Chapter 1001: Chapter 1001: Watching Her Get Beating Up
"Write another five hundred runes before tomorrow’s class." Ji Yuan commanded with merciless indifference.
"Shit..." Bai Xifeng muttered under her breath, her shoulders instantly sagging under the weight of sheer despair.
"What was that?" Ji Yuan glanced at her with a calm, piercing gaze, one eyebrow slightly raised in a silent, chilling warning.
"Nothing! I said I will finish writing every single one of them tonight, without fail!" Bai Xifeng replied immediately.
She began nodding her head with a display of frantic obedience and a layer of very thin, forced enthusiasm.
"Teacher Ji, may I have your permission to come here again in the future?" Xie Lanying suddenly interjected, her voice brimming with a mixture of hope and quiet anticipation.
"Hmm... You may come around this hour. Her primary classes should already be finished by then." Ji Yuan replied.
His answer was characteristic of his nature, indirectly granting her permission to return whenever she wished without sounding overly welcoming.
"Thank you, Teacher Ji. Xifeng, I will see you tomorrow then." Xie Lanying said, offering a bright smile before finally departing from the division grounds.
"I am going to cook dinner now." Bai Xifeng announced to the empty air after a long, heavy moment of silence had settled between them.
Even though her body was still bone-weary and utterly exhausted from the gruelling training session, she forced her leaden limbs toward the kitchen. No matter how drained she felt, her stomach demanded a proper meal, and she still held a silent, internal promise to fulfil regarding the quality of the food they shared.
Two hours later, a rejuvenated and freshly washed Bai Xifeng emerged from the kitchen, carrying several steaming dishes toward the gazebo. As was his usual custom, the moment Ji Yuan saw her approaching with the fragrant, spice-laden food, he calmly set aside the documents in his hands. Tao-chan also appeared from the shadows shortly afterwards, the beast’s nose twitching eagerly at the rich, savoury aroma lingering in the evening air.
Bai Xifeng placed a separate and generous portion in front of the beast, and Tao-chan immediately began eating without a single moment’s hesitation.
Even though Ji Yuan had never once offered to directly help Bai Xifeng prepare the meals, she had gradually begun noticing the quiet and meticulous effort he had been making behind the scenes. The kitchen itself had undergone a significant transformation compared to when she had first arrived at the division. It was now far cleaner, noticeably larger, and much more logically organised.
Various professional-grade cooking utensils, rare seasonings, and fresh ingredients were already stocked neatly inside the cupboards. Even high-quality spirit-beast meat was regularly prepared and stored there specifically for her use.
Previously, Bai Xifeng had always needed to dip into her own private supplies whenever she cooked. Now, all she needed to do was provide the labour for the cooking itself. The environment provided the rest.
Bai Xifeng glanced sideways toward Ji Yuan as they ate together in a comfortable, rhythmic silence. Her teacher’s movements were remarkably graceful and refined, even when performing a task as mundane as eating. Every action he took carried an effortless elegance. A sight beautiful was enough to resemble a vivid scene from a classical painting.
"What?" Ji Yuan noticed her lingering gaze immediately, his eyes shifting toward her.
"Nothing." Bai Xifeng shook her head quickly before commenting with her usual blunt honesty, "Teacher Ji, you truly eat very elegantly. It’s almost distracting to watch."
"Do you wish to learn the proper table etiquette of the high courts as well?" Ji Yuan asked calmly while his eyes met hers directly.
Bai Xifeng immediately shook her head without a second of hesitation. She truly had zero interest in learning something she considered tedious and troublesome as that. As far as she was concerned, as long as the food tasted delicious and she enjoyed the process of eating it, such elegance was a completely unnecessary burden.
...
As promised, Xie Lanying returned to the Inscriber Division the next day. However, she did not arrive alone. Ning Shoukai accompanied her.
Ning Shoukai was genuinely taken aback when he witnessed Ji Yuan beating up Bai Xifeng. Usually, he was the one standing on the sidelines watching Bai Xifeng beat someone else into the dirt, not the other way around.
"Should we stop them?" Ning Shoukai asked Xie Lanying in a hushed, worried whisper.
"No need. They are merely sparring." Xie Lanying stated calmly, her eyes fixed on the exchange.
Was this really what people called sparring? To Ning Shoukai, it looked completely one-sided, a systematic dismantling. He suddenly found himself doubting his own fundamental understanding of the word.
Fifteen minutes later, the sparring session finally drew to a close. Bai Xifeng was lying flat on the ground, staring blankly at the vast sky above her as she caught her breath. This time, Ji Yuan had restricted her even further than before. During the match, she had only been permitted to use water-element attribute runes. Since she did not possess many of them to begin with, the result was a foregone conclusion. She ended up getting thoroughly beaten again.
"As an inscriber, you need to be prepared for any situation. There may come a time when you cannot use your primary elemental attribute at all." Ji Yuan lectured calmly.
"Yes, Teacher Ji. I understand." Bai Xifeng replied weakly, her voice trailing off.
She slowly pushed herself up from the dusty ground before sitting down properly to recover. She took out several healing pills and a small vial of elixir to treat her mounting injuries. Only then did she fully realise that Xie Lanying had already arrived, and that Ning Shoukai was standing right beside her.
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