Duosheng Danyuan

"Hmph." Faced with Elder Huaizhen's nonchalant attitude, Elder Yuehu merely snorted coldly, then turned to Su Wanqing and said softly, "Go to class, we'll see you this afternoon."

"Okay." Su Wanqing nodded, and walked hurriedly but excitedly to the seats where Lin Xu and I were, and sat back down between us.

"I'm leaving."

Take care.

"Pay more attention in class."

"Don't worry, we'll do exactly as the sect leader says."

That's good.

Nodding, Elder Yuehu closed the door, and his figure gradually disappeared behind it.

Looking at Elder Yuehu who suddenly appeared and then left immediately, and recalling the conversation between Elders Yuehu and Huaizhen just now, I looked at Su Wanqing with a million questions in my mind.

Was what happened to her in the Old Profound Hall exactly as Elder Qingyue described? Why did she return from the True Profound Hall today? Did Elder Jianshan really fight Elder Yuehu just now? Is Elder Jianshan's thinness related to the fight? And, who exactly did she choose as her master? What kind of temperament does the head of the Shengdan Academy have?

Countless confusions swirled in my mind, transforming into a complex gaze fixed on Su Wanqing's face.

Noticing my gaze, Su Wanqing turned around and looked at me, paused for a moment, and then gave me a reassuring smile.

Clearly, she was still herself; she had neither been possessed by the undead nor significantly influenced by the elders.

So, I felt a little relieved and smiled at her.

Unlike me, Lin Xu's gaze towards Su Wanqing was much simpler, almost purely one of concern. Similarly, Su Wanqing smiled at Lin Xu, indicating that he didn't need to worry.

"Alright, let's begin the lesson. But before we start, there's one more thing we need to take care of. Zeng Yixi, come up here."

"...Yes." When Elder Huaizhen called her name, everyone's eyes couldn't help but turn to Zeng Yixi in the back row. Under everyone's gaze, Zeng Yixi remained silent for a while, her face slightly uneasy, before finally responding to Elder Huaizhen's request.

Then, just like Chen Yu, Tang Anran, and Qian Zhe yesterday, she came to Elder Huaizhen's side.

Turn around.

"Yes..." Zeng Yixi's voice trembled slightly as she turned around, her back to Elder Huaizhen, facing us directly.

No matter how much she tried to endure it, I could clearly see that beneath her twitching expression lay mostly fear.

Why the fear? I think it's because, like Chen Yu, she was punished for the removal of her acquired spiritual power related to her internal organs, rather than the innate spiritual energy of her three souls and seven spirits. And Chen Yu's fate yesterday wasn't pleasant at all.

As expected, Elder Huaizhen's next words directly confirmed my guess.

"The spleen is deficient, so it should be warmed with strong fire. Child, you must endure the pain of this piercing fire..." Elder Huaizhen murmured in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, with his left hand on Zeng Yixi's shoulder and his right hand rubbing her back to find acupoints.

"..." Zeng Yixi responded to Elder Huaizhen's words with silence.

"I'm going to begin."

As he spoke, wisps of white mist began to rise around Elder Huaizhen, and his eyes closed for a long while before opening again, turning the same scarlet color as when they first met yesterday.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, tiny red lights began to flash on Zeng Yixi's upper left abdomen.

Zeng Yixi's expression began to contort, but she remained silent throughout.

After about three minutes, Elder Huaizhen removed his hands from Zeng Yixi's body and said softly, "That's about enough."

"Uh... Ugh! Hiss—Aaaaaah!"

First, her expression contorted to the extreme as Zeng Yixi clutched her abdomen tightly with both hands, silently trying to alleviate the pain in her body. Then came a scream she tried desperately to suppress. Clenching her teeth, white liquid began to instinctively and uncontrollably flow from her mouth, eyes, and nose, her distorted face sending chills down one's spine. Finally, unable to maintain her balance any longer, Zeng Yixi gasped for breath and collapsed completely to the ground, letting out a painful scream.

The situation was far more dire than what happened to Chen Yu yesterday.

Seeing the scene before me, my heart began to race uncontrollably. My gaze drifted slightly to the left, and I admit, I had a fleeting thought of giving up on observing Zeng Yixi's current miserable state.

However, since this was intelligence, I still kept glancing at Zeng Yixi on the stage out of the corner of my eye, praying for her in my heart.

"Ugh! Ah, ah, ah, ah..." The screams lasted for about a minute. In the end, Zeng Yixi could only writhe on the floor in pain, her body instinctively curling into a ball.

Her still-trembling body conveyed to us the message that her pain was still present.

"If you can't hold on any longer, I can help you, just don't think the price is too high." On the platform, Elder Huaizhen crossed his legs, kicked Zeng Yixi who was lying on the ground, and said nonchalantly, "Hey, can you still hear me?"

"Snapped!"

"Um?"

Faced with Elder Huaizhen's behavior, Zhang Muyun slammed his hand on the table, suppressing his anger, and said in a deep voice, "Elder, what exactly did Zeng Yixi do wrong? You didn't insult people like this when Chen Yu was punished yesterday, did you?"

Zhang Muyun's wording was respectful. However, his tone revealed a deep dissatisfaction.

