Behind him, the two men's screams came to an abrupt halt!
Even with blood gushing incessantly from their limbs and their entire bodies trembling, they did not utter a single word!
The youth, meanwhile, leaped up and rushed toward the third floor with blade in hand.
Li Guanqi had no idea what the youth was after, so he simply turned around, walked over to the leader, and squatted down beside him.
Seeing Li Guanqi approach, the man shuddered violently, and a puddle of yellow liquid seeped out beneath him.
Li Guanqi frowned slightly. "Brother, seems you've had a bit too much internal heat lately."
"Don't be nervous. Just asking you something... What backing do you have behind you?"
Tears flooded the man's eyes. Even with a chunk nearly bitten off his lip, he dared not make the slightest peep.
Hearing Li Guanqi ask this question, he only shook his head desperately.
The expressions of the patrons on the second floor were quite a sight. After all, he had just slaughtered someone who had been about to declare his faction. Now he was turning around to ask another what faction he had—it would be a miracle if the man on the ground wasn't scared to death.
Li Guanqi rose, flicked his sword with two backhanded strikes, and ended the pair's lives. In an instant, blood splattered three feet high.
Just then, a commotion broke out on the third floor.
Gazing at the dead bodies, the madam slumped to the floor as if her soul had fled her body. She repeatedly mumbled, "Finished... It's all finished..."
Just at that moment, however, the blade-wielding youth walked slowly down the stairs.
An endless disappointment filled his eyes.
Yet in his low, deliberate carriage, an aura of authority belonging to a high-born ruler surfaced upon his face.
The youth first stepped before Li Guanqi and bowed in greeting. "My thanks to the immortal master for stepping in.
"I am Li Shenzhi, son of General Li Ren of the Xuantian Dynasty."
Hiss!
The moment those words were spoken, the entire tavern fell dead silent!
The madam reached toward Li Shenzhi as if grasping at a lifesaver, only to be stopped in her tracks by a single glance from him.
After all, this Wangyue City was not even the capital of the Xuantian Dynasty, while Great General Li Ren was the undefeated battle general of the entire Xuantian Dynasty!
For all these years, he had conquered city after city for the dynasty, standing as the foremost contributor to expanding its borders.
And his only son, Li Shenzhi, had followed his father onto the battlefield since childhood.
Li Guanqi's brow furrowed, and he muttered silently to himself, *The Xuantian Dynasty? Isn't that the mission I took on?*
Seeing him frown, Li Shenzhi hurriedly said, "Immortal Master need not worry about what happened here; I will naturally dispatch men to handle it.
"It is just that ruining Immortal Master's fine mood truly makes me feel apologetic.
"May I invite Immortal Master to another establishment to listen to the zither and warm wine?"
Li Guanqi pursed his lips and replied, "Another time. I've lost the mood for now. I'll rest for the night; I have business tomorrow.
"But don't take this as mere politeness—in a few days, I really will return and head to your royal capital."
Li Shenzhi smiled slightly, producing a jade pendant carved with the characters 'Shenzhi' from his waist and handing it to Li Guanqi.
"Within the territory of the Xuantian Dynasty, you need only show this jade pendant to any soldier or official to pass a message to me!
"If necessary, you may even mobilize three thousand troops in any city to serve at your command."
Li Guanqi took the jade pendant and smiled. "As long as I can find you, that's enough. Forget about mobilizing troops; it's not like I'm leading an army into battle."
Li Guanqi then turned and walked down from the tavern, tossing the jade pendant in his hand as he murmured, "Listening to tunes in the pleasure quarters is nice enough, if only there hadn't been an eyesore or two in the way.
"Still... Li Shenzhi... is it a coincidence? Or... heh."
Picking an inn at random along the street, Li Guanqi settled in. After tidying up, he placed a white jade prayer mat on the floor, took out two spirit stones into his palms, and entered a state of cultivation.
Ever since stepping into the Qi Refinement realm, Li Guanqi had barely slept at all, spending almost all his time in cultivation.
It was precisely because of this that his cultivation speed was remarkably fast, though this thirteenth layer of Qi Refinement was truly arduous to break through.
The impurities in his body were already exceedingly scarce, making it exceptionally difficult to expel more through a breakthrough.
Even so, Li Guanqi could sense that the bottleneck had loosened slightly of late; presumably, it wouldn't be long before he broke through.
Early the next morning, Li Guanqi bought some breakfast pastries from street vendors. He also made a special trip to find the street stall with the city's tastiest steamed buns, buying an entire bamboo steamer's worth to take with him.
