Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Trading the Fire-Scale Vine to Leave Thunder-Scale Peak

Master Ling Xiao’s face turned as dark as storm clouds. He swept a cold gaze toward Shen Sang Ruo in the corner. She had shifted into a more comfortable position and sat against the wall.

She had expected all of this and said with light mockery: “It seems even someone as strong as Master Ling Xiao is not all-powerful.”

“Only I can open it. The Fire-Scale Vine is in my hands. You are the ones asking me, so show the right attitude and some real sincerity. What are insults and threats supposed to do?”

As soon as she finished, Master Ling Xiao’s aura surged. He was proud by nature and could not bear his Disciple talking back like this. He said, cold and sharp: “Let me see how hard your bones are. You are an egg striking a rock. You are overestimating yourself.”

He had miscalculated. He had not expected Shen Sang Ruo to have such an uncommon artifact. But so what? If he could not deal with the artifact, he could still deal with her.

Master Ling Xiao lifted his hand, and a fire dragon roared out with crushing force. It was the Spellcraft of the Profound Fire True Dragon Art.

Shen Dao Chen shouted at once and sent a beam of Spiritual Power to cancel the dragon: “Ling Xiao, do not!”

He was calmer than Master Ling Xiao and could see that violence was not the best choice now. That attack would leave Shen Sang Ruo seriously hurt or even dead. With both sides already on edge, she would never hand over the Fire-Scale Vine then, and Bai Mu Mu was still waiting to be saved. Also, Shen Sang Ruo had been his foster daughter for many years. Even if she seemed mad now, he could not watch her be harmed.

Shen Sang Ruo watched their tug-of-war with cool ease.

Shen Dao Chen tried to persuade him, voice steady: “No matter what, she has been your Disciple for many years. Do not act on impulse and do something you will regret.”

But Master Ling Xiao’s anger had fully ignited. He snapped: “Why are you stopping me? This wicked disciple keeps testing my authority. I will clean my gate today.”

He pointed at Shen Sang Ruo and said: “If you do not hand over the Fire-Scale Vine, I will personally expel you from the sect.”

Shen Sang Ruo laughed, and her laughter echoed through every corner of the cave. Just when Master Ling Xiao and Shen Dao Chen thought a Malevolent Spirit had performed a Body Seizure on her, she stopped and answered in a light tone: “Sure.”

The joy in her eyes was real, not an act. Master Ling Xiao and Shen Dao Chen frowned at the same time. Could she really be possessed? She was about to be cast out. Why was she happy?

Master Ling Xiao remembered a time years ago when Shen Sang Ruo pestered him to teach her the Profound Fire True Dragon Art. He grew annoyed and threatened to expel her if she kept it up. She had turned pale on the spot, tears sparkling in her eyes. When she saw him after that, she would tear up again but dared not cry out loud, afraid he would get angry and drive her away. That lasted for several days, until he gently coaxed her and promised never to joke like that again. Only then did she smile.

His thoughts drifted. Once, he had spoiled and indulged her. That memory felt far away now. Today, she had become so hard to like, and their bond had long faded. Even hearing she would be expelled made her happy.

A deep crease formed between his brows. He stared at Shen Sang Ruo but could not see through her.

Shen Sang Ruo lifted the corner of her eyes and said, clear and firm: “But I do not want to be expelled because of the Fire-Scale Vine. I want to trade the Fire-Scale Vine for leaving the sect.”

She spoke straight ahead, voice steady and decisive. She seemed to have no ties or feelings left for Thunder-Scale Peak. She thought to herself: [I did nothing wrong. Why should I leave with the label of a cast-off disciple? I will walk out of Thunder-Scale Peak with my head high.]

“It is not that you drove me away. It is that I am giving you up.”

Their expressions turned stranger. Master Ling Xiao’s face grew uglier. He had already decided Shen Sang Ruo should not stay under his seat. But being expelled by him and her choosing to leave were two different things. How could she have the nerve to give up a Master like him? Only he could give up a disciple like her.

It was like with the Profound Fire True Dragon Art before. He could refuse to give it, but she could not refuse him. And she had refused to hand over the Fire-Scale Vine earlier, yet now she wanted to trade it for freedom. What did that mean? Did she despise him? Or did her dislike for him outweigh her hatred of Bai Mu Mu?

Dark clouds settled on Master Ling Xiao’s face.

Shen Dao Chen quickly said: “Sang Ruo, what are you saying? Hurry and apologize to your Master. There may still be room to turn this around.”

Master Ling Xiao was the best choice in the Cultivation World. Shen Sang Ruo had become his Disciple because Shen Dao Chen had made the introduction. If they severed their bond now, it would slap his face in public.

Shen Sang Ruo turned her eyes to Shen Dao Chen and asked: “What is it? Senior Uncle, do you not want the Fire-Scale Vine to save Bai Mu Mu?”

She set down her terms, voice cool: “I will say it here today. If you want the Fire-Scale Vine, then dissolve the Master-Disciple bond between me and Master Ling Xiao, and do not tell the outside world that I was expelled from Thunder-Scale Peak.”

“Otherwise, I would rather break than bend. Do you not care so much about Bai Mu Mu? For her sake, let a person you dislike leave. Is that not good for both sides?”

Shen Dao Chen looked at her firm eyes and felt a strange unease. He also thought of Bai Mu Mu lying on the bed between life and death, and his face grew tangled.

On the other side, Master Ling Xiao had already decided. He said calmly: “I agree.”

He raised his hand, and glowing words appeared. It was the Master-Disciple Contract Scroll formed when Shen Sang Ruo bowed to him as her teacher. If he destroyed this book, their bond would be dissolved.

“Since we are ending the Master-Disciple bond, I have the right to take back everything I have given you,” he said.

Shen Sang Ruo did not care. Everything Master Ling Xiao and the others had given her had been sealed and left untouched in her cave.

Seeing her calm face, Master Ling Xiao let out a cold laugh and said: “Do you think I mean only those dead objects?”

“What I mean,” he said, eyes half-closed as he spoke each word, “includes your cultivation.”

A golden chain shot out from the Master-Disciple Contract Scroll and streaked toward Shen Sang Ruo. Shen Dao Chen knew what it was. It was a chain that could strip away the cultivation a Disciple had gained through a Master’s guidance. But he was too late. The chain had already wrapped around Shen Sang Ruo.

Master Ling Xiao snorted and said: “Thunder-Scale Peak is not a place you can come and go as you please. You dream of walking out from under my seat safe and sound.”

“A mere ant dares to threaten me. How foolish.”