Zhou Shiyu: I Can't Do It

Before seeing Zhou Shiyu in person, Li Guanqi had not known just how severe his injuries were. Yet when he saw Zhou Shiyu lying motionless in the medicinal pool, his expression changed. Scarcely an inch of unbroken flesh remained on his body. Fractured, pale bones jutted through torn skin, exposed to the open air. Pierced through in multiple places, his wounds bled so heavily that the dark-green medicinal waters were stained nearly crimson. Looking at the battered Zhou Shiyu, Li Guanqi could not help but frown. Standing beside him, Gu Huai spoke with evident shame and distress. "I had no good way to counter the demonic qi... "Even as a cultivator of the Body Integration Realm, I found myself helpless against demonic qi that seems possessed of an eerie life of its own." Li Guanqi nodded. It was for this exact reason that once demonic qi built up within someone's body, they could virtually never purge it on their own. Such vile energy not only tainted a cultivator's divine soul, but fused directly into their flesh and blood. Li Guanqi let out a soft sigh. Regardless of anything else, he could not simply stand by and watch Zhou Shiyu be ruined like this. Left to his own devices, who knew how long Zhou Shiyu would have to struggle and endure? By then, he would either have to abandon his physical body or wait for death... Li Guanqi said softly, "Old Gu, please wait outside. Leave this to me." Gu Huai cupped his hands, emotion trembling across his face, and vanished in a flash. The moment the old man stepped out, Zhou Shiyu slowly opened his eyes. Though his lips were completely bloodless, Zhou Shiyu looked as though he had long anticipated Li Guanqi's arrival. He gazed at him with calm eyes and spoke. "Even if you help me, I won't agree." Li Guanqi smiled, dropped down to sit beside the pool, and said softly, "It seems you already know quite a bit." Zhou Shiyu said quietly, "Before you arrived, my master spent a long time trying to persuade me." Lowering his head, Zhou Shiyu murmured, "You showed kindness to me, Zhou Shiyu, and to the Six Ancient Sacred Sect. I acknowledge every bit of it... "But... to stand in for the Great Xia Sword Sect and gamble an entire sect's future on the line—I can't do it..." Zhou Shiyu's gaze was entirely sincere. He was willing to repay Li Guanqi's kindness. Yet... the present Great Xia Sword Sect was like the sun in the midday sky, with tens of thousands of disciples and an incomparably profound heritage. For a sect so mighty, if he lost, he feared... Li Guanqi reached out and touched the pool water. In an instant, fine tendrils of purple lightning bored into Zhou Shiyu's body. Upon encountering the lightning, the bizarre demonic qi began to recede like winter snow beneath a warm sun. At the same time, Li Guanqi's voice sounded calmly. "If I'm daring enough to come to you, what are you afraid of? "Even if we lose, it doesn't matter." Zhou Shiyu was startled inside, for he could tell Li Guanqi's words carried absolute sincerity. This was no mere rhetoric concocted to coax him into filling the fifth slot! Rather, whether Li Guanqi or the Great Xia Sword Sect, they genuinely did not care if he lost. Such inexplicable trust left Zhou Shiyu feeling overwhelmed. He raised his head to stare at Li Guanqi and said in a heavy voice, "Why do you trust me so much? "From what I know... you, Li Guanqi, are not someone who places his trust easily, let alone in a matter of such monumental consequence!" Li Guanqi's sea of consciousness hummed, and his vast divine sense penetrated Zhou Shiyu's body, helping him sort out and purge the demonic qi within. *Hum!