He told the girl what he had just said.
"Oh, actually, this is something Jade Feather has spent the past year worrying over-trying to discover what Shang Huaitong relies on," Li Piaoqing said slowly. "Ever since he first came into our sights, he's always been like this."
"Like what?"
"Arrogant, confident-the sort your senior brother couldn't stand," the girl said. "We wanted to know where that attitude came from. We all grew up in Bowang, yet he seemed to look down on this place from the very beginning, placing himself on another plane-proud as the heavens, treating others like grass, determined to enter the Sword Cultivation Academy."
"He has exceptional talent for the Sword Dao."
"Yes. At the poetry gathering, we learned he could create his own sword techniques. That's one explanation, but I still don't think it's his actual foundation of confidence." Li Piaoqing gazed at the sky. "He doesn't seem merely to know he has a chance of ascending to heaven, but to have already found the ladder-Holding the Heart: Untouched, isn't that so?"
Qi Zhaohua nodded slowly. "Only someone already climbing the ladder to heaven could remain composed when buildings and little hills blocked their view."
"..." Pei Ye looked at the two of them and clapped. "Excellent analysis. So, do we have any countermeasures?"
Qi Zhaohua: "..."
Li Piaoqing thought for a moment, then pointed. "Unleash Pei Ye!"
On the other side of the lake, inside a waterside pavilion, Shang Huaitong entered the room and lit a candle, driving out moonlight and darkness alike.
The candlelight revealed a box of plants: seven little grasses growing in soft, dark, damp yellow soil.
He walked over, pulled out the first plant, and threw it onto the floor.
Morning came, and the sun began to rise.
Whatever deductions