Looking at the fresh blood still staining the ground, everyone turned their eyes to Feng Zeyan, whose face was ashen.
They all wanted to know what Feng Zeyan could possibly have done to a twelve-year-old child to drive her to such a desperate and merciless act.
Yet Feng Zeyan was currently blazing with fury, so they thought it best not to ask and simply dispersed.
Watching Li Tianhen carry Si Nansheng away, Su Heng and Shen Jingyuan wore grim expressions. Shen Jingyuan's face, in particular, was twisted with a hatred so deep it seemed impossible to ever wash away.
"Master, Si Nansheng has destroyed her Spirit Root. What are we going to do about Junior Sister?" Su Heng asked anxiously, glancing over at Liu Xuewei, who had yet to regain consciousness.
"Her Spirit Root is already destroyed; what other choice is there? We can only go and find her another one."
Feng Zeyan clenched his fists fiercely, never expecting that Si Nansheng—who had always been so utterly obedient to them—would pull such a ruthless stunt.
He had originally planned to beat her until she was severely injured, and then extract her Spirit Root for Liu Xuewei. By fusing Liu Xuewei's supreme Ice Spirit with this unfilial disciple's supreme Heavenly Spirit Root, he would elevate Liu Xuewei's aptitude to a true heavenly grade.
That way, the Shengtian Sect would gain another peerless genius. Who could have foreseen that this wretched girl would actually dare to shatter her own Spirit Root!
Feng Zeyan reached out and sucked the fractured pieces of the Divine Bone from the ground into his palm, then flicked his sleeve and strode away.
Meanwhile, Liu Xuewei, who was still feigning unconsciousness, felt a sudden emptiness in her heart the moment Si Nansheng left—as if something vital and irreplaceable had been torn away from her.
At the same time, deep resentment toward Si Nansheng festered inside her. The girl could simply have let her Spirit Root be extracted for her use; why did she have to destroy it so recklessly?
Master had explicitly said that Si Nansheng's Spirit Root was meant for her! And now, everything was gone!
***
Four Gods Sect
"Master, didn't you go to the Shengtian Sect? Why have you suddenly returned? Wait... whose child is this? Why did you bring someone else's kid back with you?"
Li Tianhen's eldest disciple, Ye Yanqing, followed closely behind him. Seeing the young girl cradled in his master's arms, his eyes widened in shock.
"Starting today, she is your Junior Sister, and also my final closed-door disciple." Li Tianhen's words left Ye Yanqing pleasantly stunned.
Whenever they saw disciples of other sects doting on their junior sisters, he and his fellow apprentices had been consumed with envy. Never did they imagine that they, too, would finally have a junior sister of their own!
After watching Li Tianhen first administer a high-grade Blood Replenishing Pill to Si Nansheng, followed by a high-grade healing pill, Ye Yanqing finally noticed the myriad injuries covering her entire body. He asked in immediate alarm:
"Master, how—how did she get hurt this badly? Are her Meridians completely severed, and her cultivation entirely destroyed?"
Seeing that Si Nansheng's breathing had finally steadied, Li Tianhen recounted the events that had transpired at the Shengtian Sect.
"What?! How dare they bully our Junior Sister like this! I'm going right over there to settle the score!"
Furious upon hearing the story, Ye Yanqing was beside himself with rage. How could anyone dare bully the little junior sister of their Four Gods Sect?
Especially when the culprits were a bunch of shameless, grown men!
"That's enough, don't act rashly. Although your Junior Sister is young, she has far more resolve than any of you. Doing this must have had her reasons; let's wait until she wakes up and hear what she plans to do."
Li Tianhen stopped Ye Yanqing in his tracks. Reflecting on how Si Nansheng had first played weak and then made the absolute, unyielding decision to destroy her own Spirit Root and shatter her Meridians, he felt certain that given his new little disciple's stubborn disposition, she would prefer to exact her revenge with her own hands.
Obediently holding back, Ye Yanqing simply stared with a worried expression at the tiny, unconscious figure of Si Nansheng lying on the bed.
"Master, how old is Junior Sister? Can she really handle this by herself?"
"Twelve," Li Tianhen answered faintly.
"Twelve? How can that be? A twelve-year-old child... isn't this height a bit too small?"
