Yet when everyone stepped aboard the cloud boat, Li Guanqi unexpectedly caught sight of Gao Qiwen—the very man who had made his teeth itch with irritation over the past month!
Li Nanting merely patted him on the shoulder without saying much.
Li Guanqi glanced at his master and understood in his heart.
This disheveled man certainly had plenty of stories behind him, but those in the sect who knew the truth were simply unwilling to speak of it.
It was as though no one had the heart to tear open another person's scars.
Moreover, Li Guanqi noticed that the moment the man boarded the cloud boat, he retreated into his usual taciturn demeanor, sitting alone in a corner and drinking his liquor.
Li Guanqi sat cross-legged on the cloud boat's deck, closing his eyes to concentrate, contemplating his newly learned movement technique and the subtleties of the Ziwei Demon-Cleansing Sword.
The other disciples were excitedly discussing the Hundred Sects Tournament, while only Li Guanqi and his group of four cultivated quietly.
Sitting in the corner, the man watched the four through his messy hair, muttering under his breath, "Their resilience is truly remarkable... I just wonder if fewer people will die this time around..."
"Isn't that right... Nanting?"
An elder dressed in white embroidered with purple thunder patterns stood beside the man and spoke softly.
"Qiwen, after all these years, hasn't that breath stuck in your chest eased yet?"
The man gave a bitter smile and shook his head, sighing faintly. "It hasn't eased, and it must not."
"If it eases, a person loses all purpose and becomes utterly ruined."
"It all comes down to whether I can finally spit this breath out..."
Hearing this, Li Nanting smiled faintly, looking at the youth on the deck carrying the sword casket on his back. "This time... perhaps there is a chance!"
Uncharacteristically, the man did not snap back. Instead, he nodded with absolute seriousness and said softly, "He is the most exceptional disciple I have seen in this sect in three hundred years!"
Traveling was monotonous, but aside from waking to eat, the four on the deck spent their time sitting together, sharing their insights on cultivation.
Perceiving the subtle shift in the elders' attitudes, Li Guanqi sent a voice transmission in a low tone. "The Hundred Sects Tournament... might be even more brutal than we imagined."
"So we must never let our guard down. We have to be careful, cautious, and vigilant at all times!"
The others nodded in agreement. Even the honest, simple Lin Dong chuckled and said, "Still, there shouldn't be many people sharper than us now... After all, though Old Gao's caustic tongue is grating, it really opened my eyes!"
Ye Feng curled his lip, glanced at the figure in the corner, and couldn't help cursing, "I don't know how he trained that mouth of his—how can it be so venomous?!"
Having experienced it firsthand, all of them nodded vigorously in agreement.
Li Guanqi then said softly, "All right. There are still seven days left before we reach Tianyu Pass, so I'm going into secluded meditation."
"Keep your minds steady as well. Don't push yourselves to cultivate further; just take the time to properly organize everything you've learned recently."
Hearing this, the three nodded with solemn expressions. Over this period, beyond Gao Qiwen's sharp tongue, they had been left utterly shaken by the overwhelming strength Li Guanqi displayed!
Even when Li Guanqi suppressed his cultivation to the middle stage, the three of them attacking together were still completely suppressed and beaten down by him alone!
Only Ye Feng could trade a few blows, but even he would quickly be defeated.
Furthermore, through their time together, they discovered that although Ye Feng seemed somewhat unreliable, his comprehension was second only to Li Guanqi's. Once Ye Feng made a mistake, he would never make it a second time!
Such a thing might sound ordinary, but for someone to actually achieve it was truly terrifying.
It proved that, deep down, the demands Ye Feng placed on himself bordered on monstrous!
Within this small circle, Li Guanqi had unconsciously become the core.
Even Ye Feng, who was usually indolent, took him as the goal to pursue in his cultivation.
Li Guanqi sat cross-legged in the quiet chamber. Loosely curling one hand into a grip without channeling any vital energy, he rehearsed the eighteen forms of the Ziwei Demon-Cleansing Sword again and again.
He had to admit that, compared to the Azure Lotus Heavenly Gang Sword he had originally practiced, the sword art deduced and refined by the sword spirit was vastly superior; the gap between the two techniques was far from negligible.
During this time, he had not entered the Hundred Champions Illusion either, for a very simple reason:
He had few spirit stones left. Beyond his daily cultivation needs, he had no extra spirit stones to spend.
Fortunately, the Star Pivot Thunder Vine he had obtained from the Mohist Mechanism City was enough to maintain the Thunder Dragon egg's altar for six months to a year.
Otherwise, he truly wouldn't have known what to do.
After observing it throughout this period, he noticed that the Thunder Dragon egg seemed to have grown a circle larger, and the purple scales coating the eggshell faintly shimmered with flowing light.
This brought him immense relief; having poured so many resources into it, he would have felt genuine heartache if there had been no results.
Learning that Li Guanqi had entered seclusion, the others did not disturb him.
Seven days later.
Li Guanqi slowly woke from his cultivation, exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, and walked out of the quiet chamber feeling refreshed and invigorated.
The moment he stepped outside, he found that they had arrived amidst a sprawling mountain range.
Surrounded by towering peaks, the mountains were blanketed in lush vegetation.
A thin mist hovered over the mountain range in the early morning, and the spiritual energy was reasonably rich.
Seeing that everyone had gathered, Qin Xian spoke in a low voice.
"As for this Hundred Sects Tournament, I imagine the elders in the sect have already told you some things, so I won't waste words."
"This year's format is roughly the same as previous ones: cultivators of the same realm will duel in pairs, competing round by round."
"However, the point system for wins and losses differs for each cultivation realm."
"A victory in early Foundation Establishment earns one point, middle stage earns two points, and late stage earns three points."
The disciples nodded upon hearing this; this was the first time they had heard of such a point system.
Still, it seemed reasonable enough. Since the realms were different, the points naturally couldn't be identical.
Yet what Qin Xian said next made Li Guanqi's brow furrow.
"However, if you lose, the points deducted will be doubled!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, an uproar broke out among the disciples!
Someone called out, "Elder Qin, if that's the case, it will be extremely difficult to accumulate points!"
With a heavy expression, the elder nodded slightly. "Indeed, it is very difficult to build up."
"Therefore, the total points correspond to the sect rankings, representing the overall strength of a sect's disciples."
"If some disciples lack sufficient strength and lose continuously, then even if there are only a handful of them, they will be enough to drag down the entire sect's ranking!"
Hearing this, all the participants felt a weight settle onto their shoulders, an invisible pressure enveloping them all!
At that moment, however, Li Guanqi casually raised a question.
Qin Xian pondered for a moment before answering it, then smiled and said, "Very well. No matter what, as long as you do your best, that will be enough."
Chapter 117