Chapter 347 ·Fame Shakes the Azure Dragon Domain

“By the way, what is your cultivation level?”

Li Qingqiu asked again. He only knew that the Sword Demon’s cultivation was very high, but it was hard to determine exactly which realm.

After all, he had never seen a third cultivator in the Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm. As for Wei Tianxiong, his realm had already fallen to the Spirit Sense Realm.

And he himself was only at the first layer of the Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm.

Hearing this, the Sword Demon turned his head to look at him, staring fixedly with a strange gaze that made Li Qingqiu feel somewhat uneasy.

Li Qingqiu snorted, “What are you looking at? I’ve only just stepped into the Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm. And the place I came from doesn’t even have that realm—I didn’t have a master to teach me cultivation either.”

Since the Sword Demon would follow him back to the Clear Sky Sect anyway, he would learn about these things sooner or later.

“What? You only just entered the Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm?” the Sword Demon asked with widened eyes, unable to hide his shock.

Li Qingqiu possessed the special fate traits “Righteous Qi of Vast Integrity,” “Hundred-Refinement Demonic Body,” and “Undying Tyrant Body.” All three could obscure his true cultivation.

The Sword Demon could only sense that Li Qingqiu’s Vital Energy surpassed his own, so he had mistakenly assumed Li Qingqiu’s realm was higher.

Li Qingqiu asked back, “Is there a problem?”

“How old are you?” the Sword Demon continued, this time with a cautious tone.

“Forty-eight this year.”

“…”

The Sword Demon fell silent, clutching the Supreme Sword tightly in his arms as if he might snap it in two.

“You still haven’t answered me. What is your cultivation level?” Li Qingqiu pressed.

The Sword Demon took a deep breath and said, “Ninth layer of the Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm.”

That high?

Li Qingqiu looked at him in delight. But such a gaze only made the Sword Demon feel worse.

Losing to Li Qingqiu was already unacceptable—yet the opponent’s cultivation was far lower than his, and the age gap was enormous. How could he accept this?

Fifty years ago, the Sword Demon had already reached the ninth layer of the Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm. To him, fifty years passed quickly.

Before this, he could not have imagined that someone could go from birth to surpassing him within fifty years.

At this moment, the Sword Demon felt lost. He began to doubt whether he could even be considered a genius.

Meanwhile, Li Qingqiu was filled with joy, already envisioning a bright future.

For the rest of the journey, the Sword Demon said nothing.

However, Li Qingqiu noticed that his loyalty toward him was increasing. Though slow, it was steady—rising by one or two points every hour.

What was this?

Was he… conquering himself?

…

On the way back to the Clear Sky Sect, they did not encounter any other great cultivators of the Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm, but they did run into batch after batch of cultivators from the Myriad Yin Sect.

Li Qingqiu did not hold back just to give his disciples opportunities for tempering. As long as they were from the Myriad Yin Sect—regardless of age or gender—he killed them on sight. Those cultivators often didn’t even have time to react before being beheaded.

He also took their storage magic implements along the way.

Only after entering the Nine Provinces did they stop encountering Myriad Yin Sect cultivators.

After holding it in for two days, the Sword Demon finally couldn’t help asking, “Are you lacking cultivation resources?”

Li Qingqiu replied with a question, “Aren’t you?”

“I don’t need them.”

“No wonder you’re still stuck at the ninth layer of the Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm.”

“…”

The Sword Demon fell silent again, and for the entire day afterward, he did not speak another word. Even after arriving at the Clear Sky Sect and being assigned to the Sword Sect Hall, he said nothing, shutting himself alone in a room.

That evening, Li Qingqiu summoned Li Dongyue, Zhang Yuchun, and Li Sijin, taking out a Storage Pouch.

“There are eight million high-grade spirit stones inside. Put them into the Dao Treasury.”

The three were overjoyed. After checking and counting, they became even more excited.

“Senior Brother, where did you get so many spirit stones?” Li Dongyue couldn’t help asking.

In truth, including the Ancient Ruins and the spoils from the Myriad Yin Sect cultivators, Li Qingqiu’s gains far exceeded ten million high-grade spirit stones.

But he couldn’t take everything out—otherwise, it would be inconvenient for him to use them later.

Rules that were too perfect were not necessarily good—at least for him as the Sect Master, they imposed too many constraints. He had to consider himself as well.

Li Qingqiu replied, “I went west and discovered an Ancient Ruins. There are still many treasures left uncollected, but it’s too far away. We’ll have to wait until we survive this crisis with the Myriad Yin Sect before going back.”

He then took out several more Storage Pouches, placing them all on the table. Inside were heavenly materials, earthly treasures, and magic implements.

Of course, he had secretly kept a portion for himself.

After all, he had obtained everything alone—it was perfectly reasonable even if he gave nothing to the sect.

Li Sijin became especially excited. As the Hall Master of the Cultivation Hall, heavenly materials, elixirs, and talismans all fell under her management. She usually bore great pressure—disciples constantly came to her for cultivation resources, and allocating them properly required considerable thought.

After chatting with them for a while, Li Qingqiu called Zhu Yan and handed over the collected magic implements.

Zhu Yan was not as excited. Magic implements generally required Dao fate in exchange, and disciples could wait for them. Since the sect was still developing, her pressure was not as great as Li Sijin’s.

However, she was still shocked by Li Qingqiu’s harvest.

The Sect Master truly was formidable!

