Chapter 130: Severe Punishment for Elsa

"Teacher, is the academy alright? Why are you in Lorcadan?" Lei Hang could barely wait to ask the moment Luo Hui finished his movements.

"You brat, aren't you going to introduce your friends to me?" Luo Hui landed a slap on the back of Lei Hang’s head.

The handsome young man still acted like a child in front of his teacher. With a wry face, Lei Hang obediently introduced Shen Duo and Feng Jun to Luo Hui. In truth, Luo Hui had long known their identities; having followed them for so long and captured the informant, Aisha, there was no way he could be ignorant of who Shen Duo and Feng Jun were.

Shen Duo and Feng Jun both stood up and paid their respects to Luo Hui respectfully. Luo Hui scrutinized the young man and woman before him, finally appearing slightly satisfied, and gave them a look that signaled them to sit back down.

"You rascal, you’ve certainly managed to climb high, befriending the direct descendants of both the Shen and Feng families. But the situation seems off—why would that brat Shen Hui be chasing you?" Luo Hui’s aged eyes widened, a sharp, piercing light flashing within them.

Lei Hang shrank back, having no choice but to honestly explain the situation involving Shen Duo and her companions. Luo Hui raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Is this the young lady from the Shen family you mentioned in your letters?"

Lei Hang nodded sheepishly; he never kept secrets from his teacher. Turning his gaze to Shen Duo, Luo Hui asked, "Shen Duo, where is the longsword my apprentice gave you? Bring it out so I can have a look."

The Holy Phantom-tier longsword he had gifted Lei Hang was unique on the continent. When he first gave it to him, his instruction was that if he ever met a sword-wielder he truly admired, he should give the blade to them as a token of friendship. Later, when Lei Hang wrote to him saying he had given the sword to a girl... old Luo Hui couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

Seeing the girl Lei Hang constantly fretted over, Luo Hui was satisfied. Although her background was complicated, her strength was indeed worthy of his apprentice.

Shen Duo was surprised, but then recalled the item Luo Hui asked for, realizing that the sword Lei Hang had casually given her must have had an extraordinary origin. She retrieved the broken blade from her storage ring and offered it to Luo Hui with both hands.

"Lord Luo Hui, this is it."

Lei Hang kept a close eye on his teacher’s expression, ready to beg and plead if he sensed even a hint of anger. Luo Hui was an alchemist, and he despised it when others damaged the phantom tools he had painstakingly crafted. This longsword was a Holy-tier item that had taken him quite some time to forge; he had only given it to Lei Hang as a parting gift when he left the Will Academy. Lei Hang was genuinely afraid his teacher would lose his temper; if that happened, no one would be able to stop him, and he himself would certainly suffer for it.

Shen Duo was also anxious, though her concerns were quite different. Technically, the sword Luo Hui forged had been destroyed back in the Katra Forest. Later, when she triggered the Holy Radiance energy within her and traveled to another plane, it was an elder there who had helped her repair the blade. She wondered if Luo Hui could tell something was amiss.

Luo Hui said nothing. He silently took the broken blade from Shen Duo’s hands, examining it carefully and feeling the surface. Seeing no particular expression on his face, both Lei Hang and Shen Duo breathed a sigh of relief.

"How was it damaged?" Even though he didn't hold them responsible, Luo Hui still asked for the cause. Shen Duo recounted their encounter with the Dragon-Scale Grass and the slaying of the flood dragon during the opening of the Primeval Valley.

"Dragon-Scale Grass?"

Shen Duo nodded. "We obtained some. If you need some, senior..."

"Do you think I would snatch things from you juniors? I am not a shameless scoundrel like Linghu Yu or Shen Taixing."

Shen Duo rubbed her nose awkwardly. The sword had come from Lei Hang, and now that it was broken, she had intended to offer the Dragon-Scale Grass as compensation to Lord Luo Hui, only to be rebuffed. Luo Hui looked at Shen Duo, his pupils glowing with a restrained light.

"Though this longsword is a Holy-tier phantom tool, it is no longer suitable for your current strength. To have it broken while resisting the attack of a divine beast—it can be considered a death with honor."

Seeing this, Lei Hang didn't forget to seize the opportunity to ask for a favor for Shen Duo. "Teacher, Xiao Duo doesn't have a decent longsword right now. Do you have one?"

"You disloyal brat!" Luo Hui slapped Lei Hang on the head again. He huffed, but clearly couldn't do much about the boy. "The young lady has good taste—I suppose you don't care for the ones sold outside, do you?"

Shen Duo smiled and, no longer feeling the need to be modest, simply nodded.

Luo Hui returned the broken sword without saying whether he agreed or disagreed to forge a new one, instead asking about her future plans.

"Teacher, Xiao Duo is going to study at Jocelyn Academy for a while."

"You really don't intend to return to your family’s main city?" Luo Hui raised an eyebrow.

Shen Duo shook her head. "Lord Luo Hui, you have seen the attitude they have toward me. I have no intention of associating with the family for at least the next few years."

Luo Hui had learned a bit about Shen Duo’s experiences in Luo City from Lei Hang. He immediately felt that the disgusting faces of the Shen family were truly detestable.

