Provocation

The Morning Sun Peak disciples were so furious their faces turned livid, their fists clenched tight.

Shang Zhengliang's expression was so dark it looked ready to drip.

Tian Ling'er stood with her head lowered beside Qi Hao, not daring to meet Li Xiaoyu's eyes.

Her heart was a tangled mess.

When she heard from Qi Hao that Li Xiaoyu had defeated Shen Tiandou with a single sword strike and become Morning Sun Peak's new Senior Brother, she had been filled with shock and disbelief.

Seeing Li Xiaoyu with her own eyes today, her shock had only grown beyond measure.

The young man before her still had the same refined features, but his bearing had changed completely.

He stood there quietly, his gaze calm as an abyss, exuding an understated confidence.

He was no longer the despondent, silent boy she remembered.

For the first time, Tian Ling'er felt a pang of regret.

Had she really made the wrong choice back then?

Yet when she saw Qi Hao, brimming with confidence beside her, she forcibly suppressed that regret.

She hadn't made a mistake!

Senior Brother Qi Hao was an expert at the eighth layer of the Jade Purity Realm, a future Chief Seat, perhaps even the Sect Leader.

Even if Li Xiaoyu had reclaimed his name as a prodigy, he was still only at the fourth layer.

The gap between them remained as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.

She had made the right choice!

The atmosphere in the Martial Arts Arena grew taut.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Li Xiaoyu.

They were all waiting to see how the new Senior Brother would respond to this utterly humiliating insult.

Would he fly into a rage?

Would he endure it in silence?

Or would he lose his composure?

Li Xiaoyu's reaction once again took everyone by surprise.

He looked at the man and woman putting on their clumsy act before him, his face utterly expressionless.

He simply watched them in silence, as if they were two buffoons with nothing to do with him.

His calm indifference turned Qi Hao and the others into a joke.

The smile on Qi Hao's face gradually faltered.

He felt like a fool throwing punches at thin air.

His carefully staged apology looked pale and ridiculous beneath the other man's unruffled gaze.

Qi Hao couldn't accept being so completely ignored.

He had to see the expression he wanted on Li Xiaoyu's face, whether anger, jealousy, or pain.

"Junior Brother Xiaoyu, why aren't you saying anything?"

Qi Hao forced a smile.

"Let bygones be bygones. You and I are both Qingyun Disciples. We'll need to work together and defend against our enemies in the future."

"Ling'er and I truly love each other. I hope you'll give us your blessing."

As he spoke, he deliberately reached out and put an intimate arm around Tian Ling'er's shoulders.

Tian Ling'er's body stiffened, but she didn't resist.

There was no doubt this was rubbing salt in Li Xiaoyu's wound.

The Morning Sun Peak disciples could barely keep their anger in check.

Even Shang Zhengliang was about to speak up and drive the shameless pair down the mountain.

At that moment, Li Xiaoyu, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.

Li Xiaoyu didn't look at Qi Hao. Instead, his gaze fell on the young woman in Qi Hao's arms.

"Senior Sister Tian and I settled things between us long ago. Senior Brother Qi, there's no need to concern yourself."

Qi Hao's face turned ashen in an instant.

Tian Ling'er's face went deathly pale.

But Li Xiaoyu wasn't finished.

His gaze moved away from Tian Ling'er and finally settled on Qi Hao.

"Your path is yours."

"My path is mine."

"Our paths are different. We have nothing to say to each other."

"Please go, Senior Brother Qi."

Those final words crashed through Qi Hao and Tian Ling'er's minds like thunder from the ninth heaven.

The words before that had merely stung their hearts.

But this last sentence tore apart everything they had taken for granted and trampled it underfoot.

Your path is yours;

My path is mine.

This wasn't just about the path of cultivation. It was about one's station in life, one's perspective, one's breadth of vision.

You care about romance, about competing for favor among your fellow disciples, about that pathetic little vanity of yours.

But Li Xiaoyu cares about the stars and the sea, about immortality through the immortal path, about reaching the highest peak.

We're not even from the same world.

Our paths are different. We have nothing to say to each other!

"You..."

Qi Hao pointed at Li Xiaoyu, his lips trembling, but he couldn't utter another word.

All his pride and superiority vanished in that moment.

Qi Hao was like a buffoon jumping around onstage for ages, only to realize the audience had regarded him as a joke all along.

Tian Ling'er was struck as if by lightning. She trembled all over, barely able to stand.

Looking at the unfamiliar young man before her, she finally understood what she had lost.

She hadn't lost a down-and-out fiancé.

She had lost a true powerhouse with an unparalleled Dao Heart.

Tian Ling'er had once been so close to that brilliant starry sky.

Yet she had pushed it away with her own hands.

Endless regret swept over her, leaving her breathless.

"We're leaving!"

Qi Hao couldn't stay a moment longer.

He grabbed the distraught Tian Ling'er and nearly fled as he mounted his flying sword, leaving Morning Sun Peak in a wretched state.

Watching them run off in defeat, the Morning Sun Peak disciples stared for a moment, then erupted into cheers.

"Senior Brother is mighty!"

"Beautifully said! Our paths are different. We have nothing to say to each other!"

They looked at their Senior Brother, their eyes filled with fervent admiration.

He'd made them yield without a fight!

One sentence had pierced their hearts!

That was the bearing and poise of a true Senior Brother of Morning Sun Peak!

Shang Zhengliang stood to the side, watching his disciple with deep satisfaction.

He knew that from this day on, Li Xiaoyu's inner turmoil had been fully resolved.

Nothing could stand in the way of his soaring into the ninth heaven.

Li Xiaoyu paid no attention to the cheers around him.

He simply lifted his head to gaze at the cloudless sky stretching for thousands of miles and breathed out a mouthful of stale air.

The past was smoke.

The future was bright.

After Qi Hao and Tian Ling'er slunk away, Li Xiaoyu's life returned to normal.

He kept to himself each day, focusing solely on consolidating his cultivation and studying swordsmanship.

Several months passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Xiaoyu's cultivation advanced further.

And at last, the grand event held once every sixty years by the Green Cloud Sect—the Seven Meridians Martial Arts Tournament—officially began.

That day, Heaven-Reaching Peak, the main peak of Green Cloud Mountain, was packed with people and buzzing with excitement.

Disciples from all Seven Peaks had gathered there.

Eight platforms had been erected in the Martial Arts Plaza. Banners fluttered all around, and the atmosphere was solemn yet lively.

The Chief Seats and elders of each peak sat high on the viewing platform before Jade Purity Hall, looking down at the Young Generation with expectant smiles.

As Morning Sun Peak's Senior Brother, Li Xiaoyu was naturally among them.

His appearance immediately drew attention from all sides.

"Look, that's Li Xiaoyu from Morning Sun Peak!"

"You mean the guy who languished for six years, then suddenly had an epiphany?"

"I heard he crippled their former Senior Brother, Shen Tiandou, with a single sword strike, and left Qi Hao of Dragon Head Peak speechless. I wonder if it's true."

"Hmph, I bet that story's been exaggerated with every retelling."

"Even if he is a prodigy, he's only at the fourth or fifth layer of the Jade Purity Realm. How powerful could he be?"

The discussions among the disciples of the various peaks reached his ears.

They all wanted to see just how capable this "returned prodigy" really was.

Li Xiaoyu paid them no mind.

He stood calmly among the Morning Sun Peak disciples, surveying the whole venue.

Soon, his gaze settled on the Big Bamboo Peak contingent.