Chapter 451: “Battle Spirits Forest (1)”
It was now late into the night and the Battle Spirits Forest was pitch dark. Jun Wu Xie and her teammates held their torches up high as they traversed through the dense trees and vegetation, lighting up the way before them.
The roars of the Spirit Beasts rang out occasionally through the darkness. In the quiet night, the myriad sounds from the forest made the whole place seem much more terrifying.
The torch in Qiao Chu’s hand was burning brightly. He swung the torch to shine onto the trees surrounding them many times and peered at the map held in his intently for a long while. He finally gave up.
“And they call this a map? Who can read it! ?” Qiao Chu shoved the map in his pocket in disgust and exclaimed loudly to his companions in exasperation.
Fan Jin had been to this forest a few times and when he heard Qiao Chu, he said with a laugh: “The map will only provide us with a general idea of the direction we are to take. Moreover, it is late in the night now and visibility is low. Even if we have a map, we will not be able to see our way clearly. Why don’t we find a place to sleep first and wait for morning to come. We will still have ample time to hunt for prey after the sun rises.”
Fan Jin was a little older than the others and he was the only one among them that had come to this forest before. Hence, the others naturally looked to him for suggestions on how they were to move within the dense forest.
“I think that will work.” Qiao Chu nodded in agreement.
“The forest is more dangerous at night and there are some nocturnal spirit beasts that will come out to hunt for food. If we do not intend to become dinner for them, I suggest we rest up high among the trees.” Fan Jin warned gravely.
The group nodded one after another and looked around for aged trees. Their branches were broader and their canopies denser, which made them more suitable places for the companions to rest.
Fan Jin took out a coil of rope from his hip and attached a hook to one end. He was just about to throw it up when he saw Qiao Chu and his gang going up into the treetops with a quick leap!
Their movements were light and graceful and with a single bound, they reached the lower branches and they quickly went up into the higher reaches with a few more quick leaps in succession going left and right effortlessly.
Fan Jin’s eyes sparkled as his heart was overcome in awe.
He had initially thought that Jun Xie had gathered the group together just because they had previously traveled together to come to the Zephyr Academy, and even if they turn out to be weak and could not contribute much, he had prepared himself to at least keep the group safe while they were in the forest. But what he just saw told him that these youths were neither weak nor unskilled.
Under the darkness of the night, where visibility was extremely poor, his companions had still been able to locate the necessary footholds with such pinpoint accuracy to reach the upper reaches of the trees in lightning quick time, and these showed him how nimble and agile his companions really were.
Fan Jin knew for a fact that even in the main division of the Zephyr Academy, not many would be capable enough to match them in such a feat.
“Throw up the rope. We’ll haul the two of you up.” Qiao Chu was totally oblivious of the fact that their show of agility had already far surpassed any standards that disciples of the branch division were “supposed” to possess.
Fan Jin removed the hook from the end of the rope and threw the rope’s end up to Qiao Chu. “Just pull Little Xie up, I’ll climb up myself.” Fan Jin handed the other end of the rope to Jun Xie and she looped it around her hips, allowing Qiao Chu to pull her up into the branches. Fan Jin imitated his companions and leapt up leaping through the branches to go up into the upper reaches of the trees.
As they laid down among the higher branches well concealed from sight, everyone quietened down. The moonlight shone through the thick canopies of leaves, and the tiny rays that fell through shone on the companions, looking as if the stars had descended upon their bodies.
“Sigh, I haven’t slept like this for a long time. Feels rather nostalgic.” Qiao Chu was reminded of something and he mumbled with a laugh. He turned his head to one side and saw Jun Xie was on the branch just next to his and he was puzzled by what he saw Jun Xie did next.
Jun Wu Xie was not resting but she took out a porcelain bottle from her sleeves. She poured some white powder into her hand and smeared it on the branch she was leaning against. After she was done, she threw the bottle to Qiao Chu and simply said: “Many bugs, apply it.”
Chapter 452: “Battle Spirits Forest (2)”
Qiao Chu did as Jun Wu Xie told him and after applying it, the bottle was passed around and everyone followed suit.
Jun Wu Xie lay down on her branch after that and the little black cat lay just above her head, its furry tail hanging over the branch, swishing back and forth.
“Meow.”
[This forest is rather similar to that place.]
Jun Wu Xie’s eyes narrowed at the memory. She spent the initial ten over years in her past life in that demon’s lair which had been situated in the middle of a dense forest just like this, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by silence.
Refusing to think anymore of the past, Jun Wu Xie slowly closed her eyes.
When the sun first rays broke across the treetops, a scream tore through the air, causing the companions asleep among the higher reaches of the trees to startle awake.
The screaming was coming closer and the leaves on the trees were beginning to rustle.
“Spirit Beast?” Fei Yan sat up suddenly. A earsplitting beastly howl then reverberated in their ears.
