Jiang Ying took two steps, then paused.
"Why has the host stopped walking?"
"Is that treasure site outside the academy?"
"Yes."
"Then pause the navigation! I need to return to my dorm to draw some talismans first."
One must be cautious when venturing out. After all, she was going treasure hunting; what if she ran into bandits? While one hundred spirit stones weren't much, they were, after all, her first pot of gold since being reborn!
She immediately turned back toward the dormitory.
In her previous life, she had a penchant for drawing all sorts of strange talismans, so her room was piled high with talisman paper and materials. Recalling the various information she had read in the library during her past life, ideas began to flow. Before long, she had finished a stack of talismans—some practical, others useless but eccentric enough that she could sell them at the Ghost Market later.
After tidying up, Jiang Ying summoned Xirui to navigate and set off to hunt for treasure.
She passed through the academy plaza. Originally, she hadn't intended to stop, but seeing the scene before her, she came to a halt. In her previous life, she hadn't left her room at this time, so she hadn't witnessed this farce.
Perched on a rock not far away sat the notorious "academy bully" of Yunzhou Academy—Xiao Di. His unruly hair was tied carelessly into a messy bun, his legs were crossed, and he had a stalk of foxtail grass hanging from his mouth. He looked down loftily at a male disciple kneeling on the ground. The latter's clothes were disheveled, and his face was bruised and swollen; he had clearly been beaten quite severely.
"Stop, please stop," the boy sobbed, crying out. "I submit, is that not enough? I yield..."
A bubble blew out from his nose. Jiang Ying couldn't help herself and let out a soft, stifled laugh.
This was the academy plaza, the very place where Principal Yitan delivered important speeches and where disciples often gathered for morning practice and meditation. A crowd had already formed, yet not a single person stepped forward to intervene.
She had heard of Xiao Di in her past life; he had entered the academy after her. He was a troublemaker—hot-tempered and ruthless. Most of the chaos in the academy was stirred up by him. One day he would be beating someone, the next forcing them to kneel, the day after that defying a teacher, or skipping class at the slightest disagreement. In short, he was a menace.
Yunzhou Academy ranked its disciples based on combat prowess. Judging by Xiao Di's cultivation at the Qi Condensation 6th Layer and his skill, he was likely among the top of his class. That was how the cultivation world worked: combat strength decided everything. As long as you were strong enough, you could do whatever you wanted.
But why did Principal Yitan never intervene? Did he feel that one shouldn't suppress a disciple's nature? That a few more fights would actually help everyone improve their combat skills, so long as no one was killed? If so, the Principal was remarkably laid back.
In her past life, Jiang Ying had been obsessed with cultivation, turning a deaf ear to the world outside, and she hadn't paid much attention to where Xiao Di ended up.
Xiao Di hopped off the rock and walked over to the male disciple. He bent down, grabbed the boy's topknot, and dragged him off the ground with brute force. The disciple struggled and tried to resist, but Xiao Di kicked him in the knee, forcing him to his knees again with a heavy thud, causing him to spit up blood.
Seemingly on the verge of a breakdown, the disciple hissed, "Xiao Di, what else do you want?"
Xiao Di yanked his hair back forcefully, raised a fist, and snarled, "What I want is none of your business! What, do you want another beating?"
The disciple immediately cowered, hugging his head and shaking it like a rattle.
Xiao Di gave a cold snort, seemingly having lost interest. He tossed the boy aside, stood up, and walked away. Wherever he passed, the crowd automatically retreated three feet.
Jiang Ying shook her head slightly, her right hand hidden in her sleeve, idly fingering a talisman in her pocket. Given the rule that combat strength decided everything, she could easily beat the academy bully up, stick a talisman on him, and make him use all that aggressive energy to scrub the academy's outhouses.
However, having just been reborn, it was better to keep a low profile. Besides, she was more interested in digging up spirit stones right now.
Watching Xiao Di's retreating figure, Jiang Ying thought, *Forget it, I'll let you off for now. If I catch you beating someone again, Big Sister will teach you how to be a "model student."*
Xirui’s navigation guided Jiang Ying toward the back mountain. To her surprise, Xiao Di was also heading straight in that direction.
"Xirui, the spirit stones you mentioned—you aren't suggesting I dig them out of the academy bully, are you?"The fastest way to make a fortune in the cultivation world is to rob rogue cultivators and loot their corpses. Jiang Ying had never done such a thing before, and never expected her very first transmigrated moments to be this thrilling. Beat up the school bully and make off with his loot pouch? She really hadn't wanted to beat him up today!
"Navigation is not yet complete, Host, please do not be impatient!"
