“Are these people idiots?” Xiaoying muttered. “Fighting among themselves out here on the Outer Battlefield?”
Feng Yuxin hadn't expected so many to be this blind. No wonder the situation beyond the border had gone downhill. A lot of elders had already fallen. It was bad enough that their own people weren't pulling their weight — worse still, some had turned traitor.
“Master, what do we do?” Hun Bing asked.
Xiaoying glanced at Feng Yuxin, worry creasing his small face. “You aren't thinking of going to the Demonic Clan yourself, are you?”
Feng Yuxin spread her hands in frustrated amusement. “Even if I wanted to, my strength isn't enough to go there.”
Xiaoying exhaled with relief. He'd been terrified she would rush in blindly. If Feng Yuxin had known how he felt, she would have been silently annoyed — she wasn't the reckless type who'd ignore her limits. But she wasn't someone who would stand by and do nothing either.
“Hun Bing, can you record the intel you just scouted?” Feng Yuxin said. These revelations could be leverage. If she could secure proof first, the fallout might be easier to manage.
Hun Bing considered and replied, “Be careful, but it should be possible.”
Feng Yuxin handed him a small palm-sized piece of spirit jade. “Record what you can. If you can't get everything, that's fine. Safety comes first.”
“Understood, Master.” Hun Bing took the jade and slipped away.
Out on the Outer Battlefield, each faction held its own sector. The Shanhai Academy wasn't on the front line, but it wasn't far in the rear either. Feng Yuxin had not come escorted by other elders; she expected resistance and was prepared to wait it out. She had not bothered with a disguise — her extraordinary beauty drew eyes wherever she went.
“Who is that woman?” someone whispered.
“Did she say she was from Shanhai Academy?”
“No way—Shanhai has someone that pretty?”
“They're in decline. Do they recruit pretty faces now?”
“If she joined our academy, she'd be a nice sight.”
No one had expected Feng Yuxin to arrive so quickly at the Outer Battlefield. Shanhai Academy, of course, knew. Kou Chengzhi had used a special method to send word to Dean Shang. But the Dean had just come out of a battle and was wounded; he hadn't been able to send a party to fetch her. So when an elder came out to receive a guest — and the guest was a woman — people began to whisper.
“If an elder comes personally to pick her up, she's not just a pretty face,” someone said.
“Maybe other reasons,” another suggested, trailing off. The implication was clear.
Feng Yuxin ignored the murmurs; she followed the elder inside. Most people would have no right to demand an elder's personal attention, but Feng Yuxin had once given them pills that had saved many lives. Her place among them wasn't the same as a stranger's. Still, it was a discreet debt — Kou Chengzhi had specifically instructed everyone to keep things low-key.
Inside Shanhai's enclave, the elder who had escorted her said, “I heard from the dean that your medical skills are remarkable. We were wondering when you'd arrive — thought it might be too late.”
“Elder Kou said the injured haven't recovered. Can I see them?” Feng Yuxin asked bluntly.
“They're in the recovery wing. The dean is there as well. I'll take you to him.” Elder Ding led her down the corridor.
Hun Bing's earlier reconnaissance had only reached the outer ring and those who had left. He couldn't penetrate the Academy's inner wards, so Feng Yuxin was still in the dark about the full situation inside.
“You've finally come, girl.” Dean Shang glanced up at Feng Yuxin and let out a long, relieved breath. No one begrudged these old men the hope pinned on a young woman. Their healers had been bewildered by the injuries; without the injured elders' companions continuously pouring spirit energy into them, they might already be dead. Even with that constant support, they lived only day to day. The pills Feng Yuxin had once provided had worked miracles. If anyone could save them now, the staff here believed it would be her.
“You're worried I won't manage?” Feng Yuxin could hear the hope in his voice, so she offered a precaution. “I'll do my best, but don't expect miracles.”
“One of us lives on that expectation.” One wounded elder spoke up. “I took her elixir before. It helped my cultivation breakthrough; for the first time in years, an enhancement didn't stall. If you can't save us, I doubt anyone in the Divine Realm can.”
His praise was overwhelming. Feng Yuxin felt the pressure, but she kept her face calm. “I'll take a look first. While I examine them, tell me exactly what happened.”
She had a hunch the intel Hun Bing intercepted was connected to these injuries.
“Let me explain,” Dean Shang said, hesitating as he looked at her, “It won't affect your diagnosis and treatment, will it?”
“It won't.” Feng Yuxin's multitasking was polished to a razor edge. Listening while performing a diagnosis — even amidst the noise of battle — posed no problem.
Relieved, Dean Shang watched as she began with one of the injured elders. As she worked, he recounted the sequence of events that had led them all here. Feng Yuxin listened without interruption.
When he finished, she blinked and asked, “Are the injured from Qianli Academy, the Kou family, the Liu family, the Wei family…”
She rattled off a string of names and factions. Eyes in the room widened. Dean Shang couldn't hide his surprise. “How do you know that?” he blurted.