With a sword drawn, he laughs proudly, his martial prowess dominating the heavens!

Chapter 18 Something's Wrong with That Brat!

"What is Qi? It is the void, the root of creation. It is infinitely large and infinitely small, vast and boundless, mysterious and limitless... It generates and generates, unchanging through the ages. The essence of Qi, when understood by the divine, resides in the heart."

"Uncle-Master Feng, is there any flaw in this Qi-breaking technique?"

Feng Qingyang stood there dumbfounded for a while, his eyes looking somewhat strange. "You've learned the Dugu Nine Swords, kid?"

"No, it's only three thousand characters. What's so hard about memorizing it?"

Feng Qingyang: "..."

"What's the use of rote memorization? You should know that the essence of the Dugu Nine Swords lies not in the moves, but in the offense, not the defense. Its key lies in the word 'enlightenment'."

You've learned all the sword techniques of the Five Sacred Mountains, you're really greedy. But you don't understand the principle that too many techniques lead to useless ones. If you can't master them all, when facing an enemy, you won't have time to think about which technique to use.

Li Che listened carefully and nodded quite seriously. "Grandmaster Uncle is right. Knowing many things is not as good as specializing in one, just like the difference between sword qi... cough~ What I mean is that the Dugu Nine Swords are about anticipating the enemy's moves, and striking without restraint, using no moves to defeat moves!"

Li Che hastily tried to cover up his mistake, simply summarizing the outline of the Dugu Nine Swords from the original work.

Feng Qingyang, who had been glaring angrily, suddenly beamed with joy. "Well said! Anticipating the enemy's moves and defeating them with no moves is the highest principle of the Dugu Nine Swords."

Che'er, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. The Dugu Nine Swords will surely flourish in your hands!

"Alright, before dawn, let's spar a few more times. Carefully observe and understand the various variations within them."

......

"Senior Brother Li—! Hmm? Where is he?"

Yue Lingshan, carrying the lunchbox, turned around the protruding rock, only to find the cliff edge deserted. Li Che practiced his martial arts every morning, and this was the first time he had missed it. Yue Lingshan thought to herself, "Could it be that Senior Brother Li went down the mountain to finish his seclusion today?"

She ran up the cliff in a few steps, then turned and went into the cave.

Inside the cave, loud snoring filled the air as Li Che lay sprawled on the ground, fast asleep.

The long robe, which had just been washed in the stream last night, was covered in dust again. His left chin was bruised, and a red bump had appeared on his forehead.

Yue Lingshan was stunned for a long time. Had she just climbed back up from the cliff, or had she fought with a wild beast in the mountains?

After looking for a while, she rolled her eyes, smiled and put the lunchbox aside, then tiptoed over, put her right hand in her sleeve, pinched the corner of the sleeve and reached under Li Che's nose.

Yue Lingshan found it amusing when he twitched his nose, but Li Che suddenly jumped up, grabbed her arm, and lifted her up sharply.

"who!"

"Ouch!"

Yue Lingshan was already leaning forward when she lost her footing and fell forward.

Li Che grabbed her right hand with his left hand and raised it above her head. Just as he opened his eyelids, he saw a familiar face right in front of him.

He didn't react for a moment, then two soft lips were pressed against his lips, warm and full, with a faint sweetness.

He instinctively opened his mouth, his teeth and lips touching, as if triggering some kind of mechanism, followed by a scream that shattered his eardrums...

"Ah—! You! You! Let go of my hand!"

Li Che's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he thought to himself: This is bad!

If we let go, that brat will cry and whine and go to her master and mistress to complain. How can things possibly turn out well?

So, Li resorted to his old trick again, "Why did you ambush me again?! Last time I ambushed you, I almost fell off a cliff, why haven't you learned your lesson!"

Your reckless behavior is a grave offense in the martial world. It's only because my sword wasn't with me that you're still alive!

