Chapter 202

Li Piaoqing lifted the flap to look, and it was the Sword Theory book that the young man had casually thrown in. At this time, under her kneading, it had wrinkled the paper note that had just been sent.

The young girl opened her mouth apologetically, took them both out, smoothed the small note carefully, and carefully tucked it into the pages of the book. And in this process, something slipped from the mouth of the small cloth bag on her lap, and a folded piece of paper was brought out and fell to the ground.

The young girl tilted her head and took a look, first closing the book pages in her hand and putting them back into the cloth bag, before lowering her head to pick it up and unfold it, wanting to see what it was.

She suddenly paused halfway through opening it.

The material and color of this paper were exactly the same as the small note just now.

The young girl looked down, and the ink marks showing through from the back were already faintly visible. Unlike the brief small note just now, this paper did not have one or two lines, but a fairly long paragraph.

It was no longer a note; this was truly a letter.

After realizing this, Li Piaoqing subconsciously folded it back up, but paused halfway again, her two fingers hooked together and slowly twisted twice. Then the young girl secretly glanced at the young man on the field and unfolded the paper again, this time much more gently.

Sure enough, it was that clear handwriting again.

"Grateful for the letter, I am already at Tianshan."

It turned out to be a reply as well.

"This is the last place. Tianshan's sword is high, cold, and strong, unique in the world, and the heritage is ancient. I will stay here for a while, and then go to the Sword Gate mentioned by Senior Yue to linger for a while, before heading east to return."

"Thank you for taking care of Liuli; I can sense its condition. Thank you for your day and night treatment, but there is no need to let it come over; it was originally left for your protection—was the fight last night okay? Were you injured? For any needs, you can reply to me with this small sword."

"Don't accommodate me regarding the date; just make any arrangements as you wish, I can always find you."

"Congratulations on your achievements in the martial arts hall, and I also congratulate you in advance for your stunning performance in the martial arts competition. As for your concern about not being able to win the championship, there is really no need to care too much. Whether it's first, second, fourth, or eighth, even if you lose in the first round, you are still the top genius of Shaolong. When the carp and kun are hidden, and the dragon and peng have not yet flown, setbacks and losses are inevitable; don't always look at the gains and losses on the left and right, just look forward."

"My sword inquiry is also going very smoothly, with talents from all sects standing like a forest, and I have gained a lot. We can talk about it when we meet, but the premise is that you must lay a good foundation for your sword theory."

Reading to this point, Li Piaoqing seemed to understand and yet not understand, until the last sentence below, which made her feel as if she had been frozen, her body pausing for a moment.

—"How is your reading of the 'General Theory of Six Dynasties Sword Art' going?"

"..."

So it was here.

The young girl slowly rubbed this letter paper. She could almost imagine the young man gasping when he saw this sentence, and couldn't help but smile.

Then the smile quickly faded.

He must have lit an oil lamp and read for a long time that night, and when she taught him to draw his eyebrows the next day, he was absent-minded, also thinking about this unfinished task.

No wonder he was suddenly inseparable from his books. She originally thought the young man was too self-disciplined, and that even if the tasks he arranged for himself were delayed, he had to complete them on time, but it turned out... someone was checking.

The young girl felt a deep curiosity about the person on the other side of the letter. Seeing Pei Ye called it a "friend," but this peaceful explanation, casual urging, coupled with the unattainable status, and the way the young man put it away "treasuring it," all looked more like a strict teacher.

The young girl's gaze moved down. There was only one small character left in this letter, which should be the signature, saying: "Ming."

Ming what? What Ming?

This kind of single-character signature actually has some small nuances. Although not definitive, generally speaking, leaving a character with respect is more formal; leaving a single character as a name is a more intimate and casual relationship, generally common among siblings, partners, or close friends; while leaving a surname is between the two, about the feeling of being casual but not intimate.

Thoughts flashed through Li Piaoqing's mind, feeling a bit strange, but she didn't think about it anymore. In fact... she felt a little down.

Because the young man, who was always composed and stable in her eyes, did not have the slightest panic or retreat when facing the Seven Lives, as if he were omnipotent and never lost his composure, but in fact, he also had moments of confusion.

He would also feel down because he might not be able to win the championship, and even doubt himself, so he mentioned it to this friend in the book, and this friend also keenly captured this emotion and replied with gentle and powerful encouragement.

And a word of urging made him face a formidable enemy.

Not because the young man had such a side, but because...

Li Piaoqing clearly dismantled this mood, and then bit her lip in a daze.

