Become the Strongest Master With a Genius Student

Looking above, there were no longer walls but a blue sky. Long Linglu quickly surveyed her surroundings to ascertain her location, discovering that she was still near the ruins in the alternative forest. Knowing where she was, Long Linglu immediately took flight to escape towards the exit gate of the alternative realm, leaving behind the translucent man who was still underground in the ruins. 

Feeling the abundance of liquid that tasted like blood on her tongue, Long Linglu anxiously encouraged Ruan Xiaoyue not to give up despite her injuries.

"Ruan Xiaoyue, stay with me! I’ll get you home! Don’t die!"

"...Long... Linglu, did you... turn into... a dragon?"

"Don’t talk! Focus on healing! Your wounds are too severe!"

"...Sister Xue... did you bring her...?"

"I brought her! She’s in my hands! So, be quiet!"

"...Am I... in your mouth now? It’s... wet and warm..."

"Be quiet, Ruan Xiaoyue! Heal yourself! Don’t say another word!"

"...I’m sorry for... dragging you here... Because of my selfishness, you almost... died... I also apologize for... hitting you so often... I actually consider you... my friend. My awkwardness... not having friends before made me... act harshly towards you... Though it was partly your... arrogance that annoyed me... I still apologize. I miss master... Has she abandoned me?"

"…"

Hearing Ruan Xiaoyue still talking and not heeding what she was saying, Long Linglu did not respond to her words but instead accelerated her flying speed. Too focused on increasing her speed out of concern for Ruan Xiaoyue's condition, Long Linglu failed to notice a giant hand made of qi descending rapidly towards her from above.

"What! Akh!"

Just as she realized there was a massive qi hand above her, it was already too late. Her body was pressed down by the enormous qi hand with such force that she crashed hard to the ground.

BAM!

GRAAAH! ROARRR!

“RUAN XIAOYUE! DAMN IT! LET ME GO! DAMN THE HAND!”

Due to her unpreparedness to withstand the attack, Ruan Xiaoyue, who was in her mouth, was thrown out and fell hard to the ground. Long Linglu, pressed to the ground not far from the seemingly dying Ruan Xiaoyue, roared and struggled wildly to free herself from the qi hand that was pinning her down. However, it was all in vain, as ultimately, her struggles could not free her from the grip of the qi hand, and the translucent man who had caused it reappeared in front of her without a scratch.

“Hahahaha! I didn’t expect you could actually transform into a dragon. As I recall, your race has a very difficult lineage to awaken the divine dragon bloodline you possess. Yet you, even though still small, have managed to awaken your lineage, which has raised your value in my eyes from very low to quite high.”

“I can’t let an ancient divine dragon like you go so easily, so dragon girl, surrender and bow down to me! It’s pointless to resist; even in your dragon form, you can fight against cultivators at the early stage of Body Integration, and your body can withstand attacks from peak Body Integration cultivators without killing you. Yet it’s still useless to fight me, whose cultivation is at the peak stage of Cross Tribulation! Especially after I possess the body of that almost dead girl, absorb the furnace you hold, and consume the divine fruit you brought, my cultivation will surely reach the Mahayana level coveted by many cultivators! With that level of cultivation, I will help you seek all the treasures to elevate your cultivation to the Mahayana level like mine, and after that, the two of us can easily dominate this world!”

"I will never serve you! You’re insane! The fact that you’re a wandering soul hiding in an alternate world you placed on this weak Fellow Sun continent proves you’re just a coward who fled from the great continent! Let me go, damn it! You’ve messed with the wrong people! Our master won’t let you get away with this! Gaaahk!"

"It seems I’ve been too kind by merely pressing you down with my qi hand. Since you’re so stubborn and even insult me, I’ll have to discipline you by slicing your body into pieces and healing you repeatedly with the divine fruits you carry. Luckily for me, there are plenty of those fruits, so I can torture you until you submit to me.”

With those words, the translucent man transformed the qi hand pinning Long Linglu into chains and conjured numerous qi swords to use as instruments of torture on her.

___

“Aghk! Gaahk! Arrrgh!”

“Surrender! You’re incredibly stubborn! I’ve tortured you five times until you were on the brink of death, wasting five divine fruits in the process!”