Li Qingqiu then met with the other hall masters one by one. As for the Sword Demon, he did not mention him to anyone, letting him adapt for a while first.

Of course, he would also observe the Sword Demon to prevent any trouble.

After returning to the Clear Sky Sect, Li Qingqiu finally felt at ease. While outside, he always worried about something happening to the sect.

If disciples died during tempering, he could not control that. But if something happened to the sect itself, his junior brothers and sisters would suffer—and his Dao Lineage Panel would collapse.

Thus, the safety of the sect had to come first.

…

As the scorching summer arrived, time passed into August.

The Sword Demon still had not integrated into the Clear Sky Sect. He had not even spoken a single word to the Sword Sect Hall disciples. It seemed no one there was worthy of his regard, and he had not guided anyone.

It appeared that his “Fond of Teaching” fate trait had its own standards.

Li Qingqiu did not force him to teach disciples. Although he had defeated him, winning someone’s heart required giving them respect.

Fortunately, over these months, the Sword Demon’s loyalty had been steadily increasing.

To this day, the upper ranks of the Clear Sky Sect still did not know that a ninth-layer Heaven-Connecting Radiance Realm cultivator was hidden within the sect.

The war between the Clear Sky Sect and the Myriad Yin Sect continued. Both sides exchanged blows, locked in a stalemate.

Chu Jing sent back information: the Myriad Yin Sect had previously been attacked by a mysterious expert, losing hundreds of disciples and suffering a blow to morale.

Li Qingqiu quietly took the credit without revealing himself.

As more and more victory reports came from the Clear Sky Sect, the Myriad Yin Sect seemed to be preparing to get serious. According to spies planted by Chu Jing and Wei Tianxiong, they were gathering their forces.

…

Azure Dragon Domain, Heavenly Clear Immortal Sect.

Lin Xunfeng, dressed in a green robe, arrived at a Dao Mountain. A great cultivator of the immortal sect was giving a lecture here, and he intended to listen.

Not just anyone could attend—Fang Shuang, who had introduced him to the sect, had recommended him.

Fang Shuang held a very high status among the disciples of the Heavenly Clear Immortal Sect. To this day, Lin Xunfeng had not figured out her background. With her support, he received many conveniences wherever he went.

Stepping on his flying sword, Lin Xunfeng ascended along the long stairway. Along the path, other disciples also flew along the steps on swords or magic implements, each exuding extraordinary bearing befitting immortal sect disciples.

He advanced alone, but did not feel lonely—many disciples were just like him, acting independently.

The advantage of going alone was fewer troubles. As long as he did not infringe on others’ interests, no one would scheme against or bully him.

Reaching the top, he stepped off his flying sword, which then slipped into his Storage Pouch.

Looking ahead, he saw a vast plaza. Numerous disciples of the Heavenly Clear Immortal Sect landed there, including great cultivators surrounded by followers, chatting and laughing. In this place, he was utterly insignificant.

His gaze fell upon a grand palace ahead. The gate alone was over a hundred zhang tall. At both ends of the eaves lay two Qilin, exhaling scorching flames from their nostrils.

Above the gate hung a plaque inscribed with four large characters:

Heavenly Abode Inquiry of the Dao!

Within the gate, he could only see flowing lights, unable to discern the interior.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward.

He was just a small figure—there was no need to be timid. He only needed to quietly listen to the lecture and then leave.

After only a few steps, a sharp cry sounded from the sky. Turning his head, he saw two Azure Birds flying from the horizon, radiating multicolored light. They were bound by ropes, pulling a massive carriage. Upon the carriage stood three figures, like immortal beings.

Azure Birds pulling a carriage!

Lin Xunfeng was inwardly shocked. Azure Birds were auspicious creatures—within the Heavenly Clear Immortal Sect, not just anyone could ride them. Even Fang Shuang did not have the qualification to command them.

As the Azure Birds approached, Lin Xunfeng’s attention was drawn to the central figure on the carriage.

It was a young woman.

She wore white robes with a flowing azure outer garment like drifting clouds. A golden phoenix belt cinched her waist, and a jeweled golden crown adorned her head, her long hair coiled beneath it. Her delicate features were fully revealed—stunningly beautiful, not like a mortal woman. Her skin was as white as jade, and her gaze seemed to look down upon all living beings. Simply standing there gave her an unattainable aura.

It was the first time Lin Xunfeng had seen a woman with such presence—even Fang Shuang could not compare.

“Isn’t that the Sect Master’s daughter, Fairy Linghuan? She actually returned?”

“She disappeared for nearly ten years—I thought she had already met with misfortune.”

“I heard she was saved by a wandering cultivator. The Sect Master wants to thank him, but they can’t find him.”

“I heard that too. That wandering cultivator is incredibly powerful—he even subdued the Sword Demon.”

“Really? What’s his name?”

Listening to the surrounding discussions, Lin Xunfeng suddenly understood.

No wonder she carried such grandeur—she was the Sect Master’s daughter.

At the same time, he became very interested in that wandering cultivator who had saved Fairy Linghuan.

Over the years in the Heavenly Clear Immortal Sect, he had heard many notable events from the Azure Dragon Domain—including stories about the Sword Demon.

The Sword Demon was definitely a prominent figure. His feats stirred longing in others.

To subdue the Sword Demon—what kind of person must that be?

He would surely become famous throughout the Azure Dragon Domain!

Lin Xunfeng silently memorized that wandering cultivator’s name.

Li Bai!