Loyal Heart Roaming the Skies

Li Jianqiu stood motionless under the giant stone, only the flame sword's fire swaying in the mountain wind.

Jiang Wang walked to his side and saw the words carved on the stone.

"In the twelfth year of Yongtai, after a hundred battles, undefeated with empty hands, leaving words for future generations to admire!"

The signature was Wu.

It seemed unfinished as there was a vertical line next to it, obviously just a starting stroke.

Yongtai was the current emperor's reign title. It was now the fourteenth year of Zhuangli Yongtai, which was the year 3917 in the Dao calendar.

In other words, the words on this stone were left two years ago. It was the time when the first clearing of the Shubipeng was completed.

After Li Jianqiu killed the fierce beast, he neither boasted nor summarized, nor did he continue forward. Instead, he stopped in front of this obviously story-filled stone, silent.

This atmosphere even made Huang Azhan, who was usually carefree, shut his mouth.

After a moment of silence, Li Jianqiu finally drew the sword from his waist in front of Jiang Wang and the others for the first time.

This was the first time Jiang Wang had seen this sword unsheathed.

Bright and brilliant were the first words that came to mind, which were not usually used to describe swords, but were so appropriate for this one.

Li Jianqiu held the sword with one hand and added a few strokes to the stone.

Wu Shan.

This name was ordinary, but it should be the senior who looked invincible.

Li Jianqiu moved the sword's edge and started a new line on the stone, writing: "Descendants come to admire!"

Then another line was started, with the signature: "Li Jianqiu, the loser."

The stone dust fell like a veil, concealing some emotions within.

"Let's go." Li Jianqiu turned and said, "Let's go to the mountaintop."

They walked around the giant stone and stepped on the decaying branches and leaves, moving forward among the rugged mountain rocks.

There might have been a path here before, but after two years, it had returned to its original state.

There was no road in the mountains, but the path was under their feet.

"I saw your sword was broken just now. We can exchange it for a magical long sword if we complete the Shubipeng clearing task separately. I'll give it to you." Li Jianqiu said casually.

"How can that be?" Jiang Wang waved his hand and said, "The task wasn't completed by me alone, and you were the main force..."

As a cultivator who was used to using swords, Jiang Wang's desire for a good sword was self-evident. If it was just him and Zhao Rucheng on this trip, he would feel embarrassed to accept it. But his relationship with Li Jianqiu, and even Huang Azhan, wasn't that close.

Li Jianqiu patted his long sword at his waist and said, "I have a peach branch. I don't need any other sword."

It turned out that this sword was called Peach Branch, which was such an appropriate name for its bright and brilliant appearance, Jiang Wang thought.

Li Jianqiu continued, "This level of magical sword should be worth about six hundred Dao merits. You can give us each one hundred Dao merits."

By doing so, Jiang Wang still made a profit. But for the others, it wasn't a loss either, as Dao merits were hard currency, and the items they could exchange for the task might not be suitable for them.

"Okay." Jiang Wang no longer hesitated.

The other two had no objections either.

Li Jianqiu turned to Huang Azhan and said, "From your Taoist skills, you should be on the same path as Shen Nanqi, just one is in the gold path and the other in the fire path."

Huang Azhan scratched his head and smiled, "I'm just speculating on my own, it's not a system.""The Fire Dao technique is violent, you need to pay more attention to controlling the technique itself. For example, the Flame Bullet technique." Li Jianqiu casually formed a seal, creating a flame bullet.

"When it explodes, how it explodes, the scale, the speed. You need to be able to control it freely." The flame bullet under Li Jianqiu's control suddenly moved forward and backward, expanding and shrinking, and then suddenly accelerated, shattering a rock.

"Thank you for your guidance." Huang Ahzhan bowed respectfully, expressing his gratitude.

Li Jianqiu waved his hand and said to Zhao Rucheng, "You're very smart. Previously, I said that among you, Du Yehu had the highest combat talent, but I didn't expect to overlook you. Your combat talent is not inferior to his, but he relies on his innate combat intuition."

