Chapter 28 Yuan Ce: No! I don't want to become a cripple!

Yuan Ce wiped the wine stain from his lips and sat down.

The silence fell, and the mocking voices from the crowd were extremely abrupt.

"Over the years, Ye Li has been both a father and a mother to her children, and she has raised a thankless wretch."

Yuan Ce was in high spirits and couldn't stand such sarcasm. He slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Who dares to insult me!"

"Your great-auntie!"

Nie Hongye glared at Yuan Ce and pointed at him, "What, you're not convinced? You dare say that your cultivation wasn't nurtured by Ye Li through teaching and medicine?"

Indeed, Ye Li not only helped Yuan Ce cultivate every day, but also prepared some spiritual medicines for him every month to help him break through. Otherwise, Yuan Ce wouldn't even be able to pass the Qi Refining stage, let alone the Foundation Establishment stage.

Caught off guard, Yuan Ce flew into a rage, "You think I care? Who wants her fake help? It's disgusting!"

Nie Hongye persisted, "Disgusting, huh? Then don't take it! You'll ruin your dantian!"

Yuan Ce's reply was extremely arrogant: "Even if I'm crippled, do you think I can't recover from the late stage of Qi Refining? What a joke!"

"Talking is useless, you're no good at all!"

The two argued more and more fiercely, and in the end, Lu Ziting had to step in to smooth things over.

"Alright, Yuan Ce is still a child, Senior Sister Nie, don't hold it against him."

"An eighteen-year-old child? A giant baby!"

Nie Hongye rolled her eyes. "Forget it! Everyone in your Lotus Sect except Ye Li is a fool. I'm too lazy to waste my breath on you. Let's go!"

Several disciples of the Shuiyun Sect who were eating looked up, bewildered: Huh? Us?

Waaah, we've only just started eating.

They knew Nie Hongye's fighting prowess, so they could only swallow their tears and force themselves to eat a few more bites to stand by her side.

Watching Nie Hongye's angry back, Ye Li couldn't help but smile. How come she never realized that Nie Hongye was such a lovely person before?

"This is infuriating!"

Yuan Ce was annoyed and smashed his wine glass in a fit of rage, yelling, "That damned hag! She's gone, but she still wants to cause me trouble!"

Su Ying'er gently comforted him, "Sixth Senior Brother, why bother with what those outsiders say? Looking at the entire Tianmen Sect, how many people are in the late stage of Qi Refining at the age of eighteen?"

"That's right!"

Yuan Ce said smugly, "It's clearly because I'm exceptionally talented and have extraordinary aptitude. Even if I just practice casually, I can reach the late stage of Qi Refining. Why is she making a fuss!"

"Of course, Second Senior Sister's pills are really unnecessary."

Mo Hannian, who was also "deeply affected" by this, nodded. "She likes to do those unnecessary things to get everyone to praise her. The fact that Nie Hongye said this today shows that her scheme was very successful."

"..."

Across from him, Wen Yao felt a deep sense of powerlessness as he listened to their brief and dismissive remarks about Ye Li's entire effort.

Unable to bear it any longer, he left his seat to catch his breath in the waterside pavilion.

He gazed at the lotus flowers in the water, which were somewhat wilted because no one had tended to them for a long time, and the withered leaves on the water's surface exuded a sense of loneliness.

Just as he was lost in thought, someone called him from behind in a low voice.

"Senior Brother Wen-"

Upon seeing Sun Yun, Wen Yao politely cupped his hands and said, "Brother Sun, weren't you still sick? How come you're out in bed?"

"I……"

Sun Yun gritted his teeth and said, "I'm actually not sick!"

He thought about it for a long time after Wen Yao left yesterday. He could hide for a while, but not forever. He had heard that Wen Yao was of royal lineage and had a powerful background. He planned to tell Wen Yao the truth first, and then have Wen Yao send someone to escort him away from Tianmen Sect.

Rather than being a life-threatening outer disciple in a celestial sect, it's better to be a wealthy and leisurely person.

After making up his mind, he looked around and said, "Senior Brother Wen, I actually saw it that day. It wasn't Ye Li who hurt Senior Brother Bai."

"Really?!" Wen Yao's hope was rekindled. "Brother Sun, what else do you know? Please tell me everything!"

