Chapter 57 - The Young Blade, Li Shenzhi

The screams of the two men behind him were abruptly cut short. Blood gushed from their severed limbs, they trembled, and then they didn’t dare make another sound.

Meanwhile, the young man dashed toward the third floor, blade in hand.

Li Guanqi had no idea what the other party was after. He simply turned and squatted beside the fallen leader. When Li Guanqi approached, one of the two remaining men trembled violently, and a yellow puddle spread beneath him.

Li Guanqi frowned. “Brother, seems like you’re a little too stressed.

“Relax. Just one question... Which faction do you belong to?”

Tears welled in the burly man’s eyes. His lips were torn and bloody, but he didn’t dare make a sound. He shook his head frantically, as if his life depended on it.

The faces of the second-floor guests were a sight to behold. Li Guanqi had just killed a man for trying to name his faction, and now he was demanding that very information from someone else. Who wouldn’t be terrified?

Li Guanqi stood up and ended the two men with a swift double slash. Blood splattered up three feet high.

Just then, a commotion broke out on the third floor. The madam of the brothel stared at the corpses, then collapsed to the ground.

She muttered under her breath, “It’s over... It’s all over...”

Just then, the young man from earlier descended the stairs. His eyes brimmed with profound disappointment. Lowering his head, he naturally emitted an air of authority, a trait of someone long accustomed to power.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He stepped before Li Guanqi and bowed. “Many thanks for your intervention, Esteemed Cultivator.

“I am Li Shenzhi, son of General Li Ren of the Xuantian Dynasty.”

The entire building fell deathly silent.

The brothel madam tried to reach out for Li Shenzhi as though grasping for her last hope, but a glance from him froze her in place.

After all, the Moon Gazing City wasn’t even the capital of the Xuantian Dynasty, while General Li Ren was the undefeated general of the entire dynasty. For years, he had conquered city after city, expanding the empire’s borders. His only son, Li Shenzhi, had followed him into battle since childhood.

Li Guanqi frowned.

Xuantian Dynasty? Isn’t that the target of my mission?

Li Shenzhi quickly offered reassurance. “Esteemed Cultivator, there’s no need for concern. I will send people to handle this matter. Forgive me for disturbing your rest.

“May I invite you to a quiet place to enjoy wine and music?”

Li Guanqi smirked. “Maybe next time. I’m not in the mood now. I’ll rest tonight, as I have business tomorrow. But don’t take this as mere courtesy. I’ll be heading to your capital in a few days.”

Li Shenzhi smiled faintly before taking out a jade pendant engraved with his name.

He handed over the jade pendant. “While you are in the Xuantian Dynasty’s territory, just show this pendant to any soldier, and they will relay a message to me!

“If needed, you may even command three thousand troops from any city.”

Li Guanqi accepted the pendant with a chuckle. “As long as I can find you, that’s enough. I’m not leading an army into battle.”

With that, he left the brothel, tossing the jade pendant lightly in his hand.

Listening to music in a brothel is nice, but there were too many annoying people this time. But... Li Shenzhi... Was it just a coincidence? Or... Heh.

Li Guanqi found a random inn and checked in for the night. After tidying up, he spread out a white jade meditation cushion, took out two spirit stones, and began cultivating.

Ever since he’d stepped into the Qi Refinement Realm, he had rarely slept. He’d spent nearly all his time cultivating, so his progress had been exceptionally fast. But breaking through to the thirteenth level of the Qi Refinement Realm was proving incredibly difficult.

Most of the impurities in his body had already been expelled, making further refinement extremely challenging.

Still, he could feel the bottleneck loosening. A breakthrough was only a matter of time.

The next morning, Li Guanqi bought some pastries from a street vendor, then he sought out the best steamed bun stall in town and purchased an entire basket. With that, he set off again.

The scenery along the way made him sigh in admiration. The world was vast, and he had seen far too little of it. Mountains, rivers, and seas all lay before him.

Three hours later, after traveling four to five hundred miles, he arrived at a mountainous region marked on his map. Without pause, he began to ascend the mountain.

Not long after, a beastly roar echoed from above.

Li Guanqi’s feet tensed, and he surged forward. In the distance, he saw a massive Wind Lizard lunging forward with its gaping maw, attacking a small Daoist child.

Judging by its size, it was on the verge of breaking into the second tier—the equivalent of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

Boom!

Despite the danger, Li Guanqi still had about ten feet between him and the child below. He unstrapped the sword box from his back, twisted his waist, and hurled it with full force.

Whoosh!

A sharp slicing sound cut through the air as the sword box slammed into the Wind Lizard’s skull and crushed its jaws. The beast staggered and collapsed.

Li Guanqi drew his sword and leaped forward. He dodged two claw strikes and channeled his vital qi into a single thrust, piercing the beast’s lower jaw cleanly.

Thud!

The young Daoist was terrified. He collapsed to the ground with a face as white as paper. Li Guanqi quickly skinned the Wind Lizard and retrieved its beast core.

Li Guanqi’s expression shifted slightly as he picked up the sword box. Then, with an awkward cough, he squatted in front of the Daoist child and waved a hand. “Little Daoist, this is Dragon Duke Mountain, isn’t it?”

The child finally came to his senses and replied, “Yes, this is Dragon Duke Mountain.

“Thank you, benefactor, for saving me. Otherwise, I would have...”

Li Guanqi grabbed the child’s collar and lifted him up with a smile. “Perfect. I’m here to visit your Daoist temple.”

The little Daoist happily led him up the mountain.

As they walked, he pulled out a small purple flower and showed it to Li Guanqi. “Look, isn’t this pretty?”

Li Guanqi turned around and glanced at the flower. He was surprised. It was a purple spirit flower, a key ingredient for refining the six-harmony pill.

It was a tier-two spirit herb. Just one of those flowers was worth over two hundred low-grade spirit stones, so it was no wonder the Wind Lizard had attacked him.

Li Guanqi chuckled. “It’s pretty. But next time, don’t pick glowing flowers in isolated places alone. It’s too dangerous.”

Before long, they arrived at the temple gates. The place wasn’t large—only about a hundred meters across.

An old man in a blue Daoist robe sat at the entrance, smoking a pipe. His hair and beard were snow-white, his eyebrows long enough to reach his nose, and he had a goatee framing his thin face.

His eyes flashed sharply the moment he spotted Li Guanqi.

“Young man, what’s your relation to Li Nanting of the Daxia Sword Sect?”

Li Guanqi tidied his robes and replied respectfully, “Senior, Li Nanting is my master. I am Li Guanqi.”

The old man, Ling Daoran, nodded slightly and gestured to the young Daoist. “Little An, didn’t I tell you this boy had good character?”

The young Daoist, who had seemed terrified moments ago, suddenly regained her rosy complexion. She stashed away the purple spirit flower with a mischievous look. “

Hmph!

He thought I was a boy!”

Li Guanqi was shocked to see that the young Daoist, who appeared to be only seven or eight years old, was actually a girl. What surprised him even more was that her aura clearly indicated that she was at the Foundation Building Realm.

He looked up and saw the temple’s plaque.

Changchun Temple

.

Ling Daoran tapped his pipe against a stone and rose to his feet. “Come in, young one. Since your master sent you, I know what you’ve come for. But... this spell cannot be rushed. Let’s speak inside.”