The main tactic is for the wicked to accuse first, pinning a label on someone with seemingly valid reasons, forcing the little girl to hold back her tears.

He had already planned out the script: the girl would blush and "argue" for a while, and then he would appeal to her emotions and reason with her until the brat was defeated and gave in.

Standing on the moral high ground, Li is now invincible!

Li was secretly pleased with himself, and had even thought of his lines.

But after waiting for a long time, nothing happened.

Not only was Yue Lingshan blushing, but her eyes were also darting around in a panic, though she kept stealing glances at Li Che out of the corner of her eye.

She pursed her lips, not uttering a single word, her eyes seemingly brimming with tears.

"Li... Senior Brother Li, you're hurting me."

"Ah? Oh, I'm sorry, junior sister, I... I went to bed too late last night. You know, those who practice martial arts..."

Her behavior left Li Che at a loss, and he quickly loosened his grip on her wrist.

Yue Lingshan rubbed her wrist, glanced at him, and said in a trembling voice with a flushed face, "Li... Senior Brother Li, hurry up and eat, it's still warm. I know Father has high expectations for you, but you also need to take care of your health."

"Look at your face, all bruised and battered. You eat first, I... I'll go back and get you some medicine for your injuries."

After saying that, he got up and left.

"No, no, no! Ouch—!"

"Senior Brother Li, what's wrong?"

Li Che grimaced and cried out in pain, cursing inwardly, "That stubborn old man is really ruthless! Just you wait, once I've mastered my martial arts, I'll definitely... Never mind, let him vent his anger, maybe he'll live a few more years."

The incident occurred last night when we were exchanging sword moves.

Li Che thought that the old man wanted to teach by example, and this opportunity was truly rare.

But before they could even exchange ten blows, he had already been kicked twice in the buttocks.

After twenty moves, he bent over, clutching his stomach and panting heavily.

After thirty moves, the outside of his thigh was stinging from the wooden stick in his hand.

After forty moves, he felt the wooden branch in his hand become incredibly heavy.

Fifty moves...

Sixty moves...

......

The old man, seemingly suffering greatly from years of seclusion, was remarkably energetic. He didn't release Li Che until the moon was setting in the west, leaving only the words: "Carefully study the sword intent. If you haven't improved next time, hmph—!"

Li Che had been chiseling at the stone wall for three days and practicing his sword all night. He was covered in wounds and injuries. He had only been asleep for half an hour when Yue Lingshan arrived. At this moment, his whole body ached and his limbs were still trembling.

If Lao Yue knew he was injured, he would definitely come to see him.

Yue Lingshan is adorably naive, but Old Yue is a shrewd man who can tell at a glance that she has been injured by a martial arts master.

It wouldn't have been a problem to tell him about Feng Qingyang, but given his current predicament, it's not a good time.

Adhering to the principle of avoiding trouble, Li Che mustered his spirits and tried his best to maintain the dignity of a senior brother, saying, "I forgot the time while practicing last night, and I slipped and fell while washing up in the mountain stream at night."

It's nothing serious, don't worry Master and Mistress.

"Oh, Senior Brother Li, you always put others first, but... but they might not appreciate it!"

Li Che: "???"

What does this girl mean? Is there a hidden meaning in her words?

Li Che put down the bowl of porridge, glanced at her, and met her somewhat evasive gaze.

The two tacitly avoided mentioning their earlier physical contact.

"What's wrong? Has something happened inside again?"

Yue Lingshan hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said, "No, everyone is fine. My fellow disciples have been practicing martial arts diligently lately, and I can see that. My parents are also in a much better mood."

And there's also the Eighth Senior Brother!

Father learned from him about the method you taught him to practice swordsmanship, and he found it very innovative.

But as you know, among us fellow disciples, besides our parents, only Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother can split things up like this, so..."

Yue Lingshan kept rambling on and on, and didn't stop until Li Che finished eating.

However, he astutely noticed that when referring to Linghu Chong, "senior brother" was changed to "eldest brother".

......