“Why are you such a troublemaker?!” Mo Jiuyou stomped his foot in anger and pointed at her.
Anything involving her was bound to bring an endless stream of trouble.
Usually, Mo Jiuyou was happy enough to sit back and enjoy the spectacle. But today, Class A was studying talisman arts, and he couldn’t understand a thing without an elder there to answer their questions!
And because of Nangong Yu, the lesson couldn’t go on!
“Come here.” Nangong Yu beckoned to him.
Mo Jiuyou’s whole body tensed. Instead, he jumped backward and snapped, “Senior Brothers and Sisters are all here! How dare you act so recklessly?!”
No matter how you looked at it, he was a student of Class A, and the other twenty-plus students were all his senior brothers and sisters.
Sure enough, everyone turned to look at Nangong Yu, displeasure written across their faces.
So what if she was Elder Ling Heng’s disciple? Their own masters were no worse. Besides, when the main peak had accepted disciples, she had been left until the very end. For all they knew, Elder Ling Heng had only taken her in reluctantly, holding his nose the entire time.
They were different! Their masters had fought to take them as disciples. They were their masters’ precious treasures!
“Apologize!” someone immediately demanded, looking at Nangong Yu with an imposing air.
At that, Xiao Junlin raised an eyebrow, while Zhao Ziyun pulled a handful of melon seeds from her pouch and began cracking them with a grin.
Nangong Yu’s response was to roll her eyes.
She couldn’t even bring herself to care about such a low-level mob. “Have your master come talk to me. You’re not qualified to speak with me.”
Good heavens.
She was so arrogant that even the two elders battling fiercely above nearly lost control of their strength.
“So this is the disciple you like?” Elder Baihe mocked.
Elder Luo Qingyuan raised her brows. “She is Martial Uncle Lingheng’s disciple. She and you are of the same generation. These juniors below have no right to lecture her.”
Elder Baihe snorted. “They entered our sect at the same time. They are disciples of the same generation!”
“You! How arrogant!” The disciple below was indeed displeased. “Don’t think that just because you achieved enlightenment, you can become arrogant and conceited!”
Nangong Yu had the highest cultivation level, a full fourth level of Qi Refining.
But she had only just awakened. Did she even know how to make use of all that spiritual energy? They, on the other hand, had already attended lessons for fifteen days!
“I’ll teach you a lesson myself!” the disciple shouted. A long sword appeared in his hand, and he charged at Nangong Yu with a cry.
He was only at the second level of Qi Refining, but his master had chosen a sword technique specifically for him. Through diligent practice day and night, he had already mastered several moves.
As he moved, the disciples of Class A scattered.
They wanted to know just how strong Nangong Yu really was.
“I can’t be bothered with you.” As Nangong Yu spoke, she pulled a handful of talismans from her storage pouch.
She flung them straight at his face.
If Mo Jiuyou was provoking her, she might bother using the Tide Art. But everyone else? She didn’t even know their names.
What fun was there in fighting nameless mobs?
“Boom—”
The flames erupted, spreading into a sea of fire that licked hungrily toward the other side.
That disciple was only at the second level of Qi Refining. How could he withstand such a large number of Fire-Control Talismans? Even Foundation Establishment cultivators still used these Five-Element Talismans. In an instant, his face turned deathly pale.
“Water-Control Talismans!”
“Stop!”
“Earth Shield!”
The other disciples were caught up in the chaos as well. Some, like Zhao Ziyun and Xiao Junlin, remained calm in the face of danger.
Some used Water-Control Talismans, some Immobilization Talismans, and some raised earth shields. There were even disciples with fire spiritual roots who tried to subdue the flames.
After a frantic scramble, the sea of fire was finally extinguished.
“How dare you use talismans?!” The disciple who had challenged her first now had part of his hair singed. After all, the sect’s robes did not come with helmets. Covered in soot, he pointed at Nangong Yu and angrily demanded, “How can you fight without following the rules?”
The other disciples of Class A chimed in as well. “Exactly! Senior Brother Wang was challenging you. How could you use talismans?”
Nangong Yu replied, “Did I ever say I agreed to fight him?”
It had been that disciple surnamed Wang who had acted on his own, charging at her with his sword.
The others retorted, “Even so, you can’t use talismans!”
Nangong Yu gave them a sidelong glance and pulled out another handful of talismans. “I’m using them anyway.”
