After being reborn, all I want to do is run away.

Chapter 5 Deacon's Hall

The Outer Sect Affairs Hall is a rather spacious one-story building. Apart from a few elders in charge of external affairs, most of its affairs are managed by other disciples of the outer sect.

After entering, Shen Xu respectfully addressed an elder who was sitting and drinking tea, saying, "Elder Zhang, I would like to exchange for the reward for breaking through to the fifth level of Qi Nourishing."

"Let's try activating our vital energy," Zhang Song said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Shen Xu drew out the vital energy within his dantian.

"Not bad, you've just broken through to the fifth level of Qi Cultivation. What's your name?"

"Shen Xu!"

"Qiqi, investigate Shen Xu."

"Okay!" a lively and playful girl replied from inside the window.

"Shen Xu, cultivation level is Qi Nourishing Realm, fourth level." After a while, the girl spoke again.

"Your information is correct. Go claim your reward!"

"Thank you, Elder." Shen Xu bowed and then went to the window where the girl was.

"Senior Brother Shen, this is your reward: one hundred Qi Nourishing Pills and a voucher for entering the library. Please keep it safe." Through the window, Shen Xu vaguely saw a girl in green smiling brightly at him.

"Thank you!" Shen Xu said with a smile.

The name Qiqi reminded him of someone from his past life—Yang Qiqi, a genius girl with a talent level of Earth, the closed-door disciple of the Qingzhu Sword Sect leader, who also liked to wear a green robe.

In his previous life, when he arrived at the Green Bamboo Sword Sect, although the Blood Tide had already invaded the sect, he saw a young girl fighting against three Yuan Dan Realm elders from the Blood Fiend Palace all by herself, before being swallowed up by the Blood Tide.

He would never forget the girl with her face covered in blood, and her eyes that were always calm and serene.

"Is there anything else, Senior Brother?" Yang Qiqi couldn't help but remind him when she saw that Shen Xu was a little stunned.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about some things from the past, and it brought up some feelings!"

After Shen Xu walked out of the outer sect's hall of affairs, he suddenly realized that he hadn't seen Yang Qiqi in the hall when he broke through in his previous life. Was Yang Qiqi only discovered between now and the end of the outer sect competition? Or was it just a coincidence of names? But there was a certain resemblance between them!

Just as Shen Xu was deep in thought, he suddenly saw Wu Qi rush up to him and say urgently, "Shen Xu, hurry up and leave! It will be too late if you don't leave now."

After Wu Qi finished speaking, she grabbed his hand and tried to take him away from the place. Before Shen Xu could react, Wu Qi had already pulled him away for a distance.

While pulling him along, Wu Qi said, "Shen Xian and Mo Da are waiting up ahead to cause you trouble! They even said they want to start a sword fight with you, so it's very dangerous up ahead. You'd better hide for a while."

Upon hearing this, Shen Xu immediately stopped, while Wu Qi looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Brother Wu, I appreciate your kindness, but since they've come to cause me trouble, if I keep running away, wouldn't I lose the spirit of a sword cultivator? And how will I ever find the sword heart in the future?"

"Besides, you can hide for a while, but you can't hide forever. As long as I'm still in the Green Bamboo Sword Sect, I'll have to face them sooner or later," Shen Xu said to Wu Qi with a smile.

"Have you gone mad from practicing swordsmanship? I know you too well. What sword heart? You've already lost your worthless life, what's the point of talking about sword heart?" After saying that, Wu Qi tried to pull Shen Xu away again.

"Brother Wu, my mind is made up, you don't need to persuade me anymore. Besides, I don't even consider those two clowns a threat!"

"Who are you calling a clown?" Shen Xian, along with a group of onlookers, blocked Shen Xu's path.

"Are you being foolish! It's too late to say anything now," Wu Qi said with a frown and a hint of pessimism.

