Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 36.1

In the pavilion of Youfang Academy, the Sword Martial Faction Elder had been suppressed by Wang Xi’s spiritual power and could not lift her head. Wang Xi still had not retracted her spiritual power.

This was not only because of the Sword Martial Faction Elder’s insolence earlier, but also because, at this moment in the small secret realm, Shen Lezhi had encountered cultivators from the Sword Martial Faction, and was currently being blocked by them.

Shen Lezhi ran into a five-person team. The five had just jointly slain a demon beast and, before they could strip the precious materials from its body, they sensed Shen Lezhi’s aura.

Shen Lezhi had no intention of getting entangled with them. She turned to leave, but was unexpectedly blocked by the five.

Although the academy did not interfere with conflicts between cultivators in the small secret realm, they also did not openly encourage them, and so they had implemented some useless measures.

For example, they required all cultivators entering the small secret realm to wear identical clothing to prevent conflicts between different factions, but they only required the uniforms to be the same.

Shen Lezhi felt this rule was cheating ghosts, virtually useless.

The academy factions had their own tokens for identification, and besides, most members knew each other. A completely unfamiliar face like Shen Lezhi made the five suspicious.

The small secret realm happened every three years, and the area was limited. The Sword Martial Faction dominated the rankings every time. They would find ways to eliminate anyone who seemed out of place.

Furthermore, their suspicion of Shen Lezhi wasn’t just because they hadn’t seen her before, but also because of the Weeping Soul Tassel she wore on her head.

They naturally did not recognize the Weeping Soul Tassel, which was not a common spiritual plant. However, just recently, the Senior Sister had asked someone from the Confucian Wind Mansion to cause trouble for the Spiritual Herb Hall. Unexpectedly, that person was defeated and thrown out of the Spiritual Herb Hall.

According to the person from the Confucian Wind Mansion, the person who defeated her had a cultivation method that was incredibly unorthodox and wore a green flower on her head.

The Senior Sister was already a Golden Core cultivator and could not enter the small secret realm, but she had already instructed all Sword Martial Faction students that if they saw a woman wearing a green flower on her head, they must thoroughly investigate.

And right before them, wasn’t she the one?

Shen Lezhi did not know that the five were Sword Martial Faction cultivators, but seeing them walk toward her, clutching their weapons, warning bells immediately rang in her head.

She did not like to fight. Assuming they were afraid she would steal the demon beast resources, she instinctively took a step back, indicating she had no intention of taking those things.

But she only retreated one step. She was not afraid, nor did she need to be timid.

The five female cultivators stopped five steps away from her. One of them wore a silver-white headband, with ice-blue dangling beads reaching her earlobes.

Her long hair was secured with a jade hairpin, her features were strikingly heroic, her eyes were sharp and piercing, and her eyebrows concealed a compelling murderous aura.

The dark-brown treasured sword in her hand was still dripping with fresh blood from the demon beast she had just killed.

She seemed to be the leader of the group. With her long sword pointed toward the ground, she asked Shen Lezhi, “Does this Fellow Immortal know about the Spiritual Herb Hall?”

Shen Lezhi’s eyebrow lifted upon hearing this. After a little thought, she guessed the identity of the five.

Senior Sister Xin Lan had told her that the Sword Martial Faction people would never let the Spiritual Herb Hall go. Since Shen Lezhi had defeated the Confucian Wind Mansion’s thug and was an unfamiliar face, the Sword Martial Faction would definitely send people to investigate.

It just so happened that the small secret realm had opened. Life and death were self-determined inside the small secret realm. Although the Elders were watching through the water mirror, they would not intervene unless it was a major incident. The Sword Martial Faction people would definitely not miss this opportunity.

Shen Lezhi lowered her eyes, not answering.

“Does the Fellow Immortal truly not know?” the person spoke again. As she spoke, Shen Lezhi could clearly feel the Golden Spiritual Energy fluctuating around her.

The Sword Martial Faction female cultivator even took a step forward, pressuring Shen Lezhi.

“Of course, I know,” Shen Lezhi raised her eyes, unafraid.

The female cultivator in front of her was already at the late Foundation Establishment stage. Another person was at the same initial Foundation Establishment stage as herself, and the remaining three seemed to be only at the Qi Cultivation stage.

Shen Lezhi felt she probably could not win. Never mind that the woman with the silver headband was two stages higher than her, she also had five people to contend with.

Shen Lezhi began to think about how to escape.

She was not scared, but she was not foolish either. There was no need to engage in a five-against-one fight, was there?

Shen Lezhi observed her surroundings. This area was a dense forest with lush foliage, so there were many obstructions blocking the view. Furthermore, there were many demon beasts and spiritual plants in the forest, creating a chaotic mix of auras, which was also convenient for Shen Lezhi to conceal her movements while escaping.

