Li Shuhe

Xu Xian gasped for breath, nearly suffocating himself...

Just as he was about to stand up and pay his respects, the girl released her grip on her sword and placed a palm on his shoulder. She pressed down and said slowly, "Stay seated."

Xu Xian's half-risen posture froze for a moment before he obediently sat back down exactly as he was. She remained standing there, her hand once again gripping the hilt of the sword at her waist.

Xu Xian looked up at her from the side, his eyes shimmering with emotion. His throat bobbed, and his lips parted slightly before closing again.

She stared straight ahead at the vast wasteland beyond the heavens and spoke first. "I know... you... have many questions."

Xu Xian didn't deny it, keeping his gaze fixed on her.

She glanced sideways, her brow furrowing slightly. With a hint of annoyance, she said, "It is quite taxing to listen to me speak."

Xu Xian held his breath. It was indeed taxing—not just the listening, but his neck was also getting sore. Yet, he shook his head, speaking against his true feelings.

"It's fine."

She continued where she had left off. "It is even more taxing for me to speak."

"Uh..."

She exhaled two words heavily.

"Very tiring."

Xu Xian: "..." He could tell.

Xu Xian: "I see."

She looked deeply at Xu Xian and let out a long, inexplicable sigh.

"Sigh..."

Xu Xian felt confused. Why was she sighing again?

He scooted over a bit and asked tentatively, "Senior, why don't you sit down first?"

She tilted her head slightly. "Hmm?"

Xu Xian said sheepishly, "It's just that my neck is actually getting quite sore like this."

She frowned, seemingly finding his reasoning valid. After a long moment, she nodded. "Alright."

She sat down right beside Xu Xian. Unlike his cross-legged posture, her legs dangled over the edge of the cliff. As the wind blew, her hair brushed against her eyes. She reached up to tuck it aside, looking no different from a normal living person.

They sat there in silence, neither opening their mouth.

She had no intention of speaking.

Xu Xian didn't know what to say.

The atmosphere was a bit awkwardly subtle. Behind his shoulder, the little book spirit kept popping in and out, repeatedly testing the waters.

She remained indifferent...

Xu Xian's eyes shifted. He pulled out a jar of fine wine, offered it to her, and asked, "Would you like some wine, Senior?"

She glanced out of the corner of her eye.

She shook her head.

Xu Xian pulled his hand back and asked again, "What about tea? I have some as well."

Her gaze didn't turn.

She shook her head again.

Xu Xian: "Then..."

She said, "No blood in the living, no taste in food."

Xu Xian understood.

Was this one of the characteristics of dark creatures? No essence blood, no consumption of grains.

Or perhaps at her level of cultivation, she didn't care for such things. Heaven only knew. He didn't ask, because she had said speaking was taxing—and listening wasn't easy for him either.

Every time she spoke, he had to wait a long time.

Xu Xian broke the seal on the jar. Just as he was about to drink, for some reason, he asked politely, "I'll be drinking, then. You don't mind, Senior?"

She continued to shake her head.

Grey sky, wasteland, desolation, yin wind...

Just like that,

The two sat there. One was motionless, the other took sip after sip. Neither said a word.

When the jar was half-empty, she suddenly turned her head. Her tear-filled eyes stared straight at Xu Xian, scrutinizing him.

Feeling her gaze, Xu Xian felt a bit uncomfortable. He slowly lowered the wine jar from his lips. His eyes darted back and forth several times before he finally couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"

She said, "Ask."

Xu Xian was stunned, not reacting immediately. "Ask... what?"

She furrowed her brows. "Anything."

Xu Xian was stunned again. After a good while, he realized that her silence was because she was waiting for him to ask questions.

But this reaction time was a bit too long.

He was speechless,

And helpless.

He gave a bitter smile.

He didn't forget to confirm once more. "Alright, I'll ask then?"

She nodded.

Xu Xian thought for a moment, organized the questions in his mind, and asked one of his major doubts. "Senior... are you a descendant of the Li family?"