Fan Jin was already sitting upright on his branch and his face was creased in a frown. “We are still at the fringes of the forest and there shouldn’t be any Spirit Beasts belonging to the higher grade around here.”
Just as Fan Jin finished his statement, several ragged figures burst through the vegetation. There were seventeen of them in total and they were dressed in uniforms of the Zephyr Academy. At that moment, they had lost all the semblance of magnificence they had portrayed initially from being an esteemed disciple of the revered Zephyr Academy. Their faces were now covered in dirt and their clothes were all tattered. Several of them had wounds on them and their blood had stained their clothes red. But they did not seem to notice their wounds as all of them ran for their lives.
The youths were already panting heavily from their mad dash and they all hid with their backs plastered against the trees, too tired to run another step further.
The next moment, a large pack of jackals appeared, following the scent of blood. A quick count showed that there were at least more than thirty of them in the pack!
Jackals were Spirit Beasts that belonged to the lowest first grade and they were smaller in size than wolves and did not possess strong attack power. Faced with a jackal, as long as one’s ring spirit had awakened, they would be able to manage defeating them without too much difficulty. But jackals were gregarious Spirits Beasts and they always moved together in packs numbering at least three or four and the number can go up into the hundreds in large packs. Each pack was always led by a leader on their hunts for food.
One lone jackal could be easily defeated, but when the numbers in the pack increased, their attack power was multiplied in folds.
The smaller bodies of the jackals meant that they were more nimble of foot. They were innately crafty and they coordinated their attacks when they hunt.
The team that had run here had really been unlucky. They had groped their way blindly through the forest throughout the night and due to the poor visibility, they had lost their way and made a huge detour. They had carelessly stumbled across this pack of jackals when the youths were already exhausted from having trekked such a long distance through treacherous terrain and dense vegetation the whole night. When they found themselves suddenly under the attack of the jackals, many of them panic and ran for their lives. Fortunately for them, they had a few seniors in their group who had better presence of mind, and that had allowed them to run all the way out here.
But those seniors were mostly injured now and the jackals were relentless and still aggressively chasing down their prey.
“Damn it. To think that we would be pushed so hard by a pack of jackals.” A senior whose arm had been bitten by jackal said, as blood flowed down from the four deep punctures which he had hastily tied up with cloth he had torn out from his clothes.
“I….. I can’t run anymore.” One of the youth said, gasping for air, and leaning heavily against a tree.
“Zi Mu! We cannot stop!” A senior who was injured shouted, gritting his teeth against the pain.
Li Zi Mu’s mind was completely blank, and his legs were starting to cramp up from the mad dash where he had given everything he had in fear of his life, and his face was filled with utter despair.
Chapter 453: “Battle Spirits Forest (3)”
“I….. I really can’t take another step.” Li Zi Mu cried, his face mournful. He felt as if his legs were about to break off.
All the other youths were also depleted. The jackals had pursued them relentlessly half the night and they had bashed their way through the dense forest in the darkness, looking for a way out and avoiding the jackals flanking attacks. They were all at the ends of the rope both physically and mentally.
“Growl!” A jackal leapt at Li Zi Mu who was still panting heavily and the blood drained from Li Zi Mu’s face and he fell back onto the ground in fright. His hand grabbed up the stone he had felt when he fell and threw it at the leaping jackal.
The jackal was extremely agile and avoided everything Li Zi Mu threw at him, its eyes fixated on the youth he was about to pounce on.
Li Zi Mu let out a shrill scream and was still grabbing whatever he could from the ground to throw when his hand closed over something rounded and cold to the touch, and by reflex he threw it out at the jackal as well!
The quick footed jackal dodged that as well and the unidentified white item thrown fell onto the ground and broke into pieces and a white cloud blew out and dispersed into the wind!
The highly aggressive jackal smelt the scent that had spread from the white cloud and suddenly gave out a sharp shrill whine. It stopped its advance and suddenly turned around to run away, its tail in between its legs. When the scent reached the other jackals, all of them suddenly turned tail and fled whining, quickly disappearing from sight.
One moment, the disciples found themselves about to be devoured by the jackals, and the next moment, they saw the jackals suddenly turn around and flee!
The unexpected turn of events had all the exhausted disciples stunned, and totally flabbergasted, including Li Zi Mu.
“Zi Mu, what was that that you threw out earlier?” The senior who was Li Zi Mu’s mentor asked in surprise.
“I….. “ Li Zi Mu gaped like a goldfish and his eyes finally fell on the unidentified item he had last thrown out on the ground.
Broken white porcelain pieces lay scattered and a white powdery substance could be seen on the dirt.
Li Zi Mu gulped and looked at all the other disciples staring at him.
