Chapter 309: Ning Heyuan

Jade Court Mountain, the most perilous and steepest among the Li family's peaks, soared into the clouds. The small courtyard atop its summit contained a jade well as large as a pond. Its surface was intricately patterned and ancient, and the clear well water shimmered with spiritual light.

Li Qinghong exhaled a puff of white air, opened her almond eyes, hazy with purple light. With a push of her palms, thunderous spiritual power erupted with crackling sounds. Her red lips parted slightly.

"Is the 'Purple Thunder Secret Origin Art' truly a secret technique modified by later generations…?"

She had practiced this method for six years and read many other Qi cultivation techniques. Yet, the ancient and dominant nature of the Purple Thunder Secret Origin Art was unique. Its various incantations and techniques were unlike anything she had ever encountered, often leaving Li Qinghong in awe of their profound efficacy.

Anticipating the profound power she would wield upon mastering the Profound Thunder Lake, she waved her hand, dispelling the spell. Li Qinghong's gaze swept across the courtyard. "Li Xicheng!" she called softly.

From behind the house, hurried footsteps sounded, and a boy of twelve or thirteen, with calm eyebrows and drenched in sweat, emerged. He stopped before Li Qinghong and smiled.

"Auntie!"

The boy, Li Xicheng, was the son of Li Yuanyun and the eldest of the Xiyue generation. As his father, Li Yuanyun, lacked spiritual conduits and did not cultivate, he had started his family early. Li Xicheng, the eldest legitimate son, was already thirteen and possessed spiritual conduits, though his talent, inherited from his father's lineage, was only considered upper-middle.

Since Li Yuanyun had gone to the market and Li Xicheng needed supervision, Li Qinghong, being Li Yuanyun's own sister, was the most suitable guardian. Thus, Li Xicheng had naturally been sent to Jade Court Mountain to cultivate.

"Practice your spear."

Li Qinghong casually picked up a wooden spear and placed it in Li Xicheng's hands, instructing the boy to hold it level. He stood there by himself. Li Qinghong blinked, then asked, "Are you cultivating the 'Shang Lang Wheel Nurturing Method'?"

"Yes, Auntie!"

Li Qinghong nodded silently. The 'Shang Lang Wheel Nurturing Method' was a third-rank cultivation technique Li Tongya had acquired for the family's direct descendants. As someone who had received a talisman seed, Li Qinghong cultivated the 'Taiyin Breathing and Wheel Nurturing Scripture,' a fact she naturally couldn't disclose.

"Xicheng, Xizhi, Ximing... I wonder which of them will be blessed by the immortals..."

"Brother Jiao wants to send Xizhi to the sect... but he likely won't qualify for the talismans, so it will depend on Ximing and Xicheng!"

Li Qinghong was lost in thought. Meanwhile, Li Xicheng was drenched in sweat, his spear-holding hand trembling, his teeth clenched in silent determination.

She straightened Li Xicheng's arm, about to offer guidance, when a voice, rolling like thunder, boomed from beyond the formation.

"Rogue cultivator Ning Heyuan requests an audience! Will the Li Family Mountain Lord please show himself?"

Startled by the shout, Li Xicheng immediately dropped his wooden spear, which clattered loudly on the ground. He wiped sweat from his brow, then looked timidly at Li Qinghong.

Li Qinghong raised an eyebrow and looked. Beyond the formation stood a young man in green robes. His storage pouch and magic sword shimmered with spiritual light, and he was adorned head to toe in garments made of spirit silk and spirit cloth, even the jade embellishments of the highest quality—a display of extreme luxury.

"A rogue cultivator? Don't try to fool your auntie!"

Li Qinghong scoffed and flew out of the formation. Ning Heyuan, still chattering, continued to boast, "I have long heard of the illustrious Li Family of Lijing, renowned for their mastery of the sword. I, Heyuan, have traveled thousands of miles to challenge a peer from your esteemed family with a single sword stroke, to prove my own path of the sword…"

Before Ning Heyuan could finish his proclamation, a woman in a white dress flew out of the grand formation. She exuded an heroic aura, her eyes sparkling with lightning-like purple energy, her crimson lips tightly pressed as she stared intently at him.

"A female cultivator?!"

Ning Heyuan, who had expected to see a sword-wielding youth, paused in surprise, thoroughly mortified. Li Qinghong, however, sneered, drew her long spear, and brought it down on him with a fierce strike. With a wave of her hand, surging purple lightning erupted, creating a formidable display of power.

