Moonlight stretched Li Qingqiu's elongated shadow across the courtyard as he walked toward the building, sword in hand. He could already hear the breathing of the person inside.
His steps were light, utterly silent.
He reached the door and pressed his palm against it. It was firmly shut; it would take force to open.
He took a deep breath, then suddenly shattered the wooden bolt holding the door closed. In the same motion, he lunged toward the source of the breathing.
Lü Dou, the First Alliance Master of the Seven Peaks Alliance, was fast asleep on his bed. As a supreme expert renowned throughout the land, his senses were razor-sharp. Even in deep sleep, the moment the door opened, his eyes flew open.
He caught a glimpse of sword-light flashing toward him in the darkness. Startled, he rolled over, twisting his body to dodge—but the blade still caught him on the shoulder.
Lü Dou, a man in his forties with a bear-like face and tigerish eyes, glared wide. The hair at his temples and his long beard bristled as if aflame with rage.
Li Qingqiu was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected his target to evade a killing blow.
This man's martial arts far surpassed Yang Jueding's!
"How dare you!"
Lü Dou bellowed. His right palm gathered internal energy, actually igniting into flames as he struck at Li Qingqiu.
Li Qingqiu leaped back, raising his sword and channeling his own energy to block.
*Boom!*
The windows shattered from the force of the impact. The tables and wooden cabinets on either side were also destroyed. The entire building trembled.
Lü Dou's eyes widened. His full-strength palm strike had been blocked! He saw an energy shield forming around Li Qingqiu, holding back his surging flame-infused internal power.
The ground beneath Li Qingqiu's feet cracked from the strain, a testament to Lü Dou's formidable skill.
"Who are you?" Lü Dou's voice was low and heavy. He didn't dare withdraw his strike—doing so now would surely injure his internal organs.
Li Qingqiu looked up. His left hand suddenly reached behind his back, then flicked forward. The motion was too fast; Lü Dou saw it but couldn't react.
Three silver needles pierced through his flame energy, faint lightning dancing along their shafts. They tore through Lü Dou's throat with unstoppable force.
Lü Dou's imposing aura dissipated instantly. The blast of energy hurled him backward, crashing into the wall before falling onto his bed, crushing it to pieces in a cloud of dust.
Li Qingqiu lowered his hand, turned, and left the building.
He picked up the unconscious Seven Peaks disciple lying in the courtyard, leaped onto the eaves, and ran swiftly. After traveling about a thousand feet, he stopped on another rooftop and used the Resurrection Ghost Immortal Needle to revive him.
The disciple's eyes snapped open as if waking from a nightmare, gasping for air.
Li Qingqiu clamped a hand over his mouth. "Lead the way. Take me to the other Alliance Masters."
This disciple, Chen Ye, had joined the Seven Peaks Alliance less than six months ago. His duties were menial—guarding gates, running errands. He hadn't yet been taught any advanced martial arts.
In his mind, the First Alliance Master Lü Dou was the greatest martial artist in the world. That's why he'd led Li Qingqiu to Lü Dou's courtyard first, hoping the intruder would meet his match.
But now... from Li Qingqiu's words, was Lü Dou already dead?
Impossible!
Chen Ye's eyes bulged as he stared at Li Qingqiu in disbelief. Up close, in the moonlight, he could see the face clearly. Too young.
So young it felt unreal.
Li Qingqiu frowned. "Are you deaf, or just stupid?"
Chen Ye snapped back to reality and blinked frantically. Li Qingqiu hauled him to his feet and gestured for him to point the way.
The commotion from Lü Dou's courtyard had roused nearby disciples. They rushed out of their quarters, heading toward the source of the noise.
Li Qingqiu and Chen Ye hadn't gone far when they heard a mysterious horn sound pierce the night, unnaturally loud.
He saw people pouring out of courtyards in every direction. He had no choice but to push Chen Ye down and crouch low, avoiding the eyes of the surging disciples.
"What's that sound?" Li Qingqiu whispered.
Chen Ye swallowed hard. "That's the Seven Peaks Alliance's invasion alarm. At any sign of trouble, the horn sounds. Even if it's a false alarm, the Alliance Masters don't punish. But if an enemy infiltrates and the disciple in charge of the horn fails to sound it, no matter the reason, the punishment is severe."
Soon, horns sounded from other directions as well. The invasion alarm wasn't in just one place.
Li Qingqiu had to admit he'd underestimated the Alliance's vigilance. No wonder there were no night patrols—this hidden defense line was in place.
"Now that the invasion horn has sounded, getting close to the other Alliance Masters without being detected is practically impossible."
Chen Ye spoke quietly. If Lü Dou really was dead, he was terrified Li Qingqiu might drag him before the others.
Li Qingqiu knocked him unconscious again.
Then he stripped off Chen Ye's robes and quickly pulled them on. He even took Chen Ye's sword. Jumping down from the eaves, he continued in the direction Chen Ye had indicated earlier.
More and more Seven Peaks disciples emerged from their quarters. Li Qingqiu encountered many face to face. Now he truly grasped the Alliance's deep foundation.
Three thousand disciples might not sound like much, but encountering them en masse drove home the terror of such numbers.
And these were genuine martial artists, every one skilled.
As he walked, Li Qingqiu reflected on Lü Dou's internal energy.
