Chapter 31: The Utmost Cutting Edge! Did You Ask My Permission Before Testing Me?
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Li the Immortal entered the Ye residence with the maid who had delivered the invitation.
They passed through covered corridors and waterside pavilions, wound around ornamental rocks and meandering streams, and were finally led into a secluded garden of exquisite beauty.
“Please wait here, Young Master Li. The family head will arrive shortly.”
“Mm.”
Li the Immortal stood with his hands clasped behind his back, surveying his surroundings with evident interest.
The garden was elegant and graceful, with begonias reigning as its undisputed stars.
Layer upon layer of pink and white blossoms bent the branches beneath their weight. Drifting clouds were reflected in the pond, while koi shattered the daylight with every flick of their tails.
The rugged Taihu rocks had been weathered by time into honeycomb-like hollows, with scattered petals resting in their crevices.
Just as Li the Immortal was admiring the scenery, heavy and hurried footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.
He spun around.
Two burly men of nearly identical appearance came charging toward him, wrapped in a savage aura.
Without saying a word, both men erupted with soul power.
In an instant, flowers and leaves whirled wildly, the pond churned, and a murderous atmosphere swept across the entire beautiful garden.
The sudden turn of events startled Li the Immortal. He floated backward, retreating several steps.
He had never imagined that, after accepting an invitation and coming here without enmity toward anyone, he would be attacked the moment he arrived.
“These two are at least Soul Ancestors above level forty!”
The thought had barely crossed his mind when the two burly men let out an angry roar.
Black-violet vines covered in thorns erupted before them, growing and spreading with terrifying speed.
At the same time, two purple soul rings rose beneath their feet.
“Fourth Soul Skill—Net of Ghost Vines!” ×2
The grotesque vines, each as thick as an adult’s waist, intertwined furiously.
In the blink of an eye, they formed a colossal black net that blotted out the sky, descending over Li the Immortal’s head with suffocating force.
Whoosh—!
The cage of vines swallowed Li the Immortal’s figure in an instant.
Seeing this, the two burly men curled their lips and shook their heads with mocking laughter.
“That’s all?”
“So this is Sword and Wine? Nothing special!”
“Why did the family head send the two of us brothers to test him?”
“He can’t even withstand a single move from us…”
Before they could finish speaking, a clear sword light burst forth without warning.
Its brilliance made the two burly men instinctively narrow their eyes.
Then they saw their own vine prison silently split in two, revealing the young man in white within.
“How… how is this possible?!”
Disbelief surged across their faces.
Li the Immortal held the Azure Lotus Sword, its surface smooth and lustrous as jade marrow, and abruptly twisted his wrist.
Clang—!
A clear sword cry rang throughout the garden.
Twelve azure lotuses suddenly bloomed along the spine of the sword!
A chilling sword intent spread through the air, and the temperature in the garden plummeted.
The two brothers felt a bone-piercing sense of mortal danger seize their hearts. Their hair stood on end as they hurriedly shouted:
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“Sword and Wine, please show mercy!”
“We are advisers to the Ye family! We were ordered by the family head to test your strength!”
“Your strength has been acknowledged. Please stop!”
“Test me?”
Li the Immortal sneered.
No one saw how he had drawn his sword.
A fine azure line, so faint it was almost impossible to detect, appeared in empty space, as though a fissure had been cut into reality itself.
The two brothers were horrified. Soul power surged wildly throughout their bodies.
The black vines twisted together like enormous serpents, instantly constructing a thick thorn-covered barrier before them.
Yet that seemingly indestructible wall of vines—
The moment it touched the azure line, it was sliced apart as easily as rotting paper.
Crystalline azure radiance lingered along the severed edges, and wisps of razor-sharp energy refused to dissipate, forcibly preventing the vines from regenerating.
After cleaving through the vine barrier, the ghostly azure sword light continued onward.
It transformed into an invisible, fan-shaped blade that swept across the garden.
Puff—
Puff—
Puff—
Within thirty paces, branches, grass, trees, and even a corner of the ornamental rockery—everything touched by the attack was cleanly severed.
The begonia petals falling from the sky had not yet reached the ground when the residual sword energy shattered them into a mournful crimson mist. It mingled with the beads of blood spraying from the waists of the two Soul Ancestors, condensing in the air into a tragic haze.
On the bluestone paving, the two brothers lay severed at the waist in pools of blood, shrieking in agony.
The coldness in Li the Immortal’s handsome eyes was sharper than the edge of his sword.
“Testing me?”
“Did you have my permission?”
“If you dared to test me, you should have been prepared to die.”
He had devoted himself to the arduous study of the sword. Now that his swordsmanship had entered the realm of perfection, he was not someone others could casually use for a trial.
