Chapter 18: Enemies

No one can teach a disciple well the first time they become a Master, especially when that person is Ye Li.

This maxim was spoken by Ji Chuying.

So when Luo Xing claimed that Ye Li treated him exceptionally well and was very meticulous in her teachings, both she and Lin Zhiwei knew that ninety-eight percent of it was a lie.

This Luo Xing was clearly hiding something for Ye Li...

Or perhaps...

Was he hiding something for himself?

Ji Chuying and Lin Zhiwei caught a scent of something unusual.

It seemed their guess was correct—the relationship between Luo Xing and Ye Li was definitely not as simple as an ordinary Master and disciple!

The mere fact that Luo Xing, a person with mediocre spiritual roots and terrible talent, could be accepted by Ye Li as a personal disciple was enough to raise suspicions.

"Oh, so that’s how it is. Then we can rest easy..." Lin Zhiwei smiled and nodded. "Oh, that’s right, little Xing. This is our first meeting, and since I came in a hurry, I didn’t bring much to give you..."

As she spoke, she flipped her hand, and a small emerald jade bottle appeared. "I just happen to have a bottle of..."

"Body Tempering Liquid, right?"

Lin Zhiwei’s expression froze.

'Wait?'

'He’s taking my lines?'

"Uh... you... how did you know?"

Luo Xing glanced at Lin Zhiwei, his expression becoming quite colorful. "That... my Master gave me some to drink before."

Great...

'These two are ninety-eight percent likely to be Ye Li’s enemies. They’re here to fish for information and dig up some dirt on her.'

After all, the last time, he had been sold out by Bai Li Qin Mo.

He had finally managed to trust someone for once, only to lose so utterly...

"Oh... oh... so you’ve had it before..."

Ji Chuying broke the silence, then exchanged a look with Lin Zhiwei.

[Ji Chuying: See, I told you. How could a woman like Ye Li not prepare cultivation resources for her personal disciple?]

[Lin Zhiwei: *Hiss*... Even with cultivation resources, he’s only at the Aperture Opening Stage... It looks like this Luo Xing really is exceptionally useless.]

[Ji Chuying: Why do you care if he’s useless or not? He’s not your disciple.]

[Lin Zhiwei: But... what I have in my hand isn’t Body Tempering Liquid? Why would Luo Xing think... could it be that what Ye Li gave him to drink was...]

[Ji Chuying: Who cares how he recognized it? Maybe the bottles look the same?]

[Lin Zhiwei: Oh... that makes sense...]

***

"Ahem... this..." Luo Xing raised his hand in a polite refusal. "Thank you for your kindness, Seniors, but this... let’s forget it..."

He didn't want to mistake another vase for a sister.

Besides, that woman Ye Li had warned him...

..."Only when your Master gives it to you can you have it."...

..."If your Master doesn't give it to you, you cannot take it from others."...

In any case, he didn't dare accept anything from others while Ye Li wasn't around. Otherwise, who knows what kind of devious punishment she would dream up.

"Why?" Ji Chuying laughed. "It’s just a bottle of Body Tempering Liquid, it’s not like it’s anything precious—"

"I appreciate your kindness, Seniors," Luo Xing said as he stood up. "But I’ll have to decline. Seniors, please excuse me."

'I need to get out of here! Now!'

Otherwise, who knows what schemes these two women would use against him.

But Luo Xing had clearly forgotten that he was only in the Qi Refining Realm, while the two women in front of him were genuine experts in the Integration Realm...

"Tsk..."

Lin Zhiwei clicked her tongue, then casually cast a Mountain-Pinning Incantation, freezing Luo Xing in place.

When Luo Xing realized he couldn't move, horror filled his face. He tried to speak out in refusal, but found that he couldn't even move his mouth.

"Cut the nonsense!" Lin Zhiwei said with a face of impatience. She uncorked the bottle and walked up to Luo Xing. "If we tell you to drink, you drink!"