—

On the field.

No one else came up to spar, and Seeing Pei Ye sheathed his sword and saluted in all directions.

And on the literary side, a tall man in black witnessed all this, his bright eyes falling on the young man, his feet already taking a step forward.

He pressed his sword with one hand, but his other arm was held tightly by Qi Zhaohua, and the woman frowned and said: "Don't go, let's just follow the plan."

Qijiao Shang Huaitong didn't speak, his hand lingering on the sword hilt. After a long silence, until he watched the young man finish his salute and step down, he sighed lightly, turned his head and smiled: "Okay, since you have arranged it, I will naturally listen to you."

Qi Zhaohua let go of his arm and smiled: "Since Cuiyu dares to let him take the stage, they must have the confidence to win against you. Since we can win without fighting, there is no need to take this risk."

"Win against me with a Fourth Life?" Qijiao Shang Huaitong smiled disapprovingly, "Even if there is a possibility of winning against me, I will not avoid this kind of challenge."

He took his hand off the sword hilt and chuckled softly: "On the sword, I can decide the winner with anyone in a fair and square manner."

Qi Zhaohua didn't know what she thought of, smiled, and looked at the man who was increasingly revealing his true self in front of her: "Anyway, we can wait for the opportunity of the martial arts competition."

"Not bad." Qijiao Shang Huaitong nodded, muttering slowly, "Seeing Pei Ye..."

Afterward, the poetry reading on the literary side was finished. Almost one-fifth of the scholars participated in writing poems, so it wasn't until the young man finished eight rounds that the evaluation was finished and the egrets were released.

There were still scholars arguing: "How is my couplet not good?"

"My second line is 'Clothes in the mountain mist,' the sound is the same as 'the end of the mountain,' what did you match it with?"

"..."

On the other side, several famous scholars smiled and opened the cages. Suddenly, groups of egrets flew into the blue sky. Pointing and counting, those under seven didn't need to be mentioned. There were five works with eight or nine egrets, and the most eye-catching were the last three waves, with a total of thirty-one white egrets flying up, almost emptying the cages.

They were two ten-egret works and one eleven-egret work. According to the experience of previous years, this was a work that could firmly carry the tripod and could be recorded in the "Poetry Collection of Luzhou" of the Han Pavilion.

In this poetry gathering before the Golden Autumn Martial Arts Competition, many people recognized "Seeing Pei Ye," this absolute dark horse, for the first time. Before tonight, his name would be placed in the top three of the gambling houses.

On the other side, Seeing Pei Ye walked off the stage with his sword, sat back beside the young girl with a smile, quite satisfied: "How was it?"

"Impressive." Li Piaoqing gave a thumbs up, "As expected of the top genius of Shaolong."

"Haha, of course, I—" Seeing Pei Ye's voice paused, blinking his eyes at the young girl.

Then he looked down at the young girl's lap, and sure enough, a familiar letter paper was spread out there.

"Hey!" His voice went up, "How did you—"

"It fell out by itself." Li Piaoqing said innocently.

"... It just happened to fall on your lap, huh."

"Yeah!"

"Opened by a puppy."

"..." The young girl looked at him angrily, "You're really annoying, I peeked, okay?"

Seeing Pei Ye chuckled: "Then why don't you apologize to me quickly."

The young girl rolled her eyes at him, folded the paper on her lap properly and put it back into the cloth bag, and for the question she hadn't asked before, she found a more appropriate expression: "This friend of yours... is she a very important person to you?"

"... Very important." Seeing Pei Ye was stunned for a moment and said, "She is my life-saving benefactor."

"Ah." Li Piaoqing was truly surprised.

She was about to ask again, but when she turned her head, Kuang Rong had already come to her side again.

"Young Sect Leader, news just in, that person has arrived at Luzhou."

Li Piaoqing was suddenly startled, stopped talking, and immediately turned her head to look into the distance.

However, of course, she couldn't see the figure yet.

Seeing Pei Ye also subconsciously looked over. He knew who they were talking about. The news given by Bai Sibing today said that he was an old man with gray hair.

He was undoubtedly the person with the most noble status in the entire Bowang City today, having supervised the Shaolong Road Sword Academy for nearly ten years, and also held important positions in the government office. The power he held without a title was even more dazzling. He was a big shot whom the Shaolong Prefecture specifically sent a letter to warn the state government to receive.

Even in the Shaolong Prefecture City, where dignitaries gathered, this adult could not be counted on ten fingers, and he was definitely not barely included.

