A young cultivator materialized out of thin air and seized the crimson sun with one hand. In an instant, the flames scattered, and he actually pulled a small sword straight out from within the crimson sun.
The man closely examined the small sword wrapped in flames and marveled with a sigh, "The Immortal Sword Great Sun! An immortal foundation that easily ranks among the top three of all immortal swords, and you managed to obtain it from an eleventh-hour breakthrough! Still, the Bao family girl is unharmed, so there is no need to strike with such lethality."
"Let go!" Xiaoyu channeled his Dao power several times, but could not shake the immortal sword free.
By now, Cui Yu had also recovered from his shock. Seeing the situation turn grim, he shouted, "Who are you? Bullying the young—have you no shame at all?"
The young cultivator chuckled. "I only wished to take a closer look at a legendary immortal sword, that is all! Forcing a breakthrough mid-battle is truly ill-advised, as it can easily knock your Dao Foundation down a tier. Yet this child is exceptionally lucky—he still forged an immortal foundation regardless. But to be so young, why so hot-tempered?" With that, he released his grip. The immortal sword flew back of its own accord and sank between Xiaoyu's brows.
Xiaoyu gave a cold snort. "My genius is beyond your comprehension!"
Cui Yu had no time to pick a fight and rushed over to Bao Yun's side to examine her injuries. After checking, everyone saw that the dagger had penetrated only slightly, less than an inch into her flesh, with most of the blade concealed by the folds of her dress. At Bao Yun's current realm of Spirit Refinement, a superficial wound like this would heal on its own within an hour even without medicine.
The Dao Foundation artifact that had so effortlessly pierced through Wei Yuan's body had only barely managed to cut through Bao Yun's robes. Clearly, her dress was no ordinary garment, and looking just like plain clothing without the slightest spiritual glow made it all the rarer.
Although Bao Yun had suffered only a flesh wound, the sheer impact of a full-force strike from a Dao Foundation artifact was not something she could withstand, and she had actually been knocked unconscious by the shock. Cui Yu and the others helped her up, stimulating her with Dao power, and she slowly came to. Immediately seeing her hands and chest covered in blood, she let out a shriek, her small face turning paper-white.
Cui Yu hurriedly reassured her, "It's all right, this is all Wei Yuan's blood... Wei Yuan!"
Only then did the others remember Wei Yuan.
Blood was still gushing from the wound in Wei Yuan's back. The crowd scrambled in a fluster to treat him. But while everyone had learned a bit of alchemy and medicine, this stage was primarily about advancing their cultivation; aside from a gifted few, no one spent effort on such crafts. Furthermore, why would these pampered young masters and mistresses carry wound medicine with them?
Even so, though flustered, they did not lose their heads. They first sealed Wei Yuan's wound, then sent people to rush him to the Hall of Xuanming for treatment.
Seeing Wei Yuan so gravely injured, the crowd was filled with indignation, bursting into curses and shouts.
Channeling his Dao power, Cui Yu made his voice boom across hundreds of paces as he shouted, "Which brilliant Senior Brother secretly established his Dao Foundation without saying a word? What, afraid saying your name out loud will bring you shame?"
Many Traditionalist Faction disciples quietly stepped aside, exposing one person. They too felt this matter was disgraceful and did not want to be associated with him. The Traditionalist disciple was torn between shame and fury, but he knew that injuring Wei Yuan was nothing, whereas injuring Bao Yun was asking for trouble, so he kept his mouth shut.
His silence did not mean Cui Yu would let it drop. Cui Yu's pupils suddenly turned purple, sweeping over the culprit and the cultivator in the air. He sneered internally: *Turns out you're nothing special after all, just putting on airs!*
Dragging out his words, Cui Yu drawled, "Oh, so it's a bottom-tier Earth Tier Dao Foundation! No wonder Senior Brother was in such a rush to strike. After all, in a few months, there won't be any limelight left for you. With such wretched blood, which family's concubine-born branch do you hail from?"
Cui Yu's words were vicious indeed. The cultivator in the air darkened his face and snapped coldly, "He belongs to the direct lineage of the Xu family! While our Xu family may not match your Cui family, we are not to be insulted at will."
Cui Yu shot back, "The Xu family doesn't produce Earth Tier trash!"
With this single remark, he had insulted the cultivator in the air as well. Although that man's aura was far more profound than Xu Du's, belonging to the very pinnacle of Earth Tier Dao Foundations, the peak of the Earth Tier was still only Earth Tier.
The young cultivator turned green with fury and reprimanded him, "A child like you, how can you speak with such reckless insolence? Did your elders never properly teach you manners?"
Before he could finish, Cui Yu was already pointing right at his nose. "I am from the first branch of the Cui family's direct lineage, and my mother likewise hails from an illustrious house! A mere servant like you thinks himself worthy of mentioning my Cui family elders? Give you a scrap of face and you truly forget yourself!"
The young cultivator's hands trembled with rage. "A wastrel through and through, relying solely on family status to bully others!"