'A mere little Qi Refining whelp dares to give us attitude?'

'You’re spoiled!'

She jammed the mouth of the bottle directly into Luo Xing’s mouth and poured the contents down...

"By the way, if we do this, Ye Li won't do anything to us, will she?" After the entire bottle had been emptied into Luo Xing, Ji Chuying suddenly asked with a bit of uncertainty, "He is her personal disciple, after all..."

The two of them had originally planned to confront Ye Li directly and observe her reactions to confirm their suspicions. But since Ye Li wasn't here, they decided to take action against Luo Xing.

"What are you afraid of!" Lin Zhiwei said dismissively. "If her reaction isn't big, it proves she doesn't care about this kid. In that case, could she even touch us?"

But if Ye Li’s reaction was huge, then their guess was correct. At that point, wouldn't getting a beating be worth it?

Ever since Ji Chuying and Lin Zhiwei learned that Ye Li had taken a male disciple with mediocre spiritual roots as her personal disciple, they had a specific theory...

That woman wanted to play a game of grooming...

Yes, they thought the reason Ye Li favored Luo Xing was that she planned to raise him to be her Dao companion.

Such things weren't rare in the cultivation world. Many cultivators' Dao companions were junior brothers, junior sisters, or even disciples they had raised themselves from a young age.

For example, the Dao companion of their own Master, the Fire Crane Fairy Yun Qingyao, was the junior brother she had raised since childhood.

"Hey, that should be enough, right?" Ji Chuying watched as Luo Xing’s face grew increasingly red. "Unseal him and see?"

Lin Zhiwei nodded, then waved her hand to release the Mountain-Pinning Incantation...

*Thud!*

However, the moment the incantation was released, Luo Xing fell face-first onto the ground, with his rear pointing toward the sky!

What a familiar scene...

This situation startled both Ji Chuying and Lin Zhiwei.

"What did you give him to drink?" Ji Chuying asked in alarm. "Didn't you say you were just going to give him some wine to coax the truth out of him while he's drunk?"

"It... it is wine..." Lin Zhiwei glanced at the empty bottle in her hand, then at Luo Xing in his strange posture. "It... it's just ordinary Cold Pond Fragrance?"

'That shouldn't be right?'

Cold Pond Fragrance was the kind of wine even ordinary mortals could drink. How could this kid...

Was his tolerance that bad?

"Check on him! Quickly!" Ji Chuying was starting to panic. "Don't let him die!"

Setting aside how Ye Li actually viewed Luo Xing, his status as her personal disciple alone was a problem...

She didn't want rumors spreading through the cultivation world tomorrow that two Elders of the Fengling Sect had poisoned a personal disciple of the Xuantian Sect.

But just as the two women were about to check Luo Xing’s condition, the latter suddenly leaped up from the ground!

Luo Xing swayed as he looked around, then peered with bleary, drunken eyes at the bewildered Ji Chuying and Lin Zhiwei...

Luo Xing let out a hiccup. "Who... *hic*... who are you people..."

Ji Chuying exchanged a look with Lin Zhiwei, then tentatively asked Luo Xing, "Luo Xing?"

"What... what do you want?"

"Do you still remember who your Master is?"

"My... my Master... isn't... isn't she Ye Li..."

'Well, it seems he’s not completely wasted yet. He still knows who he is and that Ye Li is his Master.'

"Ahem... Luo Xing..." Ji Chuying struck while the iron was hot, asking the question she wanted to know most. "Did your Master ever say why she took you in as a disciple?"

Hearing Ji Chuying’s question, the dazed Luo Xing thought for a moment, then mumbled in a fog, "She... she probably wants to kill me..."

This answer was clearly beyond anything Ji Chuying and Lin Zhiwei had expected...

'Wants to kill him?'

'Could it be that we guessed wrong?'

'Does this Luo Xing actually have some connection to an enemy of Ye Li, which is why she took him in as a disciple?'