The scenery along the way made Li Guanqi sigh with feeling—this world was far too vast, and the places he had traveled were far too few.
Mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas all stretched beneath his feet.
Three shichen later, Li Guanqi had covered nearly four to five hundred li.
At last, he reached a place encircled by mountains on his map.
Without overthinking it, and seeing that the sun would set in another two shichen, Li Guanqi started heading up the mountain.
He had walked only a short while when the roar of a demonic beast suddenly reached his ears.
Li Guanqi burst forward with power underfoot. From afar, he saw an enormous Wind-Riding Lizard opening its bloody maw, lunging down to bite!
Judging by its size, that Wind-Riding Lizard was about to break through to the second rank, which was equivalent to a human cultivator's Foundation Establishment realm.
Thump!
Even so, Li Guanqi was still nearly a dozen zhang away from the little Daoist acolyte.
Li Guanqi planted his feet abruptly, and the sword casket on his back slipped free in an instant.
Twisting his waist, he hurled the sword casket forth with explosive force!
Whoosh!
A piercing sound of rushing wind rang out. The sword casket slammed straight into the Wind-Riding Lizard's head, caving in its snout.
Shaking its head, the beast collapsed to the ground.
Li Guanqi drew his sword and leaped forward. Closing in, he dodged two swipes of its sharp claws, channeled his full yuan qi, and pierced straight through its lower jaw with a single thrust!
Thud!
The little Daoist acolyte was scared out of his wits by now, slumped on the ground with a pale face.
Li Guanqi, meanwhile, harvested the lizard hide and beast core from the Wind-Riding Lizard.
As Li Guanqi picked up his sword casket, his body suddenly froze, after which he coughed lightly in some embarrassment.
Turning around, he squatted before the little Daoist acolyte, waved a hand, and asked, "Little Daoist, is this Longhou Ridge?"
The little Daoist acolyte finally collected his wits, nodding as he replied, "Yes, this is Longhou Ridge.
"Thank you for saving me, Layman. Otherwise I would have..."
Li Guanqi grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up, smiling. "Then that works out perfectly. I came looking for your Daoist temple."
Delighted, the little Daoist acolyte led Li Guanqi up the mountain.
As they walked, the acolyte pulled out a small purple flower to show Li Guanqi.
"Look, Layman! Isn't it pretty?"
Li Guanqi turned to look, only to discover with surprise that the purple flower was none other than an Azure Purple Spirit Flower, the primary ingredient for refining a Liuhe Pill.
A second-rank material! This single blossom alone was probably worth over two hundred low-grade spirit stones.
No wonder the Wind-Riding Lizard had attacked him.
Li Guanqi said with a smile, "It's pretty, but next time you can't go off on your own to deserted places looking for glowing flowers like this, all right? It's too dangerous."
Before long, Li Guanqi followed the little acolyte to the gate of a Daoist temple.
The temple was not large, covering barely a hundred zhang around. An old man clad in a blue, straight-collared Daoist robe sat by the entrance smoking a dry-tobacco pipe.
His beard and hair were completely white, his long eyebrows extended past his nose, and he wore a goatee on slightly gaunt cheeks.
The moment the elder saw Li Guanqi, a sharp glint flashed in the depths of his eyes.
"Young layman, what is your relation to Li Nanting of the Great Xia Sword Sect?"
Li Guanqi straightened his robes and replied softly with a respectful expression, "To answer Senior, Li Nanting is the esteemed name of my master. This junior is Li Guanqi."
Ling Daoran nodded slightly, waved to the little Daoist acolyte, and said, "Xiao'an, didn't I tell you this youngster has decent character?"
Buzz!
The little Daoist acolyte, who had appeared scared half to death earlier, now had a rosy flush returned to her face.
Tucking the Azure Purple Spirit Flower away, she said with a sly look, "He's all right, I suppose~ But he actually mistook me for a little boy! Hmph!"
Li Guanqi's eyes widened in silent astonishment. Not only was this seemingly seven- or eight-year-old Daoist acolyte actually a little girl—
The aura upon her was that of a genuine, bona fide Foundation Establishment realm cultivator!
Looking up, he saw three large characters inscribed upon the temple plaque:
"Changchun Temple."
Ling Daoran tapped the pipe bowl against a stone, then rose and said gently, "Come inside, young one. Since your master sent you here, I naturally know your purpose.
"However... that spirit incantation cannot be rushed. Come inside first, and we shall talk."
Chapter 57