I Feel Like You’re Taunting Me

She suddenly looked up and saw Xiao Jihan approaching her step by step, holding the high-grade flying sword she had just given him this morning in his hand. His phoenix eyes were icy, and his killing intent was evident. The red blood bar above his head was flashing rapidly: -95 (overwhelming killing intent)!

Yan Shu didn’t have time to think about why her favorability had suddenly dropped by nearly thirty points. She only knew that Xiao Jihan was about to kill her!

She immediately stood up, and the Nine-Section Thunder Whip responded to her call, appearing in her hand. Sensing its master’s tension, the Thunder Whip suddenly emitted a faint thunderous sound, and the purple thunderous light coiled and flowed, making the originally two-finger-sized whip body grow to four fingers thick.

Xiao Jihan glanced at the Nine-Section Thunder Whip in Yan Shu’s hand, and his footsteps gradually slowed down. Yan Shu nervously watched as he approached step by step, gripping the Thunder Whip tighter and tighter. When he was only three steps away from her, she spoke in a hoarse voice, “Disciple, why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to refine pills?”

Xiao Jihan stopped his footsteps, looking at her blackened face from being struck by lightning. He tightened his grip on the sword in his hand and said lightly, “Disciple obtained a jade slip today and learned the method of pill refinement. Since it was my first time, I didn’t understand the essentials, so I came to seek guidance from my Master. But I didn’t expect...”

He paused for a moment and continued, “Did Master encounter any difficulties?”

Huh, he came to seek guidance from her? With the displeasure she felt from him, why would he come to seek guidance from her? Moreover, he and the original host never paid attention to each other. Why did he suddenly come to seek guidance from her? He must have been watching from the shadows just now, seeing that she had been struck by two bolts of lightning in a row and thought that the time to kill her had come, so he revealed himself.

Having figured it out, Yan Shu smiled at Xiao Jihan, holding the Thunder Whip in her hand even tighter. She put on a nonchalant expression and said, “Oh, it’s nothing. This is a cultivation method I created called ‘Drawing Thunder into the Body’. As a variant Thunder Spirit Root, it’s not harmful to draw thunder into the body appropriately. It can even increase cultivation base and have no adverse effects on the body.”

As she spoke, she forced the remaining thunderous power in her body onto the Thunder Whip. In an instant, the Thunder Whip emitted several crackling thunderous sounds, and the coiled thunderous power on the whip instantly grew stronger.

Coincidentally, at this moment, a transmission from the next sect master, Wen Youhe, resounded throughout the Xuantian Sect, “Disciples, do not panic. The Heavenly Thunder was caused by Senior Martial Master Yan Shu’s self-created cultivation method of Drawing Thunder into the Body. Each of you should mind your own business and refrain from baseless speculation.”

It turned out that because there were two sudden thunderclaps on a clear sky, all the disciples of the Xuantian Sect thought something major had happened. After all, there had been thunder for two days in a row at Wushang Peak, but it didn’t seem like Heavenly Tribulation or Divine Retribution. Wen Youhe noticed the restlessness among the disciples and spoke up to explain.

Upon hearing Wen Youhe’s transmission, Yan Shu was almost moved to tears. He truly was a good senior martial brother!

This explanation came at the perfect time!

Xiao Jihan heard Wen Youhe’s transmission, looked at Yan Shu’s blackened face, and then at the Nine-Section Thunder Whip in her hand. The coldness in his phoenix eyes gradually faded. He put away his flying sword and said calmly, “It’s good that Master is fine. Earlier, the disciple thought Master encountered some difficulties.”

Seeing him put away his sword, the frequency of the blood bar above his head flashing gradually decreased, and the favorability changed to -66 (animosity).

Yan Shu’s heart finally relaxed, but at this moment, she realized that her legs and hands were weak. She couldn’t afford to show weakness in front of Xiao Jihan, so she smiled at him and said, “Didn’t we say we were going to refine pills? You go ahead, and I’ll clean up before coming.”

This was the first time Xiao Jihan had seen Yan Shu smile like this. However, with her face completely blackened, her smile only revealed a row of white teeth, coupled with her explosive long hair, she looked rather silly.

