Early the next morning.
When Li Guanqi arrived at the martial arts arena, he found Lin Qingyu already waiting for him, dressed in a tight white martial arts uniform that accentuated every curve of her figure.
Dawn had barely broken, and a light mist still lingered in the air.
Turning around, Lin Qingyu offered a faint smile and spoke softly. "I didn't expect you to be here so early. Where are the others?"
Li Guanqi shrugged. "They're all busy competing for spots in today's selection trials."
Wasting no time on idle chatter, Li Guanqi cut straight to the point. "Senior Sister Lin, let's keep our spar casual."
Lin Qingyu nodded, the smile on her face gradually fading.
*Clang!*
A water-blue longsword abruptly slid from its scabbard. Lin Qingyu said softly, "Spirit tool, sword named Bishui."
Li Guanqi chuckled helplessly. "Senior Sister, there's no need to be so formal. Just take it easy."
Yet Lin Qingyu replied with utter seriousness, "When facing someone in a duel, this is the bare minimum of respect."
With no other choice, Li Guanqi drew his longsword and said softly, "Soul armament, Canglang."
The moment his words fell, surprise flooded the young woman's eyes.
"A soul armament? You actually wield a soul armament? At the magic treasure grade?"
Li Guanqi could only nod.
Lin Qingyu looked at him with sheer envy. "This spirit tool of mine is already the best Master could find for me. I never imagined you not only awakened sword spirit ruins, but also obtained a soul armament at the magic treasure grade."
Li Guanqi shrugged without elaborating further, his tone turning steady. "Come!"
With a slight shift of his feet, his figure shot forward instantly!
A faint blue glow flickered under Lin Qingyu's feet, and she immediately drifted backward.
At the same time, as she channeled her movement technique, her gaze grew increasingly solemn. She was shocked to realize that his current speed was driven purely by formidable physical strength.
Li Guanqi smiled faintly. He had not expected Lin Qingyu's movement technique to be of such high quality.
*Thud!*
The bluestone beneath his feet shattered, and his speed exploded once more. In the blink of an eye, he was behind her!
The hilt of his sword was pressed firmly against her waist!
Lin Qingyu stiffened instantly. Her wrist had barely begun to twist her blade around to counter!
Her eyes dimming with defeat, she lowered her sword and murmured, "I lost..."
Li Guanqi did not say anything. To him, Lin Qingyu was just like the others—she lacked actual combat experience. While she reacted quickly enough to sudden shifts in technique, her responses fell short.
Just then, Lin Qingyu's voice drifted over softly.
"How did you manage to force such an abrupt change in direction? Given your stance just now, it should have been impossible to circle behind me. And... why was your sword so fast?"
Li Guanqi opened his mouth to answer, but a contemptuous voice piped up from a corner of the martial arts arena.
"It was just a feint. The only difference is that he sold it well by truly shifting his entire center of gravity onto his right foot."
Li Guanqi frowned and looked toward the corner, where an unkempt man was lying on the ground.
*Why is he here?*
Gao Qiwen took the bamboo conical hat off his face and curled his lip. "That sort of trick is only good for fooling little girls. In the eyes of a real master, your petty little tricks wouldn't fool anyone. In the end, you'd only end up ramming headfirst into a blade they prepared for you."
Li Guanqi's brow knitted tightly. He had no idea why this man was tearing apart everything he had displayed as utterly worthless.
Shrugging, Li Guanqi turned to Lin Qingyu. "I'll head back first. If you have time, you can try challenging the Sword Tower. For where you are right now, the experience in the Sword Tower is just right."
He knew very well that sparring with Lin Qingyu provided him with no practical combat benefit whatsoever. Continuing like this would merely be guiding her cultivation without gaining anything for himself, which was why he suggested it.
Yet Gao Qiwen sneered from the side. "What damn use are Sword Tower puppets? They're all dead objects without a brain."
With that, Gao Qiwen limped out of the martial arts arena.
Watching the man's retreating back as he shook his head, Li Guanqi frowned, a strange feeling rising in his chest. What the man had just said was nearly identical to what the sword spirit had told him!
Even so, the sword spirit had only said that achieving such a level was already quite remarkable for him. Why had this man dismissed it as entirely worthless?
Every feint he executed was convincing enough to pass for real! Even his master and Xu Zhengjie had praised him repeatedly for it.
This filled Li Guanqi with immense curiosity about this Scripture Pavilion sweeper.
Turning to Lin Qingyu, who was about to leave, he asked softly, "Senior Sister, do you know anything about Gao Qiwen's past?"
Unexpectedly, Lin Qingyu shook her head and said gently, "I don't. I haven't been in the sect for very long either, but I know his temper has always been like this."
After they parted ways, Li Guanqi did not go to check on the sect's selection trials; the man's words lingered in his mind. The sword spirit was still absorbing origin power and could not hear his calls at all.
Li Guanqi, who had originally intended to fly his sword back to Yuhu Peak, abruptly wheeled around and flew toward Tianzhu Peak instead!
When he arrived at the entrance of the Tianzhu Peak Scripture Pavilion, he found only Elder Ling there.
Li Guanqi walked up to the old man and bowed respectfully. "Disciple Li Guanqi greets Elder Ling."
Lying in his rocking chair and sipping wine, the old man smiled amiably. "What is it? Did you come to the Scripture Pavilion to trade for a sword manual?"
Ling Daoyan assumed Li Guanqi had regretted his earlier choice and wanted to use the back door to exchange for a sword art technique.
To his surprise, the youth shook his head and asked softly, "Elder Ling, may I ask where Senior Brother Gao is?"
The old man paused, looking slightly puzzled. "Senior Brother Gao... do you mean Qiwen?"
Seeing the youth nod, realization dawned on the old man.
With a teasing look, he asked, "Did he call you all useless again?"
Hearing this, Li Guanqi looked visibly embarrassed. Although the man had not explicitly used that word, his meaning had been essentially the same.
Ling Daoyan sighed softly, closed his eyes for a brief moment, and said quietly, "He's at Heavenly Sword Mountain watching the selection trials for the Hundred Sects Tournament."
Understanding now, Li Guanqi bid the old man farewell, stepped onto his flying sword, and sped off toward Heavenly Sword Mountain.
When he reached Heavenly Sword Mountain, he found dozens of formation barriers erected across the massive square.
Inside the barriers, sect disciples were dueling in separate rings while elders from each peak recorded results. In a secluded corner, however, Li Guanqi spotted the man's rather forlorn figure, taking sip after sip of wine.
Gao Qiwen shook his empty wine flask, which yielded only a single drop at last. The man hastily stuck out his tongue to catch it.
With a flick of his wrist, Li Guanqi handed over a flask of spirit wine.
The man looked at him, slightly startled, then took it without a word. Yet Li Guanqi could still see a faint trace of disappointment lingering in his eyes.
Li Guanqi spoke softly. "Do you think I'm completely useless?"
Chapter 115