The Mysterious Feng Yi

"Clang—"

The clear, resonant ring of a sword echoed through the valley.

A royal blue wide sleeve brushed past her vision, and Li Nanzhu saw only a slender back.

The sword light was like snow, sweeping across the space.

The spiritual energy cyclone was completely crushed and shredded before it could touch them.

"Retreat."

As the low, cold voice fell, Feng Yi did not continue to use his sword. Instead, he raised his hand, appearing to draw something in mid-air.

A complex pattern flashed for an instant, and the raging spiritual energy was suddenly suppressed. The dark shadow also seemed to be wary of something; in a mere moment of distraction, it vanished back into the depths, and the forbidden area returned to silence.

Li Nanzhu looked up, meeting Feng Yi's eyes.

Unlike the person she usually saw, Feng Yi's eyes were now as dark as ink, and his face was frost-cold. In this moment, he seemed to have torn away his superficial disguise to reveal his true self.

Li Nanzhu shuddered violently.

"Master..." Zhu Yinxi seemed not to notice the change, immediately stepping forward to salute, though his voice carried a hint of tension.

Seeing this, Feng Yi closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. When he opened them again, he had returned to the familiar Master they knew, though his complexion seemed slightly paler than before.

"Only in the Qi Condensation stage and yet you run into the forbidden area. Where did you get such audacity?"

Hearing no real blame in Feng Yi's tone, Zhu Yinxi knelt directly on the ground.

"Master, I brought my Junior Sister here. If there is to be punishment, please punish only me. My Junior Sister didn't know that those in the Qi Condensation stage cannot enter. It was my own overconfidence, thinking I could protect her."

Li Nanzhu hadn't expected Zhu Yinxi to take all the responsibility upon himself. Although he had been the one to mention it initially, she had agreed to it herself. Today, she had been the one to proactively ask him to take her along. If there was responsibility, she held at least half of it. She followed suit and knelt down.

"Master, I was the one who begged Second Senior Brother to bring me. If you are to punish us, punish me as well."

Looking at the pair of disciples before him, Feng Yi rubbed his temples with a hint of helplessness. When had he said he was going to punish them?

He simply waved his hand. "Fine, both of you get up. Anyone watching would think I was about to do something terrible to you."

The two exchanged a glance and obediently rose.

Seeing that Li Nanzhu's face was still somewhat pale, Feng Yi suddenly raised his hand, pressing two fingers together as if to touch her brow.

She instinctively wanted to dodge, but with Feng Yi's cultivation, how could someone at the Foundation Establishment stage like her avoid him?

Before she could speak, a gentle spiritual power slowly flowed into her mind. In moments, Li Nanzhu's complexion recovered at a visible rate.

Li Nanzhu was secretly astonished. Just how strong was her master? A single trace of spiritual energy could nourish her mental power; the recovery effect was actually better than a spirit-nurturing pill.

Seeing that she had recovered, Feng Yi said no more. He simply flicked his sleeve, and a ray of spiritual light flew out, enveloping them both.

In the next instant, the world spun. When Li Nanzhu opened her eyes again, she was standing in front of her own door.

"Meditate for three days; you are not to go out," Feng Yi's voice drifted from behind her. "Regarding the matter of the forbidden area, do not mention it again. I have my own plans. Do not go there again for the time being."

These two bratty disciples... if he didn't actually lock them up for a day or two, their pleas for punishment would have gone to waste.

Li Nanzhu instinctively turned her head, but only saw a flash of royal blue fabric as it vanished.

Zhu Yinxi was standing not far away, having also been sent back to his quarters. The two looked at each other from a distance, both seeing the same confusion in the other's eyes.

What exactly... was hidden in the forbidden area? Even after all that, he still wouldn't reveal a single thing?

Since Feng Yi was unwilling to say more, they had no way to ask. However...

Hadn't he agreed not to punish them? Why were they put in solitary confinement the moment they returned?

Zhu Yinxi shook his head at her, and Li Nanzhu could only shrug helplessly.

