Spirit Cat Returns

"With a bolt of lightning, Brother Wang's meager magical power will probably turn him into a lump of charcoal!"

A smile curled at Li Qingyun's lips as he swept his sleeve and walked along the stone path through the maple forest.

Even before he had gone up the mountain, Wang Baiying's level of swordsmanship had not been worth his notice.

Li Qingyun was not only Qinghe County's Young Gentleman of Benevolence and Charity—he was also a dashing young hero skilled in archery and horsemanship, who dared fight bandits and savage beasts!

And after merely two days, Wang Baiying, a "low-grade disciple" who had muddled along at Lingbao Temple for one or two years, was already no longer in the same league as Li Qingyun.

In the future, that gap would be as vast as heaven and earth.

He found it amusing. Whether in his previous life or this one, lapdogs were everywhere.

"Senior Sister Lu is certainly extraordinarily charming. Who knew how many lapdogs like Wang Baiying she has bewitched..."

Now that he had finally gained a measure of freedom, Li Qingyun strolled through the mountain woods. At last, he had the leisure to admire Maple Mountain's exquisite scenery and familiarize himself with the environment of the back mountain.

He wanted to find somewhere more secluded to comprehend and practice lightning arts, lest he draw the attention of more "Zhao Yifans."

Only after wandering about did he realize just how enormous the back mountain truly was. The forest ran deep and dense, hills large and small stretched one after another, and beneath the setting sun, the maple groves blazed like fire, crimson as blood.

On many hills with fine terrain and beautiful scenery, beside springs and woods, either Daoists had already claimed spots to gather qi or practice spells, or small courtyards had simply been built there.

Those who had privately built such houses and courtyards were undoubtedly elite disciples within the temple. This sort of privileged behavior was tacitly permitted by the temple.

Li Qingyun kept far away from them as well.

Finding a place rarely visited by anyone was truly not easy.

Suddenly, when he reached a small gorge with a flowing spring, Li Qingyun abruptly stopped. His ears twitched as he heard an angry feminine shout from ahead.

"You beast, how dare you come again and again to steal my fish! Taste my sword!"

Amid the whooshing sword-light in the distance, he heard a familiar meow.

Joy instantly spread through his heart!

"It's Yuanbao! I knew our cat had nine lives. How could that old servant Yin Xunshan have killed it so easily!"

His magical power surged. His Daoist robe billowed in the wind as Li Qingyun's speed abruptly increased, and he shot toward the front of the small gorge.

Maple trees cast shifting shadows, jagged boulders rose everywhere, and the gorge was serene. Below, spring water gathered into a natural pond, beside which stood two wooden houses on the stone bank.

At this moment, a tall, slender girl in a green robe, her hair piled high, wielded an icy longsword. She flew like the wind over the stream cluttered with river stones, relentlessly pursuing the mass of black light ahead.

Anger filled her jade-like face, and her pearly teeth clenched tight. She seemed to hate the fish-stealing Big Black Cat to the very bone!

As she swung her sword, cold gleams flickered in and out, and Sword Qi several feet long occasionally shot forth. Her cultivation was far stronger than that self-important Wang Baiying's!

Yet the mass of black light ahead—the fish-stealing Big Black Cat—was remarkably nimble and swift. It clenched a plump red carp in its jaws and refused to let go, darting left and weaving right. Though danger lurked at every turn, it always managed to evade the green-robed girl's attacks.

"It really is Yuanbao! It hasn't changed its picky eating habits at all. But this senior sister is clearly one of the temple's elite disciples. What a headache..."

Li Qingyun swept out of the maple forest and recognized his own cat at a glance.

He cried out joyfully, his clear call ringing through the gorge.

At the same time, he tapped off the ground in rapid succession and raced toward the girl and cat.

"Senior Sister, please show mercy! This cat is mine. I'm willing to compensate you for the fish!" he shouted as he ran, pleading for the cat.

Meow!

The moment Big Black Cat Yuanbao saw Li Qingyun appear, it was overwhelmed with delight and swiftly ran toward him.

Whoosh!

Just then, the green-robed girl seemed not to hear Li Qingyun's plea at all. Instead, she suddenly formed a hand seal.

A gleam of greenwood light fell squarely upon Big Black Cat Yuanbao. In the next instant, vines of green light wrapped around it, leaving it unable to move.

"Death may be spared, but punishment cannot be escaped!"

