The Attack of the Wastrel

This time, no one knew how Gu Lingzhi had punished this sneaky and untruthful person. All they knew was that, Yuan Zheng, who was pretending to be the Third Prince, only managed to see his master return with something off about his leg.

“Your Highness…” Yuan Zheng stared at both of Rong Yuan’s legs in surprise, “What happened to your legs?”

Didn’t he go to Gu Lingzhi to be honest with her and beg for leniency? How did he end up like this? Could it be that he was attacked on the way? The security of the First School was too lousy!

Rong Yuan looked at him with a complicated expression as he massaged his numb legs that were hurting from kneeling on the Iron Weeds for the entire night. He tried to walk normally as he said coldly, “I accidentally fell. Don’t look at me as if you are staring at a ghost.”

His master was a Martial Lord that was going to advance to a Martial Sage anytime soon, how could he have fallen so easily? This lie was too unbelievable. All of a sudden, Yuan Zheng, knew how his master had gotten injured and silently said a prayer for him.

Who asked him to attempt putting on an act when he could have just waited patiently for Gu Lingzhi to reciprocate his feelings? Not only did he not achieve what he set out to do, he ended up hurting himself.

Tilting his head down, he attempted to hide his smile from Rong Yuan. After bidding him goodnight, Yuan Zheng left the room. The minute he exited the room, he bursted out laughing. In this life, the only one that could make his master do something that hurt himself was Gu Lingzhi.

In every category of the final round, there were fifty students and each student had to compete three times. On the first day, the first round of duels were for the Martial Student category. The second day was for the Martial Practitioners. The number that Gu Lingzhi had gotten made her one of the first few contestants to compete. Early in the morning, together with Wei Hanzi, she headed to Tianfeng Jin’s dorm, planning to head to the competition grounds with her.

Before they left, to prevent anyone from noticing the lift in her mood after Rong Yuan had tended to her for an entire night, Gu Lingzhi had purposely practiced her expressions in front of a mirror. Finally, she wore a blank and neutral expression as she left the house.

“Lingzhi…is your duel today important?” The minute Tianfeng Jin saw Gu Lingzhi’s face upon opening the door, she stated worriedly as she said softly, “If only my cultivation level was higher, I would definitely help you teach him a lesson…”

Gu Lingzhi silently said a prayer for Rong Yuan. To prevent Tianfeng Jin from really bearing a grudge against Rong Yuan and doing something bad to him, Gu Lingzhi had to persuade her, “Xiao Jin, don’t blame yourself. No one can control anything when it comes to relationships. If Rong… His Highness has really taken a liking to Ding Rou, then I guess it’s just because we have no fate and I cannot blame anyone. Why should I feel upset because of that person?”

Tianfeng Jin looked at her grudgingly, feeling sorry for her, “Lingzhi, you are too kind.”

Gu Lingzhi laughed blandly. To prevent Tianfeng Jin from continuing to talk and say something that she could not ward off, she quickly stated why she had come. She closed the door behind her and under Tianfeng Jin’s curious gaze, she lowered her voice and spoke mysteriously, “Xiao Jin, is your Spiritual Weapon still usable?”

“Yes, it is. Why? Is there something wrong with your weapon?” Tianfeng Jin frowned, “There is no time to buy a suitable weapon now, why don't you use mine?”

“No need, there is nothing wrong with my weapon. The Black Thorn has something to say to you.” Gu Lingzhi said as she stopped Tianfeng Jin from passing her her weapon. She signaled to Wei Hanzi to speak.

Ever since she helped the Tianfeng and Beicheng Clans plead for leniency which prevented them from being completely massacred, Tianfeng Jin has been treating her as if she was her daughter. Whenever Gu Lingzhi met with a difficulty, Tianfeng Jin’s cold personality would completely change.

Under Tianfeng Jin’s curious gaze, Wei Hanzi added, “The previous time, I benefited a lot from Zhang Kuihan and am able to appreciate weapons a lot more. Recently, I have been trying to make Earth-level Spiritual Weapons and managed to successfully make one. I remembered that you are used to using long swords and tried to make a long sword consisting of gold and water Spiritual Roots. Try it and see if it’s suitable. If it’s not, I can remake it.”

As she spoke, Wei Hanzi retrieved the long sword that Gu Lingzhi had handed to her from her Storage Ring. The sword was long and sharp and had a beautiful silver shine to it. The moment Wei Hanzi took out the weapon, the energy in the air had changed.

The sword seemed to be covered with a slight glow, which was a symbol that the Spiritual Weapon was indeed an Earth-Level one.

Although it was a good sword, its shape was like a withered banana. It was similar to Gu Lingzhi’s weapons where her weapons always had a unique look to them and lacked any aesthetic appeal.

However, for someone who placed value on power, the look of the sword did not matter. Tianfeng Jin’s eyes lit up as she took the weapon off Wei Hanzi’s hands and assessed the Spiritual Weapon. She stroked it adoringly as she felt the power emanating from the sword. After a while, she raised her head and looked at Wei Hanzi with admiration, “Can this sword… be upgraded?”