Li the Immortal did not spare a glance for the two men, whose breaths were gradually weakening.
Instead, he reached behind him and removed the Clear Spring wine gourd from his waist, tilting his head back to take several gulps.
Buzz—!
Buzz—!
Substantial-looking cold light flickered restlessly along the Azure Lotus Sword.
The space surrounding the blade rippled visibly, as though unable to withstand such absolute sharpness.
Li the Immortal surveyed the blood-soaked wreckage of the garden, which no longer retained even a trace of its former beauty, and spoke coldly:
“Is this how the Ye family treats its guests?”
At that very moment, a steady, unhurried rhythm of footsteps came from the secluded path leading into the garden.
Li the Immortal narrowed his eyes and looked over.
Two slender figures approached, their steps almost perfectly synchronized.
The woman in front wore a dark violet gown that fell all the way to her ankles.
Her hands were folded over her lower abdomen. Her bearing was dignified, her features beautiful, yet her face held not the slightest expression. Her eyes were as tranquil as still water, as though the bloody scene before her were nothing more than dust.
Half a step behind her walked a blue-haired girl.
The moment Li the Immortal saw her bearing, his gaze grew slightly intent. She was none other than Ye Lingling, the current inheritor of the Nine-Heart Begonia, whom he had encountered once before in the Great Spirit Arena.
She was not wearing a veil today, revealing a gentle yet excessively pale face. That pallor added a fragile, almost breakable quality to her cool reserve.
She wore a plain white dress, cinched at the waist with nothing more than a purple ribbon, making her slender waist seem too delicate to grasp.
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The girl possessed both an ethereal air and an aura of detachment, enough to make the heart tremble at the sight of her.
If he had to describe her…
A thought suddenly surfaced in Li the Immortal’s mind:
She was like a withered begonia blossom.
Several breaths later, the mother and daughter of the Ye family stepped into the garden, where the scent of blood had yet to fade.
Before Li the Immortal’s astonished gaze, Madam Ye moved with gentle, lotus-like steps across the cracked bluestone paving.
Wherever the hem of her gown brushed past, tender green shoots emerged from the fissures.
A colossal, illusory Nine-Heart Begonia bloomed brilliantly behind her.
Pink petals drifted down like rain. At the severed ends of flowers and plants cut apart by the sword energy, waves of emerald vitality surged forth. Even the withered branches burst into countless plump buds at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In the space of a few moments, the garden, which had been steeped in blood and murderous intent, returned to its former beauty—indeed, it seemed even more vibrant than before.
Only the two brothers lying in pools of blood looked somewhat out of place.
Madam Ye raised one slender hand.
Drops of crystalline dew, fragrant beyond description, fell from the hearts of the begonia blossoms.
Amid the sticky sound of flesh writhing, their broken spines reconnected like bamboo shoots lengthening in spring.
A mere dozen seconds later, the two brothers, who had been on the brink of death, knelt before Madam Ye on one knee, their faces filled with emotion.
“Thank you, Family Head Ye, for saving our lives.”
Madam Ye’s pale violet eyes remained fixed on Li the Immortal.
Her voice was like a clear stream formed by snow melting on a mountain—cold without being harsh, gentle without being cloying.
“Leave.”
“Yes.”
The two brothers bowed and withdrew.
Before departing, they cast a fearful glance at Li the Immortal.
The garden now held only Li the Immortal and the mother and daughter of the Ye family.
Before he could speak, Madam Ye said softly:
“My subordinates acted rashly in testing you and disturbed you, Young Master Li. Please forgive them.”
Li the Immortal was slightly surprised.
This family head of the Ye clan, who appeared so lofty, aloof, and coldly distant, was actually being so courteous?
The anger in his heart eased somewhat, though his displeasure at having been tested without cause remained.
Li the Immortal had no intention of exchanging pleasantries. He cupped his hands and came straight to the point.
“Since Family Head Ye invited me here, I assume it was not merely to let me witness the wonders of the Nine-Heart Begonia’s healing abilities.”
“If there is something you wish to discuss, please speak plainly.”
Madam Ye fell silent for a moment.
Those pale violet eyes, which seemed capable of seeing straight through the human heart, gazed at Li the Immortal. Her thin lips parted slightly.
“Young Master Li called the Nine-Heart Begonia wondrous.”
“Then tell me—within your heart, compared with the Seven-Treasure Glazed Pagoda… which is stronger, and which weaker?”
Li the Immortal knitted his brows but said nothing.
Madam Ye’s gaze deepened. Her voice remained calm and placid, yet it seemed to carry the weight of fate itself.
“Have you ever heard…”
“Of the contest for the Heaven-Healing Sacred Tower?”