Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 147 - 117: Let Me Show You What I’ve Got
October 15, 2017, evening, Shen Garden in the east of the city.
The nightlife in Shen Garden has always been monotonous and dull.
During the day, Wang Jiu and Shen Qingming are usually at the Inner Sect Sword Cave in the Li Family Mansion, one responsible for teaching, the other for training and bickering with Li Chaolu.
As evening approaches, when Shen Qingming is exhausted from training, the two return to Shen Garden to rest. Afterwards, Wang Jiu fiddles with the Myriad Spirits Hall in Sword World, while Shen Qingming generally recuperates in bed.
On good days, Shen Qingming asks Wang Jiu to order some takeout for a feast. On bad days, she even skips dinner, sleeping through till the next morning, then motivating herself for another 300 rounds of battle with Li Chaolu.
This day, Shen Qingming was in a terrible state. After a quick wash at home, she collapsed onto the bed. During the daytime sparring with Li Chaolu, she lost a move carelessly and was mocked all day long, her spirits severely damaged, leaving her unable to attend evening practice.
Meanwhile, Wang Jiu, having some free time, continued to focus on adjusting the Myriad Spirits Hall, infusing the hall with Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind to nurture spiritual objects... and after these days of adjustments, it seemed that the first naturally nurtured edible Spirit Beast was about to be born.
At this moment, Wang Jiu heard a knocking sound at the door.
Opening the door, there appeared a breathtakingly handsome young man, wearing an elegantly luxurious robe, carrying a Celestial Fragrance Pavilion paper bag in his left hand, while his right hand held a large bouquet of blossoming roses. His face lit up with a smile more radiant and dazzling than the roses.
"Hello brother, I'm looking for Spirit Cat Shen Qingming. I'm her cousin Li Wanqing."
Wang Jiu nodded: "Hello, young lady. Shen Qingming is already asleep and cannot receive guests."
Upon hearing this, Li Wanqing's eyes flickered slightly, reassessing the towering man who stood a good half-head taller than her.
But this close scrutiny made Li Wanqing's heart sink. Previously, she'd knocked on the door and saw a man, not giving much thought, simply assuming he was a servant. But now she noticed that the guy's handsomeness far surpassed what is expected of a servant!
Such being the case, it is a serious problem. If the man isn't a servant, why is he in Shen Qingming's home? And moreover, in the situation where Shen Qingming is already asleep!
"Who are you?" Li Wanqing's voice involuntarily turned exceptionally cold.
Wang Jiu said: "Currently, I should be considered Shen Qingming's guardian."
"Guardian!?" Li Wanqing involuntarily furrowed her brows, "How come I've never heard of this!?"
Wang Jiu thought for a moment: "Probably because no one invited cyan Cloud Daily journalists to conduct a special interview on this matter."
"Tch, smooth talker." Li Wanqing's brows tightened further. She had returned to Cyan Cloud not long ago, and suddenly, encountering an incident where a virtuous girl suffered bullying from a scumbag, leaving her unable to catch up with many affairs regarding her cousin.
Moreover, previously Lu Xin left her with her parents at home, instructing them to watch her strictly, barely allowing her out of the Li Family Mansion. Fortunately, she knew her parents too well, having already bought novels and painting albums back on Yuqing Mountain, easily bribing the two elders. Afterwards, to avoid extra trouble, she brought gifts and bouquets straight to Shen Garden.
Up till now, Li Wanqing hadn't managed to inquire about the people around Shen Qingming. She only heard that the family hired a very capable Honored Guest Elder to personally tutor in cultivation.
She originally thought that someone who could let Sister Xin trustingly leave Qingming's care with was probably a sweet and adorable girl, or at least should be a grey-bearded, highly esteemed, but weak old man. Unexpectedly, upon arrival, she saw an incredibly handsome young man. Moreover, judging by the hint of a mustache at his lips, he wasn't practicing Sunflower Divine Skill or Exorcism Swordsmanship... This brought major concerns, especially thinking of the rumored details she had previously overlooked, Li Wanqing's face instantly darkened.
"I heard you're living and dining together with Little Sister Qingming?"
Wang Jiu responded: "Of course."
"Absurd!" Li Wanqing bit her lip, again eyeing Wang Jiu from head to toe, her mind growing increasingly occupied with scattered thoughts.
What on earth is this man doing? Is he Qingming's cousin's personal bodyguard? No, no, judging by the True Essence Fluctuation, he's at best around Cloud Surge Realm, even considerably weaker than herself...
Well, assuming his cultivation technique is understated and discreet, with True Essence Fluctuation weaker than usual, giving him the upper limit of estimation, it'd be at Late Stage Cloud Surge Realm, right? But judging by his age, he should roughly be around twenty... A twenty-year-old cultivator at Cloud Surge Realm, what trash would be allowed to be Spirit Cat Qingming's personal bodyguard? Is there bonus points for not eating pork!?