“Arrrgh! Urgh! ...I will never submit to you! My master will avenge this! Arrrgh!”

‘...That voice... Is it Long Linglu? ...She’s being tortured... I want to help her, but... my body won’t move...’

Ruan Xiaoyue, who had been unconscious after falling from the sky, awoke upon hearing Long Linglu’s screams of pain. She wanted to help but couldn’t move her injured body. Helpless, she could only watch as Long Linglu suffered.

"Stubborn dragon!"

"Arrrgh! GRAAAH! ...I will kill you! Arrrrgh!"

"Your roars are useless against me."

'Stop… Long Linglu… She could die… my body won’t move… w-why is Long Linglu and everything around her blurry? It’s d-dark, I can’t see! My body feels nothing! M-master, RuanRuan is scared. Please, master! RuanRuan doesn’t want to die here…'

After crying out for help to her master in her thoughts, her breath gradually faded away little by little. In the end, Ruan Xiaoyue died from blood loss; unfortunately, her master, Vheena, could not hear what she was thinking.

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Strangely, just before Ruan Xiaoyue’s soul faded away, the tattered black robe she wore, a gift from her master, emitted a deep purple qi that enveloped her entire body.

The deep purple qi that surrounded her body miraculously healed all her wounds and even regrew her severed legs as they were before, without a single scar, as if she had never been injured. Not only that, but her fading soul gradually began to recover, causing her, who had been dead, to awaken as if she were gasping for breath.

“Haaaaaaah… haa, haa, haa, am I still a-alive?”

While the translucent man was torturing Long Linglu, he heard the sound of Ruan Xiaoyue’s heavy breathing not far from him. Curious, he shifted his gaze and saw Ruan Xiaoyue, who had been on the brink of death, now completely enveloped in deep purple qi. The sight of that purple qi filled the translucent man with a great sense of danger.

“What kind of purple qi is that surrounding your body? D-danger, I can’t let you live! Die!”

"Damn it! I didn’t have time to escape!"

Ruan Xiaoyue, unprepared for the translucent man’s sudden attack, could only block with her hands as he unleashed a barrage of qi swords and spears.

“Damn! Damn it! What’s with that purple qi? Where did you get it?!"

Seeing the panic on the translucent man’s face as his countless qi weapons failed to harm her, Ruan Xiaoyue marveled at the power of the purple qi. But she had underestimated its strength. When the qi fully absorbed into her body, her cultivation rapidly soared from the advanced Golden Core stage to an unknown realm.

"This is impossible! How could your cultivation rise from Golden Core to Mahayana in an instant?! This doesn’t make sense!"

“Hehehehe... Didn’t I tell you our master wouldn’t let you get away? Since you’ve tortured me, her pet, and Ruan Xiaoyue, her disciple, my master will ensure you die here!” Long Linglu sneered through her pain.

"Damn it! I need to escape!"

As the translucent man tried to flee, Ruan Xiaoyue dashed with teleport-like speed and grabbed his neck, coating her hand with qi to prevent him from escaping.

"Ghak! How can you touch my spirit form?! Damn it, let go!"

"You were the one who revealed it when you said my attack could wound your soul, so of course, I tried to capture you using my master’s technique."

“Ghak! Damn you!”

“Don’t move too much, or I’ll destroy your soul! Now hurry up and return the ring containing our divine fruit!”

“Ghak! I won’t! Ghak! Ugh! L-let me go!”

“If you refuse again, I’ll squeeze your neck so hard your soul will be crushed!”

“H-here, take it!” replied the translucent man in fear as he saw Ruan Xiaoyue’s terrifying expression and felt the grip on his neck tighten.

After taking the ring from the translucent man, Ruan Xiaoyue walked toward Long Linglu, dragging the translucent man by the neck as she went. Once in front of Long Linglu, Ruan Xiaoyue easily shattered the qi chains that bound her and then stuffed several divine fruits into Long Linglu’s mouth, seeing the miserable state of her dragon form with her legs and tail severed.

“Long Linglu, eat these fruits. You’re in a pitiful state.”

“Ugh! Th-thank you, Ruan Xiaoyue... I’m healed!” replied Long Linglu after swallowing all the fruits Ruan Xiaoyue had given her.

