punishment

As Rong Xi began wandering around, Ji Li looked at Qianyu as he told him "Go tell the steward to come out. Did anyone of you praise him for his work?"

One of the two came forward as he said "Yes… big brother, did we do a mistake?"

"No, it was good that you praised him. This way, I can say that we are not only mean but also good to those that follow us well. I don't want them to think that we are only mean bullies."

Both didn't understand, but Qianyu went to the door and called in the steward. The steward didn't hear the conversation, so he was slightly surprised when he didn't see the town chief at the entrance. The garden was large and full of greenery, so a lot was hidden to the naked eye. The steward still came forward.

Ji Li looked at Shixuan who already prepared the formation jade. Once the formation was set, Ji Li told the steward to stretch out both his hands. The steward naturally followed the instructions and shortly after felt two little seed-like objects on his palm. He slightly raised his hands and was sure that they were truly seeds, but he didn't understand.

He thought that he would be rewarded for his excellent efforts, and the seeds might be the reward. As his proficiency in herbology wasn't large, he thought that maybe they were something of worth.

After seeing the reaction of the steward, Ji Li just looked at him as he coldly said "Do you think that you deserve a reward just because you have been praised once? Do you think that, since you worked so hard, we would naturally understand and reward you?" The cold voice sent shivers down the spine of the steward, but he was still quiet and didn't reply. Ji Li let out a sneer.

He put in some essence into the seeds as he continued while also using his talent "How come that, even before we went out, there was already a crowd of young masters? How come that just as the food was brought in, so many servants went out of the branch and just shortly after said young masters came? How come that you didn't report this to me, when it was under your supervision? Don't tell me that you didn't know anything, they were the ones that visited you. You always took them in before sending them away." As he said this, the seeds on the open palms of the stewards began to sprout beautifully, he was still confused as vines came out of it and circled his hands.

Ji Li continued before the steward could reply "Don't tell me that the servants did it on their own, how could I have noticed but you not? Would the servants really dare do anything? Tell me, what have you been planning when you allowed all this to happen?" One again he stopped shortly, as if he was expecting an answer, but instead, thorns came out of the vines as the grew from soft to hard. At first they were barely feelable because the steward had a pretty high cultivation, but he still felt the vines and thorns circling all around his palms as they stretched even down his arms. His heightened senses told him to flee and cut off the flowers and vines, but he didn't dare.

Ji Li continued "What did you plan to do with the bribery you received? Did you think I wouldn't know of it since I never said anything? Did you think that these young masters would just pay their respects and not offend me, so it wouldn't be too bad in any case? Who do you think you are?" Towards the end, Ji Li's voice became even colder and louder, scaring not only the steward but also his brothers. Sure, they saw him go on rant tirades, but these were only complaining mildly, and they grew accustomed to it. This was different, he was nearly shouting as he talked down and humiliated the steward. No matter what, the steward was still an Essence Awakening Stage cultivator.

Still, said steward just sat there as the vines went down his arms and on his chest. He was shivering and knew that he made a mistake, so he thought that he would just be punished to sitting a bit and would later just leave, but he already ingrained the grudge as well as fear into his memory.

Ji Li was knowledgeable about human behaviour because of his past life. He was a small genius and a psychology major with a doctorate at that. He would have lived off very well and wouldn't need to work at such a degrading job as he did previously, but his family cut off his money at the last moment and then stopped all universities and hospitals from accepting him. The only option for him was to build his own, but he didn't have the cash for that. He thought of just making it in the apartment, but before he could even say anything, he was already swarmed with student debt his parents didn't pay.

He had just started a shitty job to finance some of the debt, his food and then slowly build his office inside of his apartment, when he died.

Now, in this life, he used his knowledge of that field to benefit himself and also diagnose or help some others. From his knowledge, he knew that the steward would someday hinder him, if possible, but he didn't plan to show mercy anyways. He pushed in more essence as the vines grew larger and large till, they reached the torso, while the thorns slowly started to pierce the outer layer of the skin. It gave the steward some itches, but he refused to believe that he wouldn't be able to heal quickly later on, and just restrained his behaviour.

Ji Li looked deeply into the stewards' eyes, which scared him. No matter how high his cultivation, he was still only a servant and never fought but only served with a higher cultivation, at most he would guard in the rear while the real guards would be fighting in the front. Ji Li just kept staring as he slowly continued to say "You are nothing. Do you not understand your position...?"

At this moment, the vines already covered nearly the entire body while the thorns all had their spikes inside of the flesh. The flowers in the middle of the palms slowly opened up and revealed beautiful flowers which resembled crimson red dahlia flowers. The atmosphere slowly went colder and colder as the flower at its peak revealed some ice, it grew at the tip of the flower and slowly the whole flower grew solid and has a sheet of white ice on it, still revealing the striking red beneath. It looked like a flower frozen in time, the ice barely visible on the tips, looking more like a layer of protection upon the flowers. On the other hand, the vines and thorns also grew a layer of ice, the ice spread throughout the whole body of the flower.

As the tips of the thorns already peeked into the flesh, the ice energy slowly seeped into the steward's body as he slowly felt a large cold come upon him. For the first time, he tried to move his body from his bowing position, when he felt that he barely could move it. 

At this moment, Ji Li looked even colder while shouting fiercely "YOU ARE BUT A MERE SERVANT OF THE EUNUCH PALACE; HOW DARE YOU TRY AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR MASTERS!" the formation shook although the shout wasn't directed at it, it still had a lot of essence in it.

It shocked and petrified the steward, but he understood the urgency, so he turned and tried to run towards the door. Unfortunately for him, it was too late as the essence shot out by Ji Li's shout directly hit the flower buds and made them freeze fully, not moving a bit in the large motion. The essence went through the bud towards the vine and thorns, hastening the freezing process.

The steward, who just turned away and was in a running motion, felt a deep cold enter his body as his­­­­ joints and muscles stopped moving. His body slowly froze from the outer layer till even his bones didn't tatter from the sudden movement and stop. His face had a very fearful expression as he said with his last breath, which froze as he let out the words "Mon..s..ter".

The whole body was like an ice statue, frozen in a fearful motion without being able to move at all. Yet the flowers at the hands, one in front of the body and one behind, made it looks astonishingly beautiful and breathtaking, pulling one to touch the alluring petals. 

This moment, frozen in time and never to forget, was brought by Ji Li's Talent 'Winter Blossom', however one saw it, it truly looked like a beautiful support ability. The look made one misunderstand, in each world, no matter what, how could there not be deadly flowers? How could nature just accept being feasted upon without fighting back? 

Deadly and Poisonous flowers always prevailed in the deepest parts of the jungle, and 'Winter Blossom' made even the most harmless flower deadly while the most harmful would become but a mere decoration. What could they say to this talent with myriad abilities?

It was deathly beautiful and the origin of endless disaster and harvest!