Actually, he had been the one who had first attracted the attention of the jackals. He had been lost and had stumbled blindly into their territory. He was the one that had brought them that disaster that had almost killed them all. Even the senior that was his mentor had gotten himself bitten by the jackal to save Li Zi Mu. When the jackals had attacked, all the youths had summoned their ring spirits and they had asked Li Zi Mu to summon his as well. But Li Zi Mu had been too terrified when he saw the large number in the pack and he froze completely, incapable of any action.
As they were running for their lives, Li Zi Mu had trailed the others and dragged down the whole team. If he hadn’t been a disciple of the Spirit Healer faculty, the other disciples in the team would have long abandoned him.
Li Zi Mu knew at that moment that the whole team was dissatisfied with him, including his mentor, and he desperately needed to do something about it to improve his standing and image within the team. Afterall, they still had more than six days to go within the forest, which was filled with endless unknown dangers, and he needed the team’s protection to get through it.
“That….. That was something my father gave me. It can drive Spirit Beasts away. I did not have the time to take it out earlier. I’m sorry I caused my seniors to get hurt.” Li Zi Mu looked at the others guiltily and claimed the life saving treasure he had carelessly picked up to be his own without shame.
The other youths had been rather displeased with Li Zi Mu, and when they heard Li Zi Mu say he had been the one who had driven the jackals off, they decided not to pursue the matter further. They still harboured a little displeasure but the fact remained that Li Zi Mu was afterall a disciple of the Spirit Healer faculty and they gave in in the end.
They did not want to burn all bridges with potential Spirit Healer and the other disciples forced themselves to accept Li Zi Mu’s apology.
Chapter 454: “Consecutive Slaps – First Form (1)”
Down below the trees, Li Zi Mu was trying desperately to gain back a little of his reputation. He was completely unaware that his every action was being closely scrutinised by the people high up among the higher reaches of the tall trees.
“Qiao Chu! The bottle that that kid threw out earlier, wasn’t it the same bottle that Jun Xie handed to all of us last night?” Fei Yan’s sharp eyes saw the broken porcelain pieces on the ground and turned his head to asked Qiao Chu.
Qiao Chu squinted his eyes and said: “After using it last night, I asked Jun Xie if he wanted it back and he told me no. I just slipped it into my clothes and I guessed it must have dropped out while I was sleeping.”
“Oh….. I thought the disciples from the main division were always acting all high and mighty before us but it seems that it’s not beneath them to be capable of stealing credit when it’s not due to them. When did things that belonged to our Little Xie become his?” Fei Yan said with his eyes narrowed, feeling extremely disgruntled that Li Zi Mu had claimed Jun Xie’s medicated powder as his own so shamelessly.
Jun Wu Xie was observing Li Zi Mu silently as he claimed all the credit from his fellow teammates.
“Little Xie, you know him?” Seeing the way Jun Xie was staring at Li Zi Mu, Fei Yan’s keen eyes seemed to notice something.
Jun Wu Xie did not reply but it was Fan Jin who cleared his throat lightly instead to say: “That boy below us is Li Zi Mu, and he wasn’t too friendly to Jun Xie in the academy.”
Fan Jin was being very reserved with his choice of words, Li Zi Mu had merely been unfriendly to Jun Xie! ?
It could be said that the reason that Jun Xie had to suffer under all those curses and admonishments from the other disciples so badly in the academy, had all started when Li Zi Mu had cooked up such a story in the dining hall in the beginning.
If Li Zi Mu had just told the truth then, Jun Xie would not have had to be seen to be a despicable and scheming scoundrel.
“Oh?” Fei Yan’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
Hua Yao had already stood up on his branch and he turned to look at Jun Xie to ask: “Him?”
Jun Wu Xie was silent a moment before the words came out of her mouth:
“We’ll start with him.”
Hua Yao and the others suddenly had a glint in their eyes and only Fan Jin was still rather lost, not understanding what Jun Xie intended to do. And before he could open his mouth to ask what was happening, Hua Yao and the others had already leapt off from the branches!
Li Zi Mu was busy trying to get his teammates to warm up to him. The ring spirits belonging to several of his seniors had also sustained injuries and they asked Li Zi Mu to heal them with his Spirit Healing technique.
However, Li Zi Mu repeatedly refused their requests, an expression of reluctance on his face.
“Li Zi Mu! What do you mean by this! ? Our ring spirits are hurt because we had to save you and now that we ask for a little healing for them, you are rejecting us so adamantly! What is the meaning of this! ?” A fiery youth within the team could not hold back his anger and shouted at Li Zi Mu.
Li Zi Mu turned pale and hid his head between his shoulders without saying a word.
