Chapter 33: The Fairy’s Resentment
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
Due to the brutal murder of a disciple in Sheng Jing, and the horrifying nature of their death, most disciples of the Outer Court at the Heavenly Script Academy felt uneasy. The lack of progress from the Office of Affairs in investigating the incident only fueled rampant and exaggerated rumors.
For Ji You, however, the priority was to advance his cultivation realm. A subtle sense of unrest was spreading across the land, and the attack might only be the beginning. In such times, strength was the only true means of survival. Besides, Kuang Cheng was becoming more recklessly headstrong by the day.
Deep winter had set in. The landscape was desolate, with occasional fragments of snow drifting down from the heavens. Ji You arrived at the Field of Enlightenment and found a few dedicated students unaffected by the turmoil, engrossed in their cultivation for days. Among them were individuals like Du Zhu, who had reached the Upper Essence Refinement Stage, Yue Ze, at the Middle Essence Refinement Stage, and Sun Zhi Qiao. These were people who had once associated with Chu He. To them, the Heavenly Script Academy remained the sacred sect of Great Xia; any troublemakers would inevitably be reduced to ashes.
When Ji You appeared, the disciples meditating in the field finally reacted.
“So he really came out unscathed…”
“I heard he used three strikes to save seven people, including two Inner Court Senior Brothers. Is it true?”
“It must be. Someone saw those two Senior Brothers bow to him in gratitude.”
The events of Ji You’s battle in the Western City had spread far and wide, with a relatively complete account circulating among the disciples. The Sword Testing Forest was now abuzz with activity, overflowing with martial cultivators, outnumbering even the bamboo trees there. Some trainees’ rooms near the forest reportedly echoed with instructors cursing Ji You at dusk daily.
Fang Ruo Yao was also at the Field of Enlightenment. Still at the Initial Spirit Awakening Stage, her connection with the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth remained tenuous. She worked tirelessly, pushing herself beyond limits, and had finally glimpsed some progress. Yet, the harder she worked, the clearer the gap between herself and others became—a disparity that effort alone could not bridge.
When she saw Ji You sitting cross-legged, adjusting his robe, her thoughts drifted. Sharing a dormitory with Lou Si Yi and Sun Zhi Qiao, she had heard the most detailed recounts of his exploits, even dreaming a few times of the white-robed swordmaster switching swords mid-battle and gracefully rescuing the two Inner Court disciples. That morning, she overheard Lou Si Yi discreetly send a maid to the city to buy a sword, intending it as a gift for Ji You. For reasons she couldn’t explain, Fang Ruo Yao felt a profound sense of loss.
Rumors in the academy claimed her engagement to Ji You was fabricated since they had never even spoken to each other.
“Ji You, would you walk with me before the hour of Hai?” Fang Ruo Yao summoned her courage to call out to him.
At that moment, a radiant Heavenly Radiance descended from the skies. From above the layered clouds, a resounding tiger’s roar and dragon’s cry echoed, and the radiance merged into Ji You’s Heavenly Spirit, signifying his communion with the Heavenly Tome.
Seeing this, Fang Ruo Yao lowered her gaze, while the others in the field exchanged complex looks.
Entering the Field of Enlightenment and immediately invoking the Heavenly Tome? Such ostentation… no matter how often it was seen, it never failed to evoke envy.
Ji You’s spiritual consciousness soared to the skies, following the vast starlight into the void. Yet, just as he was steadying himself, a snow-white jade foot struck him squarely, sending him tumbling backward with a resounding “pah.”
Before he could make sense of it, Ji You saw only a glimpse of a red-robed woman glaring at him coldly, her frosty demeanor conveying her intense anger.
“?”
[What just happened? A welcome kick? What’s going on?]
Forced out of his state of enlightenment, Ji You stared in confusion.
He attempted to re-enter the void, only to be greeted by the same tender yet firm jade foot, barring him from Mount Void.
Returning to the physical world, Ji You sat on the field and mentally calculated the days. [It’s not that time of the month, is it? Why is she so furious she won’t even let me enter the house?]
Around him, the students gazed in a daze at the fleeting Heavenly Radiance in the sky, expressions blank.
Finally, on his third attempt, Ji You successfully entered the void without interruption. As the chaotic Heavenly Dao and Mount Void became clearer, he saw the red-robed fairy sitting on her Black Stone, her expression still forbidding, warning others to stay away. What caught Ji You’s attention was the deep purple, nearly black aura flickering like flames around her.
“What’s that around you?” Ji You asked.
“The fairy’s resentment,” she said, her icy tone biting.
Although they rarely spoke, she had assumed it was their unspoken agreement to cultivate together every afternoon. Yet, without a word, he had vanished for three whole days. At first, she dismissed it, thinking she had spent over a decade cultivating alone atop a mountain. What difference could his absence make?
But soon, a faint purple aura began to gather around her. Initially mistaking it for a sign of cultivation deviation, she realized it stemmed from emotions in her spiritual state manifesting as visible energy. By the second day, the purple deepened, turning nearly black by the third. Finally, she understood what those swirling yellow wisps around Ji You’s head had been during their earlier encounters.
Suddenly, the aura surrounding her shifted to a sorrowful gray. Ji You observed her for a while before realizing her grievance.
“On the night of the Winter Solstice, I had dinner with my fellow disciples. On the way back, we were ambushed by assailants. The battle drained my spiritual consciousness, and I ended up sleeping for two days straight,” Ji You explained.
“Were you hurt?”
“No injuries,” Ji You assured her. “The academy has been investigating this matter over the past few days. I just finished being questioned.”
The fairy pointed at him. “You’re a disciple of the Heavenly Script Academy.”
Her keen intelligence revealed itself, knowing only the academy among the Seven Great Immortal Sects referred to itself as an academy.
With a faint smile, Ji You looked at the proud fairy. “What is your name, Fairy?”
She scrutinized him for a long moment. “Yan Shu Yi.”
“Well then, I’ll begin cultivating now. No more kicking me. Even if the Way of the Foot is still a Dao…”
“And your name?” she asked.
“Ji… Bo Chang. It means ‘to draw from all strengths,’” he replied.
Yan Shu Yi raised her gaze, narrowing her eyes at the yellow smoke rising from his head. Recognizing her prelude to yet another kick, Ji You held his breath.
“Yan Shu Yi, you promised not to kick me again!”
“Scoundrel!”
“What the…!”
Ji You was unceremoniously kicked out of their “chat group” by her snow-white jade foot. Dumbfounded, he mused.
[How does she even know that word?]
Only then did he notice the golden-yellow smoke billowing freely from his head.