“Then what are you blabbering about?” Yan Ling said coldly. “Short-sighted fool. The Heng and Rang families’ two spirit-level xiangwen are practically worshipped, yet your Sheng family? Not only do you fail to treat him well, you even dare to scold and berate him in front of outsiders? No wonder your Sheng family is unworthy of respect.”
Sheng Zhongfeng’s expression was extremely ugly. His hands clenched tightly in his sleeves, but he didn’t dare speak a single word of rebuttal.
Whether Sheng Zhongfeng cursed or Yan Ling harshly scolded his father, Sheng Jiao remained expressionless throughout.
Having lost both face and dignity, Sheng Zhongfeng no longer dared to stay. After exchanging a few perfunctory pleasantries, he left with a dark expression.
Yan Ling successfully earned another enemy for the Xi family. He raised an eyebrow proudly at Sheng Jiao and said: “You really just let him scold you like that? Don’t you know how to argue back?”
Sheng Jiao said nothing.
He rarely spoke at all, let alone argued or quarreled with people.
“I’m not going to waste more words with you, you stuffy gourd. I’m leaving,” Yan Ling said, glaring at him without kindness. “I’m taking the clothes. They’re already frayed, and I’m too lazy to wash them and return them. I’ll just throw them away later.”
Sheng Jiao lived simply. That set of robes was his most comfortable and most expensive. Hearing this, he said nothing more, only nodding.
Yan Ling swaggered away with a flourish of his sleeves.
Sheng Jiao watched his figure disappear into the osmanthus grove, gazing after him for quite a while before returning to the inner chamber.
On the soft bed lay a half-moon jade pendant that Yan Ling always wore around his neck, along with a note pressed beneath it, scrawled with a few bold characters.
“Lodging fee”
Sheng Jiao held the half-moon jade pendant, his five fingers closing completely around it in his palm.
After that, Yan Ling never used the manifestation spell with anyone again, and even intentionally or unintentionally spoke nonsense until his rhino horn lamp was completely sealed.
After the new year, Tianyan Academy opened for training exercises.
Originally, they thought this training would also require teams, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a small post-new-year trial. Whoever obtained the spirit fox’s jade ruyi first in the secret realm would be this trial’s champion.
The eight youngsters loved competing for first place most of all. They immediately scattered joyfully into the secret realm to search for the spirit fox, completely swallowing any notions of teamwork or fellowship between classmates.
Yan Ling didn’t need to search around like the others. Using “Sound of Leisure,” he found the spirit fox’s den after walking through the secret realm for only a short while.
The spirit fox hadn’t yet transformed into human form. Seeing the intruder, it instantly roared at Yan Ling with vigilance.
Yan Ling casually glanced around and discovered there were actually two spirit foxes in this den, and from the deepest nest came the faint aura of cubs.
To protect their cubs, both spirit foxes’ snow-white fur bristled.
Yan Ling’s cultivation had reached the Golden Core stage. He could eliminate two spirit foxes without intelligence with a wave of his hand. The spirit foxes sensed this too—a flash of despair appeared in their vertical pupils, yet they stubbornly stood their ground to protect their young.
Yan Ling watched the two spirit foxes’ forms and froze, somehow suddenly smiling gently.
He had no desire to kill the innocent. “Sound of Leisure” allowed him to understand the spirit foxes’ meaning, so he exchanged the jade ruyi held in the spirit fox’s mouth for a pile of spirit beads full of spiritual power.
The spirit fox watched him warily. Perhaps understanding this person meant no harm, it carefully spat out the jade ruyi.
Those spirit beads would allow them to gain more spiritual power in this barren secret realm, even enabling them to transform into human form. This trade wasn’t a loss at all.
Yan Ling picked up the jade ruyi and was about to leave when the other spirit fox approached and spat out another jade ruyi as well.
Yan Ling shook his head: “One is enough.”
As he was about to leave, the spirit fox bit his sleeve and wouldn’t let him go.
Yan Ling laughed helplessly and had no choice but to accept the other one as well.
After leaving, Yan Ling thought for a moment, then used an illusion to set up a barrier around the den, preventing other cultivators from coveting the spirit fox cubs.
“There are two,” Yan Ling muttered as he strolled along, planning to return. But after thinking for a moment, his eyes rolled and he suddenly grinned mischievously, tossing one of the jade ruyis. “I’ve got an idea.”
At the secret realm’s furthest edge.
Sheng Jiao walked alone, his eyes hollow as if never resting on anything.
The Tianyan Pearl flashed with traces of lightning patterns, swirling around him. Whenever a spirit beast lunged at him, a protective barrier would instantly appear, striking the attacker until its whole body went numb and it fell unconscious to the ground.
The jade ruyi from the spirit fox’s mouth…
Sheng Jiao wasn’t enthusiastic about being champion of the small trial—or rather, he didn’t care about anything. Even if a spirit fox appeared before him, as long as it didn’t attack, he wouldn’t actively compete for the jade ruyi.
He neither fought nor competed, as if everything in the world was uninteresting.
Just then, a spirit fox suddenly approached from afar, landing arrogantly before Sheng Jiao with its head held high, blocking his path.
Sheng Jiao didn’t get angry. He turned to find another route.
