Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss

Chapter 361 - 380

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Chapter 361:- I Did It. So? (3)

The youth was already too weakened to even make any noise and the other youths were too shocked by the sight to even move.

Even Qiao Chu and the others were in shock.

That sudden attack was..... simply brutal!

Rong Ruo snapped back to reality suddenly and whispered urgently to Qiao Chu: "We cannot allow Jun Xie to pummel at him anymore, or the consequences will be really dire."

Qiao Chu realised what Rong Ruo was saying and rushed up to put his hand between Jun Wu Xie and the heavily pummeled youth. "Little Xie, that's enough." Qiao Chu looked at Jun Xie, his eyes gentle. Jun Xie was protecting the four of them.

They could not fight back and Jun Xie had done it for them.

He could not find the right words to say at that moment and his emotions just surged wildly within him.

Jun Wu Xie's fist was still held up and the orange glow still swirled around it. Her whole fist was already covered in blood as she raised her head to look at Qiao Chu. She held the unconscious youth a moment longer before she dropped him to let him fall to the ground in a heap. She turned to the terrified youths around her and simply said: "Scram."

The youths immediately picked up their unconscious companion and ran away with their tails between their legs.

None of them had expected that the spineless cowards in the East Wing who had always not dared to put up any retaliation no matter how much they were bullied would suddenly house such an unreasonable and obnoxious little tyrant. That puny sized brat had charged straight into them and thrashed all of them up, not giving them any opportunity to even speak up.

After those youths had left, the air in the courtyard hung with a faint smell of blood and the place was suddenly quiet.

Qiao Chu sniffled his nose and suppressed his emotions. Without a word, his held up Jun Wu Xie's bloodied hand and wiped off the blood carefully with the corner of his tattered shirt.

"Why would you hit them? They have now dirtied your hands."

"Felt like it." Jun Wu Xie said calmly, as the murder in her eyes diminished.

Qiao Chu sniffled again and did not say anything else. Only after wiping Jun Wu Xie's hand clean, Qiao Chu looked up again at Jun Wu Xie, but did not say anything but only scratched at his own head.

Jun Wu Xie turned and walked towards Rong Ruo and handed him a hanky.

Rong Ruo was surprised a moment before he accepted it and muttered his thanks softly as he wiped the spit from his face.

"That felt great." Hua Yao carried the little black cat and came before Jun Wu Xie, returning the unconscious cat back into her arms.

Jun Wu Xie carried the black cat in her arms and lowered her eyes. Those eyes were now calm and tranquil, completely unlike what they saw just moments ago, brutal and murderous.

"I swear, if Qiao Chu had not stopped Jun Xie earlier, Liu Chan would surely be dead now." Fei Yan whispered softly into Rong Ruo's ears.

Jun Xie's body was small and skinny, and he did not speak much. But her temperament was something else. She spoke with her fists, simple and straightforward.

Rong Ruo stared at Jun Xie thoughtfully, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

She's rather..... nice.

"Whoa! What mischief have you brats been up to again!?" Yan Bu Gui who had just left them just moments ago was led to come back after hearing the ruckus. When he saw Jun Wu Xie standing in the middle of his four disciples, he stopped in his tracks. But the faint smell of blood in the air did not escape him and he scanned his eyes around, seeing the splatters of blood just outside the entrance to the courtyard.

"Teacher, Liu Chan brought people from the South Wing here again." Qiao Chu stiffened up when he saw Yan Bu Gui and he replied honestly to the query.

Yan Bu Gui frowned slightly, but his bushy beard covered much of his face and they could not read his expression.

"You retaliated?" Yan Bu Gui's voice suddenly turned chilled.

Qiao Chu opened his mouth slightly and stopped. He then lowered his head and muttered in a low voice: "They were extremely rude to Rong Ruo and I could not hold myself back."

Qiao Chu heaped all responsibility for it upon himself.

Yan Bu Gui's eyes steeled and a flash of light burst from his hand, hitting Qiao Chu on his chest, the blast throwing him across the courtyard.

"I warned you guys so many times! You are not to lay a finger on the other disciples of the Phoenix Academy! Did my words not get into your head!?"

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Chapter 362:- I Did It. So? (4)

Yan Bu Gui strode quickly over and stood before Qiao Chu, his hand raised.

In the courtyard, Hua Yao and the others lowered their heads unable to watch.

Yan Bui Gui's raised hand remained in the air and did not lower.

Jun Wu Xie held Yan Bu Gui's hand back with her eyes. The small faced looked up at Yan Bu Gui, her eyes bitingly cold.

"I did it. It was me." She said curtly.

Yan Bu Gui hesitated.

"If you seek to punish, it should be me." Jun Wu Xie said, narrowing her eyes.

Yan Bu Gui looked at Jun Wu Xie, the anger fading from him. He retrieved his raised hand turned to walk away. He took two steps and turned back as if to say something but could not find the right words.

But Jun Wu Xie had something to say instead.

"I take back my words." Jun Wu Xie said suddenly.

Yan Bu Gui waited silently for her to continue.

"A Master like you doesn't deserve me to be your disciple." Jun Wu Xie said coldly. She saw very clearly what Qiao Chu and the rest of them had to put up with. She had never had a master but she knew that as a master, if they could not protect their own disciples and instead expected them to swallow the pride and rage when they suffered under the humiliation countless times and not allowed to fight back.....

That clearly showed the incompetence of the master!

A master like that, however powerful, did not deserve her respect!

Yan Bu Gui remained silent. He stared at Jun Wu Xie and that cold face and that chilly expression. Those eyes were frosty as they stared at him and he felt as though he was sinking in an icy lake, its waters crystal clear.

Qiao Chu and the others were shocked beyond words.

Jun Wu Xie turned to walk away but Yan Bu Gui suddenly spoke: "A master like me? What did that mean?"

Jun Wu Xie stared at Yan Bu Gui with the same frosty eyes and said: "As a master, if they cannot protect their disciples, and allow their disciples to suffer humiliation and endless bullying from others, a master like that, I'll rather do without."

Jun Wu Xie's voice was soft, but every single word of hers struck at the heart.

Yan Bu Gui narrowed his eyes, but his bushy beard hid his expression on his face.

Qiao Chu quickly reacted then and stood before Jun Wu Xie. "Little Xie! You've misunderstood! Things are not what they seem to be! Our master..... he is doing all this to protect us!"

Jun Wu Xie turned to Qiao Chu and said coldly: "If I'm constantly oppressed by people like those, and am forced to bear and grin it, even if I were to achieve what I wanted in the end, that would be no victory and I would get no satisfaction from it. To live, you live gloriously. Even if the skies fall, the back must never bend! Arrogance can be done without, but pride must never sway!" Forbearance did not mean to bear up under merciless bullying and character building did not mean getting beaten down all the time.

Jun Wu Xie might have been locked up in a room for more than a decade and had no freedom, constantly bombarded and forced by that demon's ideals throughout that period, Jun Wu Xie had never bowed down to him and never allowed a moment's humiliation from it.

Even if her bones crushed, her back would remain straight till the last moment!

Jun Wu Xie's words drove a shock through Qiao Chu and made Yan Bu Gui seemingly thoughtful.

Living like dogs and subjected to the abuse and humiliation of anyone that wanted to, was that a life worth living?

Maybe, the little lad was right.

Living like this, they were better off dead.

"You're Jun Xie right?" Yan Bu Gui raised his head at that moment and his eyes seemed different.

Jun Wu Xie looked at him with the same chilly eyes.

"If you think that we can live a properly and proudly, don't take back your words. Let me see if you can do it your way, and turn the fates of Qiao Chu and the others." Yan Bu Gui said smilingly.

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Chapter 363:- Human Skin Map (1)

It was interesting to note that when the little lad seeked for discipleship, Yan Bu Gui was hesitant to accept. And now that the little lad was unwilling, Yan Bu Gui was seeking to accept the discipleship.

But.....

It was now up to Jun Wu Xie to decide instead.

Jun Wu Xie did not reply and Qiao Chu was getting flustered. He grabbed at Jun Wu Xie by the arm and pulled her into his room.

The others stood still and did not move from their spots. They knew very well what Qiao Chu was up to and did not step in to stop him.

When they were inside the room, Qiao Chu searched and produced a small brocade box. Jun Wu Xie had seen that box before. They retrieved it when they were in the Qing Yun Clan.

"This is the reason why Brother Hua and I infiltrated into the Qing Yun Clan." Qiao Chu brought the box before Jun Wu Xie and gestured for her to open it.

Jun Wu Xie opened the box and a map laid within. She looked closer and she saw that the map was drawn on a piece of human skin!

"That piece of human skin was cut out from my father's back." Qiao Chu's voice suddenly grew suppressed.

Jun Wu Xie looked up. The map drawn on the piece of human skin was not complete and she could see that it formed only a part of the whole map.

"Me, Brother Hua, Fei Yan, Rong Ruo and our Master, were all from the Middle Realm. The powers of the Middle Realm is broken up into, One region, Four sides, Nine Temples and Twelve Palaces. The lone region among them refers to the Dark Regions, under the command of the Dark Emperor, and is the most powerful force in the Middle Realm. The people who attacked us previously were two people from the Palace of Flame Demons from the Twelve Palaces. Centuries ago, the Dark Regions held control over the Middle Realm, and the four sides, nine temples and the twelve palaces capitulated and surrendered all their magic items and weapons to the Dark Emperor. But the Dark Emperor died suddenly and all his treasures and magic items were buried together with him deep in the catacombs of the Dark Emperor."

Qiao Chu slowly explained further: "The tomb of the Dark Emperor, contains all of the most powerful magical items and unimaginable riches in the Middle Realm and it was the treasure trove everyone in the Middle Realm dreams of possessing. But for the unendingly and rigidly loyal minions of the Dark Emperor, no one knew where the catacombs of the Dark Emperor laid. The Dark Regions had lost their Dark Emperor and their might was not like before. But the Dark Emperor was the one man who dominated the entire Middle Realm and even after his death, his dominating reputation lingered. If anyone dared to make any moves towards the Dark Emperor's tomb, the Dark Regions would swarm out of their nest and annihilate them."

