CHAPTER 133 – HELL CHALLENGE

At dawn, all the elders and disciples had packed their belongings and were ready to depart. Li Nanting frowned as he scanned the group. “Where’s Li Guanqi?”

Ye Feng glanced around, then realized he couldn’t spot him either. Frowning, he murmured, “Did Brother Li drink too much last night?”

Qin Xian suddenly took out his jade slip and injected his vital force into it. Ge Qing’s voice sounded, “Old Qin, come to Heavenly Tiger Mountain now! That brat from your sect is here!”

Qin Xian lowered the jade slip and cried out, “He’s at Heavenly Tiger Mountain! Let’s go!”

Everyone was confused. They’d all been ready to leave—why had Li Guanqi run off to Heavenly Tiger Mountain? Was he there just to spectate?

They rose into the air on their flying swords. Li Nanting carried Yu Sui’an in his arms and turned into a streak of light darting toward the mountain.

Li Guanqi appeared from the sky atop his flying sword at Heavenly Tiger Mountain, much to the crowd's shock. He froze, his gaze fixed on the scores etched into the towering stone stele.

The stele glowed, illuminating the names of every sect in brilliant characters. His gaze fell on the forty-seventh line—his sect’s ranking.

Even after risking everything the previous day, they had merely scraped together twenty points in two rounds.

“Forty-seventh...” Li Guanqi muttered, dazed, still hovering in place.

Now, the youth in white robes looked utterly lost. He reeked of wine. Many onlookers sighed.

“Another young man who refuses to accept failure...”

Another person sighed. “He’s got talent, no doubt. He might even be on par with the three prodigies. But what a pity... the Daxia Sword Sect doesn’t have the resources to train its disciples properly. Without results, they get no proper support. Without support, they can’t get results.”

Many people nodded.

Guan Qingyun glanced at Li Guanqi and burst into laughter. “What a loser. Can’t handle losing, so he came here to sulk?”

The disciples of the Profound Gate Sect were far too familiar with people like that.

A tall and thin youth next to Guan Qingyun smirked. “He’s just being emo.”

Another person mocked Li Guanqi openly, “He’s like a dog staring longingly at its own dog shit. If I were him, I would be too embarrassed to stay here.”

Even Ji Linglan of the Soaring Heavens Sect had a puzzled expression. She could tell that Li Guanqi was strong, so much so that she felt a strange sense of fear. However, the Daxia Sword Sect had already been eliminated. What was he doing there?

Is he here to commit this loss to memory? To use it as fuel?

Her icy expression faltered slightly. She did not understand what kind of person Li Guanqi was.

All around him, there was chatter, speculation, ridicule—but he ignored it all.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

More lights descended from the sky. Qin Xian and the other disciples arrived, their eyes shifting from Li Guanqi to the dimmed name of their sect on the glowing stele. Qin Xian opened his mouth, but no words came.

Li Nanting looked at him pitifully, his eyes reddening. His voice trembled slightly, gentle and hoarse. “Guanqi, that’s enough... Let’s... head back.”

The crippled Gao Qiwen’s shoulders trembled. He deeply understood what Li Guanqi was thinking.

Li Guanqi turned, face resolute, and met Li Nanting’s eyes. “Master... I can’t accept this.”

Li Nanting’s lips parted, but no sound emerged. The air was heavy with unspoken grief and longing. The fire of ambition burned more fiercely than ever.

But they were simply too weak.

Even Ye Feng had subconsciously clenched his fists, looking down with reddened eyes. Zhong Lin and Lin Dong also felt regretful, still severely injured and loathing their own helplessness.

Yu Ye clenched his fist and looked at Li Guanqi, his eyes blazing.

Gu Ran looked at Li Guanqi, her heart aching.

The crowd on the peak of Heavenly Tiger Mountain watched in utter silence.

A strange feeling rippled through the crowd. While the Daxia Sword Sect had ranked poorly, they had the inexplicable feeling that their disciples would shine brightly in the future.

Within the Purple Sun Pavilion’s group, Zhao Beichen sneered in contempt. To him, strength was everything. He felt disgusted by weaklings who wallowed in self-pity for no good reason.

He had never once taken the Daxia Sword Sect seriously. They weren’t in the same league as his Purple Sun Pavilion, so why would he? A blind kid with a sword in his spirit void didn’t change anything.

Zhao Beichen looked up at Li Guanqi in the sky and snickered.

“Hilarious.”

Suddenly, Li Guanqi raised his head. He had made up his mind.

He looked at the elders in the sky. His passionate voice rang out, boosted by vital force and echoing far and wide.

“Li Guanqi of the Daxia Sword Sect requests to initiate the Hell Challenge!”

Li Nanting’s eyes widened with shock. He immediately went up to Li Guanqi and, for once, scolded him sternly, “Guanqi! You—! You’re throwing a tantrum! Do you even understand what you’re doing?!”

Li Guanqi looked up at Li Nanting with utmost seriousness. “Master, I know exactly what I’m doing. If I walk away now, I’ll never be able to live with myself.”

Gao Qiwen clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. His eyes lit up as he stared at Li Guanqi. “You... you’re doing what I once did...”

All the other participants were shocked. Many didn’t even know what the Hell Challenge was.

Guan Qingyun froze, then cursed, “Fucking idiot. He’s asking to die.”

Ji Linglan’s eyes went wide with shock. She frowned and shook her head, disappointed. “Hehe. I thought he’d be smart enough to keep his anger in check. Guess not. He’s still too arrogant.”

But within the Purple Sun Pavilion’s camp, Zhao Beichen’s eyes glinted. He regarded Li Guanqi with newfound seriousness.

Zhao Beichen smiled and muttered, “Hell Challenge? Hehe! What a character!”