The Mighty Mage-Chapter 472: Thorns In Heart

The room went silent. Everyone froze.

"WHAT?!" Zhao Lili screamed again. Her face turned red in shock.

"No way! That can’t be true!" Bai Yu muttered. He looked like he was trying to do math in his head.

Zhou Lei rubbed his eyes, looking half-asleep. "I think I’m dreaming..."

But Gu Jin just smiled her mysterious little smile and said nothing.

Zhou Lei blinked, then took out his phone. "Wait... What poison was it again, doctor?"

The doctor replied with a strange name, one that sounded long and difficult.

Zhou Lei’s sleepy look disappeared. He stepped outside and quickly called his father, who worked in the medicine industry.

"Hey, Dad? Do you know about this poison?"

There was a long pause. Zhou Lei listened, nodding, then his eyes slowly widened.

"W-What?!"

More silence. His face turned paler by the second.

"Wait, so... it eats the inner body from the inside... and if untreated... the person can’t even stand up for seven months?!"

Everyone turned to him in shock.

Zhou Lei hung up and turned to the group, eyes still wide.

"My dad said that this poison is one of the worst kinds. The inside of your body starts breaking down little by little.

Within 24 hours, you’d be so weak, you couldn’t even walk. And then you’d be stuck in bed for more than half a year."

Now, no one said anything.

Even Zhao Lili’s mouth was hanging open.

Meng Hao scratched his head, his face red. "Uhh... Maybe I said something dumb before. Thanks, Gu Jin."

Gu Jin just gave a small shrug and said, "I accept both apologies and payment."

One by one, everyone slowly took out their phones or wallets.

Zhao Lili, face dark, transferred the money first. "I’ll pay," she muttered, clenching her teeth.

Bai Yu hesitated but still paid quietly. Lin Yue didn’t say a word and paid right away. Qiao Feng sighed and gave the money while looking like he’d rather be napping.

For the ones who didn’t have enough, Gu Jin handed them a piece of paper and a pen.

"Write an IOU. Full name, amount, and the date you’ll pay me back," she said with a smile.

Meng Hao groaned. "Ugh, fine. I’ll pay you back when my pocket money comes in..."

Even Zhou Lei, sleepy as ever, scribbled down his IOU slowly.

Then Han Xiaoyu stepped up, blinking with her usual cheerful smile.

"Hehe~ Gu Jin, you’re not really gonna make me pay, right? I didn’t say anything mean! I’ve been nice from the beginning!" she said sweetly, holding her hands together like she was begging.

Gu Jin turned to her with a calm face and a small smile. "Do I look like an idiot?"

Han Xiaoyu blinked, confused. "Huh?"

"You may not have insulted me directly, but your words pushed Meng Hao to doubt me. You basically helped start the fire."

Han Xiaoyu’s smile froze.

"Wait—what?! No! That’s not—"

But Gu Jin had already turned away.

"You can pay, or write an IOU. Your choice."

Han Xiaoyu pouted but finally pulled out her phone and sent the money with a dramatic sigh.

After collecting everything, Gu Jin nodded and walked away without another word. She headed straight to her dorm room.

.....................

Inside her room, Gu Jin finally relaxed. She sat down on the floor, lit a few incense sticks, and closed her eyes.

"Hmph. A bunch of noisy, dumb kids. Not worth my time."

She began to meditate, letting her energy flow quietly through her body.

..................

Back outside, the others were still in the infirmary.

Han Xiaoyu crossed her arms and huffed loudly.

"Geez, what’s her problem?! We’re all teammates! She didn’t have to act like some cold-hearted boss!"

Zhao Lili, still red in the face, frowned. "Yeah. It’s like she’s trying to show off or something. Like she’s better than everyone else."

Bai Yu looked down. "I mean... she did save us..."

"But she charged us like we were strangers!" Meng Hao said, annoyed. "One billion? Come on!"

Han Xiaoyu pouted again. "And she didn’t even let me go for free! I was on her side at first! That’s just mean!"

Then she smiled sweetly, but her words were sharp.

"You know... maybe Gu Jin doesn’t care about being part of a team. Maybe she just thinks we’re all beneath her. Like little ants crawling around her feet."

Everyone went quiet.

Even Zhou Lei, who was yawning, stopped mid-yawn.

Han Xiaoyu tilted her head, eyes twinkling.