He had been with the Spirit Healer faculty for some time and Gu Li Sheng had been extremely caring to him. That had made Li Zi Mu become very conceited initially. But his conceit had not lasted long as he soon found that no matter how hard he tried, he could never grasp the concept of Spirit Healing itself. Even after being in the Spirit Healer faculty for so long, not to mention healing a ring spirit, Li Zi Mu did not even know how to convert his spiritual power into spiritual energy. And due to the excessive attention Gu Li Sheng showered upon him, all the seniors in the Spirit Healer faculty detested him. Li Zi Mu was reduced to only being able to show off in front of the other disciples from the two other faculties who knew nothing of his incompetence.
And anyone who knew what was really happening under all that pretense, completely despised and ignored him.
And now, his teammates were asking him to heal their ring spirits with the Spirit Healing technique, how was he going to do it? If his teammates got to know how useless he really was, they would definitely give him the boot without a moment’s hesitation!
Chapter 455: “Consecutive Slaps – First Form (2)”
Li Zi Mu still refused to answer his teammates when right at that moment, several figures fell from above, landing on the ground right before their eyes!
The sudden appearance of the those figures shocked the exhausted youths.
But when they managed to see them clearly in the next moment, their startled hearts calmed back to normal.
Those figures were dressed in uniforms that showed they belonged to the branch division of the Zephyr Academy and when all the others saw clearly that the figures were just the disciples from the inferior branch division, their faces creased into deep frowns immediately.
However, the two other figures that descended right after, greatly surprised the other youths
When Jun Wu Xie and Fan Jin landed on the ground, Li Zi Mu who had been sitting on the ground suddenly jumped up. He surveyed Jun Xie’s clean and spotless clothes and when he saw Fan Jin standing protectively next to Jun Xie, an inexplicable surge of jealousy came upon him.
He felt that he was obviously the one that really deserved protection and why would the last Spirit Tournament’s fourth ranked Fan Jin protect Jun Xie so much?
Before this, Li Zi Mu had not felt this way before. But he and his team were chased by a huge pack of jackals throughout the night and many of them were covered in wounds, and he had to still swallow his pride and resort to sucking up to his teammates after all this. And what about Jun Xie? He was still safe and sound under Fan Jin’s protection without having suffered a single scratch, and his clothes had not even been creased!
If right from the beginning, Jun Xie had not been here, there wouldn’t have been the farce about the stealing of the position at the Spirit Healing faculty and Fan Jin might just have taken him under his wing instead!
And if Fan Jin was his mentor, he would be safe from any dangers within the Battle Spirits Forest! When he saw Jun Xie and the several other disciples from the branch division with Fan Jin all looking well rested and still clean, he suddenly felt insanely jealous.
Those thoughts filled Li Zi Mu’s mind completely and his eyes that were staring at Jun Xie suddenly became vicious.
“Senior Fan! This is my first time here at the Battle Spirits Forest and am extremely unfamiliar with the surroundings. Can I follow and walk with you from here on? I might not have strong spiritual powers but my ring spirit and Spirit Healing technique would be a great help to you. Would you allow me to tag along with you?” Li Zi Mu had decided he wanted to cling on to the highly skilled Fan Jin and he could not care any less that he was saying all this before his current teammates. He strongly believed that if he hung around Fan Jin long enough, Fan Jin would undoubtedly realise that a Spirit Healer faculty disciple like him was better than Jun Xie in every way!
After Li Zi Mu said that, Fan Jin did not react. However, the senior who mentored Li Zi Mu suddenly found his rage rise!
“Li Zi Mu! You are such a despicable and ungrateful brat!” He had almost been maimed trying to save Li Zi Mu but Li Zi Mu had cleanly forgotten what he had done for him the moment Fan Jin had appeared. He had never met anyone more self centered than Li Zi Mu!
Li Zi Mu gritted his teeth and did not even turn back to face his mentor but continued to look pleadingly at Fan Jin.
Fan Jin stared at Li Zi Mu with a deep frown on his face and his expression was one of utter disgust. The kind of people he had always hated to the core were ungrateful scoundrels just like this.
Fan Jin had acutely noticed after the attack from the pack of jackals, the whole team was looking to be in bad shape, all bruised and battered and their clothes all tattered and torn. But Li Zi Mu on the other hand, did not have a scratch on him compared to the bloody wounds seen on his teammates. It was fairly obvious that the team had been looking out for his safety and Li Zi Mu had so indifferently turned around and asked to switch teams….. How big of a jerk was he?!
Chapter 456: “Consecutive Slaps – First Form (3)”
Before Fan Jin could say a word, Jun Wu Xie suddenly said: “Bring him along.”
Jun Xie’s sudden words stunned everyone into silence.
Fan Jin could not believe his ears. Did Jun Xie just said to bring Li Zi Mu along? The same scoundrel, Li Zi Mu, who had caused Jun Xie’s days in the Zephyr Academy to become hell and Jun Xie was agreeing for him to join up with them ! ?
