Eight days had passed by the time they arrived at the Purple Sun Hall.
During these eight days, Li Guanqi had barely found any time to cultivate.
Almost every day, Yu Sui'an dragged him around to explore here and there.
Occasionally, when Li Nanting didn't slow down the cloud boat, the little girl would even ask Li Guanqi to take her on a sword flight.
Although Li Guanqi indulged her, he wouldn't agree to everything and simply told her it was dangerous.
He urged her to diligently cultivate and strive to reach Foundation Establishment soon.
But as soon as Yu Sui'an heard the word "cultivate," she would hastily cover her ears and run off to find Ye Feng.
Their group consisted of ten people, including three female disciples, all from Heavenly Water Peak.
These people all showed great respect to Li Guanqi, after all, his strength and talent were evident.
Buzz!
The cloud boat gradually slowed down and soon descended below the clouds.
Li Guanqi stood at the front of the cloud boat and beheld a massive Sect before him!
The entire layout of the Sect was symmetrical, resembling a kingdom at the foot of the mountains, splendid and majestic.
The whole Sect was built atop a towering mountain range, surrounded by clouds and mist with cranes calling out.
As soon as they entered the range of the Purple Sun Hall, Li Guanqi immediately felt the spiritual energy of heaven and earth become richer.
This noticeable change made Li Guanqi click his tongue in wonder; it seemed the Purple Sun Hall had quite a few spirit veins.
Soon, the cloud boat hovered a thousand feet away from the Purple Sun Hall.
A layer of blue barrier stopped the cloud boat.
Quickly, a streak of light flashed from within the Purple Sun Hall, and an old man in a dark purple robe flew towards them.
The old man had a resolute face, and despite his aged appearance, he bore a long scar.
Upon seeing the style of the cloud boat, the old man frowned and asked in a deep voice, "Is this the cloud boat of the Great Xia Sword Sect?"
Li Nanting stepped out of the cloud boat and greeted the old man with a fist and palm salute, "I am Elder Li Nanting from the Great Xia Sword Sect, here to bring disciples to test the Spirit ruin. Please open the barrier."
The old man smiled slightly upon hearing this and opened a gap of several dozen meters in the barrier with a wave of his hand.
Stepping onto the cloud boat, he said softly, "I am Song Ru, a devotee of the Purple Sun Hall, responsible for guiding you all. I didn't expect the Great Xia Sword Sect to be the earliest to arrive."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the cloud boat slowly entered the barrier of the Purple Sun Hall.
As soon as he entered, Li Guanqi sensed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to be several times purer than that within the Great Xia Sword Sect!
Looking down, there were several large training grounds, each with over a thousand disciples honing their physical bodies.
The thunderous sounds of their breaths echoed through the skies, and in the air, countless disciples in dark purple robes practiced sword flight.
Occasionally, streaks of light flashed by, the figures of Golden Elixir Realm cultivators.
But Li Guanqi noticed that these Golden Elixir cultivators were also dressed in the disciple robes of the Purple Sun Hall.
He was secretly amazed at the strength of the Purple Sun Hall's disciples!
No wonder the Purple Sun Hall was a top force on the Qingyun Continent.
Suddenly, Song Ru frequently glanced back at the old man beside him, asking uncertainly, "Elder Li, did you achieve the Elemental Infant Realm a hundred years ago?"
Li Nanting's expression remained unchanged as he replied softly, "Heh, that's all in the past. It's unlikely I'll reach the Elemental Infant again in this lifetime."
Song Ru was slightly taken aback and thought to himself, "Indeed, he is the Golden Elixir swordsman of the Great Xia Sword Sect known for an eight-hundred-year lifespan!"
Song Ru's attitude softened considerably, and after docking the cloud boat, he arranged accommodations for everyone before saying softly, "Please forgive us, but you'll have to wait two more days for people from other Sects."
"In these two days, you are free to roam the hall, but please be mindful that some areas may be off-limits, so do not wander recklessly."
Li Nanting smiled and returned the gesture, "Then we'll trouble you for these two days."
The disciples were eager to return to their rooms to rest; after ten days on the cloud boat, neither food nor sleep had been satisfactory.
Li Nanting said sternly, "Those who want to rest may do so, but remember this."
"This is someone else's place, so temper your attitudes and avoid conflicts."
Everyone nodded and hurried back to their rooms to rest.
