Chapter 72 Lin Tiancheng's Plan

Two days later, in the herb garden at the back mountain, a little girl dressed in green clothes was weeding.

The little girl's face was covered in grime, her hair was disheveled, beads of sweat dripped from her forehead, and her clothes were torn in many places, making her look pitiful.

However, the little girl's expression was stubborn, and she gritted her teeth and persisted.

This little girl was none other than Lü'er, who had been forced here by Zhang Heng. For the past two days, she had been working in the herb garden almost nonstop.

The formerly delicate and lovely Lü'er had disappeared, replaced by a face full of haggardness and exhaustion.

For a martial artist, weeding was not too strenuous a task, even if one worked for days without rest, it wouldn't lead to such a state.

But weeding in the herb garden was no easy job. The weeds in the spirit fields, nourished by the dense天地 yuan qi, had deep roots.

To remove them, one had to use yuan power.

Thus, weeding became a grueling chore.

No one in the academy was willing to do such work, so it was assigned to newcomers who had just passed the entrance exam.

In fact, most of those doing these chores were from commoner families; nobles could easily get out of them with a little bribery.

Using Lü'er's evasion of chores as an excuse, Zhang Heng assigned her a workload much heavier than others.

Lü'er had hardly rested in the past two days, yet she had completed less than half the work.

Due to the continuous consumption of yuan power over two days, Lü'er's physical strength was exhausted, leading to her weary state.

In a small pavilion overlooking the herb garden, two young men were sipping tea and chatting, looking quite at ease.

"Brother Lin, to torment such a delicate and lovely girl like this—I, your junior, cannot bear it!" Zhang Heng shook his head and sighed, but there was no trace of pity on his face.

The young man sitting across from him was none other than Lin Tiancheng, and the trouble caused to Lü'er was all his doing.

In the Danwu Academy, heaven-level students were few and held a transcendent status. The academy generally did not assign them specific tasks; they only needed to focus on cultivation.

Most of the academy's miscellaneous affairs were managed by earth-level students.

For instance, Zhao Chunyang, who guarded the Sutra Library, was assigned by the Affairs Office. Thus, the Affairs Office held considerable power and had many means to make trouble for others.

What Ye Yuan didn't know was that the chief disciple of the Affairs Office was Lin Tiancheng.

Apart from a relatively hands-off instructor, Lin Tiancheng had the most authority.

Ever since being humiliated by Ye Yuan in the Phantom Spirit Tower, and with Liu Ruoshui's instigation, Lin Tiancheng had harbored a grudge against Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan was now at the peak of his popularity in the academy, so Lin Tiancheng naturally dared not provoke him directly, but making trouble for Lü'er was easy.

Two days ago, he heard that Ye Yuan was in seclusion, so he found an excuse to send Zhang Heng to bother Lü'er and assign her to weed the herb garden.

Lin Tiancheng took a sip of tea and laughed, "Don't play the saint with me. Do you think I don't know you? In charge of this herb garden, you've ruined who knows how many female students. Would you take pity on a little girl?"

Zhang Heng laughed heartily upon hearing this, "I have to thank Brother Lin for your care! So when Brother Lin approached me, I didn't hesitate to do as you said."

Lin Tiancheng nodded, "You're smart! I'm very satisfied with how this was handled. That little girl—do with her as you please; no need to show me any respect!"

Zhang Heng's eyes flashed with a wicked expression, "Really?"

"Of course! I really want to see what expression Ye Yuan will have when he comes out of seclusion and finds his maid violated!" Speaking of Ye Yuan, Lin Tiancheng's eyes were filled with hatred.

That day in the Phantom Spirit Tower, Ye Yuan had made him lose all face.

Later, the incident was spread privately by many students, greatly damaging his prestige among students below the earth level. That was why he was so eager for revenge!

Zhang Heng said excitedly, "In that case, I won't hold back. Brother Lin has truly given me a great gift! Although this little girl is young, her appearance is top-notch! But... I'm afraid Ye Yuan will come looking for trouble after he comes out of seclusion."

Lin Tiancheng glanced at Zhang Heng indifferently and sneered, "No matter how formidable Ye Yuan is, he's only at the fourth level of Yuan Qi. You're at the ninth level of Yuan Qi—surely you're not afraid of him? If he comes looking for trouble, let him come. We'll give him a good beating and vent my anger! By the time he grows stronger, you'll have already graduated. Why fear him?"

Zhang Heng praised, "Haha, Brother Lin is truly far-sighted, considering everything! Now I'm looking forward to seeing Ye Yuan furious."

With that, Lin Tiancheng and Zhang Heng exchanged glances and burst into laughter together.

Lin Tiancheng naturally didn't know about Ye Yuan's performance in the Phantom Spirit Tower; he thought Ye Yuan had overestimated himself by challenging the earth-level advancement assessment and was instantly killed.

And when Ye Yuan passed the xuan-level advancement, it was a narrow escape, so in Lin Tiancheng's view, Ye Yuan was at most at the eighth level of Yuan Qi.

Zhang Heng was older and had long been at the ninth level of Yuan Qi, with the ability to fight above his level, so he couldn't possibly lose to Ye Yuan.

...

Ye Yuan's seclusion lasted four days.

At this moment, the yuan power in Ye Yuan's dantian was surging violently, continuously assaulting the bottleneck of the sixth level of Yuan Qi.

Three days earlier, Ye Yuan had already broken through to the fifth level of Yuan Qi. After briefly consolidating his realm, he continued taking super-grade Yuan Qi Pills to冲击 the sixth level of Yuan Qi!

For him, the fifth and sixth levels of Yuan Qi were not much different; it was just a matter of how many super-grade Yuan Qi Pills he consumed.

Ye Yuan continuously took super-grade Yuan Qi Pills and used the "Lingzhe Jiuyang Divine Art" to refine his yuan power.

Finally, after consuming several hundred super-grade Yuan Qi Pills, Ye Yuan broke through to the sixth level of Yuan Qi in one go!

Breaking through two realms in succession, Ye Yuan felt his body brimming with power, an urge to let it out!

Circulating his yuan power, Ye Yuan struck out with his palm. The air in the training room was compressed to the extreme, producing a series of popping explosions.

With a loud "boom," a large hole caved into the wall of the training room!

This hole was much larger than the one he had made when he first entered and used the Overlapping Wave Heart Palm; it was a completely different level of attack.

The walls of this training room were specially made to withstand the full-force attack of a peak Liquid Realm martial artist.

Being able to create such a large hole in the wall showed how terrifying Ye Yuan's attack power was.

"Hmm, if I enter the Phantom Spirit Tower again and use the Eightfold Wave, I should be able to kill three black-clad martial artists, right? Heh, when I break through to the seventh level of Yuan Qi, I'll go to the Phantom Spirit Tower and try again." Ye Yuan looked at the hole in the wall and muttered to himself.

"It's been four or five days, hasn't it? I wonder how things are outside. If I don't go out soon, Lü'er will be worried. Time to end the seclusion!"