Heavens' Laughter

Taking a brief, steadying breath, Yī shifted his gaze from the target for just a moment.

His eyes swept over the scattered remnants of his group, carefully noting who had managed to survive the onslaught.

"Èr… Shí Èr… Bā… Liù… Jiǔ… Qī…" Yī counted silently, his jaw clenching as the realization sank in:

"Sān... Sì... Wǔ... Jiǔ... Shí... Shí Yī... All of them are dead."

Yī gritted his teeth but forced himself to swallow his emotions, knowing full well this outcome was always a possibility in their line of work.

They had survived countless missions, each more dangerous than the last, but even with that experience, he hadn't anticipated this.

A mere boy—one they thought easy prey—had wiped out half his people with an eruption of raw, untamed power.

The thought gnawed at Yī, but he couldn't afford to falter now.

"Let's move!" he barked, urgency lacing his tone as he moved his eyes back toward the target.

To Yī's dismay, the target still stood there, grinning with unsettling confidence, casually waving a hand as if inviting them closer.

"This brat…" Èr growled through clenched teeth, his voice low and simmering with anger. The target's sheer audacity ignited a fire in his veins, his blood boiling at the display of arrogance.

He bit down on his finger in frustration, the sharp pain barely grounding him.

The cockiness from someone so young was intolerable, and it only fueled Èr's desire to put the target in his place.

However…

Yī noticed such a reaction and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

He knew all too well that his comrade had an arrogance problem—a flaw that constantly grated on him.

Such behavior was unprofessional and dangerously reckless in their line of work, especially in a situation as precarious as this.

"Knock it off, you fucking idiot!" Yī spat, his words cold. He couldn't afford to let the group act recklessly now, not when they knew so little about their target.

Attacking blindly was a mistake he wouldn't let them make.

The target's power was unknown, and Yī wasn't about to risk everything without understanding the full extent of his strength.

'The First Young Master of the Feng family will answer for this…' he thought, his anger seething beneath the surface.

Without another word, Yī and the rest of his group vanished into mist.

Half of his team wiped out, all because of faulty information from their buyer.

"Uh~ so boring~." Feng Shen watched them disappear, a small sigh escaping his lips.

He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed—they hadn't rushed at him, hadn't attacked all at once to give him an exciting fight.

Instead, they fled, and it left Feng Shen feeling somewhat bored.

After all, he now wielded far more power, and he was eager to test it out.

And Feng Shen had found the perfect targets to unleash it on, but instead of such, they had acted like cowards, fleeing without so much as a fight.

"Pussies…"

Feng Shen could tell they were all in the Martial Realm, seasoned professionals in assassination techniques, from the Qi subtly leaking from their bodies despite their attempts to conceal it, as well as the fluid precision of their movements.

"Whatever~ I've got to head back anyway~" he muttered, shaking his head.

Feng Shen's gaze lingered for a moment on the empty space where his toys had been, but the thrill was gone.@@novelbin@@

Sighing, he picked up his robe and slipped it on, the fabric falling into place effortlessly.

With a lazy stretch, Feng Shen placed his hand behind his neck, feeling the familiar surge of energy as he used Shadow Step.

In the blink of an eye, his form dissolved into the shadows, vanishing completely from sight, leaving nothing behind but the faintest ripple in the air.

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Reappearing at the area where his personal servant should be, Feng Shen's eyes narrowed, sensing a powerful surge of Qi in the air.

The intensity of it was unmistakable—only someone with a Grade S Spiritual Root could possibly handle and process this much Qi.

The sheer force of it left a tingling pressure in the air.

After a moment, Feng Shen's eyes landed on his personal servant—sitting on the dirt ground with an air of calmness, casually nibbling on a carrot.

The sight made him pause for a second.

His personal servant looked so peaceful, almost innocent, like a little bunny lost in her own world.

'Ah~ I want to strangle her…' Feng Shen thought with a small smile, an overwhelming urge to grab her and kill her.

He half-raised his hands toward her, as though ready to strangle his personal servant right then and there.

