Fortunately, the very next window belonged to people from the Fengling Sect. After the storyteller knocked, perhaps because the sect members were well-traveled and unfazed, they let him in.
Shortly after, someone poked their head out. Instantly, Beisi grabbed Chi Qiqi’s hand and pulled him behind a tree an action that was almost instinctive.
After scanning the surroundings and seeing nothing suspicious, the person carefully closed the window with a cautious demeanor.
Chi Qiqi fell into deep thought.
The midday sun was fiercely hot, so the two waited beneath the shade of the tree.
After waiting for a few breaths, the room remained entirely still, and the inn showed no signs of any commotion.
“Did he run into trouble?” Chi Qiqi had never harbored much affection for the righteous path; if they hadn’t emerged by now, it surely meant bad news.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the window of that room was pierced clean through by a sword tip stained with crimson blood.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Beisi tapped his foot against the ground and reached the window in a flash. With a single palm strike, he shattered the fragile wooden lattice. A fierce gust of wind swept into the room, causing the five or six occupants inside to instinctively raise their swords in defense.
The storyteller looked particularly conspicuous lying on the floor, his right shoulder pierced by a deep, bleeding gash. When his lifeless gaze met Beisi’s, a strange radiance burst forth from his dull eyes, as if he were looking at his savior.
Beisi averted his gaze, ignoring the storyteller, and instead looked at the woman holding those books. The fingertips of her right hand had already conjured a flame, the tip of which licked against the edge of the book, scorching black burn marks as the fire continued to devour it.
“Hurry, hurry! Save… the books!” The storyteller was frantic. If not for his wounds, he probably would have lunged forward to stop her.
The woman didn’t even glance at the storyteller. Seeing Chi Qiqi burst in, her expression remained unchanged. Instead of extinguishing the flame, she intended to intensify it, needing only a single serpent of fire to swallow up all the books completely, reducing every shred of evidence to ashes.
Destroying the evidence.
This speed made it abundantly clear that she intended to leave no room for discussion whatsoever.
Beisi wasted no politeness. His sword moved faster than her spell. When the people nearby tried to block his advance, they found themselves outpaced, suddenly tasting a mysterious, invisible punch to the stomach. Outwardly unharmed, every single organ inside them had been thoroughly battered.
The strength of this man was terrifyingly high!
Seeing that no one noticed, Chi Qiqi quietly relaxed his fingertips, keeping his deep achievements unnamed.
The sword flew straight through a gap in the crowd and stabbed toward the woman. Her pupils constricted in shock and disbelief, but with a swift reaction, she dipped slightly at the waist. The sword grazed her cheek by a hair’s breadth, and the flames on her right hand were extinguished at the same time.
The moment the sword flew out, Beisi flashed forward, following closely behind it. Unexpectedly, taking advantage of her dipping waist, the woman directly hoisted the fallen storyteller up, using him as a human shield to force Beisi to halt his hand before it could seize her vital spot.
“Care to chat?” This time, the woman offered room for negotiation, gesturing for them to sit down.
This wasn’t out of any reasonableness, but rather because she realized Beisi was a tough opponent; engaging in a head-on clash would not bring her any good results.
“Hand the books over to us.” Beisi cut straight to the point, grasping his returning sword.
“No.” The woman flatly refused, then cast a casual, disdainful glance at Chi Qiqi beside him. With the air of someone bestowing a favor, she said, “Seeing as he’s just an ordinary mortal with not an ounce of foundation in cultivation at his age, dreaming of entering a sect is pure delusion. However… I can make an exception and let him join the Fengling Sect.”
Despite these words disregarding the sect’s rules, no one present raised any objections, acting as though such an exception were entirely commonplace.
Beisi let out a chuckle, though his eyes remained devoid of warmth.
The storyteller was being hoisted by the back of his collar. Being of a small, child-like stature, he could not break free from her restraint. Hearing Beisi’s chuckle, he felt that a major catastrophe was unfolding.
Of all things to say, why would you insult someone’s dao companion right to their face? I’m dead meat. Am I going to be dragged out to take the blame?
The storyteller struggled desperately.
“Move again, and I’ll kill you right now,” the woman coldly warned the person in her grip. The storyteller instantly froze in terror, able only to blink frantically and shoot secret glances at Chi Qiqi, signaling him to hurry and intervene.
Chi Qiqi caught the storyteller’s obvious little antics with a single glance, yet he chose not to look at him, gazing instead at the woman with a look of intrigued fascination. Wondering what had crossed his mind, he let out an inexplicable, soft chuckle.
Even a fool could tell that this woman was clearly looking down on him. While anger might be expected, what did that smile mean? Furthermore, given Chi Qiqi’s intelligence, how could he possibly fail to see it? The storyteller silently sighed that things were looking rather ominous.
“As the eldest daughter of the Fengling Sect?” Beisi stroked the sword in his hand.
Yu Fengyao’s beautiful eyes tightened slightly before smoothing out again. She threatened, “Since you know, get out of here right now, and I’ll spare the three of you.”
Her failure to deny her identity caused the storyteller’s eyes to widen in shock. He had originally thought she was just an ordinary disciple, never expecting her to be Sect Leader Yu’s most cherished daughter. No wonder she was so arrogant! That said, how could a rogue cultivator possibly recognize Yu Fengyao, who rarely shows her face?
“Just an empty threat?” Beisi’s tone remained utterly calm, as if this were nothing out of the ordinary. Instead, he countered, “Apologize to my dao companion, and I’ll spare all six of you.”
Crack!