* Zhou Shiyu's face suddenly stiffened. A purple Thunder Dragon made of flame burst abruptly into his meridians, rampaging through them and frantically refining the demonic qi trapped inside. Wisp after wisp of black smoke drifted out from his body. Zhou Shiyu swallowed hard. "A heavenly flame... the Purple Dragon Thunder Flame!" Li Guanqi smiled, offering no explanation about the flame. Li Song had insisted on returning it to him; he hadn't even been allowed to refuse... Li Guanqi pulled back his hands, tucking them into his sleeves. He turned to Zhou Shiyu and said softly, "Did you know? When I first saw you roaring in unyielding frustration on that mountain summit... I was deeply moved. "And that chain—I consider myself someone of firm resolve, yet I never imagined anyone would drive a dharma artifact straight through his own heart just to obtain power. "And the power you traded for was not for yourself, but to protect your sect." A gleam of light flashed in Li Guanqi's hand, and he brought out two jars of wine. Handing one to Zhou Shiyu, he clinked the jars together. Li Guanqi threw his head back and took a generous swig, then looked at Zhou Shiyu with bright, laughing eyes. "This jar is to toast you as a true man. "I know the fifth combatant carries tremendous weight. The reason I sought you out is precisely because I trust you. "And I know that once you agree, you will fight with everything you have. "Enough said. Whether you come or not depends entirely on your own heart. I don't want to force you." With that, Li Guanqi tossed out a ray of spiritual light and a single drop of dark-gold blood, then turned and walked away. After Li Guanqi departed, Zhou Shiyu stared at the two items before him, his heart thumping wildly against his ribs. He gave Li Guanqi's retreating back a long, deep look, yet still nudged the two items to the edge of the pool. He began to weigh seriously whether he truly needed to harbor so many misgivings. The reason he pushed them aside was that he did not want to be swayed by external gifts; he wished only to follow his own heart. *Sigh... An arena battle wagering everything the Great Xia Sword Sect possesses... How can I possibly shoulder such a responsibility?* Gu Huai was already in his twilight years. Even with tremendous fortune, he could never break through to the Mahayana realm. He didn't even know if he could reach the middle stage of the Body Integration Realm... And the reason the Six Ancient Sacred Sect had not yet received a formal challenge letter was equally simple: from the moment the Lu clan's challenge arrived at the Great Xia Sword Sect, the Six Ancient Sacred Sect would never be able to stay out of the storm regardless. The Lu clan's appetite was ravenous! *** Upon returning to his sect and gazing out over its bustling prosperity, Li Guanqi stood lost in thought for a long time. By now, the Great Xia Sword Sect had expelled all outsiders, leaving only the people of Zhenyue Mountain behind. A gentleman is judged by his deeds, not his intentions. Many in the sect felt that squandering so many resources on Zhenyue Mountain was wasteful. Yet only disciples of Li Guanqi's generation truly understood what it meant when Zhenyue Mountain had thrown its entire might behind the Great Xia Sword Sect to stand against Ziyang Palace. Back then, no one could have anticipated that the Great Xia Sword Sect would ever reach its present glory. And so for all these years, Lu Kangnian had continually supported his brother sect, never growing distant. Though nothing was said, every action had been taken to heart by Zhenyue Mountain. In daily life, when Great Xia Sword Sect disciples encountered Zhenyue Mountain disciples while out on missions, they would gladly entrust their backs to them without hesitation! How could outsiders possibly understand a bond forged through life and death between two sects? The corners of Li Guanqi's lips curled upward. Looking at the thriving scene before him, he made a quiet, firm vow in his heart. Regardless of whether he would continue journeying through the Six Domains in the future, he would never allow the Great Xia Sword Sect to lose right now! *Ancient Clan? Lu clan?* Li Guanqi's gaze gradually turned frigid as he murmured softly, "Since you dare reach your hands out, be prepared to have your limbs severed by my blade!!" *Whoosh!* Li Guanqi vanished from where he stood. Settling himself upon the highest peak of the Purple Spirit Grotto-Heaven, he slowly closed his eyes and sank into cultivation. Deep within the time-dilation formation, Li Song was furiously refining spiritual energy. His aura surged boundlessly, and he had now formally stepped into the Void Refining Realm. Indeed, what Li Guanqi intended to do... Was to have Li Song push his cultivation all the way to peak Void Refinement! Both he and his Void Spirit would reach peak Void Refinement before merging together into Body Integration.