A blue sword robe and an ordinary-looking face that gave people a special feeling. Zhao Jiuge stared at this familiar figure. He hadn’t expected Leng Rufeng to find him.

A wooden sword on his back, his black hair scattered, and the same blue sword robe. Zhao Jiuge vaguely saw his own shadow in Leng Rufeng. He stared at Leng Rufeng in surprise for a bit.

Some people immediately got along after meeting, as if they had known each other for years. Some people could know each other for decades but would never get along. At this moment, when Zhao Jiuge saw Leng Rufeng, his impression of him improved greatly.

He chuckled and was just about to say hello when he suddenly noticed that Leng Rufeng was holding someone else, so his gaze moved due to curiosity. Zhao Jiuge’s eyes widened and he was suddenly flooded with anger. Luo Xie was covered in blood and his breath was extremely unstable. There were dusty footprints all over his sword robe.

When Luo Xie saw that Zhao Jiuge was about to erupt in rage, he forced a smile on his bloody and dusty face like he was trying to tell Zhao Jiuge not to worry. However, his appearance made Zhao Jiuge even more angry. Luo Xie had disappeared early in the morning. Seeing Luo Xie’s appearance, how could he not connect it to the fact a lot of people hadn’t come to the teaching hall this morning? Something big must have happened today.

Thinking about this, Zhao Jiuge revealed a look of anger and anxiousness. He frowned and was about to ask what had happened when the calm and cold Leng Rufeng spoke.

“Brother Jiuge, I have admired you since the battle one month ago. I wanted to meet you a long time ago, but I haven’t had the time. I never thought we would meet under such circumstances today.” Leng Rufeng looked at Zhao Jiuge with an apologetic smile, but he didn’t stop moving. He helped the injured Luo Xie onto the wooden bed.

Leng Rufeng’s words suddenly interrupted Zhao Jiuge’s anger. When Leng Rufeng greeted him, he had to suppress his anger to answer with a smile, “What is Brother Leng talking about? I have also been wanting to talk to you, but I have been obsessed with cultivation. I waited until the beginning of the month to talk to you, but I found that most people were gone. What happened? Who injured Luo Xie?”

At the start, Zhao Jiuge was still able to reveal a faint smile, but it was stiff. However, the more he heard, the more angry he became. Even his voice became louder, and he was unable to hide his emotions.

Facing Zhao Jiuge’s questions, Leng Rufeng’s expression, which was as calm as water, gradually sank. “It was done by those disciples from the well-off families. They always bullied us students from the poor families. There has always been friction, and many disciples were bullied. Your heartfelt speech during the fight slowly brought us all together. Recently, another brother was bullied by Bai Zimo, so I called them out for a fight. I didn’t expect our side to get injured like this today. Based on overall cultivation, we are worse than them. I feel ashamed about this.”

Those words dispelled the doubts in Zhao Jiuge’s heart. Leng Rufeng’s face was filled with guilt. If not for his moment of hot-headedness, the rest of the disciples wouldn’t have had to suffer varying degrees of injuries.

After understanding the ins and outs of the matter, Zhao Jiuge’s chest was heaving up and down and his face was filled with anger. “It’s that Bai Zimo again. It seems the lesson I taught him last time was not enough. I’ll go find him now.”

After he finished speaking, he ignored everything and angrily got up to head out. He was going to find Bai Zimo to get revenge for Luo xie. Although Luo Xie was not very diligent in cultivation, the two had become friendly during their time together. Zhao Jiuge had always treated Luo Xie like a good friend. Now that he saw Luo Xie beaten like this, just being angry was not enough. He naturally couldn’t just bear with the anger.

It turned out that after Luo Xie met those like-minded youths after Zhao Jiuge’s fight, they all became acquainted with each other. Then, one by one, the 20 or so people became friends. Over the past month, Luo Xie often ran out to play with them, and they hung out together a lot. A few days ago, one of them was bullied by the disciples from well-off families. Leng Rufeng could not endure anymore, so he called them out to a group fight. During the fight, Leng Refeng was helpless against more than 30 enemies. Aside from Leng Rufeng and two or three other youths, everyone else suffered some injuries, with Luo Xie being one of the worst.

Fortunately, both sides were afraid of attracting the instructors if they caused too much of a commotion, so they all came to the tacit understanding of not using spells or magic treasures. They only relied on their strength and spirit force. Otherwise, Luo Xie would not have come back with just injuries, they would really have hurt his roots.

Zhao Jiuge became impulsive and was about to rush out to find Bai Zimo to settle this, but Leng Rufeng quickly stopped him. Even Luo Xie, who was lying on the wooden bed in pain, struggled to get up. He quickly said, “Zhao Jiuge, don’t go. I’m fine. They have too many people, and they all have good cultivation. I know you’re strong, but you can’t deal with their numbers. You will only suffer if you go.”