Recalling that day, Sun Yun still felt lingering fear. "That day, Senior Brother Bai and I went down into the cave to find Ye Li. Just as we found the stone chamber where Ye Li was, Su Ying'er arrived and told us to hurry up and go up."

"After I went upstairs, I vaguely heard them arguing, and then Su Ying'er..."

"ah!"

"Yuan Ce, what's wrong with you!"

Just as Sun Yun was about to reveal the truth, a scream suddenly erupted from the crowd.

Wen Yao's attention was also drawn to it, "Little Six?"

Sun Yun broke out in a sweat. "Senior Brother Wen, I haven't finished speaking yet."

Wen Yao looked back at Sun Yun, knowing this was a rare opportunity. "Tell me first, if it wasn't A-Li who hurt Xiao Sheng, then who was it?"

Sun Yun didn't answer, his eyes fixed on what was behind him, as if he had seen something terrifying.

Wen Yao turned his head inexplicably, and Su Ying'er was standing behind him, her sweet face now showing a hint of malice.

He hesitated, "Junior Sister?"

In the blink of an eye, Su Ying'er was back to normal, grabbing his arm with teary eyes, "Third Senior Brother, please go and see Sixth Senior Brother, something has happened to him!"

"What? Wasn't everything fine just now?"

"There's no time to explain, come with me now!"

Wen Yao was in a hurry to rescue the person, so he turned to Sun Yun and said, "Brother Sun, wait for me..."

There was no one there.

Why did Sun Yun leave?

Voices rang out from the crowd, "Third brother! Third brother, come here quickly!"

Wen Yao thought he would go find Sun Yun after this was over, so he went with Su Ying'er first.

When he arrived at Yuan Ce's side, he found him writhing on the ground in agony, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"pain!"

"It hurts so much!"

"..."

Ye Li, who witnessed the entire course of his illness, showed no emotion whatsoever.

Right after Wen Yao left, Yuan Ce, who had been flattered by Su Ying'er, wanted to perform a sword dance for everyone.

Everyone clapped and cheered, making room for him.

Ye Li personally taught Yuan Ce how to wield his sword, and he did so with great skill and power, drawing cheers from all around.

Just as he touched the tabletop with his foot, preparing to perform a "Dragon Spin" move, he suddenly lost his balance and fell to the ground, howling in pain.

"It hurts so much! My bones are broken!"

When Wen Yao examined Yuan Ce, he found that the spiritual energy in his body was extremely chaotic. Not only that, but under his skin, every joint seemed to be dislocated, making a harsh friction sound.

He struggled incessantly due to the excruciating pain, and Wen Yao was unable to save him.

Lu Ziting, who was helping out, wanted to channel some spiritual energy into him, but he was startled as soon as he touched his dantian.

Yuan Ce's spiritual power surged out continuously like sand flowing out of an inverted hourglass.

Lu Ziting tried to block it with his spiritual power, but was almost sucked back by the reverse flow and hurriedly withdrew his hand.

"No, something's wrong with Xiao Liu! If this continues, he'll become a mortal once his spiritual energy is depleted!"

Yuan Ce was already in unbearable pain, and upon hearing this, he nearly went mad. "No! I don't want to be a mortal. What's the difference between that and being a useless person? Quickly, think of a way for me!"

He was extremely panicked and completely lost his previous arrogance.

Wen Yao had given him the Spirit-Strengthening Pill and applied acupressure to his spiritual acupoints, but he still couldn't stop Yuan Ce's spiritual energy from flowing away.

Along with it all, Ye Li's decade-long dedication also vanished.

When the last bit of spiritual energy disappeared, Ye Li felt as if a piece of her heart had been hollowed out.

That was everything she had given to Yuan Ce over the years.

She didn't feel sad, only relaxed.

She shouldn't have to bear anyone's fate; everything in this world has its own destiny.

An orange light flashed across Ye Li's forehead again. She closed her eyes and felt the spiritual energy circulating in her body.

This time she didn't even prepare any formations, nor did she meditate, yet the orange light became more and more stable.

When she opened her eyes again, she had already broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

The entire process was so smooth that Ye Li couldn't believe it. This was... a breakthrough?

It seems that Xie Sixing was right; soul cultivation requires slacking off.

At the same time, everyone hurriedly carried Yuan Ce into the courtyard.

Just as Ye Li was about to follow them inside, she realized someone was missing.

Where is Su Ying'er?

Doesn't she always like to show off at times like these?