They laughed with unrestrained arrogance, as if they wished to fling their disdain directly into the faces of Yan Jiaojiao and the other two.
Seeing Xu Changzong make his move, Yan Jiaojiao did not wait to be slaughtered. Her wrist twisted, and a massive fireball shot out. This fireball was imbued with her ancient spiritual energy, an inextinguishable divine fire.
The fireball grazed the bodies of those attackers, immediately eliciting screams like that of slaughtered pigs.
"You are despicable and shameless! Attacking us sneakily!"
Upon seeing Yan Jiaojiao strike, they knew they were outmatched. They began to clamor, attempting to intimidate Yan Jiaojiao and her companions.
However, Yan Jiaojiao's modus operandi was precisely this: if you lack morals, she would be even more devoid of them. These individuals had stolen spiritual herbs first, and then insulted the disciples of their academy. This was unbearable. Yan Jiaojiao decided to teach them a lesson.
Xu Changzong stood behind Yan Jiaojiao. Seeing her retaliate on his behalf, a smile played on his lips.
Jiang Yiling also joined the fray.
He was, after all, the most exemplary disciple of Gunan Academy, and his cultivation far surpassed that of others. After the previous incident, he had redoubled his efforts, improving significantly this time.
He had reached the peak of the Yellow rank and was on the verge of advancing to the Green rank.
Jiang Yiling possessed immense talent. Coupled with the simplicity and clarity of Yan Jiaojiao's teachings, he had not found an opportunity to test his moves before. Now, seizing this chance, he decided to try them out and see the results.
Yellow spiritual energy poured out like tentacles. Those attackers felt themselves enveloped by an invisible force. The next moment, their ankles tightened, as if they were being pulled backward by unseen hands, dragging them away from the spiritual herb field.
"Wh-what is happening..."
Yan Jiaojiao observed the effectiveness of Jiang Yiling's technique and smiled slightly, saying, "It appears Senior Brother Jiang has successfully integrated these lessons."
Jiang Yiling was an upright and kind person, which was why Yan Jiaojiao had not taught him killing techniques initially, but rather secret methods for controlling spiritual energy.
He was evidently intelligent, for it had not been long, and he had already mastered the integration.
By utilizing his supreme control over spiritual energy, he transformed it into extensions of his will, almost like personal avatars. With such control, he could subdue individuals whose cultivation was no more than one major realm above his own.
This was an extremely crucial technique in combat.
It was invincible as a support role.
As it was, Yan Jiaojiao's spiritual energy fireball was still burning. Initially, those attackers had dodged many of the fireballs, but after Jiang Yiling restrained them, they could no longer evade the attacks.
"Ahhh... we were wrong, we were truly wrong, please spare us... we truly know our mistakes..."
The burning pain on their bodies was unbearable, and they began to beg for mercy.
Despite their sincere pleas, they were of no avail. Yan Jiaojiao had decided to punish them and would not be soft-hearted.
"Hahaha, I never expected to see such interesting younglings."
A voice with a slight rasp echoed from a distance. Everyone turned their heads and saw a man in plain black cloth, with a gourd-shaped wine flask hanging from his waist, descending from the clouds.
This was their first time witnessing the technique of cloud-riding. Their eyes widened. Yan Jiaojiao, however, examined the cloud with great seriousness, a look of astonishment on her face.
She hadn't expected to witness the art of cloud manipulation in this era.
This technique had been popular in the past, but later, people discovered it was merely for show. Many abandoned it, deeming such an outwardly impressive but impractical technique useless. Yan Jiaojiao had lived from the age of prosperity to the age of decline and had truly seen few who still practiced cloud manipulation in later generations.
"Senior, is this spiritual herb field yours?"
Jiang Yiling stepped forward and cupped his hands towards the elder, inquiring.
The elder chuckled, "It is mine. I was cultivating the Soul Departure Grass here out of boredom. I sensed my restrictions had been breached and thought it was those soul-grass-eating spirit beasts again. I didn't expect it to be a group of petty herb thieves."
Yan Jiaojiao's spiritual energy fireball had lost its supporting power and ceased to burn. Those attackers finally found release. Upon hearing the elder's words, they became somewhat agitated.
"Hey, old man, don't spout nonsense. We didn't steal anything. There were no signs here stating this was your spiritual herb field. What right do you have to claim it's yours?"
"Exactly, just because you say it's yours, does that make it so? Then I say this spiritual herb field is mine, and we can go harvest it, right?"
The elder, who had been smiling cheerfully, grumbled impatiently at their words. His originally amiable face contorted as if he had undergone a drastic change, instantly becoming fearsome and sinister. "Very well. Not only did you steal my spiritual herbs and damage my fields, but you also spew such nonsense to shirk responsibility. If I had known, I should never have agreed to let such shameless scoundrels enter the competition!"
With a wave of his hand, the elder unleashed a gust of hurricane towards the disciples. In their haste, the disciples were completely unable to resist and were blown about haphazardly. They also discovered something peculiar about the wind; it seemed to contain wind blades, causing them intense pain and discomfort.
The attackers found their bodies continuously suffering cuts and finally realized their fear.
"We were wrong..."
"Please, spare us..."
They seemed to be constantly begging for mercy, first from Yan Jiaojiao and her companions, and now from the elder.
The posture of the weak always appeared rather comical.
The elder clearly had no intention of letting them off. He formed his fingers into a claw and retrieved a wooden token, which they had hidden the most deeply, and crushed it.
"No—"
The attackers could not even utter a word of resistance before being teleported out of the secret realm by a teleportation array.
The elder let out a soft hmph, tossed the wooden token to the ground, and curved his lips. "Such disciples should not appear in the next academy competition."
After venting his frustration, he turned his gaze to Yan Jiaojiao and the other two.
"Young ladies and gentleman, you three helped me just now. As a token of my gratitude, I will allow you to enter and harvest some Soul Departure Grass."
Yan Jiaojiao had not expected such treatment for the three of them and immediately thanked the elder.
"I will give you the time it takes for me to finish one pot of wine. Once I've finished drinking, you must leave this place."
Yan Jiaojiao and the other two exchanged glances and, without a word, leaped into the herb field and began their work.
The elder watched the three of them, full of vitality, and a hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes.
"Little ones, which academy are you from?"
Yan Jiaojiao's hands did not stop moving as she replied, "Senior, we are from Gunan Academy."
The elder was stunned, seemingly disbelieving. "You are actually from Gunan Academy?"