Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Robbery! Robbery!

Rong Shu did not cultivate that night but chose to sleep and rest to replenish her strength, which was one reason she had returned to the small courtyard on Limitless Peak.

The next day, after packing everything and confirming she had missed nothing, Rong Shu left the courtyard and went to the Hall of Heartlessness. As a personal disciple, she would enter the sect’s secret realm under the escort of her own master, unlike the candidates on the recommendation list who assembled as a large group and went together.

When Rong Shu arrived at the Hall of Heartlessness, she found she was the first to come, so she went in to greet Jun Xiu Ran. Jun Xiu Ran’s attitude toward her was indifferent; only when Yu Ruan Ruan, Feng Lin, and Qin Yuan arrived together did a smile finally appear on his face.

Once everyone was present, Jun Xiu Ran led the four of them to the entrance of the sect’s secret realm. Many sect elders were guarding the place; on a large rune?carved stone dais, sect elders stood at the key points, continuously feeding spirit stones into the formation to keep the entrance stable.

The inner sect and outer sect disciples had not yet arrived. As personal disciples, they could enter the secret realm first, which counted as a privilege. After entering, everyone would appear at random locations within the realm.

Upon entering the secret realm and confirming that no one was nearby, Rong Shu used the item Lin Dao had given her. After a short while, an ordinary?looking woman of about twenty or thirty wearing the outer sect’s robes appeared among the trees. In the blink of an eye, she vanished back into the forest.

A little later, the main body of disciples arrived and dropped into the secret realm one after another like dumplings into a pot. After all had gone in, the entrance was temporarily sealed and would not open again for two months.

Inside the secret realm, two brothers in Heaven’s Evolution Sect outer sect uniforms hurried along; one urged the other: “Move, move, move, the secret realm is full of treasures, and if we’re a step late we’ll miss our chance!” The younger said after glancing around: “Brother, let’s check over there.”

After walking for a while, they reached a dense grove and, to their delight, found that many spirit herbs grew here. A casual stroll revealed no fewer than seven or eight plants. The younger cried as he bent to pick one: “Brother, I see a spirit herb, it looks like…” The elder exclaimed from another direction: “There’s one here, and another here.”

Excitement spent, they rushed to harvest. Every time they plucked a herb, their fingertips trembled with barely contained glee. The younger had just picked one and, as he straightened, an idle glance fell on a pale yellow flower; his eyes went wide and he blurted, voice shaking with excitement: “Whoa, brother, look, that looks like supreme Phoenix Tail Celestial Dew!” The elder hesitated and said: “It does seem like…”

Just then, a woman popped out of the grass within their field of view, her right hand closing precisely around that Phoenix Tail Celestial Dew. With practiced ease, she slipped it into her storage pouch.

At once, the brothers’ joy drained away. The younger muttered: “Damn, someone beat us to it.” The elder narrowed his eyes and said: “She’s alone. Let’s go ‘ask’ her for it.”

Within the secret realm, Heaven’s Evolution Sect disciples were allowed to spar, so long as they did not take lives. When two parties had their eyes on the same spirit herb, a fight was inevitable. The brothers, relying on their numbers, shouted loudly as they blocked the woman’s path: “Robbery, hand over the Phoenix Tail Celestial Dew!”

Rong Shu had just found another herb and was in an excellent mood. Suddenly blocked by two unfamiliar outer sect disciples, she felt thoroughly put out. On hearing them declare a “robbery,” she almost bolted on instinct, then caught herself: [Wait.]

Rong Shu quietly gauged their cultivation. One was at Qi Refining sixth layer, the other at Qi Refining seventh layer. She should be able to win. Without a flicker on her face, she drew back the half step her left foot had started to take.

The brothers, who had been blustering, stared at her plain features and could not place her. Among the Qi Refining Stage disciples entering the realm this time were some older disciples who had been stuck in their cultivation and in seclusion for decades. These two had joined the sect within the last twenty years and did not recognize earlier batches. Faced with an unfamiliar face, both felt a twinge of doubt: had they picked a hard target?

They exchanged a glance and abruptly shed their bandit smirks for beaming smiles, saying with forced cheer: “Ahem, this is all a misunderstanding, we were only joking…”

“It’s not a misunderstanding,” rasped a coarse female voice that sounded like a drum of gravel churned in a mixer. Rong Shu fixed them with a calm look and let two light words fall: “Robbery.”

The brothers, halfway to retreat, froze in astonishment. Good chance. Rong Shu’s eyes flashed; with a lift of her hand, several wind blades condensed and shot toward the two at high speed. At the same time, her feet shifted and her figure vanished from where she stood.

[Gale Step.]

Twin blades settled into her palms. In the space of a few breaths, Rong Shu had closed the distance. Without the slightest hesitation, she slashed with her twin blades, her arcs aimed straight at the brothers’ vitals. The elder brother, the stronger of the two, reacted in time and tried to flee. The younger did not. Only when Rong Shu’s blade rested against his neck did he come to himself and stammer: “Y?you ambushed me?!”

Rong Shu ignored the “younger brother” and said evenly: “You are dead. Don’t move.” With that, she went after the elder brother. Though their realms were the same, Rong Shu had seized the initiative. As her footwork shifted, four wind blades formed around the elder brother, locking onto his throat, both eyes, spine, and heart. He had been guarding against Rong Shu’s charge and, in doing so, neglected the danger right beside him. In an instant, he was under her control.

Noticing the younger brother twitch as if to rush her from behind, Rong Shu warned him: “If this were a fight to the death, you two would already be corpses. I have the right to take your secret?realm gains. Or do you plan to resist because you cannot afford to lose?”

At that, both brothers turned ashen, faces full of unwillingness. But faced with an unknown identity and superior strength, they could only hand over the herbs they had barely warmed in their hands. Rong Shu tucked everything into her storage pouch, cheer brightening her face and even her voice as she said merrily: “You can go. See you again if there’s a chance.”

At her last sentence, both men’s faces went dark. They dared not talk back and fled at once. Their backs, their speed, were like men chased by ghosts. Rong Shu scratched her head and wondered: [Am I really that scary?]