Subduing Li Zhihua.

Just as Xu Jiulong finished his words, he raised his index finger and pointed upwards. Following this gesture, the crimson mist beneath them surged forward and formed a small wall that separated Wei Wushang and Li Zhihua from him.

That left Wei Wushang and Li Zhihua sharing a moment of silence.

Wei Wushang skipped the small talk and immediately closed his eyes, directing his focus towards sensing the outside world with his mind.

However..

Before he could make any progress, a tug on his sleeve interrupted him.

"What?" Wei Wushang asked in irritation, casting an unfriendly glare.

"Listen up, Wei Wushang you bastard," Li Zhihua sneered, "Don't let this cultivation nonsense go to your stupid head. Just because you've somehow weaseled your way into the sect doesn't change the fact that you're a cursed existence in this world, an existence loathed and despised by everyone."

"You're nothing but a leech, thriving on the misery of others. If you even entertain the thought of causing harm to the villagers, I'll personally make your life a living hell." Li Zhihua spat out each word with contempt, her eyes filled with arrogance.

Wei Wushang's expression darkened for a moment, but he then chuckled. "Sure, whatever you say. But for now, I need my peace. Don't disturb me any further."

Ignoring her, Wei Wushang then closed his eyes and began refocusing on the task. Having dealt with taunts his entire life, the boy never let petty insults touch his heart.

As for revenge, Wei Wushang had never seriously contemplated it.

To be clear, it held little appeal for him.

Wei Wushang harbored grand ambitions, petty vendettas seemed beneath him.

"How cunning," Li Zhihua scoffed. She suspected Wei Wushang had only agreed to soothe her anger, while internally he still harbored malevolent intentions towards the village.

After all, her village had a saying – A silver tongue hides a venomous heart.

Li Zhihua tightly gripped Wei Wushang's hand, her sharp nails digging into his flesh as she hissed, "Hateful bastard, I hope you can see what's in your best interest. If I catch wind of anything suspicious... Wah!"

Before she could finish her words, Wei Wushang's hand shot out and directly grabbed her neck, ruthlessly squeezing the life out of her!

Li Zhihua's eyes widened in shock and terror. Her voice shook with panic as she urgently yelled, "Bastard, what are you doing? Are you tired of living?!"

Wei Wushang's expression turned to a sneer while his grip on her neck tightened.

"C-can't breathe, stop it!" Li Zhihua's complexion turned pale, as if all the blood had been drained from her face. She was struggling to breathe, her tender hands clawed at Wei Wushang, trying to break free.

But it was like trying to claw through iron!

Li Zhihua grew even more flustered, but then Wei Wushang let out a laugh and added, "Noisy bitch. Just because you're a girl, did you think I wouldn't hurt you? Heh, let me show you just how far I can go."

Slap!

With a resounding smack, he landed a solid slap on the girl's face.

Li Zhihua immediately covered her right cheek, her eyes were round and wide-open as she stared at Wei Wushang in disbelief.

"Don't worry, the fun has just begun," Wei Wushang smiled mockingly.

As he said this, his left hand moved once again delivering a flurry of slaps to the girl.

Slap, slap, slap, slap...!

Li Zhihua was immediately struck dumb.

She had a lovable face with cherry-like lips, and her well-shaped figure was enough to make any youngster feel hot all over.

Gazing upon such beauty, which teenager brimming with heroic emotions wouldn't yearn to protect her with utmost care?

But Wei Wushang, this person...

Slap, slap!

Previously, Wei Wushang had chosen not to respond strongly to Li Zhihua's harsh comments and even made an effort to reassure her that he harbored no ill intentions.

However, when Li Zhihua not only persisted in verbally insulting him but also obstructed Wei Wushang from doing his practice, this was where she crossed Wei Wushang's bottom line.

'When negotiations fail, brute strength is the way to go. But, I suppose this should do the job..' Wei Wushang finally decided put an end to his assault, even though the damage had already been done.

"Please, I'm sorry! Just stop it. Wuwu..." Li Zhihua's cheeks had swelled up to the size of two large pancakes overcooked with shades of black and blue.

