Enemy!
Li Qingqiu jumped to his feet at once, grabbing the Tianhong Sword from beside him and rushing out of the room.
In the courtyard, Jiang Zhaoxia was already there ahead of him, holding a wooden sword in hand and staring into the distance. Following his gaze, Li Qingqiu saw a lone figure standing atop the mountain gate—clad entirely in white, his robes fluttering in the wind beneath the bright moon. He wore a wide bamboo hat, both hands resting on the hilt of a blade.
The man's stance alone revealed it—this was a true expert.
Zhang Yuchun and Wu Man'er quickly stepped out from their rooms, while Li Sifeng peeked nervously from his window.
Li Dongyue and Li Sijin were also watching anxiously from their own windows, tension etched across their young faces.
This was the first real threat Qingxiao Sect had faced since Li Qingqiu became sect master. His heart tightened with unease, yet he remained steady. After all, everyone in Qingxiao Sect had already stepped into the Nurturing Essence Realm—each one now capable of fighting back.
On the roof behind Li Qingqiu, Yang Jueding leapt up, standing tall as he locked eyes with the white-clad swordsman in the distance.
"Luo Lie!" Yang Jueding's voice thundered through the night. "You've chased me for a thousand li—and you still refuse to give up?"
The white-robed swordsman—Luo Lie—stood silently on the mountain gate, separated from Yang Jueding by several dozen meters. The cold wind whipped between them, but his stance never wavered. His face was hidden beneath the shadow of his bamboo hat. When he finally spoke, his voice was cold and sharp.
"Give up? You offended the Qing Sect and still expect to leave unharmed? Hand over the manual, and I'll grant you a swift death."
As he spoke, the blade at his waist sang with a piercing metallic shring—then Luo Lie drew it in one smooth motion, his figure flashing through the moonlight like a soaring hawk as he leapt toward Yang Jueding.
Li Qingqiu's eyes narrowed. Behind Luo Lie, a faint ripple of inner energy surged, propelling him forward—it looked almost like flight.
'That's lightness skill!'
As he sped past the rooftops, Luo Lie's foot brushed the tiles lightly, barely touching down before leaping again—graceful, swift, almost invisible. Without his own Nurturing Essence cultivation, Li Qingqiu might never have caught it.
'Good. He's still using leverage,' Li Qingqiu thought. 'That means his martial arts aren't completely beyond reason.'
Yang Jueding steadied his stance on the rooftop, his legs forming a firm horse stance. As Luo Lie closed in, he drove his right palm upward from his waist, turning it over mid-motion before striking down with a booming force.
BOOM!
The sound of thunder cracked across the mountain. Li Qingqiu, Jiang Zhaoxia, and Zhang Yuchun all saw Yang Jueding unleash a roaring wave of inner energy, like a tidal surge crashing against the moonlight. The air blast stopped Luo Lie mid-flight and sent him spinning backward.
Before hitting the ground, Luo Lie twisted deftly and landed steadily in the courtyard below.
The bamboo hat tilted back, revealing a weathered face filled with disbelief and anger.
"Your strength… impossible! You were poisoned—you shouldn't even be able to move! Don't tell me you actually mastered that divine technique?"
His voice trembled with fury and fear.
Yang Jueding jumped down from the rooftop, landing with a solid thud. His mouth curled into a mocking grin. "After so many years in the martial world, you think I'd fall for your sect's petty tricks? As for that so-called divine art—it's a fake. No one can master it."
Luo Lie's expression hardened. He snorted coldly and charged again, his blade slicing through the air with deadly precision.
In a flash, he closed the distance of ten steps, his body darting like a ghostly shadow. The sharp gleam of the blade tore through the night, but Yang Jueding didn't retreat—he raised his palm to meet it head-on.
Their silhouettes collided in the courtyard, trading blows faster than the eye could follow. Each strike carried explosive inner energy that sent waves of air surging through the snow, turning it into white mist that rose around them.
Zhang Yuchun glanced at Li Qingqiu, silently asking whether they should step in.