"But human greed had always been insatiable and people continued to eye the Dark Emperor's treasures. With intensive but discreet investigations over long periods of time, they finally uncovered news that the Dark Emperor's tomb laid in the Lower Realm. In order to not alert anyone, and to keep the treasures for themselves, the Twelve Palaces sent a group of people into the Lower Realm to locate the catacombs of the Dark Emperor. The search carried on for hundreds of years over an endless number of expeditions. Finally, seven out of the countless people sent out found the location of the tomb. They had come from different powers and in order to curb and restrict each other, they split up the map and tattooed them on the backs of the seven of them."

Upon saying that, Qiao Chu's face darkened as he continued: "The people who located the Dark Emperor's tomb all returned to the Middle Realm, and handed their portion of the map to the powers they served respectively. They had thought that their mission was accomplished with all the hard work they had put in in the Lower Realm, and they deserved a good rest. But what awaited them instead was a massacre!"

"The Twelve Palaces were fearful of reprisal from the Dark Regions and pushed all blame of desecrating the Dark Emperor's tomb onto the seven men. None of them survived and the tattooed maps on their backs were carved out and held by seven of the twelve palaces. As the maps were split and all the individual palaces selfishly wanted to monopolize the treasure, till this day, they still have not found the exact location of the catacombs."

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Chapter 364:- Human Skin Map (2)

"Those people gave up their whole lives in the search for the Dark Emperor's tomb for the powers they served, they suffered the curses and verbal abuse while alive and were not able to rest in peace even after their deaths. They died under torture and their souls were completely destroyed. Their families were not spared and massacred without exception." Qiao Chu laughed loudly suddenly after he told the story, tears forming in his eyes as he looked at Jun Wu Xie.

"Wouldn't you think that those people were so dumb? They knew that the Dark Emperor's tomb was not to be desecrated and they got themselves and their whole family tree massacred because of their blind loyalty to the various powers they served respectively. The Twelve Palaces seek the Dark Emperor's treasures, but they did not want to shoulder the responsibility of betrayal and used those few people as scapegoats. Those people were really dumb to fall for the tricks of the Twelve Palaces."

Jun Wu Xie listened to every word in silence. Qiao Chu laughed, seemingly mocking himself as the tears flowed down his face endlessly at the same time.

"If not for Master's timely interference that saved the four of us here, we would not be here now. Master sneaked us out of the Middle Realm and brought us here into the Lower Realm at a great risk. Here, he taught us how to develop our spiritual powers, and to hide our identities to bide for time. Right from the moment our entire families were massacred, we had all given up on life. The only thing driving us forward is to exact our revenge upon the Twelve Palaces! Our Master has forbidden us to fight the other students so as we do not draw attention to ourselves and expose our identities which will bring us certain doom. So, Little Xie, please do not blame him. If not for him, we would not be alive now." Qiao Chu said as he wiped the tears from his face and pushed down the raging emotions within him.

He exposed this most painful wound he carried in his heart all his life to Jun Xie as he did not want to see his newly found brother harbour any prejudice against his revered Master.

They were both precious to him and he wished they could get along well.

Jun Wu Xie narrowed her eyes and suddenly stood up to walk towards the door.

Yan Bu Gui stared at Jun Wu Xie as she strode quickly towards him, his face was edged with worry.

Jun Wu Xie stopped before Yan Bu Gui and she said in a clear voice.

"Master."

"My disciple."

Yan Bu Gui wasn't just being weak, but doing everything he could to protect his four disciples. His methods might have been a little extreme but his intentions were nevertheless noble.

For Yan Bu Gui to escape from the Middle Realm with four young ones in tow, only the Heavens knew how much hardship he had gone through to hide and protect the four young kids from the pursuit and persecution from the twelve palaces while he brought them up and teached them.

The simple form of address of "Master" made the tensed up Hua Yao and the others heave a sigh of relief. Jun Wu Xie's earlier unhesitant defence of Rong Ruo against the humiliation by the youths had left a deep imprint of gratitude on their hearts and they were glad things had turned out well.

"Cough..... Since you have addressed me as your Master, would that mean you will listen to Master from now onwards? When things just like today happens in future....." Yan Bu Gui was deeply gladdened by his new disciple and was just starting to educate him on the "ways to survive in the Phoenix Academy" when Jun Wu Xie suddenly interrupted him by saying:

"If something like this happens again, I will fight back just as I did today." Her face calm and expressionless.

Yan Bu Gui was at a total loss for words.

"I appreciate Master's noble intentions and your justified concerns for us, your disciples. But I cannot agree." Jun Wu Xie's eyes were determined. She acknowledged Yan Bu Gui's righteous and noble character, but his methods of handling such matters were a little overboard.

"For such matters, please leave it to your disciple to handle in future." Jun Wu Xie said finally.

They were now in the same boat now that she had acknowledged Yan Bu Gui as a Master. She would never in a million years allow her Master and fellow senior disciples to live under anyone's humiliation and abuse.

Yan Bu Gui gaped like a goldfish and no words came out.

Standing on one side, Qiao Chu was beaming like a newly risen sun. They had held back and suppressed their rage at the constant abuse for a long time, and they wished for nothing more than to see their new junior teach those brats from the other wings a lesson they would never forget.

Those four youths who had always abided by Yan Bu Gui's words and had not challenged him once, did not notice that with Jun Wu Xie's addition, their lives had started to change. This was the first step towards what fate had for them to become and their lives were to change drastically. In the near future, the destined six that were to come together to kick up a unbelievable storm throughout the three realms now numbered five!

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Chapter 365:- Human Skin Map (3)

Faced with Jun Xie's "insistence", Yan Bu Gui was helpless and had no choice but to give in to him. But he secretly instructed the others to keep an eye on Jun Xie and protect him from harm.

Because Jun Xie possessed a rather unique ring spirit, Yan Bu Gui did not give him the usual instructions in the development of his spiritual powers but to just stay by the lotus pond and accompany the recovering Snow Lotus.

Qiao Chu and the others were looking into ways to locate the other six human skin maps. The Twelve Palaces might have seized possession of them, but they did not dare to keep that hot potato in hand. The Twelve Palaces had instead secretly colluded with various powers of the Lower Realm and had given the maps to them to do their dirty job of searching for the Dark Emperor's tomb on their behalf.

Sneaky tactics like this, were commonly employed by the Twelve Palaces.

The treasures in the Dark Emperor's tomb, would grant anyone who found it, power capable of obliterating the Twelve Palaces.

Qiao Chu and the others seeked revenge and Jun Wu Xie's objective coincided perfectly with them as she seeked the annihilation of the Palace of Flame Demons.

On the other hand, Jun Wu Xie's discipleship had also made her aware of Yan Bu Gui and his disciples' painful destitution.

Qiao Chu and the others possessed strong powers, but they were forced to hide them in fear of drawing unwanted attention. Every single mission's objective was very clear, and it was only to pursue the other maps from any clues they had gathered.

Other than that, the five of them in the East Wing of the Phoenix Academy had no other survival skills. At least in terms of earning money, their talent in this aspect was zilch.

It had not been that bad just a few years ago. Yan Bu Gui had pawned some of the treasures he had brought from the Middle Realm, but it did not last and soon they had spent every single cent. Yan Bu Gui did not have anything else he could exchange for money and for the recent few years, the five of them had barely scraped by, living in poverty.

An obvious instance would be that the few of them had not worn any new clothes for at least the past two years.

In contrast, Jun Wu Xie did not understand their quandary as she had never been pressed for money in both her past and present life. In her past life, she might have been young when she left the demon's lair, but with her unsurpassed skills in medicine, she led a bountiful life. And after her rebirth, although the Lin Palace had been plagued by endless dangers, they had nevertheless not faced any shortage when it came to money.

To the extent that when Jun Wu Xie was looking at her brand new Master and fellow disciples squatting in a circle in the courtyard, discussing how they were going to try to raise money to hand over to the headmaster, her mind had, on this rarest of occasion, and for the first time in her two lives, drawn a complete blank.

"Why don't Fei Yan and I make a quick trip out? We can try out robbery?" Qiao Chu suggested innocently.

Without a word, Yan Bu Gui smacked him mightily on the head!

Qiao Chu rubbed the back of his throbbing head and shrugged his shoulders, trying to indicate he was just kidding.

The double headed bone snake is still in recovery, or I might be able to gather some herbs from the hills." Hua Yao was frowning, deep in thought. When they had been extremely hard pressed previously, Hua Yao had sent the double headed bone snake into the hills silently in the night to dig up some herbs to sell for some money several times.

But the double headed bone snake had not recovered from its injuries and Hua Yao could not bear to make his ring spirit suffer the toil at that moment.

"We're really all cleaned out..... Sigh....." Fei Yan wanted to cry at that point.

Rong Ruo was the calmest among them, but his brow furrowed deeply as well.

"Sigh..... Forget it! I'll go see the headmaster and ask him for a few more days' grace again." Yan Bu Gui's heart winced as he saw the forlorn looks on his disciples' faces and he tried to wave it off. As the Master of these poor kids, he felt that these problems should be handled by him alone.

Alas, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Before Yan Bu Gui could go see the headmaster with his plea, the person in charge of the South Wing, He Qiu Sheng, came storming towards the East Wing, his face dark as thunder.

He Qiu Sheng was the Master of the South Wing, and the youth that Jun Wu Xie had beaten to a pulp was his disciple. When his disciple had gone to the East Wing to press for payment of their debt as usual, who would have expected this time that the barbaric disciples of the East wing would blatantly attack his disciple, to the extent that his disciple was still bedridden till now!

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Chapter 366:- Rise of the East Wing (1)

He Qiu Sheng's rage visibly showed on his face and his eyes were aflame as he stared at Yan Bu Gui and his disciples.

"Yan Bu Gui! You still owe the academy their fees and you indulge in your disciples' violence!? And you can still sit here drinking wine leisurely!?"