She finalized her strategy. Just as the other party was about to press her further, she suddenly formed a magical gesture, leaped onto her small white sword, and at the same time shouted, “Little Crybaby!”

The Weeping Soul Tassel immediately understood, and a soul-shaking cry instantly erupted.

Although the five were prepared, they did not expect such an attack. The person from the Confucian Wind Mansion had only described her bizarre sword technique but never mentioned that she had a method that could directly attack the spiritual consciousness.

Shen Lezhi was accustomed to the Weeping Soul Tassel’s cries. Although she was still affected, she was much better off than those who were attacked by it for the first time.

Forcibly maintaining her consciousness, while the Sword Martial Faction members were still trapped by the Weeping Soul Tassel’s cry, Shen Lezhi mobilized her spiritual power and flew away on her sword.

She tried her best to choose a path that would obscure her movements and conceal her figure, but she truly did not expect that the Sword Martial Faction people would not give up until they captured her. Or rather, they would not give up until they captured someone from the Spiritual Herb Hall, as they had already grouped her into the Spiritual Herb Hall’s faction.

Less than half a quarter of an hour after Shen Lezhi flew away on her sword, she suddenly saw a silver light flash abruptly in the sky. Following that, dozens of auras surged toward the dense forest where she was located.

They were fast and urgent, coming from all directions, as if they had received some signal.

Shen Lezhi took a deep breath, and a sense of dread formed in her heart.

She mobilized all her spiritual power to increase the speed of her sword flight, trying to see if she could avoid the gathering crowd.

But she was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and her sword-flight technique was newly learned. Not only did she collide head-on with another person flying on their sword, but after the collision, she lost control and balance, falling straight off her small white sword.

Fortunately, Shen Lezhi adjusted her posture in time and landed safely.

However, although the immediate crisis was resolved, the auras surging from all directions were getting closer and closer.

Shen Lezhi could almost confirm that those people were coming for her. It must have been the woman with the silver headband who sent a signal to her companions.

Shen Lezhi had a massive headache. Just as she was about to continue her sword flight to leave, the female cultivator she had just collided with suddenly pointed at her and exclaimed in surprise, “Wearing a green flower on your head… you’re the one the Sword Martial Faction is looking for!”

Shen Lezhi’s footsteps halted. She immediately judged that this person was not a Sword Martial Faction cultivator, but she knew her distinguishing features and knew that the Sword Martial Faction people were looking for her.

Shen Lezhi sighed.

Was it really necessary? I’m only at the Foundation Establishment stage!

What kind of stingy people were those in the Sword Martial Faction?

Shen Lezhi didn’t want to pay any more attention to this female cultivator. She stepped onto her small white sword and flew away.

She had originally wanted to find a place to hide and conceal her aura, but this was her first time in the small secret realm, and she didn’t know the way at all. Just as Shen Lezhi was feeling lost, the Weeping Soul Tassel spoke in her mind to remind her.

“Master, ask them.”

Shen Lezhi initially didn’t understand who the “them” in the Weeping Soul Tassel’s mouth was. There were no people here. Then, her gaze swept over the dense forest in front of her; all living things were visible to her eyes.

Shen Lezhi suddenly slapped her forehead. Weren’t all the plants in front of her objects she could ask?

This area of the small secret realm was filled with spiritual plants. Shen Lezhi randomly found one and asked it for a place where she could hide.

Although the spiritual plant in front of her did not yet possess intelligence and could not speak to her, it sensed her aura and immediately conveyed boundless friendliness.

Her request was heard by the spiritual plant. The spiritual plant swayed its body, its branches leaning, pointing her in a direction.

And not just one spiritual plant did this. Countless spiritual plants in the forest, as if sharing a common consciousness, all inclined their branches and leaves toward her.

They all pointed in the same direction.

There’s no need for such a grand display…

Shen Lezhi felt alarmed.

But since the spiritual plants had already pointed the way for her, Shen Lezhi naturally had no reason not to go and immediately flew off on her sword.

However, to Shen Lezhi’s utter surprise, the place the spiritual plants pointed to was a cliff.

There were rare fruits and strange treasures by the cliff, but Shen Lezhi was in no mood to appreciate them.

The front of the cliff was shrouded in mist. Even spiritual sense could not discern the direction. A blank stone tablet stood at one corner of the cliff’s edge, with nothing carved on it.

Although Shen Lezhi was puzzled, she didn’t question the path guided by the spiritual plants too much. Seeing that her pursuers were rapidly closing in, she didn’t dare to hesitate and planned to fly past this area on her sword.

But as she flew less than a few meters on her long sword, her entire body suddenly felt weightless and she almost fell off the sword.