But just as quickly, Feng Shen caught himself.

With a deep sigh, he reined himself in, shaking his head.

Instead, Feng Shen cleared his throat loudly, making sure his presence was unmistakably known.

Yùn Yì snapped her head around in surprise:

"Oh my~! Second Young Master, you're back! Ahhh—" Suddenly, her voice cut off.

Replaced by a desperate gurgling cough as Yùn Yì struggled to breathe, hands clutching at her throat.

Her face flushing as she struggled for breath.

In a frantic panic, Yùn Yì dropped the carrot in her hand and hit the ground, rolling around in desperation, trying to force the obstruction out.

Her eyes watered from the effort as she gasped for air, completely flustered.

With a deep sigh and a facepalm, Feng Shen shook his head in disbelief.

Walking forward, he crouched down beside his personal servant, who was still struggling to catch her breath.

Without a word, Feng Shen effortlessly lifted her over his shoulder, his grip firm yet unrelenting.

As he did, he began smacking his personal servant's back with a rhythmic force, trying to dislodge the carrot and help her regain control.

Seconds later, the carrot shot out of Yùn Yì's throat.

She had spat it onto the ground in a frantic gasp.

"Good going~" Feng Shen carefully lowered his personal servant back to the ground, making sure to support her gently as she regained her balance.

He gave her a moment to collect herself.

After a brief pause, Feng Shen stepped back, allowing his personal servant some space to breathe and recover fully.

"T-Thank you, Second Young Master... really, t-thank you..." Yùn Yì's words came out in short, labored breaths.

Her gratitude was genuine, though she couldn't quite hide the embarrassment coloring her words.

After a minute had passed, and seeing that his personal servant had finally regained control of her breathing and composure, Feng Shen spoke:

"It seems you've failed in your cultivation… I had believed it would come naturally to you, but it seems I was mistaken…"

Feng Shen had always assumed that once someone had opened their meridians and Sea of Consciousness, cultivation would flow naturally, like a river finding its course.

But as he observed the situation, it quickly became clear that his belief was flawed.

The process was far more complicated, and not everyone could simply tap into their potential as easily as Feng Shen had imagined.

'I swear... why the hell is everyone in this damn cultivation world so pathetically inferior to me? Is this some cruel joke? Am I surrounded by nothing but ants?' Feng Shen thought.

He couldn't wrap his mind around why something that seemed so natural to him was such a struggle for others.

When Feng Shen had been a mere child, cultivation had come to him effortlessly, almost as if it were an instinct.

Yet here, this mortal—now a cultivator—couldn't even grasp it.

Yùn Yì lowered her eyes, her expression clouded with shame as she clenched her hands tightly at her sides.

The disappointment she felt in herself was overwhelming, but what hurt even more was the undeniable sense of disapproval emanating from the Second Young Master.

Yùn Yì could feel it in the tense silence between them, and it stung deeper than any physical wound.

She knew she had let the Second Young Master down, especially after everything he had done for her.

His high expectations weighed heavily on Yùn Yì, and the thought that she had failed to meet them was a bitter pill she couldn't swallow.

She wanted to prove herself to him, but it seemed she was only falling short time and time again.

"I—... I'm sorry... I won't rest until I reach the Qi Realm! I swear, I'll keep pushing myself!" Yùn Yì vowed, her voice filled with determination.

She kept her eyes fixed on the ground, unable to meet the Second Young Master's eyes.

"I swear, I'll make you proud! I won't let you down!" Yùn Yì's words came in a rush, each promise tumbling out as she waffled, desperate to make amends for her perceived failure:

"I'll become the strongest Personal Servant in the entire cultivation world!"

Yùn Yì's mind raced, trying to reassure the Second Young Master, but it felt as though no matter how much she swore, it wouldn't be enough to erase the disappointment in the air.

Rubbing his eyes with one hand, Feng Shen sighed. With the other hand, he placed it firmly on his personal servant's shoulder:

"Lift your head. I'll teach you. But only this once."