Zhexian looked to the sky and left the mountains

"Is this the child who drops treasures when he gets beaten?"

Jin Ling stood atop the ruins. Her gaze passed over the many wounded people on the ground before settling on Li Zhexian.

"Come down first."

"What are you going to do?"

"Hit me."

Jin Ling descended from midair, setting the tip of her foot on a raised slab of stone. Golden Soul Power was already floating around her body, and five Soul Rings appeared one after another: two yellow, two purple, and one black.

Li Zhexian looked at the black Soul Ring and came to a judgment.

This woman was far stronger than Luo Yue.

If she fought seriously, he didn't know how many blows his remaining shield could withstand.

"You even dared to kill a Spirit Hall deacon?"

"He attacked first."

"Luo Yue isn't dead yet."

Jin Ling looked at Luo Yue, who was pinned to the stone wall. His chest was still rising and falling, but his injuries were too severe for him to move for the time being.

"So you held back just now?"

"So he's still alive."

Li Zhexian had controlled the force of his sword strike, but he hadn't expected Luo Yue to be so hard to kill.

Jin Ling raised her palm, gathering Soul Power in its center. Li Zhexian rested the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot beside his shoulder and held the Azure Lotus Sword horizontally in front of him.

"Miss, please hit me harder."

"You only have level-ten Soul Power."

"I don't have much Soul Power, but I have plenty of shield."

Jin Ling didn't answer. She raised her palm and struck at Li Zhexian. When the force of her palm landed, the number on his system shield dropped by thirty-seven thousand points.

Li Zhexian staggered back seven steps in a row, cracking the stone slabs beneath his feet. Only one layer of clothing over his chest had torn.

Jin Ling drew back her hand.

"Are you all right?"

"My shield dropped by thirty-seven thousand points."

"That wasn't your Soul Power."

"That's why I asked you to keep going."

Li Zhexian now had a good idea of where he stood.

Jin Ling hadn't used her full strength in that palm strike. She was still testing him.

Her second palm strike landed near his chest, and his shield dropped by another forty-one thousand points. Li Zhexian slammed into the stone door, sending cracks spreading across its surface.

He lowered his head and looked at his chest.

His clothes were torn, but his skin was unhurt. This shield was more reliable than his life.

A dull sound came from deep within the ruins, and a ball of black light rolled out from the end of the stone steps.

Li Zhexian braced himself on the Azure Lotus Sword and stood upright.

"The second strike was heavier than the first, but you still held back."

Jin Ling didn't look at him. Her gaze was fixed on the black light.

"You deliberately asked me to hit you just to lure this thing out?"

"The reward hasn't been unlocked yet. It's too early to judge."

"Aren't you afraid of dying?"

"Of course I am."

Li Zhexian tightened his grip on the sword hilt.

"So don't hit my heart."

Jin Ling turned, and all five of her Soul Rings lit up at once. A golden palm print formed above the ruins. Before it had even descended, the surrounding stone pillars could no longer bear the pressure and began to crack one after another.

Li Zhexian planted the Azure Lotus Sword in the ground. The Drunken Immortal Wine Pot floated above his head, and wine mist coiled upward along the blade.

Jin Ling watched him prepare, then warned him.

"You can't withstand this strike."

"Let me take it first. We'll talk afterward."

"You'll die."

"Then avoid my vital spots."

The golden palm print pressed down. Stone slabs shattered one after another, and dust rose around Li Zhexian's feet. His shield had already dropped by eighty-six thousand points.

Li Zhexian dropped to one knee, bracing his hand on the sword hilt. The stone slabs around him had all been reduced to powder.

A black fragment flew out from deep within the ruins and fell into his palm. When it touched his skin, it turned into a streak of black light and entered his arm.

Jin Ling withdrew her Soul Power.

"Can you still stand?"

Li Zhexian pressed down on the sword hilt and rose from the ground.

"That strike can count as one meal."

"You treat getting beaten like eating?"

"The sect provides meals. That's why I stayed."

Jin Ling looked at him.

This was the first time she had met someone who made getting beaten sound so reasonable.

