Ling Xiao looked up, his brow furrowed slightly. "What did she say? Spit it out."
"Ah, yes!" Qiuyue jumped, startled by Ling Xiao's gaze. 'In the past, when the young master was upset, the worst he'd do was ignore us,' she thought. 'Why has he become so much colder since his recovery?' "M-My Lady... she said... that if... if you're wanting for a woman... you can... have the two of us!" Qiuyue's face flushed crimson as she finished, her voice barely a whisper. Her head was bowed so low her chin nearly touched her fair neck.
Chunlan, who was standing nearby, wasn't faring much better. Although she had known her fate since she was little, it was still incredibly embarrassing for a girl to say something like this out loud.
A few days ago, Chunlan and Qiuyue had cared for Ling Xiao while he was unconscious. Afterwards, Mrs. Ling had sent them here with instructions to clean the residence and then move in. Her intentions were obvious. First, she wanted to prevent a repeat of the Xie Xiaoyan incident. Second, her son was a grown man now, and his natural desires couldn't be suppressed. Having two maids on hand might curb his interest in outside women. After the incident, Mrs. Ling had grown wary and distrustful of other girls.
After all, the Ling Family name was a glittering prize. Ling Xiao might not be able to advance far on the path of a Martial Artist, but not every girl was as ambitious as Xie Xiaoyan. What an incredible honor it would be to marry into the General's Mansion, the seat of a Marquis! To fend off girls with ulterior motives, Lady Ling had no choice but to resort to this method.
Ling Xiao raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected his own mother to go to such lengths for him. He waved his hand. "I understand. You're dismissed."
Chunlan and Qiuyue bowed and fled as if escaping. They felt a sense of relief, yet also a hint of disappointment. It was clear the young master had little interest in 'that sort of thing.' 'Hmph, that bitch Xie Xiaoyan! She must have been the one who framed the young master!'
Ling Xiao had no idea that his casual action had further solidified the two maids' trust in him.
Grabbing his identification card, Ling Xiao immediately set off for the library. Along the way, he continued to ignore the people who looked at him with scorn, simply walking straight ahead.
Suddenly, a harsh, raspy voice, somewhat like a duck's quacking, sounded in his ear: "QUACK QUACK QUACK, if it isn't the Third Young Master Ling from our Grand General's family? Yo, why so high and mighty all of a sudden? Actually walking with your head up and chest out!"
Ling Xiao frowned slightly but didn't say a word, continuing to walk forward. At that moment, a student jumped out and cursed, "Trash! Didn't you hear our boss talking to you?" The speaker was one of the duck-voiced boy's lackeys.
Ling Xiao turned his head and glanced at the duck-voiced boy. Ling Xiao recognized him. The guy's name was Wulan Tuo. He was also in a low-level class, but he was a Tier Nine Sword Attendant and might even become a Sword Master after this year's ranking exam. His father was also a noble, holding the rank of Duke, which was why he showed no fear at all when mocking Ling Xiao. At that moment, his face was filled with smug satisfaction. Wulan Tuo was also one of Xie Xiaoyan's pursuers.
The one who had jumped out to call Ling Xiao trash was Wulan Tuo's lackey, Li Jiang, a Tier Six Sword Attendant—one tier higher than Ling Xiao.
"Control your dog!" A corner of Ling Xiao's mouth twitched as he suppressed the anger rising in his heart. After saying his piece, he ignored them and turned to walk away again.
Wulan Tuo muttered under his breath, "Trash is trash. A man with no balls!"
That's just how people are. The more you back down, the more they think you're afraid of them.
Wulan Tuo's lackey, Li Jiang, relied on being one tier higher than Ling Xiao and having Young Master Wulan Tuo's protection, so he didn't give a damn about a useless piece of trash like Ling Xiao. 'So what if he's a General's son? Is a General really going to get involved over a simple schoolyard scuffle? Wouldn't that be way too humiliating!'
Seeing that Ling Xiao had actually called him a dog, Li Jiang was enraged. He suddenly rushed forward, his hand reaching for Ling Xiao's shoulder, fingers like an eagle's talons. The swordsmanship he used was the Upper Tier of the Human Level Dragon Capturing Swordsmanship, which was considered a fairly decent sword skill. If this grab landed solidly, even without much force, Ling Xiao's shoulder would be too sore to move for days.
Ling Xiao ducked forward. To onlookers, it looked as if he had barely dodged Li Jiang's attack. At the same time, he used the momentum to viciously kick his right leg backward, landing it squarely in Li Jiang's lower abdomen. Li Jiang let out a pained shriek, stumbling backward seven or eight meters before falling on his ass, thoroughly dazed. He writhed on the ground, bent over like a large shrimp, wailing in agony.
Everyone who saw this was stunned. They stood there, mouths agape, staring at Ling Xiao with utter disbelief on their faces.
That miraculous kick… was delivered by General Ling's useless young master? It looked as if Wulan Tuo's lackey had run into it himself!
