The morning sun cast long shadows across the Li Clan's main training courtyard. By the time Li Wei arrived, a dozen men were already assembled, standing in disciplined silence.
They were the clan's elite guards, cultivators whose loyalty was as sharp as their blades. At their fore stood two men radiating the dense, physical power of the late Body Tempering Realm, while the others possessed the distinct, ethereal pressure of Qi Condensation cultivators.
Mei stood respectfully to the side, having fulfilled her master's orders perfectly. She watched as Li Wei, clad in simple training robes, strode into the center of the courtyard. He carried the same practice sword from the day before, its common steel belying the terrifying potential it now held.
'You two,' Li Wei's voice was flat, devoid of warmth as he gestured towards the Body Tempering experts. 'Eighth and ninth stage. Attack me together. Use whatever you deem necessary to win.'
The two guards, veterans of countless skirmishes, exchanged a brief, grim look. The taller one spoke first, his voice gravelly with experience.
'Young Master, forgive our presumption, but we've trained together for fifteen years. Our coordination is lethal.'
Li Wei's expression remained unchanged. 'You don't need to worry about that.'
They cupped their fists in salute before drawing their weapons. Without another word, they exploded into action, flanking Li Wei in a pincer movement. One swung a heavy saber in a vicious arc aimed at his neck, while the other thrust a spear straight for his heart.
To the assembled onlookers, the coordinated attack was seamless and deadly. To Li Wei, it was laughably slow.
His form blurred. The Shadow Serpent Steps, at the Novice phase, were more than enough. He took a single, impossible step sideways, not just dodging but flowing through the gap between the two attacks. The spear tip hissed past his ear, the saber's wind rustling his hair.
Before the guards could register his disappearance, he was already behind them.
The faint, crimson sheen on his practice sword pulsed once. He didn't even use the edge of the blade. Two swift, precise strikes with the flat of his sword connected with the back of their knees. With sickening cracks, both guards collapsed, their legs unable to support their weight.
The entire exchange had lasted less than a breath.
From the sidelines, Mei nodded internally. *As expected of the Young Master.* His foundation in the Body Tempering realm was monstrous. Defeating others in the same realm, even those a stage higher, was a simple matter.
Li Wei paid the groaning guards no further mind. His gaze swept over the remaining ten, all of whom were now looking at him with newfound apprehension.
'Qi Condensation, first stage. Step forward.'
A nervous-looking man stepped out, his hands trembling slightly. 'Young Master, I...' he began, but Li Wei cut him off.
'Your fear betrays you before the sword is even drawn,' Li Wei observed coldly.
The man was defeated in a single sword strike that shattered his guard and sent his weapon flying.
'Second stage.'
This one lasted three moves before Li Wei's serpentine footwork created an opening, and the pommel of his sword slammed into the man's chest, knocking the wind from him.
'Third stage.'
The third-stage cultivator stepped forward with more confidence. 'My Qi is refined through the River Flow technique, Young Master.'
Li Wei didn't respond, simply advancing. The third-stage cultivator was more cautious, his Qi more refined. Yet, it was useless. Li Wei's own Qi, nurtured by the Heavenly Tyrant's Dominion Scripture, was of a fundamentally higher quality. It was like the roar of a dragon against the hiss of a snake.
The moment their energies clashed, the guard's own Qi was suppressed, his movements growing sluggish. Li Wei ended the match with contemptuous ease.
This was the advantage of a supreme cultivation technique, amplified by a body tempered to the peak of the Silver Marrow Realm. At the lower levels of Qi Condensation, where a cultivator's control and Qi density were still developing, Li Wei's physical superiority and the tyrannical nature of his energy created an insurmountable gap.
'Fourth stage,' he commanded, his voice unchanged.
A stocky, battle-scarred man with a short beard stepped forward, his expression grave. 'I am Captain Hong, Young Master. My cultivation focuses on earth-attributed Qi for defense and power.'
When he channeled his energy, the air around him grew heavy. This was different. In the Qi Condensation realm, every three stages marked a qualitative leap. The Qi of a fourth-stage cultivator was significantly denser and more potent than that of a third-stage.
For the first time, Li Wei felt a flicker of pressure.
