Ten Levels in One Night

"The wine jar's almost empty."

"Are you still going to drink?"

"I'm still one level short."

"You've already reached level twenty."

"I haven't obtained a Soul Ring yet. At level twenty, I've only reached the doorstep."

Holding the cyan wine pot, Ning Rongrong had already walked up to Li Zhexian.

"Go back first. Wait for Uncle Jian to come and deal with this."

"By the time he gets here, the wine will be gone."

"Then let it be gone."

"Wouldn't everything I did tonight have been for nothing?"

"You've already risen from level ten to level twenty. How can you call that nothing?"

Li Zhexian raised his head and looked at her.

"Those ten levels aren't what I'm after."

Ning Rongrong asked no more.

She could already see that Li Zhexian was struggling to hold on.

The back of his hand trembled ceaselessly.

The Azure Lotus Sword lay across his knees, its blade flickering with light in time with his breathing. The Drunken Immortal Wine Pot floated above his head, its mouth pointed downward as wisps of wine mist entered his chest.

His Soul Power had stopped at level twenty.

Only a narrow crack in the door remained ahead of him.

Li Zhexian pressed a hand to his chest.

"The wine's power isn't enough anymore."

"You've already drunk so much of it."

"Give me the pot."

"I won't."

"Why not?"

"I'm worried you'll drink the pot too."

"The pot isn't that big."

"You've drunk yourself into this state. You could do anything."

Li Zhexian reached for the wine pot.

Ning Rongrong put it behind her back.

"You should go back first."

"Get out of the way."

"Li Zhexian, did you hear what I said?"

He did not answer.

Li Zhexian raised his hand and thrust the Azure Lotus Sword into a crack in the rock. Sword Qi crawled across the stone toward the mountaintop, and the wine mist the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot breathed out followed it, gathering the Soul Power that had dispersed.

The first time, the sword light shot out too quickly.

The wine mist failed to keep up, and the sword tip plunged straight into the rock.

The second time, the wine mist fell too heavily, and the light on the Azure Lotus Sword went out at once.

Once more.

Li Zhexian lifted the blade only half an inch and stepped forward over the loose stones. The cyan light and wine mist circled his body and finally entered his chest once again.

Ning Rongrong hugged the wine pot tighter.

"You should say something."

"I don't have time right now."

"You have time to practice your sword and drink, but no time to pay attention to me?"

"You'll interfere with the sword's path."

"When did I interfere with you?"

"Just now."

"I only helped steady you."

"You held me in the wrong place."

Ning Rongrong angrily set the wine pot down on the rock.

Its base struck the stone with a crisp clink, and Li Zhexian's sword path fell into disarray.

Golden light burst from his chest through the front of his robes, followed by the shield's power rebounding. His Soul Power was driven back into his meridians, and Li Zhexian spat out a mouthful of blood, his back slamming against the rock wall.

"Li Zhexian!"

Ning Rongrong hurried over to support him.

"Don't touch me."

"You're spitting blood. Why won't you let me touch you?"

"The sword path has been broken."

"Why are you still worried about that?"

Ning Rongrong wrapped her arms around his shoulders, preparing to drag him down the mountain.

Li Zhexian gripped the Azure Lotus Sword and braced it against the rock to stand up.

Lines of white text appeared one after another in his sea of consciousness.

Current Soul Power: level twenty.

Seal suppression rate: ninety-two percent.

Twin Martial Souls resonance interrupted.

Li Zhexian wiped the blood from his mouth.

"There's only one last step."

Ning Rongrong raised her hand and slapped his shoulder.

"Can't you understand what people are saying?"

"I can."

"Then why are you still doing this?"

"Because I can't stay where I am forever."

After saying that, Li Zhexian fell silent.

He had spent six years in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

For six years, he had only possessed level-ten Soul Power. Everyone thought he was trash who could not cultivate.

Today, he had finally reached level twenty.

But level twenty was not enough.

He wanted to keep his life, understand the white text in his sea of consciousness, and find out what his Second Martial Soul actually was. So he could not stop.

Footsteps sounded from the end of the mountain path.

Chen Xin stood there.

His longsword was not yet fully drawn from its scabbard.

"Rongrong, get behind me."

"Uncle Jian, he's spitting blood."

"I saw."

Chen Xin raised his hand, and Sword Qi spread out around them. The disciples who had rushed over were stopped at the foot of the mountain by the Sword Qi; no one could come half a step closer.

"No one may speak of what happened here."

"People from the sect are already heading this way."

"Stop them at the foot of the mountain."

"If the sect master asks, I'll answer for this."

Chen Xin looked at Li Zhexian.

"Put the sword away."

Li Zhexian braced himself on the Azure Lotus Sword and stood a little straighter.

"Uncle Jian, give me a little more time."

"The power inside your body is turning against you."

"I can withstand it."

