Avoiding a fight out of fear?
Liu Ziyi refused to agree, and neither would the Xiliu sword at his waist.
Thus, full of spirit and high spirits, he hurried straight toward the mountain gate.
Of course, it was definitely not because this allowed him to escape morning cultivation!
By the time Liu Ziyi arrived at the mountain gate, the Xiliu sword was still vibrating and ringing softly, as if it had long since been prepared to face its upcoming opponent: the Blood-Wave Saber.
Standing not far from the mountain gate at this moment, one could see a cultivator dressed in black and red form-fitting attire with a long saber strapped across his back.
He was sitting inside the dwarf pavilion exclusively reserved for on-duty disciples near the entrance, drinking tea alongside the disciples who were on duty at the mountain gate that day.
Such popularity was naturally to be expected. As a genius of the Zhongzhou Zhen Dao Sect, he was immensely famous throughout Luozhou as well, especially after his prolonged battle and eventual defeat against Liu Ziyi during the martial arts tournament, which made his name even more resounding across the region.
Liu Ziyi stepped forward.
The sword hum emitted by Xiliu interrupted the chatting of the group.
The saber cultivator, who had his back turned toward them, turned his head. Beneath his shoulder-length loose black hair was a pair of hawk-like dark eyes, while his other eye was tightly bound and covered by a white bandage.
Upon seeing the newcomer, a trace of an annoying, half-mocking smile appeared at the corners of his lips.
He was the saber madman, the saber-obsessed genius Qiu Zaiqi.
However, everyone else seemed to be staring fixedly at the ringing Xiliu sword at his waist.
Liu Ziyi gently patted Xiliu to soothe its emotions, raised his eyes to exchange a fleeting glance with Qiu Zaiqi, and then turned his gaze toward the junior disciples sitting inside.
He curved his eyes, which shone like a sky full of stars, and smiled with his deep dimples showing. “Thank you for entertaining our guest, Junior Brothers and Sisters.”
“Senior Brother Liu, Daoist Qiu came all this way specifically to look for you, you know. Speaking of which, are you really not going to participate in the grand tournament?”
“Sigh, I’ve run into some trouble with my cultivation lately. I need to properly meditate and comprehend things up on the cliff, and since our Eldest Senior Brother just happened to come back, I’m going to have him give me some pointers early on.”
Liu Ziyi casually brushed off the curious junior disciples with a vague reply, though his teasing tone made it quite difficult for anyone to take him seriously.
“Ah, that’s right, Eldest Senior Brother is back!”
After exchanging a few more idle words until Qiu Zaiqi irritably tapped his fingers against the stone table, Liu Ziyi cheerfully bade farewell to the junior disciples and turned his attention back to Qiu Zaiqi.
Seeing the other man’s displeased expression, Liu Ziyi felt exceptionally cheerful instead. What I like to do is leave a dream-disturbing fellow like you hanging.
“What a coincidence, did you just come straight from Zhongzhou?”
“Coincidence? If I hadn’t written a letter to challenge you, I’m afraid certain people would have kept acting like cowards hiding their heads in their shells.”
Qiu Zaiqi pulled no punches with his words, his sharp gaze sweeping across Liu Ziyi’s smiling face. “I can see that your condition is excellent, nothing like someone troubled by cultivation matters at all. Why aren’t you participating in the tournament?”
Acid reflux. There was no one quite like him when it came to publicly tearing down someone else’s facade on the spot.
Liu Ziyi swallowed the words at the tip of his tongue with a mix of hesitation and speechlessness, glanced at the two junior disciples who were watching with curious eyes over there, and promptly waved his hand to signal Qiu Zaiqi to follow him to a quiet place to talk.
“I’m just a humble Golden Core cultivator; even if I hit a bottleneck, it’s hardly a world-ending matter, and it’s not something you could easily tell at a glance anyway. If you want to chat, let’s head up and talk.”
With that, he smiled at the junior disciples nearby. “We won’t bother you two with your guard duty anymore.”
Being dismissed so casually by Liu Ziyi made Qiu Zaiqi intensely irritated. A very soft tsk escaped his lips, but he still honestly stood up and followed behind Liu Ziyi.
Before leaving, he naturally offered a polite bow of farewell to the two junior disciples as well.
This sight made Liu Ziyi’s anger flare up. Does this guy only reserve his arrogant attitude to push around me alone?
Even as Liu Ziyi led Qiu Zaiqi away in quick strides, he could still faintly hear the voices of the junior disciples discussing them from the distant pavilion, laced with a trace of envy:
“Look at our Senior Brother Liu. Even though he’s always so leisurely every single day, he was still able to defeat Daoist Qiu and shine brilliantly at the tournament. It really fills one with admiration.”
