The Monk Sweeping the Floor!

Early the next morning, Li Pingsheng headed to the Library Pavilion.

He needed to find information regarding the Black Mist Forest.

The bookshelves were covered in dust.

Li Pingsheng activated his [Martial Wisdom] trait.

Book titles, thickness, material, and scent all transformed into data, which he screened at an incredible speed.

In the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, he had "read" nearly ten thousand books.

Finally, his gaze settled on an old booklet at the very bottom of a corner shelf—Records of Outer City Oddities.

Li Pingsheng walked over, pulled out the booklet, flipped through the pages, and stopped at the entry for "Black Mist Forest."

The lining of this page was thicker than the others; he plucked a folded, tattered animal-skin map from within.

Li Pingsheng quickly unfolded the map, which featured a rough outline of the forest drawn in ink, with a single red dot marked in cinnabar.

In the bottom right corner of the map was a signature: Lu Qingshan.

Found it.

Just as Li Pingsheng was about to stow the tattered map away, a voice drifted over from the stairwell:

"Isn't this Senior Brother Li from our Azure Cloud Martial Hall?"

Li Pingsheng looked up to see Zhou Kuang blocking the stairs with a few lackeys in tow.

Zhou Kuang was Zhao Ming's cousin.

He strode up to Li Pingsheng and snatched the Records of Outer City Oddities from his hand.

"I heard Senior Brother Li has become a cripple; what are you doing in the Library Pavilion?"

"Still hoping to find some miracle elixir in these books?"

The surrounding lackeys all burst into laughter.

"Brother Zhou is right! A cripple is a cripple, no matter how many books he reads!"

"He even took on an Outer City patrol mission; I doubt he'll live until the Grand Examination."

Li Pingsheng remained silent, simply staring at him.

That gaze made Zhou Kuang deeply uncomfortable.

He loosened his grip, letting the Records of Outer City Oddities drop to the floor.

Zhou Kuang raised his foot, stepped on the booklet, and ground his heel into it with force.

"What are you looking at? Unconvinced?"

Zhou Kuang crooked a finger at Li Pingsheng. "Try touching me, just once. I'll make sure you're carried out of here horizontally today."

Other disciples saw the situation and backed away, pointing and whispering.

"Li Pingsheng has truly fallen from grace; even a dog dares to bully him now."

"His blood-qi is extremely weak; I heard he can't even withstand the pressure of Zhou Kuang's blood-qi."

"What a pity, that punch from before..."

The gossip drifted into Li Pingsheng's ears.

Seeing this, the smugness on Zhou Kuang's face grew even more pronounced.

He prepared to stomp the book into pieces.

Just as Zhou Kuang lifted his foot, Li Pingsheng let out a shout and lunged forward.

The movement looked completely devoid of technique.

Zhou Kuang's laughter cut off in the next second.

A wave of numbness surged through the lateral nerve of his ankle, and half his body went dead to sensation.

"Thud!"

Zhou Kuang face-planted onto the floor, his front teeth flying out along with a spray of blood.

As for Li Pingsheng, who appeared to have tripped, he had already snatched the tattered map from beneath the book the moment his body hit the ground.

The entire process was swift and subtle.

All the onlookers saw was Li Pingsheng stumble and Zhou Kuang slip and fall.

"What happened? Did Zhou Kuang slip?"

The spectating disciples looked at one another in confusion.

In the corner, an old white-haired servant's eyes narrowed, fixed intently on Li Pingsheng as he climbed to his feet, his expression filled with bewilderment.

In that brief moment just now, he could have sworn he saw Li Pingsheng's body flicker, leaving an afterimage behind.

"Keep it down! No loud noises in the Library Pavilion!"

The old servant leaned on his broom and barked a reprimand.

Zhou Kuang scrambled up from the floor, clutching his mouth, and pointed at Li Pingsheng. "You... you set me up?!"

The old servant said, "Zhou Kuang, you didn't watch where you were going and tripped. Who are you blaming? Make another sound, and I'm telling the Pavilion Master!"

