Only yesterday had Li Xiangping broken through to the Qingyuan Wheel, reaching the fourth wheel of Embryonic Breathing just like his elder brother Li Tongya. Having settled the household affairs, he was in the courtyard studying the Mystic Water Sword Art when the sound of approaching footsteps came from outside.
"Brother?"
Li Tongya stepped into the courtyard, windblown and travel-stained, his clothes damp with rain and dew, mud clinging to the tops of his shoes. Setting the cloth bag in his hand onto the table, he pulled Li Xiangping into a bear hug the moment they met.
Li Xiangping let out a long sigh of relief and smiled. "You're finally back. Now Father won't be losing sleep every night."
"Hahaha, I brought quite a few things back!"
Li Tongya laughed heartily. First, he gingerly took the silver box from his robes and inspected it thoroughly. Seeing that the several Wuzuo worms inside looked listless, he could not help letting out a soft sigh. Only then did he untie the blackish-green longbow from his back, handing it to Li Xiangping with a smile.
"Give it a try. See if it fits your hand."
Pleasantly surprised, Li Xiangping drew the bowstring and ran his hands carefully over the limbs. As he channeled his dharmic power into it, the string immediately lit up, shimmering with a soft white glow. Li Xiangping stammered, "Th-this is a dharma tool?"
Li Tongya chuckled and explained, "I bought it at the market. It cost two and a half spirit stones."
"So expensive! Where did you get the spirit stones?"
Li Xiangping winced over the cost for a few breaths before turning around to ask his second brother in bewilderment.
Li Tongya then related everything that had happened at Guanyun Peak in detail. Li Xiangping nodded repeatedly, sighing with emotion. "Jing'er has grown up as well."
Before long, Li Xuanxuan, Li Qiuyang, and the others heard the news and came up the mountain. Li Tongya handed the Wuzuo worms and the manual to Liu Rouxuan, saying earnestly, "This is the first time our family has reared Wuzuo worms. Read this book thoroughly, pick a few elderly women from down the mountain who know how to raise silkworms, find a courtyard, and care for them well. I'll go call Li Yesheng right away and have them send over spirit rice leaves and stalks. These spirit worms were jostled all along the journey and are already barely breathing."
"Understood."
Liu Rouxuan had not seen her husband for months and naturally missed him dearly, but knowing the importance of this task, she carefully took the silver box and headed down the mountain.
"Clan Uncle, this Qingchi Immortal Sect must be extraordinarily grand," Li Qiuyang said in a low voice, sitting on a wooden chair and looking at Li Tongya with great interest.
Li Qiuyang was now eleven or twelve years old. In recent years, he had been primarily responsible for the spirit rice. He kept a very low profile in the village. His father, Li Chengfu, was a sensible man who kept his elder brothers in check, having them farm and build courtyards without stirring up any shameful scandals of throwing their weight around.
"That emissary steered a Rosy Dawn Cloud Vessel, filling the sky with crimson clouds. It was quite a spectacle indeed!" Li Tongya chuckled, answering with high spirits.
***
"What grand style indeed!"
Li Chijing rested his left hand on the azure blade at his waist, suppressing the urge to draw his sword as he spoke coldly.
"I've been in secluded cultivation for a few years, and I didn't even know Qingsui Peak had taken in a new disciple."
The young man before him lightly tossed a jade bead in his hand, speaking in an offhand tone.
He was rather handsome, though the distance between his eyes was slightly narrow, which took away from his bearing. He wore a fox-fur cloak and carried a storage bag at his waist, dressed in lavish style.
As the youth stepped forward step by step, the companions at his side moved ahead to surround Li Chijing, gradually backing him into a corner along the narrow path.
"Junior Brother, don't panic. We're merely testing your mettle."
"You are a Qi Refinement cultivator after all, yet you corner me, an Embryonic Breathing peak Lingchu Wheel cultivator. Aren't you embarrassed?"
Watching the men close in, Li Chijing backed away slowly until his back pressed against the cold stone wall. Gripping the azure blade tightly, he watched the youth's movements.
The young man smiled faintly. The golden bead in his hand flared with brilliant light and shot straight toward Li Chijing.
Frowning, Li Chijing conjured an azure-blue spiritual net before him. Ducking beneath the golden bead, he closed the distance in two rapid strides.
"Your Qingsui Peak truly knows everything—except how to use a sword."
The youth had barely finished sneering when he saw Li Chijing dart forward, and he could not help praising, "Decisive!"
Li Chijing held the scabbard with his left hand while pressing his right against the hilt. Taking a direct blow from the opponent's dharma tool, he spat out a mouthful of blood, yet leaped forward in a single bound right in front of the young man.
The youth took fright and immediately tried to recall the spiritual bead with his spiritual sense, only to find the light-blue net had tangled the dharma tool. Though the bead broke free with a slight jolt, it was delayed by a few breaths.
Gritting his teeth, Li Chijing finally drew the azure blade! A brilliant arc of moon-white sword-light surged from his left hand to the pale-white blade drawn by his right, erupting toward the youth's throat!
"How is this possible!"
The youth's hair stood on end. Thoughts raced through his mind, and he had no time to form hand seals. The protective talisman at his neck burst with bright spiritual light, erecting a golden barrier that barely stopped the sword-light, jolting him back several paces.
"Not good!"
Ignoring the violent turbulence in his sea of qi, the youth hastily shifted his seals, abruptly halting the golden bead hurtling toward the back of Li Chijing's head. Only then did he look at Li Chijing standing with his sword, wearing a complicated expression.
A Qi Refinement cultivator could manipulate dharma tools from afar; only by closing in for a sword strike could one fight for survival. That strike was also one Li Chijing had forged through painstaking contemplation while cultivating the Mystic Water Sword Art, possessing immense power.
"You win!"
The youth had merely intended to frighten this new disciple for fun after running into someone from Qingsui Peak, which he had always disliked. Now, looking thoughtful and conflicted, he cupped his hands to Li Chijing.
Li Chijing's face was pale. Sheathing his sword, he managed, "Thank you for holding back, Fellow Daoist. This was also my first time using this sword strike against an enemy; I couldn't pull my strength."
The youth patted his pouch, retrieved several bottles of wound medicine, and placed them before Li Chijing, saying in a low voice, "My subordinates mistakenly injured you, Fellow Daoist. I am Deng Qiuzhi of Yuanwu Peak. I will surely come in person another day to make amends."
Seeing Li Chijing's pale complexion, Deng Qiuzhi hurriedly dispatched two men to support him back to Qingsui Peak, while he took the rest and left in a hurry, almost fleeing.
After walking only a short distance, Deng Qiuzhi turned around with a grim expression and slapped the follower behind him hard across the face.
"Tomorrow, come with me to Qingsui Peak to apologize!"
The follower hung his head aggrievedly, grumbling inwardly, *You were the one who went looking for trouble...*
Who would have thought Deng Qiuzhi would suddenly seize him by the neck, hoist him high into the air, and ask with a twisted look, "He doesn't bear a grudge against me, does he?"
"Young Master! You even gave him wound medicine, he won't, Young Master..."
The man was terrified out of his wits and pleaded repeatedly.
Deng Qiuzhi listened to his rambling, then suddenly narrowed his eyes and stared at him coldly, uttering each word deliberately: "You don't bear a grudge against me, do you?"
The follower was struck with sheer terror, his legs shaking violently as he replied on the verge of tears, "This servant doesn't..."
"Good, then."
Deng Qiuzhi dropped him casually and murmured pensively to himself, "Qingsui Peak's Li Chijing..."
Chapter 52