Who Would Force Whom to Back Down on the Eve of the Broken Engagement?

"Li Zhexian, Ning Rongrong is going to break off her engagement to you tomorrow. How can you still smile?"

"Did you come stand at my door just to say that?"

"Sect Master Ning has already agreed to it."

"He agreed, but has Ning Rongrong agreed too?"

Shi Potian raised his chin a little higher.

"She'll agree sooner or later. I'm level twenty-one, and she's level twenty-six. We're the ones who are suited to each other."

Li Zhexian sat beside a small stove and turned the fish over with his hand.

"Did you win?"

"Winning or losing in the arena doesn't prove everything."

"Then what did you come here for?"

The question made Shi Potian pause.

Quite a few disciples had gathered outside the courtyard. One stepped on a broken roof tile and slipped, only regaining his balance after grabbing the doorframe.

Li Zhexian laid the Azure Lotus Sword across his knees. Beside him was a pot of tea that had already been warmed.

Shi Potian took two steps forward.

"Once the engagement is broken off tomorrow, you'll leave the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

"Did Sect Master Ning send you to tell me that?"

"The sect can't keep supporting a level-ten piece of trash."

"Can you speak for the sect master now?"

"I'm just giving you a warning."

"You've warned me too many times already."

Shi Potian raised his hand and pointed at the house.

"If you don't leave on your own, I'll make you leave."

The Azure Lotus Sword slipped partway off Li Zhexian's knees, its scabbard striking the stone stool with a clack.

"How are you planning to make me leave?"

"Wait until tomorrow. Someone will come looking for you then."

"Then you can go back to bed now. My fish is almost burnt."

A muscle twitched on Shi Potian's face.

"How can you still eat?"

"Breaking off an engagement doesn't affect eating."

Outside the courtyard, a disciple lowered his head and laughed out loud.

Shi Potian turned to look at the crowd.

"Who was laughing just now?"

The disciple immediately shut his mouth and scuffed the ground several times with the toe of his shoe.

Li Zhexian used his chopsticks to transfer the fish to a plate.

"See? Everyone thinks you're the one wearing yourself out."

"Li Zhexian, don't sit there looking so pleased with yourself."

"I'm not pleased with myself right now."

"Ning Rongrong will tell you herself tomorrow. When that happens, you'll understand."

"I'll wait to hear her say it herself."

"You won't hear anything pleasant from her."

"But it'll still be more pleasant than hearing it from your mouth."

Shi Potian was about to speak again when Chen Xin's voice came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Are you finished?"

The people gathered outside parted to either side, opening a path.

Chen Xin entered the courtyard carrying a paper parcel. He glanced at Shi Potian first, then looked at the fish roasting over the stove.

"Uncle Jian, this is an internal sect matter."

"You're just a disciple of the sect, yet you stand outside someone else's courtyard and order him to leave. You certainly have some nerve."

"I'm only acting on the sect's behalf..."

"The sect never asked you to act on its behalf."

Shi Potian opened his mouth, but no sound came out at once.

"The elders have already discussed this."

"Even if they have, it's not your place to deliver the message."

"Uncle Jian, you've protected him for six years. Are you planning to keep protecting him forever?"

Chen Xin set the paper parcel on the table.

"Who have I protected?"

"This level-ten piece of trash. He uses the sect's medicinal herbs and takes its resources, but he can't even break through to level twenty. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect isn't a charity."

Chen Xin raised one hand and sent a stream of Sword Qi sweeping past Shi Potian's feet.

The blue brick split into four pieces.

"Call him that again."

Shi Potian's Adam's apple bobbed.

Chen Xin continued to watch him.

"Say it again."

"I wouldn't dare."

"Get out."

Shi Potian clenched his fists, turned, and left. The disciples outside the courtyard also dispersed as he left.

The last disciple was in such a hurry that he knocked over a bamboo basket by the wall, sending three potatoes rolling onto the ground.

The disciple crouched down and was halfway through picking them up when he looked up at Li Zhexian.

"Senior brother, these..."

"Take them and go."

The disciple gathered the potatoes in his arms and ran out of the courtyard.

Chen Xin sat down on the stone stool.

"You don't need to listen to Shi Potian's nonsense."

"Some of what he said was true."

"Which part?"

"The sect's resources aren't limitless."

"Ning Fengzhi hasn't taken back your share yet."

"The elders will force him to take it back sooner or later."

Chen Xin picked off a piece of fish and ate it.

"You're still thinking about Ning Fengzhi."

"He's fed me for six years."

"Is food all you remember?"

"I remember the sword too."

Chen Xin opened the paper parcel, revealing two thin flatbreads.

"How do you plan to handle the engagement?"

"I'll wait for Ning Rongrong to come here."

"What if she really wants to break it off?"

Li Zhexian's hand stopped turning the tea lid.

"Then we'll break it off."

Chen Xin kept his gaze on him.

"You're not going to stop her?"

"Once someone wants to leave, stopping them won't do any good."

"Rongrong has grown up with you since she was little."

"She grew up with you too."