“Where is Sister Xue? I don’t see her.”

“The human called Xue is under the pile of my severed limbs. You can find her there. And what about that bastard you’re dragging? Aren’t you going to kill him? If you don’t, give him to me! I want revenge for all the times he tortured me!”

“Damn it! Let me go! If you kill me, that woman named Xue will die too, with her soul shattered like mine, because I’ve already inscribed my soul secret technique onto hers!”

Ignoring the translucent man’s threatening words, Ruan Xiaoyue didn’t respond and continued talking to Long Linglu.

“…Can you turn back into your half-dragon human form? Your voice is too loud when you’re a dragon.”

“Of course I can, watch.” Long Linglu’s dragon body glowed brightly, and then she transformed back into her horned loli form.

Seeing the two little girls ignoring him and appearing distracted by their conversation, the translucent man seized the opportunity. He silently conjured numerous qi swords in the air and shot them rapidly toward the dragon girl and the girl with the Pure Yin physique.

Because his attack targeted both of them simultaneously, the little girl released her grip on his neck to swiftly protect her friends, allowing him to flee quickly.

“Ruan Xiaoyue! Are you okay? I saw you suddenly run so fast, almost disappearing, and then you were already carrying that human called Xue.”

“Didn’t you see that bastard’s attack? He unleashed many qi swords aimed at you and Sister Xue, so I had to let him go to block the attack aimed at you two.”

“Woah! Y-yeah, you’re right. Looking around, I can see many qi swords about to disappear. But what about that damned human? He’s fled so far away, I can’t even see where he’s gone.”

“It’s fine, now that that bastard has fled, I can try unleashing the full power of the Mahayana-level cultivator he mentioned. I’m also curious to see how strong I am now.”

‘Although that transparent bastard’s words worry me, since he said Sister Xue’s soul is marked with his secret technique, which could destroy her soul. Should I stop trying to unleash my full power? No, I can’t stop. That bastard might’ve lied to trick me into letting him go by claiming he’s done something to Sister Xue. I have to kill him; it’ll be dangerous if I let him escape!’

Having made up her mind, Ruan Xiaoyue asked Long Linglu to carry Sister Xue. Then she focused on the direction the translucent man had fled, assuming a combat stance and gathering a massive amount of golden qi in her hands. After gathering enough qi, she attempted to enhance her master’s technique by adding an outer layer of qi to her right hand that moved in wave-like rings. With this enhancement, she unleashed her usual technique and triggered the ripple rings just as her punch was about to hit, causing an impact she couldn’t have imagined.

Shuu... FuuBOOAaAAMMM!!

With just the power of her Mahayana level alone, her punch would have obliterated everything in the alternate realm. But after adding the new enhancement to her master’s technique, the impact spread in waves, causing the alternate dimension to shatter, unable to withstand her attack. The remnants of her strike burst through the severely damaged gateway to the alternate realm, causing a massive explosion that eradicated all the Great Thunder sect cultivators waiting for Ruan Xiaoyue’s group to emerge.

The numerous fragments and cracks in the alternate dimension made Ruan Xiaoyue sense danger. She wrapped her entire body in qi and embraced Long Linglu and Xue Lanting to protect them from the collapsing dimension. A few moments later, after being tossed around in the chaotic dimension for a while, Ruan Xiaoyue finally found a small exit crack in the Death Forest and managed to escape the ruined alternate realm with Long Linglu and Xue Lanting.

“Huuuuuft, w-we almost died in there. That was terrifying.”

"Y-You're right, Ruan Xiaoyue. Th-that shattered dimension earlier was terrifying. If you hadn't been as strong as you are now, we might have been torn apart by the numerous cracks and chaotic rifts in the dimension. I never want to experience that again."

"You're right. I don’t want to feel that again either—huh? M-my power is fading! I’m back to Golden Core!"

"Ruan Xiaoyue, it seems like your cultivation earlier was only temporary, but that tattered robe you're wearing is glowing purple. Could that be the source of your power?"

"Yes, you're right. The power I had earlier came from this old robe, which belonged to our master. Wow, even though the robe was badly torn, it’s restored to its original state. Ugh, but unfortunately, the power wasn’t permanent."