"She didn’t come to help us because we’re friends. She just wanted to prove she’s the best. That’s all."

Her words sank into everyone’s hearts like little needles.

Lin Yue looked down, face unreadable.

Meng Hao scratched his arm, suddenly feeling awkward.

"After all, she is at Earth Rank, while we all are at Yellow Rank only. So she feels as if she is above all of us!" Han Xiaoyu said.

..................

After half an hour, Gu Jin would join them.

Everyone was already standing in a loose circle, waiting. But when Gu Jin arrived, no one greeted her. No one even looked her way.

She glanced at their faces.

Zhao Lili looked annoyed. Meng Hao was pretending to fix his shoes. Bai Yu looked away quickly.

Even the sleepy Zhou Lei didn’t yawn like usual—he just stared at the ground.

Even her own roommates were talking among themselves.

Gu Jin raised one eyebrow but said nothing. She didn’t care enough to ask.

Soon, Instructor Liu walked onto the field.

"Good morning, everyone," he said in his deep, clear voice.

"Today, we’ll go over something simple but important—how to identify herbs. Most mistakes in alchemy happen because you use the wrong ingredient."

He picked up a bunch of herbs from a basket and held one up.

"This one—who can tell me its name and use?"

He looked around, then pointed at Meng Hao.

Meng Hao stood up, frowning in thought.

"Uh... that’s Red Vine... right? It heals cuts and bruises?"

Instructor Liu sighed. "Wrong. That’s Bloodroot Leaf. It looks like Red Vine, but it causes stomach pain if used in a healing potion."

Everyone murmured.

The instructor picked another herb. "Zhao Lili. What about this one?"

Zhao Lili frowned. "That’s Frost Lily. It’s used for cooling fever."

"Nope," Instructor Liu said.

Then he turned to Gu Jin.

"Gu Jin, explain this one."

Gu Jin stepped forward. Her voice was calm and soft, but confident.

"That’s Snow Daisy. It grows near Frost Lily, but it’s useless in medicine. You can tell the difference because the petals are rounder, and the smell is faintly sweet, not sharp."

Instructor Liu smiled.

"Correct. Very good. You noticed even the small difference. Smart thinking."

Gu Jin nodded slightly and stepped back.

More questions followed. Each time someone else answered, they got it wrong.

Each time Gu Jin answered, her explanation was clear, correct, and detailed.

Instructor Liu kept praising her. "Well done, Gu Jin. Excellent."

"Sharp eyes, Gu Jin."

"Perfectly explained, Gu Jin."

The others started to look uncomfortable.

At first, a few tried to argue.

"I think that’s right, too!" Meng Hao said once when Gu Jin corrected him.

Gu Jin just replied calmly,

"No. That herb has white roots. The one you picked has yellow roots. That’s how you tell the difference."

Instructor Liu nodded. "She’s right."

Meng Hao fell silent.

Every time Gu Jin spoke, her calm voice made the others feel more awkward. Her answers were so smooth, so exact—it felt like she was always one step ahead.

Like she was standing on a mountain while they were stuck at the bottom.

By the end of the lesson, no one wanted to speak anymore.

Instructor Liu clapped his hands. "Good work today. Class dismissed."

Everyone packed up and started walking away... but not toward Gu Jin.

In fact, they avoided her without even realizing it. No one said goodbye. No one invited her to walk back with them.

Not even Qiao Feng, who usually followed behind her.

Gu Jin looked around and felt the strange air. The space between her and the others felt heavier than before.

She knew something had changed.

But she just gave a tiny sigh, turned around, and walked away.

Her steps were steady and calm, like none of this mattered.

Back in her room, Gu Jin sat down and started cultivating again.

"Childish," she muttered. "If they want to waste time feeling jealous, I’m not stopping them."

..............

Meanwhile, back on the field, Han Xiaoyu smiled as she walked with the others.

"See what I mean?" she said sweetly.

"She didn’t even try to talk to us. She noticed we were ignoring her, but she just walked away like we’re invisible."

"She really doesn’t care," Zhao Lili said, voice tight.

"She could’ve at least asked if something was wrong," Bai Yu added.

Han Xiaoyu nodded with a sad face.

"Yeah... but I guess when you think you’re better than everyone else, you don’t need friends, right?"

Everyone stayed quiet.

But the words stayed in their hearts like thorns.