“Wu Qi, I know you and Shen Xu are close, but this has nothing to do with you. You’d better step aside, or my sword won’t discriminate,” Shen Xian said, brandishing his sword.

"Shen Xian, do you want to break the sect rules?" Wu Qi said sternly.

"I just wanted to spar with my adorable cousin. Which rule did I break? Shen Xu, didn't you say you wanted to fight? Are you going to change your mind now?" Shen Xian said with a sneer.

"Shen Xu, don't agree to him!" Wu Qi looked at Shen Xu anxiously.

"Since you want to be this good person, Wu Qi, why don't you take his place!"

"Wu Qi!" A young man in the crowd shook his head at Wu Qi.

Shen Xu slowly walked up to Wu Qi with his sword in hand, and said with his back to Wu Qi, "Wu Qi, I am very grateful that you still stood up for me at this time. Since you consider me a friend, I will naturally not make things difficult for my friend."

"Are you two going to fight one-on-one, or come at me together?" Shen Xu's icy gaze shot towards the two people in front of him.

Upon hearing Shen Xu's words, the crowd, which had been calm for a moment, suddenly erupted in commotion.

"Holy crap! He's so arrogant!!"

"Has Shen Xu gone mad?"

"I just don't know if he's really stupid or if he really has the ability."

Shen Xian had never been looked down upon like this since birth. His eyes flashed with a fierce light, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

Wu Qi looked at Shen Xu in front of him, speechless for a moment. After a while, he shook his head and walked straight out of the crowd.

"Shen Xu, your backer is gone. I hope you'll still be this arrogant when you're kneeling before me begging for mercy," Shen Xian said viciously.

"Words are useless; let's see who's the best!" Shen Xu twirled his sword.

Seeing that Shen Xu was not affected by his words at all, Shen Xian frowned. "Since you're looking for death, then your grandpa Shen will grant your wish."

After Shen Xian finished speaking, he instantly drew his sword, and a bright light pierced through the darkness, heading towards Shen Xu.

At such close range, Shen Xian's sudden attack was so fast that many people around didn't have time to react. When everyone saw this, they immediately thought Shen Xu was finished.

Shen Xian's sword strike, delivered with full force by someone at the fifth level of the Qi Nourishing Realm, would be difficult for even someone of the same level to handle. With Shen Xu's fourth level of the Qi Nourishing Realm, he would absolutely be unable to dodge this sword strike.

"It's the Wind Piercing Sword Technique! And a very high level of skill." Someone recognized the sword strike Shen Xian used.

"Using such a ruthless move, is Shen Xian trying to kill Shen Xu?"

"Overestimating yourself!" Shen Xu sneered. What others saw as Shen Xian's superb swordsmanship was full of flaws in his eyes. He could even predict where Shen Xian's sword would land the next moment.

"Avoid! Why should we avoid it!"

Immediately, Shen Xu drew his sword, and everyone saw another dazzling light pierce the darkness, instantly obscuring Shen Xian's sword light.

"Clang..." Everyone heard a melodious sword sound as if it came from beyond the sky. After the light faded, everyone realized that the long sword in Shen Xian's hand had fallen to the ground.

Shen Xian stared blankly at the longsword lying on the ground, seemingly unable to believe what had just happened, and the entire scene fell silent for a moment.

"This... I'm not seeing things, am I?!"

"What just happened?" someone asked incredulously.

"I can't see it!"

Only a few people with high levels of cultivation among those present knew what had just happened.

Shen Xu accurately predicted the landing point of Shen Xian's sword tip, but instead of dodging, he chose to meet it head-on. After the sword tips collided, Shen Xian was shaken off his longsword by the shockwave from the collision.

It was no easy feat to accurately predict the landing point of Shen Xian's sword tip under such circumstances, not to mention that Shen Xian's strength was definitely higher than Shen Xu's. Shen Xian was knocked away from his sword, but Shen Xu was not, which means that he probably mastered a very profound technique of dissipating force.