Chapter 21: "Provocation"

Since Feng Zhi Xing did not mention anything further, Sima You Yue felt relieved was strolling back to the classroom in a relaxed manner. However, this tranquil moment was broken shortly when she heard Little Spirit's warning.

"You have to be careful, that person just now may have found out that you are already a Spirit Master."

Sima You Yue froze for a moment before asking him, "Didn't you mention before that with you around, I do not have to worry about people finding out that can cultivate?"

"In general." he emphasized. "I can conceal the spiritual fluctuations emitted from your body, and ordinary people cannot sense it, however that person just now was very powerful and when he held your wrist just now, he did a probe and I think he may have already found out."

"Why would he probe me?"

Sima You Yue gave it some thought before throwing it to the back of her mind. Now, what she needed most was time. She needed to maximize her time to efficiently and effectively cultivate since she started much later than everyone else.

As soon as she stepped into the classroom, the eyes of the students turned hostile and there was a trace of mirth mixed in as everyone's gaze rested on her. Some had thoughts that Feng Zhi Xing had booted her out of class and soon a string of curious gazes followed the slim figure walking to the back of the class.

Sima You Yue ignored them and continued on when suddenly someone stuck a leg out. Everyone stared in delight expecting her to trip and fall, however, all they saw was the slim figure walking smoothly across without any hitches, stepping on that person's leg very naturally as if stepping on a stool.

"Ahhh!" The person screamed out loud after she walked past as she had deliberately made some adjustments and shifting her weight so that particular step had encompassed her whole body weight in it.

"Sima You Yue! Watch where you are going! Don't you know how to walk properly?" That student screamed out loud in anger.

"That's the way I walk." She did not bother giving a second look and completely disregarded that person as she strolled back to her seat.

"You….!" That student stood up and was about to storm off in her direction to teach her a lesson when another student quickly said: "Miss Meng, Master Feng is coming."

Meng Ting saw Master Feng walking in and she had no choice but to sit back down. She turned her head and glared at Sima You Yue, eyes full of resentment.

"Miss Meng, don't you worry, teaching that brat a lesson is as easy as pie. There'll be lots of chances to clean him up." He Qiu Zhi said.

"That's true, so what if his grandfather is the Great General? My Meng clan is not afraid!" A dangerous glint flashed in her eyes when she spat that out.

"Yes, although Sima You Yue has the Great General watching his back, he doesn't have the backing of a great family clan! How can you even compare the likes of Mirage City's largest family clan, the Meng Clan?" He Qiu Zhi scoffed.

"Quiet down." Feng Zhi Xing said as he faced the class of thirty five students. "Today, we will continue with what I've taught you yesterday."

Sima You Yue leaned in and listened with interest, however while the rest of the class were furiously taking down notes, her hands were clasped together.

"Why aren't you taking down any notes?"

When Bei Gong Tang had finished writing down the notes Feng Zhi Xing had given them, she noticed that Sima You Yue had not picked up the brush at all. Curiosity took over and she took the rare initiative to speak to Sima You Yue.

"Hmm?" Sima You Yue was surprised for a moment as she looked over at Bei Gong Tang. "I've got them all down."

Bei Gong Tang looked at her clean notebook and looked back, with her eyebrows raised in query.

Sima You Yue pointed to her head and tapped her temple. "It's all in here."

Looking at Bei Gong Tang's skeptical expression, she carried on: "Since young, once I've seen something, I can remember it. I've never forgotten anything once I've looked at it. I've memorized everything Master Feng taught."

Bei Gong Tang didn't bother anymore, the look of disbelief was still written all over her face but she went back to revise the notes that she had jotted down.

Sima You Yue didn't think that Bei Gong Tang would have sat at the last row. She was diligently reading the notes and quietly listening and concentrating hard on the class. However, she still gave off the same icy cold aura that separated her from everyone else, as if she had a barrier set around her. This piqued Sima You Yue's curiosity, what could she have experienced that made her that way? It was as if she had a deep hatred buried within, that even her eyes could not suppress.

A day of class passed by without any hitch as various cultivation theories and practical lessons were conducted throughout the day.

