Hearing the sounds of disbelief from the crowd, Li Meriong stressed her words in a repeated explanation, "I"m telling the truth! We were about to die! It was by a stroke of luck that we survived, the Fire Drake opened its jaws to blast a fireball at us but my Plant Spirit flung Wu Wei and Wu Ying Yue into his mouth right at the moment and the Drake ended up exploding into smithereens." Li Meirong recounted the events in detail, that which had transpired.
Zhu Zhang"s curiosity was finally peaked. He was already aware of the Plant Spirit, as he noticed it hiding in her sleeves years ago, but it was of no importance to him. However, he was certain the spirit wasn"t capable of winning such a match. The Plant Spirit was but a youth and could be almost considered a child in terms of a spirit"s growth.
How would he know how to act in times of danger against a greater, more formidable force than himself?
As for the girl...he avoided meeting her, but he made certain to carefully monitor her. There were no hidden trump cards he was unaware of and the powers inside of her were far too grand for a simple mortal like her to be capable of mastering.
Quite simply, the story did not add up.
"Li Meirong, even a child could come up with a better lie than you. In addition to the Plant Spirit protecting you, I doubt you would"ve thought of blocking the attack by stuffing the Fire Drake"s mouth? Don"t think me a fool! You were s.h.i.+vering like a beaten slave when I was simply entering the chamber. It couldn"t possibly be you." Zhou Zhang ended his theory with a mocking scoff.
Li Meirong tried to find the right words to describe what had happened without sounding like a complete liar, but the truth often sounds stranger than fiction.
What were the odds of them believing that little s...o...b..ll was the one that commanded Chou to swing her traitorous Seniors in the Drake"s direction?
But as long as she could keep the conversation going, the more time she would have to unseal her powers and protect herself.
Her voice broke as she described the incident, "I-it was a fox cub I found in the woods, he was the one guiding my Plant Spirit."
"Oh? A random fox cub in the woods that just happens to know how to make battle strategies, is that right?" Zhu Zhang taunted her, but her words caused a thread of suspicion to creep into his heart.
It wasn"t possible...
Several cultivators couldn"t help snickering. Even as a liar this girl was no good!
"Correct." Said Li Meirong.
"I don"t suppose this fox would just materialize out of thin air on your demand, would he? Before speaking nonsense, you must have evidence for your claims!" Zhu Zhang scolded harshly and sipped his tea while tapping his finger on the porcelain cup.
"This is the biggest joke I"ve heard in years! Hahaha!" The martial arts Grandmaster of the Sword Bearers division burst into laughter.
Captain Liang walked to the middle of the hall. Her eyes were serene like the clear ocean and her tone low and collected as she spoke. "Outer sect disciple Li Meirong, you cannot invent stories as you wish, if you have any more fairy tales for us to listen to, it would be after you are sent to the dungeon chambers for a thorough interrogation."
Li Meirong almost rolled her eyes. No Eyebrow lady"s dislike was evident. Forget about explaining the story, Captain Liang wanted to jump straight to the torture.
"I will not be going with you anywhere." Said Li Meirong calmly.
Li Meirong was absolutely certain she couldn"t take Zhu Zhang down in a fight, but if No Eyebrows attacked her, she would rather go down in flames with that woman instead of being tormented to death in a dungeon.
Zhou Zhang waved his hand nonchalantly, dismissing his ruling while he kept on sipping his tea peacefully. He must have overestimated Li Meirong"s capabilities.
Especially after hearing all that nonsense about a fox in the woods, surely that was a lie! Even if she did meet a fox, it was more than likely nothing more than a common demon. Zhou Zhang silently rea.s.sured himself.
He allowed this senseless accusation to progress only for an opportunity to witness which sort of tricks she could manage to concoct, discovering precisely the method Li Meirong used to get a hold of the G.o.dly aura in her possession. There was not even a point to become disappointed, she had not shown an ounce of competence. He must have been mistaken...
Decisively, he allowed the younger generation to handle the matter at hand.
Seeing her Grandmaster handing the reins over, Captain Liang grabbed the Beast-tamer"s leather whip attached to her hips and imbued the weapon with her spiritual power. The whip glowed in shades of bright magenta, illuminating the s.p.a.ce with colour.
Captain Liang slowly advanced towards Li Meirong, still kneeling on the ground.
She almost managed to rid herself of this pest years ago, but her Grandmaster decided to take her in instead. Finally, she would have the opportunity to rectify this mistake!
With her hair tied up in a single braid and her tall height, long legs and lean build, Captain Liang was a striking figure to behold as she stretched her glowing whip. Her robes s.h.i.+mmered with a pink hue from unleas.h.i.+ng her internal powers.
She struck her whip at full force directly at Li Meirong"s face, wanting to mar her features back to how she looked like at the time of her admittance. The onlookers eagerly antic.i.p.ated the strike, which caused a commotion when they surrounded Captain Liang and Li Meirong.
A united gasp was the only sound heard after the strike had been made.
Contrary to everyone"s expectations, the lash did not reach Lei Meirong"s smooth visage.
Li Meirong managed to squeeze her wrists out of the binds and against all odds, surrounded herself with incredibly powerful and vivid blue flames!
She held the whip between her palms, covered in azure flames, blocking the impactful attack.
Flabbergasted, Captain Liang couldn"t believe her eyes. The intensity of her Qi indicated Li Meirong was no simpleton, but a cultivator of the Second Realm...somehow she had managed to reach the peak of Foundation"s Establishment!
What does that really mean? During the course of a few days, Li Meirong turned from useless trash to a genius!
The only possible means to advance so quickly was with forbidden cultivation techniques, otherwise known as demonic cultivation, and even then such a leap was considered impossible!
Even Captain Liang, a cultivator in the Forgotten Waters Sect for over a hundred years couldn"t break out of the Qi Condensation stage!
Her shock did not prevent Captain Liang from jumping into action. She did not waste a single moment before shouting orders. "Capture her! She"s a demonic cultivator, don"t let her escape!"
All the a.s.sembled cultivators rose from their chairs at once. Demonic cultivators were a scourge upon the land, the main enemy of a righteous sect such as the Forgotten Waters. Only Zhu Zhang remained seated, strangely frozen stiff.
With so many cultivators aiming to bring her down, Li Meirong focused on concentrating her Qi, engulfing her whole body with ocean flames. On top of that, she surrounded herself with the very same barrier Feng Huang taught her earlier in order to protect herself against the lava, making her s.h.i.+elds nearly impenetrable.
Seeing the all too familiar Foxfire flames encircle the girl, for the first time in his life, Zhu Zhang realized there is no medicine for regret!
Oh no!
What a terrible mistake!
He had no time to mend this incident before the deafening sound of a crash was heard. The roof"s tiles caved in and landed on a number of disciples, knocking them out cold.
On top of the tiles stood the menacing presence of a white baby fox. The fox cub"s golden eyes were filled with murderous intent large enough to send all the low-level cultivators into the afterlife.
"Pffffffft."
Zhu Zhang ended up spurting out all the tea he drank! He swayed in his seat from shock.
That familiar energy, those piercing golden eyes, the family"s Foxfire flames...
That was his son!