"Wait… ancient technique… Lady!"

Before Ning Heyuan could utter another word, he hastily drew his sword to block. Li Qinghong's long spear had already struck fiercely, and in an instant, thunder roared and boomed, overwhelming Ning Heyuan.

However, Ning Heyuan was no novice. After being caught off guard by the initial onslaught, he swiftly retreated. A clear, rain-like cloud shimmered around him, undulating unstably, while the sword qi emanating from his long sword was exceptionally refined, thoroughly blocking Li Qinghong's fierce attacks.

"Good cultivation technique… and his surname is Ning…"

Li Qinghong observed his spiritual aura, his Qi Condensation fourth-layer cultivation, and the high-grade orthodox technique he employed, immediately forming a suspicion. She mused inwardly, "The Azure Pond Sect…"

Realizing this, and having recently lost her father, Li Qinghong was already burdened with unspoken sorrow. Her attacks grew increasingly ruthless. True Essence flowed through her Qi Sea acupoint, and the "Distant Sky Perilous Sparrow" brightened, significantly boosting both her speed and offensive power.

Ning Heyuan finally managed to withstand Li Qinghong's onslaught. He had not anticipated that the white-robed female cultivator would grow stronger with each strike. Bolts of lightning flashed, making the sky alternately bright and dim. It was his first time clashing with a lightning cultivator, and his palms tingled. He grimaced wryly, "Weren't the Li family rumored to be a lineage of Sword Immortals? How is she wielding lightning magic? This technique is also incredibly strange, manifesting anomalies with every movement—it barely resembles Qi Condensation. An uninformed person might even mistake her for a Foundation Establishment cultivator!"

The two exchanged blows for a while, and Li Qinghong grew stronger with each moment, her eyes a deep purple. She forced Ning Heyuan to retreat repeatedly. Ning Heyuan had to parry her long spear, and his long sword suddenly erupted with light, transforming into two streaks of rainbow energy that shot towards Li Qinghong's face.

Li Qinghong moved her long spear, conjuring several purple spear flowers that drifted through the air and collided with the rainbow light. She then freed her hand and, in the air, drew a lightning talisman with intricate strokes, infusing it with dark purple thunder true essence. "Ha!" she cried.

"Good!"

Seeing Li Qinghong unleash a spell, Ning Heyuan's free hand likewise formed a seal, releasing a clear, bright stream of spiritual power that surged to meet the talisman.

"Boom!"

A thunderclap echoed in the clear sky. Purple electric light and flames erupted, smoke billowed, and spiritual power surged, roaring as it rushed towards Ning Heyuan. Ning Heyuan cursed under his breath, then formed another hand seal, concentrating a shimmering light.

This light, like mist and rain, surged forward. Li Qinghong raised her spear to block, but the dazzling lightning and sharp spear light were forcibly pushed back several zhang. The fire and smoke settled simultaneously, falling silent.

Li Qinghong, however, stumbled back more than ten steps, her long spear creaking and its spiritual light dimming.

"What an excellent spell!"

Li Qinghong glared intently at the spiritual light in Ning Heyuan's hand. She instantly guessed it was a heritage from one of the Azure Pond Sect's main peaks, likely a fourth or fifth-rank spell.

Only the techniques passed down by the Three Sects and Seven Gates were considered true magic, and they never circulated outside their respective sects. In comparison, the spells shared among rogue cultivators and aristocratic families on the market were mere child's play, mostly unranked, low-grade trivialities.

The spiritual light, still calmly held in Ning Heyuan's hand, remained undisturbed. He, however, cursed softly and waved it away, saying with a touch of weariness, "Lady, your lightning and spear techniques are excellent… you forced me to use the 'Siyuan Qianguang.' I was overconfident."

Li Qinghong, however, harbored no fondness for the Ning and Chi surnames of the Azure Pond Sect. She silently noted the name 'Siyuan Qianguang,' then nodded coldly and replied, "Please leave, Sir. I will not see you off."

Ning Heyuan choked, opening his mouth, his heart full of unspoken thoughts. Seeing Li Qinghong about to return to the mountain, he could only say, "Could the fairy please leave her name?"

Li Qinghong paused, then finally spoke.

"Li Qinghong, of the Li Family of Lijing."