The viciously berated Yan Bu Gui gripped at the wine jar in his hand and smiled weakly. Wine? Where would he find money to buy wine? The wine jar was filled with water and the faint wine's fragrance was just the smell that had seeped deep into the wine jar.

But Yan Bu Gui was not about to give himself any excuses.

"It's Qiu Sheng I see, what brought you to our East Wing here today? Do you want to come in and take a seat?" Yan Bu Gui asked smiling.

The look Yan Bu Gui gave was almost grovelling but Qiao Chu and the others who knew the real reason why he discarded his pride only felt all the more bitter.

If it was not for the four disciples that dragged him down and kept his hands tied, with Yan Bu Gui's strong spiritual powers, he would be able to live a life of luxury anywhere he chose in the Lower Realm.

"You seem to be taking it real easy. Let me tell you Yan Bu Gui! If you do not give me a satisfactory answer about this, even if the headmaster spares you, you and me will remain irreconcilable! You think I would even bother to step anywhere near this dump of yours? If it was not for the headmaster's summons for you to go to him, I wouldn't want to dirty my shoes by coming here!" He Qiu Sheng's attitude was an exact replica of his head disciple's. In their eyes, the East Wing only housed a gaggle of beggars that refused to leave, sponged on the Phoenix Academy as freeloaders, were all weak and useless, and played dumb and extorted the headmaster.

Yan Bu Gui was at a loss. He might have been able to smooth over some other situations, but now that he faced the accusation of his disciples injuring He Qiu Sheng's disciples, the situation was getting rather tricky. If he remembered it right, most of He Qiu Sheng's disciples might be completely lacking in talents, but they made up the group that held the highest "gold value" among the all the disciples of the Phoenix Academy. It was estimated that almost half of the Phoenix Academy's funds, came from the families of the South Wing disciples.

"If you don't like it here, then scram." Suddenly, a cold voice broke He Qiu Sheng litany.

He Qiu Sheng's eyes narrowed and he turned to the source of that voice.

He only saw a small petite youth, who was staring coldly right at him.

"Who do you think you are!? How dare you speak to me in that manner!?" He Qiu Sheng was now quivering with rage. He never would have imagined that a mere disciple in the East Wing would dare to humiliate him like that.

Jun Wu Xie lifted her chin and continued staring coldly at He Qiu Sheng.

"Disciple of the East Wing, Jun Xie."

"I see! You are the little beggar they just picked up! You have sponged on the Phoenix Academy long enough and we have yet to settle the bill with you! And furthermore, you actually had the audacity to beat up my disciple!" Once He Qiu Sheng heard that name, he knew that that was the culprit in the East Wing who had beat up his disciple so badly that he could not even get out of bed. He exploded at that moment and strode menacingly towards Jun Xie, raising his hand, intending to teach the little brat a lesson.

However, before that hand could lower down, it found its wrist tightly bound by the iron grip of Yan Bu Gui.

"He Qiu Sheng, my disciples are not people you can touch just because you want to." Yan Bu Gui's eyes had suddenly turned steely. Jun Wu Xie's words had struck a chord within him and he had not stopped thinking about it. Those words had brought a change in that strong heart.

When it was just targeted at him, he could tolerate it, he would concede to it, even when it humiliated him. But he would never allow anyone to lay a finger on his disciples!

That was the first time He Qiu Sheng saw those eyes on Yan Bu Gui. It was just a single look, and He Qiu Sheng paled immediately.

All this time, the drunkard had never retaliated to any of his endless provocations and humiliations. But today, those steely eyes had unnerved He Qiu Sheng and that had quickly stopped his intimidation of the puny and weak boy.

"You! That's great! Yan Bu Gui, that's just great! You would shield the little brat to such an extent. Let us bring him to see the headmaster together. Let the headmaster see for himself what kind of trash your beggars' den is harbouring nowadays!" As if he had suffered unbelievable injustice, he raged as he drew his hand back and continued with his shouting tirade.

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Chapter 367:- Rise of the East Wing (2)

Yan Bu Gui's brow was furrowed. He did not want to involve Jun Wu Xie with such matters.

But Jun Wu Xie readily agreed: "Let's go."

Even the Qing Yun Clan fell before her. How can the headmaster of a decrepit academy compare to that?

"Good! I'll wait for both of you in the headmaster's study!" He Qiu Sheng left hurriedly after saying that.

After He Qiu Sheng left, Yan Bu Gui's eyes softened immediately as his gaze fell upon Jun Wu Xie in helplessness.

"Jun Xie, you don't need to....."

"I'll go." Jun Wu Xie said curtly. The concept of the servitude as a disciple to a Master was foreign to Jun Wu Xie and she was only just learning from her observation of Qiao Chu and the others and that little bit was all she knew at that moment.

Yan Bu Gui sighed heavily. He knew that Jun Wu Xie did not speak much but it was clear to him that his new little disciple was a little man of his words. Whatever passed those lips became unwavering truth, and could not be changed easily.

Jun Wu Xie handed the little black cat into Rong Ruo's care once again and left to go to the headmaster's with Yan Bu Gui.

Along the way, they passed several Phoenix Academy disciples. When those youths saw Jun Wu Xie with Yan Bu Gui, they started pointing and whispering among themselves blatantly, paying no heed nor showing any respect for Yan Bu Gui's position as a Master in the academy.

Yan Bu Gui was used to their disrespect and had not ever been affected by all that. But this time, his eyes glanced at Jun Wu Xie, feeling sorry that Jun Wu Xie had to suffer under those pointing fingers and hushed whispers.

But Jun Wu Xie did not seem affected by it in the least. Yan Bu Gui could see that his little disciple's back would stand just as straight and not bend in the slightest even if the sky fell on them then.

He had been worried as he thought Jun Wu Xie might not have had to suffer from so many gazes thrown at them, full of disdain.

But the fact was, Yan Bu Gui could not have been more wrong!

Before Jun Wu Xie had embarked on her quest to force a change of the regime in Qi, her reputation had been in tatters. They looks the people of the Qi Kingdom had given her in those days had been many times worse. But.....

She had never been bothered by them. Her eyes had not even bothered to rest on those people even for a second then.

The original Phoenix Academy had had a huge campus but its lands had shrunk drastically after it had been rebuilt. Due to its lack of funds, the academy's buildings had not been refurbished or properly maintained for years and its decrepit facade were painfully visible, showing starkly the academy's embarrassing financial situation.

The headmaster's study was a small little place and the paint on the door was peeling. Weeds grew in the crevices of the steps leading up to the door and the whole place looked dismal.

As they pushed the door open, a slouchy old man with a full white beard was in the room, sitting behind his table. Upon the old and wrinkled face, a pair of eyes narrowed as He Qiu Sheng stood at one side, criticizing Yan Bu Gui and his new disciple, Jun Wu Xie endlessly in a high pitched voice.

When he saw Yan Bu Gui and Jun Wu Xie enter, He Qiu Sheng's complaints intensified and the pitch of his voice started to rise even higher.

The expression on Yan Bu Gui's face was clearly flustered but Jun Wu Xie was a placid calm, looking as though those complaints had nothing to do with her.

"Headmaster, look over here. These two people are flagrantly flouting your rules! I had just tallied the numbers earlier today and over the past few days, the East Wing's losses had increased by another ten over taels! If we are to continue to indulge them, they might drag the whole Phoenix Academy down with them." He Qiu Sheng continued persistently.

The moment money was mentioned, the headmaster's bored expression perked up. He raised his head and stared at Yan Bu Gui and Jun Wu Xie.

"Bu Gui, when are you going to pay up on the money still owing? We cannot allow you to drag your feet on the payment indefinitely. You allowed this disciple of yours to injure another disciple of the South Wing, and when the news of this incident reaches the ears of his family, the family is going to come after you! And if they decide to withdraw their child from the academy, we would lose another source of income here!" The old headmaster nagged at Yan Bu Gui, his face deeply aggrieved.

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Chapter 368:- Rise of the East Wing (3)

Yan Bu Gui's expression grew more helpless as the headmaster's nagging continued, and He Qiu Sheng stood on one side in glee.

"If I might add headmaster, I think the East Wing should be led by a different person. Look at what Yan Bu Gui had done now? He had only attracted just those few disciples all these years. Besides those little beggars, who would accept his as their Master? And now, the situation in the East Wing is only getting worse. They had suddenly decided to pick up another little beggar from somewhere out there who isn't going to pay as well, further sponging on the academy. That little beggar had even had the audacity to injure my disciple from the South Wing! If you are to allow this to continue, the academy is sure to be doomed!" He Qiu Sheng incited viciously, his words dripping with venom.

"This....." The headmaster frowned deeply, exasperated.

Jun Wu Xie observed coldly at all that was going on in the study, and the chill in her eyes intensified.

"Headmaster, you must not hesitate any longer. Do you want to wait till the leeches in the East Wing finally drive out all the South Wing disciples from the academy before you'll act? Those disciples are all....." He Qiu Sheng had not finished talking when.....

Jun Wu Xie slapped her hand on the headmaster's table. Her voice was clear and it made all the other pairs of eyes in the room turn to her. They looked down at the small hand on the table and saw one bank note pressed under it.

"Is this enough?" Jun Wu Xie asked coldly.

In that moment, the study was filled with silence.

The old headmaster's eyes were dead fixed on that note and he did not move, but his eyes sparkled brightly when he saw it.

A bank note.....

When was the last time he had laid his eyes on a bank note?

He Qiu Sheng who had been pushing vehemently for the headmaster to dismiss Yan Bu Gui and to kick out his freeloading disciples before he was suddenly interrupted turned white as a sheet when he saw the bank note!

His face twitched and he tried to calm himself before he continued: "The East Wing had had their fees outstanding for years. Don't think you can appease the situation with just a few hundred taels. That disciple of mine comes from a rich family and his family would not think much of the measly few hundred taels. It is not something a little beg....."

He Qiu Sheng's voice trailed off as his throat caught.