Li Qingqiu shook his head slightly. "Don't move," his gaze said. "Watch and learn."
This was a rare chance to observe a real battle between martial experts.
There was no denying it—both men were formidable. Their speed, power, and precision were beyond ordinary warriors. Even a first-layer Nurturing Essence cultivator might not easily overpower them.
Of course, Li Qingqiu was only comparing them to child-level cultivators like Li Sifeng and Li Sijin.
'If it were me,' he thought, 'I could finish them both in a second.'
Their martial techniques were flashy, yes—but his spiritual qi could erupt faster than any inner energy. One burst, and they'd be done.
Still, this fight made something clear: the gap between internal energy and spiritual qi was immense. Yang Jueding's inner power looked fierce enough to shake mountains, yet if faced with true spiritual qi, it would collapse instantly.
Even if Jiang Zhaoxia hadn't reached the second layer of Nurturing Essence, someone like Luo Lie posed no real threat.
The only danger would come from underestimating him.
Zhang Yuchun relaxed slightly, seeing that the situation was under control.
Jiang Zhaoxia, on the other hand, just stood there with a smirk. To him, Luo Lie wasn't worth taking seriously.
After thirty exchanges, Luo Lie's inner energy flared so violently that his palm turned bright red. He thrust his hand forward, unleashing a burning surge of force—but Yang Jueding met it head-on, his palm slamming into the strike.
BOOM!
The shockwave blasted through the courtyard. Roof tiles rattled, and the windows creaked under the pressure.
Luo Lie's bamboo hat flew off completely, revealing his disheveled hair. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to hold back Yang Jueding's counterforce, while Yang Jueding stood tall, grinning with defiance.
But Li Qingqiu could see the truth. Yang Jueding's injury still hadn't fully healed—he was forcing himself to stand strong. His inner power wasn't at full strength.
After three breaths of stalemate, Yang Jueding suddenly roared, pushing forward with all his might. The shock sent Luo Lie staggering backward over ten steps before he dropped to one knee, coughing up a mouthful of blood that splattered darkly across the snow.
Yang Jueding lowered his arm, his stance calm and domineering—like a true martial grandmaster.
He pointed at Luo Lie and said coldly, "Leave. Go back and tell the Qing Sect—if they dare come again, I won't hold back next time."
Luo Lie raised his head, one hand gripping his blade, the other wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He sneered coldly. "Let me go? Seems you're not as strong as you look."
Yang Jueding's face darkened. "You really want me to kill you?"
But before he could move, his expression suddenly changed. Looking down, he saw his right palm breaking out in red welts that quickly swelled into blistering boils, as if scorched by fire.
"What kind of fool takes my palm head-on?" Luo Lie laughed mockingly as he stood back up. "Dragon-Subduing Hero, you of all people should know how deadly your own strikes are!"
Yang Jueding's heart sank. He realized he had made a grave mistake. In his rush to drive Luo Lie away and protect Li Qingqiu and the others, he had let his guard down.
He quickly pressed his left fingers against the acupoints along his right arm, channeling inner energy to purge the poison.
Luo Lie advanced, dragging his blade through the snow, smirking. He opened his mouth to speak—
Whoosh!
A sharp whistling tore through the air. Luo Lie's eyes widened in shock, his expression freezing instantly. Yang Jueding felt a fierce surge of qi brush past his cheek, the pressure slicing his skin and making it sting.
When he refocused, Luo Lie's forehead had a neat, round hole in it.
Thud!
Luo Lie dropped lifelessly to the ground.
Yang Jueding turned his head just in time to see Jiang Zhaoxia lowering his raised hand, his eyes cold and emotionless.
"Too much talk."
Jiang Zhaoxia's voice was low and sharp as ice.
Zhang Yuchun froze, while inside the house, Li Dongyue, Li Sifeng, and Li Sijin all stared in horror. They had seen it—the crackling flare of Jiang Zhaoxia's qi. None of them expected him to actually kill someone.