Li Zi Mu was just as shocked as he looked at Jun Xie. He had guessed that Fan Jin would accept him and Jun Xie would definitely object. Never would he have expected that Jun Xie would be the first one to agree!
Even the other youths in Li Zi Mu’s team were flabbergasted as they stared at Jun Xie in incredulity.
They knew very well the “grudges” between Jun Xie and Li Zi Mu. Jun Xie had resorted to hiding himself within the bamboo grove and not come out for a long time and Li Zi Mu had not stopped trying to gain sympathy borrowing on the prior incident with Jun Xie. They knew those two people were bitter enemies.
And Jun Xie was asking Fan Jin to accept Li Zi Mu just like that?
The other youths were deeply puzzled and confused.
Jun Wu Xie shot Fan Jin a glance and the rejection that had been on the tip of his tongue was hastily swallowed. Fan Jin recomposed himself and said to Li Zi Mu instead: “You can come with me, but you better pull your socks up! Or I will throw you to feed the Spirit Beasts!” Fan Jin was most unwilling to take in that ungrateful jerk but he could not stand up to the cold glance that Jun Xie gave him, and he had finally succumbed.
Li Zi Mu smiled happily at that moment and thanked Fan Jin profusely, and he totally ignored Jun Xie who had been the first one to say he could stay.
Jun Wu Xie only lowered her eyes and did not say a word.
The other youths who had been “betrayed” by Li Zi Mu were going to leave in rage but Jun Wu Xie suddenly spoke and threw a few medicine bottles to them.
“Treat your wounds.” Jun Wu Xie said without emotion.
The youths caught the bottles and looked at Jun Xie in confusion. They could not comprehend why Jun Xie would do that as they knew they had been party to cursing Jun Xie behind his back. And now that they were abandoned by one of their own, it was Jun Xie whom they had cursed at so vehemently that had extended his hand to help…..
“Li Zi Mu is not a simple guy, you….. watch your back.” The senior who had mentored Li Zi Mu gripped the medicine in his hand and stared at Jun Xie a moment to offer his friendly warning before turning to leave with his remaining teammates.
And that short interaction with Jun Wu Xie had planted a subtle seed in the hearts of all those youths.
“The wise bends according to changing circumstances, Senior Fan. You are so highly skilled and I thought of learning from the birds, where they find a stronger branch to perch from.” Li Zi Mu ignored the words of his former teammates completely and was only focused on sticking himself close to Fan Jin’s side.
Fan Jin’s expression got darker and darker and he still could not understand what Jun Xie really wanted to do.
“Sigh, what a dumb block.” A voice filled with sarcasm sounded suddenly with a laugh.
Li Zi Mu turned his head to look.
Fei Yan was smiling as he looked at Li Zi Mu with pity.
Li Zi Mu frowned. A disciple from the branch division dared to act so arrogantly before him !?
“Qiao Chu, Brother Hua.” After making sure that the other youths had completely left, Jun Wu Xie tilted her head and said to Hua Yao and Qiao Chu.
Hua Yao’s mouth curled sinisterly at the corners and Qiao Chu bumped his fists together and replied together: “Understood!”
Fan Jin was still trying to decipher what Jun Xie’s real intentions were when a pitiful scream sounded right beside him!
Li Zi Mu had been trying very hard to impress him and was standing by his side just a moment ago when in a blink, he saw that Hua Yao and Qiao Chu had both grabbed Li Zi Mu by a shoulder each and were holding him pressed down against the tree just behind him.
Chapter 457: “Consecutive Slaps – First Form (4)”
Li Zi Mu found himself suddenly grabbed by two others and slammed hard against a tree. He felt as if his spine had almost snapped from the impact upon the sharp jagged tree trunk and he suddenly felt nauseated.
“ARRGGHH! What are you doing?! Let me go! I’ll have you know I’m a disciple of the Spirit Healer faculty! How dare you treat me with such disrespect !? When we get back to the academy, I’ll teach you pieces of trash some manners !” Li Zi Mu’s eyes were wide open. He stared in disbelief at the sudden attack from Hua Yao and Qiao Chu.
The sudden assault left Fan Jin shocked and he stood rooted to the ground. He turned reflexively to look at Jun Xie, his eyes filled with horror and unease.
“If you cannot bear to watch, you can go somewhere else first.” Jun Wu Xie looked at Fan Jin a moment and she turned to walk towards Li Zi Mu.
Fan Jin felt his heart skipped a beat. Something in his heart was telling him that those words Jun Xie had said before entering the Battle Spirits Forest had not been a joke at all!
And he was about to go fulfil the prophecy of those very words!
“Little Xie!” Fan Jin subconsciously grabbed Jun Xie’s arm, looking at him in terror.
However, when he saw Jun Xie’s unnaturally chilly eyes looking back at him, he found his grip loosening involuntarily.
