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Backyard.
Seeing the old man already holding a brush and sitting at the desk. The young man naturally removed his upper garment, turning his back to the old man.
The old man softly said: "This is the last time, bear with it."
The young man grinned and said: "Grandpa, just do it. This isn't the first time. I can take it."
The old man smiled and patted the young man's head, saying indulgently: "You brat."
Then he quickly dipped his right hand into the viscous liquid in the jade plate. He held the brush and began to draw mysterious patterns on the young man's back. As the brushstrokes moved, the young man's body remained as still as a rock. Only a slight cold sweat seeped from his forehead, and he couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.
Li Guanqi silently endured this inhuman pain, letting out low growls. If the medicinal bath was like steel needles piercing his body, the current pain was like cutting flesh and carving bone! The clear pain was a hundred times more intense than the medicinal bath!
An hour later. When the old man lifted the golden brush, the patterns on the young man's body finally connected, gleaming with a blood-red, eerie light under the moonlight. Seeing this scene, the old man finally smiled with satisfaction, unable to help but say: "Finally done! Aren't you afraid I'd harm you, you brat?"
The young man took a long moment to recover, then turned back to the old man and grinned. "If Grandpa wanted to harm me, he wouldn't have to run to the mountains every day to find spirit herbs for me all these years."
"Eight years ago, he could have just let me freeze to death on the street."
Speaking of this, Li Guanqi lowered his head while putting on his clothes.
"Grandpa…"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"Are you leaving?"
"..."
"Will we ever meet again?"
Su Xuan murmured with emotion: "That depends on whether you cultivate fast enough..."
Su Xuan turned around to pack his things, his eyes reddened, and he slightly tilted his head up. The old man turned back, and something taller than the young man suddenly appeared out of thin air in his hand.
Looking at the young man who had called him Grandpa for eight years, the old man spoke earnestly. "The path of cultivation is long and arduous. Be wary of those who are not kin, yet treat you excessively well!"
"Some old monsters who have cultivated for thousands of years and see no hope of breaking through will resort to crooked means to take over your body!"
Although the young man had heard these words countless times since childhood, he still nodded with a solemn expression. "My departure this time is out of necessity. It's fraught with danger, and I dare not take you with me."
"After tomorrow, you may descend the mountain."
"This Sword Coffin is the most important gift I'm giving you!"
"Remember, the Sword Coffin must never leave your side. Protect it well!"
The young man looked at the completely black Sword Coffin in front of him, adorned with countless mysterious patterns, with great curiosity. He knew about sword scabbards, but what was a Sword Coffin? This thing was over four feet tall, taller than he was now. And the old man hadn't told him anything about this Sword Coffin, only instructed him to carry it.
Li Guanqi tried carrying it on his back. The thing weighed exactly five hundred jin, not an ounce more or less! The young man's eyes reddened. Only then did he understand his grandfather's painstaking efforts… It was all for this! And from this day forward, the Human-Spirit Realm gained a swordsman bearing a Sword Coffin.
The Next Morning.
Li Guanqi looked at the dishes on the table, speechless for a long time.
"Grandpa… can't you really make one hot dish out of these six?"
That's right, the table was entirely covered with cold dishes. But the old man merely smiled faintly, waved his hand, and two exquisitely crafted jade wine cups appeared on the table.
Li Guanqi's heart trembled. He chuckled and said, "Grandpa, are you letting me drink?"
Su Xuan smiled faintly and said softly: "You will descend the mountain tomorrow. How can you not drink?"
The young man grinned, picked up the wine glass, and gulped it down, immediately making him scramble for water as it burned. The mellow, strong wine flowed down his throat like a line of fire.
Su Xuan, seeing this, couldn't help but burst into laughter, quickly saying: "You brat, slow down. Who drinks like that?"
"You're making good wine taste like something from the pugilistic world."
"Cough cough… cough… I didn't expect this stuff to be so spicy!"
After a while, the young man finally recovered. He quickly picked up two dishes and asked, "Grandpa, what do I do after I go down the mountain?"
Su Xuan tapped the young man's head with his chopsticks and chuckled softly.
"You, brat, are now at the peak of Body Tempering."
"The next step is to draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to reach the Qi Refinement realm."
"At that time, combined with your mind-eye, you will be no different from having normal eyes."
The young man's pale eyes darted around, and a longing smile appeared on his lips. The old man continued: "You are already fourteen years old, the age for joining a sect. It's time to descend the mountain."
When Li Guanqi was very young, he immensely yearned to one day be able to cultivate. To become an immortal who could ascend to heaven and descend to earth, flying on a sword. But these eight years with Su Xuan had also been very happy. He just hadn't expected their separation to come so quickly.
The young man picked up a dish and whispered, "There are countless sects in the world. Not to mention the entire Great Xia Domain, even this Qingyun Continent is home to countless powerful sects."
"Then which sect should I join?"
He had thought the old man would ponder for a long time, but to his surprise, the old man blurted out.
"Great Xia Sword Sect!"
The young man frowned slightly. Having stayed by Su Xuan's side for so many years, he had heard quite a few secrets about this land. But he had never heard of the Great Xia Sword Sect on the Qingyun Continent.
Su Xuan saw the young man's confusion and softly said: "Don't think about it. It's not a major power, but it is a sect with an extremely righteous style!"