Ye Yanqing blankly stared at Si Nansheng's pale face. If she was already twelve, why did she look like a mere seven or eight-year-old?
She was far too small!
Could she have been subjected to long-term abuse before this?
"She reached the Foundation Establishment Realm at the age of eight." Once one enters the Foundation Establishment Realm, physical growth slows down drastically.
Combined with the fact that Si Nansheng had to use her spiritual energy and Spirit Root to nourish the Divine Bone, her body naturally developed at an even more glacial pace.
Ye Yanqing stared at his junior sister with wide, incredulous eyes. What kind of monstrous prodigy was this?
To reach the Foundation Establishment Realm at eight years old—her future potential should have been limitless.
What a pity that she had gone and destroyed her own Spirit Root.
How foolish!
"Master, since Junior Sister is such a genius, can she really never cultivate again from now on?"
Looking at the child on the bed, Ye Yanqing felt a pang of deep heartache.
This was their Junior Sister, after all! If she truly could never practice cultivation again in this lifetime, wouldn't she be utterly heartbroken and devastated?
No, he had to figure out a way to prepare some protective magical treasures for her.
"I will find a way to repair her Spirit Root and Meridians. Until then, all of you must protect her well."
"Yes, Master."
"Oh, and Yanqing, she left all her possessions behind at the Shengtian Sect. Go down the mountain first and buy her some clothes, and while you're at it, get some food prepared for her."
"Since she currently has no cultivation, she will definitely get hungry. Prepare some spirit beasts and spirit birds as well—though we don't know what her preferences are yet."
Li Tianhen glanced at the blood-stained clothes on Si Nansheng, then turned to give instructions to Ye Yanqing.
"I'm going right now." Ye Yanqing hurried off down the mountain to buy provisions for Si Nansheng.
Li Tianhen flicked his fingers to cast a Cleansing Incantation, instantly purging every trace of blood from Si Nansheng's clothes and skin until she was entirely spotless.
The healing pill Li Tianhen had fed her earlier had also taken full effect; the wounds on Si Nansheng's body were now mostly healed, leaving behind only faint red marks.
Having slept for who knows how long, Si Nansheng finally fluttered her eyes open to see Li Tianhen sitting quietly by the bedside.
"Senior Li," Si Nansheng called out in a soft, weak voice.
"Finally awake?" Li Tianhen looked down at her.
"Have I been asleep for a long time?" Si Nansheng tried to sit up, but a sharp ache rippled through her body, forcing her to lie back down instantly.
Oh, sweet mercy, that hurts!
Truly, acting cool for a moment costs you a lifetime of pain!
"Not asleep—you were unconscious. And it has already been three days and three nights. The internal injuries in your body are not yet fully healed, so it is best not to move around blindly."
Li Tianhen watched her as Si Nansheng stared up at the ceiling, momentarily at a loss for words.
She had actually escaped!
She would never have to suffer enslavement and exploitation ever again.
"Every major sect already knows you are my disciple. Now, can you tell me why you did what you did?"
Under Li Tianhen's steady gaze, Si Nansheng nervously bit her lower lip.
"Will Senior really take me as a disciple?" She looked up at him.
"If I had no intention of acknowledging you as my disciple, I would not have taken you away in full view of everyone." Li Tianhen looked at her with a helpless sigh.
"But I don't want to call you Master. In my heart, 'master' is not a very good title."
Take Feng Zeyan, for instance: despite being her master, he had never once fulfilled a master's responsibilities.
All he ever did was take and take from her.
In her past life, she had lacked her memories and acted like a fool; no matter how Feng Zeyan and those so-called senior brothers gaslighted and manipulated her, she had never fought back.
She had foolishly thought that by doing so, they might care about her just a little bit more, completely unaware that they were merely using her as a beast of burden.
"Then you may call me Master in the formal sense; your senior brothers all address me that way." Li Tianhen smiled helplessly.
"Si Nansheng pays respects to Master—ah, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!" Struggling to push herself up, Si Nansheng knelt on the bed, but the sudden movement tugged at her wounds, making her cry out in pain.
"Alright, alright, you'd better just lie down honestly." Li Tianhen gently supported her back down.