Baby-faced Zheng Yao cried out in astonishment, her eyes shining bright. If anyone were to ask which sect commanded the most attention in the entire Northern Region right now, it would undoubtedly be the Great Xia Sword Sect!
No other sect could even compare to it!
The Great Xia Sword Sect had risen because of Li Guanqi, and the spirit and character shown by the whole sect had captivated countless young men and women!
Think about it—who wouldn't want a sect that protected its own with fierce devotion?
And precisely because of what the sect had done, it had indirectly influenced the conduct of all its disciples.
Back then, the clash between the Great Xia Sword Sect and Ziyang Palace had drawn the attention of many sects.
At first, no one thought the mild-tempered Great Xia Sword Sect would choose to clash head-on with Ziyang Palace.
Until the Great Xia Sword Sect's sect leader, Lu Kangnian, led all his disciples in raising their swords!
Now, the Great Xia Sword Sect had been in seclusion for nearly a year.
No one knew where Li Guanqi had gone; everyone assumed he had withdrawn into seclusion along with his sect.
Who would have thought... that the man worshipped by countless young men and women had actually come to the Wind Thunder Sect!
Even the aloof Liu Man parted her lips slightly, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Yet on second thought, the corners of her lips curved up slightly.
Turning to Tang Jing, she asked softly, "Jing'er, from what you're saying... Li Guanqi will be our teacher starting tomorrow and instruct us?"
Tang Jing nodded like a chick pecking at grain. "That seems to be it. But apparently he can only stay in the sect for a short while; he won't be here permanently."
Liu Man nodded and murmured softly, "How could someone like that ever be bound to one place?"
As she said this, she gave Tang Jing a deep look.
For she had noticed that this little sister of hers seemed to be falling deeper and deeper for a youth she had only just met.
Hearing that, Tang Jing's expression turned somewhat unnatural. She gave a slight nod, then said with a dry laugh, "I understand."
"You two go to sleep first; I'll tidy up and then head to bed."
After Tang Jing left, Zheng Yao pouted and said, "Sister Man, won't saying that make Jing'er sad...?"
Liu Man lay back on the bed and said softly, "Some things are better said early than late."
"A figure dazzling like the stars would never be content to stop his stride in a shallow pond."
"Jing'er... cannot keep him."
Zheng Yao thought about what she said, found it made a lot of sense, and simply lay back down on her bed as well.
Liu Man kept her eyes open, staring at the ceiling, the corners of her mouth curving up as she thought of that monstrously talented youth she had never seen.
"I really wonder how he'll deal with that unruly, arrogant bunch tomorrow."
That night, Tang Jing could not sleep at all, weeping softly beneath her blankets.
Early the next morning, Li Guanqi slowly withdrew from his meditative cultivation.
Exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, he found his grasp over the insights gained from the mountain gate plaque had grown firmer.
The nebulous, elusive feeling from yesterday had vanished.
However, if he wanted to fully comprehend his own origin energy domain, it would likely still take some time.
After washing up and tidying himself, Li Guanqi looked at his handsome reflection in the mirror and could not help sighing in admiration, "Handsome as I am, how many women am I going to enchant today?~"
The sword spirit snapped from beside him, "Disgusting."
Li Guanqi could only offer an apologetic smile, but a list suddenly appeared in his mind.
"When you ask that old man for essence blood later, remember to prioritize the ones at the very top. If he doesn't have those, then switch to the others."
Seeing that every single item called for the essence blood of ancient great demons, Li Guanqi felt a sudden headache coming on.
"Do you really think he'd have this kind of stuff here? This... seems a bit too presumptuous..."
Knowing full well that those ancient demon beasts were hard to find, the sword spirit shrugged and said, "Then switch to something else. The effect on blood refining is the same, only you'll have to endure a bit more pain."
Hearing this, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
The "bit of pain" the sword spirit spoke of was by no means the "little bit" he understood.
Back when she drew out his lifespan, she had also said "a little bit," and nearly drained him completely dry.