On the other side, Li Zi Mu was screaming incessantly and Fei Yan ambled over casually, raised his hand, and slapped Li Zi Mu across the face a few times.
“What are you screaming for? The result is still death, save your energy.”
Li Zi Mu was dizzy from the slaps, and the handprints were red on his face. He trembled as he looked at Fei Yan to ask: “What….. what are you going to….. to do…..”
Fei Yan shrugged and took a step back, to allow Jun Xie enough space to stand right before Li Zi Mu.
At the moment Li Zi Mu’s eyes fell upon Jun Xie, both his legs crumbled. The pair of eyes staring at him sent chills up his spine with its undisguised murderous intent. Even a fool would be able to tell that Jun Xie had every intention to kill him.
“Jun….. Jun Xie….. wha….. What do you want…..” Li Zi Mu was sweating profusely, he found it difficult to breathe under the gaze of those chillingly frosty eyes.
“I stole your spot right?” Jun Wu Xie asked, her eyebrow raised.
Li Zi Mu shook his head vigorously. “No….. no….. Master had explained it all to me….. I did not mean it and I was wrong….. It has nothing to do with you…..”
“But that was not what you were telling everybody else.” Jun Wu Xie said, her head tilted as if in query, as she stared at Li Zi Mu’s face, completely drained of colour.
Li Zi Mu panicked. He had spread those malicious rumours to attract more attention to himself. But if he had known that he would end up in Jun Xie’s hands like this, he would never have spoken a single word against him!
“I am sorry, I am really sorry….. I beg you to spare me, I promise that I will never spout such nonsense ever again! I will clear everything up when we get back. I had lied, and you are completely innocent! I guarantee it! I will tell them everything! I will apologise! I am sorry!” Li Zi Mu was pleading with tears and mucus running down his face. He prayed that Fan Jin would save him but Fan Jin just stood on one side, unmoving, his head lowered and silent, having no intention of interfering.
And these disciples from the branch division, were obviously on the same side as Jun Xie, or they wouldn’t have grabbed him so suddenly, with just a single command from Jun Xie.
“I beg you, let me go…..”
Jun Wu Xie looked on indifferently as Li Zi Mu pleaded and begged, and she could not find it within herself to give him any sympathy.
“If you let me go, I….. I will obey your every word henceforth. I am a disciple of the Spirit Healer faculty and I know Spirit Healing. I will serve under you …..” Li Zi Mu brought up the Spirit Healer faculty once again, in an attempt to save his own life.
Chapter 458: “Consecutive Slaps – First Form (5)”
“Master gives me a lot of attention. I….. I will plead with him to allow you to be admitted into the Spirit Healer faculty..how about you let me go now?” Li Zi Mu was trembling visibly from fright.
Jun Wu Xie’s eyebrow arched.
“You will plead with him?”
Li Zi Mu thought that there was still room for negotiation when Jun Wu Xie said those words and he said hurriedly: “I’ll plead with him! Master dotes on me the most! If I ask him, he is sure to agree!”
Jun Wu Xie paid Li Zi Mu no attention and turned to Qiao Chu. “Summon the Yin Yang Bear.”
Qiao Chu was shocked. His Yin Yang Bear had not fully recovered from its injuries and was still very weak. He did not know what Jun Xie intended to do but he did as told and summoned the Yin Yang Bear.
When the furry Yin Yang Bear was summoned, it looked rather dispirited. Its enormous body leaned heavily onto the vegetation on its side, crushing several large bushes under its huge form.
“Grr…..” It felt someone approach and the Yin Yang Bear raised its head wearily. When it saw and recognized that it was the little youth who loved to rub himself on its stomach, it then closed its eyes and went back to its slumber.
Jun Wu Xie raised her hand and a faint glow covered her palm. She put her hand gently over the Yin Yang Bear’s head and the soft glow slowly spread itself over the Yin Yang Bear’s entire body till it completely enveloped the huge form.
Qiao Chu looked at Jun Xie curiously as he did not know what was going on. But Li Zi Mu’s eyes were bulging, his face in total disbelief as he stared at the scene before his eyes.
He could not count the number of times he had seen this before. Every time that Gu Li Sheng had instructed him on the Spirit Healing Technique, he would always demonstrate it on a ring spirit. And he could remember everything clearly after the countless times he had seen it. And the scene before his eyes was exactly the same!
“Spirit Healing technique….. Spirit Healing….. You know the Spirit Healing technique….. How….. how can this be…..” Li ZI Mu’s face turned completely white. He might not know how to execute the Spirit Healing technique, but he could at least recognise it.
Jun Xie was just a disciple who had been driven out of the Spirit Healer faculty on the first day! He had been in the faculty barely hours, how could he possibly have learnt the Spirit Healing technique!?
