The First Summoner - Chapter 17

Feng Xingyao suddenly coughed. More blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, making him look like some frail, sickly beauty.

Bracing one hand against the floor, he slowly pushed himself upright. His collar had fallen slightly open, revealing a glimpse of pale skin that drew the eye. His gaze settled on Shen Yan’s face.

He did not bother with evasions.

With a quiet laugh, he said, “I sensed the aura of the Blood-Devouring Pearl in the forest where we first met.”

“You knew all along?”

Seeing her hover at the edge of anger, Feng Xingyao shook his head. “No. I only recovered enough strength to sense it today.”

The chill in Shen Yan’s expression eased. “Where exactly?”

Feng Xingyao scoffed. “That would be another bargain.”

Shen Yan stared at him in silence.

She wanted nothing more than to beat him senseless and throw him out of her spatial domain.

Unfortunately, she needed his help to remove the sealing toxin from her Core Spirit Bone.

She would endure it.

Feng Xingyao found her irritation—and her inability to do anything about it—unexpectedly amusing. A faint smile touched his lips.

“Help me up, and I’ll tell you.”

Shen Yan drew a deep breath.

Endure.

She bent down, grabbed his arm, and swiftly hauled him back onto the couch.

Feng Xingyao curled one finger and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His pale lips parted.

“Wherever you find the Soul-Severing Spirit Vine, you will find the Blood-Devouring Pearl.”

“The Soul-Severing Spirit Vine?”

Shen Yan had seen the name in a book not long ago.

The Soul-Severing Spirit Vine was a kind of spirit plant.

Spirit-plant masters were another profession in this world. They possessed an innate affinity with spirit plants, allowing them to form contracts with the plants and use them in battle, as support, or even cultivate them for profit.

Some spirit plants were exceptionally vicious. Even certain spirit beasts could not contend with them.

The Soul-Severing Spirit Vine was one of the most vicious of them.

Shen Yan knew her odds of seizing the Blood-Devouring Pearl alone were poor.

But she would not give up.

Feng Xingyao seemed to sense something. “People outside are arguing because of you.”

Shen Yan snapped back to the present. After glancing at him, she left the spatial domain.

She reappeared in the secluded corner on the second floor of the library. A clamor was coming from nearby.

“Shen Yan must have sneaked up to the third floor!”

“She isn’t on the first floor, and she isn’t on the second. No one saw her leave, either. She must have broken into the third floor!”

“But isn’t there a barrier around it? How could Second Young Miss possibly get inside?”

“Who knows? I searched the first and second floors from top to bottom and found no trace of her. She has to be up there! Steward Yu, once you catch her, you must report this to the family head and see that she is severely punished!”

More than a dozen disciples had gathered at a turn in the library, talking over one another.

The middle-aged man who had hurried over after hearing the commotion was the steward who guarded the library entrance. His expression was unreadable as he asked, “You checked both the first and second floors? Second Young Miss was nowhere to be found?”

A female disciple answered with certainty, “Nowhere! I searched twice.”

Steward Yu’s face changed.

If Shen Yan had truly entered the third floor, this was a serious matter. That floor was effectively forbidden ground for the family.

Shen Yan would not be the only one punished. He would be implicated as well. He might even lose his position as steward.

His face darkened, and his resentment toward Shen Yan deepened.

“If she truly went up there, I will not spare her!”

Steward Yu knew that several Shen family experts secretly guarded the library. If he wished to enter and search the third floor, he first had to seek their permission.

Just as he was about to do so, an indifferent female voice sounded behind him.

“What happened?”

Everyone turned instinctively.

Shen Yan stood a short distance away, a manual of cultivation techniques and battle arts in her hand. She looked as though the noise had drawn her out from wherever she had been reading.

The disciples who had reported her paled. They pointed at her in disbelief.

“How is that possible? Shen Yan, how are you here?”

Her expression chilled. “If I’m not here, where should I be?”

Steward Yu was just as stunned.

Then he released a long breath. “So this was merely a misunderstanding.”

The dozen or so disciples stiffened. They glared at Shen Yan, utterly convinced she must have gone to the third floor.

Shen Yan gave a cold laugh. “A misunderstanding? Are there no rules in this library? Steward Yu, you allowed this many people to gather here and make a scene without doing anything. If word gets out, whose reputation will suffer?”

Steward Yu stared at her in astonishment. Then his eyes darkened.

How had this useless fool become so clever after regaining her senses?

And so sharp-tongued!

His face hardened. Turning toward the disciples who had stirred up the trouble, he announced, “For gathering and causing a disturbance in the library, your allotted study time will be docked. Furthermore, none of you may set foot in the library for the next month!”

Their expressions changed at once.

“Steward Yu, we weren’t trying to cause trouble!”

One disciple, face twisted with humiliation, shrieked at Shen Yan, “What scheme did you use this time? Tell us!”

Shen Yan replied blandly, “I like to crouch in corners when I read.”

The disciples nearly lost control on the spot.

She read while crouched in corners?

What kind of lunatic did that?

They were furious enough to start cursing.

Under Steward Yu’s warning glare, however, they had no choice but to swallow their rage.

Soon, every one of them was driven out of the library.

Shen Yan remained. She needed to learn some of this world’s cultivation techniques and battle arts so she could protect herself.

Meteor Flame Fist was her first choice.

She immersed herself in the manual.

Meanwhile, the experts hidden within the library had begun to suspect her. Even during the uproar, none of them had sensed where she was.

Either they had all overlooked her—

Or there was something wrong with Shen Yan.

Inside the spatial domain, Feng Xingyao could no longer hold on.

He abruptly spat out a mouthful of dark blood. A layer of frost spread over his brows, while bloody light enveloped every wound on his body. As the light pulsed, those wounds gradually began to close.

Ninefold immediately took human form and rushed to his side.

His small face scrunched with anxiety.

“My lo—how are you feeling now?”

Feng Xingyao did not wish to answer him.

Ninefold grew more frantic. “I’ll call Master in!”

“Calling her will change nothing.”

Ninefold protested, “Master can help! She was even able to feed you a potion!”

Feng Xingyao’s exhausted expression instantly turned frigid. An indescribable cold entered his voice.

“What did you say?”

Ninefold trembled beneath that look. He quickly covered his eyes and gave a quavering nod.

Feng Xingyao lowered his gaze, hiding the emotion that surfaced within it.

Had his vigilance truly fallen so low?