The old headmaster reached his hand over towards the bank note as He Qiu Sheng was speaking and examined it closely. When he saw the amount stated on the note, he suddenly drew in a deep breath!

He Qiu Sheng snuck a quick peek as he forced a nonchalant look on his face. When his eyes picked up on the figure on the note, his eyes bulged and he stared in disbelief and his knees almost buckled.

On that snowy white bank note, an astounding figure was written clearly in bold.....

One hundred thousand taels!

The old headmaster's hands trembled as he held the bank note, and his beard bristled.

The Phoenix Academy's annual income minus expenses totaled only thirty to forty thousand taels, and Jun Wu Xie had just thrown out a hundred thousand taels without even flinching!

That was the Phoenix Academy's three years' profit right there in the headmaster's hands!

No wonder the headmaster was shaking like a willow in the wind.

He Qiu Sheng looked like he just swallowed faeces and he was absolutely speechless.

His disciples might be capable of coming out with a few hundred taels and that brat had easily thrown out a hundred thousand taels!

He Qiu Sheng suspected his eyes must be playing tricks on him.

"That.... that bank note must be fake!" He Qiu Sheng shouted in disbelief. It was impossible that such a decrepit looking brat would have so much money!

Jun Wu Xie raised an eyebrow and stared at the fuming He Qiu Sheng but could not be bothered to even speak to him.

The old headmaster heard He Qiu Sheng and he squinted his eyes as he carefully examined the bank.

After a few moments, he broke into a wide smile: "The bank note is real! This is the seal of the Soul Moon Bank! It's definitely authentic!"

He Qiu Sheng was completely stumped this time. The Soul Moon Bank was the biggest bank around and their branches were all over the lands and their seals were imprinted with spiritual powers and could not be fully duplicated by others.

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Chapter 369:- Do you want more? (1)

He Qiu Sheng's face was green and his lips had turned purple. He felt as if he had been slapped across the face and felt humiliated beyond words.

The old headmaster turned his eyes back onto Jun Wu Xie, and his expression had turned incredibly warm and passionate towards her, and those eyes only saw a walking and speaking gold ignot in Jun Wu Xie.

"Jun Xie is your name right? You can stay in the East Wing as long as you like and if you happen to find anything unsatisfactory, feel free to let me know." The old headmaster had suddenly turned servile towards the unbelievably generous and extravagant youth and wished at that moment for Jun Wu Xie to stay in the Phoenix Academy for life.

Jun Wu Xie did not grace him with a reply.

The old headmaster cleared his throat and told He Qiu Sheng off sternly: "The incident with your disciple is a matter of the past and I do not want to hear another word of it. Jun Xie had just come to the Phoenix Academy and is just adapting herself here. Keep a tight rein on your disciples and do not let them stray too far and inconvenience others. If I ever hear that your unruly disciples were to bully him, I will not take it so lightly again."

Under the lure of the filthy scent of money, and having weighed the situation under its irresistible persuasion, the old headmaster fell heavily under its spell!

He Qiu Sheng was still standing at the side, turned into stone, and he could not utter a single word.

Bullied!? That brat was standing before them alive and well with nary a scratch! His disciple was the one that was still lying in bed!

Who was doing the bullying here!?

Nevertheless, He Qiu Sheng was helpless as he knew all this time that the headmaster only had eyes for money. Whoever had more, would win his favour! The South Wing had dominated the Phoenix Academy all this while because many of the disciples under him were from well to do families, but things had now changed suddenly. The beggars' den was just admitted a fabulously loaded nouveau riche and snatched the top spot in the academy from him!

All the fees of the disciples in the South Wing would not add up to a hundred thousand even in a couple of years, there was no way they could beat that.

After berating He Qiu Sheng, the old headmaster came over to Jun Wu Xie smiling like a fresh spring breeze again and said: "If you think that Yan Bu Gui is unsuitable in any way, please let me know so I can arrange the Masters from the other wings for you if you like."

Jun Wu Xie replied curtly: "East Wing is good."

"Yes yes yes. Yan Bu Gui must have been extremely blessed to be able to recruit such an amazing disciple, he must have done some great deeds in his past life." The old headmaster was bowing till his head was almost touching the floor.

"If there is nothing else, I would like to leave." Jun Wu Xie was not interested in the fawning old headmaster.

"Sure, sure. Please go back and rest. Bu Gui, hurry and send your disciple back for his rest. It's windy here, do not let your disciple catch a cold. He seems a little thin, I'll get the kitchen to prepare something a little more nutritious for the East Wing tomorrow." The old headmaster was actually displaying a rare moment of generosity.

Yan Bu Gui's face was blank as he led Jun Wu Xie out. Even after they had stepped out of the room, his expression was still in shock.

"Kid, where did you get so much money?" Yan Bu Gui had seen Jun Wu Xie pull out a single bank note and it had not only almost blinded He Qiu Sheng and the headmaster, even Yan Bu Gui felt the world was an amazing place filled with bizarre things and people.

His little disciple had been dressed in plain clothes and had looked like he had come from a simple family. But he had pulled out a one hundred thousand taels bank note without blinking an eye.....

Yan Bu Gui had come to the Lower Realm for so many years and he had never seen money more than a hundred taels of silver.

"Much?" Jun Wu Xie looked at Yan Bu Gui, her eyes doubtful.

After her rebirth, she had never bought anything nor needed to pay for anything. Anything and everything that she needed, Jun Xian prepared them for her and she had never handled money before in this world. The bank notes she had with her were just what Jun Xian had stuffed into her hands just before she left. Those notes were as valuable as waste paper in her eyes.

"Do you want more of them? I have them here." Jun Wu Xie saw that Yan Bu Gui seemed to hold a rather strong interest in the bank notes and she pulled out a wad of them from her sleeve..... A thick wad of bank notes.

The lowest denomination among that thick wad valued at least fifty thousand taels!

After Jun Xian had done it, Mo Qian Yuan had done the same thing and stuffed money into Jun Wu Xie's hands before he would let her leave.

A Duke, and an Emperor..... They would not have in their possession any bank notes in denominations less than ten thousand anyway..............

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Chapter 370:- Do you want more? (2)

Yan Bu Gui's eyes almost popped out of his head. He was shocked beyond words at the amount of money Jun Xie had pushed into his arms. His eyes swept past those bank notes and he counted and estimated the amount in his head. There was at least a million taels in his hands.....

As if Jun Xie had dropped hot coals in his arms, Yan Bu Gui hurriedly shoved them back to Jun Xie.

"I don't need it. You better keep these." As those words came out of his mouth, his heart was nevertheless, dripping with blood.....

A small petite sized kid was actually carrying such a large amount of money on him!

Made the burly towering Yan Bu Gui felt so small before Jun Wu Xie.

Jun Wu Xie kept the money back into her sleeve, oblivious to Yan Bu Gui's crumbling self esteem and deeply conflicted heart.

When they got back to the East Wing, Qiao Chu and the rest of the gang were waiting anxiously in the courtyard. When they all saw Jun Xie and Yan Bu Gui who had returned so quickly, they rushed up to the pair just coming in through the gate.

"How did it go? What did the headmaster say?" Qiao Chu asked anxiously.

Yan Bu Gui sighed heavily and his face was a mask of deep melancholy, making the four hearts of his disciples fall so heavily they almost reached their toes.

"In future....."

Qiao Chu and the others looked up at Yan Bu Gui's heavy tone, staring at him with tears brimming in their eyes.

"That He Qiu Sheng would never come here to seek trouble with us again!" Yan Bu Gui's face suddenly beamed into a wide smile.

"What?" Qiao Chu and his other three fellow disciples stared in wonder at their Master.

At that moment, Qiao Chu's eyes widened in alarm as he turned to Jun Wu Xie to ask: "Little Xie! Don't tell me you..... you thrashed up He Qiu Sheng and the headmaster as well!?"

With Jun Xie's temperament, that must be the case!

"No." Jun Wu Xie replied.

"You..... you must not take so hard. If they had done anything to you, Little Yan and me would go abduct him and revenge you without letting Master know." Qiao Chu promised worriedly, without even thinking.

Yan Bu Gui's huge hand slapped Qiao Chu on the back of his head once more, and he said rolling his eyes at his moron of a disciple: "You must think I'm deaf!"

Jun Wu Xie was made speechless at Qiao Chu's antics. She could not understand how such a simple matter like this became so complicated in their minds.

"Alright, alright. Everything's fine now, you kids go keep up with your training, and not just stay here and laze." Yan Bu Gui dispersed the group with his words, a wide smile hidden behind his bushy beard.

His new little disciple, really exceeded all his expectations!

Yan Bu Gui was not prepared to explain everything in detail and Jun Wu Xie did not seem to want to at all as well. Qiao Chu and the others could only leave begrudgingly to continue with their training, but their minds were still filled with worry. They prepared themselves mentally to face up to He Qiu Sheng and the headmaster and protect their little junior fellow disciple when they next come looking for trouble.

Jun Wu Xie went back to her room and sat down carrying the little black cat in her arms. She called out softly and Ye Sha appeared suddenly through the door.

"Miss, what are your orders?" Ye Sha asked, kneeling on one knee.

Jun Wu Xie took out a wad of bank notes and put them on the table. She whispered a few words to Ye Sha and moments later, Ye Sha kept the money carefully before he disappeared soundlessly.

Jun Wu Xie remained sitting on the chair and looked down at the sleeping black cat.

If it was awake, maybe it could have told her how to handle the situation before her now.

The next morning, Qiao Chu and the others walked out of their rooms with dark rings below their eyes. They had not slept the whole night, having tossed and turned the whole night with worry, but no one had come throughout the night after all. Their curiosity was further piqued by what had happened at the headmaster's and when they saw each other's dark eyes, they all smiled sheepishly at each other.

"Looks like the headmaster really won't be coming to stir up trouble after all. But how did Master and Little Xie do it?" Qiao Chu scratched his head in confusion.

