Darkness had arrived.
Zhu Yanyi never imagined that while Bing Lan devoured those bags and spirit stones, inside the nearby Paipai Hall, Wu Xie’s face twisted in agony. She spat out a mouthful of blood. Her once handsome features now looked eerie and distorted. Hong Lian, serving beside her, watched with deep worry.
"Young Master, are you alright?" Hong Lian asked hurriedly.
Wu Xie waved his hand slightly. He endured the pain for a while before finally sighing in relief. His complexion returned to normal. "Someone burned our special exploration bags."
Hong Lian knew these bags were Wu Xie’s secret tool. They carried her unique technique, allowing her to uncover many people’s privacy. She never expected someone would actually burn them.
"Those bags aren’t easily destroyed by just any fire," Hong Lian said.
Wu Xie nodded. "Exactly. Only a special fire could burn them. I just don’t know who did it."
"Can’t you find out who it was?" Hong Lian asked.
"Every time I activate the bags, I need total focus. I’ve been busy these past two days and couldn’t check. I didn’t realize whose bag had the problem. I’ll check again when it’s quiet at night. Then I’ll know whose bag disappeared."
Wu Xie was confident he could find the culprit. Only a few people possessed his exploration bags. Finding one among them would be easy.
His bags looked ordinary but had storage functions. Most people wouldn’t destroy such a useful item. They would just treat it as a normal storage pouch. Now, it seemed someone had discovered his secret. He just didn’t know who.
The more Wu Xie thought, the more uneasy he felt. Finally, he said, "Hong Lian, guard me. I need to check right now whose bag is missing."
"Yes." Hong Lian immediately took position to keep watch.
Wu Xie sat cross-legged. She used her ability to search for the bags. This one was here, that one was there. Everything seemed fine. Wait… one was missing. That one had been sent out today. It belonged to Zhu Yanyi. She tried to connect with it but failed. She was certain Zhu Yanyi’s bag had been destroyed.
Wu Xie opened his eyes. Hong Lian asked quickly, "Young Master, what happened?"
"The bag belonging to Zhu Fifteen from the Sage Academy was destroyed," Wu Xie said, frowning slightly. "Is the Sage Academy really that powerful?"
Hong Lian replied quickly, "The Sage Academy is indeed formidable. Legend says few can infiltrate it. Even if you sneak in with special preparation, you’ll eventually be exposed. Just like our three spies sent there recently—they are dead."
Wu Xie pondered. "It seems this Sage Academy is truly sinister."
"Young Master, could Zhu Fifteen have discovered the secret and destroyed it herself?" Hong Lian asked. For some reason, she felt Zhu Fifteen was strange, as if she were born to be their enemy.
Wu Xie glanced at Hong Lian. "How old is Zhu Fifteen? Even if she is a genius, she couldn’t possess a special fire at this age. Special fires are rare treasures, not common items anyone can get."
Hong Lian thought for a moment. Wu Xie made sense. "You are right, Young Master. Zhu Fifteen doesn’t have that ability."
Wu Xie considered this. "Find a way to discover who in the Sage Academy possesses a special fire."
"It will be hard to find out who uses special fire in the Sage Academy," Hong Lian said. She felt an unspoken fear toward the academy. It was too mysterious.
Wu Xie sighed. "Forget it for now. I originally hoped to learn about the Sage Academy through these bags. But they were discovered and destroyed immediately upon entering. We must be more careful with the Sage Academy."
Hong Lian nodded in agreement. "You are right, Young Master. We must be cautious from now on."
Wu Xie seemed to make a decision. "Wu Shang has already infiltrated the Yuanwu Academy, right? There is a five-school tournament in three months. Notify him to participate. Let him probe the Sage Academy’s background then."
"Yes." Hong Lian received the order and left to execute it immediately.
Zhu Yanyi didn’t know she had burned Wu Xie’s exploration bag. However, she had become wary of Paipai Hall because of it.
If Paipai Hall didn’t know about the bag’s secret, why didn’t they return the five items she had given them? Instead, they returned spirit stones in a different bag. If they did know the secret, what were they planning to do?
Zhu Yanyi couldn’t figure out Paipai Hall’s intentions. She didn’t rush to investigate. She had other matters to attend to. First, she needed to handle the middle volume of the Azure Sovereign Pharmacopoeia she had obtained. After copying it, she gave it to Xi Muzheng.
"Dean, please place this in the library. Those with ability will naturally see this pharmacopoeia," Zhu Yanyi smiled.
"The middle volume? Did you just get it?" Xi Muzheng looked at Zhu Yanyi. "Are there upper and lower volumes?"
"The lower volume will be the treasure of my Aoyan Traditional Medicine School in the mortal realm. Only true students of Aoyan School can see it. If you want to know its contents, you can send your students there for trials. If they become teachers there, they can read the book as a reward," Zhu Yanyi said honestly, seeking benefits for her school.
"What about the upper volume?" Xi Muzheng asked.
"My future disciples will learn it," Zhu Yanyi said without hiding anything.
"The upper volume introduces various herbs and prescriptions. The middle volume covers diagnosis of difficult diseases. The lower volume describes and teaches different types of healers, such as flower doctors, witch doctors, and poison doctors.
I gave the middle volume to the academy because I obtained it here. Plus, the healers here already have some ability, so difficult cases are more attractive to them.
My traditional medicine school in the mortal realm has diverse teachers. So the lower volume fits best there. But I want to save something for my future disciples. So I plan to keep the upper volume for them."
Zhu Yanyi was direct. As the inheritor of the Azure Sovereign Qingdi, she had the right to handle everything related to her. Giving two volumes to the world was already generous.