With a disdainful laugh, Elder Huaizhen lowered his crossed legs, leaned forward slightly, and looked at Zhang Muyun with a more serious expression. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Hmph...haha, interesting. Are you questioning me?"

"I...I just want to know, why are you treating me this differently?" Zhang Muyun bit her lip, remained silent for a long time, and then continued to speak out for Zeng Yixi.

"I said, are you questioning me? Don't make me repeat myself a third time." Flicking his bangs, Elder Huaizhen's eyes turned from scarlet to dark red in the blink of an eye, but his tone turned icy.

"..." Faced with the aggressive Elder Huaizhen, Zhang Muyun remained silent for even longer this time. After a long while, he finally spoke: "This is not an interrogation, but a question. Each person only has one chance to ask a question per day."

"Oh, so it's a question." Relaxing his expression, Elder Huaizhen's eyes turned back to scarlet. He looked at Zhang Muyun for a long time before smiling again, saying with a hint of amusement, "I thought it was a coup. You scared me to death."

"..." Zhang Muyun remained silent, her face grim. Many of us who were still sitting probably had grim faces as well.

"The answer to the question is simple: Zeng Yixi made a mistake."

"Chen Yu also made a mistake," Zhang Muyun said immediately.

"Chen Yu made a mistake that fell within my jurisdiction, so of course I should bear the corresponding responsibility and properly guide him to break through his lungs and cultivate spiritual power; Zeng Yixi's mistake was not within my jurisdiction, and moreover, it was a serious mistake. Now, however, I have taken on the responsibility of guiding her. For me, this is a selfless act of charity. You bunch of bystanders are still questioning my attitude? What a joke! If I wanted to, even if Zeng Yixi died in pain here today, it wouldn't concern me at all."

"you!"

"Your questioning opportunity is over. Now, sit down." With a cold glint in his eyes, Elder Huaizhen looked at Zhang Muyun with utmost seriousness, even carrying a hint of solemn murderous intent.

"..."

Despite her struggle, Zhang Muyun eventually sat down obediently.

It was at this moment that I withdrew my gaze from Zhang Muyun.

It must be said that Zhang Muyun's choice was correct, aside from his initial impulsive outburst. The second rule of the Refining Heart Hall clearly states: "The weak are born with original sin in the face of survival; all fear stems from insufficient firepower."

In this classroom, Elder Huaizhen is the strong one, and we disciples are the weak one. In order to survive, we must submit to the strong. In other words, outside the rules, we do not yet have the strength to fight against Elder Huaizhen.

"You didn't even say thank you? Are you a forgetful child too?"

"...Thank you."

"Also? Why do you say 'also'?" I frowned, looking at Elder Huaizhen, who was still yawning on the podium, with some confusion in my heart.

Tick-tock, time continued to pass, and Zeng Yixi remained lying on the ground, only her body twitching from time to time indicating that she had not completely lost consciousness... or, was she dead?

About five more minutes passed, and Zeng Yixi still hadn't stood up. Beneath her, a pool of bright red blood gradually spread out.

"Bleeding?" Wang Hao exclaimed in surprise.

"Wow..." Elder Huaizhen exclaimed in surprise.

"Elder Huaizhen, please help Zeng Yixi..." Tang Anran stammered as she pleaded with Elder Huaizhen beside Zhang Muyun.

"No." Elder Huaizhen decisively rejected Tang Anran's request.

"Why? Didn't you say that you could help Zeng Yixi as long as you paid the price?" Tang Anran said with a hint of resentment, clearly not expecting Elder Huaizhen to refuse so readily.

"Child, watch your attitude," Elder Huaizhen coldly replied to Tang Anran, his gaze never leaving Zeng Yixi, who was bleeding profusely. He continued, "Indeed, I can help Zeng Yixi by paying a price, but that price must be something Zeng Yixi herself can acknowledge. If I help her first, she won't be forced to pay me a corresponding price after she wakes up. In other words, without her explicit acknowledgment, I cannot receive anything in return. And without receiving anything in return, from what angle should I help her?"

"From a teacher's perspective!? Aren't you our teacher?" Tang Anran said, almost in tears.

"Teacher? Heh..." Hearing Tang Anran say this, Elder Huaizhen just shook his head with a cold laugh, and then said to Tang Anran expressionlessly, "Child, you've finished asking your questions. If you say another word, I can't guarantee your safety."

"..."

Silence fell, and everyone fell silent for a moment.

Apart from Zhang Muyun and Zeng Yixi, no one else spoke up to plead for Zeng Yixi. Even Qian Zhe, whom Lin Xu and I believed had a secret connection with Zeng Yixi, remained silent from beginning to end.

"About ten minutes left?"

"What?" Chen Yu asked instinctively.

"Even a Foundation Establishment stage body can't withstand large-scale blood loss. Zeng Yixi will probably bleed to death in about ten minutes? No, we don't know her spiritual root talent yet. If her talent is weaker, she might die in five minutes..."

"Teacher, you..." Lin Xu couldn't help but want to get up and speak.

"Teacher Huaizhen, please help Zeng Yixi."

Su Wanqing, who had been silent since returning, suddenly spoke up, interrupting Lin Xu.