Perhaps he had talked too much, the injury on the corner of his mouth was affected. He covered his mouth and screamed in pain. He laid back on his bed and rolled back and forth.

When Zhao Jiuge saw him like this, he was angry, though it was funny. Extremely frustrated, he loudly said, “I told you to train harder, but you didn’t listen. Now you know the importance of strength. If you continue like this, you deserve to be beaten everyday.”

Luo Xie was already injured, and after being beaten, he was feeling terrible. Although Zhao Jiuge was scolding him, Luo Xie was moved by what Zhao Jiuge had done. After getting along for so many days, he had a good read on Zhao Jiuge’s personality. Although Zhao Jiuge didn’t express anything on the surface, he knew Zhao Jiuge was looking out for him.

When Luo Xie heard Zhao Jiuge’s scolding, he didn’t become angry or refute, he just had a silly smile on his face. He played with his head and said, “Hmph, I’ll deal with them next time. I’ll consider it their win this time, but once my cultivation is powerful, dealing with them will be as simple as playing around.”

Zhao Jiuge glared at Luo Xie and angrily said, “Oh, you’re so proud now. When I got here, you were in such a sorry state. Why weren’t you as domineering as you are now? However, this matter is not over. I'll settle the account with Bai Zimo today. Although I can’t beat them all, I can still hurt a few of them.”

Seeing them quarrel like this, Leng Rufeng, who didn’t know their relationship, became a bit worried. He quickly stepped in to settle the fight. “Okay, okay, this matter will be long term and will not end like this. We need to discuss what to do next. Fortunately, the injuries are only skin deep, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem to recover. After recovering for a few days, we will gather to discuss this. What do you think, Brother Jiuge?”

After he finished speaking, he looked at Zhao Jiuge with a questioning gaze to seek Zhao Jiuge’s opinion. Although it was their first time meeting, it was not difficult to see what kind of person Zhao Jiuge was. Leng Rufeng felt a sense of appreciation toward someone who was like-minded. He couldn't help but have a good feeling about Zhao Jiuge.

After hearing what Leng Rufeng had said, Zhao Jiuge responded with a gloomy expression. “That’s right, let’s wait for them to recover first. Meanwhile, I’ll deal with them one by one and wait for them to be alone.” He was no gentleman. When he was young, he would often go hunting in the mountains. He didn’t care about the process, only the result. If he didn’t catch any prey, not only would he go hungry, even his family would not have any income.

After hearing Zhao Jiuge’s words, he was stunned for a moment. He didn’t think a heroic and domineering person like Zhao Jiuge would play this trick. However, his expression only froze for a moment and then returned to normal. He surprisingly didn’t refute Zhao Jiuge. The corner of his mouth curved upward and he thought that Zhao Jiuge was getting more and more interesting.

Luo Xie, who still had a triumphant gaze, suddenly became depressed. His voice became soft. “Zhao Jiuge, guess who I saw on the other side today.”

Zhao Jiuge rolled his eyes, then he looked at Luo Xie and curiously asked, “Who?”

“Wang Baiwan. One may know a person for a long time without understanding his true nature. Before, he was my friend, but now he pretends to not recognize me. Fortunately, Wang Baiwan gave me some spirit stones before, so I still feel grateful toward him,” Luo Xie said with a sigh. There was no trace of emotion on his face.

After hearing Luo Xie’s answer, Zhao Jiuge became silent. The young man who no longer walked on the same path as him was walking further and further away, and they would never meet again. That day, when Wan Baiwan turned around, a clear line was drawn between them. Their friendship where they laughed and talked together couldn’t withstand such a small change.

It could never go back to what it once was.

After hearing that even Wang Baiwan had made a move, the last worry Zhao Jiuge had due to his friendship disappeared.

“Brother Jiuge, Luo Xie needs to recover properly, so please take care of him. I have to take my leave because there are still some brothers waiting for me. I just came here to bring Luo Xie back. I’ll come back to visit you tomorrow.” When Leng Rufeng saw that Zhao Jiuge and Luo Xie’s mood had stabilized, he clasped his hands at Zhao Jiuge. Then he turned and left.

A good start was more important than anything. The meeting today had given both a good impression of each other. The goal had already been achieved, so Leng Rufeng didn’t stay for too long. This short period of time wouldn’t affect the development of their relationship, and there was still some aftermath he had to deal with. 

Zhao Jiuge watched Leng Rufeng leave and only turned around after he left. He looked at Luo Xie, who was lying on the wooden bed, and whispered, “I just had an idea.”