She scattered them toward the opposing side.
This time, she had taken out Water-Control Talismans. But they did not simply produce ordinary streams of water. Instead, countless water arrows shot out as densely as rain, streaking toward the disciples opposite her.
“Earth Shield!”
“Fire Control Art!”
“Are you an idiot? How can you use fire?”
“Aren’t water and fire opposites?”
“Water restrains fire; fire can’t restrain water!”
“Why not?”
“You idiot! The fire will boil the water. Are you trying to scald someone to death?”
“But someone used a wall of water to block the sea of fire just now, and it didn’t turn into boiling water!”
“...You’re so annoying! Shut up!”
Unexpectedly, the Water Talismans worked even better than the Fire Talismans. At the very least, they sent the disciples opposite her scrambling in panic.
Nangong Yu watched leisurely, sweeping her gaze across the disciples of Class A.
Mo Jiuyou had not lifted a finger. He stood with his arms folded atop a large tree, his childish face filled with impatience.
Zhao Ziyun and Xiao Junlin were in the middle of things, but they were taking their time, clearly just going through the motions.
“Was that fun?” Once the chaos had settled, Nangong Yu asked pleasantly. “Want to do it again?”
Everyone whipped around to look at her.
She was holding a thick stack of talismans, and their expressions changed at once.
“No, thank you!”
Nangong Yu smiled sweetly. “But I enjoy sparring with all of you. We’re fellow disciples, after all. Come on, keep me company for a while.”
“Who wants to play with you?”
“Nangong Yu, you’ve gone too far!”
“So what if you have a lot of talismans?”
Nangong Yu’s expression immediately darkened. “You people! How arrogant!”
“Don’t think that just because you’re disciples of Class A, you can become arrogant and conceited!”
“I’ll teach all of you a lesson myself!”
With that, she began flinging talismans at them as if they cost nothing.
Those familiar words left the disciples of Class A feeling utterly aggrieved.
“Where did you get so many talismans?!”
“Wasteful spendthrift!”
“Do you dare fight us properly, face-to-face?”
Nangong Yu simply folded her arms and watched them. She did not bother answering.
She just refused to fight them head-on. So what?
Although talismans had been difficult to accumulate, this world had a profession perfectly suited to her. She could replenish her supply whenever she wanted, and there was no limit. Nangong Yu did not feel the slightest bit of heartache using them.
This time, she scattered two kinds of talismans: Immobilization Talismans and Fire Talismans.
Some disciples were frozen in place by the Immobilization Talismans. As they watched the fiery serpents rapidly slither toward them, their faces turned deathly pale.
“Elder! Save us!”
Above them, Elder Baihe and Elder Luo Qingyuan had already stopped fighting.
All their attention was focused on the disciples below.
Seeing this, Elder Baihe’s expression darkened. “Pathetic!”
If they lacked the ability, they should not have gone looking for trouble!
He did not intervene, and neither did Elder Luo Qingyuan.
They were merely Fire Talismans. They could not kill anyone. At worst, the injured disciples would be fed a Rejuvenation Pill afterward, and they would recover.
With no rescue forthcoming, the disciples had no choice but to work together once again.
Some used water to extinguish the flames. Others raised earth shields to smother them. Still others used vines to drag away the disciples who had been immobilized.
“At least they’re not completely hopeless,” Elder Baihe snorted.
After a long while, the flames were finally put out.
The disciples of Class A had been tormented until they were utterly exhausted. Quite a few had even suffered injuries. They turned toward Nangong Yu and said, “You—you’ve gone far enough!”
“Senior Brother Wang offended you, but you’ve already gotten revenge.”
“I didn’t say anything at all. Why did you attack me? I’m injured now, so pay me compensation! No, wait—pay me spirit stones!”
Everyone had something different to say, but their tone was no longer as aggressive.
Nangong Yu rubbed her storage pouch and muttered, “I lost twelve Immobilization Talismans, thirty-six Fire Talismans, and twenty Water Talismans. Are you going to compensate me now, or come back with me to Hengxu Peak and have your masters come claim you?”
All the disciples stared at her in stunned disbelief. “W-What did you say?”
“Pfft!”
A voice came from the treetop. Mo Jiuyou stood steadily against the trunk with his arms folded. “Idiots! She’s telling you to pay for her talismans!”
