Li Guanqi's Origins!

Su Xuan patted the chair beside him and murmured with his eyes closed, "Sit." Li Guanqi suddenly had an ominous premonition. It felt as if the old man was about to entrust something to him... Li Guanqi sat down on the rocking chair beside the old man, and the two of them reclined side by side, one old and one young. Then, the old man produced a flagon of wine from the void and handed it to Li Guanqi. "Taste it. This is from my private reserve." Li Guanqi took the flagon and tipped his head back to take a sip. Instantly, his soul trembled as the liquor surged downward like a dragon of fire. Once inside his body, the rich fumes of the wine actually made Li Guanqi feel a little tipsy. One had to know that he now possessed immortal primal energy shielding his body, yet it could still leave him slightly intoxicated! The liquor contained an incomparably powerful energy; in mere moments, Li Guanqi felt his immortal primal energy increase substantially. "This wine...?" Su Xuan laughed heartily. "Good stuff, isn't it?" "I'll leave it all to you later." Li Guanqi fell silent, suddenly finding that the wine in his hand no longer tasted quite so pleasant. "Are you leaving soon?" Su Xuan nodded without evasion and said softly, "If not for the pressing situation in the Immortal Realm, I wouldn't have stepped in to hack down the Immortal Gate." Li Guanqi nodded slightly, able to understand. Looking at the old man, Li Guanqi said in a heavy voice, "Is there nothing else you want to tell me?" Su Xuan shot him a sidelong glance. "You little bastard, you're still brooding over that?" Sighing, the old man produced a flagon of wine as well and took a gentle sip. "After your wedding, I plan to pick a time to ascend." "Though I left plenty of contingencies behind, they won't rest until they track down my origin avatar, and their pace is fast." Li Guanqi bowed his head in silence. There was nothing he could say regarding this matter. "I'll take A'chen up with me." "Also... before leaving, A'chen and I will leave our respective projections in that Hall of Heroic Spirits of yours." "I'll also leave a wisp of blade qi to protect the Human Spirit Realm." Li Guanqi nodded and parted his lips, yet found no words to speak. Ask him to stay? Under such circumstances, he couldn't keep him. Silence fell, neither man saying a word. After quite a while, Su Xuan let out a sigh. Pursing his lips, he pondered for a long time, seemingly turning over what to say and how to say it. Li Guanqi was in no rush; he drank his wine and quietly waited. After a long hesitation, Su Xuan gave Li Guanqi a deep look and murmured, "As for your biological father, I'm sure you've already guessed some of it." "Indeed, he was from the Immortal Realm." "However... he is already dead." Boom! Those words detonated in Li Guanqi's mind like a clap of thunder. His lips quivered slightly as he stared at the old man in disbelief. "My father... was from the Immortal Realm?" "He's dead...?" Su Xuan tipped his head back to drink, his gaze turning slightly distant. "Actually... I was a subordinate of your father." At this, the corner of Su Xuan's mouth curled up. Turning toward Li Guanqi, he declared with immense pride, "The strongest general... among his subordinates." Li Guanqi gritted his teeth, his throat working slightly. His mind was an utter blur, unable to recover his composure for a long time. The old man sighed, drank some wine, and looked up at the void of the starry sky, his gaze hazy. "The reason I descended to the mortal world was to search for you." "The sword coffin was also left to you by him." "I found a few before, but none were the right person." Having said this, Su Xuan gave Li Guanqi a deep look. "Back then, I sat in the teahouse across from Zhao Manor, watching you." "At that time, I was merely a clone with dulled perception, and I took you only for a rare sword seed." "I thought of taking you away and later raising you into a sword attendant for the right person." "There was no choice; the previous ones had all died, unable to bear the sword spirit's power." "It wasn't until later, when we arrived at Fulong Village, that I realized you were the very person I was searching for." "Only then did I decide to begin inking the Great Sumeru Nine Palaces Immortal-Slaying Sigils on you." Su Xuan lowered his head, moistened his lips with his tongue, and raised a hand to wipe the corners of his eyes. "In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed..." Li Guanqi clenched his teeth, his expression shifting through rapid changes, his emotions surging violently. He closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking. "Is... is my mother truly my mother?" Su Xuan glanced at Li Guanqi, not expecting him to care so much about this. He nodded. "She is." "The reason I spent nearly ten thousand years searching for you was that your father used immense, supreme power to send your soul into the River of Time." "No one knew when your soul would emerge, or where you would be born..." "And so I searched and searched..." The old man suddenly reached out and tapped Li Guanqi between the eyebrows. "Until finally, I found you." Li Guanqi was momentarily startled by the warmth of the old man's fingertip. His turbulent, unsettled heart seemed to calm at this very moment. "In other words..." "When my mother was pregnant, my soul entered, and I became Li Guanqi, is that it?" The old man nodded with a smile. Li Guanqi lowered his head, then tipped it back to gulp down several mouthfuls of strong wine. Turning to the old man, he spoke slowly, a hint of timid hesitation in his voice: "Then... what was my father's name? And why did he die?" Su Xuan slowly rose to his feet, sighed, and said softly, "Grandpa can only tell you this much." "Your father's name... is too sensitive." "It's not something you are ready to know right now." "Knowing it won't do you any good." "The two questions you asked, you'll have to uncover the answers to on your own." "Whether you harbor hatred toward your father or something else... don't blame him." Li Guanqi felt as though his heart were a tangled ball of hemp, impossible to unravel or sever. Utterly bewildered and distraught, he drank himself into a stupor. With hazy, drunken eyes, Li Guanqi slouched in the chair, one foot propped upon the seat. He gave a bitter smile and muttered, "My origins... truly are... beyond imagination..." "Grandpa, is that sword spirit the blade of my biological father?" Su Xuan sipped his wine, letting Li Guanqi ramble like a drunk throwing a tantrum. He nodded and said softly, "Yes." Li Guanqi asked again, "Then what secret is hidden in the sword coffin... no... in the sword spirit?" Su Xuan shook his head, his eyes flickering. "I only have conjectures; I don't know the specifics either." "Grandpa only knows that the sword spirit within the sword coffin lost her memories because her true body was shattered." "Yet the person she recognizes is inevitably you." "Only the right person... can wield her." After saying this, the old man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as well. He had harbored so many secrets in his heart with no one to confide in. Today, it wasn't just Li Guanqi whose emotions were in turmoil; Su Xuan was the same. After all these years, he could finally tell Li Guanqi these truths. Li Guanqi murmured, "No wonder..." "No wonder the enemies were from the Immortal Realm right from the start."