Hua Yao's fair complexion made his darkened eyes look more prominent and he stood shaking his head as well, similarly befuddled.

"It good that they're not coming, let's not worry about it." Fei Yan stretched lazily, her sweet and pretty face was still tinged with a bit of sleepiness.

Rong Ruo just pulled at his clothes to tidy them, and did not say anything.

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Chapter 371:- Do you want more? (3)

The four fellow disciples of the East Wing had not much of a reaction but the same could not be said for the rest of the Phoenix Academy!

The ruckus from a group of people suddenly broke out and dragged the four sleepyheads to the source of the noise. However, when they got there, they were shocked by the sight.

They saw tens of burly men dressed in grey. They carried long ladders, axes and lumber on their shoulders and coming towards them into the East Wing of the Phoenix Academy. And behind those men, was another group, whose men were carrying huge crates that each needed two men to carry with the load hung from bamboo poles on their shoulders. The men all rushed forward when they saw Qiao Chu and the others coming out from the East Wing and put down their load.

"We found the right place at last. Please help us to sign receipt here please. It is for eight crates of of fine garments from the Moon Weavers Pavilion. Seven crates of male garments and one crate of female dresses. We have mixed in shoes, socks and some accessories, compliments of our proprietor to our esteemed customers. Please check the items delivered and see if everything is in good order and we can leave." The leader of the group was dressed in rather fine clothes and he wore a bright smile on his face as he pushed the receipt before Qiao Chu.

Qiao Chu was is a fluster as he stared unblinkingly at the eight crates before him.

With all the attention attracted by the big group of men in front of the East Wing, the disciples from the other wings were all chattering loudly in speculation and when the leader of the men stated his purpose, the chatterings grew into a loud exclamations!

Moon Weavers Pavilion!

That was a widely famous clothing chain for fine clothes!

In that place, a mere handkerchief sold for more than ten taels!

Did they really hear him correctly?

The beggar's den actually ordered them at one go..... eight crates..... eight .....

How much did that cost? The mouths of the youths all around suddenly felt dry as they tried to calculate the cost.

Most of them fell speechless at the sight of the scene before them, staring in incredulity and unable to believe their ears.

Qiao Chu turned into a statue. He understood every single word the man was saying when he separated them, but put them together in a sentence, he could not fathom what they meant at that moment.

They did not even have money to pay the fees, how would they pay for such luxuries from the Moon Weavers Pavilion?

After waiting a long moment, when the man saw that Qiao Chu was not moving to receive the goods, he turned his head and pushed the receipts to Hua Yao.

Hua Yao was stunned a moment before he peered at the receipts and the goods, a frown on his face. He finally said: "Is there a mistake somewhere? We did not buy any of these things. I think it would be better if you send them all back."

It was eight whole crates! Even if they were to just pick any one item from among them, they would not be able to afford it.

The man said, still smiling: "There's no mistake. It is the Phoenix Academy, East Wing. The items have been paid for and you will only need to sign the receipt and that's all."

"All paid up?" Hua Yao looked at Rong Ruo.

But Rong Ruo was just as clueless.

The smiling man pointed at the name of the recipient at the bottom of the receipt and said:

"Yes, it was purchased by a customer named Jun Xie."

"JUN XIE!?"

The four exclaimed loudly in unison upon hearing the name and their minds were completely blown away by that shocking revelation!

The youths from the other wings were just as confused. They had not heard that there was a disciple in the East Wing named Jun Xie. Thinking further on the matter, they assumed it to be a mistake. Those beggars in the East Wing would never be able to afford such luxuries from the Moon Weavers Pavilion.

Before Qiao Chu and the others could recover from their shock, a big burly man came up to them carrying lumber on his shoulder with another stack of receipts in his hand.

"That's queer, a customer by the name of Jun Xie hired us to come to the Phoenix Academy's East Wing for refurbishing and renovation works. Can I trouble you guys to sign these as well so my men can start on the works?"

"........" Qiao Chu the statue now froze with his mouth wide open, his eyes bulging.

Hua Yao's face showed astonishment, but his eyes sparkled.

Rong Ruo and Fei Yan exchanged a knowing glance, having finally figured out who was behind all this.

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Chapter 372:- Do you want more? (4)

"It's Little Xie....." Qiao Chu finally recovered enough to utter those few words as he stared in amazement at the crates, an indescribable feeling in his heart.

Hua Yao nodded: "The issue with the headmaster must have been settled in the same way."

Yan Bu Gui had only claimed that all the issues had been cleared when he came back, but the reason was rather clear now as they all knew the headmaster was a snivelly money grabber and he only listened to whoever had the money and ignored all reason when he smelt gold.

And the situations before them only affirmed that they were right.

Jun Wu Xie had indeed cleared the issues with the headmaster and she had used the headmaster's favourite language. Money.....

"I would not have thought that our little junior was actually so unbelievably and fabulously rich." Fei Yan smiled till his eyes were narrowed to a slit as he spied one of the crates saying: "Err..... Do you think that crate of ladies wear, is meant for me?"

Qiao Chu looked at Fei Yan up and down, and seeing Fei Yan's plain frock, he snickered evilly.

"I would say yes."

Fei Yan's face turned pale.

The sweet looking Fei Yan suddenly slunk sulkily to a corner, the jubilation suddenly disappeared without a trace.

"Cough..... Let me do it." After Hua Yao realised what was happening here, he raised his hands and took the charcoal pencil from the man and signed "Hua Yao" on both the receipts.

After they had their receipts acknowledged, the man from the Moon Weavers Pavilion smilingly ordered his men to bring the clothes inside and the burly man hollered at his men to begin their refurbishing works on the East Wing's building.

When Yan Bu Gui stepped out from the building, he was so overwhelmed and shocked by the sudden appearance of the big group of strange men hacking and knocking on the East Wing's building that he very nearly dropped the wine jar he held clasped in his hand.

He was just about to open his mouth to shout when his nose wrinkled at the alluring fragrance of fine wine and his eyes sparkled brightly.

Hua Yao was signing his name on another receipt when he received a big slap on the back of his head. He turned his head furious, but saw the towering figure of his Master and just kept quiet like a mouse.

"Where did all this wine come from?" Yan Bu Gui asked, with his eyes narrowed when he saw the many jars of wine before Hua Yao, while he almost drooled in his heart.

"Little Xie bought them." Hua Yao finished signing and handed it back to the delivery man.

That morning, his wrist was hurting from signing receipts and the courtyard was almost filled up with all kinds of goods.

When Yan Bu Gui heard that Jun Xie had bought them, he immediately picked two jars up and suddenly disappeared back into his room and did not ask another word about it.

Hua Yao stared with a headache as he surveyed all the things they had received one after another since early this morning non stop and everything was stacked up in the courtyard. Food, clothes, everyday use items, and equipment for travel.....

It was more than he could count and it included everything they could think of!

They were all of superior quality and did not come cheap. They had lived in poverty for such a long time and it was just unbelievable for them. Even the youths from the other wings who were watching from a distance were about to go mad at what they saw.

They had seen the rich flaunt their wealth, but they had never seen anyone flaunt it in such a astounding manner!

After that morning, every single person in the Phoenix Academy became aware that in the East Wing, a disciple who was literally overflowing with money walked, and his name was Jun Xie!

Almost no one knew exactly when he was admitted into the East Wing or where he had come from. Before he had even shown his face, he had drowned the East Wing with his endless flow of gifts.

People had thrown an estimation on the gifts just for that morning and it was said to come up to be close to a million taels!

That figure drove almost everyone to lose their mind.....

The beggar's den had lost it name, as those who named the East Wing as such suddenly found themselves envious and jealous of the East Wing.

If East Wing that was the beggar's den could spend a million taels, the place they were at could only be no better than a pig's sty.

The youths from the other wings had come outside the East Wing in curiousity. But after seeing the extravagant splashing of money, they ran back to their own wings with their tails between their legs and stopped calling the East Wing the beggar's den ever since. But they did nickname Jun Xie as the "dumb one with too much money" in jealousy.

They had thought.....

If you have so much money, why go to the East Wing? Everyone knew that Yan Bu Gui of the East Wing was just a drunkard and only had four lousy disciples all this time!

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Chapter 373:- Inverted (1)

Jun Wu Xie awoke from sleep and went out to the courtyard soon after. She saw a group of burly workmen fixing up the East Wing but her steps did not slow as she continued on towards the pond that the Snow Lotus was recovering in.

These few days, she guarded by the pond immediately upon awakening. She had previously done it just because Yan Bu Gui had told her to, to watch over the weakened Snow Lotus. But recently, she could clearly feel an intense flow of spiritual power flowing into her body endlessly. The surge of the spiritual power was actually more intense than when she had used Jade Nectar to cultivate the Snow Lotus' seed in the beginning!

In just a few short days, the spiritual powers in her body had achieved a more than significant increase and this situation puzzled her a little.

As she sat by the pond carrying the sleeping black cat, Jun Wu Xie's eyes were fixed on the Snow Lotus that was gradually radiating with life.

The once withered bloom, had shown signs of coming back to life as its dried up lotus leaves had dropped off one by one and was growing out new petals as well.

"Little Xie." A voice sounded from behind Jun Wu Xie.

Jun Wu Xie turned around to look and saw four blindingly striking figures standing behind her.

They had changed out of their washed till threadbare clothes and were now dressed in fine clothes. The designs of the clothes were simple, but the material used was of good quality.

Clothes really did made the man, and it was readily obvious at that moment.

The four of them were already blessed with outstanding features but their old threadbare clothes had greatly diminished their looks. Now those new clothes had completely removed all that wretchedness and they all looked every inch like a young nobleman, graceful and handsome, that would draw all eyes irresistibly to them.

Fei Yan was dressed in a long coral blue dress and she was tugging at the hem of the dress coyly. Compared to the three handsome smiles, Fei Yan's expression was somehow a little perturbed.

Three jade green leaves to match a brilliant red flower. Fei Yan stood out looking more lovely and attractive in the contrast as those almond shaped eyes slightly lowered, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Do we look good?" Qiao Chu asked as he tugged at his outer robe, a jade ornament dangling from his hips.