But then again, being confined for three days wasn't exactly 'confinement.' She had already learned from Seventh Senior Brother last time—this wouldn't hold her at all.

But looking at Zhu Yinxi, he would probably honestly shut himself in for three days.

Since the other two senior brothers weren't around, it seemed she could only cultivate peacefully in her room for these three days.

However, the spot on her brow that Feng Yi had touched felt strangely hot. Li Nanzhu touched it, only to find that at some point, a very faint trace of cinnabar had been rubbed onto her forehead.

Clearly, there had been cinnabar on Feng Yi's fingertips for it to rub off on her. Was he... drawing a talisman in thin air just now?

Li Nanzhu was startled by her own guess. Currently, even the ancestor of the Wuji Sect, the most powerful sect in the cultivation world, hadn't been heard to possess the ability to draw talismans in thin air.

Everyone honestly drew them on talisman paper.

But if what he did just now was an array pattern, it could indeed be done, yet it wouldn't require cinnabar, and she hadn't seen the light of any other arrays.

Even her reliance on the Eight Principles of Yong couldn't be considered drawing talismans in thin air; it was more like an additional cultivation technique she had created herself.

While she was pondering, her communication jade slip lit up. She picked it up and saw it was a message from Duan Xianxing.

"Junior Sister, Second Senior Brother is back, so I'm heading down the mountain to hide. I'm afraid my ears won't be able to take it. Junior Sister, you're on your own—Duan Xianxing."

Li Nanzhu: "..."

She knew it!

However, for the time being, it seemed Second Senior Brother probably, likely, wouldn't be making any noise.

Even so, he should set up a sound-isolating array this time. Otherwise, it would be quite rude to get blown away again just a few days after returning.

She scrolled through the jade slip again and found no message from her First Senior Brother. Her previous message hadn't been read; she had no idea where he had gone.

Putting away the jade slip, Li Nanzhu originally wanted to continue drawing talismans to restock her inventory, but then she remembered her mental power had only just recovered a little. It was better not to overexert herself for now, so she abandoned the idea.

...

Li Nanzhu spent three days in quiet cultivation in her room. Aside from occasionally flipping through talisman grimoires, she practiced meditation and regulated her breathing. Her mental state was much better than before.

On the morning of the fourth day, estimating that Zhu Yinxi should also be coming out, she rose and pushed open her door. She took a deep breath; it really was better to be out and active. However, she saw an unexpected person in the courtyard.

"Junior Sister, let's run!"

Duan Xianxing's face appeared before her. One look told her he had snuck back in, likely by climbing over the wall. He was holding two sticks of candied hawthorns, and there was no telling how long he had been waiting.

Li Nanzhu rolled her eyes at him. "Seventh Senior Brother, you certainly ran fast. You slipped away as soon as Second Senior Brother returned."

Duan Xianxing chuckled, handed a stick of candied hawthorns to Li Nanzhu, and began eating his own, speaking through a mouthful. "Can you blame me? You've only experienced a tiny bit of Second Senior Brother's flute playing. Last time, because I couldn't beat him, I was forced to listen to half a song. My ears rang for three days! If it weren't for First Senior Brother, I'd probably still be suffering. So this time, knowing he was back, I ran immediately, fearing he'd make me finish the second half of the song as soon as he saw me."

Li Nanzhu fell into an eerie silence. Forcing Duan Xianxing to listen to half a song? Second Senior Brother didn't seem like the combative type at all. She felt Duan Xianxing's words were likely a bit exaggerated.

"Let's finish these candied hawthorns and run, otherwise Second Senior Brother might come to catch us." Duan Xianxing looked like he was still haunted by the experience, then lowered his voice. "By the way, did you go to the forbidden area?"

Li Nanzhu raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"

"You have the aura of the forbidden area on you," Duan Xianxing pouted. "The aura there is very strange. I don't like it. Every time I go, I feel uncomfortable all over. Plus, the spiritual energy density is terrifyingly high. I don't want to accidentally die there."

Li Nanzhu nodded thoughtfully and said no more.