The green-robed girl swung her sword down, intending to cut off Big Black Cat Yuanbao's front paws.

She did not even spare a second glance for the Li Qingyun who had suddenly appeared. The token at his waist marked him as nothing more than a lowest-ranking idle guest disciple, scarcely worth mentioning!

Crack!

Amid a low rumble of thunder, a streak of lightning descended from the air and struck the longsword in the green-robed girl's hand!

Buzz!

The girl's arm went numb, and she could no longer hold her longsword. It was blasted from her hand by the lightning.

"You!"

She hastily retreated two steps, magical power surging through her as she fixed Li Qingyun opposite her with an Angry Glare. Like a beautiful green bird provoked to fury, she formed hand seals and murmured an incantation, about to unleash some spell.

Clearly, Even If one was an elite disciple within the temple, one's spells might not necessarily have been cultivated to a sufficiently practiced level. Instant casting was impossible.

"Senior Sister, please wait. Let's talk this through—I'm willing to compensate you!"

Li Qingyun hurriedly raised his hand in appeal. The magical power On His Body transformed into lightning intent, surging and flashing. A trace of thunderous might naturally appeared on his handsome face, making him seem ever more striking and extraordinary.

At the same time, he bent down. Traces of lightning intent flashed through his hand, breaking the green vine bindings On His Body Big Black Cat Yuanbao.

Meow!

Yuanbao had narrowly escaped death. It cried out gratefully twice, then whooshed behind his heels to hide.

For some reason, it felt a little safer, though it had no idea how its poop-scooping servant had suddenly become so formidable!

Boom!

Lightning and azure light collided in midair, exploding into a cloud of radiance.

Under the blast wave, Li Qingyun and the girl in azure robes were each forced back several steps.

"Your Thunder Seal Technique has actually been cultivated to such a level! You're only at Qi Refining Layer One, yet you can completely cancel out my Green Vine Bind!"

This time, the girl in azure robes finally showed a change in expression on her jade-like face. Startled, she began to properly examine the handsome idle disciple standing opposite her.

Lightning arts were difficult to control—this was common knowledge among Lingbao Temple disciples. Yet the youth before her had mastered the Thunder Seal to such a degree. Zhao Keyi's heart was undoubtedly full of astonishment and confusion.

Among cultivators, only strength could earn respect. The anger on Zhao Keyi's jade-like face slowly began to fade.

"How should I address you, Junior Brother? I am Zhao Keyi. This is where I cultivate in seclusion, and the red carp in the spring pond are no ordinary breed. They are resources for my cultivation, yet your black cat has already stolen and eaten four or five of them!"

With a beckoning gesture, the longsword that had been knocked away flew back into her hand. But she immediately sheathed it, her attitude becoming much gentler.

"So it's Senior Sister Zhao. I'm Li Qingyun. This black cat slipped away from me the day before yesterday, and it was injured. Perhaps it couldn't resist stealing Senior Sister's spirit fish in order to heal its wounds."

Li Qingyun looked at Zhao Keyi and thought that she was only fifteen or sixteen at most, about the same age as himself. Yet she likely possessed rather good Dao Bone Spiritual Roots. The aura drifting around her delicate body showed that she had at least the cultivation of Qi Refining Layer Two.

Just now, he had been able to use lightning arts to disperse Zhao Keyi's Green Vine Bind only because lightning arts were inherently forceful, especially since he had already comprehended them to a fairly proficient level.

The deeper one's understanding of a technique, the greater its power when cast.

But in terms of true magical power cultivation, there was still quite a considerable gap between him and this Senior Sister Zhao.

Of course, in Li Qingyun's eyes, that gap was no more than a few additional days of meditation.

Thus, he felt no particular awe toward Zhao Keyi and treated her with an equal mindset.

"Then how does Junior Brother Li intend to compensate me? I diverted a natural stream spring here, then paid a high price to obtain fish fry from a Martial Uncle. I painstakingly raised more than a dozen Silver-Thread Red Carp, intending to rely on them to take my cultivation to the next level..."

As Zhao Keyi spoke, the anger in her heart had not fully dissipated. From time to time, she glanced at the Big Black Cat circling around Li Qingyun's feet.

"Senior Sister can set a price in spirit stones or other items. I'm just a little strapped for cash at the moment—oh, I'm absolutely not trying to dodge the debt. I'll definitely repay it next month!" Li Qingyun's handsome face reddened slightly.