Jun Wu Xie's eyes stopped as they hovered over Fei Yan and Rong Ruo a moment before she said: "Inverted."

"What?" Qiao Chu asked, puzzled.

"Or do you like to dress like that?" Jun Wu Xie asked with her head tilted, as she looked at Rong Ruo and Fei Yan.

Fei Yan and Rong Ruo were deeply shocked and it was a while before they reacted to what Jun Wu Xie had said.

"You know?" Fei Yan asked, with eyes wide in amazement, staring at Jun Wu Xie.

"Know what?" Jun Wu Xie asked Fei Yan.

"I..... I am a boy, and Little Ruo here is the girl....." Fei Yan pointed at himself and then pointed at Rong Ruo.

Rong Ruo was wearing an unnaturally handsome smile on her face.

Jun Wu Xie nodded.

"See!? Qiao Chu! You and your dumb ideas! You told us that Little Xie would never know our real sexes!" Fei Yan cried out and pounced at Qiao Chu and pummeled at him.

In the beginning when Yan Bu Gui had brought them here, Fei Yan was the smallest in size. The clothes that they wore were old clothes that Yan Bu Gui had managed to beg from the headmaster. One of them had been for ladies. Since Fei Yan was the smallest in size among them and Rong Ruo could not fit into the lone piece of ladies clothing, it fell onto Fei Yan to wear it. And ever since, everytime Yan Bu Gui went out to get clothes for them, all the smaller sized ladies wear were always given to Fei Yan and moreover, Fei Yan had always been a boy with girlish features looking very sweet when dressed up as a girl. Driven by necessity due to the lack of adequate boy's clothing, Fei Yan had always been mistaken to be a girl by the other disciples of the Phoenix Academy. The graceful air, handsome looks and tall slender frame of Rong Ruo had the masses thinking him to be a elegant boy instead.....

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Chapter 374:- Inverted (2)

Fei Yan had thought that Jun Wu Xie did not know and had purchased one whole crate of ladies wear just for him. That had encouraged him to succumb to Qiao Chu's mischievous urging to appear before Jun Wu Xie dressed in that dress.

Who would have expected that Jun Wu Xie was actually aware of his not intended but well concealed sex!?

Thinking back on it, on the first day when Jun Xie had awoken, he had instead left the little black cat in Rong Ruo's hands and not to Fei Yan, who had been the first person he had seen, now seemed that Jun Xie had done that with good reason!

It was obvious that Jun Xie had already been aware of Rong Ruo's and Fei Yan's respective sexes then!

Moreover, Jun Xie had treated Rong Ruo somewhat differently from the rest all this while.

Fei Yan was feeling terribly embarrassed at that moment but Rong Ruo was still all smiles. Rong Ruo was suddenly dragged by Fei Yan determinedly away and moments later, they came back dressed in clothes as Jun Xie had originally meant to give.

But.....

Fei Yan still somehow looked like a girl who had crossdressed and though Rong Ruo did not look out of place, seeing her all decked up in a sweet girly dress nevertheless made Qiao Chu's skin crawl after having gotten so used to seeing Rong Ruo dressed in boy's clothes for as long as he could remember.

Finally, both of them could not stand the awkward stares the others kept giving them and went back in to change into the clothes they had worn the first time.

Upon seeing Fei Yan looking all resplendent again in his girly attire, Qiao Chu could not help but guffawed uncontrollable that earned him another bashing from Fei Yan.

Fei Yan might be the smallest in size among the four of them, but he possessed the greatest strength. He lifted Qiao Chu with one hand and felled him with a single punch. If one were to disregard his actual sex, Fei Yan would do great justice to the term "Violent Lolita".

While Qiao Chu was running around in circles chased by a fuming Fei Yan, Rong Ruo sat down beside Jun Xie and smiled: "Thank you."

Even after having done so much, Jun Wu Xie had not mentioned a word about it.

"No need." Jun Wu Xie replied softly. In her own mind, she could not think of a better use for the money.

Hua Yao stared at the crossdressed "sisters" and he suddenly found it to be rather amusing. He wiped the mirth from his face and he suddenly turned to Jun Xie in all seriousness as he said: "It might not be the best time now but Little Xie, there is one more thing we hope you can help us with."

"Elixir?" Jun Wu Xie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hua Yao nodded.

"Prescription." Jun Wu Xie asked without a moment's hesitation.

Hua Yao pulled out a prescription from within his clothes and handed it over to Jun Wu Xie whereby she gave it a quick scan with her eyes.

"Who is this medicine for?" Jun Wu Xie asked, raising her head in query.

"Master. He was severely injured many years ago while protecting us and can only numb the pain with alcohol now." Hua Yao's face darkened as he said those words. Due to poverty, they had not even been able to afford to buy wine for Yan Bu Gui and the pains from those injuries must have been tormenting.

The prescription was brought out together with them when they left the Middle Realm and would treat Yan Bu Gui's injuries. When Qiao Chu had initially gone to the Ghost City to trade for Eastern Pearls, it had been one of the ingredients necessary for the elixir. But the elixir was extremely difficult to cultivate and even within the Middle Realm, very few people were able to achieve success in its cultivation.

When they came across Jun Xie, they had still been rather skeptical, but they would never let go of any trace of hope, no matter how small.

Jun Wu Xie lowered her head and went through the prescription once more.

That moment of silence made Hua Yao suddenly anxious and Rong Ruo's eyes became expectant.

"Herbs." Jun Wu Xie said suddenly.

"What?"

"Give me the herbs." Jun Wu Xie repeated, looking at Hua Yao.

Hua Yao finally understood what Jun Xie had meant and his usual calm demeanor cracked a little as he grew excited.

"You can do it?"

Jun Wu Xie nodded. The prescription was a little more complicated than usual but it was not still not beyond her. The sticky part was that the prescription called for extremely rare herbs and many that even Jun Wu Xie had never seen before.

"That's just fantastic! We will do everything we can to get the herbs!" Hua Yao's face brought into a smile just then. No matter how difficult it would be, at least now, they saw a ray of hope at the end!

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Chapter 375:- Water of Heaven's Spring (1)

Ever since they were graced with Jun Wu Xie's extravagant generosity, the East Wing suddenly seemed to rise from the ashes and shone blindingly with resplendent grandeur. The decrepit and rundown buildings were no more and had been completely refurbished. In the courtyard, the pond was fitted with miniature mountains and cliffs, and the entire building's flooring were fitted with marble throughout.....

When seen from afar, among the run down buildings of the Phoenix Academy, the East Wing now stood out in contrast like a brilliant sunflower exuding brilliance, that drew all attention to it.

Jun Wu Xie's spiritual powers had speedily increased over the past month and was nearing the orange level's peak!

However, she was not able to achieve a breakthrough to the next level.

The only way she could break the level barrier, was to devour the spirit of others!

Jun Wu Xie held the Spirit Prison Jun Wu Yao had given her in her hands and her eyes narrowed as she fell deep in thought.

She needed to get stronger.

In order to just raise her powers, if she were to devour the ring spirit of others, that would be equivalent to murder.

Jun Wu Xie's eyebrow was raised. She was not afraid to kill, but why kill the innocent?

Yan Bu Gui knocked on Jun Wu Xie's door at that moment and she got up to open the door.

For the past month, Yan Bu Gui had rarely appeared but had occasionally come to the side of the lotus pond to see how the Snow Lotus was doing.

"Plant ring spirits develop very quickly, but the hurdles faced at the level barriers are difficult to break through. Your spiritual powers have shown signs of leakage recently. Are you about to breakthrough?" When Yan Bu Gui sat down, he looked at Jun Wu Xie in all seriousness and he was not tipsy on that rare occasion.

Jun Wu Xie nodded.

"For the breakthrough, you must also take note of the spirit that you devour. The higher the level of the ring spirit you devour, the better its effect will be for you." Yan Bu Gui said, and he pulled out a cotton bag from his hips, before he put it on the table before Jun Wu Xie.

"Open it and see."

Jun Wu Xie opened it without a word and the moment she looked into it, her eyes sparkled brightly.

It was just a small cotton bag and a marvel was revealed within when you opened it, the space within that the bag held was much bigger that it seemed by far!

"It's called the cosmos bag, and it's an item from the Middle Realm. Anything you put in there would be preserved for a long period and will not get damaged." The cosmos bag was Yan Bu Gui's last item he had with him brought from the Middle Realm. No matter how poor they had been in the past, he had never pawned or sold it, for no other reason than the fact that the cosmos bag did not exist in the Lower Realm and if he had exposed it to be circulated, it might attract the attention of the people of the Middle Realm.

And stored within the cosmos bag, there was a intricate and beautiful wine flask, carved out from Imperial Jade.

"Take out the wine flask."

Jun Wu Xie lifted the wine flask out from the bag.

Yan Bu Gui retrieved a cup and placed it before Jun Wu Xie before he said: "Pour out a cup."

Jun Wu Xie raised the flask and poured its contents in. She saw that the liquid from the flask was clear and it glittered with stars as it filled the cup, and the air was suddenly filled with a fragrance that penetrated into the heart.

The aroma seemed to feel familiar like something she had smelt before but she could not remember it clearly.

"This is the Heaven's Flask and inside it, is the Water of Heaven's Spring. The supply is endless and will never be exhausted. The Heaven's Spring might not be able to restore your soul, but it can at least nourish it enough to stop it from further damage. I know that you were injured by people from the Palace of the Flame Demons and while the Water of Heaven's Spring nourishes your soul, it can also temporarily curb your soul's presence. You would only need to drink one cup daily and it will last the whole day." Yan Bu Gui stared at Jun Xie with a faraway look in his eyes. Jun Xie was different from Qiao Chu and the others, and he should not be confined to the tiny and virtually unknown Phoenix Academy.

Jun Wu Xie's face showed a look of recognition. Water of Heaven's Spring?

