Chapter 180 Chapter 180 I mean you two are both sick...

Si Yao looked at her hands and could feel the spiritual energy of the wood spirit root that she had just absorbed into her body lingering around her.

The activation of her spiritual root was indeed quite sudden; she hadn't had time to react at all. Fortunately, there was a magic array around her courtyard, which prevented the spiritual energy from leaking out.

In the past, she would have been eager to tell her master that she had awakened another spiritual root, but now Si Yao did not want anyone to know that she had a wood spiritual root.

Because of her obvious progress in cultivation, the junior sister felt discouraged and shed tears. They all blamed themselves for being ignorant.

Even if they knew, they wouldn't be genuinely happy for her.

Stop overthinking and quickly bring back the spiritual energy you've released.

As the words floated past her eyes, Si Yao snapped out of her daze and quickly absorbed the spiritual energy emanating from the wood spirit roots into her body.

Water and wood complement each other, and Si Yao could clearly feel a vibrant life force within her body.

The five elements are mutually generating; if used properly, they will benefit you without causing harm.

"Thank you for your guidance, senior." Si Yao was very pleased.

She has now actually become a dual spiritual root of water and wood.

The Wood Spirit Root is influenced by the Water Spirit Root, making it a mutated Wood Spirit Root.

Water produces wood, and wood produces fire.

The next one to be drawn out is the fire elemental root.

Si Yao was still somewhat worried. Water and fire are inherently incompatible, and she was primarily governed by the water elemental root. Although it took some time to draw out the wood elemental root, the process was not difficult.

I wonder if this fire spirit root can be successfully drawn out.

Instead of worrying here, it's better to try. Only by encountering difficulties can we solve them.

“What the senior said is right.” Si Yao nodded.

You'll never know if you can succeed if you don't try. Just like before, she never thought that she could use her water elemental root to draw out other elemental roots.

Si Yao also did not forget to improve her cultivation. Having dual spiritual roots requires more spiritual energy, which slowed down the cultivation speed of her original water spiritual root.

These were not difficult for Si Yao. Although the cultivation was a bit slow, once she succeeded, it would be a different story.

The place where she lived was still full of spiritual energy. Being confined meant she didn't have to go out, and no one would come to disturb her, which Si Yao thought was perfect.

When she was previously confined, she would reflect on what she had done wrong to displease her master, constantly reliving and tormenting herself with these thoughts.

How could she not be heartbroken when the person most important to her didn't trust her? She didn't even know what she had done wrong, but even so, she still had to reflect on her mistakes.

[If you want to find fault, you can always find a reason. Although they have mouths, if you don't like what they have to say, just shut them up.]

"I didn't understand it before. I just felt uncomfortable seeing them being so nice to my junior sister without asking why."

She tried to comfort herself, thinking that maybe her junior sister really didn't mean it. But after several repetitions, Si Yao realized that her junior sister was indeed doing it on purpose.

She told her master, only to receive a reply: "As the eldest disciple, don't be narrow-minded and do things out of jealousy towards your fellow disciples."

"I just don't understand why she's targeting me like this when I've done nothing wrong to her?"

Before her master brought her junior sister Wen Yin back, she didn't know Wen Yin at all. Wen Yin's repeated targeting left Si Yao somewhat confused, not understanding where she had offended her.

While Xiang Bei was pondering how to comfort Si Yao, Si Yao had already cheered herself up, "Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. None of that matters. I need to cultivate my five spiritual roots as soon as possible."

Si Yao looked up at the sky and said, "Senior, I think you are right. Instead of wasting time reflecting on ourselves here, we should focus on improving our strength."

Even in the cultivation world, strength is what matters.

Even the Heavenly Sword Sect, the most prestigious sect in the cultivation world, first won people over with its strength before winning them over with its virtue.

Si Yao has never been ambiguous about matters of cultivation.

She felt that since the wood spirit root was related to the plants in the yard, the fire spirit root was very likely related to fire.

She also retained the habit of cooking over a fire. During her more than ten years in the Heavenly Sword Sect, she cooked a lot of food for her master and junior brothers.

Thinking of this, Si Yao couldn't help but sigh.

Forget about it. Just consider it feeding a bunch of ungrateful wretches.

"Senior, how did you know what I was thinking?" Si Yao asked Xiang Bei in surprise.