He didn't know what official business he had, but in short, he was passing by on the way, and the ripples he caused were already the eye of the storm for the Bowang martial arts world. Whose hands this opportunity to fly into the sky would fall into was just a matter of his casual decision.

This was also the highlight of all the reputation battles today. At this time, "streamers" were just some broken cloth strips, and "flying egrets" were just some long-haired big birds. Only by leaving a good reputation in this adult's heart was truly grasping this "fame" today.

It was also at this time that two people had already gone up to spar on the field.

They were not on either side of the three major factions, but they were not without fame, but this fame was a bit wrong—someone had already seen that one was the chief escort of this state, and the other was a big escort from a neighboring state. There was clearly a grudge between these two!

However, most people were still unclear about these joints. Both were Fifth Lives. Although there were pearls and jades in front, it was slightly unsatisfying, but after all, it was a top-notch fight, and everyone was watching intently.

However, as they fought, it seemed that one side had gained some advantage, or the other side had used some underhanded tricks, or there was nothing at all. In short, the anger of the two could no longer be suppressed. Their moves became increasingly dangerous and vicious, each move trying to kill the other, and even their expressions could not suppress the anger.

Now not only the martial artists saw it, but even the scholars realized something was wrong. Many people showed confusion and looked around. And on the field, the sword blades became denser, as if the next sword would bring up a fatal hot blood.

The Luzhou Poetry Gathering hadn't seen blood for a long time. How could such an accident happen, and it was just before the arrival of that supervisor?

But with such a close and dangerous fight between two Fifth Lives, who dared to intervene to dismantle it, and who could dismantle it?

People looked around repeatedly to find the Seventh Life expert invited from the state government to supervise the sparring, but he had just been invited by Qi Qi Jushi Qi to welcome the arriving adult, and at this time, he could not be found at all.

And on the field, one person had already fallen into a disadvantage, full of dangers. Many people were already shouting and persuading urgently, but the dominant side saw that the opponent was struggling, and the attack became even crazier.

Some people went to look for the young man just now, but Seeing Pei Ye was tied up by the news that the adult was about to arrive, and at this time, he had just turned his head blankly, noticing the field.

And a step earlier, more people looked toward the very edge of the literary field.

There was still a person on the field whose realm was higher than the Fifth Life. Although it was a rumor, this rumor was already close to the truth.

And this Sixth Life man was just chatting and laughing gently with the woman beside him, and it seemed that he also didn't notice the situation on the field.

In fact, for the entire poetry gathering, he had been sitting calmly like this, with no intention of going on stage to show his skills. At this time, when someone called him, he raised his head blankly to look at the field, and then, after only one breath, this face suddenly froze.

He left his seat, leaped up with his sword, and his figure swept through the middle of the literary field. This movement was by no means elegant, but straight and powerful. The scholars only felt a large black dragon whistling past them suddenly.

And on the field, the weaker side was kicked in the chest and fell to the ground. The standing person did not hesitate at all, raised his sword and stabbed fiercely at his throat.

And the person on the ground also twisted his body, and the sword light stabbed at the person's heart like a poisonous snake, clearly a desperate move.

In an instant, it was two lives!

Qijiao Shang Huaitong had just left the literary field at this time, and hundreds of people on the Egret Viewing Platform exclaimed. This murder case seemed to be difficult to save.

Afterward, a silver light swept across the air, bridging the distance between the man and the field.

The sword collided with the sword. First, the first blade was literally crumbling. The opponent's sword was like tofu cast in front of the sword thrown by the man, breaking and shattering, silver light and broken shadows flying.

Afterward, this sword did not deviate in the slightest, colliding with the second person's sword again. The unstoppable killing move in the Fifth Life's hand was still like a mantis blocking a chariot in front of this sword. While the long sword was deflected, the whole person's body was also deflected and fell.

The next moment, this agile black dragon had already stood on the field, separating the two.

"Do you two want to see blood here?" The man said coldly, looking at the two of them left and right, "After the poetry gathering, Shang will invite you two to see what your own blood looks like, how about that?"

The extremely cold tone made everyone in the audience feel a chill in their hearts.

Young Master Shang's open-mindedness was famous in Bowang. At this time, he was truly angry, either because the gathering of his companion was disturbed, or because the adult who was about to arrive determined the man's future. But in any case, this was also the common reason why the vast majority of people present did not want to see this scene, and this chill truly suppressed the two.

"Before noon tomorrow, if I don't see you two apologizing in front of Qi Qi Jushi Qi's door, then please see how hard your own necks are."

(End of chapter)