With a teacup in his right hand and a teapot in his left, Tian Yi casually followed Li Qinqin as he sipped on the green tea.
If Feng Li or Tian Qiang were here to witness his brazen behavior, they would definitely fall unconscious from shock.
'The smell is not too strong or weak, and the taste makes my body relaxed. This is the best tea I've ever had by far!' he admired the tea silently, unaware of the dumbfounded gazes being thrown at him.
Who walks and drinks tea at the same time? The blasphemy being displayed was just on another level!
"Here is the Martial Pagoda, a place where disciples go to borrow cultivation techniques to study," Li Qinqin said after stopping to walk in front of a pagoda with three floors.
"Can we go in?" Tian Yi asked her.
Shaking her head, Li Qinqin said, "Unfortunately, no. Only disciples of the sect are allowed to go inside. This is a strict rule even elders have to follow when bringing visitors."
"I understand," said Tian Yi.
Li Qinqin then brought to another place that was close by.
"This is the Mission Hall, where disciples and elders alike go to accept missions," she introduced the large building with many papers on the walls.
"Missions?"
"Missions are requests sent to us by the people outside requesting for help, and when disciples complete their request, they will get rewarded by both the sect and whoever the requester was," she explained to him.
Tian Yi nodded, and he took a look at a few of the papers pinned on the wall.
'Chen Chang of Green Bamboo Village requests for assistance in dealing with the beasts that have been destroying his crops lately.'
'Bai Xiang of the Iron Castle City requests for an Origin Realm Beast Core of any grade.'
'General Yun of the Red Horse Army requests for the head of Ming Xing, a sinner who has killed many innocent mortals as a cultivator.'
Tian Yi frowned at upon reading the third request. "Sinner who has killed many innocent mortals?" he mumbled unknowingly.
"Ah, Ming Xing? He's an escapee who escaped from prison after massacring an entire restaurant filled with mortals," sighed Li Qinqin who still remembers the shock the public received when it happened.
Cultivators and mortals lived in two different worlds because of their power and lifespan difference, each minding their own business despite seeing each other often. Although there are no written rules that forbid cultivators to kill mortals, it is definitely an unspoken rule for the majority of cultivators.
"..." Tian Yi turned silent after hearing Li Qinqin's words. There are evildoers no matter which of the Nine Heavens he was in.
"There's no point in thinking about things like this. He will be caught sooner or late; let's continue to the next place," said Li Qinqin.
Tian Yi nodded, and he sipped the tea in his hands to calm himself.
"This is the Sparring Arena," said Li Qinqin as she pointed to the square-shaped stage. "Some disciples who have grievances with another will fight it out here while others only exchange notes."
"Exchange notes? What kind of notes do they exchange?" Tian Yi asked her out of curiosity.
Li Qinqin instinctively opened her mouth only to be speechless.
"E-Exchange notes as in they spar with each other while learning from each other…" she explained to him after a moment.
"Oh…" Tian Yi nodded as though he finally understood something, and they continued walking to the next location.
"This is the…"
Li Qinqin took her time to slowly tour Tian Yi around her sect, showing him everything she possibly could without troubling the elders, but alas, trouble arrived regardless.
"Hey! You!"
A brave-sounding voice called out to the two who were standing in front of the cafeteria where disciples go to eat.
Li Qinqin frowned upon seeing a handsome young man walking towards them with his chest arrogantly puffed out.
"What do you want, Zi Chen?" she said in an irritated voice.
"I came after hearing that our Lonely Li had accepted a man. Who's he?" he asked while glaring at Tian Yi, looking as though he was examining him.
"That's none of your business," said Li Qinqin.
"My father is a Disciplinary Elder, and seeing someone who is not a part of our Dragon Gate Sect, I have the obligation to question him in my father's stead," said Zi Chen with a grin.
"You. Name yourself," he then turned to ask Tian Yi.
"Ignore him. He's only here to cause trouble because I refused his courting a few weeks back," said Li Qinqin in disdain.
Zi Chen's expression turned livid after hearing Li Qinqin mention about that embarrassing day where she cruelly refused his admiration in front of many disciples, leaving him red-faced for an entire week.
"Y-You! Who was courting you?! You think I'd want someone as talentless as you?! So what if you have a beautiful face? You only entered because of your sister, anyway! If it weren't for her, you would be in some brothel by now, you slut!" Zi Chen exploded with rage, insulting Li Qinqin where it hurts the most— her talent and her sister.
"You bastard!" Li Qinqin also turned livid upon hearing Li Chen's insults, and she suddenly threw a punch towards Li Chen's surprised handsome face.
"You— a trash at the second level of Origin Realm dare to assault me who is at the fourth level of Origin Realm?! Court death!" Zi Chen snorted as he punched towards Li Qinqin.
Li Qinqin bit her lips when she sensed the threatening Heavenly Qi within Zi Chen's fist, but she did not care and continued to punch forward!
Boom!
The two's fist connected, and unsurprisingly, Li Qinqin was pushed back instantly after the impact, falling on the floor many meters away.
"If it weren't for your sister, I would not have held back and instead shattered that arm of yours! Pei!" Zi Chen spat on the floor in the direction Li Qinqin got pushed back.
Li Qinqin bit her lips until it bled, her eyes spewing fire towards Zi Chen.
"You want to go again, you worthless slut?!" Zi Chen took a step towards her direction upon seeing her killing intent. "Do not blame me if I forget to hold back this time, accidentally crippling your arm!"
He began walking towards her. "You think your status as Li Liling's younger sister will scare me like how it does to the other disciples? I know how she too despises you for being so useless, and how your mere existence is an embarrassment to her! To think she had wasted her efforts along with wasting the sect's valuable resource by helping you enter this sect! Pei!"
Li Qinqin suddenly turned silent, allowing the blood on her lips to drip onto her newly changed robes. The light in her eyes dimmed, no longer spewing fire. Her body suddenly trembled, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood from pure anger, nearly becoming unconscious.
Each of Zi Chen's words was like sharp daggers, piercing the deepest parts of her heart that had silently accepted the fact that she was worthless when compared to her genius sister long ago.
Tian Yi sighed at the scene and her miserable sight, and he moved to step in front of Li Qinqin to halt Zi Chen, who was walking towards her, in his tracks.
"How about we stop this here?" he said to him with a calm expression. "Although she was wrong to attack you, you are also in the wrong for provoking her."
Zi Chen frowned at his words, feeling especially displeased by Tian Yi who stood in his way to punish Li Qinqin for being an eyesore.
"I don't know who you are, but I will give you three seconds to get out of my way!" he said to Tian Yi in a threatening tone that sounded like a wolf growling.
"What if I refuse to move?" Tian Yi said as he continued to stare at Zi Chen in his eyes with a nonchalant expression.
"Then today will be the last day you will be able to stand like that!" Zi Chen grinned, and he unsheathed the sword that was around his waist.
"And I will make sure to feed your legs to some homeless dog afterward!"
"Three!" he then began counting down.
Tian Yi closed his eyes and shook his head, giving off the feeling as though he was disappointed.
"Two!"
"Meng Yi…" Li Qinqin gazed at Tian Yi's straight back with dazed eyes.
"One!"
"Good! Then live your life as a cripple starting today! And don't be surprised if you die from blood loss afterward!" Zi Chen shouted, swinging his steel sword horizontally at Tian Yi's legs with the intention of cutting it off cleanly.
"Meng Yi!!!" Li Qinqin cried out with alarm.
Tian Yi suddenly reopened his eyes that flickered with a profound light the moment it opened.