Four streaks of flight light descended onto a plaza halfway up Azure Dragon Mountain.
This immortal mountain spanned dozens of li and rose more than four hundred zhang high. Though its grounds were not particularly extensive, a third-tier spiritual vein lay beneath it, filling the mountain with spiritual energy dense enough to sustain Core Formation cultivators. It was a true blessed haven for immortals.
As his feet touched the gray stone paving, Li Ping's gaze immediately fell on an austere palace several dozen zhang away.
The palace was built entirely from neatly cut blocks of blue marble. Beyond that, it had no additional ornamentation whatsoever and looked decidedly crude.
If Li Ping had to describe it, the palace was an unfinished shell of a building that had just had its roof completed, without so much as an exterior finish.
With even the exterior left unfinished, there was no need to mention the interior. It was pure "Syrian renovation style."
What sort of person would live in a palace like this? Li Ping wondered.
"Fellow Daoist Li, Thirteenth Senior Sister is waiting for you inside. Let's go see her." Meng Qingyi smiled, then led the way toward the austere palace.
Li Ping glanced at the two Foundation Establishment cultivators eyeing him like tigers at his sides, sighed inwardly, and followed Meng Qingyi.
If it was a blessing, it would not be a calamity; if it was a calamity, there was no escaping it.
Since their Thirteenth Senior Sister had instructed them to bring him in for questioning rather than kill him outright, there was still room for maneuver between the two sides.
At least she would not swing a sword at him the moment she saw him. In any case... she probably wouldn't.
"Bzz~"
Li Ping entered the austere palace. Before he could take in his surroundings, a heart-stopping hum rang in his ears. The entire palace, the entire space around him, seemed to shudder violently for an instant!
A three-foot flying sword of blue and white hovered mere inches in front of Li Ping. Its sharp tip pointed straight at the side of his nose, and the translucent sword radiance flickering in and out seemed poised to pierce clean through his head!
At that moment, Li Ping's mind went utterly blank. His heart turned to ice, and every hair on his body rose involuntarily. It was the overwhelming terror of facing death!
Nothing remained in his vision but that hiltless flying sword. Everything else had vanished!
"Senior Sister!"
Meng Qingyi's anxious cry reached his ears. A moment later, the flying sword hovering before Li Ping flashed backward like lightning and landed in a pair of delicate hands, their fingers pale as tender scallion shoots.
Only then did Li Ping's awareness return to his body. He looked up toward the depths of the palace and saw a gray-robed figure seated cross-legged, holding that flying sword in her hands!
Sitting there, she was like a treasured sword concealed in its sheath. Once drawn, it would surely cut down all things!
"Li Ping!"
Her voice rang like a sword. The gray-robed figure raised her head to look at Li Ping, her gaze keen, her razor-sharp presence rushing straight at him.
Li Ping finally saw her clearly. She was a young-looking female cultivator with her hair arranged in a simple bun, sword-like brows, and star-bright eyes. She radiated heroic vigor, and her gaze was like a blade!
Meeting her eyes, Li Ping even felt a needle-like sting across his skin!
A sword cultivator!
Li Ping inwardly cursed his luck. He had never expected the "Thirteenth Senior Sister" who wanted to see him to be a sword cultivator.
Only the sword, only the self!
While the sword lived, its wielder lived; when the sword perished, its wielder perished!
Carry the sword to its utmost, carry the Dao to its utmost, and cultivate a single sword to shatter all arts!
That was what Li Ping knew of sword cultivators. In his eyes, every last one of them was an obsessive lunatic.
Everyone cultivated for longevity, yet sword cultivators bound themselves to a sword in pursuit of combat prowess. What were they if not lunatics?
Some deranged sword cultivators even fell onto the demonic path through deficient training, killing their masters, their fathers, their friends... proving their Dao through slaughter.
"Let me ask you." Dai Sangyu showed no intention of rising and remained seated cross-legged. Her sword-like voice rattled his eardrums as she fixed her gaze on Li Ping. The flying sword hovering in her hands also seemed eager to act. "Where did you obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill you used to reach foundation establishment?"
Under her blade-sharp stare, Li Ping heard the question and suddenly understood. So this is about the Foundation Establishment Pill. Was there something wrong with the person who sold it to me?
Li Ping had bought the Foundation Establishment Pill with spirit stones on the black market. Even then, he had suspected that the pill's origins might be questionable.
But the chance to reach foundation establishment had been within arm's reach. Even if he had known for certain that something was wrong, he could not possibly have given it up.
Besides, the Azure Dragon Mountain lineage had tacitly permitted the black market to exist. His transactions there were protected by its rules, so what did he have to worry about?
Although this sword cultivator's interrogative attitude deeply displeased Li Ping, he believed he had done nothing wrong in purchasing the Foundation Establishment Pill. Besides, beneath another's eaves, he had no choice but to bow his head.
At that thought, Li Ping sighed inwardly before slowly answering, "I bought the Foundation Establishment Pill on the immortal city's black market a little over two months ago."
The flying sword in her hands showed no reaction. Dai Sangyu continued, "Do you know who sold you the Foundation Establishment Pill?"
"He concealed his appearance with a special magical artifact. I don't know who he was," Li Ping answered without hesitation.
The flying sword still showed no reaction. Dai Sangyu asked, "Do you know Lin Yue?"
Li Ping replied, "No!"
Still, the flying sword did not react, but Dai Sangyu's questioning was not over. "Which country are you from?"
Question after question, answer after answer. She asked dozens of questions in succession, laying bare every detail of Li Ping's background, yet the flying sword in her hands still showed not the slightest reaction.
A trace of disappointment appeared in Dai Sangyu's eyes. She waved a hand to indicate that the questioning was over and Li Ping could leave.
Being summoned at a whim and dismissed with a wave naturally left Li Ping even more displeased. But facing a sword cultivator at foundation establishment perfection, he dared not let his feelings show.
Silently marking down this grievance, Li Ping cupped his hands in farewell, then turned and left.
Azure Dragon Mountain was the cultivation seat of a Core Formation True Person. An outsider like Li Ping could not wander freely, so an attendant guided him to a quiet, elegant courtyard.
"Senior, you may rest here for a while. Martial Uncle Meng will come to escort you out shortly."
The attendant respectfully withdrew after speaking, leaving Li Ping alone in the courtyard.
After that round of questioning, Li Ping had confirmed that his trouble seemed to be over.
Yet he still had no idea what had happened, and Dai Sangyu's questions had left him completely lost in the fog.
He could only vaguely guess that the person Dai Sangyu really wanted to go after was the mysterious cultivator who had sold him the Foundation Establishment Pill.
He had merely happened to buy that cultivator's Foundation Establishment Pill, and that was why he had been targeted.
Right, who is Lin Yue, anyway? Reflecting on their earlier conversation, Li Ping found himself with another question.
He waited in the courtyard for a while, but Meng Qingyi had yet to arrive. Li Ping simply sat down cross-legged and began to meditate.
Facing a sword cultivator at foundation establishment perfection, he dared not vent his displeasure.
Now he would cultivate with a vengeance and suck up more of Azure Dragon Mountain's spiritual energy.