was also enveloped by the water breath.

Until she passed out, the green-robed woman never felt Shen Lezhi’s killing intent. And this stream of water was incredibly gentle and continuous.

Watching the green-robed woman fall, Shen Lezhi was stunned for three seconds.

Huh?

Just like that?

Was she that powerful?

Or was the opponent too weak?

Shen Lezhi blinked and looked at Senior Sister Xin Lan. “What should we do with this person…?”

Senior Sister Xin Lan was not surprised that Shen Lezhi had defeated the Confucian Style Manor cultivator. After all, Shen Lezhi was Immortal Jiyue’s successor. Crushing an unknown disciple of the Confucian Style Manor was more than enough for her.

“Throw her out!” Senior Sister Xin Lan said angrily, glaring at the green-robed woman.

Alright.

Shen Lezhi nodded.

Senior Sister Xin Lan whipped out her long whip, wrapping it directly around the green-robed woman’s waist, and flung the person out of the Spiritual Herb Hall’s front courtyard like an object. She also took the opponent’s weapon, the crimson-cherry fire fan, on the way.

It was then that Senior Sister Xin Lan explained to Shen Lezhi what the situation was.

The Wandering Scholar Academy holds a small secret realm competition every three years, similar to the Grand Sect Competition of the Four Great Sects, to select talented young people within the sect.

The Academy’s cultivators are largely categorized by academic credit, and the Spiritual Herb Hall consistently ranks last in the small secret realm competition.

The main reason is that the Spiritual Herb Hall of the Wandering Scholar Academy is different from the Herb Peak of the Jade Profound Sect. The cultivators who join the Spiritual Herb Hall are almost all genuinely interested in studying spiritual plants and have little interest in cultivating martial arts. Over time, fewer gifted individuals joined, and naturally, they had no advantage in the competition.

However, consistently being last didn’t affect them much. After all, once the small secret realm was over, they went back to planting and researching spiritual plants in the Academy.

The problem lay in the last small secret realm, three years ago, when a Spiritual Herb Hall cultivator offended the Senior Sister of the Sword Martial Gate, leading to constant harassment even after the secret realm ended.

At first, it was just simple probing. Because fighting among students outside of the arena was forbidden in the Wandering Scholar Academy, the Sword Martial Gate cultivators only attacked them verbally.

But it slowly escalated into minor skirmishes. Although they stopped short of serious injury each time, the opponent’s repeated probing made Senior Sister Xin Lan realize they would not let up.

In recent months, the opponent had somehow found a way to bring outsiders to the Spiritual Herb Hall to harass them, even injuring a few people.

The targeting was extreme. In the past, they were only harassed by rogue cultivators, but today they even called in a cultivator from the Confucian Style Manor.

The pure Fire spells greatly restricted Senior Sister Xin Lan. If Shen Lezhi hadn’t arrived today, the outcome was uncertain.

Shen Lezhi frowned upon hearing this, remaining silent.

The last small secret realm was three years ago, and the other party was still holding a grudge. This matter was indeed tricky.

“Doesn’t the Academy manage this?” Shen Lezhi wondered if the Wandering Scholar Academy was like a modern school where no one regulated such behavior.

But seeing Senior Sister Xin Lan’s expression after she spoke, she knew the answer.

Senior Sister Xin Lan looked at her strangely. After a slight pause, she said: “They haven’t personally attacked, and they haven’t violated any rules, so why should the Academy interfere?”

Senior Sister Xin Lan’s self-evident tone made Shen Lezhi fall silent. She knew that the rule of “the strong are respected” was the law of this world, and everyone naturally followed it.

Only she, an outsider who had transmigrated here, was always not clear enough about it.

However, Shen Lezhi didn’t hesitate for long. These were not her problems. She had only come to the Wandering Scholar Academy to heal her injuries and would be leaving soon.

She intervened today only because she knew Senior Sister Xin Lan and happened to help her.

As an outsider, she couldn’t manage their internal affairs.

However, Senior Sister Xin Lan said she needed to deliver spiritual herbs to the Medical Fairy, and Shen Lezhi had nothing else to do, so she followed Senior Sister Xin Lan.

Moreover, Senior Sister Xin Lan said there were many precious spiritual mushrooms and exotic grasses in the Medical Fairy’s herb hut, and she encouraged Shen Lezhi to go and have a look.

The two arrived at the Medical Fairy’s residence. The Medical Fairy was originally meditating in the courtyard. Senior Sister Xin Lan said that the Master usually wouldn’t pay attention to people, but the moment Shen Lezhi stepped into the herb hut, the Medical Fairy suddenly opened her eyes and looked toward Shen Lezhi.

Her gaze was too obvious, forcing the two of them to stop and look back.

Senior Sister Xin Lan quickly pulled Shen Lezhi to bow to the Medical Fairy.

The Medical Fairy stared at Shen Lezhi for a while, then smiled and called out: “Immortal Jiyue’s little disciple.”

“Junior Shen Lezhi greets the Medical Fairy.” Shen Lezhi remembered the Master mocking them in front of her and Wang Xi before, and she thought the woman was quite frivolous even then.

“How leisurely,” the Medical Fairy smiled, staring at her. Then her eyes shifted, and she spoke again: “Didn’t your Master tell you that you are poisoned and could die at any moment?”

Shen Lezhi froze.

Oh, now you tell me.