Chapter 285 – An Invitation from the Phoenix Lightning Sect

Li Guanqi glanced over curiously and saw a young man and woman step out of a room. Something about the youth struck him as odd. He was handsome and youthful in appearance, yet he carried a strange aura, as if he were incomplete.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that the blue-robed man had likely consumed Youth Preservation Pills. Based on ‌his bones[1], his true age was closer to eighty.

The girl at his side looked about twenty. Dressed in an elegant pink gown, she had delicate features, a tall nose, and a small mole beside her thin lips that lent her an air of shrewdness.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

She grabbed his shoulder and shouted furiously, “Are you even a man? We’ve come this far, and you’re still hiding it! That idiot will be here soon, and with my father, you know he’ll force me to marry him! And now you’re telling me you want to leave?”

The man frowned. His face darkened as he shook her hand off and snapped, “Keep your voice down! Yun Mengxi, do you want the whole world to hear us?”

Glancing about, his eyes quickly spotted Li Guanqi looking up at them. He glared coldly, huffed, and pulled the girl back into his room.

Feeling bored, Li Guanqi pouted and extended his divine consciousness into the room out of curiosity.

A second later, he regretted it. His face burned red as he clutched the railing, dumbstruck. He muttered under his breath, “I can’t believe there’s such a position! Well, I learned something today.”

Remembering the scene only deepened his blush, and his heart thumped faster. “It seems I haven’t cultivated amongst mortal distractions enough!”

With that, he marched straight to the city’s largest brothel and asked for nine girls.

One massaged his shoulders, another his leg, and a third fed him sweets. Meanwhile, two played music while four danced.

Yet as they did, Li Guanqi felt like his life was getting boring. Still, he didn’t feel the need to do anything about it. Perhaps, he thought, he needed to experience true love at least once in his life.

As he sat back in his chair with his eyes closed, enjoying the music, someone knocked at the door.

He frowned and sensed a young girl outside. She had delicate features and wore green sect robes.

He pursed his lips, then raised a hand, dismissing the girls.

When the girl at the door saw so many scantily dressed women file out, her face flushed red. She wrinkled her nose and squeezed her eyes shut until they had all left, then cracked one eye open hesitantly.

“

Ahh!”

The moment she looked, Li Guanqi was already standing in front of her. He suddenly grabbed her hair and yanked her upward.

Annoyed, she swatted his hand away. She was about to storm off when she remembered why her master had sent her to the brothel. Her expression faltered.

Looking up carefully, she saw Li Guanqi squatting in front of her with a smile, and she let out a small sigh of relief.

However, she sensed something strange about his gaze and quickly covered her chest with her arms.

Li Guanqi burst into laughter. “There’s nothing there to cover.”

The girl’s initial anger flared, and she almost snapped back, but then she remembered her master’s words from before she left. She quickly took a step back, then bowed to him respectfully. “I am Jiang Shan, part of the twenty-seventh generation of disciples at the Phoenix Lightning Sect. By my master’s order, I invite you to our sect for a banquet. We would be honored if you could attend.”

Then, she offered him an invitation jade slip with two hands.

Li Guanqi pursed his lips. He hadn’t expected a sect he’d never heard of to know about him, especially when he’d only just arrived in Dongxiao City. Still, the sect was respectful enough to send a Foundation Building Realm disciple to extend the invitation. The intent was clear.

Her master was probably testing Li Guanqi’s strength and weighing whether to make him an elder of some kind, ceremonial or not. It was easy to guess his real age based on his bones.

And though he had never been arrogant, he wasn’t blind to his own reputation. A seventeen-year-old in the Nascent Soul Realm would shine like a beacon everywhere.

Li Guanqi was not completely wrong.

At that very moment, in the Intelligence Pavilion, the old man overseeing the Golden Core Leaderboard was scratching his head. “Didn’t that kid only just reach the mid Golden Core Realm? How in the world is he at Nascent Soul Realm already? What’s the point of placing him on the Golden Core Leaderboard now...”

As the old man on the throne spoke, a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator kneeling below listened quietly. He didn’t dare breathe.

The old man murmured, “Out of all the factions in the Daxia Northern Territory, how does the Daxia Sword Sect rank?”

The kneeling man replied hurriedly, “It’s in the top three! In just a few more years, it’ll definitely be number one!”

The old man nodded slightly. “With a technique like that paired with the Daxia Sword Sect’s influence in the area, no one can stop their rise.”

“Esteemed Elder, should we...”

The kneeling man’s eyes gleamed strangely, but before he could finish, the old man’s gaze darkened.

A crushing force erupted from him, driving the kneeling man’s head into the ground.

Boom! Crash!

“You’re relieved of your post,” the elder said softly, eyes narrowed. “From today, you will live as a rat in exile in the Divine Treasure Territory.”

The man kneeled on the ground once more, unable to move. Blood trickled from every orifice on his head, and his pupils trembled.

He didn’t dare resist, hurriedly replying, “Yes... Esteemed Elder.”

With a flick of the elder’s hand, the man was swept from the chamber.

Back at the brothel, Li Guanqi toyed with the jade slip in his hand before putting it away. He smiled at the girl. “

Hmm...

I’ll consider it. Tell your master that I’m honored by his invitation. If time allows, I’ll visit. If not, then perhaps we'll meet again when fate wills it.”

Jiang Shan pursed her lips. She couldn’t understand why her master regarded a blind youth with such weight.

Before sending her down the mountain, he had reminded her again and again not to anger him.

But to Jiang Shan, he was nothing more than a shameless pervert, unworthy of such importance.

Since he showed little interest in her master’s invitation, she shook her braids and turned to leave. The strong perfume of the brothel was unbearable, and she felt she might suffocate if she lingered another moment.

1. TL note: this seems to be the first time the author mentioning the concept of someone's "bone age" revealing their true age ☜