The pain was so intense that her eyes turned red and tears welled up. The girl wanted to shout for help, but Wei Wushang's tight grip on her throat only allowed feeble squeals to escape her swollen lips.

She only saw a ray of hope when Wei Wushang paused his assault, but it vanished as he suddenly decided to use his left hand to choke her as well!

'No, no, please, I don't want to die! Stop, I beg you... mercy... I can't... breathe... Father, save me... I'm so scared...' Li Zhihua felt her head growing light, like a balloon losing air. Her mind drifted into a haze, and the world around her began to blur like a painting in the rain.

But at that moment, just as Li Zhihua was on the brink of suffocating, the boy showed some mercy and withdrew his hand.

Freed at last, Li Zhihua gasped for air, greedily gulping it down. Wei Wushang chuckled lightly, extending his finger to gently lift her chin. His tone turned very gentle like a spring breeze, "Foolish girl, I have nothing against you or the villagers. But if you try to stand in my way, I will make you regret it. Do you understand?"

Immediately, Li Zhihua's delicate frame shook like a flower caught in a violent gale. She was terrified, extremely terrified!

"I-I understand, s-so don't hurt me!" Li Zhihua stammered, her heart and soul quivering with pure dread.

She looked at Wei Wushang with immense horror on her face, watching the young man's smile as he gazed at her like he had done absolutely nothing made her blood run cold.

At that very moment, fear coiled around Li Zhihua's heart like a snake. Right then and there, she vowed to avoid Wei Wushang at all costs. If he went north, she'd flee south. If he headed to heaven, she'd go to hell. Anywhere, as long as it was far from him.

As for the village, didn't Wei Wushang make it clear that he wanted nothing to do with them? So there was no real reason to be concerned about them now, right...?

"I'm glad you understand the situation. I prefer not to waste words. Now, go sit quietly in the corner," Wei Wushang stated flatly, his smile vanishing. He patted her shoulder before returning his attention to the jade slip.

Li Zhihua was as dumb as a cow as she obediently crawled away, thanking the heavens for letting her escape Wei Wushang's evil clutches.

On the other side, Xu Jiulong had secretly observed the entire event. He could only shake his head with a wry smile, "This kid, he is well-suited for the martial way. Such a shame he possesses only low-grade aptitude. If only he had mid-grade aptitude, he could have had much brighter future. It's a pity, such a pity."

.....

Wei Wushang had spent the past fifteen minutes attempting to sense the outside world with his mind. It was only then that he finally managed to send out a tiny strand of divine sense.

However, this was far too little for Wei Wushang to perceive anything substantial. So, once again concentrating, he sent out another strand of divine sense which was much denser than the previous one.

The moment his divine sense touched the jade slip, a whole mountain worth of information was transmitted to his brain. With his eyes tightly shut, Wei Wushang could see a vast array of words floating within his consciousness.

Just when Wei Wushang got excited and was about to read the floating texts, the words started to turn blurry.

Wei Wushang frowned but quickly understood that he needed to continually inject his divine sense into the jade slip if he wanted to read the texts. He had to multitask.

It was not easy, but Wei Wushang was not one to be disheartened. He refocused his thoughts and continued persevering.

Time flowed relentlessly, without pause.

Wei Wushang didn't rest for even a second. After what felt like an eternity, but was only a considerable amount of time, Wei Wushang finally achieved some success in multitasking.

With much joy, Wei Wushang began reading the foundational concepts of cultivation.

From the texts, Wei Wushang gleaned various insights. For instance, Wei Wushang learned that spiritual essence is the life force of the universe, connecting heaven and earth. It's the foundation of all existence. Cultivators seek to capture and refine this essence, much like fishermen casting their lines into a vast sea.

As Wei Wushang continued his study of the texts, he uncovered many details about the hierarchical ranks among cultivators, the existence of martial spirits, the ancient origins and applications of martial techniques, the mysterious art of alchemy, and the illustrious history and grandeur of the Desolate Harmony sect, and so on.

'Wow, how awesome is this! Cultivators are truly a league apart,' Wei Wushang heart brimmed with excitement as he processed the information within the jade slip.

Wei Wushang finally opened his eyes, having consumed all the knowledge contained within the jade slip.