"You…"
Yang Jueding stammered, eyes wide, still processing what had just happened.
Jiang Zhaoxia glanced sideways at Zhang Yuchun. "Second Brother, bury him."
Zhang Yuchun blinked, then nodded quickly, his body moving on instinct toward the corpse.
"Wait," Li Qingqiu said, stepping forward. "Check if he's carrying anything first."
He followed behind Zhang Yuchun, calm and steady. He wasn't shocked in the slightest—if anything, he was quietly pleased by Jiang Zhaoxia's decisiveness.
If Luo Lie had left the mountain alive, Qingxiao Sect might've been in grave danger. Killing him here was the cleanest solution.
Yang Jueding finally snapped out of his daze. He looked at Jiang Zhaoxia, frowning deeply. "You killed him? Aren't you afraid the Qing Sect will come for revenge?"
Jiang Zhaoxia snorted in disdain. "If we didn't kill him, do you think the Qing Sect would let us go? Besides, since you're now a disciple of Qingxiao Sect, anyone after you is our enemy too."
Though he was only fifteen years old, his words carried a fearless authority that made Yang Jueding momentarily speechless.
"Who exactly are you?" Yang Jueding asked blankly.
Without turning his head, Jiang Zhaoxia replied coolly as he walked toward his room, "Deputy Sect Master of Qingxiao Sect."
Li Qingqiu, crouched beside Luo Lie's body, glanced up and muttered dryly, "Did I approve that? Since when?"
'This kid really knows how to show off,' he thought with amusement.
Jiang Zhaoxia didn't answer. He slipped inside his room, while Li Sifeng, Li Dongyue, and Li Sijin stepped out, all visibly shaken.
Li Qingqiu sighed softly.
It was obvious Jiang Zhaoxia had just killed for the first time, no matter how composed he pretended to be. Li Qingqiu had noticed—the hand that unleashed that deadly strike had been trembling when he walked away.
After searching Luo Lie's body thoroughly, Li Qingqiu only found some throwing darts, dried rations, and a keepsake token—nothing valuable. He frowned, disappointed, and ordered three of his juniors to bury the corpse.
Then he turned to Yang Jueding, who was still seated cross-legged, forcing the poison out of his system. The man's face was pale, his mind still fogged from the shock.
"The manual he mentioned," Li Qingqiu said calmly, his tone commanding, "hand it over. Consider it payment for saving your life tonight."
Yang Jueding grimaced. "That manual is fake. It doesn't even work."
"Hand it over."
"Wait."
Yang Jueding sighed, stopping his energy flow. He pulled off his shoe, slid a thin piece of tanned leather from the sole, and unfolded it—it was the size of a human face.
Li Qingqiu took it with a look of disgust and immediately tossed it toward Li Dongyue. "Wash it."
Li Dongyue shot him a resentful glare but didn't refuse. She took a cloth from her sleeve, wrapped the leather carefully, and headed to the well to clean it.
"Did that man have any allies?" Li Qingqiu asked.
Yang Jueding shook his head. "No. He came alone. He ambushed me after I was injured from another duel. Despicable bastard."
Hearing this, Li Qingqiu finally relaxed.
He told Yang Jueding to continue healing, then went over to the well, waiting as Li Dongyue washed the strange leather clean. When she finished, he took it back to his room.
The sheet was thin as cicada wings, cold to the touch, and densely covered in tiny characters. The texture made him suspicious—it might very well be human skin.
Back in his room, Li Qingqiu didn't close the door, in case something else happened outside. He lit a candle and laid the leather flat on the table, studying it carefully.
"Hm?"
His brow arched in surprise.
No wonder Yang Jueding thought this manual was fake—it wasn't a martial art at all. It was a cultivation technique.
There was no instruction on how to absorb qi, only descriptions of how to circulate it—and many of the acupoints differed completely from martial pathways. To someone like Yang Jueding, it must've looked like utter nonsense.
But Li Qingqiu read every line to the end. And finally, he found the name written at the bottom.
Supreme Sword Defense Technique.