Proofreader & Editor: Lotas
An hour later.
After Li Guanqi had mastered the circulation of his technique, Li Nanting silently exited the Meditation Room.
The hardest part was over; the rest did not require his worry.
Once Li Nanting left, Li Guanqi, who had been cultivating, instantly opened his eyes.
He then turned to look at the Sword box at his feet.
Li Guanqi stood the Sword box upright, examining it closely with his eyes.
All the engraved mythical beasts were ones he had never seen before.
He had not even heard of them.
He had asked Li Nanting if he recognized these beasts from the carvings.
But Li Nanting had clearly told him that these beasts did not exist; they were figments of imagination.
Apart from the four divine creatures, almost none of the beasts could be found in the Sect's Myriad Beasts Compendium.
Li Guanqi knelt before the Sword box and kowtowed after a long silence.
However, after waiting for a long time with no response, the puzzled youth got up and said, "Is it not supposed to be like this?"
"Didn't the old Chronicles of Mountains and Rivers say that such objects usually contain an old man or something?"
Scratching his head, Li Guanqi suddenly felt frustrated.
He had previously noticed that this Sword box seemed quite extraordinary.
During the selection of his Spirit Root, within the Barrier set by Lu Kangnian, no one knew what had happened.
But he clearly knew why he had chosen a Thunder-type Spirit Root.
At that moment, he had felt a mysterious sensation, which led him to choose the Thunder-type Spirit Root.
Even before, in the library, he could have chosen another technique.
But it was still this Sword box that had shown a slight reaction, leading him to choose the incomplete technique he now practiced.
After a long silence, Li Guanqi suddenly remembered something and bit his finger, dripping the blood onto the Sword box.
Yet the Sword box remained unchanged, showing no reaction.
"Could it be that blood recognition is not required?"
"That can't be right…"
"I've heard that some magical treasures require blood to recognize their master…"
Suddenly, a look of realization dawned on the youth's face.
"It must be that the blood I dripped wasn't enough!"
Immediately, Li Guanqi cut his wrist, letting blood flow like a stream onto the Sword box.
After an unknown amount of time, when Li Nanting entered the Meditation Room to check on Li Guanqi's cultivation progress, he was met with a shocking scene.
The youth lay on the ground, pale and unconscious, with dried blood at his wrist and the Sword box covered in blood.
Li Nanting's face changed dramatically, panic flashing in his eyes as he hurried to the youth's side to check on him.
He kept muttering, "What happened!! Why would you think of suicide by wrist-cutting!!"
"Oh my, my foolish disciple, what trouble have you encountered?"
"My goodness… how much blood is this."
Li Nanting quickly stopped the bleeding and took out a red jade bottle from his storage ring, pouring out a red pill and breaking it in half for the youth to swallow.
He passed a thread of spiritual energy to dissolve the pill.
The next morning, Li Guanqi woke up groggily, his mind still foggy.
As soon as he got up, he saw the gentle-faced Old Man sitting by his bed.
Li Nanting rubbed his cheek to appear even more amiable.
Seeing the youth awake, he quickly handed over a cup of water and said softly with a smile, "Here, drink some water first."
Li Guanqi took the cup with a surprised gratitude and carefully took a sip.
Then, somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Um… Master, why are you here?"
After thinking for a moment, Li Nanting sat down on a stool by the bed and said, "Guanqi, although I'm only at the Golden Elixir Realm, if you encounter any trouble, you must tell me!"
"Setting aside everything else, within the Great Xia Sword Sect, apart from the Sect Master, if you suffer any grievances, your master can seek justice for you!"
"So, you must not be rash."
"Your path of cultivation is so bright; why would you think of seeking death?"
"Come, tell me what's the matter?"
Li Guanqi listened to the Old Man's gentle words, feeling warmth in his heart.
But now, he was too embarrassed to say why…
Should he tell his master that he suspected the Sword box was extraordinary, tried blood recognition, and then fainted from blood loss?
Li Nanting, seeing the youth's troubled expression, thought he might be from a powerful background.
Instantly, anger flared within him.
Boom!
The Old Man abruptly stood up from the stool, his face stern as he commanded, "Speak! It doesn't matter!"
"I want to see who dares to bully a disciple of Li Nanting!"
Moments later.
When the Old Man walked out the door, his eyes closed, he couldn't help but feel both amused and exasperated…
Seeing the Old Man's anger, Li Guanqi eventually told the truth, albeit reluctantly.
In the following days, Li Guanqi's courtyard gained a freeloading little Girl.
Yu Sui'an, with two broken ribs, couldn't help but run down from the mountain to mock him after learning why Li Guanqi had fainted.
"Hahaha, Blind is even dumber than me!"
"Such a fool, fainting from blood loss, how embarrassing~"
Li Guanqi ignored the little Girl's words, continuing his usual punching practice.
This was already the third wooden stake he had replaced.
Later, Li Guanqi visited the library again, casually selecting a set of sword techniques.
The technique was named the Green Lotus Heavenly Gang Sword Technique.
The fine iron sword in his hand was also provided by Li Nanting from the Armory Hall.
It was the standard issue for all Sect disciples.
Although the Great Xia Sword Sect was a Sword Sect with most disciples practicing the sword, not everyone was suited for it.
Many chose to practice other weapons.
Over the past few days, Li Guanqi had completely stabilized his Qi Refining first level Realm.
The speed of growth of the Qi vortex within him was incredibly fast. Li Nanting had checked on him several times and, finding that he wasn't bleeding onto the Sword box anymore, was reassured.
During these days, Li Guanqi hardly left his courtyard, practicing his sword daily.
However, he wasn't practicing the Green Lotus Heavenly Gang Sword, but rather repeatedly practicing the basic moves of the long sword.
Thus, Li Guanqi had been in the Sect for a month.
And in this month, his speed of breaking through realms was unprecedented in the history of the Great Xia Sword Sect!
In just one month, he had broken through from the Qi Refining first level to the Qi Refining fifth level!
Such speed was unheard of before and likely unmatched in the future.
Yet, it wasn't just Li Guanqi who shone; Ye Feng of Heavenly Gold Peak had also recently broken through to the Qi Refining fourth level.
Lin Dong of Earth Peak had reached the Qi Refining third level and would soon break through to the fourth level.
But Li Guanqi alone remained a head above these two.
This Blind youth was also called Senior Brother by all his peers.
He was the undisputed number one among them!
Every time he went to the dining hall, everyone would make way for him.
Wherever he went, he was treated like a star, with everyone being courteous to him.
However…