Nangong Yu had never been one to take a loss. No one understood her better than Mo Jiuyou.
Proud of his own brilliance, he added, “If you don’t pay, she’ll tie you up and make your masters ransom you!”
This was great fun.
How did she even come up with ideas like that?
Mo Jiuyou rolled his eyes, then leaped down from the tree and said, exasperated by their stupidity, “You can’t pay! Absolutely do not encourage her arrogance!”
Someone glared at him for standing aloof from the matter.
Someone else actually took his words to heart and said, “That’s right. Senior Brother Wang was the one who challenged her. We never offended her, so why should we be dragged into this?”
“Nangong Yu, compensate us for our medical expenses!”
“So what if you’re Elder Ling Heng’s disciple? The Ziyang Sect is a place where reason prevails!”
Nangong Yu smiled sweetly, clutching a thick stack of talismans in each hand. “The only people who can get away with owing me money are the dead.”
After years of surviving in infinite-flow worlds, Nangong Yu had accumulated plenty of bad debts.
But she wasn’t petty. Since the other party was dead, she let the matter go.
“Impossible!”
“I don’t believe you! Nangong Yu, you dare to kill people?”
“If you’ve got the guts, then kill me!”
Their rebellious spirit was instantly roused, and they all began shouting.
“Hmph!”
A heavy cold snort came from above. Every disciple felt something press down on their shoulders.
Elder Baihe was warning them.
It was both a warning to Nangong Yu not to strike lethally and a warning to the others to learn some sense.
“I’ll give Elder Baihe some face. I won’t kill you today.”
Nangong Yu’s eyes shifted as she put away one stack of talismans.
The others didn’t realize that the elder’s warning applied to them as well. Someone smugly said, “Nangong Yu, you’re just afraid, aren’t you?”
“Ah, yes, yes.” Nangong Yu nodded briskly. “I don’t dare kill you.”
She still had one stack of talismans in her hand—all Immobilization Talismans. With a wave of her hand, she scattered them.
Now that she had spiritual power, she still wasn’t particularly adept at wielding it, but making sure the Immobilization Talismans didn’t miss was well within her abilities.
In an instant, most of the disciples were immobilized.
Their bodies were frozen, but their mouths were not. Although their expressions briefly turned panicked, they soon steadied themselves again. “If you’ve got the guts, then kill me!”
Nangong Yu curled her lip. She walked toward them, tossed out a Memory Stone, and fixed it in midair.
Then she drew the Moonwatch Sword Xie Jinyue had given her and said, “I don’t need to kill you. I only need to carve the words ‘Can’t Take Losing’ onto your foreheads. Then I’ll record it all and wait until you become powerful cultivators in your own right before selling it to the Myriad Treasures Merchant Guild or the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.”
She smiled sweetly. “I’m sure plenty of people will want to buy this Memory Stone.”
Mo Jiuyou shot over in an instant. “I’ll help you!”
The Class A disciples were furious. “Whose side are you on?”
Mo Jiuyou curled his lip disdainfully. “A bunch of idiots. Who’d want to be in the same class as you?”
Zhao Ziyun stopped eating sunflower seeds as well. She clapped the shells from her hands and said, “The more people, the more strength. I’ll help too.”
Xiao Junlin didn’t move. As a prince, he prided himself on his status and merely said, “Junior Sister Little Yu, your quick wit is truly astonishing.”
Above them, Elder Baihe and Elder Luo Qingyuan were both rendered speechless.
Elder Baihe was speechless with rage, while Elder Luo Qingyuan was speechless with shock.
“She’s truly brilliant.” Elder Luo Qingyuan had never seen a disciple with such a nimble mind. Her heart surged with excitement. “She cultivated my Circulatory Spirit-Nurturing Art. She ought to be my disciple.”
Elder Baihe sneered. “You intend to snatch her from Martial Uncle Lingheng?”
“What do you mean, snatch?”
Elder Luo Qingyuan’s thoughts raced. The more she looked at the girl below, the more she felt that she shone like a priceless pearl.
“Martial Uncle Lingheng hasn’t even shown his face. When Little Yu, my disciple, was slandered by that old bastard Xuanqing, he was nowhere to be seen. When Little Yu, my disciple, achieved enlightenment, he was still nowhere to be seen.”
She clicked her tongue and said, “He clearly doesn’t care about Little Yu, my disciple. She ought to become my disciple instead.”
