The Villain Fox's Sickly Beauty Master - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: How Can a Person of Such Aptitude and Character Be Worthy of Being My Disciple?

Jiang Jinheng had been keeping a close eye on the girl in the gray cloth dress. When she noticed a commotion in the crowd, her brow furrowed slightly. With a single thought, she instantly appeared in the center of the group and restrained Qi Ranyan’s hand just as it was about to strike Fu Yi.

The incessant chatter around them vanished the moment Jiang Jinheng appeared, but everyone’s gaze converged on the scene, afraid of missing any detail.

Jiang Jinheng remained silent, while Qi Ranyan’s expression shifted from panic to grievance, and then to tears, all within a few breaths.

She was only sixteen, and though she had a bad temper, she hadn’t actually committed any truly evil deeds. Jiang Jinheng released her hand after a moment, her gaze sweeping over the onlookers enjoying the show, before finally settling on Qi Ranyan.

“The Grand Selection is imminent. In the future, you may all become favored disciples of the sect, working together to combat evil. Why is there such discord today, right beneath the main hall and in front of everyone?”

Qi Ranyan wanted to offer an explanation, but her mouth opened and closed without knowing what to say. She could only lower her head, looking submissive, as if listening to an elder’s admonishment, utterly lacking the arrogance she displayed moments ago.

“This Venerable has received your father’s letter. From what I see today, Second Miss Qi does indeed possess excellent spiritual roots, and you are a rare pure Water Spiritual Root, suitable for my Shuiyun Peak. With a divine artifact assisting you, your talent and resources are top-tier.”

Jiang Jinheng paused here. She watched Qi Ranyan raise her head, her spirit returning to her eyes, and she even shot a triumphant look at Fu Yi beside her. Jiang Jinheng’s expression instantly turned cold.

In the next moment, Qi Ranyan’s face instantly turned ashen.

“But the purpose of cultivation is to root out injustice, aid the weak, and uphold righteousness. I declare here clearly: my Shuiyun Peak will not accept a disciple who bullies others without cause.”

Jiang Jinheng’s single sentence amounted to a death sentence for Qi Ranyan, and the surrounding onlookers let out a collective sigh of astonishment.

Qi Ranyan’s lips trembled as she tried to question the decision, but the oppressive aura surrounding her made her feel as if she were in an ice cellar, unable to move at all.

“Host, you’re amazing! It looks like you’ve integrated quite well with the body. It shouldn’t be long before your soul fully integrates and you recover your previous memories! But why did you rush over to shield Fu Yi? This shouldn’t be related to our mission, should it?”

“Just assume I’m protecting my own.”

After all, this was the only disciple she planned to take during the Master Selection Assembly later.

Based on 007’s description, Jiang Jinheng had a good understanding of Fu Yi. Her aptitude was outstanding, and she was not lazy in her practice. Except for her half-demon identity, which was easily criticized, Jiang Jinheng didn’t care about such things. Although Shuiyun Peak focused mainly on sound cultivation, a Fire and mutated Thunder Spiritual Root would be more suited to the neighboring Tianhuo Peak to learn swordsmanship, but Jiang Jinheng felt that she could certainly teach swordsmanship as well.

However, Jiang Jinheng felt that this system from another dimension was good in every aspect, except that it was a bit too noisy, constantly chattering in her Sea of Consciousness.

Furthermore, Jiang Jinheng had no interest in recovering her memory. Given her personality, she probably hadn’t encountered anyone or anything important in the past century. Now, she only sought to use various spells and spiritual artifacts with ease. The instant spatial movement she had just performed should only be a Nascent Soul Stage ability. In the coming days, she needed to practice more advanced immortal techniques.

As she was contemplating this, she gently moved her intent, planning to return to the high seat, but saw Fu Yi clutch her head in pain and then collapse onto the ground.

Everyone’s eyes had been fixed on Qi Ranyan and Jiang Jinheng. No one expected an unexpected situation to occur with Fu Yi. Connecting this to Qi Ranyan’s earlier words and actions, many people began whispering, and the blame was directed at her. If she had been afraid to speak earlier due to guilt, Qi Ranyan now felt extremely wronged and took several steps back.

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t even touch her!”

She wasn’t the only one; everyone else had automatically retreated once Jiang Jinheng arrived. Now, seeing Fu Yi like this, they all retreated a little further.

Jiang Jinheng naturally knew that, as she had been personally watching, but she looked at the unconscious Fu Yi on the ground, whose face still showed signs of distress, seeming somewhat bewildered.

007 was also slow to react to this sudden development. Before Jiang Jinheng could ask, it proactively reported:

“The script arranged by the Heavenly Dao didn’t include this scene. However, perhaps your action just now, which prevented Fu Yi from getting into a fight with Qi Ranyan, created a butterfly effect, who knows.”

007’s explanation was strained, barely convincing even itself. Jiang Jinheng moved closer, half-crouching on the ground. She closed her eyes and instinctively checked Fu Yi’s pulse, sensing two streams of spiritual energy surging within her Dantian. The two streams of purplish-red spiritual energy seemed to originate from the same source, but one was darker and more domineering, suppressing the other. It was crashing violently inside her body. With Fu Yi’s small physique, she would be utterly destroyed and explode within the time it takes to burn half an incense stick.

