In the backyard.
The old man was already seated upright behind the wooden desk, brush raised.
The youth naturally slipped off his upper garment and turned his back to the elder.
"This is the last time," the old man said softly. "Bear with it."
Grinning, the youth replied, "Go right ahead, Grandpa. It's not the first time anyway. I can take it."
The elder chuckled and gave the boy's head an affectionate swat. "Cheeky brat."
His right hand darted forward, dipping the brush into a viscous liquid resting in a jade dish.
Lifting the brush, he began tracing arcane patterns across the youth's back.
As the brushstrokes flowed, the youth's body remained as still as a boulder.
Only a thin sheen of cold sweat broke out across his forehead, and a muffled grunt slipped from his lips.
Li Guanqi endured the inhuman agony in silence, low growls occasionally escaping his throat.
If the medicinal baths had felt like steel needles piercing his flesh, then the pain he felt now was akin to having his flesh carved away and his bones scraped bare!
This sharp, searing agony was a hundred times more intense than the medicinal baths!
Two hours later.
When the elder finally lifted his golden brush, the runes across the boy's body finally connected into a complete whole, shimmering with an eerie, blood-red glow under the moonlight.
Seeing this, the elder smiled in relief at last and could not resist saying, "It's finally done! Weren't you afraid I might harm you, brat?"
It took the youth a long moment to catch his breath before he looked back over his shoulder with a grin.
"Grandpa, if you wanted to harm me, you wouldn't have spent all these years running into the mountains every day just to find spirit herbs for me.
"You could have just left me to freeze to death on the streets eight years ago."
At those words, Li Guanqi lowered his head as he pulled his clothes back on.
"Grandpa..."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Are you... getting ready to leave?"
"..."
"Will I ever see you again?"
Su Xuan murmured with deep emotion, "That will depend on whether you cultivate fast enough..."
Turning around to pack his things, Su Xuan's eyes rimmed with red, and he tilted his head up slightly.
When the elder turned back, light flashed in his empty hands, conjuring an object even taller than the youth.
Looking at the boy who had called him grandfather for eight years, the elder spoke with earnest gravity.
"The road of immortal cultivation is vast and long. You must always beware of those who treat you excessively well despite having no kinship or ties to you!
"Some of those old monsters who have cultivated for thousands of years see no hope of breaking through, so they resort to sinister, underhanded means to seize the bodies of others!"
Though the youth had heard these words countless times growing up, he still nodded with utter solemnity.
"This departure of mine is forced by circumstance and fraught with danger. I dare not take you with me.
"After tomorrow, you may head down the mountain.
"This sword coffin is the most important gift I give to you!
"Remember: never let this sword coffin leave your side, and guard it well!"
The youth examined the pitch-black coffin etched with countless arcane runes, his curiosity thoroughly piqued.
He knew what a sword scabbard or sword case was, but what was a sword coffin?
The object stood over four feet tall, a whole head higher than he was right now.
Yet the elder told him nothing else about it, instructing him only to carry it on his back.
Li Guanqi tested the weight on his back—it was exactly five hundred jin, without the slightest deviation!
The youth's eyes stung with warmth, and he finally understood the elder's painstaking intentions...
All along, it had been for this!
And from this day forward, the Human Spirit Realm gained one more swordsman who bore a sword coffin upon his back.
***
Early the next morning.
Li Guanqi stared at the dishes laid across the table, rendered speechless for a long while.
"Grandpa... out of six dishes, could you really not manage a single hot one?"
Indeed, every dish on the table was served cold.
Yet the old man merely gave a faint smile and waved his hand. Two exquisitely crafted jade wine cups appeared on the table.
Li Guanqi's heart gave a start, and he smiled. "Grandpa, you're letting me drink wine?"
Su Xuan smiled faintly and said softly, "You are heading down the mountain tomorrow. How could you survive without knowing how to drink?"