The guard attacked, his blade enveloped in a sharp, green light. Li Wei didn't meet it head-on. He relied on the Shadow Serpent Steps, his body weaving and twisting in patterns that defied prediction. The courtyard was filled with the clang of steel as the guard pressed his assault, but none of his strikes could find their mark. Li Wei was a phantom, a whisper of movement that was always just beyond his reach.
Frustration mounting, the guard roared and poured all his Qi into a single, devastating chop. Li Wei's eyes glinted. This was the opening.
He didn't retreat. Instead, he advanced, his practice sword glowing with that ominous crimson light. The Asura's Heavenly Sword Art met the guard's attack. There was no elegance, only overwhelming force.
The guard's blade was knocked aside, his stance broken. Li Wei's sword came to rest a hair's breadth from his throat.
The guard froze, sweat beading on his forehead. 'I yield,' he managed to choke out.
'Fifth stage.'
The next fight was even more intense, lasting nearly a full minute. But the result was the same. Li Wei's stamina was inhuman, his movements flawless. He wore his opponent down before delivering a decisive blow.
Finally, only one sparring partner remained standing before him—a tall, grim-faced man who was at the peak of the sixth stage of Qi Condensation. A mid-tier expert.
Without waiting for a command, the man stepped forward, his Qi flaring to life. This pressure was real, a palpable force that could crush a lesser cultivator.
The guards Li Wei had already defeated watched with bated breath. This had to be the limit. Crossing an entire realm was one thing, but defeating a mid-stage Qi Condensation expert while still in the Body Tempering Realm was unheard of.
'Captain Shi,' the man introduced himself, his voice steady despite the tension. 'I've trained guards for twenty years, Young Master. I've never seen anyone attempt what you're doing.'
The sixth-stage guard lunged, his sword a blur of light. Li Wei was forced onto the defensive, the Shadow Serpent Steps pushed to their absolute limit. Each block sent a jarring shock up his arm. The sheer density of his opponent's Qi was a weapon in itself.
Li Wei's expression, though still resolute, tightened. He was learning, adapting with every single exchange, pushing his limits further than before. Each parry hummed with the strain, and the blood-red aura around his sword intensified, a raw, primal energy that subtly disrupted the guard's focus, but also demanded a heavy toll from Li Wei's own nascent Qi.
After twenty grueling exchanges, the guard pressed a relentless assault, forcing Li Wei to give ground. Captain Shi saw an opening—or what he believed was one—and thrust forward, aiming for Li Wei's shoulder.
It was a feint. Li Wei, his senses stretched taut, barely sidestepped directly into the path of the real attack: a sweeping slash aimed at his waist. The blade whistled past, a hair's breadth from his ribs.
But as the blade swung, Li Wei's body twisted at an unnatural, almost painful angle, pushing the Shadow Serpent Steps beyond their Novice phase. The sword sliced through empty air, but the force of the near-miss left him momentarily unbalanced.
Seizing the fleeting moment before Captain Shi could recover, Li Wei countered with a desperate surge of will. His practice sword, now glowing a deep, angry crimson, shot forward. It was not a precise slash or a chop, but a raw, uncontrolled wave of pure, destructive force, fueled by his rapidly depleting reserves.
*Clang!*
The sound was deafening. The sixth-stage guard's steel sword shattered into a dozen pieces, the shockwave throwing him backward onto the ground, his hand bleeding and numb.
Silence descended upon the courtyard. The defeated guards stared, their minds reeling. They hadn't just been sparring partners; they had been whetstones against which a divine weapon was being sharpened. They had just witnessed a miracle, a monster in human form.
From the sidelines, Mei's calm confidence finally broke. A tremor of genuine shock ran through her. She knew he was a genius blessed by the heavens. But this... this was demonic. To be in the Body Tempering Realm and dominate a cultivator at the sixth stage of Qi Condensation was not just genius. It was a defiance of the very laws of cultivation.
Li Wei looked at the fallen sixth-stage guard. 'Your foundation is solid, but you rely too much on your Qi's density rather than its application.'
One of the younger guards who had been defeated earlier spoke up hesitantly. 'Young Master... how is this possible?'
Li Wei's lips curved slightly. 'Limits only exist if you accept them.'
He turned to Mei. 'Dismiss them. I will require new partners tomorrow—stronger ones.'
'As you command, Young Master,' Mei replied, her voice regaining its usual composure, though a new respect had been forged in her eyes.