Tian Yi suddenly opened his eyes when the steel sword was only millimeters away from touching his white robes, and his sleeves disappeared for an instant.
Ting!
The sound of metal snapping resounded, causing an ominous feeling to appear in Zi Chen's heart.
Ting. Ting...
The same sound echoed a few meters away moments after the first one, causing Zi Chen to slowly turn to look at where the sound appeared.
Zi Chen's eyes widened exponentially upon seeing a sword blade stuck in the ground a few meters away, and when he turned to at the sword in his grasp, his jaw dropped to the ground after only seeing half a sword in his hand with the upper part— the sword blade— gone!
Zi Chen unconsciously took a few steps back, his dumbfounded gaze at Tian Yi who looked as though he didn't move at all, his expression still as calm as water without even the slightest of ripples.
Tian Yi sipped on the tea in his hands while Zi Chen started at him dumbfoundedly.
"Did you… How… Huh?" Zi Chen was bewildered, puzzled, and stumped from what had just happened.
He didn't even notice Tian Yi move, so how did his sword snap in half? Did his sword wear out, breaking itself before it could even touch Tian Yi?
Even Li Qinqin was confused as to what had just happened. All she saw was Zi Chen swinging his sword one moment, and a snapped sword the next.
Did the sword really just break on its own? Who would've thought that Zi Chen could be so cheap, buying a bootleg sword that broke easier than even twigs from a mere swing?
The surrounding disciples nearly burst out laughing after seeing the scene, thinking Zi Chen's sword had broke because he was too cheap to buy a real sword.
And Zi Chen, who noticed the disciples trying their best not to laugh, turned red-faced from the awkward situation.
"Hmph! You lucky bastard! To think my sword broke at such a timing! It seems like the sword training I did just yesterday really took a toll on my sword!" he said in a stiff voice.
Sword training? Took a toll on his sword? The disciples looked at Zi Chen in disbelief. Just how bad was this fellow at farting? Even a baby can do better than that!
Tian Yi merely grinned at his efforts in trying to hide his shame, causing smoke to gush from Zi Chen's red ears.
"I don't need a complete sword to deal with somebody like you!" he roared, thrusting his crippled sword at Tian Yi straight in the face.
Tian Yi sighed, and in a slow enough for the disciples to see movement, he caught the remaining blade on the sword with two fingers!
"W-Wha—" Zi Chen opened his eyes widely, deep inside filled with profound bewilderment.
Even if the sword was broken, Zi Chen still had supported it with his Heavenly Qi; it was not something just anybody can touch without getting harmed in the process, let alone stopping it fully with two fingers!
Tian Yi, not waiting for Zi Chen to recover from his shock, slightly pinched the two finger he used to catch the sword.
Teng!
The sound of metal snapping resounded not once, but countless times until the sword in Zi Chen's hand had completely perished!
Zi Chen watched his sword vanish into the air as though it was smoke with popping eyes, not daring to believe what he had just witnessed.
He unconsciously took a few steps back, accidentally tripping on air and falling on his butt after three steps.
"Leave," said Tian Yi. "I do not wish to kill a disciple in his own sect as a visitor; it'd be extremely rude to her who brought me in if I did." He looked at Li Qinqin with a slight smile.
Zi Chen trembled upon hearing Tian Yi's threats, and he quickly stood up to scramble away like a cat with its tail tucked between its legs.
Moments after Zi Chen left, Li Qinqin slowly stood up—
"Ouch!" she sucked in a cold breath of air as the pain in her arm finally spread.
Tian Yi glanced at her arm. "Your muscles are torn," he said.
"Hold still," Tian Yi gently touched her arm, healing her with his Spirit Qi.
"T-This is…" Li Qinqin looked at him with surprise when she noticed the pain go away almost instantly after he touched her!
"Does it hurt anymore?" he asked the dumbfounded Li Qinqin.
"U-Un…" she nodded stiffly.
'The injury I received from the fight with the Giga Frog… Could the reason why the pain went away so quickly was because of him?' she could not help but wonder.
Li Qinqin silently looked at Tian Yi who still had his calm expression, looking as though she was very interested in him.
For him to be able to handle Zi Chen who was at the fourth level of Origin Realm as though he was a baby, just what kind of cultivation base does he have? What was his background?
Li Qin, who has never concerned anything else besides her cultivation and her sister, was now interested in the young man beside her.
His background, his identity, his cultivation base, and where he is from— Li Qinqin have never been so interested in wanting to know more about someone than now— not even her own sister who's been getting more distanced as of lately.
"I have seen enough of this sect," said Tian Yi suddenly. "Beside the incident just now, it has been a pleasant journey. However, before I leave, do you mind if I drink one last cup of your wonderful tea?" he showed her the empty teacup in his hands, and the empty teapot he just retrieved from his robes.
Li Qinqin was speechless for a moment before chuckling. "You're a weird one, Meng Yi," she said. "However, it would've been better if you had just killed that Zi Chen bastard; it would not have offended me in any way! In fact, I would've have been grateful if you killed him!"
Tian Yi looked at her with wide eyes; she is the most straightforward person he has seen up to this point.
"Come— I will let you drink until you piss your pants!" Li Qinqin smiled beautifully, shocking the disciples that have yet to disperse.
Since the day Li Qinqin joined the Dragon Gate Sect, none of the disciples have ever seen her smile before. They always see her frowning or with this serious expression as though she's always in deep thoughts whenever they see her, but never a smile, let alone a beautiful smile like this.
Li Qinqin was definitely a beauty— a jadelike beauty like her sister. However, because of her sister who surpassed her in both talent and status within the sect, the number of people who actually courted her was not as high as one would expect from a hardworking beauty like her.
Additionally, with her status as the younger sister of Li Liling, the current most renowned genius within the Dragon Gate Sect, many actually felt fear towards her if anything.
However, upon seeing Li Qinqin smile like a goddess, the dozens of disciples there could feel their heart beating loudly for the first time when looking at her with the reason not being fear, but admiration.
"Drink until I piss my pants?" Tian Yi smiled at her odd words and followed her casually, unaware— or intentionally ignoring the gazes filled with jealousy that was also mixed in with fear the disciples were looking at him with.