"Bai Yang stole Elixir Pills and committed insubordination. And he still thinks he can get more Elixir Pills from me?"
She lifted her hand and with a casual wave, Lu Nanfeng was sent flying to the doors of the hall.
Then, Song Wanning's chilly voice pierced through the hall and reached the ears of the three men outside.
"From this day forward, I will not give any of you a single Elixir Pill. If anyone dares to enter the Hidden Pill Pavilion without permission again, don't blame me for being merciless and expelling them from the Sect!"
With a SLAM, the palace doors thundered shut, weighing heavily on their hearts.
"Master..."
Lu Nanfeng was stunned, staring blankly at the doors, completely at a loss.
He was shocked, but more than that, he felt wronged.
'I didn't do anything. Why did Master have to take her anger out on me, too?'
Behind him, Bai Yang's and An Ze's shock was quickly followed by an overwhelming surge of fury.
"They're just a few stupid Elixir Pills! If she won't give them to us, then fine!!!!"
An Ze was seething. 'Song Wanning keeps humiliating us. Doesn't she just want us to regret our actions?'
'Well, I won't!'
"First Senior Brother, we'll go buy the Elixir Pills ourselves. Don't tell me we can't get our hands on a single pill without her?"
"Let's go!"
With that, he helped Bai Yang up and stormed away.
Bai Yang hadn't said a word from start to finish, but the somber aura radiating from him was terrifying.
He looked back at the doors.
'Song Wanning will regret this!'
'She absolutely will!'
...
"Well, well, if it isn't Bai Yang, the great prodigy of our Sect?"
Wen Mingyu, holding an Elixir Bottle, had just stepped out of the Alchemy Room.
Seeing Bai Yang's unhealed injuries, his lips curled into a gloating smirk. "Well now, to what do we owe the honor? What brings the great genius of our Sect to our Refining Void Peak today?"
"Wen Mingyu, watch your mouth!"
An Ze had a short fuse. He admired his First Senior Brother more than anyone and couldn't stand to see him suffer the slightest insult.
"We're here to buy Elixir Pills, obviously! Now let us in to see Master Lan!"
He started toward the Alchemy Room as he spoke, acting as if he owned the place.
They had just made a trip to the market at the foot of the mountain, but the shops there only sold low-grade pills. The best they could find were merely Mid Grade Elixirs.
Mid Grade Elixirs had potent Dan Poison, and the low-grade ones were practically unusable. Naturally, they looked down on such things.
If not for that, they never would have come to Refining Void Peak.
After all, Master Lan had always been on bad terms with their Master, and their relationship with Wen Mingyu was terrible as well. They knew they would be given a hard time.
"Oh? Weren't all your Elixir Pills supposed to be covered by Uncle Song? What happened, did she cut you off?"
Wen Mingyu sucked his teeth. "Ah, my mistake, I almost forgot. It's because a certain backstabber stole Elixir Pills and nearly got someone killed!"
"If I were Uncle Song, I wouldn't give another single Elixir Pill to an ungrateful wretch like that either!"
His expression turned severe as a look of disgust passed over Bai Yang.
'Stealing his own Master's Elixir Pills, and all for a woman. Such a backstabbing piece of trash. How disgusting!'
"Wen Mingyu!!!!"
An Ze instantly exploded. "You don't know a damn thing, you son of a bitch! Keep spouting nonsense and see what happens!"
"I'll rip your mouth off!"
With that, he lunged at Wen Mingyu.
"Hmph. You think I'm afraid of you?"
Wen Mingyu snorted and immediately fought back. The two quickly broke into a fight.
"Third Junior Brother! Stop it! Stop right now!"
"Stop fighting!"
Lu Nanfeng stomped his foot in frustration and rushed to grab Bai Yang's arm.
"First Senior Brother, quick, tell Third Junior Brother to stop!"
'If this continues, things are going to get out of hand.'
Bai Yang's eyes narrowed. He flew toward the pair and blocked An Ze.
Lu Nanfeng breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank goodness, First Senior Brother is still rational.'
But the next second, Bai Yang pushed An Ze aside and charged forward himself.
"Picking on someone with weaker Cultivation than you? What kind of hero does that make you?"
His Longsword left its scabbard. He attacked Wen Mingyu without mercy, his every move brimming with killing intent.
Recently, Bai Yang had endured too much frustration, and it had been building up inside him.
'He couldn't defeat Song Wanning, but there was no way he couldn't defeat Wen Mingyu, right?'
At this thought, Bai Yang's attacks grew even more ruthless.
Wen Mingyu's face turned grim, but showing no fear, he fought back with all his might.
This sudden turn of events made Lu Nanfeng's face drain of all color.
'What's gotten into First Senior Brother?'
'First, Master wasn't acting like herself, and now First Senior Brother is acting strange too?'
'First Senior Brother was always so calm and rational. In the past, his conflicts with Wen Mingyu were just verbal squabbles. He barely even paid Wen Mingyu any mind, never considering him an equal.'
'But now, he was acting completely out of character.'
"Hah! That scumbag deserves a good thrashing!"
An Ze cheered from the sidelines.
"Just shut your mouth!"
Lu Nanfeng, furious with him, began to pace anxiously.
'Third Junior Brother's single Fire Spirit Root, combined with the Cultivation Technique he practices, gives him an explosive and irritable temper.'
'He was always stirring up trouble, and First Senior Brother was always the one who had to clean up his messes!'
'But back then, they had Master to protect them. With her acting so strangely lately, he felt completely unnerved.'
He desperately wished the two would stop and make peace, but his hopes were dashed. They fought with earth-shattering intensity, showing no signs of stopping, which caused passing disciples to stop in their tracks and crane their necks to watch.
In the end, it was Master Lan who came out and put a stop to the fight.
Lan Le was furious. He took them to the Sect Master Hall to report Song Wanning for letting her disciples run rampant!
The Sect Master sat in the seat of honor, looking at the two bruised and battered men before him with a growing headache.
'Especially Bai Yang. He had just caused a commotion by stealing Elixir Pills a few days ago, and now he had taken the initiative to attack a fellow disciple...'
He sent someone to summon Song Wanning.
When Song Wanning arrived, Bai Yang was standing off to one side, his expression cold. With his aloof and chilly aura, he looked like a sharpened Longsword, sharp and aggressive.
Even though his face and body were covered in injuries, it couldn't conceal his exceptional bearing.
As the "male lead," Bai Yang's aptitude and appearance were both one in a million, the best of the best.
He was still young, which was why he still acted a bit impulsively.
Song Wanning walked over, her expression placid.
She wore a long red dress today, as radiant as a peony in full bloom, lighting up the entire hall.
When Bai Yang saw Song Wanning approach, something flickered in his eyes before he turned his head away.
Sharing a common grievance, An Ze also ignored Song Wanning.
Song Wanning suddenly smiled.
'These two have really been spoiled rotten. Do they actually think they're important figures now?'
'A prodigy has to reach their potential to be called a prodigy.'
'Otherwise, they're just "the ones who died young."'
"Sect Master, for what reason have you summoned me?"
She walked straight past her disciples and took a seat in a chair to one side.
The person seated opposite her was Lan Le, the Heavenly Inquiry Sect's other Alchemy Master, who had been at odds with Song Wanning for years.
Song Wanning's talent for Alchemy was immense; her progress seemed to come at his expense, which often sent Lan Le into a fury.
Thus, he had always been secretly competing with Song Wanning, burying himself in the Alchemy Room day in and day out, dreaming of the day he could finally surpass her!