Chapter 383

Chapter 383: A Clever Youth

If what Young Manor Lord Ji said was true, Ji Guang Dai and the female demonic cultivator had been tangled up for more than ten years, with her in the lead. Then she might know all his secrets-his feud with the Jiang clan, and his feud with Yu Zhi Yi.

Now that Ji Guang Dai was dead, there were only a few suspects. If the other side was reasonable, fine; at least they would probe bit by bit. But how could you expect a demonic cultivator to be reasonable? If she were reasonable, she wouldn’t have kept Ji Guang Dai as a living cultivation vessel in the first place.

“Thank you for telling me, Young Manor Lord Ji. This is very important to me,” Yu Zhi Yi said, straightening her posture.

Young Manor Lord Ji smiled: “I’m only repaying Official Yu for saving my life.”

Yu Zhi Yi raised an eyebrow.

He gave a bitter smile: “You may not believe it, but before the accident I already knew I was just a tool Ji Guang Dai prepared to divert heaven’s punishment. But the mystic arts are mysterious, and he guarded me tightly and cut me off from the outside world. Even if I knew his scheme, I had no way to break it.”

That feeling-having to watch himself sink into a dead end-was true despair. Back then he even found himself wishing the punishment would come sooner, so he could be freed.

Later, the punishment really came. When he fell without warning into a bottomless ravine, what he felt wasn’t fear of death but release. He never expected he wouldn’t die.

When he woke, the physician who treated him called it a miracle. The physician said his whole body had shattered fractures and his internal organs-heart, liver, spleen, stomach-were badly damaged. Normally he shouldn’t have woken any time soon. Even if he did, his body would weaken day by day, and within three months he would die.

But he recovered.

At first Young Manor Lord Ji was confused. Then he learned Ji Guang Dai had died by a terrifying bolt of lightning, and he suddenly understood. It wasn’t heaven’s special favor or luck at all-it was because Official Yu had helped him.

“Whether you meant to or not, I will remember this help,” he said, a deep, fervent light rising in his eyes. “If not for Official Yu, my life would have been ruined by that man. I tell you this only to repay kindness. I hope Official Yu will be safe year after year, and always have joy.”

Yu Zhi Yi touched her nose. [I didn’t expect this little one to be so perceptive.] She had indeed slipped into Juxian Manor that night and quietly treated him, using a few healing talismans to repair his internal organs. To avoid suspicion, she hadn’t healed him in one go-she only gave him the hope of recovery. She did it from the heart, not to seek praise or gratitude. She hadn’t expected him to guess the truth on his own.

Such a clever boy-if he hadn’t been saddled with a father who used his own son, his future might not be any worse than Second Brother Jiang Liu Yi’s.

“Thank you. I will,” Yu Zhi Yi said. After a moment’s thought, she handed him two healing talismans. “Your injuries aren’t fatal anymore, but if you heal naturally, it will still take two or three years. These will speed it up. They may hurt when you use them.”

He had given her a major piece of intelligence; she didn’t want to owe him, so she gave him the gift of a healthy body. After all, he had no family left. A thirteen-year-old guarding a sprawling Juxian Manor could not manage without a sound body.

Young Manor Lord Ji brightened: “Thank you, Official Yu!”

After sending him off, everyone in the room began to discuss the female demonic cultivator. But no matter how they talked, there was no clear plan. The other party wasn’t from the mortal world; the Martial Alliance’s reach might not help at all. With such a hidden danger, both the Jiang clan and Yu Zhi Yi felt like a fishbone was stuck in their throats.

And Yu Zhi Yi had another worry. That day, You Bing Yue had left using a teleportation talisman. Where had the talisman come from? Dragon-Tiger Mountain? Or had Young Master Ou Yang given it to her?

If it really came from Young Master Ou Yang, Yu Zhi Yi wasn’t too worried. He was easily swayed, but at his core he was upright. Even if he got confused, he wouldn’t cross his bottom line. He wouldn’t help You Bing Yue move against the Jiang clan.

But if You Bing Yue had met other cultivators…

Yu Zhi Yi never doubted You Bing Yue’s ability to attract men: from Du Zi Heng to Prince Xiao Yao, from Li Chang Huai to Ou Yang Shuo. Even Young Master Tang-Tang Ming Xuan’s brother-would have fallen for her and ruined his family, if Yu Zhi Yi hadn’t stepped in to change his course.

The people You Bing Yue knew were growing stronger and stronger. At first they were only outstanding youths of the mortal world. No matter how capable those people were, Yu Zhi Yi never worried about them. But cultivators from a mystic sect with a true lineage were a different kind of trouble. If they claimed to be righteous, that was still manageable; such people usually had a bottom line. The real fear was if they were like the Gao clan-beat the juniors and the elders come, beat the elders and a Supreme Elder appears. Then the trouble never ends.

Strength! Strength is the hard truth!

Yu Zhi Yi lost all leisurely calm. After sending off her parents and brothers, she sat cross-legged on the bed and began to cultivate. She had two ways to grow stronger: absorb spirit stones, or continue refining the merit golden light.

She chose the second without much hesitation. First, she still had hundreds of strands of merit golden light not yet refined. Second, spirit stones not only provide pure spiritual energy to a cultivator, they also power formations. An array set with ordinary jade cannot compare to one set with spirit stones. She had already learned this once. If Ji Guang Dai’s own strength hadn’t been lacking that day, the killing formation might really have threatened her.

Now that she knew the Hidden Realm existed-and that she had offended a great clan from the Hidden Realm and a demonic cultivator-she would no longer foolishly assume these people had no stronger methods. So she had to save the spirit stones to preserve lives-hers and her family’s.

After breaking through to the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment realm, Yu Zhi Yi found refining merit golden light even more natural. In the past, she could refine at most two strands in a night. Tonight, after refining four strands, dawn still hadn’t arrived.