Wasn't that name recorded in the dilapidated book she had? The one thing that was the most suited for the cultivation of the Snow Lotus?

Suddenly, she was able to identify where she had smelt that fragrance before.

"You poured this water into the pond?" Jun Wu Xie asked as she looked up at Yan Bu Gui.

Yan Bu Gui replied with a laugh: "Don't forget, that book you use for your training and development, was given to Qiao Chu by me to put up for sale."

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Chapter 376:- Water of Heaven's Spring (2)

"I had flipped through those books, but a pity I do not possess a plant ring spirit and was unable to put it to good use. Since they had fallen into your hands, it must mean they are fated to be yours." Yan Bu Gui said as he stroked at his beard.

"You should not stay here in the Phoenix Academy. You should go out and do what you want to do."

Jun Wu Xie lowered her head and looked at the Heaven's Flask in her hand. The one thing that she had previously seeked endlessly, and exhausted all ways to get, had now been delivered right into her hands by Yan Bu Gui.

With the Heaven's Flask, she would be able to return to the Lin Palace with peace of mind and need not be afraid of persecution from the Palace of the Flame Demons.

But.....

Was that what she want?

Spending her life in hiding and depending on the Water of Heaven's Spring to escape persecution? And watch her enemies wilfully live on, while she huddled in concealment holding on tightly to the Heaven's Flask?

"Master." Jun Wu Xie suddenly raised her head. "The Dark Emperor's tomb, is the place I must go to."

She gripped the Heaven's Flask in her hands and Jun Wu Xie's eyes flashed with unfaltering determination. Living a life of compromise was not what she wanted. Since there were people who wanted her life, she would smite down her enemies to nip the problem in the bud!

Yan Bu Gui was stunned as he stared at Jun Wu Xie in astonishment.

"The day will come that I will annihilate the Palace of Flame Demons." Jun Wu Xie exclaimed coldly.

Yan Bu Gui was speechless for a moment before he laughed out loud suddenly.

"Good, good, good. You might be small in size, but your ambitions are commendable! No wonder you're..... Cough, since you have chosen your path, I will not hold you back. Keep the Heaven's Flask and the cosmos bag well and remember! You must never expose the Heaven's Flask to anyone. That thing will draw the people of the Twelve Palaces to come rushing at you even if you do not possess a plant ring spirit, and you will not be spared."

Jun Wu Xie narrowed her eyes. The origins of the Heaven's Flask must be a lot more complicated than what Yan Bu Gui was letting on.

In fact, Jun Wu Xie had been a little suspicious all along. Little Lotus had previously said that the Soul Calming Jade was one of the Seven Treasures of the Spirit World but it had suddenly disappeared one day. On top of that, Yan Bu Gui and his fellow disciples had said that all the magical items of the Middle Realm had been buried deep in the Dark Emperor's tomb, and that should also include the Soul Calming Jade.

But if the Soul Calming Jade was supposed to be in the Dark Emperor's tomb, how did it come into the hands of others?

And why would the Heaven's Flask incur persecution from the Twelve Palaces?

"Thank you, Master." Jun Wu Xie did not think any further into it. No matter what the reason was, the fact that she wanted the Palace of Flame Demons annihilated would not change.

"The fact that you addressed me as your Master is more than enough thanks." Yan Bu Gui walked out of the room, laughing loudly to himself.

Jun Wu Xie suddenly picked up the cup that contained Water of Heaven's Spring and swallowed it all in one gulp!

From here on, she would not constrain herself to the tiny Phoenix Academy!

The Heavens seemed to have sensed Jun Wu Xie's murderous intent as barely two weeks later, Fei Yan came to them with a piece of news.

He had found a clue for another portion of the human skin maps.

And that human skin map was actually hidden in another academy!

Zephyr Academy!

It was one of the top three academies, their fame spreading to all ends of the world!

Qiao Chu and the others packed and readied themselves. This mission, would not just involve Qiao Chu and Hua Yao, but would include Fei Yan and Rong Ruo as well. Before they set out, they were greatly shocked by another piece of news!

Jun Xie, would be going with them!

"Little Xie, you..... really would come with us?" Qiao Chu asked cautiously as he gulped loudly.

Jun Wu Xie gave Qiao Chu a chilling stare.

"Without me, you would not be able to even enter the Zephyr Academy."

The Zephyr Academy set extremely high standards for their disciples' enrollment and their fees were also eye poppingly exorbitant!

With that statement from Jun Wu Xie, she effectively shut out any further objections from Qiao Chu and the others immediately.

If the money did not go, they would not even be able to afford the fees!

The next moment, Qiao Chu was slumped by Jun Wu Xie's feet crying out in gratitude: "Little Xie! You've been too kind to us already!"

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Chapter 377:- Zephyr Academy (1)

The Zephyr Academy was situated in the northern side of the Da Du Country, its terrain flat and it sat upon vast tracts of land.

It was rumoured that if you stood at the doors of the Zephyr Academy, you would not be able to see the end of it.

Being among one of the top three academies, whenever the Zephyr Academy opened their doors for enrollment in September, people from all across the lands thronged its gates and the sea of people always made for a magnificent sight.

Horse drawn carriages carrying whole families rolled in endlessly and girls and boys of suitable age were accompanied by their families from all directions, travelling thousands of miles to the Zephyr Academy. Every year, in the period between mid August to early September, not only the Zephyr Academy's headquarters, but the surrounding towns' inns and restaurants would be filled , overflowing with the endless rush of people coming in.

There were almost as many academies as there were stars in the skies, but only three stood at the top of the pyramid. Among the three, Zephyr took up one spot.

The top institutions had always set a very strict criteria for their enrollment. They would only accept youths between fourteen to sixteen years of age and any applicants who did not fall within this category were turned away without exception.

The Zephyr Academy was separated into the main division and the branch division. The main division only admitted disciples with elite ring spirits and disciples who showed exceptional growth in their spiritual powers. Anyone who possessed average talents could only dream of gaining entry into the main division.

The criteria for the branch division was a little more relaxed. Basically anyone who could afford the fees would gain the chance to study under the branch division. If anyone in the branch division displayed great aptitude and excelled in the branch division, they would be promoted into the main division immediately. While those who remain average, would stay and finish their studies for the rest of the one year given to them. If they do not get into the main division before the year is up, at the spring the next semester, they would all be thrown out of the academy.

When the youths are enrolled into the school, they would be expected to pay upfront the full fees for three years, and even if they were to be dismissed early due to their lack of talent, there would be no refund of the money paid up.

Basically, among all the first years enrolled into the academy, only tens of them would be accepted into the main division and the remaining disciples usually numbering more than a thousand, would be thrown into the branch division.

Only at fourteen, would a person's ring spirit awake and the Zephyr Academy capped the age of the disciples who were eligible to apply at sixteen. That would also mean that for anyone who would attempt to make use of that two year gap to train vigorously to enhance their powers gunning for a spot in the main division, the short time frame would not be sufficient for them to make any significant difference in assessing their talent.

For those youths directly accepted into the main division, almost all of them had gotten in due to their unusual ring spirits.

The reason that the Zephyr Academy was able to secure a spot among the highly competitive top three academy rankings was due to the robust portfolios of their teachers, and more importantly, it was their unique, one of a kind field of development, the Spirit Healer!

The academy was split into three faculties that pursued three different fields. The beast spirit, weapon spirit and lastly the spirit healers.

The beast spirit faculty accepted only disciples with beast ring spirits, the weapons spirit faculty only disciples with weapon ring spirits. The spirit healer faculty did not discriminate against the type of ring spirits their disciples possessed nor the might of the ring spirits. They picked disciples who were more inclined towards development towards the healing of the spirit.

The ring spirits and their human master's soul were joined as one and although ring spirits did not bleed, prolonged battles or accidental damage could bring about trauma or injuries to the ring spirits. It might not result in their death but it might bring about a drastic decrease in their power during battles. And the group of spirit healers existed here for this very reason.

Spirit healers was just becoming a fast rising star as an highly desired occupation and the Zephyr Academy was the only academy that knew how to groom a spirit healer.

It was common knowledge everywhere that spirit healers were now more sought after than elixir producing healers!

There were many who were able to cultivate elixirs but very few people possessed knowledge in the healing of ring spirits, and the importance people placed on their ring spirits were undeniable and irreplaceable.

To be a spirit healer, it was not a necessity to possess strong spiritual powers, but rather it needed the person's spiritual powers was able to fuse well with ring spirits. In a nutshell, a spirit healer used his own spiritual powers to restore a ring spirit's deficiency to their original power.

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Chapter 378:- Zephyr Academy (2)

Fusing your spiritual powers with a ring spirit by itself was already an incredible notion and had never been tried before. Needless to say, no one else knew how to carry it out. That was the reason why the Zephyr Academy was the one and only place under the skies that one could learn to become a spirit healer.

Even if only a single person in the family successfully becomes a spirit healer, their entire family would be able to live a life of luxury.

Among all the hopeful youths that had come to the Zephyr Academy, at least eight or nine out of ten of them targeted to become a spirit healer.

A wide sea of young youths were currently crowded before the gates of the Zephyr Academy.

They were all craning their necks, huddled in small groups, whispering among themselves. You could see the smiling faces, all eager with anticipation.

A tiny figure darted quickly through the huge crowd, squeezing past several groups of people and finally stopped under a tree that was less crowded. Under that tree, four other figures were waiting patiently.

Qiao Chu held a piece of paper in his hand, his face was gloomy as he walked up to his companions. "Is this an institution of learning or is this place a money grabbing slaughterhouse? They are slaughtering people without batting an eyelid!"

"What is it?" Fei Yan asked, looking at Qiao Chu, her eyes blinking in incomprehension.

Qiao Chu shoved the piece of paper over to them and Fei Yan looked at the it with his other companions.

Their faces all turned dark at the same time.

"The fees for three years..... Three hundred thousand..... And lodging and meals not included!? This..... this is outright robbery!!" Fei Yan stared at the piece of paper, his eyes wide with incredulity.