Gu Li Sheng had said it before. For disciples like them who at most had just been introduced to the Spirit Healing technique for a few years, would only be able to lend healing to ring spirits belonging to the third grade and below. If the ring spirit belonged to a grade higher than that, the spiritual power within their bodies would not be able to sustain the amount of consumption required to heal those ring spirits.
Li Zi Mu did not know exactly what grade the massive black and white bear before his eyes belonged to, but he had distinctly felt, at the moment the Yin Yang Bear had appeared, the ring spirit within his body whine and whimper in terror.
For the Yin Yang Bear to have made his fifth grade ring spirit cower in fright, the Yin Yang Bear must belong to a grade that was higher.
And Jun Xie was able to heal a ring spirit beyond the fifth grade so effortlessly here. That level of skill, was way beyond what useless trash like Li Zi Mu could ever dream of, and not even for the top disciple in the Spirit Healer faculty!
“Impossible….. It’s impossible….. How could you know the Spirit Healing technique….. It is just not possible…..” Li Zi Mu’s already white face was turning green with shock. And an unshakable feeling of doom was creeping slowly into his heart.
If Jun Xie truly knew the Spirit Healing technique, the rumours he had spread about Jun Xie earlier would make him the biggest joke!
The Yin Yang Bear was gradually showing visible signs of recovery and was feeling stronger. It slowly began to sit up, straight and towering. Jun Wu Xie retracted her hand and turned to look at Li Zi Mu, whose face was completely drained of blood. She curled up the corners of her mouth and asked softly: “You think I need you?"
Chapter 459: “Consecutive Slaps – First Form (6)”
Li Zi Mu’s teeth started chattering under Jun Wu Xie’s frosty gaze.
‘Jun Xie yearned to learn the Spirit Healing technique? He was such a joke!’
Li Zi Mu finally realised it now. The words he had said when he had pleaded to be spared. Those words sounded so funny now. With the skills Jun Xie had displayed with Spirit Healing here, it was not inferior to Gu Li Sheng’s. And with Jun Xie possessing such skills, Jun Xie did not need him to plead with Gu Li Sheng at all.
All his strength left Li Zi Mu then. He hung limply, only held up by Hua Yao and Qiao Chu on two sides, and his eyes were filled with dejection.
He had given everything he had, in pursuit of what he wanted but it turned out Jun Xie had it in him all this time. He found himself a joke when the very person he had tried to destroy with whatever means possible, and it turned out Jun Xie was so many times stronger than he was. Why had he been so obsessed with being in the Spirit Healer faculty? He had gotten himself admitted, and so what? He was still a useless piece of trash that had absolutely no idea how to use the Spirit Healing technique!
All those flattering and fawning voices sounded in his head at that moment. Those very same voices that had made Li Zi Mu so pleased with himself in self conceit, now made him hang his head in shame.
The skill that Jun Xie had shown in his Spirit Healing had felt like a slap across his face, smashing Li Zi Mu’s false pride to pieces.
He had not learnt anything, and it had been purely because that he was accepted into the Spirit Healer faculty that everyone else had put him high up on a pedestal. Even under Gu Li Sheng’s meticulous teachings and instructions, he had still amounted to nothing.
While Jun Xie who had already possessed such extraordinary skill in Spirit Healing, was subjected to suffer under everyone’s wrath just because of a misunderstanding during his enrollment into the academy.
Li Zi Mu had thought he was better than Jun Xie in every single way, but the exact opposite had instead been true. While he had been cluelessly absorbed in his own conceit, Jun Xie must have seen him as the biggest joke alive.
Jun Wu Xie walked slowly towards Li Zi Mu, and LI Zi Mu could not help but shiver like a leaf in the wind, while his face was drained of colour, and his eyes stared widened, unable to take his eyes off Jun Xie.
“Don’t….. don’t…… come here…..” Li Zi Mu’s voice trembled and he felt the terror overwhelm him completely. He suddenly turned his head and looked in Fan Jin’s direction and shouted: “Senior Fan! Save me! Jun Xie wants to kill me! He is going to kill me! Arrrgghhh! I am a disciple of the Spirit Healer faculty! If I am to die, my Master was not let the matter rest easy!”
The murderous intent in Jun Wu Xie’s eyes terrified him and Li Zi Mu only had Fan Jin to plead to.
Fan Jin’s brow furrowed and he raised his head to look at Li Zi Mu.
“In actual fact, Gu Li Sheng had chosen Jun Xie right from the start. And due to some reasons, Jun Xie cannot be seen to be within the Spirit Healer faculty. You were just someone Gu Li Sheng randomly picked to be used as a cover for his initial words. If you had not spread such malicious rumours about Jun Xie, you would have been able to remain with the Spirit Healer faculty and none of this would have happened. You should not have intentionally caused such harm to others, just to justify your own vanity.”
Fan Jin would have pitied Li Zi Mu, but when he thought of all that Li Zi Mu had done, he suddenly could not find it within himself to spare Li Zi Mu any sympathy.