Besides, while the gap between a Tier Five Sword Attendant and a Tier Six Sword Attendant wasn't that large, he shouldn't have been sent flying so easily, right?
And... what was that Cultivation Technique Ling Xiao used? A sword skill? Why had no one ever seen it before? In the end, everyone reached the same conclusion: 'It was a coincidence. It must have been a coincidence. If Ling Xiao really had that kind of ability, he wouldn't still be a Tier Five Sword Attendant! And he certainly wouldn't have been dumped by Xie Xiaoyan.' At this thought, they couldn't help but feel sorry for Wulan Tuo's lackey. He was a tier higher, yet he was sent flying by a single kick. In the future, he'd likely become a laughingstock at the academy. People would say, 'He's trash, but you're even worse than trash!'
Wulan Tuo's face was ashen as he watched Ling Xiao walk away without a backward glance after the kick. He shot a venomous glare at Li Jiang for embarrassing him.
In public, it wouldn't be right for him to retaliate against Ling Xiao. Nobles could challenge or duel one another, and they could also refuse, though doing so would earn them contempt. What they absolutely could not do was attack without provocation.
Otherwise, if a complaint was filed with the Imperial Noble Court, he would be scorned by everyone in noble circles. Wulan Tuo cursed inwardly: 'Ling Xiao, you just wait! This young master is trying to break through to Tier One Sword Master right now and has no time for you. Just you wait until I become a Sword Master and see how I deal with you then!'
Ling Xiao's small display of power did reduce the number of people pointing fingers at him along the way, which improved his mood considerably. It also served as a reminder that this wasn't the serene cultivation sanctuary of Shushan, where the worst that would happen if you were weak was that people would ignore you. This was a very pragmatic world. If you wanted everyone to respect you here, there was only one standard—be stronger than all of them!
Ling Xiao walked into the library, ignoring the librarian's somewhat astonished gaze. He tossed his identification card on the desk in front of him and then slipped inside. A few girls who had been engrossed in their books were so frightened when they saw him that they scrambled far away. This even included two girls whose faces were ugly enough to ward off evil spirits, making him wonder who should really be the one who was scared.
Ling Xiao ignored them and followed the signs to find two sets of books: *The Flora of the Canglan Continent* and *The Fauna of the Canglan Continent*. Wow, each set had more than twenty volumes. However, judging from the condition of the books, not many people read them.
Ling Xiao randomly pulled one out and found it was exactly to his liking. It had illustrations and detailed descriptions—precisely what he was looking for.
Beneath the long bookshelves was a row of low wooden stools for students to rest on while reading. Ling Xiao took a book and sat down on one of them.
Refining a Foundation Establishment Pill required three medicinal ingredients: Purple Blue Fruit, Heart of the Earth Dragon, and Stone Bamboo Grass.
The Purple Blue Fruit thrives in severe cold and mostly grows on high-altitude snowy mountains. The colder the place, the higher the quality of the fruit. It ripens once every eighteen years, and its peculiarity is that after ripening, the fruit can remain on the branch for up to a year without drying out, looking as if it had just matured.
This was probably the most unique feature of the Purple Blue Fruit. Places where Purple Blue Fruit grew were often accompanied by unusual birds of prey, because the fruit was an excellent nourishing food for them, even capable of transforming them from ordinary beasts into Magical Beasts.
The Heart of the Earth Dragon was not the heart of an earth dragon but another medicinal herb. Like ginseng, the plant grew above ground while its medicinal root grew underground. It mostly grew in deep, uninhabited mountains.
There was more to be said about the Heart of the Earth Dragon. It was categorized by age. Generally speaking, a Heart of the Earth Dragon over fifty years old could be used to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill, but there would certainly be a huge difference between a pill made from a fifty-year-old Heart and one made from a five-hundred-year-old one.
Moreover, a powerful exotic beast would often guard a Heart of the Earth Dragon. Comparatively, the Heart of the Earth Dragon was much higher in grade than the Purple Blue Fruit. If it was an ancient one, it could even allow a high-level exotic beast to advance a tier directly! That was why even in Ling Xiao's previous life, when he had the cultivation of the Golden Core Stage, obtaining a Heart of the Earth Dragon was no easy task.
As for Stone Bamboo Grass, it was a plant that grew on the great plains. It was short and very inconspicuous. If one didn't recognize the herb, an ordinary person would never notice it. It wasn't guarded by any rare birds or exotic beasts, but it was extremely difficult to find. It was an indispensable ingredient for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.
Ling Xiao flipped through the books for a long time but couldn't find any information on these three ingredients. He didn't feel anxious. 'If they were that easy to find, they wouldn't be considered rare materials.'
"Excuse me... is anyone sitting here?"
Ling Xiao was looking at the illustrations page by page when he heard a gentle and soft female voice from above his head. At first, Ling Xiao didn't even realize she was talking to him. After all, he had quite the reputation now.