To this motley gang who needed to even split one tael carefully between themselves to spend, three hundred thousand taels was a figure that was impossible for them to grasp.....

They wouldn't be able to raise that amount even if you sold all of them.

At that moment, all their eyes turned to the smallest figure among them all, looking at Jun Wu Xie, the only one among them with any money!

"Little Xie..... the money....." Qiao Chu eyes was almost going to tear.

For all five of them, it would come up to a staggering one and a half million taels. And that was just to be enrolled into the academy and they had not included the fees for food and lodging. Looking at the astronomical sum the academy was asking, they estimated that they would need at least two whole million taels or they should not even think about it.

Jun Wu Xie raised her head amongst the expectant looks thrown at her and she replied in a calm voice: "Not enough."

"........"

The other four were thunderstruck. Such an imaginable sum, even the Mr Moneybags among them did not have enough.

When Jun Wu Xie set out from the Qi Kingdom, she had a little bit more than a million taels on her. She had splurged most of her money while in the Phoenix Academy and she had only eight hundred thousand on her now, which was less than half of the amount they needed for the enrollment for five of them.

"How beastly!? Such a ridiculous amount for their fees and the place is still so packed! Do they all just dredge up the money from the sea?" Qiao Chu stared at the wall to wall sea of people and his heart started to bleed as he counted the unimaginable sum involved here with more than a thousand applicants before him. Out of those, only less than ten percent of them would be selected to to be admitted into the main division. The other ninety percent of them would just be throwing good money into the sea.

Three hundred thousand taels. Enough to allow a well to do family to live a life without worries. Gambling such a large amount of money betting on a kid's potential almost broke Qiao Chu's fragile glass heart.

"If their fees were not set that high, I think even if the Zephyr Academy's campus were to be ten times bigger, they still would not have enough space for the wave of disciples that would come here." Hua Yao reasoned with a soft voice.

The only place that provides a cradle for aspiring spirit healers. That point alone was enough for hordes of people to fight for a spot in the academy.

"But..... we still do not have that much money....." Qiao Chu's shoulders slumped immediately.

Jun Wu Xie's eyes narrowed and she asked suddenly: "Is there an auction house anywhere near here?"

Qiao Chu was startled by Jun Wu Xie's question.

"Little Xie, why would you want to go to an auction house? We do not have anything valuable on us to put up for sale." The most expensive things they had on them were those clothes from the Moon Weavers Pavilion they were wearing and even if they sold them, it would not contribute the least bit to the amount they needed.

"Just tell me." Jun Wu Xie insisted.

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Chapter 379:- Zephyr Academy (3)

"There is one around here somewhere, but we've never been there before." Qiao Chu replied, scratching at his head. They've been to the pawnshop often enough, but the auction house..... They've no experience with it.

It was more than a million taels and it was not easy to raise such a sum. They had rushed to make it here by September and the Zephyr Academy was open for enrollment only three days. If they missed it, they would have to wait till next year.

Many of the people in the Zephyr Academy were highly skilled that made even Qiao Chu and the others hesitate to just rush in recklessly.

While the five of them were huddled together discussing how they were going to raise the enough money, several youths who were walking past the tree heard them and exclaimed in loud voices dripping with scorn.

"If you do not have the money, you shouldn't even come here to the Zephyr Academy. You can't even afford to pay such a pittance for the fees and need the auction house to tide you through!? You guys are such country bumpkins! Let me set you straight here. Even if you were to get to the auction house, it will be of no use! There is only one auction house around here and they will start their next auction three days later, so it will not help you even if you get there now." The youth wore clothes fully adorned with gold and jade accessories and the several other youths tagging along behind him snickered loudly as the gaudily dressed youth spoke.

Anyone who came to the Zephyr Academy for its yearly enrolment had already

"Poor penniless people should just pluck theirs heads out of those clouds of daydream as the Zephyr Academy isn't the place for any lost stray cats and dogs." The gaudily dressed youth turned and walked off after that.

Qiao Chu's face darkened at that moment and Hua Yao held him back by his shoulders and shook his head.

"His words might be hard to stomach but he has nevertheless saved us a wasted trip and we now know the auction house is also no longer an option." Rong Ruo said as she sighed in resignation. Compared to the Zephyr Academy, it was now painfully obvious to them how poverty stricken the Phoenix Academy really was.

"What do we do now then?" Fei Yan asked.

Jun Wu Xie's eyes narrowed again as she fell deep in thought and suddenly asked of Fei Yan: "Where has Mu Chen been all this while?"

After the Qing Yun Clan was obliterated, she had stayed at the Phoenix Academy and had not paid much attention to what was going on outside. Over the past month, Jun Wu Xie had noticed that Qiao Chu and the others all got their news from Fei Yan.

Fei Yan thought a moment and replied: "Mu Chen announced that the Qing Yun Clan was disbanded about two weeks ago and that had stirred up quite a commotion. He dismissed the disciples of the Outer House and only brought the disciples of the Cloud Treading Peak with him when he left, and no one knows of his whereabouts now."

Jun Wu Xie's eyes flashed, and she gestured to Hua Yao to come over. Jun Wu Xie whispered into his ear and Hua Yao's face appeared greatly shocked which gradually turned into a smile.

"The idea itself is really good, but if no one here had ever met Mu Chen, then it might not work." Hua Yao pondered on Jun Xie's proposal and was just being cautious.

Jun Wu Xie handed a piece of ornamental jade carved into the chinese character for "cloud". Hua Yao was stunned a moment as he was rather familiar with jade pieces carved in such a manner. That was a piece of jade that only people who belonged to the Qing Yun Clan would come to possess.

"Little Xie, how did you come to have one of those?"Qiao Chu looked at Jun Wu Xie in surprise. When they were in the Hidden Cloud Peak, they had each kept a piece of the jade, but as they were leaving the Cloudy Peaks, Qiao Chu had not brought his back.

"I forgot to throw it out." Jun Wu Xie replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Everything had happened all of a sudden and she did not have time to do much else then. When she awoke, she was already in the Phoenix Academy and the piece of jade had just remained together with her other belongings.

She did not expect to be able to put it to good use today.

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Chapter 380:- The Elder Appears (1)

The bright sun was at its zenith and the place was crowded with people. It was the first day for the Zephyr Academy's enrollment of new disciples and everyone was rushing towards the gates to secure a spot for themselves. The scalding sun blasted his rays down and the heat rose, and the overly pampered young youths from wealthy and loaded families were soon moaning and groaning as sweat ran down their bodies. But in order to maintain some semblance of their dignified status, they braved the overwhelming heat through myriad ways. Especially for those in the back of the queue, they knew it would be a long wait but were unwilling to give up their spot. Their retainers soon reacted, umbrellas and parasols mushroomed, men stood under the heat fanning their little masters and mistresses. There were even some who had ice stored within their carriages and several retainers were running to and fro while they prepared ice cold pickled plum drinks.

September might not be the hottest month of the year, but the midafternoon sun nevertheless was scorching enough to make one dizzy with its heat.

There were several young girls who suffered from a weaker constitution, fainted on the spot, and were carried into their horse carriages to escape the heat.

The heatwaves soon drove the excited crowd into silence. Those youths who were chattering away were overwhelmed by the heat and the only sounds they made were only orders for their retainers to keep fanning, quickly losing the mood for any useless chatter.

It was in that silence that a loud and excited exclamation sounded, turning all eyes towards the source of the shouting.

Everyone was agitated by the blazing heat but they still raised their heads, turning to look with frowns on their faces at two figures under a large tree. A tall dignified figure dressed in white was standing with his hands behind his back under that tree and a extremely excited youth stood before him with his hands clasped over his own mouth. The excited shout seemed to have come from the youth.

The youths in the queue before the academy were all looking to see what had caused the commotion and what the excited youth said after that made them all prick up their ears and gave all their attention to what was happening under that tree.

"Mu Chen! Aren't you Mu Chen, the Elder of the Qing Yun Clan!? I've found you here at last, Elder Mu! I beg you to sell me another one of that elixir from before. After my elder brother took it, the speed of his spiritual power development increased by leaps and bounds! I beg you! Sell me another one of that!" The excited youth pleaded loudly at the man dressed in white.

The other youths before the academy blinked their eyes as they stared in disbelief at what they had just heard from that exchange under the tree.

Their minds had exploded when they heard the three words "Qing Yun Clan" and those three words had sounded clear as thunder in their ears!

Who had not heard of the Qing Yun Clan, the top clan under the skies? And something had happened to that top clan just recently! The Elder of the Cloud Treading Peak, Mu Chen, had suddenly announced the disbandment of the Qing Yun Clan and the Sovereign and Elders of the other peaks has left. Mu Chen was the only Elder who had stayed behind and after the announcement, Mu Chen had disappeared as well and no one knew of his whaereabouts.

The topmost clan had suddenly announced its disbandment and the news had stirred the entire world. Speculations had been rife but no one knew the real reason behind it.

The Qing Yun Clan's disbandment had driven many people still waiting for treatment to tears throughout the world. And on top of that, the people of the lands seeked not just treatment from the Qing Yun Clan, but also for their rare elixirs!

Did that youth just call the man in white "Mu Chen"!?

Wasn't that the name of the Elder of the Cloud Treading Peak who had been the last one to leave the Qing Yun Clan?

When they realised that that man in white under the tree could be the Elder from the Qing Yun Clan, all their eyes were fixated on the scene under that tree.

The Cloud Treading Peak had been specialised in the nurturing and development of veins and arteries and not many people had seen Mu Chen in person. Many of them were in doubt at what they were seeing till they spotted the jade ornament hanging from hip of the man in white. All their suspicions evaporated right at that point!

That was the jade badge carved into the "cloud" character, which was symbolic of the Qing Yun Clan!

Such badges were only carried by the Sovereign, the Elders, and disciples of the Inner House exclusively and even the disciples of the Outer House could only dream of possessing one.

The Sovereign and the various Elders had seemingly evaporated into thin air overnight and only people from the Cloud Treading Peak were ever spotted!

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