Jiang Jinheng paused, then placed her palm on Fu Yi’s lower abdomen and channeled her own spiritual energy into her. She had an Ice Spiritual Root and was a sound cultivator, so her spiritual energy was soothing and gentle, best suited for calming. However, the moment her spiritual energy entered the body, the weaker stream of spiritual energy immediately settled down, but the darker spiritual energy seemed provoked. Instead of simply crashing around, it began to fight with the ice-blue spiritual energy Jiang Jinheng channeled in, creating a fierce battle in that small space.

At this moment, Fu Yi let out a muffled groan, and Jiang Jinheng, who was guarding her side, was suddenly splattered with bl00d. Her pale cyan robe was stained with a deep crimson. The surrounding people gasped in surprise.

Jiang Jinheng was momentarily at a loss. What she was doing now was merely habit, but she hadn’t expected to worsen Fu Yi’s condition. But why? Jiang Jinheng stared at Fu Yi, who was uncontrollably coughing up bl00d, pursing her lips in contemplation. It took 007 calling her name three times for her to snap back to reality.

“Host! Can you hear me?!”

“Hmm?”

Knowing that Jiang Jinheng might have been startled, and realizing through the events that she might care about this young girl, 007 used its experience from many previous missions in cultivation worlds and voiced its idea again.

“Should we try a seal?”

A seal?

Her hand moved faster than her brain. The instant she heard 007’s suggestion, Jiang Jinheng’s palm re-covered Fu Yi’s Dantian. The ice-blue spiritual energy inside her Dantian suddenly transformed into chains, tightly locking down the purplish-red spiritual energy. It still struggled, but it was no longer as disobedient as before. After doing this, Jiang Jinheng pondered for a moment, seemingly feeling it wasn’t enough. She formed a two-finger seal and drew a few strokes over Fu Yi’s Dantian, apparently inscribing a talisman.

Seeing the situation stabilize, 007 finally breathed a sigh of relief, yet it couldn’t help but grumble.

“If those two streams of spiritual energy didn’t both carry her aura, I would suspect this girl was being possessed.”

It wasn’t just 007 who thought this. When she first touched the two streams of spiritual energy, Jiang Jinheng had the same thought. Even after realizing the two streams were from the same source, she still had a strange, inexplicable feeling.

Nevertheless, seeing that Fu Yi no longer looked as distressed as before, Jiang Jinheng’s heart calmed considerably. Previously, listening to 007 recount the lives of these people like a story, only Fu Yi’s fate had genuinely moved Jiang Jinheng.

She likely felt pity for this child.

Since there was nothing else to do for the moment, Jiang Jinheng cast a dust-clearing spell, completely removing the bl00d from the ground. She then cast a cleansing spell on herself. After that, she sat cross-legged, allowing Fu Yi to lean comfortably against her shoulder. After a moment’s thought, she rummaged through her storage ring and finally found a Rejuvenation Pill, which she fed to Fu Yi.

She administered it easily, but the onlookers’ eyes were wide with shock. Although the Rejuvenation Pill was considered the most basic pill refined by alchemists, these people had just seen a flash of golden light, indicating that it was at least an Earth-grade Rejuvenation Pill, which had the effect of bringing the dead back to life and regenerating flesh on bare bones. Now, the person lying there had only coughed up a few mouthfuls of bl00d, and Immortal Venerable Luanqiu had taken out such a premium medicine, forcing people to call her extravagant.

Jiang Jinheng didn’t care what these people were thinking. She was merely pondering whether to take the girl directly to her Xuan Yun Palace. The thought only just emerged before it dissipated. After all, the protocol was in place. If Fu Yi couldn’t demonstrate her talent in this Grand Selection, taking her directly as her inner-chamber disciple would inevitably lead to gossip, similar to the discussions about her relationship with Fu Yanqing before.

“Host, aren’t you going back? The Spiritual Root Testing ceremony should be starting soon.”

“No rush. Besides, aren’t the disciples I intend to take already here?”

Saying this, Jiang Jinheng glanced at the person in her arms again. By her estimation, she should wake up in about half an incense stick’s time, which would still be in time.

“What about Mo Tong? You’re not taking him?”

007 seemed surprised, but Jiang Jinheng was perfectly composed.

“Of course.” Jiang Jinheng only said this much, but she seemed to be in a very good mood. Her gaze swept to the right, and Mo Tong’s eyes met hers from a distance. Their eyes locked in the air. She could clearly see a strange, overconfident determination mixed with inferiority in his gaze. Just then, the large bell in front of the hall suddenly rang, and everyone rushed as quickly as possible to the Spiritual Root Testing. They left in such a hurry that in a flash, there was no one left around the two people sitting on the ground.

She was startled for a moment, then turned her head back and even chuckled twice.

“He must be certain that his family’s favor to me, and the sect’s announcement that the only disciple I’m taking is him, is a done deal.” Jiang Jinheng really didn’t want to recall that absurd story. Every time she thought about it, she couldn’t help but laugh out of anger. “And according to you, I only took great care of him because his family ran into trouble, and worried that he would fail to find a master because of his poor talent, I simply accepted him as my disciple.”

After speaking, Jiang Jinheng’s gaze returned to Mo Tong, her eyes filled with an unprecedented chill.

“If that’s the case, then I’m the first and greatest stroke of fortune he’s encountered in over ten years. How can I let him have his way? And—”

“How can a person of such aptitude and character be worthy of being my disciple?”