Hands behind his back, Cui Yu sneered, "Only relying on family status? Heh! Once I forge my Dao Foundation, won't you, an older man by more than a decade, still have to obediently call me Senior Brother when you see me? Or did your elders fail to teach you manners?"
The young cultivator was so furious that he laughed. "And you are so certain you will achieve Heaven Tier?"
Cui Yu replied nonchalantly, "Though I lack the immense talent of Brother Xiaoyu, my surname is Cui. Even if I were initially Earth Tier trash, the Cui family could forcibly elevate me into a Heaven Foundation."
"My Xu family is also one of the Seven Clans!"
Cui Yu sneered, "The Xu family has wealth, but do they spend it on you? Babbling about the Xu family this and the Xu family that—you're just a servant, so how much of the Xu family's resources have you actually tasted?"
The Reform Faction students listened in silence. When it came to verbal sparring, Cui Yu was in a league of his own; no one was his match. The initial brawl between the two factions had, in fact, started because Cui Yu said a few words too many.
Although the young cultivator's Dao Foundation and innate talent surpassed Xu Du's, the fact that he had been dispatched specifically to watch over Xu Du made it obvious his standing in the family was far below Xu Du's. Born into an exalted house, Cui Yu naturally understood this, which was why he relentlessly attacked the man's status.
Seething with rage yet unable to lay a hand on Cui Yu, the young cultivator could only grab Xu Du by the collar, throw down a promise that an explanation would be given to the Bao family, and depart without another word of argument.
After an incident like this, no one had any heart left for sparring. In the blink of an eye, the elders of the Bao, Cui, and Xiao families received word and rushed over, pouring all manner of precious medicines and immortal pills into Bao Yun. Before she even reached the Hall of Xuanming, her wounds had already healed.
Wei Yuan, on the other hand, lay in the Abbey of Xuanming for quite a while.
Fortunately, the artifact dagger was of simple craftsmanship, bearing no sinister effects or vicious curses. A through-and-through flesh wound like this was actually minor. Once the Daoist priest at the Abbey of Xuanming sprinkled a handful of medicinal powder over it, the wound began to close and regenerate flesh.
The main reason Wei Yuan's injury seemed so severe was that he had not yet begun Blood Refinement. His body was still filled with mortal blood, and despite his immense physical strength, his regenerative capacity was hardly better than a mortal's. Moreover, precisely because his body was so powerful, the energetic consumption was vastly increased, which actually slowed his recovery.
It was half an hour later when Zhang Sheng finally arrived unhurriedly. By then, Wei Yuan's wound had already closed. Had he come half an hour later, the injury would have been completely healed.
Seeing Wei Yuan's wound, Zhang Sheng showed no expression. "Who did this?" he asked.
The Daoist priest of the Abbey of Xuanming was concocting a caustic liquid, preparing to wash Wei Yuan's wound and dissolve the excess flesh that had grown out. Heavily bearded and looking mature, this priest had not actually finished his apprenticeship and was clumsy in medicine; he had sprinkled too much flesh-generating powder earlier, and was now scrambling to fix his mistake.
Hearing Zhang Sheng's question, the priest chimed in, "It's just a trifling matter. I hear the children were roughhousing, and a child from the Xu family accidentally struck too hard and caused an accidental injury. Someone from the Xu family already came by to apologize earlier."
Apologized? Zhang Sheng glanced around.
The sickroom in the Abbey of Xuanming was cramped and narrow, so small that having a few people standing inside made it difficult to turn around. There was no extra furniture in the room, not even the most basic decor. At this moment, the room was exceptionally clean—there were no pastries or fruit, nor any gifts or visiting cards. Where was the apology?
The priest mixing the medicine slapped his forehead. "I forgot to mention just now—that Xu family kid injured two people in total, the other being Bao Yun. When their family sent someone over, they indeed brought many gifts, but they were all given to the Bao family."
"Did anyone come here?"
The priest thought about it. "Someone stopped by to take a look, but didn't say anything."
Zhang Sheng turned to leave.
"Master!" Wei Yuan hurried to call him back. He knew his teacher all too well; once Zhang Sheng walked out that door, things would likely spiral out of hand. "It was just a slip during a private spar, nothing serious."
Zhang Sheng said coldly, "There are two separate marks of an artifact's Dao power in your body, one before and one after. The first mark could be excused as an accidental injury from underestimating you, but the second was deliberate! Furthermore, they did not even offer an apology. This matter will not pass! You are my disciple—how can you be so timid and afraid of trouble, always trying to sweep everything under the rug?"
"When all's said and done, it was my own skills that were lacking, so I should take my own revenge. When students fight, why should we bring in our elders? Besides, against mediocre talent like that, once I finish Bone Refinement I can pretty much thrash him however I please," Wei Yuan urged again.
Zhang Sheng shook his head. "How could vengeance ever wait overnight?"
Just then, a voice came from outside the sickroom: "Is Martial Nephew Wei Yuan inside?"
Chapter 55