Only her hands remained delicate and fair, like tender green onions.

Favorability: -63 (animosity).

Yan Shu blinked in surprise.

What’s wrong with the male lead? Normally, when she had an ethereal aura, he would lose favorability with just a glance. Now, even with her current rebellious appearance, his favorability increased.

Xiao Jihan’s gaze lingered on her hands for a moment before retracting his gaze. He nodded and said, “Then disciple will go and prepare first.”

Yan Shu responded with an “Mm” and watched him leave. Only then did she crouch down weakly, not daring to delay for too long. After a moment of recovery, she stood up, composed herself, put away the Nine-Section Thunder Whip and the flying sword, performed a dust-cleansing spell to tidy up her hair and clothes, and then lifted her foot towards Xiao Jihan’s residence.

At Wushang Peak, there was a grand hall where Yan Shu resided. On the other hand, Xiao Jihan lived in a small house outside the hall, which was originally meant for miscellaneous disciples.

Within the cultivation sects, the miscellaneous disciples were considered outer disciples, but rather than calling them “miscellaneous,” it was more appropriate to say that they served the peak masters. Although they performed miscellaneous tasks, they had the opportunity to meet the peak masters and receive occasional guidance from them. As a result, this position was highly sought after among the outer disciples.

The inner disciples had complex feelings towards these outer disciples who served the peak masters. While they looked down upon their talents and status, they secretly envied them. They had the chance to receive guidance from the peak masters, especially those who were good at networking and had close relationships with the direct disciples. Even the inner disciples had to show some respect.

Due to the special circumstances of the original host, her inner demon could easily be detected by others. Therefore, there were no miscellaneous disciples at Wushang Peak, and the original host didn’t consider Xiao Jihan as a disciple. Thus, she casually left him in the miscellaneous disciples’ room.

The miscellaneous disciples’ room was a small courtyard with two small houses. One of them was Xiao Jihan’s bedroom, while the other was used by him as an alchemy room.

When Yan Shu arrived, Xiao Jihan had already made preparations. The Pure Furnace was placed in the room, and everything was neatly organized. The medicinal herbs and other materials for alchemy were arranged in an orderly manner.

Truly a typical male lead in a cultivation novel, he had advantages all over his body. Who knows who will benefit in the end?

Speaking of this, Yan Shu remembered that there were many people in the original book who liked Xiao Jihan, but he didn’t have a designated love interest. In the words of the original author, women would only slow down his male lead’s sword-drawing speed.

Nowadays, readers have diverse tastes. Whether it’s in male or female-oriented novels, more and more readers prefer to see the male and female leads dominating the world. Yan Shu was also one of them.

Ahem, getting off track here.

She cleared her throat and asked, “Disciple, what do you plan to practice?”

Xiao Jihan was sitting cross-legged in front of the Pure Furnace and calmly replied, “Blood-Replenishing Pill.”

Yan Shu: ...

I feel like you’re taunting me.

Yan Shu glanced at him and brazenly said, “The blood in your heart is not like ordinary blood. Ordinary medicines cannot replenish it. Only the legendary Phoenix Blood and Bodhi Fruit can replenish it. Currently, I don’t have these items, so let’s start with the ordinary Blood-Replenishing Pill.”

Xiao Jihan didn’t expect her to bring up the matter of his heart blood without any hesitation. His eyes turned cold.

He lowered his gaze to conceal his expression and calmly said, “Disciple has the same intention.”

As he spoke, he activated his cultivation technique, and the Pure Furnace floated in the air.

Yan Shu watched him open the pill furnace, place the medicinal herbs inside, and activate his cultivation technique. Everything was orderly and seemed more proficient than her. If she didn’t know that he was refining pills for the first time, she would have doubted whether he deliberately invited her here to mock her.

Because although the original host had a variant Thunder Spirit Root from her innate TaoIST Embryo, her mind wasn’t bright. No matter how she learned alchemy, forging, or talisman crafting, it was all incomprehensible to her.

To put it bluntly, she was a study slacker with an off-the-charts combat power.