Yu Fengyao furiously slammed her hand onto the table, shattering it instantly into fine powder that filled the room. Infuriated, she snapped, “You don’t know what’s good for you!”
Beisi casually flicked his sleeve, blocking the dust from reaching Chi Qiqi. Unhurriedly, he remarked, “Since Elder Sister Yu can’t afford to lose face, don’t take it out on the table.”
Chi Qiqi’s eyelashes fluttered restlessly, his eyes exceptionally bright. His heart and soul seemed capable of holding only Beisi alone.
How could Yu Fengyao ever tolerate someone treating her words with such contempt? With no room left for negotiation, she angrily drew her sword and lunged forward regardless of the consequences.
Being the sect leader’s daughter, not only was she never short of miraculous elixirs, but she had also studied top-tier cultivation techniques, placing her far ahead of her peers.
Yet, the person she was facing today was not an ordinary rogue cultivator, but the future sect leader of the world’s number one sect—the favored son of heaven, Beixuan Shang. Defeating her would be child’s play.
Seeing Yu Fengyao attack with all her might, Chi Qiqi knew that given Beisi’s current strength, he certainly couldn’t match her. Yet Beisi was standing up for him and seeking justice over a single dismissive remark from her—truly, he was the man he had set his eyes on.
Yu Fengyao’s sword aura was fierce and sharp; her soft sword whipped up a howling vortex resembling a miniature tornado. Everyone present knew she was getting serious and instinctively retreated several paces to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
The sword was less than a foot away from Beisi, while Chi Qiqi remained safely hidden behind him.
The storyteller had long since been tossed aside by Yu Fengyao. Having anticipated the outcome, he couldn’t bear to open his eyes and watch his allies get injured or killed right before him.
He tried to stand up to intervene, but two swords were pressed against the left and right sides of his neck, forming a triangle. The chilling blade edges rested directly against his skin, causing goosebumps to erupt all over his body, whether out of terror or anxiety for Beisi and the others.
Just when everyone assumed Beisi and his dao companion were undoubtedly doomed…
Yu Fengyao’s sword abruptly froze in mid-air, remaining suspended there without advancing even a fraction of an inch. Even the raging tornado she had summoned was forcefully interrupted and scattered. The residual shockwave nearly bent the knees of everyone standing around—one could only imagine that if that sword had actually landed, it would have pulverized a person’s bones to dust.
What on earth had blocked that sword?
There was nothing visible in the air. It was as though an invisible barrier hung in space, cutting off Yu Fengyao’s attack entirely.
The next second, Yu Fengyao’s sword went limp, hanging powerlessly downward. With a look of lingering terror, she stared at her own soft sword before shifting her gaze back to the two people before her.
What was the meaning of this situation?
Could it be that Beisi had concealed his true strength?
Nearly everyone present stopped breathing. Fortunately, they didn’t have to ponder for long before they quickly found out why.
As the sword went limp, the faint shape of a tiny humanoid figure began to materialize in the air, leaving even Yu Fengyao temporarily forgetting to launch a follow-up attack.
Slowly, the entity revealed its true appearance.
“A primordial soul!” the storyteller cried out in astonishment, his voice trembling with sheer disbelief.
The tiny figure was miniature in size, dressed to look like a scaled-down version of Chi Qiqi. Without needing to guess, anyone could tell this was Chi Qiqi’s primordial soul.
Little Qiqi’s two hands were held high above his head in a posture resembling a plea to be picked up. Yet based on the preceding scene, it was clear he had used this stance to catch Yu Fengyao’s ferocious soft sword achieving a barehanded catch of a blade.
For a moment, the air fell quiet. Instead, the primordial soul in question drifted and floated until it reached the front of Beisi, once again extending its two soft little hands and making a playful, blowing motion over its own palms as if soothing a boo-boo.
Following that, it stretched both hands out toward Beisi, shaking them slightly. Its round, glossy eyes held a trace of tears and a aggrieved expression. Any discerning person could tell that this meant it wanted Beisi to blow on them and make it better.
Seeing his own primordial soul acting pitifully in search of affection, Chi Qiqi felt a slight flutter in his chest. Suppressing the urge to recall the primordial soul back into his body, his eyes quickly filled with bewilderment and shock. Burying his face in Beisi’s shoulder and neck, he whispered, “Why did it come out again… I… I don’t know what’s going on…”
What a joke. This level of manipulation at most required practicing twice to master. The last time the primordial soul emerged and was subsequently retracted, it had allowed him to faintly grasp the trick to it. Just now, he had already figured out the mental process for summoning the primordial soul at will.
However, observing the suspicious and uncertain expressions of the onlookers, he realized his beloved had previously described primordial souls in terms so understated that his own judgment had become skewed. He had thought of it merely as some rare novelty, but the reality far exceeded his imagination.
Yu Fengyao’s pretty eyes, previously burning with rage, were now filled with complex emotions as she looked at Chi Qiqi.
He originally lacked any foundation in cultivation, meaning that attempting to cultivate at his current age would be harder than ascending to the heavens.
Yet this mortal actually possessed a primordial soul!
A primordial soul was equivalent to a second life. As long as one concealed their primordial soul in a safe place before death, even if their physical body were dismembered and their soul scattered into nothingness, finding the primordial soul meant there was still a chance to be resurrected.
Furthermore, despite this entity being so tiny, its strength was quite formidable.
Even she, a one-in-a-million genius, did not possess a primordial soul.
Little Qiqi paid no attention to the others, still gazing eagerly at Beisi.
Silently dismantling the sword intent he had brewed within his blade, Beisi raised his right hand. Instantly, Little Qiqi stretched his hands out even higher.