Through everything that had just occurred, coupled with his own comprehension and understanding, Li Guanqi felt as if he were vaguely touching the power of a domain!
Suddenly!
The scene before his eyes shattered into pieces, and the clear, ringing sound of over a dozen bell chimes abruptly echoed in his ears!
The elder carving the characters for "Wind Thunder" had already vanished. What had once seemed an ordinary character for "Thunder" now radiated an overbearing, unmatched arrogance before his eyes!
As Li Guanqi's consciousness gradually returned, he was astonished that a mere glance at another sect's mountain gate could grant him such a profound opportunity.
Yet even as he was marveling at it, the elders throughout the Wind Thunder Sect were thrown into an uproar.
Those bell chimes were not something that rang lightly.
"Who is it?! Which disciple had an epiphany and triggered eighteen chimes from the Dao Comprehension Bell?!"
"Quick! Find which disciple it was!"
"Incredible, simply incredible! Eighteen chimes... It must have been three thousand years since that last happened..."
*Gulp...*
The distinct sound of someone swallowing sounded right beside his ear.
Li Guanqi turned his head slightly and discovered a woman's pretty face practically pressed against his own.
Startled, he took an immediate step back and asked warily, "What are you doing?"
Seeing that he was all right, Tang Jing finally let out a long breath, patting her full chest in relief. "Thank goodness you're fine, thank goodness..."
Before the words had even settled, she pointed right at Li Guanqi's nose and snapped, "What is wrong with you? Don't scare people like that!
"You weren't even breathing just now! I thought a couple of words from me had scared you to death!"
Hearing this, Li Guanqi finally understood what was happening. Seeing her look of relief, as if she had just retrieved a lost treasure, the corner of his mouth curved into a faint smile.
Quite an amusing girl.
Li Guanqi looked at her, his brow suddenly furrowing slightly.
He asked softly, "Do you have a meridian that's been completely blocked whenever you cultivate?"
Tang Jing instantly looked at him with sharp vigilance, demanding outright, "Who are you? What is your purpose in coming to the Wind Thunder Sect?"
Prying into another cultivator's condition was a serious taboo.
Li Guanqi curled his lip. With a flick of his hand, a strand of lightning as thin as a hair slipped into her body.
Tang Jing's eyes went wide. Just as she tried to stop it, the hair-thin lightning began charging rampantly through her body like a roaring dragon!
The tingling numbness rushing through her meridians drew an involuntary soft moan from her lips.
"Mmh..."
The moment the sound escaped, her face flushed crimson with embarrassment. The lightning shot straight toward her blocked meridian!
What had seemed an indestructible barrier to her crumbled like paper before that slender arc of lightning, shattered in an instant with crushing force!
"Ah!"
A potent wave of energy erupted from within Tang Jing. Her cultivation realm broke through from the early Core Formation stage straight to the middle stage!
Even after the lightning had dispersed, she had yet to process what had just happened. A meridian that should have taken her three more years of painstaking cultivation to open had been casually cleared by someone with a mere flick of his finger?
Tang Jing suddenly realized that the youth before her was far more extraordinary than she had assumed.
Just that casual gesture was far beyond her ability to comprehend...
A thought suddenly struck her, and she asked somewhat hesitantly, "You... aren't here to see the sect leader, are you?"
Li Guanqi paused, surprised that an ordinary disciple of the Wind Thunder Sect would know about his visit.
Still, he nodded with a smile. "That's right. Senior Chu invited me here."
A bright spark flashed in Tang Jing's lovely eyes. Bowing respectfully, she said, "Tang Jing, disciple of the Wind Thunder Sect, greets Senior. I will take you to the main hall. The sect leader should already be there."
Li Guanqi smiled and did not refuse, letting Tang Jing guide him up the mountain.
Along the way, many disciples called out cheerful greetings to Tang Jing. When they noticed Li Guanqi, they cast knowing, teasing looks her way.
At first, she paid it no mind, but as more people teased her, the memory of that involuntary moan surfaced in her mind.
The mere thought made her cheeks burn scorching hot.
Yet she couldn't resist sneaking glances at Li Guanqi's handsome face. Though his pure white eyes were blank, they held an inexplicable depth when directed at anyone.
*Thump, thump, thump!*
Tang Jing pressed her lips together, her heart pounding frantically, as if the youth beside her possessed an irresistible pull.
The more she tried to control her thoughts, the less she could stop looking at him, and suggestive images began to take shape in her head.
Li Guanqi noticed her racing heartbeat and the rapid rise in her body temperature.
Thinking that his rash intervention had injured her, he asked gently, "Are you all right? Did I hurt you just now?"
Tang Jing frantically waved her hands, shaking her head. "No, no... not at all... er... I'm fine, just... just a little nervous."
After that, they encountered fewer people. Only the two of them hurried along the quiet path, which only made the atmosphere feel all the more subtle.
Just then, a crisp, youthful shout rang out, and the rush of displaced air whipped toward the back of Li Guanqi's head.
"Yaha!"
Through his divine sense, Li Guanqi noticed a little girl in green robes leaping toward him, kicking straight at the back of his head.
A faint smile touched Li Guanqi's lips as he slipped aside to dodge the strike.
As she flew past, he reached out and snagged Jiang Tan by the ankle.
Just like that, little Jiang Tan was left dangling upside down in Li Guanqi's grip.
Tang Jing was briefly taken aback to see that the attacker was little Jiang Tan, but before she could react, Li Guanqi already had the girl in hand.
Looking at the girl's furious scowl, Li Guanqi chuckled. "Little girl, what are you doing? Why try to kick me?"
Hanging from his hand, Jiang Tan puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms. "Hmph! You scoundrel, getting close to Sister Jing like that—you definitely have bad intentions!
"I am the embodiment of justice, here to rescue Sister Jing from deep water and scorching fire!"
Li Guanqi turned to look at the woman beside him and nodded in all seriousness.
"Indeed... she is running pretty hot..."
At those words, Tang Jing blushed furiously, as though the evening glow of the horizon had settled across her cheeks.
Li Guanqi carried the little girl along as they walked toward the main hall.
Inside the hall, however, the atmosphere was solemn and tense.
Chu Xingxian sat expressionless upon the dais, looking down calmly at the figures below.
To the side, Wu Kun sat stiff-backed and cautious on a chair near the end, yet the look in his eyes as he watched the two people in the center carried a hint of mockery and amusement.
*Heh, to think his fiancée would be her!*
Below, Yun Mengxi stared coldly at the shabby youth in the black robe and said, "I will not marry you. You are not a child anymore; I hope you won't come looking for me again."
The youth in the black robe was none other than Cang Lu, whom Li Guanqi had encountered twice before!
Cang Lu kept his head down, staring at the tips of his feet, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Tears welled in his eyes as he looked up at the woman, completely unable to understand...
Why had Mengxi, his childhood friend, become like this after only a few years of cultivation?
Was the person before him truly still the little girl who used to follow behind him, calling him Brother Cang...?
Chapter 292