Martial arts were no simple matter, he thought to himself. If he hadn't broken through to the third layer of the Nourishing Origin stage, killing Lü Dou would have been far more difficult. Eliminating him would have exhausted Li Qingqiu's spiritual energy, making escape from the Seven Peaks Alliance nearly impossible.
And Lü Dou was just a martial arts master of Gu Prefecture. The Great Li Dynasty had other prefectures, and undoubtedly there were those far stronger than him.
He must never underestimate the world.
Though he'd successfully slain the enemy leader, this lesson made Li Qingqiu more cautious.
Of course, given the chance to do it again, he would. He'd just choose better timing.
With an expert like Lü Dou, the Seven Peaks Alliance was far beyond what the Azure Firmament Sect could currently handle. He couldn't restrict his disciples' movements forever, waiting for the Alliance to invade en masse.
Wearing a Seven Peaks disciple's robes, Li Qingqiu aroused no suspicion. He didn't deliberately avoid people, which would have seemed odd. He walked openly but quickly, brushing past disciples left and right.
Suddenly.
He stopped before a courtyard gate, turning to look inside, frowning.
He heard very faint crying—someone sobbing quietly. And not just one; another person wasn't crying, but their breathing was weak.
He didn't want to meddle, but for some reason, he thought of his own junior brothers and sisters.
Zhang Yuchun, Jiang Zhaoxia, Li Dongyue—when they first came to the Azure Firmament Sect, they had been afraid too, hiding to cry alone. Wu Man'er wasn't so sentimental; as long as he was fed, he was fine. Li Sifeng and Li Sijin had each other, so they weren't as scared or lonely.
He hesitated, then walked into the courtyard. He went to a door. The courtyard was piled with firewood and odds and ends. No one guarded it.
He pushed the door open gently and peered inside. It was filled with firewood. A child sat slumped against a woodpile. Moonlight streamed through a hole in the roof, falling directly on him.
The child appeared only seven or eight years old. More importantly, he held an even younger child in his arms. He was the source of the crying.
Li Qingqiu stepped inside. The child, startled, turned to look at him.
"Do you want to leave?" Li Qingqiu asked directly.
The child wore ragged, filthy clothes, much like Xu Ning when she'd first arrived.
At Li Qingqiu's question, the child asked dazedly, "Can I?"
"If you're willing, I'll take you both." Li Qingqiu replied.
The child immediately scrambled to his feet, clutching the toddler tightly. That child looked only one or two years old. A foul odor emanated from them.
"Who are you?"
Young Yuan Qi asked cautiously. He'd never seen Li Qingqiu before, but the thought of leaving the Seven Peaks Alliance made his heart race.
Li Qingqiu answered, "I'm not with the Seven Peaks Alliance. I killed one of their Alliance Masters and I'm pulling out."
Hearing this, Yuan Qi wasn't frightened. His eyes went wide, and tears spilled from them—but he was smiling.
"I'll go with you. But you have to take my little brother!" Yuan Qi wiped his tears, staring at Li Qingqiu with determination.
Li Qingqiu nodded. "From now on, you and your brother join my sect. Deal?"
"Deal! We'll join your sect. We'll repay your kindness someday!"
Yuan Qi agreed without hesitation. Li Qingqiu walked over, took the toddler from his arms, and used a filthy rag on the ground to tie the child—no more than two years old—against his chest. Then he scooped up Yuan Qi with one arm and strode quickly from the building.
Outside, by moonlight, Yuan Qi finally saw Li Qingqiu's face clearly. His pupils dilated, a strange light shining in his eyes. This scene would be forever etched in his memory.
Once outside, Li Qingqiu leaped onto the eaves and moved swiftly.
He summoned the Daoist Legacy panel and checked the disciple count. Two new names had appeared: Yuan Qi and his brother. He tapped Yuan Qi's portrait to check his loyalty.
90/80!
Not bad. This child had a conscience.
Li Qingqiu didn't examine Yuan Qi's Destiny in detail. He skimmed past and instinctively checked Yuan Qi's younger brother's portrait.
The moment he opened it, he regretted it. The child was so young, still unconscious. How could he have loyalty?
Sure enough, Yuan Qi's brother, named Yuan Li, had loyalty scores of 0.
But then, Li Qingqiu's eyes widened. Disbelief flooded his face. He even stopped walking.
[Name: Yuan Li]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 1]
[Loyalty (Sect Master/Sect): 0/0 (Max 100)]
[Cultivation Aptitude: Abysmal]
[Comprehension: Transcendent]
[Destiny: Indestructible Body, Grandmaster's Heart, Tenacious]
[Indestructible Body: An extremely rare ancient physique, a great blessing of heaven and earth. However, as the bearer is born into the mortal world, special methods are required to awaken it.]
[Grandmaster's Heart: Possesses extraordinary comprehension and imagination regarding the way of combat. Excels at creation and is generous in sharing.]
[Tenacious: No matter the trials endured, his resolve will never waver.]
...
A treasure!
Three Destiny tags! "Indestructible Body" and "Grandmaster's Heart" sounded incredibly powerful. And "Indestructible Body"—that was something else entirely!
Li Qingqiu looked down at the child in his arms. Yuan Li seemed to glow with golden light.
Yuan Qi, held in his other arm, saw him stop and looked down anxiously at his brother. "What's wrong with my brother?"
Li Qingqiu looked forward and continued walking. He answered casually, "He seems to have wet himself."
Yuan Qi was mortified. He hung his head and whispered, so softly it was barely audible, "Sorry..."