Subsequently, the old and young sat in the courtyard, chatting casually, while drinking wine. However, the young man's alcohol tolerance was too poor, and he got drunk after only two cups. He even mumbled: "What's so good about this stuff?"
The old man looked at the drunk young man with a smile and chuckled softly: "Whether wine is good or not, you'll know in the future, young lad~"
The old man took off his robe and covered him with it. With a wave of his hand, the old man shot three streaks of spiritual light into the dark Sword Coffin. He looked deeply at the Sword Coffin. Then, he took a step, shrinking the ground to an inch, traversing thousands of zhang, and departed into the air.
The young man, waking up in a daze, found that the old man was gone, but he wasn't too surprised. Looking at the map Su Xuan left on the table, tears immediately welled up. The young man picked up the map and said bitterly: "Grandpa... why didn't you leave me some travel money!!!"
Helpless, the young man could only take all the edible items from home with him. He carried a gigantic stone Sword Coffin on his back and a large package on his front.
Creak~
The young man carefully closed the large door, remained silent for a long time, then finally stood up and walked down the mountain.
Li Guanqi had intended to visit the little girl from Aunt Li's house, but he found the Meng family's gate tightly shut, so he didn't knock. Li Guanqi scratched his head, muttering, "Good heavens, it took three months."
Along the way, as the young man passed through cities and villages, he also heard many rumors about the Great Xia Sword Sect. The general gist was how good the Great Xia Sword Sect was, how well it managed the area for a thousand li around, with hardly any disasters.
"It seems the Great Xia Sword Sect is indeed as Grandpa said, a sect with an extremely righteous style."
Three days later, Li Guanqi appeared at the foot of the Great Xia Sword Sect mountain. The bustling crowd was filled with endless complaints. Because what stood before them was the Great Xia Sword Sect's heavenly ladder, known as the 'Path of Dustlessness'! This ladder had three thousand three hundred thirty-three steps.
And the Great Xia Sword Sect's steward stood at the foot of the ladder with a sign. It clearly read: "Those who wish to join the sect must walk the heavenly ladder themselves. No external aids are permitted!"
Watching the incredibly noisy crowd, Li Guanqi moved like a fish through water, a smile on his lips, and directly stepped onto the heavenly ladder. This scene was witnessed by many.
A young man dressed in luxurious robes frowned: "Who is that guy? Carrying such a large coffin and still moving so fast!"
"This guy has a strong physique!"
Of course, some also thought Li Guanqi was grandstanding and would eventually run out of steam. But even so, it stirred up the competitive spirit of many! However… in just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Li Guanqi had left all these people behind.
Li Guanqi didn't know that he had officially begun the Great Xia Sword Sect's entrance examination. He was merely filled with yearning and expectation for this sect that his grandfather had praised so highly.
The moment Li Guanqi stepped onto the first step, he immediately attracted many gazes. The young man carrying a massive stone coffin on his back showed no signs of struggle. The black cloth covering the young man's eyes made everyone turn their heads.
The previously silent steward suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the figure on the steps. In his estimation, the stone coffin on the young man's back weighed at least two hundred jin, but the young man's breathing was perfectly even from beginning to end, showing no sign of effort.
The steward's eyes instantly gleamed, and he muttered.
"Such a physique… capable of rivaling the peak of Body Tempering!"
Whoosh!
A faint whoosh sounded by the young man's ear. Li Guanqi frowned, and his feet suddenly exerted force, making his body instantly shift a foot horizontally.
"Eh?"
Li Guanqi stood on the steps, bowed towards the steward, and asked: "Uh... what was that, Senior?"
The steward's smile widened even further as he watched the young man's swift movements. "Little fellow, don't be afraid. That was just a time-measuring talisman."
Li Guanqi scratched his head a bit awkwardly. It was indeed a time-measuring talisman. The steward circled his finger, and the yellow talisman circled Li Guanqi once before sticking to his chest.
The steward said with a smile: "Go on, hurry. The earlier you go up, the better."
Li Guanqi's lips curved slightly. He quickly cupped his hands in greeting and replied. "Thank you, Steward. This junior will go on ahead."
The steward opened his mouth, about to say something, but saw the young man take a deep breath, and with a burst of power from his feet, he shot upwards like a leopard!
"Hiss… this physique! I was still thinking of having him take off the thing on his back."
Along the way, figures continuously flashed past Li Guanqi, left behind him. Li Guanqi looked down at the gradually dissipating talisman on his chest, estimating the time until it disappeared.
"Two hours…"
"This endless heavenly ladder must have at least several thousand steps. It's no simple task."
He looked back at the foot of the mountain and couldn't help but sigh. "There are so many people…" Roughly estimating, there were at least thirty to forty thousand people at the foot of the Great Xia Sword Sect mountain. Among them, nearly ten thousand were boys and girls aged twelve to fourteen. The rest were family members, servants, and the like.
"It seems joining a sect isn't as simple as I imagined…"
"I heard that last year, over eighteen thousand people sought to join the Great Xia Sword Sect, but in the end, only about a hundred were accepted as disciples."
However, just as Li Guanqi was rushing upwards and daydreaming, a thin figure of a young man appeared beside him, keeping pace.