"Very well, if you don't want to go back, then don't. Once you have gained some skill, make the head of the Shen family come and invite you back to the main city himself—that would be a true slap in the face." Luo Hui was a profoundly arrogant man; with a single sentence, he trampled the Shen family, one of the four great clans, into the mud.

Shen Duo didn't respond, but the slight curve of her lips told Luo Hui that this girl was not to be bullied easily. The people of the Shen family had better be ready to regret their choices!

To be a Sword King before the age of sixteen was unprecedented on the Holy Radiance Continent! She would surely have a brighter future than even Wei Lan. For the sake of such exceptional talent alone, he wouldn't mind putting in the effort to forge a sword suited to her. Luo Hui didn't mind having a potential powerhouse like her owe him a favor.

Seeing his teacher’s gaze return to him, Lei Hang sighed. "I will escort Xiao Duo to Jocelyn Academy, and in a few days, I will return to the mercenary group; my father has missions for me."

Luo Hui nodded. "That is good. The Blazing Mercenary Group has developed well these past two years; your father has put in a lot of effort. Do not let him down; you are destined to inherit the group. Before you leave, come see me—I have some things for you to take to your father."

The reason Lei Hang, a phantom master with absolutely no talent for alchemy, became a disciple of the continent’s famous alchemist Luo Hui was because of Lei Hang’s father, Lei Lie. Years ago, Lei Lie had saved Luo Hui’s life, and the two found they had so much in common that they became fast friends. Luo Hui, having no children of his own, treated Lei Lie’s son and daughter as his own flesh and blood.

Lei Hang replied that he understood, looking somewhat dejected.

"Teacher, you still haven't told me why you are in Lorcadan."

Luo Hui cast a meaningful glance at Shen Duo. "I am here to find Wei Lan for some matters. I will likely stay at Jocelyn Academy for a while. If the mercenary group isn't too busy, you can come visit me often."

Lei Hang was astonished. His teacher had come specifically to find Lord Wei Lan? Although Wei Lan was a direct descendant of the Wei family, ever since he advanced to Sword Saint, he had ignored almost all family affairs, living a life no different from a hermit. What could his teacher want with him?

"Don't go guessing wildly, you brat. When the time is right, I will tell you naturally." Luo Hui tapped the back of Lei Hang’s head again.

Lei Hang stumbled from the blow, looking at his teacher with a mix of laughter and tears. In front of Shen Duo, his teacher truly gave him no face at all. Shen Duo couldn't help but chuckle at the scene.

With their conversation nearing its end, Luo Hui finally glanced toward Aisha, who was huddled in the corner. Following his gaze, the others in the private room noticed the girl and their expressions soured.

"Why are you all so worried at your age? I placed a barrier on her; she cannot hear a word we say," Luo Hui comforted them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have kept this little wretch around.

"What do you intend to do with her?" Luo Hui asked.

Aisha noticed them looking at her and shrank back against the wall in terror, shaking her head violently. Her mouth moved, but they could hear nothing. Two lines of tears fell, smearing her makeup across her face, making her look rather ghastly. Seeing her state, Shen Duo couldn't help but admire Luo Hui’s methods of dealing with people.

"You handle it, Teacher. You captured her, so it’s only fitting that you decide her fate," Lei Hang said flatteringly. In the eyes of others, while Luo Hui was an unreachable, famous alchemist, he was also a temperamental old man who never showed mercy to enemies or traitors. Furthermore, Lei Hang knew this eccentric old man loved to toy with people. How could he let his teacher miss out on such a perfect test subject?

Since Lei Hang had spoken, Shen Duo certainly wouldn't interfere.

"Look at you, all so young and yet so lazy! You don't even want to lay a hand on a spy. Very well, I, this old man, shall do it for you!"

Shen Duo was truly amazed. The old man’s eyes were clearly sparkling with excitement, yet his words were so hypocritical—all while making it seem like he was doing it for everyone else’s benefit.

Luo Hui walked slowly to Aisha and waved his hand, placing two light arrays upon her. Then, he placed a black ring with a sinister, flickering glow onto her middle finger. The moment the black ring touched her skin, it vanished!

Luo Hui then walked back with his hands behind his back, looking quite pleased, and didn't forget to tell Aisha, "You may go!"

With the restriction lifted, Aisha heard Luo Hui’s words and, like a rabbit escaping the butcher’s block, stumbled out of the room in a blind panic.

Shen Duo watched this scene in astonishment. Not knowing what Luo Hui had done to Aisha, she took a step forward and asked, "Lord Luo Hui, you are just letting her go like that?" That seemed far too lenient!

Lei Hang pulled the curious Shen Duo aside. "That girl will never be able to use spiritual phantom energy again."

Shen Duo: "..."

Lei Hang had seen his teacher’s methods before. That black ring was a phantom tool that would absorb the spiritual phantom energy of anyone below the level of Sky Phantom Master. As long as there was energy in their body, it would be drained. Not only would Aisha be unable to cultivate, but she would become an ordinary person—a "trash" in the eyes of those arrogant, high-ranking cultivators.

This was far more painful than simply killing her.

Shen Duo clicked her tongue. Truly, the older the ginger, the spicier it gets!