He pointed at his head, "You rely on this."

Zhao Rucheng laughed, "Really? I didn't even know that."

Huang Ahzhan pondered for a moment, "Wait, Senior Brother Li, does this mean that among the three of us, only I need guidance?"

Li Jianqiu smiled without speaking.

In the fierce battle just now, he was able to grasp every detail of each person's combat, which was enough to show his mastery.

However, for some reason, he did not perform at a level that matched his strength during the Three Cities Dao Debate.

A wolf hair brush, with a straight handle and a round and full brush head, and a sharp tip like a fine awl.

When turned upside down, it resembled the general shape of the Vertical Brush Peak.

After crossing the mountainside and going up a bit further, it was the position of the brush head, which was also the widest cross-section of the entire Vertical Brush Peak.

This place was also the base camp of the fierce beasts on Vertical Brush Peak.

From a distance, the group could already hear the roars of the beasts. As they approached, some impatient beasts rushed out.

This seemed to be a signal, and immediately various fierce beasts swarmed out like a hornet's nest exploding.

Wind Centipedes, Rock Snakes, Tiger Jackals, Mountain Spiders...

Under these circumstances, Li Jianqiu still had the leisure to roughly count the number, "Not bad, less than a hundred, far from forming a scale."

He stepped forward, and the peach branch was drawn!

The sword light was dazzling, and the sword qi was vast.

The whole person, in a magnificent and charming red, squeezed into the tide of beasts.

It was like the arrival of spring, with peach blossoms blooming.

The peach blossoms were blood-colored, and what bloomed were souls.

Li Jianqiu, like a red tide, swept through the tide of beasts.

Jiang Wang and the others didn't even have a chance to take action, and they stared dumbfounded at the scene.

The red tide receded, and all the roars and howls were silenced.

Only Li Jianqiu's thin figure stood straight.

One person, one sword, and a ground full of fierce beast corpses.

Such a scene was like a bold and unrestrained painting!

"Senior Brother Li." Huang Ahzhan was shocked and even forgot to flatter, "You're so strong, why do you need us?"

Li Jianqiu held the peach branch and looked at the mountainside. Surrounded by the corpses of the fierce beasts, he suddenly let out a long howl!

The sound shook the cliffs and echoed through the distant mountains.

It was as if all the depression had been released, and there was an indescribable sense of exhilaration!

After his long howl, he sheathed his sword and said, "The person who left the words on the stone tablet loved to show off and boast in front of others. I brought you here to fulfill his wish to be admired by his juniors."

Jiang Wang hesitated and asked, "Was that Senior Brother Wu Shan... also a student of our Fenglin City Dao Academy?"

"He should be in the same period as Master Zhu, but his strength is far worse. His strength back then was far inferior to mine now." Li Jianqiu shook his head, and the expression on his face was unclear whether it was more nostalgic or more bitter.

"I told you before, right? All my teammates are dead."

Li Jianqiu paused for a moment, then continued, "They died under his leadership."

He turned his back to Jiang Wang and the others, looking in the direction of the summit of Vertical Brush Peak, or perhaps just to turn his back to them.

His voice echoed in the mountains, "He was extremely weak. But when the tide of beasts suddenly erupted and broke through the defense line, he stood in front of the tide. He said that we, the students of Fenglin City Dao Academy, couldn't let the people of San Shan City look down on us."

"They all stood in front of the tide of beasts, and I ran away."

Jiang Wang and the others looked at his lonely figure, swaying in the mountain wind, and suddenly understood the meaning of the inscription he left behind, "The Wastrel Li Jianqiu."

This line of words had probably been engraved in his heart for two years, more than seven hundred days and nights.

Only after he truly engraved these words on the stone wall and killed all the fierce beasts of Vertical Brush Peak could he finally reconcile with himself.