"You can't."

"I haven't fallen yet."

Chen Xin stepped onto the mountain rocks.

His longsword slid half an inch out of its scabbard, and Sword Qi pressed down the blades of grass all around.

"If you move one more time, I'll break your sword."

Li Zhexian looked up at Chen Xin.

"You won't do that."

"You can try me."

Ning Rongrong stepped between them.

"Uncle Jian, stop pressuring him."

Li Zhexian looked at Ning Rongrong.

"Give me the wine pot."

"Promise me first that you won't do anything reckless."

"I'll make one attempt."

"That's what you said just now."

"The last one doesn't count."

"Even spitting blood doesn't count?"

"That was the result of the shield rebounding."

Chen Xin looked at the golden light on his chest.

"What level has your Soul Power actually reached?"

"Level twenty."

"You haven't obtained a Soul Ring, and you still intend to attack the level-twenty bottleneck?"

"Without a Soul Ring, the gateway hasn't truly opened."

Chen Xin paused for a while.

He looked at Li Zhexian's deathly pale face, then glanced at the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot floating overhead, constantly breathing out wine mist.

"I'll guard you for half an hour."

Li Zhexian took the wine pot from Ning Rongrong.

"Thank you, Uncle Jian."

"When you can't hold on anymore, I'll knock you out myself."

"Go easy on me."

Ning Rongrong's eyes reddened when she heard that.

"So you're afraid of pain too?"

"Who isn't?"

"Then why did you stand there and endure it just now?"

"Because taking attacks is useful."

"You're talking nonsense again."

Li Zhexian did not explain.

He poured the last mouthful of wine into his mouth, then tossed the empty pot to Ning Rongrong.

"Hold it."

"The wine's gone."

"Then I'll use Soul Power."

The Azure Lotus Sword plunged into the ground once more.

The Drunken Immortal Wine Pot floated above Li Zhexian's head and breathed out its last remaining wisp of wine mist.

Cyan light and wine mist circled past his body and entered his chest together.

Li Zhexian gripped the sword hilt.

"Open."

The shield's golden light contracted back toward his chest.

A cracking sound came from inside his chest. The mountain rock beneath his feet could not withstand the force, and cracks spread in every direction.

Cyan Sword Qi surged into the clouds.

Lights came on one after another throughout the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Something's happened on the rear mountain!"

"Don't go up there! That's the Sword Elder's Sword Qi!"

"There's a cyan light on the mountaintop too!"

Gu Rong had reached midair, standing on black mist.

Ning Fengzhi and several elders had arrived at the mountain path, but Chen Xin's Sword Qi barred their way.

The numbers on Li Zhexian's chest were changing rapidly.

Suppression rate: 92%.

Suppression rate: 88%.

Suppression rate: 80%.

Twin Martial Souls resonance efficiency increased.

Soul Power surge beginning.

The sword hilt had rubbed a gash in Li Zhexian's palm, and blood flowed down the blade.

His hand did not loosen.

"Still a little short."

Ning Rongrong hugged the wine pot tightly.

"You've already done it."

"Still a little short."

"Li Zhexian!"

The crack in the level-twenty door finally widened a little.

Soul Power flowed through the crack and inside. The Azure Lotus Sword rang out clearly, and the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot sounded a note in response.

The two forces collided inside his chest.

Sword Qi rushed toward the sect's main hall, lifting several tiles from its eaves.

Li Zhexian spat out a mouthful of blood. The Azure Lotus Sword slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

"Break open!"

The level-twenty barrier had cracked.

Soul Power surged up to the mountaintop, and azure light illuminated the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Rongrong ran to his side, clutching the wine pot.

"Li Zhexian!"

Li Zhexian collapsed on the stone.

The Drunken Immortal Wine Pot returned to its place above his head, then turned into a mist of wine and slowly entered his body.

Chen Xin stood in front of Li Zhexian.

"No one is to come near."

Ning Fengzhi stopped on the other side of the mountain path.

Gu Rong looked at the sword marks covering the mountain, then at Li Zhexian, who was lying on the stone.

"You old sword bastard, where did you pick this child up?"

Chen Xin did not answer the question.

Ning Rongrong crouched beside Li Zhexian.

She reached out toward the golden light on Li Zhexian's chest, but just as her fingers drew close, they stopped in midair.

Six years.

Level ten.

Trash.

Those words kept surfacing in her mind.

But that burst of sword Qi just now had already made her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda give a faint sound.

Li Zhexian's Soul Power had stopped at level twenty.

But only a corner of the secrets surrounding his body had appeared.

Ning Fengzhi walked to the edge of the back mountain and looked at the sword marks scattered across the ground.

"Uncle Jian."

Chen Xin turned around.

Ning Fengzhi looked at the young man on the mountaintop.

"What kind of child did you bring back from the wilderness?"