As he asked, his gaze instinctively fell upon the three-foot sword at the woman's waist.

Hearing this, she followed his gaze and looked at the sword as well. She reached out to stroke it and nodded. "Li Shuhe."

Xu Xian raised an eyebrow slightly.

She spoke slowly. "Sensible and refined, wind through the grain. That is my name."

Xu Xian repeated it silently in his heart.

"Li Shuhe. Sensible and refined, wind through the grain..."

It was a very meaningful name, sounding better than his own and more sophisticated than Li Taibai's.

He said sincerely, "It's a good name."

At the same time, he confirmed his suspicion. The woman before him was indeed a descendant of the Li family. The last bit of wariness in his heart faded away at that moment.

Even the little book spirit stopped hiding. It crawled out of the spirit sea and sat obediently on Xu Xian's shoulder, its large eyes on its tiny face staring at the girl again and again.

Staring and staring...

A member of the Li family meant she was truly one of their own.

Even if she was a ghost?

It wasn't afraid anymore.

Xu Xian felt the same.

On Li Shuhe's dry, stiff face, the corners of her mouth pulled up slightly, as if she were wearing a faint smile.

She seemed very pleased by Xu Xian's praise.

After waiting a while and seeing she didn't speak again, Xu Xian knew she was waiting for his next question. Following up on their conversation, he asked his second question:

"So, Senior, you stayed here to wait for me, right?"

Li Shuhe first nodded, then shook her head, leaving Xu Xian with an ambiguous answer.

Was it a yes?

Or was it not entirely so?

Xu Xian's third question: "Then, do you know who I am, Senior?"

Li Shuhe again nodded first, then shook her head.

Xu Xian: "..." He was baffled! This really was taxing.

Surprisingly, however, Li Shuhe didn't remain silent this time. She spoke. "I do not know you, but I know you are the Sword Bearer."

Xu Xian let out the breath he had been holding. He understood.

She meant that she knew he was the Sword Bearer but hadn't known him personally before. It was a very precise answer.

It seemed she was quite literal-minded.

As for how she knew, Xu Xian didn't ask.

He had manifested the Sword Tower; there was no way a member of the Li family wouldn't recognize it. Furthermore, he had come from Fanzhou and shattered the Sky Gate with a single sword strike. The answers were written all over him.

Not to mention, this person was someone who could seemingly see the little book spirit.

He asked a third question: "I wonder if you still remember... Li Taibai, Senior?"

This was a point of confusion for Xu Xian, but also a test. It was his final confirmation of whether she was truly a member of the Li family.

Li Shuhe nodded. Then, she extended a finger and wrote two strings of numbers on the rocky ground beside her.

The ground was as hard as stone, but her finger passed through it like it was sand.

One was 【2134】.

The other was 【4123】.

She pointed to the first and said, "This is me."

She pointed to the second and said, "This is Little Taibai."

Xu Xian was in a daze.

She prompted, "Sword Protector!"

Xu Xian understood instantly.

She was also a Sword Protector, the 2134th generation. Li Taibai was the 4123rd generation Sword Protector, and also the last.

Xu Xian had heard Li Taibai mention that in the Li family, once the previous generation's Sword Protector entered the Immortal Realm, a new Sword Protector would be chosen from the younger generation.

By the standards of Above the Heavens, it would take a top-tier genius an average of at least five hundred years to reach the Immortal Realm.

This meant that the Li clan had guarded the Sword Mound for nearly two million years without interruption.

This was an incredibly long process that couldn't help but inspire deep respect.

The Li family,

For the sake of a single promise.

They had kept their lonely watch for two million years, with tens of thousands of generations following one after another. This was even more profound than the Wendao Sect.

And the number 2134 also meant that the person before him had lived for an extremely long time. As a Sword Protector and the most talented sword cultivator of her generation in the Li family, her realm was bound to be high.

God Immortal stage?

Or even...

Immortal King stage!

Xu Xian bowed his head. "I understand."