Chen Xin pushed one of the flatbreads toward him.

"An engagement isn't a match you can fight again after losing."

"I know."

"As long as you know in your heart what to do."

"I don't know in my heart. I just want to hear her say it herself."

Chen Xin rose from the stone stool and walked to the courtyard gate.

"Ning Fengzhi hasn't slept well these past few days."

"Because there are too many account books?"

"The elders have been pressing him hard."

"As long as you remain in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, this engagement will entangle Rongrong and the entire sect."

Li Zhexian put down his teacup.

"Does she want to break off the engagement herself, or did someone else make the decision for her?"

Chen Xin didn't turn around.

"You'll see her tonight."

In Ning Fengzhi's study.

Ning Rongrong sat in a chair, the jade pendant in her hand warmed by her grip.

Three elders were taking turns trying to persuade her.

"You've already reached level twenty-six, but Li Zhexian is still stuck at level ten."

"The engagement was arranged when you were children. We can't make a joke of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's future."

"Shi Potian is a level-twenty-one Battle Soul Master. His Martial Soul is strong, and his temperament is steady. Among the sect's disciples, he's the only one suited to stand beside you."

Ning Rongrong placed the jade pendant back in her palm.

"Whether he's suited to me isn't for you to decide."

"Everything we're doing is for your sake."

"Then stop doing things for my sake."

"You're still young."

"I'm already twelve. At least I can see who's forcing me."

The study door was pushed open.

Shi Potian entered from outside, holding a white jade hairpin.

"Rongrong, I have something to say to you."

"Get out."

"I just wanted to give you something."

"Take it back."

"There's no need for you to feel sad about tomorrow."

"Only a level-twenty-one Battle Soul Master is qualified to stand beside you."

"Are you finished?"

"What I'm doing is also for your..."

"Get out."

Shi Potian gripped the white jade hairpin.

"Are you going to keep protecting him? His Soul Power hasn't grown in six years."

"Whether he's useful or not is none of your business."

"He may know swordsmanship, but no matter how good his sword techniques are, he's still only level ten."

"Then why did you lose to him last time?"

Someone in the study set down the teacup in his hand.

The tips of Shi Potian's ears gradually turned red.

"That last match didn't count."

"Just because you say it didn't count, does that mean it really didn't?"

"I'll win next time."

"You can go out and win after you leave."

Shi Potian had reached the study door when he looked back at Ning Rongrong.

"Once your engagement is broken off, I won't allow him to stay in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect isn't your home."

"I'm only getting rid of useless people for the sect..."

"Get out!"

Shi Potian slammed the white jade hairpin onto the table, then turned and left the study.

Ning Rongrong picked up the white jade hairpin from the table and threw it to the floor.

The white jade hairpin broke in two.

Ning Fengzhi had been sitting to one side the whole time.

"Father, were the things they just said what you meant too?"

"The sect is indeed under some pressure at the moment."

"What I asked was whether that was what you meant."

Ning Fengzhi turned his gaze toward the window.

"I don't want you to be wronged."

"Then don't call off this engagement."

"Rongrong."

"Do you think Li Zhexian is a waste too?"

"What I can see is that he hasn't broken through level ten in six years."

"But he defeated Shi Potian."

"That was only because he relied on his swordsmanship."

Ning Fengzhi said nothing more to her.

Ning Rongrong rose from her chair.

"I'll go and clear things up with him tonight."

"This is yours to decide."

"Are you really letting me decide for myself?"

Ning Fengzhi fell silent for a while.

Ning Rongrong held the jade pendant against her chest.

"I understand now. I'll go."

A small stove burned by the lake.

Li Zhexian sat there with his back to the lake, the Azure Lotus Sword laid across his knees. A wine pot had also appeared beside him.

Ning Rongrong took a few steps closer.

"Are you drinking?"

"It's fruit wine."

"Uncle Jian doesn't allow you to drink."

"He only said I couldn't drink when I was six."

"How old are you now?"

"Twelve."

"Is that how you're exploiting a loophole in what he said?"

"I'm taking care to abide by what he said."

Ning Rongrong stood behind him, the jade pendant in her hand growing warm again from her grip.

All the way here, she had been thinking about how to broach the subject.

But now that she was actually standing before Li Zhexian, the words she had prepared beforehand were of little use.

Li Zhexian used his hand to move a fish bone aside.

"You're here, Rongrong."

Ning Rongrong made a sound in response, but didn't speak right away.

She looked at Li Zhexian's back and remembered the first time she had seen him in Uncle Jian's courtyard, when she was six.

At the time, Li Zhexian had been sitting there practicing with his sword.

She had thought he was very formidable.

Only later did she learn that it wasn't that Li Zhexian was unwilling to grow stronger, but that something inside his body had been suppressing him all along.

Six years had passed, and his Soul Power was still only at level ten.

Yet in Ning Rongrong's heart, Li Zhexian had never been a useless person just because his Soul Power Level was low.

She also understood that after tonight, many things would change.

"Li Zhexian, let's end our engagement here."