Jun Xie might have a cold personality, but he had a mind of his own and was not easily swayed. He was fiercely independant, of both mind and body.
If the same thing had happened to other disciples, they most probably would have left the Zephyr Academy.
And by leaving the Zephyr Academy, they would have killed their own chance for success. When Li Zi Mu had so maliciously spread those rumours throughout the academy, had he ever thought he was going to ruin a person’s future?
A rumour repeated often enough was seen as fact, and countless people have died under the toxicity of a mere rumour!
“Wh….. What…..” Li Zi Mu was at a total loss for words. He would never have ever thought, that the truth of the matter would be anything like this!
Chapter 460: “Consecutive Slaps – First Form (7)”
“You finally understand, it was actually Jun Xie who gave you that rare chance, you did not have what they wanted at the Spirit Healer faculty.” Fan Jin looked at Li Zi Mu, his face forlorn and depressed.
Li Zi Mu’s mouth just gaped open, unable to say a word.
He was admitted into the Spirit Healer faculty because of Jun Xie, and he had still told such slanderous lies about him…..
“Just to let you know, the bottle that you threw at the jackals earlier, belonged to Little Xie as well.” Qiao Chu said with a smile, unable to resist taking another jibe at the despondent figure before him.
Li Zi Mu cowered lower.
“Stepping upon others to elevate your own status, this scoundrel seems really good at it.” Fei Yan said, giving a sideways glare at Li Zi Mu, who was so terrified that he was about to pee in his pants.
“I’m sorry….. I really am….. I realise my mistake….. I beg you….. Don’t kill me….. I will do whatever you tell me…..” His pride and ego had been stripped and trampled, Li Zi Mu only felt terror like never before, every single pore on him screamed in terror.
However…..
Jun Wu Xie was not about to accept his apology, she stared at Li Zi Mu, as she would a dead person.
“Summon your ring spirit.” Jun Wu Xie said.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…..” Li Zi Mu was ranting subconsciously.
Fei Yan was highly irked by his ramblings and delivered a heavy punch onto his stomach!
“Oof!”
A mouthful of blood gushed out from Li Zi Mu’s mouth immediately! The blood was mixed with some unidentifiable substance from within Li Zi Mu’s body.
Qiao Chu gulped loudly. Fei Yan had possessed extraordinary strength from a very young age. That strike had only been hardly a third of Fei Yan’s full strength and Li Zi Mu was already in such a bad shape.
“Stop, don’t hit me….. I’ll summon it, I’ll summon it…..” That one strike had made him sustained heavy injuries. Li Zi Mu was crying in pain as he summoned his ring spirit in the next moment.
Li Zi Mu might be as useless as trash, but his ring spirit was of a rather good grade.
A silvery white wolf ring spirit appeared before their eyes. At the same moment the Silver Wolf appeared, Li Zi Mu’s eyes suddenly turned vicious. The Silver Wolf leapt quick as lightning at Jun Wu Xie, its huge jaws wide open, aimed straight at Jun Wu Xie’s throat!
And with a sudden white flash, pure white light exploded from Jun Wu Xie’s hand. The white flash of light leapt to meet the leaping silver wolf head on!
“Hooowl ! !” The Silver Wolf suddenly howled pitifully.
A slightly pink cheeked youth had appeared suddenly. He cut a dashingly handsome figure and his pure white robes billowed. He held a wine jar in one hand and the other was holding the silver wolf up in mid air, grabbing it by its neck. The pair of beautiful eyes were half closed in drunkenness and his face was one that showed utter contempt.
“Tsk, I was wondering….. Just a fifth grade silver wolf and you dare to even think of striking my Mistress!? You must really hate living, don’t you ?” Drunk Lotus smirked and his half closed eyes flashed with chilling murder. He closed his grip on the Silver Wolf’s neck and the Silver Wolf struggled violently in vain, and not a sound could even come out through its constricted throat.
The white robed youth who had suddenly appeared made Li Zi Mu’s face pale with shock once again. He had placed his last bet on his silver wolf and he did not expect that with his fifth grade silver wolf coupled with the element of surprise would be so easily stopped by the youth, and with one hand yet!
His last hope completely dashed, Li Zi Mu stared at Drunk Lotus in despair, his eyes glazed.
“Give up?” Jun Wu Xie raised her head and stared at Li Zi Mu.
“I….. I….. I’m sorry….. I won’t dare do it again…..” His silver wolf was still gripped in Drunk Lotus’ hand and Li Zi Mu could only see doom before him.
“Little Black.” Jun Wu Xie called out coldly.
“Kill him.”
Just as Jun Wu Xie finished her statement, the little black cat upon her shoulders jumped off and morphed into its massive black beast form, and leapt straight at the suddenly screaming Li Zi Mu!