You guys can stop adding fuel to the fire.
Liu Ziyi felt his head ache fiercely, thinking that these little Qi Condensation brats truly had no idea how acute a cultivator’s five senses could be.
If even he could hear them clearly, let alone Qiu Zaiqi trailing right behind him.
“Liu Ziyi.”
Qiu Zaiqi addressed him by his full name, his unceremonious voice instantly pulling Liu Ziyi’s thoughts back to reality.
Only then did Liu Ziyi turn his head to look at him, but before he could say anything, Qiu Zaiqi turned his body sideways toward the mountain gate on his own accord, twisting his head to voice his observations:
“We are far enough from the mountain gate now. They can’t see us.”
“Huh?”
Liu Ziyi hadn’t reacted to what Qiu Zaiqi was implying.
The moment that question of doubt left his mouth, his body reacted faster than his brain, sidestepping abruptly. The Xiliu sword at his waist instantly unearned its scabbard, blocking a fierce wave of saber wind coming from behind him.
With a crisp metallic clang, sword and saber collided and crossed paths. Qiu Zaiqi, who had suddenly launched an offensive, didn’t waste any words. His brows tightened as he stripped away the meager smile he usually wore, pressing down on the saber with both hands to exert even more strength, causing a harsh, grating screech of friction between the blade and the edge.
Unstable ripples emanated from around the two of them.
“Qiu Zaiqi!”
Liu Ziyi called out with displeasure. Fighting casually within the boundaries of the Fujian Sect counted as a violation of the rules, and he certainly didn’t want one wave of trouble to settle only for another to rise, so he lowered his voice: “If you want to fight, go to the sparring arena to fight.”
Qiu Zaiqi let out a soft snort from his nasal cavity behind the blade, but abruptly withdrew his force. Just when Liu Ziyi thought he was going to continue his attack, the saber fanatic instead slid his weapon back into the scabbard on his back.
“Truly a madman.”
Liu Ziyi muttered under his breath, rubbing his wrist which had gone slightly numb from the impact of the Blood-Wave Saber.
Qiu Zaiqi didn’t seem to care what Liu Ziyi called him at all. He simply stared intently at Liu Ziyi’s face, articulating the conclusion he had just discovered:
“Your condition is optimal. Your spiritual energy, physical stamina, and reaction speed have all improved, and even faster than I imagined. Why aren’t you participating in the tournament?”
Liu Ziyi gained a brand-new appreciation for just how shameless this person could be. If he hadn’t blocked that strike just now, Qiu Zaiqi would have split him into two halves on the spot.
His master agreed, his senior brother agreed, and the Fujian Sect disciples had no objections either. What business did an outsider have being angry about it?
“What does this matter have to do with you?”
Liu Ziyi tossed his head away indifferently and raised his voice. “Our Fujian Sect tournament has always been about voluntary participation and personal competition. I was willing to participate three years ago, but I’m not willing this year. Is that any of your business?”
He had spoken with the intention of ticking the guy off, but Qiu Zaiqi’s expression didn’t change in the slightest as he stepped closer across the snow. “If you don’t participate, this tournament has no meaning. The person who ends up as my opponent at the end—I wouldn’t even deign to fight them.”
What an arrogant, conceited fellow.
Liu Ziyi silently graded him in his mind, then waved his hand to casually push away Qiu Zaiqi, who had gotten too close for comfort. “You’re going overboard with that remark. Our Fujian Sect is full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons; how could we lack opponents?
Besides, my junior brother Qin Xiaoyi is no slouch either. As the dignified pride of the heavens from Leizhou, he’s guaranteed to open your eyes.”
“No.”
The suddenly approaching voice made Liu Ziyi’s words hitch. He turned his head to look at Qiu Zaiqi, only to see the other persist stubbornly: “The only opponent I recognize is you alone. Do you have any idea what I think about day and night while wielding my saber and sitting in meditation over this past year?”
Liu Ziyi: If you’re going to talk, talk properly! Why are you leaning in so close to me?!
These cultivation madmen truly had zero concept of personal space!
“It’s you. It was that single move of your Xiliu Star-Bucket Sword.”
Qiu Zaiqi spoke without a pause. Before he knew it, the distance between the two of them had broken normal intervals, bringing them close enough that the tips of their boots were practically touching.
“That truly was a flawless sword strike. I set off from Zhongzhou a month ago specifically for the purpose of breaking that sword technique of yours that made waves across Zhongzhou!”