But that spirit fox seemed deliberate. Its graceful form ran toward him, nine fluffy tails dancing in the wind like finest silk. It swished its tail, as if deliberately flaunting the jade ruyi held in its mouth, even baring its fangs.
Sheng Jiao stopped, his hollow, icy gaze looking over.
Yan Ling, transformed into a nine-tailed fox, nearly wanted to shove the jade ruyi in his mouth right onto Sheng Jiao’s body. His tail swished wildly in frustration, thinking: “Why won’t he try to snatch it? Come snatch it so I can hurry up and leave.”
Sheng Jiao remained motionless, as if in meditation, completely unconcerned that a spirit fox was deliberately blocking his path.
Yan Ling impatiently pretended to lunge forward, planning to scare him a bit to see if he’d make a move. But even when his claws were about to touch Sheng Jiao’s chest, he still didn’t move.
The Tianyan Pearl hadn’t sensed killing intent. Faint lightning patterns coiled around his body but didn’t actively attack. Only when those sharp claws truly threatened to pierce Sheng Jiao’s heart would the Tianyan Pearl instantly activate a barrier to block the assault.
Yan Ling: “…”
Yan Ling’s claw paused. He bared his teeth, his tail swishing so hard that white fur fell like dandelion fluff, wishing he could open his mouth and eat Sheng Jiao whole.
What was wrong with this person?!
He wouldn’t even snatch a jade ruyi delivered right to his doorstep.
Just as he was feeling exasperated, Yan Ling’s gaze inadvertently caught sight of what seemed to be a half-moon jade pendant hanging at Sheng Jiao’s waist. He immediately brightened with joy.
Sheng Jiao always wore plain black robes, and even his Winter Snow sword didn’t have a single tassel—extremely simple. This was the first time seeing him wear a jade pendant.
Though he’d given it himself, Yan Ling suddenly thought of some mischievous idea. His claw suddenly changed direction, “whoosh”—swiping downward, his sharp nails directly hooking the half-moon jade pendant.
He’d originally intended to toy with Sheng Jiao to make him compete for the jade ruyi, but unexpectedly, this action was like touching Sheng Jiao’s reverse scale. The Tianyan Pearl that had been quietly resting on his wrist instantly erupted with explosive lightning patterns.
Yan Ling was stunned.
The next instant, lightning patterns came straight at him, emitting a low rumble like a dying beast.
Yan Ling reacted extremely quickly, immediately leaping backward. But he’d forgotten his claw was still hooked on the half-moon jade pendant. Forgetting to control his strength for a moment, the spiritual power on his body directly shattered the jade pendant into countless fragments that fell rustling to the ground.
Sheng Jiao’s hollow pupils suddenly constricted.
Yan Ling was still dazed, not knowing what had happened, when he saw a lightning pattern strike with unstoppable force, making sharp, bone-chilling sounds as it tore through the air, lashing directly at the spirit fox’s hind leg.
Yan Ling: “…”
The spirit fox immediately fell sprawling to the ground. Unable to hold back, it whimpered pitifully like a small beast, spitting out the jade ruyi from its mouth. Looking back at Sheng Jiao’s body radiating cold killing intent, it realized he genuinely intended to kill the fox.
Yan Ling was so frightened his fur stood on end. He hurriedly kicked his paws and channeled all his spiritual power to flee in a wretched escape.
For the first time, Sheng Jiao displayed such great anger, his eyes rarely showing aggression as he coldly watched the spirit fox’s fleeing figure, yet still didn’t pursue.
Without even glancing at the jade ruyi, he walked to where the jade pendant fragments had scattered and silently crouched down, as if wanting to pick up the pieces and put the pendant back together with his hands.
But it had already shattered into countless fragments—he didn’t even know how to begin piecing them together.
Sheng Jiao crouched there for a long time, his eyes rarely showing confusion, not knowing what he was thinking.
Yan Ling ultimately obtained first place in the trial, but suffered the consequences of his own actions—his calf covered with lightning marks from being struck, hurting so much he limped and felt so numb he could barely walk.
Afraid Sheng Jiao would recognize him, Yan Ling didn’t wait for the others to return and slipped back to Tianyan Academy through the snow, resting for most of the day before finally being able to walk normally again.
Perhaps the dream had made Yan Jianlan recall the sensation of being struck until even his toes went numb as if pierced by countless needles. His brow furrowed tightly as he randomly stuck his feet out from under the quilt and kicked about randomly.
“No, don’t… don’t strike me.”
Autumn had arrived, bringing cold encroachment.
Yan Jianlan’s frail body had not yet fully recovered. Sheng Jiao silently grasped the slender ankle he could encircle with one hand and was about to tuck it back under the quilt.
Yan Jianlan thought he was being struck again. He moved randomly, his sole pushing against Sheng Jiao’s forearm with force, muttering: “Sheng Jiao, don’t…”
Sheng Jiao patiently moved again, when he inadvertently seemed to notice something. Lifting the ankle, his fingertips brushed across the smooth calf, his brow furrowing slightly.
Anyone struck by the Tianyan Pearl’s lightning patterns would often leave faint traces that only Sheng Jiao could detect.
On Yan Jianlan’s calf, there were actually faint lightning pattern marks left by the Tianyan Pearl’s killing intent?
Sheng Jiao’s hand trembled.
Had he once tried to kill Yan Jianlan?
***
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1