"Good to know."
Although this was her second life, and both her vision and experience far surpassed those of the children in the academy, she knew all too well the principle that "tall trees catch the wind, and the forest's fairest is the first to fall." For now, she chose to keep a low profile and bide her time.
Maintaining a certain distance, Xiao Di seemed completely unaware of Jiang Ying as he strode forward.
Footprints grew scarce.
The winding path led to a secluded spot where massive clusters of wisteria cascaded down the rockery, gently swaying in the breeze. From behind the rockery, a female disciple emerged right into their path.
Catching sight of Xiao Di, the female disciple was startled, her face betraying nervousness. Her foot slipped and her hands lost their grip, sending the books she was holding spilling toward Xiao Di like water.
Jiang Ying was startled as well, her heart inevitably worrying for the female disciple. Having bumped into the school bully, wouldn't she be given a brutal beating by this short-tempered fellow?
At this thought, she secretly tightened her grip on her talisman, her eyes fixed entirely on the school bully, ready to step in and block him the moment he made a move.
Though she had no wish to pick fights, she would never again allow him to bully others right in front of her!
The school bully raised his hand!
Just as Jiang Ying was about to pull out the Repel Talisman to hurl at the school bully, she suddenly saw Xiao Di steady his hands and catch the books tumbling into his arms.
Far from flying into a rage, he even straightened the books out, shoved them back into the hands of the female disciple, and turned to walk away.
The female disciple called out to him, her voice faint, as if deeply embarrassed. Yet Jiang Ying heard every word clearly.
"Thank you for stepping in to teach Tian Gou'er a lesson just now. And thank you for getting me out of trouble before..."
Xiao Di gave a careless, dismissive laugh.
"What's it to you? I simply can't stand that idiot."
With that, he strode away.
Jiang Ying tucked the talisman back to the bottom of her pouch and fell into silent thought—things seemed rather different from what she had imagined.
Tian Gou'er, naturally, was the male disciple who had been beaten by Xiao Di.
Perhaps Tian Gou'er had been bullying the girl and Xiao Di happened to catch him, and it was only to vent her frustration that he had stepped in to beat Tian Gou'er up?
Interesting.
The school bully actually turned out to be a man of chivalrous and righteous heart.
Good thing she hadn't blindly rushed in to beat him to a pulp without asking questions.
So, was the reason the Principal didn't interfere with his overbearing ways partly because he knew the boy was actually hot-blooded and righteous?
Still, in Jiang Ying's eyes, this hot-blooded youth's methods of solving problems were ultimately far too aggressive and crude.
Xiao Di did not return to the dormitories, instead turning to continue toward the back mountain. It seemed he was cutting class.
Since Xiao Di was playing hooky, and it was on her way anyway, she might as well follow him out of the academy.
Jiang Ying cast a Stealth Spell and quietly followed behind.
Xiao Di walked with practiced familiarity toward the back mountain of the academy. Along the way, the spiritual Qi gradually grew thinner, and the barrier's power weakened as well. Not far ahead was the spot where Jiang Ying had previously blown everything into charcoal, where two people were currently casting spells to repair the area...
Reaching the edge, overgrown weeds stretched out everywhere, with flying insects dancing across the air. Little bugs happily bounded across the top of her foot.
Xiao Di stopped, scouted the surroundings, and then cast a fire spell, bursting straight out through the barrier.
Being in a stealth state, it was no trouble at all for Jiang Ying to pass right through that thin layer of the barrier.
The moment she stepped outside the barrier, a chilling mist of water rushed against her face. A waterfall plunged down the mountain peaks into a deep pool, its roar echoing like the cries of tigers and gibbons.
Below the waterfall wound a river, twisting toward the distance. Few people ever came here; moss crawled wildly over the jagged, overlapping bizarre rocks, plain wild mushrooms grew horizontally from the crevices, and massive clusters of ferns spread downstream along the riverbanks.
The water mist shrouded the river like a sheer gauze, and a dilapidated small bamboo bridge spanned the water haphazardly. The bridge hugged the surface of the water so closely that as the wind picked up, the bridge began to creak and sway, river water washing right across the deck. The scenery was deeply secluded and private.
On the other side of the river, a woman in red robes with silver hair was struggling to control her wheelchair, heading toward the bridge.
Xirui popped out. "The current navigation has reached its destination. The target spirit stone is located under the stone by the second tree to the left of the Host. Have fun digging for treasure."
Jiang Ying was overjoyed, and was just about to charge over and dig away to her heart's content.
Right at that moment, the bridge across the river let out a sharp creaking sound and snapped right in the middle!