Seeing that stubborn hawk-like eye gradually reveal reminiscence and a sort of infatuation amidst his accusations, Liu Ziyi broke out in goosebumps. His feet finally found their sensation again as he retreated a few steps, avoiding him as if dodging an evil ghost. “Hold it right there!”
Qiu Zaiqi snapped out of it and looked over.
“We were just sparring, sparring! Do you understand what sparring means, Qiu Zaiqi?
Sparring means there are winners and losers. If I hadn’t lucked out, the one winning back then might have been you.
Besides, the cultivation world is so vast; you’ll encounter stronger opponents and true enemies in the future. There’s no need to fixate on—”
Unfortunately, before he could finish, the distance he had just managed to open up was closed again in a single stride as Qiu Zaiqi violently grabbed him by the lapels.
“Do you have any idea how far you could have gone down this path?” Qiu Zaiqi interrupted him, demanding an answer.
“With your talent, the sect and venerables backing you up, and even Shen Zhuoqing, you have more than enough to leave eighty percent of the cultivators in this world in the dust.”
“And yet you want to act like a piece of trash, living in fear, retreating, and playing around every single day?”
He was genuinely angry this time.
Liu Ziyi couldn’t smile anymore as he looked at the other’s gritting teeth. His usually smiling eyes grew cold as well.
He didn’t quite understand Qiu Zaiqi’s indignation, nor did he know how to respond.
Debating with a cultivation madman whose worldview was entirely different from his own was simply too draining. Yet at least some of the things Qiu Zaiqi said were true: talent, backing—he truly enjoyed these luxuries that others spent their whole lives praying for.
So what if he did? Why should he be subjected to this kind of finger-pointing?
He was just as stubborn and biased as his stubborn Senior Brother Shen Zhuoqing.
Seeing that Liu Ziyi remained silent, Qiu Zaiqi gritted his teeth and finally let go of him, though the anger clearly hadn’t faded. “If you don’t care about cultivation at all, why did you ever enter the Fujian Sect and take the White-Haired Sword Venerable Shen Qing as your master?”
The tone sounded as if he were saying: Since you’re wasting such heavenly gifts, you shouldn’t have even been born.
…Why? He hadn’t had a choice in the matter.
Liu Ziyi lowered his eyes, suppressing the emotions surging within him. When he looked up again, he had already returned to normal.
With his crescent-moon smiling eyes and deep dimples warming up the atmosphere enough to make the other’s mind waver slightly, he said with a feigned casualness:
“What else could it be for? Just to keep living, eating, drinking, and having a good time, obviously. Do you have any idea how huge the gap in food, clothing, and accommodations is between a handyman disciple and an inner sect disciple?”
“Following Master—naturally means eating the very best.”
Qiu Zaiqi tried to find any trace of joking in Liu Ziyi’s expression, but failed. The youth before him, who was wasting such god-given talent, genuinely seemed to have zero ambitions.
Qiu Zaiqi tightened his grip on his saber hilt once more.
“…”
“I won’t allow it.”
Qiu Zaiqi looked at Liu Ziyi’s expression of utter bewilderment and continued: “I won’t allow you to genuinely become a useless piece of trash…”
“Liu Ziyi, if one day you really turn into someone weaker than me, I will kill you with my own hands.” He muttered hoarsely, like a threat.
Liu Ziyi massaged his brow, feeling the veins on his forehead throbbing wildly.
There was no reasoning with a madman; he gave up.
“However, before that happens… I’ll have a match with that junior brother of yours, Qin Xiaoyi.”
Qiu Zaiqi stated, “Since he has your acknowledgment, I suppose he won’t disappoint me too much.”
He figured it out on his own?
Qiu Zaiqi looked back at him. “But if he fails to step up to me, or if he loses to me… you will still be my only opponent.”
Liu Ziyi arched an eyebrow, automatically filtering out the second half of that sentence.
As long as he figured it out, that was fine. Then he should seize the opportunity to change the subject right now!
With a twitch of his brows and eyes, Liu Ziyi’s gaze landed on Qiu Zaiqi, instantly hatching a brilliant idea.
“Alright, Daoist Qiu, since you’ve figured things out, that’s great.
How about I take you to meet my junior brother right now? We can casually kidnap him along to accompany me for a meal.”
Hmph hmph, if I say it’s a guest requesting an audience, Third Uncle-Master won’t be able to easily turn us down, and this happens to solve a headache for Xiliu too.
Thinking this, Liu Ziyi took a long stride and led Qiu Zaiqi in the direction of Youning Peak.
Behind him, a bewildered Qiu Zaiqi followed belatedly: “…Kidnap?”
“Ah, what I mean is, you’re invited!”