I can tell from your expression.

Si Yao sighed, "Although Master doesn't believe me, he was the one who saved me back then, and I shouldn't forget the life-saving grace. Master is different from me in the end."

Xiang Bei moved her lips and said, "If it weren't for your master, your whole village would still be alive and well."

As a result, this message never reached Si Yao.

“Host, you can’t tell Si Yao directly, that would be a spoiler. You can only guide her to discover the truth.”

Xiang Bei paused for a moment, looked at Si Yao, and then didn't say anything more.

For a moment, I didn't know what to say. If Si Yao knew that the master she respected and loved was the culprit who killed the village, I don't know how heartbroken she would be.

"In my experience, don't be soft-hearted towards men. I know many girls similar to you, and they almost suffered for eight lifetimes because they were soft-hearted towards men. The Master you see may also have another side that you don't know about."

Si Yao listened in a daze for a moment, then smiled and shook her head, not continuing the topic.

She stared at the burning fire in the stove and reached out to feel its temperature.

But no matter how she tried, she couldn't draw out the fire elemental root. She had tried to draw out the wood elemental root the same way she had done before, but she hadn't expected that drawing out the fire elemental root would be even more difficult than she had imagined.

Water is her innate spiritual root, which she is quite skilled at using. Wood is her spiritual root, which she is currently cultivating. She doesn't really have the ability to use her wood spiritual root to draw upon her fire spiritual root.

After carefully considering the difficulties, Si Yao not only did not feel frustrated, but was instead inspired to fight.

She has never been afraid of hardship. In the past, she would practice her sword over and over again. How could she back down because of something like this?

She's just drawing upon the fire elemental root; she'll definitely succeed.

"Senior, I will definitely work hard and not let you down."

【I trust you. 】

The female lead is indeed the female lead; her willpower is extraordinary.

The female protagonists that Xiang Bei encounters all possess this kind of perseverance. It is precisely because of this that they are able to break through the constraints of the original text and move towards a bright future.

"Si Yao, Yin Yin wants to eat the beef soup you make. Did you make it and bring it to your teacher?"

When Daoist Chongming transmitted his voice, Si Yao was in front of the fire, studying how to draw out her fire spirit root. She was stunned for a moment upon hearing the voice, and the fire almost singed her brows as she blew on the fire.

Daoist Chongming simply uttered those words and then fell silent.

Si Yao looked around the kitchen for a long time, still somewhat confused, before finally speaking, "Senior, did you hear my master's voice just now?"

I heard you.

Si Yao scratched her hair, rolled up her sleeves, and vigorously fanned the burning firewood twice with both hands.

Choked by the smoke, he took a few steps back and after a while said, "It really is Master. I thought I had gone into a state of demonic possession while guiding my spiritual root and was hallucinating."

She didn't ask Xiang Bei what she had just heard, and continued to fiddle with the fire in front of her. The senior told her to use her heart to feel it, but she didn't even use her own cultivation or have any defense, and ended up covered in soot.

In an attempt to truly feel the temperature of the fire, Si Yao was drenched in sweat from the heat, but she still couldn't quite grasp the correct method.

"What exactly went wrong?" Si Yao's eyes were stinging from the smoke, and tears were streaming down her face uncontrollably.

[Never mind what the problem is, your master is here and looks very angry. Do you want me to help you conceal your wood spirit root?]

Si Yao nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes."

With Master's abilities, he should be able to see that she has awakened the Wood Spirit Root. Si Yao doesn't really want him to know, so it would be best if the senior could help cover it up.

Just as Xiang Bei had helped Si Yao conceal the wood spirit root, Daoist Chongming rushed over.

Originally furious, Daoist Chongming abruptly stopped in his tracks when he saw Si Yao, whose face was blackened by smoke, whose eyes were red, and whose face was streaked with tears.

His gaze fell on the fire on the ground, and he couldn't utter the question he had originally intended to ask. After a moment of silence, he finally looked away from Si Yao.

Daoist Chongming frowned and asked, "What are you doing?"

Si Yao was also puzzled as to what was wrong with her master this time, as he seemed so angry.

“They’re starting a fire,” she said.

"Master, what brings you here?"

Daoist Chongming paused for a moment before remembering why he had come.