Grinning, the youth raised the cup and tossed it back in one gulp, only for the fiery burn to instantly send him scrambling in search of water.
The mellow, potent liquor felt like a streak of liquid fire tearing down his throat.
Su Xuan could not help but roar with laughter at the sight, quickly saying, "Slow down, you brat! Who drinks like that?
"You've turned a fine wine into something straight out of an unrefined wanderer's tavern."
"Cough... cough... I didn't think this stuff would be so spicy!"
It took a good while for the youth to recover. He hastily took two bites of food before asking, "Grandpa, what should I do after going down the mountain?"
Su Xuan tapped the boy's head with his chopsticks and chuckled softly.
"You are already at the peak of Body Tempering.
"Your next step is to draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into your body to reach the Qi Refinement realm.
"When that time comes, combined with your mind's eye, your vision will be no different from normal sight."
The youth rolled his pale, sightless eyes, a wistful smile touching the corners of his mouth.
The elder continued, "You are already fourteen, the prime age to join a sect. It is time for you to go down the mountain."
Ever since he was very small, Li Guanqi had yearned for the day he could cultivate, dreaming of becoming a transcendent celestial who could roam heaven and earth and ride flying swords through the sky.
Yet during these eight years, he had lived very happily alongside Su Xuan. He had never expected their parting would arrive so soon.
Picking at the food with his chopsticks, the youth asked quietly, "There are countless sects under heaven. Leaving aside the entire Great Xia Domain, even within this Qingyun Continent alone, formidable sects stand like trees in a forest.
"Which sect should I join?"
He had expected the elder to ponder it for a long time, but to his surprise, the answer came without hesitation.
"The Great Xia Sword Sect!"
Li Guanqi furrowed his brows. Having stayed by Su Xuan's side for so many years, he had heard a great deal about the hidden secrets of this world.
Yet he had never once heard of this Great Xia Sword Sect on the Qingyun Continent.
Seeing the boy's confusion, Su Xuan said softly, "Don't overthink it. It is no supreme power, but its conduct and ethos are upright to the core!"
Afterward, the elder and youth sat together in the courtyard, chatting leisurely as they drank.
However, the youth had terrible alcohol tolerance; he collapsed drunk before finishing even two cups.
He mumbled under his breath, "What is... so good about this stuff..."
The old man watched the drunken boy with a fond smile, chuckling softly. "Whether wine is good or not, you will understand in the future, young lad..."
Removing his outer robe, the elder draped it gently over the boy.
With a flick of his hand, Su Xuan sent three streaks of spiritual light shooting into the pitch-black sword coffin, casting one last, deep look upon it.
Then, taking a single step, he shrank the earth to span tens of millions of feet, soaring away into the sky.
***
When the youth woke in a daze and found no trace of the elder, he was not overly surprised.
Looking at the map Su Xuan had left on the table, tears instantly welled in his eyes.
Picking up the map, the youth muttered bitterly, "Grandpa... couldn't you have at least left me some travel money?!"
With no other choice, the youth packed every scrap of edible food in the house.
On his back rested the massive stone sword coffin, while across his chest hung an enormous bundle.
Creak—
The youth carefully pulled the courtyard gate shut. After a long silence, he turned and began walking down the mountain.
Li Guanqi had intended to check on the young girl from Aunt Li's house, but finding the Meng family gate shut tight, he did not knock.
***
Scratching his head, Li Guanqi grumbled to himself, "Good grief, I've been walking for three whole months."
Along the way, as he passed through cities, towns, and villages, he had heard many tales regarding the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Most of the talk praised how wonderful the sect was, noting that it governed the surrounding thousand li exceptionally well, leaving the region almost entirely free of calamity.
"It seems this Great Xia Sword Sect truly is just as Grandpa described—a sect of upright character."
Three days later, Li Guanqi arrived at the foot of the mountain where the Great Xia Sword Sect stood.
