Elder Li, Both Loved and Hated

Over the days that followed, Li Guanqi gave everyone a thorough understanding of what it meant to be both loved and hated. Whenever Li Guanqi held a class, not a single seat was left empty. What was more, as time went on, even some elders of the Wind Thunder Sect cast aside their pride and sneaked in to audit his lessons. Even so, Li Guanqi would occasionally sit in on other elders' lectures. Whenever he felt that the person at the lectern did a terrible job, he would tell them right then and there to pack up and get lost. It was precisely because of people like them that the Wind Thunder Sect had grown so indolent, and their methods of instruction were utterly rigid, completely lacking flexibility. Yet precisely because of this, an inexplicable tension and pressure settled over all the elders and guest elders of the Wind Thunder Sect. When giving lectures, they threw themselves into performing their best, no longer just idling their days away as they used to. During this time, Li Guanqi even uncovered quite a few guest elders who had previously been pushed aside and marginalized. These people were relatively young and significantly more capable. Li Guanqi immediately decided to double their stipends, ensuring they received greater respect and responsibility. As long as Li Guanqi gave an instructor a nod of approval, essentially every seat would be filled for that person's next lecture. This moved many guest elders who had once felt disheartened to tears of gratitude. That was not all. Li Guanqi instituted minor tests every three days and major assessments every five. Anyone who failed faced horrific punishments—even the threat of being purged from the sect. Seeing that Li Guanqi was dead serious, the disciples risked life and limb in their cultivation. In barely half a month, a good number of disciples had already broken through a minor cultivation realm. One evening, Li Guanqi rubbed his chin as his eyes suddenly lit up, and in an instant, he vanished from the Wind Thunder Sect. An hour passed. Along the peaceful mountainside, countless disciples were sitting cross-legged in their quarters, meditating in seclusion. Suddenly, the savage roar of a beast tore through the silence! *Roar!* A Black Armor Iron Bull nearly five zhang long appeared on the scene in a maddened frenzy. In an instant, countless disciples were startled awake from their cultivation, and their very first reaction was nothing other than: "Damn it all! Can't Elder Li come up with any other tricks?!" "He's trying to work us to death!" "Heavens!" "A devil! You're a bloody devil!" Paying no heed to their wailing, Li Guanqi casually lit an incense stick and shouted, "Hurry up now! I'm giving you only the time it takes an incense stick to burn! "If you don't kill it before the incense burns out, every last one of you will taste the whip tomorrow!" Hearing this, the disciples couldn't help but shudder. Before disciples on the other peaks could gloat, void rifts tore open across the area, and one demon beast after another—comparable to the Core Formation realm—was tossed down! It turned out they had not been spared; their beasts had simply been en route. Curses erupted from every direction, but Li Guanqi merely smiled faintly. When the first light of dawn broke, he finally nodded in satisfaction. The timing was just right. Looking at the exhausted, collapsed disciples, Li Guanqi roared with laughter. "The beast materials are yours to keep—consider it your reward!" The disciples below immediately broke into angry curses. Right after that, several heavenly tribulation thunderclouds abruptly gathered in the sky above the Wind Thunder Sect! Li Guanqi smiled faintly, turned, and headed toward Chu Xingxian's study. These past two days, the old man had been grinning so widely that his face was lined with wrinkles, practically beaming with delight. Watching the sect's atmosphere improve day by day, he envied Lu Kangnian all the more. How could that man be blessed with such good fortune to find a disciple like Li Guanqi? This was far beyond what ancestral graves smoking with green auspicious vapor could account for. He had summoned Li Guanqi today because all the materials Li Guanqi asked for had been gathered. As soon as Li Guanqi sat down, the old man leaned forward and said, "Isn't that one-month bet of yours a little excessive? "Half a month has already passed, and it looks impossible to pull off. "You can't really kick out everyone who hasn't broken through, can you?" Li Guanqi curled his lip. "Old Chu, didn't I say back then that it depends on the circumstances? "Those with poor talent who work hard certainly don't need to be purged. "The ones who really need to be kicked out are those with great talent who refuse to put in the effort. "You must know... diligence is contagious, but indolence... is just the same!" Hearing this, the old man nodded. He naturally understood the reasoning; he was just not as ruthless as Li Guanqi. Yet since he had chosen to entrust Li Guanqi with these matters, he would not oppose him based on his own reservations. With a soft sigh, he handed over a storage bag and murmured, "I've brought you everything you asked for. But what do you need this stuff for? "You should know the blood essence of these kinds of demon beasts is generally only used to craft things like Great Strength Talismans." Li Guanqi quickly took the storage bag and checked inside, finding that it contained every material he required. It was just that, in the sword spirit's words, these materials were of a secondary tier, not the ideal choice. Having obtained the demon beasts' blood essence, Li Guanqi had long grown impatient. Suddenly leaning closer to the old man, he said, "Senior Chu, this junior has one more favor to ask..." The old man shuddered from head to toe, convinced this rascal was definitely up to no good. Annoyed, he shook off his hand and said, "You brat, when you call me Old Chu, just stick to Old Chu. The moment you tack on 'Senior,' I feel like I'm stepping into a trap. "Out with it. What else do you want?" Li Guanqi grinned. "Doesn't your Wind Thunder Sect have a Heavenly Astral Pool and a Heavenly Thunder Pool?" Chu Xingxian glanced at him and curled his lip. "You certainly investigated my sect's secrets thoroughly. "You want to go in?" Li Guanqi nodded. "That's right. I want to enter the thunder pool." "What are you going in there for? To cultivate? "You should know that the thunder pool has accumulated power for nearly a thousand years. Whenever a disciple in the sect breaks through, they leave a wisp of lightning energy in the Heavenly Thunder Pool. It's exceptionally dangerous." Yet as he said this, the old man paused. He realized this rascal before him was not afraid of danger in the slightest. Pondering for a moment, the old man asked, "When do you want to enter?" Li Guanqi answered without hesitation, "Naturally, the sooner the better." The old man rose to his feet. "Then let's go now. I'll take you there." *Whoosh! Whoosh!* In an instant, the two covered dozens of li, finally arriving before a mountain peak towering into the clouds behind the Wind Thunder Sect! The peak's boulders were pitch-black throughout, and the surrounding cloud cover hung dim and gloomy, with lightning faintly flickering without end. The old man murmured, "This is Thunder Pool Peak. Let me guide you over." *Flash!* The old man pointed a finger, sending out a beam of spiritual light that instantly tore an opening through the barrier encircling the mountain. He gave a gentle smile and said, "Go on in by yourself. Tempering your body in the thunder pool is marvelous for cultivation." Li Guanqi merely smiled faintly, not revealing to the old man what he actually intended to do. Once the old man departed, the purple array barrier slowly sealed shut behind him, and Li Guanqi made his way to the summit.