He had just sent a telepathic message, but Si Yao not only didn't respond, she also hadn't brought the beef soup over yet. Wen Yin thought that Si Yao was angry with her and refused to make beef soup for her. He also thought that Si Yao must be holding a grudge against Wen Yin, so he came over angrily.

Wen Yin is a kind-hearted woman. I don't know why Si Yao is so jealous and can't tolerate her.

Seeing Si Yao's appearance, Chongming Daojun's anger flared up again. "I asked you to make beef soup for Yinyin, but you haven't done anything for a long time. I came to check, and it's still not done? Do you know that Yinyin cried because you didn't send the beef soup over? Send the beef soup over in a bit and apologize to Yinyin."

Si Yao tried to open her eyes, but the smoke made them sting, and tears streamed down her face. Her eyes were red, and tears fell uncontrollably. When she first came to the Heavenly Sword Sect, she wasn't very good at cooking, and she hadn't had her eyes stung by smoke from a fire in a long time.

In Chongming Daojun's eyes, it looked like Si Yao was crying.

He paused for a moment. In his memory, this apprentice was very stubborn. He was probably frightened by witnessing the villagers being slaughtered by demons and didn't like to cry.

Even when she smiles, it's only at her master.

Unexpectedly, she cried like this today. Daojun Chongming kept his expressionless face and didn't say anything.

[Who told you to be so honest, insisting on putting your face so close to feel it? Whose eyes are being stung by the smoke? Don't move, I'll spray some medicine on you.]

Si Yao stood there obediently without moving, and immediately felt something cool and refreshing spray onto her eyes, which instantly made her feel less uncomfortable.

My vision was still a bit blurry, and I couldn't even see my master's expression clearly.

"Si Yao, I'm talking to you. Do you no longer even respect your teacher?"

Si Yao then remembered that her master had come to demand an explanation for her junior sister who hadn't gotten to eat beef soup. "Master, I don't have any beef here."

But thinking of his little apprentice, he said coldly, "If you don't have any, go down the mountain and buy some."

Si Yao wiped away her tears and said, "Master, you didn't tell me to stay home, so how could I dare to go out? Besides, I'm just the eldest senior sister, not the junior sister's mother. If she's hungry, she can find food herself. Why should I have to cook for her?"

"What kind of talk is that?" Daoist Chongming roared. "Do you even have the demeanor of a senior sister?"

“Master does look like a father. They say that a teacher for a day is a father for life. Master, you are a very good father to your junior sister. I can’t compare.”

Upon hearing Si Yao's words, Daoist Chongming's face turned ashen. Just as he was about to speak, Wen Yin arrived.

Wen Yin immediately noticed the tear tracks on Si Yao's cheeks and frowned, saying, "Why are you crying, Senior Sister? Did Master scold you again?"

After saying that, she tugged at Chongming Daojun's sleeve and complained, "Master, don't be so fierce to Senior Sister. Senior Sister is a girl too. If you're fierce to her, she'll definitely be sad."

Looking at his little disciple, Chongming Daojun's anger, which had been stirred up by Si Yao, had dissipated considerably. He smiled indulgently at Wen Yin and even pinched her nose, saying, "Do you think everyone is as delicate and frail as you?"

Si Yao calmed down for a moment, and when she saw the two people flirting in front of her, that indescribable feeling came back to her.

She admitted that she liked her master, but she never dared to say it.

Because it is a great act of disrespect for a disciple to like his master.

But why can the junior sister do it?

She could even affectionately tug at her master's sleeve, look at him, and loudly tell him, "Master, I like you so much."

No one thought that the junior sister did anything wrong; on the contrary, they thought she was naive and romantic.

It's always like this; wherever Junior Sister appears, Master can no longer see her.

Am I not her apprentice?

Don't overthink it.

As the words floated past her eyes, Si Yao instantly snapped back to reality.

Thinking back to her thoughts just now, she frowned. She didn't understand why those thoughts had come to her again.

Daoist Chongming glanced at his little disciple, then looked at Si Yao, who was standing there blankly, seemingly lost in thought. Seeing the tear stains on her face, he softened his tone, giving Si Yao a kind look, "Alright, this time I'll let it go because Wen Yin pleaded for you. Don't be so rigid next time. Since I've sent you this message, it means you're under house arrest. Do you understand?"

"I don't understand," Si Yao blurted out.

"What did you say?" Daoist Chongming roared in anger once more.