He first noticed Li Zhihua crouched up in a corner, looking lonely and sad. Her encounter with Wei Wushang had clearly left her shaken.

However, what really caught Wei Wushang's attention were the two newcomers, a boy and a girl, sitting not too far from him. They were engrossed in a lively conversation.

Wei Wushang carefully observed them. The boy with a short stature had blonde hair and a face that, though plain, conveyed a sense of honesty about him. As for the girl, she appeared to have inherited the similar facial features, but she had a pair of striking emerald eyes that held a charm of their own.

Their surprise entry made Wei Wushang frown, realizing he had been so engrossed in his practice that he had left himself oblivious to the outside world.

As Wei Wushang observed them for a moment, the honest looking boy noticing that Wei Wushang had finally opened his eyes, gracefully stood up and approached him with a friendly demeanor. He cupped his fists and said, "Greetings, my name is Zhang Hao, and this is my sister, Zhang Mei. We are also newly selected disciples of the Desolate Harmony sect, just like you. This, how should I address you brother?"

"My family name is Wei, and my given name is Wushang," Wei Wushang replied plainly as he returned the greeting.

"Haha, Brother Wei seems to have been working diligently. Have you awakened your martial spirit?" Zhang Hao sat down, gesturing for his sister to join him.

"Not really, I just finished going through the jade slip. What about you guys?" Wei Wushang said casually while looking at the surroundings. The sun was about to set and Wei Wushang had started practicing around 2 in the afternoon.

He thought to himself, 'I've been at this for almost four hours, but it feels like barely any time has passed.'

"Yes, mine is a defense type called the Earthly Prison martial spirit and my brother's is named the Phoenix Flower martial spirit, which is an offensive type," Zhang Mei replied with a bright smile, joining in the conversation.

"Oh? You guys have already awakened your martial spirits?" Wei Wushang raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his voice. How could they have progressed so quickly despite starting later than him?

Zhang Hao understood Wei Wushang's confusion, so he shook his head sideways and explained, "Brother Wei, it's not like how you think it is."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, Senior Xu had actually come to our village first and conducted the trial. But since he had two more destinations to visit for selecting new disciples, he allowed us to stay in the village and practice. Our Bai village is the closest to the sect compared to the other villages, which is why he did not take us to the other villages but picked us up on the way back," Zhang Hao explained patiently.

"Hmm, that makes sense." Wei Wushang nodded in understanding, but now he wanted to quickly awaken his martial spirit.

At that moment, Zhang Mei leaned in and softly inquired with her gaze fixed on Li Zhihua, "Do you have any idea what's going on with her? Her face is covered in bruises, and she seems utterly terrified. We tried talking to her, but she just screamed in fear every time we tried."

Wei Wushang glanced at Li Zhihua from the corner of his eye and was about to shake his head in response, but instead blurted out, "That's just a daily occurrence for her. Don't pay it any mind."

"Daily occurrence? Why's that?" The Zhang siblings exchanged curious looks, eager to learn more about Li Zhihua's story.

"Sigh, I didn't want to bring up the past. But for your own safety, it's probably best you know the truth." Wei Wushang showed a troubled expression before continuing, "Tell me, what do you feel when you see her pitiful face? Doesn't it stir up sympathy in your heart? Doesn't it make you want to protect her and take on every bit of her suffering?" Wei Wushang's words were charged with emotion as he spoke.

The Zhang siblings were immediately moved by the passion in Wei Wushang's words. If their initial compassion for the girl was a small stream, it had now become a rushing river.

But Wei Wushang struck a harsh note with his next words, nearly shouting, "Don't be fooled!"

"Huh??" The Zhang siblings were caught off gaurd.

"This Li Zhihua is a demoness who used to seduce married men back in the village. Luring them into the bushes and pleasing them so thoroughly that they could barely stand to look at their fat, ugly wives afterward. This adulterous behavior incited great hatred from the wives, who would often set traps and chase after Li Zhihua to punish her. Sigh, you can see why I didn't want to speak about it, having a person like her represent our village is rather shameful," Wei Wushang said with an extremely serious expression, though the corners of his lips twitched slightly.