After they finished class, Sima You Yue and Fatty Qu went back to their courtyard and she lightly touched her rumbling stomach, she headed straight to the kitchen.While she was cooking, she could not help but let out a small sigh and lament, she spent quite an amount of time on food, when would she be able to catch up with her cultivation?

"Don't worry, you can also cultivate while eating." Little Spirit voiced out when he sensed what was troubling her.

"I can cultivate even when I'm eating? How is it that I've never heard of such a wonderful method before?" She asked.

"That's because you are ignorant." Little Spirit replied honestly without any hesitation.

Sima You Yue twisted her lips, this guy! Couldn't he be a little more tactful?

Well, she was an adult and he was only a small brat, she shouldn't argue with kids. She silently convinced herself as she asked: "So, how do you cultivate while eating?"

"Those plants that successfully absorb the Spiritual Qi in the air and store them are termed as Spirit Plants. They were originally ordinary plants, but some have managed to absorb the Spiritual Qi and store these Spiritual Qi within." Little Spirit explained.

Thinking of her past knowledge of photosynthesis, absorbing the carbon dioxide and converting it into oxygen, she could also relate to the matter of the plants absorbing Spiritual Qi.

"As long as you consume food that is imbued with Spiritual Qi, all the Spiritual Qi that were stored in them would be naturally absorbed by your body." Little Spirit carried on with his explanation.

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow, her voice full of doubt. "If it was so simple, why hasn't anyone else discovered this method? If things were so simple, I'm sure this would have caught on."

"It's because the Spiritual Qi here is too thin, there's not enough Spiritual Qi for these plants to transform into Spirit Plants and flourish. So everything in this world are only ordinary plants, so of course there's nothing special about them." Little Spirit replied with undisguised contempt.

Sima You Yue glared at him once she heard that everything in this world was simply ordinary plants and she felt her blood boil as she yelled back at him: "Then why the hell would you tell me all these things!"

"Such a moron." Little Spirit sneered. "Even if everything in the outside world are all ordinary plants, that doesn't mean that the plants grown in the Spirit Pearl are!"

"Huh?" The sudden realization struck her as she bolted into her room, locked the door and dived straight into the Spirit Pearl.

As soon as she arrived in the familiar environment, she called out: "What did you mean just now, Little Spirit?"

Little Spirit took his time as he slowly appeared before her. "Feel the Spiritual Qi here."

Sima You Yue closed her eyes and concentrated. She opened her eyes excitedly as she chirped: "Such dense Spiritual Qi!"

"Mmm." Little Spirit puffed up his chest with pride.

"Of course, come along now." Little Spirit said as he turned around and led her along a small path, a small smile leaked out when he turned away from her.

She quickly walked close to him as she looked around inquiringly to the new scene that was in front of her. There was a farm that had many various vegetables planted on one side and on the other side, were many animals.

She gaped in bewilderment and asked, wide-eyed. "How...How are all these animals here?"

"These are all low level animals who cannot comprehend anything despite living in such great environment enriched with rich Spiritual Qi. They can't cultivate to be Spirit Beasts and they only know how to breed, causing me quite a bit of hassle to control the population." He said wryly.

"I haven't even seen some of these animals in this world, how are there so many animals here?" She couldn't suppress her curiosity and continued to ask as she looked at the huge variety of familiar animals that were in front of her.

"These were left behind by the former Master, I have no idea where he caught them from. Anyway, since they've been living here all these while, although they did not become Spirit Beasts, their bodies are still enriched by the rich Spiritual Qi and have quite a vast amount stored within. All these vegetables too, they are all Spirit Plants imbued with Spiritual Qi. You can use them for your food."

Sima You Yue looked at the familiar culinary ingredients, including spices such as pepper and cumin. " Your former Master couldn't have gone to earth and robbed it…right?"

"Who knows what he did! Anyway, he was a picky foodie like yourself. You can use them as you like, just remember to leave some behind." After saying that, Little Spirit disappeared.

Sima You Yue watched Little Spirit dissipate away and she could also feel a trace of loneliness that lingered in her heart, knowing that he must have missed the former Master.

Looking at the huge stock of ingredients in front of her, Sima You Yue felt an adrenaline rush as the excitement got the better of her. She could now feast on delicious food and still cultivate at the same time!

When she came out of the Spirit Pearl, there was a burst of rapid knocks on her door.