"Murong!"
Li Shiqing's heart leaped in alarm, and she quickly used her spiritual energy to form a water net, supporting Bai Murong.
Bai Murong was truly crying, scared into tears.
"Sister Li, save me, I know I was wrong!" Bai Murong sobbed, gasping for breath, looking utterly pitiful and wronged. "I truly meant well, I never expected Sheng Yi to hate them so much, boohoo..."
"Never expected? Bai Murong, search your heart, is that true?" Bai Shengyi sneered coldly. "Did you not know that Princess Mingyu bullied me, insulted me, and tried to kill me? Did you not see when Qin Zhao cursed me, slandered me, and wanted to wring every last drop of my value dry?"
"I suspect you didn't 'never expect,' but rather hoped to help them by thinking of it! After all, with your gentleness and magnanimity, helping the man you like and your love rival, while harming a sister who wishes she could disappear, it's not beyond you, right?"
Bai Shengyi revealed her sharp canine teeth and looked at Bai Murong with a chilling gaze.
Bai Murong felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her, chilling her to the bone. Had Bai Shengyi seen through her?
"Ah!" She suddenly screamed with her eyes closed and fainted.
"Rongrong!"
Li Shiqing's heart filled with worry. She leaped up, water light swirling around her long sword as she slashed at the vines.
"Clang!"
The sword met the spiritual energy with a crisp clang.
Bai Shengyi wiped the trace of blood from her lips and had a new guess about Li Shiqing's strength. With such potent spiritual energy, she was likely beyond the second level of Foundation Establishment.
"Get out of the way!"
Li Shiqing frowned tightly. Her usual decisive demeanor was nowhere to be found, and for the first time, she felt deeply troubled.
Honestly, she didn't approve of Bai Murong's actions, but she understood Murong. Murong was definitely acting out of good intentions, so she disliked Bai Shengyi's aggressive stance towards her own sister.
More importantly, she had promised Murong that she would protect her for a lifetime. She couldn't bear to watch Murong suffer like this.
"Shengyi, are you really going to stop me?" Li Shiqing thought, her aura steadily rising. If this girl Bai Shengyi insisted on being stubborn, she would have to resort to force.
Bai Shengyi chuckled lightly, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "Fellow Daoist Li, it is you who insists on saving her."
"And I will not let her go." She said each word deliberately, leaving no room for negotiation.
This was her conviction, her bottom line.
"Then I apologize!" Li Shiqing struck suddenly!
Her palm wind, like a sharp blade, swept fiercely towards Bai Shengyi. The long sword in her hand was unsheathed in an instant, like a dragon entering the sea, carrying rich water spiritual energy as it struck the vines simultaneously.
"Bang!"
Bai Shengyi met Li Shiqing's palm!
Vast spiritual energy rippled outwards. Azure water droplets gradually condensed into ice and snow, an bone-chilling coldness transferring from her palm. Bai Shengyi simultaneously mobilized her mental power and wood spiritual energy to resist, but she suddenly sensed something was wrong.
"This is..."
She saw crystalline snowflakes suddenly erupt into scorching crimson flames, burning fiercely!
"You're a dual spirit root!" she exclaimed, a scene flashing through her mind. It felt as if she had experienced this before.
However, before she could ponder further, a dense pain erupted in her eyes and dantian, and a feeling of exhaustion made her consciousness falter uncontrollably...
"Pfft!"
Bai Shengyi painfully spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed softly onto the ground, Li Shiqing's palm still aimed at her...
Chu Tianle returned and saw this scene.
He rushed over, "Sister Li! Stop!"
He blocked in front of Bai Shengyi and looked at Li Shiqing with confusion, "Why are you hitting Shengyi? Shengyi just gave you Thunder Crystals! How can you do this..."
Chu Tianle felt his head was about to explode. He had only been back a moment, and why were his savior and the person he liked fighting?
And the key was, these two had seemed to be on good terms just moments ago!
"Sister Li, do you have some unspoken difficulty?" Chu Tianle kept making excuses for Li Shiqing, because the Li Shiqing he knew was a responsible elder sister, not someone who bullied others casually.
The green vines vanished shortly after, and Li Shiqing quickly rescued Bai Murong.
Seeing Chu Tianle insisting on an answer, she could only say, "Fellow Daoist Bai intended to harm my savior. I could not stand idly by."
As she spoke, she carried Bai Murong away.
Savior?
Chu Tianle was somewhat confused yet also enlightened. No wonder Sister Li was so good to Bai Murong; that was why.
But something was wrong? Chu Tianle suddenly recalled that in all these years, apart from that one time when the heirs of their few families went to the East Yue jungle for training together, Li Shiqing had never left her family. How did she develop a life-saving debt with Bai Murong?
Chu Tianle suddenly realized something but wasn't entirely sure. His emotions were stirred, and he couldn't even bother with Bai Shengyi, chasing after her.
"Sister Li, the life-saving grace you mentioned, was it that time..."
Chu Tianle's figure disappeared down the corridor.
A while later, the area around Room 3 seemed to be shielded. The observers around could no longer clearly see what was happening nearby.
At this moment, a man in red appeared abruptly in the corridor.
He expressionlessly picked up Bai Shengyi, then vanished from his spot as if by magic. In the next instant, he appeared in Bai Shengyi's room.
He placed Bai Shengyi on the bed, pried her mouth open, and fed her a fourth-grade Spirit Nurturing Pill and a fourth-grade Rejuvenation Pill. For the first time, he had the chance to examine the unconscious Bai Shengyi.
And for the first time, he felt a strong urge to scold this woman thoroughly!
"Where's that cleverness you showed when you tricked me with the Rejuvenation Pill and scammed me for the Azure Fruit? Why is your brain so waterlogged today!" Qin Si couldn't hold back any longer.
He only took time to attend a meeting with the academy head, and she managed to get herself into this state. It was so typical of Bai Shengyi!
"Have you forgotten that you just reached Foundation Establishment and your meridians were tempered by lightning? You need to consolidate your cultivation properly!"
"Spiritual energy depleted, meridians ruptured, what were you even thinking!"
...
Qin Si ranted for a long time before realizing the person on the bed was still unconscious.
Her face was pale, her hair disheveled and scorched, clearly not having recovered from being struck.
There were two thin, long wounds on her eyebrows and cheeks, as if cut by spiritual energy blades. Her once rosy lips were pale and tightly pressed, making her look as if she were close to death.
Suddenly, an inexplicable sense of irritation welled up in Qin Si's heart.
He frowned tightly and contacted Chui Ming, "Does Hua Ye also know how to refine pills?"
"Master, Elder Hua Ye is a beast tamer. What's wrong?" Chui Ming asked curiously. "Oh, is the extreme northern fire poison on you acting up again? Has it worsened and you need a alchemist to take a look..."
Qin Si did not reply and cut off contact.
He stood up with a grim expression, preparing to leave, but as he reached the doorway, he irritably turned back.
"Did I owe you in a past life?" He glared fiercely at Bai Shengyi, but his actions were not hesitant. He fed Bai Shengyi a fifth-grade Rejuvenation Pill.
Then he watched over Bai Shengyi for a while, until he heard Chu Tianle returning outside. His figure moved, and he vanished without a trace.
If Bai Shengyi were conscious at this moment, she would be utterly shocked.
Qin Si was teleporting! This was a legendary ability of the Nascent Soul stage. What level of cultivation did Qin Si possess?
Unfortunately, Bai Shengyi was still trapped in a nightmare.