She barely managed to stabilize herself, but found that no matter how she tried to mobilize her small white sword, it couldn’t fly. Her spiritual power was rapidly draining from her body like an ebbing tide.

Shen Lezhi’s heart sank, and she suddenly recalled the place Senior Sister Xin Lan had told her about.

For some unknown reason, there were several spots in the small secret realm that restricted a cultivator’s spiritual power. Researchers of the secret realm in the academy speculated that these areas should have been set up with special formations, possibly by the owner of the secret realm.

These places were usually accompanied by swirling white mist. People who entered these areas in the past would lose all their spiritual power, which would only slowly recover after they exited.

Furthermore, cultivators who truly walked into the white mist never returned.

Therefore, to prevent cultivators from accidentally entering, a blank stone tablet was placed at the edge of these areas as a warning.

Shen Lezhi wanted to cry but had no tears. Why did the spiritual plants lead her here?

Not all places where spiritual power was restricted were cliffs, but the spiritual plants happened to lead her to this cliff.

Would she not be immediately smashed to death if she jumped down with her spiritual power restricted?

Shen Lezhi began to suspect whether the spiritual plants had misunderstood her intentions, thinking she was trying to commit suicide?

She intensely conveyed her desire not to die to the spiritual plants, but they swayed their bodies, their branches and leaves still pointing ahead, toward the cliff edge shrouded in white mist.

Shen Lezhi gripped her small white sword, hesitant in her heart, but the auras behind her were already closing in.

A fierce sword energy attacked Shen Lezhi without a word. Shen Lezhi’s gaze focused, and as her spiritual power circulated, the blade of the small white sword emitted a faint water glow.

The sword energy was vicious and overbearing, incredibly heavy. Although it was completely incomparable to Wang Xi’s sword, it was extremely domineering among the sword energies Shen Lezhi had encountered besides Wang Xi’s.

She parried the move. Even though she deliberately mobilized Water Spiritual Energy to form a stream to dissipate the force, she was still pushed back a step by the heavy sword strike.

However… Shen Lezhi tilted her head.

So, a cultivator two stages higher than her still couldn’t shatter the Water Spiritual Energy attached to her small white sword.

Master was so shameless that time, deliberately shattering the Water Spiritual Energy attached to her small white sword. Did she think she was going to fight a Golden Core or higher cultivator?

She was only at the Foundation Establishment stage!

She curved her lips slightly. Her relaxed demeanor even in this situation caused the pursuing Sword Martial Faction cultivators to grow suspicious, thinking she had some bizarre trick up her sleeve.

Unfortunately, Shen Lezhi truly had no other tricks. Even with the help of the Weeping Soul Tassel, she couldn’t deal with so many cultivators.

Several of them were higher in cultivation than her. Never mind engaging in a fight; just the domineering sword energy that just attacked her—if it came a few more times, she would find it increasingly difficult to parry due to insufficient spiritual power.

Shen Lezhi slightly lowered her head and glanced sideways at the cliff behind her. The cold, blank stone tablet looked like a tombstone left for her.

Shen Lezhi smiled helplessly at the thought, then recalled Wang Xi’s words on Linglong Peak that her sword was vulnerable.

It was true. Outside of Linglong Peak, without the title of the Moonlight Immortal Master’s disciple, in a world where strength was revered and the weak were prey, her cultivation and sword moves were indeed so vulnerable.

But so what?

It was only death, only a fleeting dream. Perhaps if she died, her soul could return to her hometown.

Furthermore, with the path guided for her by thousands of spiritual plants, what was there to lose in taking a gamble?

Shen Lezhi clenched her small white sword, retreated several steps in front of the assembled Sword Martial Faction cultivators, and finally backed up to the edge of the cliff. The wispy white mist quietly drifted up, enveloping her body.

She sensed her spiritual power rapidly disappearing, but it felt different from the exhaustion of spiritual power. As her spiritual power was quickly drawn away, her body felt a strange dizziness, like weightlessness.

This sensation made her feel peculiar. Unsure of the principle behind it, she instinctively began to ponder, which alleviated the human’s innate fear of unknown danger.

But Shen Lezhi did not ponder for too long. Dozens of people in front of her were staring aggressively. They were horrified that Shen Lezhi had retreated into a forbidden area, as everyone knew the reason for the blank stone tablet.

They dared not get too close, but all of them kept their eyes fixed on Shen Lezhi.

Shen Lezhi no longer hesitated. Her heart pounded violently, a biological reaction, but there was no extreme excitement in her mind at this moment.

She slowly exhaled a breath, turned, and leaped down into the white mist.

Her slightly frail body, like a new leaf falling from a branch, drifted downward, and quickly vanished without a trace.