Zhou Kuang was terrified of the Pavilion Master. He shot a venomous glare at Li Pingsheng, knowing he had thoroughly embarrassed himself today.

"Fine! You just wait!"

He spat out a harsh threat and ran off with his lackeys.

The commotion subsided.

Li Pingsheng bent down to pick up the Records of Outer City Oddities, walked over to the old servant, and revealed a corner of the tattered map hidden in his sleeve, pointing to the signature at the top.

"Old man, let me ask, do you recognize this person named 'Lu Qingshan'?"

The old servant's gaze fell upon the three characters "Lu Qingshan." The wrinkles on his face twitched, his expression complex, and he let out a sigh.

"Lu Qingshan... that is a name of great renown."

"Five years ago, he was also a True Disciple. The Pavilion Master once said he was a prodigy rarely seen in a century, with the potential to touch the realm of a Grandmaster before the age of thirty."

The old servant's tone was filled with regret. "It's a pity. To seek medicine for his younger sister, he ventured into the Black Mist Forest alone. When he came out, the toxic miasma in the forest had crippled his meridians, and his cultivation was completely gone."

"Ever since then, this top genius has been nothing more than a sweeper in the Servant Courtyard."

A sweeper??

Li Pingsheng's heart skipped a beat.

After bidding the old servant farewell, he followed the directions toward the most remote Servant Courtyard of the martial arts hall.

This place was a different world compared to where the True Disciples lived; the air reeked of sour rot, and the buildings were dilapidated.

Li Pingsheng found Lu Qingshan under a courtyard wall.

He was holding a broom, mechanically sweeping the fallen leaves on the ground.

His movements were sluggish, his hands trembled incessantly, his eyes were hollow, and there wasn't a shred of vitality in him.

Li Pingsheng walked up to him.

The man didn't react, continuing to sweep.

Li Pingsheng: "I found your map."

The sweeping stopped.

Lu Qingshan's head slowly lifted, his pupils shifting to focus on Li Pingsheng.

The next second!

The look in Lu Qingshan's eyes changed, and the broom in his hand flew out directly.

There was no surge of blood-energy, just pure physical strength and martial technique.

The broom split into three shadows, sealing off Li Pingsheng's upper, middle, and lower paths, stabbing straight at his vital points. This was a killing blow!

Facing this lethal strike, Li Pingsheng's eyes narrowed.

Such a fast strike.

His thoughts shifted, and he activated the Breath Concealment Art. The fluctuations of his blood-energy were suppressed, his aura hidden, and simultaneously, the [Wind Treading] talent triggered. He shifted slightly on the spot, dodging every attack.

Following that, he pressed his fingers together like a sword, gathering the force of the "Thunderclap Explosion" at his fingertips into a hidden energy, and precisely flicked it onto the head of the broom.

"Snap!"

A soft sound echoed.

Lu Qingshan watched as the broom disintegrated into powder.

A wave of hidden energy traveled through the debris, shaking Lu Qingshan until he took three steps back to steady himself.

He stared fixedly at Li Pingsheng, two beams of sharp light erupting from his hollow eyes.

"Haha... Hahahaha!!"

He burst into wild laughter.

"Good! A fine 'crippled meridians'! A fine 'faint blood-energy'!"

"Your refined blood-energy! Your insight that returns to simplicity! Your hidden energy that you control with such ease!"

"You aren't crippled at all!"

"That bunch of idiots at the martial arts hall, that old dog Pei Guang, and those Zhao Family scumbags... they've all been played for fools by you alone! Hahahaha!!"

His laughter was filled with both relief and sorrow.

Li Pingsheng just watched him, neither confirming nor denying.

When Lu Qingshan finished laughing, the madness in his eyes receded, replaced by the flickering flames of vengeance and hope.

He stared at Li Pingsheng and said, word by word.

"The path I took five years ago is the one marked on the map, but it is now occupied by a Tier 2 demonic beast. If you go, you're just throwing your life away."

"However..."

"Since you are such a monster, having deceived everyone, I will tell you about the other path—the one I traded five years of wretched survival and a pair of crippled hands to find... a path that 'guarantees survival'!"