"Damn it! I'm really jealous that you're wearing our master’s old robe, especially one with such amazing abilities! And yet you’re complaining that the power isn’t permanent—so ungrateful! Give that robe to me!"

"How bold of you to ask for the robe that master gave to me. Besides, she already gave you a ring, so—"

"R-Ruan Xiaoyue! T-this person named Xue isn’t breathing! H-her heart isn’t even beating anymore!"

"Th-that can’t be, d-did that translucent man tell the truth? D-damn, there’s no breath! What do we do now? It’s pointless to have saved Sister Xue if she’s going to die! Ugh! Why did you hit me?"

"Idiot! Why are you panicking like that? Get the divine fruit from your storage ring. Isn't that fruit supposed to heal everything?"

After hearing Long Linglu’s words, Ruan Xiaoyue followed her advice and took out the divine fruit from her storage ring. Once she had the fruit, she was unsure how to give it to Sister Xue.

"I-I can't give it to her! H-how do I get Sister Xue to eat this? She’s not even moving!"

"T-try chewing it yourself first and then pass the chewed fruit into Sister Xue’s mouth."

Following Long Linglu’s advice, Ruan Xiaoyue chewed the divine fruit. After crushing it in her mouth, she put the chewed fruit into Sister Xue’s mouth.

"I-it’s no use! The fruit won’t go into Sister Xue’s body! We need water! Go find some, Long Linglu, you can turn into a dragon."

"O-okay, wait a moment... Here! I’ve got it! O-open her mouth! I’m carrying the water in my mouth!"

Pouring the water from her mouth into Xue Lanting’s, which Ruan Xiaoyue had opened, the two of them watched as the severe wounds on Sister Xue’s body healed instantly. However, although Xue Lanting's body was restored, her soul did not return, even after they waited for a long time. Ruan Xiaoyue, seeing that Xue Lanting couldn’t be revived, remained silent, saddened by the situation.

"...It’s no use. We’ve done everything we could. Sister Xue can’t come back to life. ...I’m sorry, Sister Xue, I tried my best to save you, but this is how it turned out."

"Don’t give up yet, Ruan Xiaoyue! Take this person named Xue and get on my back. We’ll take her home and ask our master to bring her back!"

"B-but how could master revive her? Even that damn translucent man said Sister Xue’s soul would be shattered if we killed her!"

"Just get on already! Why are you doubting master? Didn’t she save you earlier when you were on the brink of death?"

'Long Linglu is right, why would I doubt master when she even brought me back to life after I died? I’ll apologize to master for doubting her, and then I’ll beg her to bring Sister Xue back.' Ruan Xiaoyue thought.

After that, Ruan Xiaoyue, carrying her Sister Xue on her back, climbed onto the back of the enormous dragon Long Linglu, who then flew swiftly toward her master’s house. A few minutes later, Long Linglu, carrying Ruan Xiaoyue and Xue Lanting, arrived at her master’s home and flew to the backyard upon seeing her master sitting leisurely.

"...A-a dragon?"

"Master! Please help us save this human!" "Master! Please save Sister Xue!"

"T-that voice... Long Linglu and Ruan Xiaoyue? ...What do you need help with?"

Hearing her master's words, Ruan Xiaoyue got down from Long Linglu's back while carrying Sister Xue's lifeless body. Meanwhile, Long Linglu transformed back into her half-dragon human form.

“RuanRuan asks her master to save Sister Xue, whom RuanRuan is carrying.”

“Hmm? Is this woman sleeping?”

“No, master, Sister Xue is—eh?”

Just as Ruan Xiaoyue was about to tell her master that Sister Xue was dead and not sleeping, suddenly Sister Xue began to breathe again, as if she were merely asleep. Witnessing this miracle filled Ruan Xiaoyue with immense gratitude towards her master.

“T-thank you, master, for saving Sister Xue! You’re truly amazing! Thank you, master!”

“Woah! Ruan Xiaoyue, you’re right! She’s breathing again! Master is incredible! This woman named Xue isn’t going to die! Thank you for saving her, master!”

“O-oh, y-yes. What have I done—uhum! Ruan Xiaoyue, take this woman to your room and let her rest for now. After that, come back here; I want to hear the story of the two of you who have been away for five days.”

“Alright, master.”