Normally, Earth-Level Spiritual Weapons could only be used by Martial Artists above the rank of a Martial Lord. If other Martial Artists that were not yet of the Martial Lord rank were to get ahold of such a weapon, they would not be able to utilize its power completely. The weapon may even backfire against them.

However, the weapon that Gu Lingzhi made was different. Although the sword’s grade was an Earth-Level weapon, it could be held by Martial Practitioners.

Gu Lingzhi was not the only one that could do this kind of weapon forging. Numerous other Weapon Forgers could do the same but very few were willing to do so.

It took a lot of resources to create an Earth-Level weapon. Other than the resources wasted when the weapon fails, it also took a great amount of effort to lower the internal energy of the sword to be that of the Martial Practitioner rank so that it could be wielded by Martial Practitioners. Eventually, the completed product would only be sold at a slightly higher price than a Black-Level Spiritual Weapon, so most Weapon Forgers did not think that it was worth the effort.

To someone like Gu Lingzhi who had a 90 percent success rate at forging such a weapon, it was nothing.

On the surface, it seemed like this sword would only be able to produce attacks of the Martial Practitioner rank. But in reality, it could increase in power along with Tianfeng Jin’s cultivation level and slowly reveal the imprint of the Spirit Tribe that Gu Lingzhi embedded in it. When Tianfeng Jin finally reaches the Martial Lord rank, the sword would be able to produce Earth-Level spiritual energy and powers.

Tianfeng Jin was aware of this when she pushed a part of her consciousness into the sword and was pleasantly surprised.

“Quick, put a drop of your blood into the sword so it recognizes its owner. From now on, only you will be able to know what is different with this sword,” Wei Hanzi smiled. Once again, she was very impressed with Gu Lingzhi. Not only was her cultivation extraordinary, she was also very talented in Alchemy and Weapon Forging. She was so outstanding it made people wonder what she was truly capable of. No wonder, her master was so in love with Gu Lingzhi and has been trying all sorts of methods to enter Gu Lingzhi’s heart.

With such a brilliant fiancée, he had to solidify his stance before other people took an interest in her.

Using blood to own a weapon was an essential step for Spiritual Weapons that are above the Earth-Level. This was also the reason why people who were in possession of an Earth-Level Spiritual Weapon seldom changed their weapon.

The longer they used their weapons, the better the connection they had with it.

“This…” Tianfeng Jin hesitated, “This sword is too valuable, you should go and auction it off.”

With a Spiritual Weapon like this that can accompany a Martial Artist forever, it would certainly fetch a very high price.

“Xiao Jin, I’ll get mad if you continue to reject it,” Wei Hanzi once again pushed the sword back to Tianfeng Jin and pretended to be angry, “I made this for you. If it were given to others, they would not be able to use it to its full potential. In addition, although I was the one that made this, the ingredients were given by Lingzhi. Even if you return it to me, I can’t sell it!”

Gu Lingzhi nodded her head along with, “That’s right, those are ingredients that I got using His Highness’ money. It would be a waste to not use it.”

“…” Wei Hanzi was speechless. If her master was here, what would he feel about this?

Tianfeng Jin looked convoluted as she looked at Gu Lingzhi and knew that she said this just to get her to accept the sword. Nodding her head, “Since it’s the bastard’s money, I will take it!”

Tianfeng Jin did not hesitate anymore as she used the sword to cut her right palm, allowing fresh blood to drip into the sword. The sword, which had never been used before, emitted a low hum as if enjoying the blood.

After the humming stopped, the body of the sword glowed and Tianfeng Jin closed her eyes, savouring the energy the sword was transmitting to her. After over an hour, she finally reopened her eyes. Her eyes were filled with joy and complicated feelings as she looked at Wei Hanzi and Gu Lingzhi.

“Thank you…” Tianfeng Jin did not know how to thank the two people in front of her.

One of them had helped her save the lives of her clan members while the other had given her the Spirit Cleansing Pill that changed her life. Now, she had also given her a Spiritual Sword that could accompany her for life. How would she ever repay such a huge favor? Thankfully, the Black Thorn had nothing going on with Rong Yuan and she did not need to pick between the two of them. She was lucky to have met two such sincere friends.

Her cold personality resulted in her not knowing much to say to express her thanks. She could only look at Gu Lingzhi and Wei Hanzi seriously and promise, “I, Tianfeng Jin, swear that if you two were to ask me to do anything in the future, I will do everything in my power to fulfill your wishes.”

“There is no need. You can just smile more in the future,” Gu Lingzhi teased.

When Tianfeng Jin was looking at the Spiritual Sword she had accidentally let out a smile that seemed so beautiful and clear. If she were to smile more, the boys that always seeked her out in school would not just find her to battle anymore.

Calculating how much time had passed, Gu Lingzhi figured it was about time for her battle and reopened the door. After bidding farewell to Tianfeng Jin and Wei Hanzi, she rushed to the battle arena.

As she neared the arena, she saw Su Nian who was standing at the entrance and smiling brightly, “Lingzhi, I am here to watch you compete.”