"I'm no expert, but I can't stand sneaky and treacherous villains like you."
A clear and melodious voice of a young girl came from the east. No one could see her true face, but just from the voice, it was not hard to tell that this girl's strength was above everyone else's.
"Senior, could you please show yourself?"
In the Dongze Wilderness, there was such a custom. They would address alchemists as masters, and those with higher spiritual and mental power than them as seniors, regardless of their age.
Counting this, how many times had Zhao Shuning been called a senior?
"Huang Sheng, do you want to kill a spiritual pharmacist?"
How did she know his name was Huang Sheng?
"I wouldn't dare, senior. But as their teacher, these students are disrespectful. I just want to teach them some lessons about being a decent person."
"What? Do you think I'm blind?"
Zhao Shuning's tone was light, but everyone could sense a hint of displeasure in her words.
"Are you from the Misty Rain Tower, senior?"
"No, I'm not."
"In that case, please don't interfere in the affairs of the Misty Rain Tower, senior. Behind the Misty Rain Tower is the Wang family. I'm sure you know how powerful the Wang family is without me having to say more."
The Wang family?
Just mentioning the Wang family made Zhao Shuning furious.
Previously, she just wanted to cripple Huang Sheng's limbs. But now, since he was using the Wang family to threaten her, she thought it would be better to just take his life.
She remembered clearly how the Wang family had secretly harmed her back then. Although she didn't have the ability to settle the score with the Wang family yet, she wouldn't tolerate a mere person in charge of the Misty Rain Tower acting arrogantly in front of her.
"Really? But I just like to oppose the Wang family. What should I do then?"
Hearing this, Zhang Tianyuan wanted to sneak away while no one was paying attention.
But at that moment, an unknown force wall rose up around him.
"I didn't say you could leave."
Zhang Tianyuan held his breath and lowered his posture. "Senior, I'm just a student of the Misty Rain Tower. I should have no feud with you. I don't want to get involved in your fight either. I'll leave and won't affect your conversation with Teacher Huang. I wonder where I offended you?"
Zhao Shuning just smiled and didn't answer him.
If Zhang Tianyuan was allowed to grow up, his meanness would surely be no less than that of the old guy Wang Cheng.
Zhao Shuning wished she could cut Zhang Tianyuan into pieces. What he had done, didn't he know? He was still pretending to be innocent.
"Huang Sheng, what do you think I should do?"
"Senior, you have a feud with the Wang family, but I have nothing against you. I've been living a peaceful life all these years and haven't done anything heinous. Please spare me, okay?"
Spare him?
He had a good imagination.
"Senior, please save us. Huang Sheng, who is supposed to be a teacher, wants to kill us all here because he's afraid we'll go back to the Misty Rain Tower and expose him. Senior, you must save us. As long as you save us, we'll surely do our best to do whatever you say in the future."
Their words were exactly what Zhao Shuning wanted, but on the surface, she remained calm.
What she needed most now were people's hearts and abilities. Although the Viper was powerful and willing to be loyal to her, his strength was still not enough. If she could incorporate the Tianyuan Sparrows into the Shuiyunsheng Gang and merge the two gangs, then in the martial world, the Shuiyunsheng Gang would become the number one gang.
If she handed such a big gang to the Viper and Sese to manage, it could be considered her own power in the future.
But thinking was one thing, and now, Zhao Shuning couldn't show her attitude so quickly. She still had to test these third - grade students.
"It's not difficult for me to save you, but your abilities don't meet my standards."
"Senior, we're all second - grade spiritual pharmacists. Many of us are on the verge of breaking through to the third rank. Senior, we're still young. In the future, we'll surely practice hard and become the sharpest weapon in your hands."
"But you're all afraid of death and as timid as mice. When facing power, your first thought is to submit rather than resist. People like you, even if I use you in the future, might just switch sides as soon as you meet a more powerful alchemist."
"Senior, we won't!"
"Senior, although we're timid, we can tell right from wrong. We'll never do anything that goes against the morals of the martial world or the laws of the wilderness."
"Yes! Senior, we were too cowardly before, but after this incident, we know that no matter how powerful a background is, it's unreliable. The person we choose doesn't need to have a big background, but must be honest and kind. Senior, we really know our mistakes now. Please save our lives!"
The third - grade students were very sincere, and Zhao Shuning had also detected their spiritual power. It didn't seem like they were lying.
So she said, "Words are not enough. How can I trust you?"
The more than twenty people below looked at each other, and then they all knelt down in unison. They slowly detached their spiritual roots from their bodies and placed them in the east, the direction from which Zhao Shuning's voice came.
Sacrificing one's spiritual root was the greatest show of sincerity for a spiritual pharmacist.
"Senior, you can inject your spiritual power into our spiritual roots. If we have second thoughts in the future, you can directly use your spiritual power to damage our spiritual roots."
Zhao Shuning gently stretched out her hand, and her spiritual power split into about twenty strands, gently covering the spiritual roots of the twenty spiritual pharmacists. Then, those spiritual roots returned to the spiritual pharmacists' bodies.
Yes, Zhao Shuning had planted her spiritual power in their spiritual roots.
She didn't know these students well, and they couldn't be compared with Sese and Shuang'er at all. By planting her spiritual power in them, Zhao Shuning just wanted to feel at ease.
In her previous life, she had trusted the people around her too much, and in the end, she had died a tragic death.
Now, she wouldn't blindly trust people. The only one she trusted most was herself.
When the spiritual roots flew back into the students' bodies, it was obvious which side Zhao Shuning was on.
"Senior!"
"Huang Sheng, you've seen it. I've accepted their offer. Now, they're under my command. If you hurt them, I'll grind your bones to ashes."
Zhao Shuning said the words "grind your bones to ashes" very slowly.
At this moment, Huang Sheng's eyes turned fierce.
If these students went back, he would face life - long imprisonment, which would be more painful than death.
Since there was no way out, why not make a full - force attack in this last chance? Maybe he still had a glimmer of hope to survive.
"Want to escape?"