In the past, whenever he grounded her, Si Yao would become very obedient within a few days, but this time she actually dared to talk back to him.

That's absolutely outrageous.

I didn't even bother with her nonsense earlier, but she's still acting all high and mighty.

"Si Yao, do you have a problem with me, your master?"

"Master, you must have misunderstood Senior Sister. Everyone in the Heavenly Sword Sect knows that Senior Sister's favorite person is Master."

"You're sick!" Si Yao said, looking at the two people in front of her.

"Senior Sister, are you saying I'm sick?" Wen Yin blinked, her eyes instantly reddening, tears welling up in them.

Si Yao couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. Here it comes again, it's happening again.

She raised her hand and pointed at Wen Yin, then at Chongming Daojun, "I'm not just talking about you, I'm saying that both of you are sick."

Before they could speak, Si Yao looked at Daojun Chongming and said, "As a master and an elder, you're being all lovey-dovey with your disciple and praising her for being innocent and naive. She's not a child. You two are so close. You can fool the disciples in the sect into thinking that you have a good master-disciple relationship. But once you leave the Heavenly Sword Sect, can you control what others think?"

"Si Yao!"

Si Yao, who was being stared at by death, didn't even give Chongming Daojun a second glance.

"Senior Sister, how can your thoughts be so filthy? My relationship with Master is naturally innocent."

Si Yao raised her hand slightly, then opened her palm, revealing a piece of stone-like material. The image that appeared on the stone was Wen Yin holding hands with Daoist Chongming.

"Whether I am despicable or you are, I will project the images recorded by this image-recording stone fragment, and then you can explain it to the immortal sects yourselves."

As soon as Si Yao finished speaking, the fragment of the recording stone in her hand shattered into pieces.

Wen Yin's panicked face turned smug again. Before the smile on her lips could even rise, she saw that Si Yao had produced another identical fragment of the recording stone, with the same scene appearing on it.

The fragments were once again shattered by Daoist Chongming.

No matter how many times it breaks, Si Yao will always take out an identical fragment.

Let him destroy evidence. I'll find as much as he can, exhaust him to death.

Si Yao hadn't expected that Xiang Bei would have so many fragments of the recording stone. Every time her master destroyed one, the senior would stuff it into her palm.

Xiang Bei couldn't say for sure either; it wasn't a fragment of the recording stone at all, but rather an image that had been replicated from the scene just now, made to look like a stone.

The system can generate a bunch of these things in no time.

Seeing Si Yao take it out again and again, Daoist Chongming destroyed it while visibly furious.

Wen Yin screamed, clutching her head, "No, Senior Sister, please don't do this! I won't be able to live! Senior Sister, please!"

Daoist Chongming embraced Wen Yin, his gaze towards Si Yao filled with murderous intent. "What exactly do you want in order to make you willing to destroy this thing?"

"Get out of here, and don't let me see you again," Si Yao said expressionlessly.

Daoist Chongming looked at Si Yao with suspicion in his eyes.

He knew, of course, that Si Yao's feelings for him were not as pure as those between a teacher and student. He wanted to see from Si Yao's expression whether she was playing hard to get.

No matter how he looked at her, Si Yao remained indifferent, which greatly displeased Chongming Daojun. He felt that Si Yao was simply jealous of his kindness towards Wen Yin; otherwise, why would she use this thing to threaten him?

"Senior Sister, do you keep your word?"

"Get out," Si Yao said again.

"Master, let's leave first. I believe that Senior Sister is a person who keeps her promises."

Daoist Chongming looked at Si Yao, still unable to discern any emotion on her face, then looked at Wen Yin before leading her away.

Watching her master and his beloved little disciple leave, Si Yao felt a nameless anger rise in her heart.

Why is it always like this?

No matter what his beloved little apprentice asked for, he always fulfilled her requests unconditionally.

If Wen Yin wanted to eat something, Si Yao would immediately order her to make it. If it didn't suit Wen Yin's taste, it was also Si Yao's fault. Si Yao felt as if she were being burned by fire.

Look at the fire!

Si Yao turned her head and looked over. There were red specks on the fire, just like the spiritual energy of the wood spirit root she had seen before.

"It has appeared."

Si Yao didn't have time to think much before she immediately sat down cross-legged and absorbed the spiritual energy into her body.