Zhao Hu Xing usually relied on his few subordinates and spoke and acted without much restraint, but he never expected that Shi Jiu, who usually only knew how to Cultivate and farm like a quiet gourd, would be so unyielding today.
And he even dared to move first, bumping him and making him stumble. How would he maintain his standing in front of his subordinates from now on?
However, places like the Helian Family's school and dining hall were frequented by many Regelement Hall Disciples.
Moreover, private fights were strictly forbidden in these places. If caught by a Regelement Hall Disciple and taken to the Regelement Hall, one would surely suffer greatly, even if innocent.
So Zhao Hu Xing whispered a few words to his two subordinates, threw some harsh words at Shi Jiu, and then hurried away.
Feng Ming asked Shi Jiu with a worried expression if he felt he had just provoked those guys, as it seemed they wouldn't let it go easily. He asked if he should find some friends to fight them.
Shi Jiu felt a warmth in his heart after hearing Feng Ming's words. Regardless, despite the significant age difference, Feng Ming truly treated him as a friend, and Shi Jiu secretly remembered this kindness in his heart.
However, Shi Jiu shook his head, rejecting Feng Ming's suggestion, as this matter had nothing to do with Feng Ming.
Moreover, Shi Jiu was confident he could handle these guys: two Cultivation Level of Qi Refining stage 1, and one not even Cultivation Level of Qi Refining stage 1. If he couldn't handle these three, he might as well give up on dreaming of becoming a Great Cultivator.
So Shi Jiu instead comforted Feng Ming, telling him he could handle it, and if not, he would ask Feng Ming for help.
He then left the dining hall and walked towards his small house. Since the school was closed for five days, he had to make good use of this time.
He aimed to use the Vortex in his Dantian to refill his Meridians, which felt empty after condensing his magical power once.
Speaking of Zhao Hu Xing, after being severely bumped by Shi Jiu, he still felt a faint pain in his shoulder and chest. Zhao Hu Xing gritted his teeth and said to his two little followers:
"Damn it, Shi Jiu, I never realized this Shi Jiu was so arrogant. Has he always been this brave? I must teach him a lesson, or he won't know who I, Zhao Hu Xing, am."
One of the young followers looked at Zhao Hu Xing with a slight hesitation and whispered:
"Brother Hu, anyway, no one saw it today, so why don't we just let it go? I don't think that Shi Jiu is someone easy to provoke; he just started fighting us without a word."
With a 'slap,' the talking follower's face was struck, and Zhao Hu Xing angrily roared at him:
"What the hell are you talking about? Just because I didn't fight back, you think I'm afraid of him? Usually, it's fine, but I noticed this kid is quite close to Miss Xiaoyue.
Miss Xiaoyue is also very concerned about him; he must be plotting something against Miss Xiaoyue.
Besides, there are three of us and only one of him, how can we back down!
Even if we can't win, don't forget I have a cousin from the Helian Family named Helian Chong. If my cousin wasn't so busy recently, he could cripple that kid with just a pinky finger."
Speaking of this cousin named Helian Chong, Zhao Hu Xing was quite proud.
This Helian Chong was a genuine Cultivator at Qi Refining stage 8. Although he himself had only recently established a connection with this so-called "cousin," it didn't prevent him from using his identity as Helian Chong's cousin to flaunt his power and act as a bully.
However, this was, of course, all behind Helian Chong's back, otherwise, Helian Chong might just rip his head off.
The other subordinate, seeing Zhao Hu Xing's alternating expressions of anger and pride, secretly curled his lips, but still asked Zhao Hu Xing if he had a plan to deal with Shi Jiu.
As expected, Zhao Hu Xing didn't come up with any brilliant ideas. He simply planned to take the two of them tonight and secretly ambush Shi Jiu outside his house.
After Shi Jiu rested, they would sneak into the house, and when Shi Jiu wasn't paying attention, they would give him a good beating to vent their anger.
If that wasn't enough, they would burn down Shi Jiu's small house so that Shi Jiu would never dare to provoke him again, nor approach his Miss Xiaoyue.
If Shi Jiu knew that he was being resented by Zhao Hu Xing and suspected of plotting against Miss Xiaoyue simply because of her concern, he would surely feel incredibly wronged.
Originally, he didn't want to delay his Cultivation with matters of love and affection, so he deliberately avoided contact with these adolescent Female Disciples.
It wasn't that he was so narcissistic as to think girls would pursue him, but rather that he feared some infatuated boys might engage in a baseless rivalry with him. He never expected that no matter how much he avoided it, he still couldn't escape.
After Shi Jiu bid farewell to Feng Ming and returned to his small house, he initially intended to immediately begin Cultivating and meditating, to see if the Vortex could directly purify the unrefined and mixed Spiritual Qi, allowing him to refine it directly.
However, feeling something was amiss, he got out of bed, picked up a hatchet, and went to the bamboo grove outside his house.
Because he had just assumed that Zhao Hu Xing and his two companions would ambush him on his way back to the house, but to his surprise, the journey was uneventful. Nevertheless, he had to be prepared.
After all, he now carried a great secret, and if it were to be discovered unexpectedly, his life might be in danger.
So Shi Jiu decided to use the bamboo outside his house to make some traps. If Zhao Hu Xing and his group behaved themselves and didn't come looking for trouble, then everyone would be fine.
If they truly didn't know better, for example, if they tried to ambush him in the middle of the night, he wouldn't mind letting them suffer a bit, as long as they kept their lives.
When dealing with such petty scoundrels, they wouldn't learn their lesson unless they lost an arm or a leg.
No sooner said than done, Shi Jiu was, after all, a top student in archaeology, and had participated in many "tomb raiding"—no, rather, protective excavation—expeditions.
He had seen countless tomb traps with his own eyes and learned about them from books, but those traps were designed to kill people, and setting them up took a lot of time.
Therefore, Shi Jiu used some of those techniques, combined with methods he learned from several hunters in Hou Family Village, to create several traps using bamboo and gravel on the left, right, and back sides of his small house.
The front was left empty, because those who intended to do harm would almost certainly not enter through the main door openly.
Just as dusk fell, Shi Jiu had finished setting up the traps. He looked at them with satisfaction, clapped his hands, and went inside to Cultivate.
If Zhao Hu Xing and his group truly didn't know better, they would probably be in for a lot of trouble this time.
After setting up the outer defenses, Shi Jiu returned to his house, tightly closed the doors and windows, and began attempting to draw the surrounding Spiritual Qi into his body.
Then, without refining it, he sent it directly into the Vortex. As time passed, a faint smile appeared on Shi Jiu's lips.
Inside Shi Jiu's body, the originally mixed Spiritual Qi of various attributes, go through the "training" of the strange Vortex, was directly transformed into pure Spiritual power, allowing Shi Jiu to directly refine it into magical power, saving the most time-consuming process.
And with a thought, Shi Jiu then used the Vortex to re-condense and compress the newly refined magical power once more, not only making the magical power more potent but also allowing his Meridians to hold more magical power.
In less than half a night, Shi Jiu's Meridians, which had been empty after his first condensation of magical power, were now filled with abundant magical power.
His original Cultivation method, the Formula of Azure Wood, was known for its long-lasting and abundant magical power. Combined with Shi Jiu's repeated condensation and purification of magical power within his body using the Vortex, his magical power at Cultivation Level of Qi Refining stage 1 likely already surpassed that of a Cultivator at Qi Refining stage 2.
This method is viable! Shi Jiu seemed to already see his bright future of making great strides on the Dao of Cultivation.