Among the bustling crowd, groans and complaints arose without end.
Before them lay the Heavenly Stairway, known as the Great Xia Sword Sect's Path of Severed Dust!
This flight of stairs comprised exactly three thousand three hundred and thirty-three steps.
A steward from the Great Xia Sword Sect stood at the base beside a wooden sign he had erected.
On it was written plainly: "Those seeking to join the sect must ascend the Heavenly Stairway on their own. All external aids are strictly forbidden!"
Looking at the clamorous crowd, Li Guanqi slipped through the throngs like a swimming fish. With a faint smile on his lips, he stepped straight onto the stairway.
This sight caught the attention of many onlookers.
A youth dressed in luxurious robes frowned. "Who is that guy? How can he move so nimbly with such a massive coffin on his back?"
"His physique is certainly nothing to scoff at!"
Naturally, some believed Li Guanqi was merely grandstanding and would soon run out of steam.
Even so, his effortless pace stirred a competitive drive in many!
Yet... in the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Li Guanqi had left every one of them far behind.
Li Guanqi did not even realize he had officially begun the entrance assessment of the Great Xia Sword Sect.
He simply felt filled with anticipation and wonder toward the sect his grandfather had praised so highly.
From the moment Li Guanqi stepped onto the very first stair, he drew a great deal of attention.
This youth, bearing an enormous stone coffin on his back, did not show the slightest sign of strain.
Moreover, the black cloth wrapped around his eyes made everyone turn their heads in surprise.
The steward, who had remained silent all along, suddenly snapped his eyes open and fixed his gaze upon the figure ascending the steps.
To his eyes, the stone coffin on the youth's back weighed at least two hundred jin, yet from start to finish, the boy's breathing remained perfectly steady, showing not the slightest hint of exertion.
A sharp gleam flared in the steward's eyes as he murmured under his breath:
"Such a physique... it must be on par with the peak of Body Tempering!"
Whoosh!
A faint whistle of displaced air sounded by the youth's ear. Li Guanqi's brow furrowed, and with an instantaneous surge of power through his feet, he shifted sideways a full foot.
"Huh?"
Standing on the stairs, Li Guanqi bowed toward the steward and asked, "Uh... Senior, what was that just now?"
Seeing the youth's swift reflexes, the smile on the steward's face widened.
"Little one, do not fear. That was merely a timing talisman."
Li Guanqi scratched his head in slight embarrassment. So it was only a talisman used to keep time.
With a flick of the steward's finger, the yellow talisman circled Li Guanqi once before pressing firmly against his chest.
The steward said with a smile, "Go on. Make haste. The sooner you reach the top, the better."
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved upward. Cupping his fists, he quickly gave a respectful bow. "Thank you, Steward. This junior will head up first, then."
The steward opened his mouth, about to say something, but before the words could leave his lips, the youth drew a deep breath. With an explosive burst of strength, he surged upward like a hunting leopard!
"Hiss... What incredible physical power! I was going to tell him he could take that thing off his back."
All along the way, figures blurred past Li Guanqi as he left candidate after candidate in his wake.
Li Guanqi glanced down at the talisman slowly fading against his chest, estimating how much time remained before it vanished.
"Two hours..."
"An endless stairway like this must have several thousand steps at least. That's no small feat."
Glancing back down toward the mountain base, Li Guanqi could not help but marvel.
"There are way too many people..."
By rough estimate, there were nearly thirty to forty thousand people gathered at the foot of the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Among them, boys and girls between the ages of twelve and fourteen numbered close to ten thousand.
The rest were family members, retainers, and servants.
"It seems joining a sect isn't nearly as simple as I imagined..."
"I heard that last year, over eighteen thousand people came to join the Great Xia Sword Sect, yet barely a hundred were accepted as disciples."
Just as Li Guanqi was racing upward while lost in thought, a slender youth suddenly drew up alongside him, matching his stride pace for pace.
Chapter 8