The Unresigned Youth

"Little beast! You deserve to die!" *Boom!* The cultivation of a middle Nascent Soul erupted with a thunderous roar! Suddenly, a withered, aged hand slowly closed around his neck. "Try moving an inch if you want to die." In an instant, cold sweat drenched Chen Qing's forehead. He hadn't sensed Ge Qing's approach in the slightest! In other words, if Ge Qing wanted him dead, he would have died countless times just now. Once he calmed down, Chen Qing felt a surge of lingering fear. He had no choice but to bow in respect to Ge Qing, then grimly collect the corpse from the stage and carry it away. None of this mattered to Li Guanqi, however. At that moment, his attention was fixed entirely on the other tournament stages. Li Guanqi quietly recovered his origin power while observing the state of the other arenas. He had not hesitated to expose one of his trump cards just to see how his fellow disciples were faring. The moment he looked over, he saw Lin Dong and Zhong Lin, drenched in blood, each pursuing an opponent. "I forfeit!" "I concede!" Two successive shouts of surrender prevented the swords in Zhong Lin's and Lin Dong's hands from piercing even a fraction of an inch further! Both longswords were ultimately parried aside one by one by Ge Qing from high above! "Great Xia Sword Sect earns two points!" As the two stepped down from the raised platform, both were gravely injured, likely unable to take part in the remaining matches. Pale-faced, the pair looked up at Li Guanqi on the high stage with complicated expressions. Li Guanqi looked at the two wounded disciples and smiled faintly, without the slightest hint of blame. Instead, he gave them a gentle nod, indicating that they could step down and rest well. Seeing that, Lin Dong's head tilted sideways, and he blacked out on the spot. *Pfft!* On the stage beside Li Guanqi, the wildly arrogant Ye Feng swung his sword down with savage force! A head went flying! Blood erupted like a fountain. Pale-faced, Ye Feng leaped down from the stage and gave Li Guanqi a slight nod. Over on the other side, however, things were not looking good for Lin Qingyu; she had been suppressed nearly the entire match. Suddenly! Lin Qingyu shifted her footing, dropping into a low crouch as she darted toward the right flank of the Xuantian Sect disciple! Yet the moment Li Guanqi caught the disciple's gaze, his expression changed, and he thought in alarm, *Not good!* Lin Qingyu was trying to use the feint and abrupt change of direction he had once executed! But she did not possess a physique as robust as Li Guanqi's. Given her physical limits, she couldn't withstand the crushing strain of such a violent shift in momentum! Sure enough, her feint fooled the opponent! But just as she forcefully twisted her body to pivot and thrust, a sudden, searing pain shot through her ankle! As she stumbled, the Xuantian Sect disciple's eyes flashed, and he lunged forward, his sword stabbing straight toward her chest! Li Guanqi roared in fury, "Concede quickly!" Lin Qingyu didn't hear Li Guanqi's shout, but driven by the instinct to escape harm, she cried out, "I concede!" *Pfft!* Her cry of surrender came at the exact moment the sword arrived. The blade pierced straight through Lin Qingyu's shoulder. Just as the opponent tried to yank it free, she gripped the steel tightly in both hands! Ge Qing's figure appeared in the arena in a flash, barking sternly, "Great Xia Sword Sect concedes! Two points deducted!" Yu Ye's and Gu Ran's battles had also ended. Yu Ye had secured victory only after a bitter struggle. Gu Ran had emptied every trump card she had to narrowly claim hers, and neither of their opponents had suffered serious harm! With their matches over, the disciples didn't even wait for the scores to appear on the stone record stele. They hurried away with the three heavily wounded members. Once back at their quarters, everyone busied themselves right away, as quite a few of them were seriously injured this time. Qin Xian said softly with a faint smile, "You all performed exceptionally well today! Regardless of the outcome, you showed the spirit and character that the Great Xia Sword Sect ought to have. Tu Kui, take them down to treat their injuries first." After Tu Kui led the others away, only Li Guanqi and a few disciples remained in the room. By Li Guanqi's inward estimate, the sect's points were hovering near the very bottom, around twenty-fifth place. Achieving this result under the circumstances was already far from easy. Although he still had the strength to fight, Yu Ye had sustained minor injuries, and Gu Ran had exhausted all her trump cards in today's duel, along with taking several sword cuts to her right leg. Both Qin Xian and Li Nanting looked down at the youths with eyes full of sorrow and concern. Finally, Li Nanting and Qin Xian exchanged glances, and Li Nanting said softly, "Let's leave it at this... We stop here. You all... have already done more than enough." Yet Li Guanqi, Gu Ran, and even Ye Feng wore looks of fierce unwillingness. They knew that this time, their luck might have run out. Even after fighting with their lives on the line today to win six matches, they had gained a mere eleven points. When they woke tomorrow, they might find they didn't even meet the threshold to participate in the next round. Li Nanting spoke gently, "I know you've all done your best, and it's hard to accept being stopped like this. But I truly cannot bear to see any of you get hurt again." Qin Xian added quietly, "Alright, I need to go look after the injured disciples; their wounds are quite severe. Let's stop here... First thing tomorrow morning, we pack up and prepare to return." Everyone knew why it had to be first thing in the morning. Tomorrow morning was when the stone record stele would announce the final rankings of all sects. It would decide the Great Xia Sword Sect's ultimate place. The two elders slowly rose and left. When Li Nanting brushed past Li Guanqi, he gently patted him on the shoulder. "Guanqi, you have already done enough." In truth, how could the older generation not ache for these young disciples? But compared to rankings, they cared far more about these youths who carried the sect's future. At that moment, the lame man sitting to the side walked slowly over to Li Guanqi. A pair of bright eyes peered at Li Guanqi through strands of disheveled hair. Without a trace of alcohol on him, the man spoke softly: "Thank you." Li Guanqi kept his head down, silent, his thoughts unknown. The origin power within the man fluctuated vigorously; perhaps a knot in his heart had finally unraveled. Yet in Li Guanqi's heart, a new knot had taken root... *After striving so hard until now, are we just going to give up like this...?* *Entrusted with such high hopes by the sect, are we really just going to head back like this?* Gu Ran and Yu Ye turned, patted his shoulder, and walked out of the room. That night, Li Guanqi neither cultivated nor slept. He simply sat alone on the rooftop, drinking wine. As he drank, the early morning sun poked above the horizon. Reeking of wine, Li Guanqi raised the jar, tipped his head back, and drained it completely. Then, his figure blurred as he soared toward the summit of Mount Tianyu!