Li Guanqi looked at Yan Chong, whose eyes brimmed with tears. Li Guanqi understood him all too well. In the past, he had been the same.

He pulled the woman over and slipped a fragment of Peng Luo into her mouth. The potent medicine coursed through her, and her injuries healed at a visible speed.

Yan Chong finally relaxed, his eyes falling shut as he collapsed toward the ground. Li Guanqi caught him and searched his storage ring for a long while, but nothing inside could heal Golden Core Realm cultivators. His pills were far too potent. They could even make Yan Chong explode. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Li Guanqi pulled out dozens of storage rings taken from those he’d killed, never having sorted through the spoils. At last, in a purple ring, he found some healing pills.

He fed Yan Chong the pills, then carried them both to a mountain peak. Before long, Yan Chong stirred awake. He spotted Li Guanqi drinking wine on the summit and felt his nerves settle. Then he noticed the woman breathing steadily, and his worries eased.

Li Guanqi smiled at him. “Want a drink?”

They chatted for a while, and Li Guanqi learned that Yan Chong was a disciple of the Daxia Sword Sect from the thirty-eighth generation who had left the sect over ten years ago. Yan Chong also learned that Li Guanqi was a thirty-ninth-generation disciple, having entered a few years after him.

Seeing his heavy expression, Li Guanqi asked, “What’s wrong? You still look troubled.”

“We should leave,” Yan Chong said. “The Golden Snake Sect’s power is too great. They’ll find us soon.”

He took a long look at Li Guanqi but swallowed the rest of his words. Li Guanqi shrugged. “Don’t mention it. Why were you being hunted, anyway? You can speak freely with me.”

Yan Chong sighed. “It’s a long story. Yu Qin and I found a three-hundred-year-old Rakshasa Crimson Demon Flower in a powerful demonic beast’s lair. After a brutal battle and killing the beast, we were ambushed by the Golden Snake Sect. Qin’er was severely injured protecting me. That should have been the end of it... but as we fled, I heard something else.”

Li Guanqi frowned. “What?”

Yan Chong sighed. “I heard the sect master of the Golden Snake Sect, Fu Dongsheng, had a son, Fu An, whose cultivation was crippled. The sect sent several Divine Transformation Realm experts and captured the culprit after half a month.”

Li Guanqi’s voice hardened. “Get to the point. Who did they catch?”

Yan Chong said solemnly, “The thirty-fifth peak master of Heavenly Water Peak, Elder Tu Shan!”

Boom!

Li Guanqi’s aura erupted, a crushing force that seemed ready to swallow heaven and earth. Yan Chong felt like a lone boat on a raging sea, on the verge of capsizing.

Li Guanqi withdrew his aura, killing intent surging. “Tu Shan...”

He remembered that Tu Shan had returned to the sect to help them during the battle with the Purple Sun Pavilion. Rumor also had it that his relationship with Sect Master Lu Kangnian was... complicated.

Li Guanqi inhaled deeply, lips curling into a cold smile. He tossed two pills to Yan Chong.

The youth stared at the two Nascent Soul Pills, stunned. “Brother Li, these are too precious...!”

Li Guanqi smiled. “Take them. One day you’ll reach greater heights. Remember the sect’s teachings. Be virtuous and aid your fellow disciples without hesitation.”

Yan Chong rose and gave him a fist salute, already half-certain of Li Guanqi’s identity. “Yan Chong will never regret joining the sect! If I see a fellow disciple in danger, I won’t stand by!”

Li Guanqi nodded with a smile, then vanished.

Watching him go, Yan Chong murmured, “When did the Daxia Sword Sect produce such a monstrous genius? I’ve been away from the Daxia Territory for too long...”

Above a nameless mountain range, Li Guanqi’s gaze turned icy. He raised his hand, and the weather shifted. Thick clouds gathered, heralds of the storm to come.

Rumble! Boom! Crack!

Thunderclouds rolled as purple lightning flashed and wove through them. The surrounding spirit qi vanished, and the land for dozens of li around him shook. Demonic beasts cowered and whined in fear.

At the Golden Snake Sect, dozens of figures appeared in the sky. A man in black python robes with a vicious aura rose into the air. He had cropped hair, drooping eyes, and a hooked nose.

Fu Dongsheng was a half-step Illusory Refinement Realm cultivator, yet he could not sense Li Guanqi’s cultivation at all. Smiling, Fu Dongsheng took two steps forward and bowed. “Fellow Daoist, what brings you to my Golden Snake Sect?”

His own aura surged, yet inwardly, he shivered as he watched the flashing lightning. Damn it, a lightning-type cultivator! These people are notorious for their killing power. What’s this about? We haven’t provoked anyone on this level recently...

The corner of Li Guanqi’s mouth lifted as his divine consciousness surged toward the Golden Snake Sect.

Fu Dongsheng’s expression darkened. Li Guanqi’s gesture amounted to a slap in the face.

Boom!

His sea of consciousness hummed as he tried to resist, but a single contact with Li Guanqi’s divine consciousness made his mind and spirit quake. It nearly shattered his sea of consciousness in one stroke. If he hadn’t severed the connection the instant he felt it buckle, he probably would’ve been severely injured already.

Above the Golden Snake Sect, spirit light flashed as the defensive barrier shuddered, raising violent ripples.

Boom! Crack, crack!

In a single breath, the array barrier shattered. Li Guanqi quickly found Tu Shan in the dungeon below, imprisoned, unconscious, and badly wounded.

“Fellow Daoist! You are provoking our entire Golden Snake Sect!”

Fu Dongsheng could endure no longer. With a sharp clang, he drew his sword and leveled it at Li Guanqi. Across the sect, several mountain peaks shook as numerous figures emerged from seclusion one after another.

Tu Shan’s condition was bad, but salvageable. Seeing this, Li Guanqi let out a slow breath. Then he cast a sidelong glance at the furious Fu Dongsheng. He raised his hand, and the clouds churned. Ten thousand bolts of lightning condensed above him into a hundred-zhang thunder sword.

His voice was calm. “What did you say? Speak louder.”