Getting up, he walked out of the courtyard and found only sparse groups of people scattered along the paths.
This could not help but make Li Guanqi frown.
The sun had just risen, the very hour when the essence of heaven and earth was at its richest, yet across the Wind Thunder Sect he hardly saw anyone cultivating.
There was only a slender woman with a cold countenance sitting cross-legged at a mountain peak, facing the morning sun as she slowly inhaled and exhaled.
Furthermore, what few people there were in groups of two or three all looked bleary-eyed and sleepy.
This caused Li Guanqi's brow to knit even tighter.
The worldly spiritual energy within the Wind Thunder Sect was exceedingly dense, to the point that in many places it formed a thin layer of mist.
Within his perception, the Wind Thunder Sect had two spiritual veins in the outer areas alone, to say nothing of the inner sect.
Yet this atmosphere of cultivation... was truly lazy!!
No wonder Chu Xingxian had been in such a hurry to call him over.
He sighed softly under his breath. "Looks like Old Chu didn't just want me to instruct the disciples..."
Indeed, the Wind Thunder Sect possessed uniquely blessed cultivation resources, ranking among the top ten major sects in the entire Eastern Domain.
Yet in recent years, its disciples had grown incomparably indolent in their cultivation, and their progress was painfully slow.
This had left Chu Xingxian fraught with frustration, so when Li Guanqi arrived, he had sought out a meeting with the youth.
All along the way, Li Guanqi observed the Wind Thunder Sect disciples.
Although the general sect atmosphere was slack, quite a few people were still cultivating diligently.
Moreover, he noticed that the elders of the Wind Thunder Sect were absent-minded when teaching, using a single uniform approach for entirely different groups of disciples.
Certain disciples clearly struggled or were ill-suited to the material, yet the elders turned a blind eye to it all.
Li Guanqi made his way slowly to the place where he was to hold class today. Along the path, many disciples hurrying over also saw him.
However, no one connected this white-robed youth with today's teacher.
They simply assumed he was a newly admitted disciple who had not yet collected his sect robes.
On the lecture dais, a gray-haired elder was teaching the disciples below how to use spirit incantations.
Up above, the elder spoke at an unhurried, measured pace; down below, the disciples who had gotten up early yawned constantly. Many appeared to be closing their eyes in contemplation, but their long, steady breathing betrayed that they were actually asleep.
Yet the elder on stage merely explained everything in a mechanical drone.
Seeing this, Li Guanqi could not help shaking his head and sighing, "What kind of nonsense is this..."
The elder's ears twitched. Opening his eyes, he immediately spotted Li Guanqi standing by the doorway, sighing.
His face darkened instantly, and he slammed his hand against the desk!
Bang!!
The loud crash jolted the disciples below awake, leaving them bewildered about what had happened.
Looking around in confusion, they quickly spotted the handsome youth standing at the entrance.
The elder narrowed his eyes at him, his voice laced with anger.
"Which peak's disciple are you? How dare you be so ill-mannered!"
"If you're late, just take a seat quietly. When has this old man ever bothered with such things?"
"Hmph! Not only are you late, but you dare brazenly spout nonsense about what I'm teaching being rubbish?"
As he spoke, the elder stood up and snapped, "Come, come, come! If you think my teaching isn't good enough, you do it! I'll go sit down below and see what brilliant tricks you can conjure up!"
Li Guanqi smiled faintly. Taking out his jade pendant, he said softly, "Old Chu, your Wind Thunder Sect has serious issues."
"How far am I allowed to go?"
Soon, Chu Xingxian's voice came through the jade pendant with a hearty laugh: "Do whatever you want! Even if you smash the main hall's mountain peak, it doesn't matter! Do whatever you please!"
Hearing the old man's words, a smile curled at the corners of Li Guanqi's lips.
The eyes of the several hundred disciples below all gathered on Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi looked at the elder standing on the dais and said calmly, "From this moment on, you are dismissed."
Chapter 298