Li Guanqi, having been cultivating for many days, had now completely stabilized his realm at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
Even with the aid of Nourishing Primordial Pills, he knew that breaking through to the middle stage was not something that could be achieved quickly, especially since the Sword Spirit had been absorbing his Primordial Energy these past few days.
Fortunately, he had opened thirty-six acupoints during his Foundation Establishment, which greatly increased the speed at which he absorbed spiritual energy during cultivation.
Even if the Sword Spirit absorbed half of his primordial energy, his cultivation speed remained fast.
However, after cultivating for a while, Li Guanqi suddenly felt something was amiss.
"What am I forgetting…"
Opening his eyes, Li Guanqi pondered for a moment before exclaiming, "Where's Yu Sui'an?!"
He hurried to Ye Feng's room and, seeing him sound asleep, looked around but did not find Yu Sui'an.
After waking Ye Feng, Li Guanqi asked anxiously, "Where's Yu Sui'an?"
Ye Feng, still groggy, jolted awake and said, "Didn't she go to find you? Isn't she with you?"
Li Guanqi's expression darkened as he spoke quickly, "No, the little girl has run off somewhere. I need to find her."
Ye Feng got dressed and said, "Don't worry, the little girl is clever; she won't get into trouble."
Li Guanqi replied gravely, "That little girl is impulsive; I just hope she doesn't cause any trouble, especially since this isn't the Great Xia Sword Sect."
Once Ye Feng was dressed, they both left to search.
Li Nanting was discussing the opening of the Spirit ruin with the Elders of the Purple Sun Hall and was unaware of the situation.
The two split up, moving swiftly through the various halls.
The disciples of the Purple Sun Hall looked at them with arrogance in their eyes upon seeing the Great Xia Sword Sect's robes.
Suddenly, Li Guanqi heard a sharp voice.
"Sorry? You think it's over just by saying sorry?"
"Where did this wild girl come from?!"
"Do you know how precious the robe I'm wearing is?!"
Li Guanqi followed the sound and saw a young man in a green robe, grabbing Yu Sui'an's hand and cursing loudly.
The young man was thin, with high cheekbones and narrow, slightly sinister eyes.
The green robe he wore shimmered slightly, but there was a noticeable grease stain on the hem.
Surrounding disciples mocked as well.
"Look at this wild girl in her flowery jacket, who knows where she's from, she might even be a bastard, hahaha."
"Such a poor look, who knows where she's from, to actually bump into Brother Pang Li."
"Heh, in my opinion, just beat her half to death and throw her to the outer hall to do menial work."
"Brother Pang Li's robe was personally bestowed by Elder Li, and now it's been dirtied as soon as he put it on, no wonder he's so angry."
Yu Sui'an's eyes reddened as she pouted and kept repeating, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."
The young man raised his hand to slap her, cursing, "Crying! You still have the face to cry!"
Smack!
Thud!
Just as his hand was about to fall, Pang Li suddenly felt his wrist violently grasped!
Pang Li turned to see Li Guanqi in a white robe, his eyes narrowing.
He sneered, "And who might you be?"
Li Guanqi turned to see Yu Sui'an's wrist red from the pinch and spoke softly, "Li Guanqi from the Great Xia Sword Sect."
After saying this, Li Guanqi, to the shock of the Purple Sun Hall disciples, pulled out nearly a hundred low-grade Spirit Stones and poured them onto the ground.
"Rumble… Since when did disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect become so wealthy?"
"A hundred Spirit Stones just like that? Could he be a core disciple of the Great Xia Sword Sect?"
Pang Li's gaze turned icy as he watched, then glanced at his grasped wrist, remaining silent.
After doing this, Li Guanqi's gaze gradually turned cold.
"These Spirit Stones should cover the cleaning of your robe."
Pang Li's face showed a stormy expression upon hearing this.
"Is that it? You think with just these stones…"
Bang!
Before he could finish, Li Guanqi's foot slammed into Pang Li's stomach!
The forceful kick sent Pang Li flying like a rag doll for several feet, and that was with Li Guanqi holding back.
Li Guanqi gently rubbed and blew on Yu Sui'an's arm, comforting her.
"It's alright, Blind is here."
Tears swirled in Yu Sui'an's eyes as she nodded, her lips pursed.
Li Guanqi stood up, his voice cold and deliberate.
"We're even for the robe."
"Now, for the matter of you bullying my sister."
Li Guanqi, holding Yu Sui'an's hand, stepped over to Pang Li, looking down at him with a chilling voice.
"A life-and-death battle, do you accept?"
Proofreader & Editor: Lotas