Does this guy, besides his looks, have any redeeming qualities?
But upon pondering this, Li Wanqing suddenly paused, a thought with a flash of black and silky straightness popped into her mind.
"Hell, can it be... Sister Xin wouldn't be this unbelievably absurd, right?"
But for a moment, aside from this absurd idea, Li Wanqing really couldn't think of any other reason to explain the scene before her.
After taking a deep breath, Li Wanqing suppressed her irritability and put on a radiant smile, one that could make big girls, young wives, and even teenage boys blush.
"I heard you're the Honored Guest Elder specially hired by the family for Little Sister Qingming, so your abilities must be quite extraordinary. I recently returned from Yuqing Mountain and I'm both unfamiliar and curious about the new experts in QingCyan Cloud yun City, especially since you're Little Sister Qingming's personal bodyguard. I wonder if you could allow me to experience your expertise?"
Wang Jiu thought about it. Although he found the request somewhat inexplicable, upon careful consideration, there was no reason to refuse, so he nodded in agreement: "Wait a moment."
Then he reached down and touched his belt...
Li Wanqing watched from beside, her expression changed instantly, and she involuntarily took a few steps back: "Oh my, I'm not talking about that kind of expertise!"
However, in the next moment, Wang Jiu took out a stack of papers from the Storage Bag at his waist and asked inexplicably, "What kind of expertise?"
"... Nothing, nothing, I was just distracted for a moment." Li Wanqing maintained her composure and changed the topic, "What are those papers for?"
"My expertise, take it and learn from it."
Li Wanqing, puzzled, took them and saw that each sheet of the thick stack was covered densely with enigmatic text and mathematical symbols, as if carrying a cursed magic, making one's Divine Sense feel damaged at a glance.
On the whole sheet, usually only the title line was barely within the range of comprehension, with titles like: Overview of the [Yin Xun Effect] Generated by Irregular Movement of Subtle Sword Qi, Several Common Formulas for Calculating Sword Qi and Meridians Compatibility During Inner Refining Sword Qi, [Wind's Expansion] and [Han Transformation] of Sword Qi Waveform...
Li Wanqing stared at it for a whole tea's time, only to feel dizzy and her Divine Sense fuzzy. She couldn't understand what kind of bizarre stuff was written on those papers and looked up to see Wang Jiu standing at the door with an unsurprised expression. With a hint of anger, she tossed the stack of papers back to Wang Jiu.
"Alright, I acknowledge your writing and drawing skills, but since you're an Immortal Cultivator, why not let me witness your Immortal Dao Cultivation."
With that, Li Wanqing suddenly shook her head self-deprecatingly and changed her approach.
"No, why beat around the bush like this, making me look sneaky? Let me speak directly, I want to duel with you."
Wang Jiu immediately believed she was Lu Xin's cousin. These two, despite their great differences in figure and appearance, shared a similar inner character: always eager to challenge others to a duel.
However, when it comes to duels, Wang Jiu is always open to them, from the Great Demon God Emperor down to Shen Qingming, he's indiscriminate. Duels with experts are certainly interesting, but dueling those who are new to Immortal Cultivation, whose minds remain flexible and often harbor whimsical ideas, can also bring inspiration.
The only issue is...
"What kind of duel do you want?"
"What?" Li Wanqing was somewhat puzzled by the question.
Wang Jiu explained: "Considering that duels are a highly serious and complex violent action involving the participants' life and honor, they must be regulated by strict technical standards to maximize benefits for both sides and achieve the expected goals. So after long historical evolution, duels can generally be divided into 7 types: death duel, semi-death duel, rules-based duel, honor duel, technical duel, judging duel, and mock duel. The last usually refers to those who announce duels loudly but never actually engage, letting it fizzle out. Among these, there's a subcategory called fraudulent duel, where both parties announce a duel high-profile, attracting wide attention, then suddenly disappear after pre-selling tickets and taking in gambling stakes." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
"..." Li Wanqing gently sighed, involuntarily massaging her temples.
This guy, where's all this nonsense coming from? It's the first time I've heard that duels can be separated into so many categories... Did Sister Xin hire him as Honored Guest Elder to cheer up Little Sister Qingming with his stand-up comedy?
It's just too much drivel, if this were part of those serialized novels with paid characters, the author would surely be beaten to death.
After a while, when Wang Jiu finished explaining the categorization and historical evolution of duels, Li Wanqing casually said, "Since you like to be meticulous, let's have a rules-based duel, something brief... After all, you were hired by Sister Xin, and it seems Little Sister Qingming doesn't object, so I have to give them some face. However, since it's a duel, there must be some stakes."
Wang Jiu understood: "Alright, what would you like to wager?"
Li Wanqing said, "If I win, you move out of Shen Garden."
Wang Jiu asked, "And if I win?"
Li Wanqing thought for a moment: "If you win... hmm, I'll let you deal with me as you wish. However, let me remind you, I'm quite strong."