"Did you come from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

"They don't know I came out."

Jin Ling looked at the black fragment in his palm.

"Give it to me."

"Trade me something for it."

"What do you want?"

"Give me another beating."

Jin Ling didn't answer. The five Soul Rings behind her gradually dimmed. Clearly, she had no intention of attacking again.

"Once you become a Soul Ancestor, I'll use my full strength."

"That'll take a long time."

"Stay alive until then."

"I don't like waiting."

Li Zhexian pulled out the Azure Lotus Sword, its tip pointing toward the exit of the ruins. The stone door had already split into several pieces, and after the black fragment entered his palm, the entire ruin began to sink.

The stone steps broke apart.

The walls toppled, and the stone wall carved with the Azure Lotus Sword and the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot was buried beneath a mass of rubble.

Jin Ling watched the collapsing ruins.

"Don't you want the inheritance anymore?"

"I've already committed the sword techniques to memory."

"There are other things inside."

"The entrance is about to collapse, and the stone statue is too heavy to take with us."

Jin Ling glanced at him and said no more to persuade him.

The two of them walked out of the ruins together. Behind them, the stone walls fell one after another. The last piece of the stone door crashed into the valley, sending dust surging into the air. It took a long time to settle.

Li Zhexian opened the system panel.

[Azure Lotus Sword Martial Soul awakened.]

[Drunken Immortal Wine Pot Martial Soul awakened.]

[The ruins' inheritance has acknowledged its master.]

[Host's current Soul Power: level twenty.]

[Shield remaining: over 999,999,960,000 points.]

Li Zhexian looked at the string of numbers for a while.

"My Soul Power has increased, but my shield hasn't dropped by much."

The system gave no response.

Jin Ling walked beside him.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Someone who refuses to pay up."

"It owes you money?"

"A lot."

A system notification appeared immediately afterward.

[A Soul Master with high attack power has been detected nearby.]

[The host is advised to make contact with the target as soon as possible and establish a damage record.]

Li Zhexian raised his head and looked deep into the mountain forest.

"Are there high-level Soul Masters in Sunset City?"

"A few."

"Take me to them."

Jin Ling turned her head and looked at him.

"Aren't you worried I'll sell you off?"

"You can't beat me."

Jin Ling's steps faltered for half a pace.

"Who was it that asked me to beat him just now?"

"Me asking you to hit me and you being unable to beat me are two different things."

Jin Ling didn't argue. She simply thought that Li Zhexian's brain was probably not in the same place as a normal person's.

At the end of the mountain path.

The communication jade pendant began to vibrate, and Ning Rongrong's voice came from it.

"Are you still alive?"

"Alive and well."

Li Zhexian looked back at the ruins behind him.

"If I find some good wine, I'll send you a jar."

The other end of the jade pendant fell silent for a while.

"Mm."

Li Zhexian put away the jade pendant, then took the Heavenly Mandate Life-Sustaining Liquid, the Soul Bone fragment, and the Wind Walking Step Method out of his storage pouch and carefully put them away one by one. He poured the newly obtained spirit wine into the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot, and the azure patterns on the pot lit up.

"Sword, wine, and you—I've brought you all along."

Jin Ling glanced at him.

"Who are you talking to now?"

"Them."

"There really is something wrong with you."

"You've said that before."

Wind blew into the mountain path from beyond the mountains.

Li Zhexian looked back in the direction of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, removed the sword tassel, and tied it back onto the hilt of the Azure Lotus Sword.

The jade pendant vibrated again, but this time no new message came from it.

Li Zhexian tightened the sword tassel.

"Wait for me to bring back the answer."

"Who was that for?"

"Someone who refuses to say everything."

Li Zhexian drew his sword and pointed it toward the depths of the mountain path. He raised his head, drank a mouthful of strong liquor, then strode toward Sunset City.

"Head thrown back in laughter, I walk out the door! How could one such as I be a mere man of the weeds?"

His laughter carried into the valley.

Jin Ling followed behind him and added another question.

"You're that madman who asks other people to hit him?"