Li Guanqi’s gaze was indifferent, betraying no hint of particular closeness with Song Yunshu. Countless thoughts raced through his mind as he weighed the situation. He took out several jade slips, inscribed a string of questions, and looked up at the old man. Tu Yongsi nodded. The slips were sent out, and one by one, they began to glow with replies.

Li Guanqi had asked about a few key matters. The first was Meng Wanshu’s seclusion.

Meng Jiangchu’s reply was the same as before, though his voice carried a trace of irritation. Forging Li Guanqi’s sword was clearly no simple task.

Still, Meng Jiangchu seemed to have guessed a few things from Li Guanqi’s questions. His only response was a single line: weigh the decision yourself. Li Guanqi was surprised. He had expected Meng Jiangchu to speak up on his behalf, given the man’s good relationship with Gu Yong.

As for Lu Kangnian, he simply waved his hand and said bluntly, “Do whatever you want. The sect hasn’t fallen to the point where you need to worry about it.”

Lu Kangnian also tactfully expressed his gratitude for saving Tu Shan.

Cao Yan and Ye Feng, meanwhile, remained silent, neither of them responding to him as if by unspoken agreement.

Li Guanqi did not ask what benefits he would receive. He knew that if he could hold on long enough, the payoff down the road would probably be beyond anything he could imagine.

After a prolonged silence, he rubbed his brow and looked at Song Yunshu, countless scenarios forming in his mind. “I agree.”

Tu Yongsi opened his eyes and muttered, “You’ve got guts.”

Li Guanqi couldn’t tell whether that was praise, but the old man’s words seemed to carry a deeper meaning.

Song Yunshu raised her head, her tear-filled eyes shining brightly as she looked at Li Guanqi. “Really? Ahhh! I knew you would agree!”

Li Guanqi’s mouth twitched. If he hadn’t wanted to build his own force, he would never have waded into such a mess. The Guanyun Pavilion would inevitably need to borrow influence early on. If he had to handle everything himself, he simply wouldn’t have the time or energy.

Although there was a connection between Gu Yong and his grandfather, Gu Yong’s behavior had made the situation clear. Since their last meeting, the man had never contacted Li Guanqi again. Li Guanqi didn’t expect him to hand over the Intelligence Pavilion he’d painstakingly built.

Friendship ran on a simple premise: “If you help me, I’ll help you.” That kind of exchange was what made bonds last.

Li Guanqi nodded and said, “We can talk about the details later. When do we leave?”

“The sooner the better. Ideally, now.”

“So urgent?”

Song Yunshu didn’t answer, but Li Guanqi understood immediately. The situation inside the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion must be worse than I thought...

Faint cracks spread across the barrier, yet neither Song Yunshu nor the old man reacted.

Li Guanqi’s heart ached, and he quickly said, “Put it away!”

Song Yunshu blinked. “Isn’t this thing single use?”

Li Guanqi scowled. He knew the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion was wealthy, but this was something else entirely. Even if the array tray only lasted a few more breaths, it was still enormously valuable. It required nothing more than a simple infusion of vital force to activate. A spirit stone array was already built in, so no additional spirit stones were needed. If a Golden Core Realm cultivator activated it mid-fight, even a single breath of protection could block a full-power strike from a Combined Body Realm cultivator. A barrier like that was worth a fortune.

As Li Guanqi grumbled about prodigals squandering money, he swiftly put the array tray away.

Once the barrier dispersed, Xiao Chen flashed to Li Guanqi’s side. His wary eyes locked onto Tu Yongsi, and he spoke to Li Guanqi through voice transmission. “Want to take him out?”

Li Guanqi glanced at the old man, who had raised his eyes. Li Guanqi said irritably, “Stop using voice transmission. It’s not like he can’t hear you.”

Only then did Xiao Chen realize that the old man was formidable. Stronger than him, at the very least.

With the gap in cultivation realms, his little voice transmission stunt was the equivalent of getting in Tu Yongsi’s face and saying, “We’re going to gang up and beat you.”

Even Xiao Chen felt a little embarrassed. He scratched his head awkwardly, though he still transmitted his voice. “So... are we doing it or not?”

Li Guanqi smacked him on the head. “Fight, fight, fight. All you think about is fighting!”

“Oh, so we’re not fighting after all.”

With that, Xiao Chen put away the long spear in his hand. He still watched Tu Yongsi vigilantly, though. The old man was no ordinary cultivator.

Li Guanqi turned to Song Yunshu and Tu Yongsi. “Wait a moment. I need to take care of a few things.” 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Song Yunshu nodded and vanished with Tu Yongsi.

Once they were gone, the goofy expression dropped from Xiao Chen’s face. He looked at Li Guanqi with a serious expression. “Boss, did they come looking for you about something? If it’s too dangerous, don’t go.”

A warm feeling spread through Li Guanqi’s heart. He looked at Xiao Chen and took his hand, and Xiao Chen calmly accepted the jade slip he offered.

“We’ll use this to contact each other from now on,” Li Guanqi said.

Xiao Chen nodded almost imperceptibly.

Li Guanqi asked, “How’s the Xiao family now?”

Xiao Chen smiled faintly.

A faint smile crossed Xiao Chen’s face. “No problems internally. As for the ones who split off, I don’t care whether they live or die.”

Li Guanqi nodded. “Sometimes you just have to make a decision. What are your plans for the future?”

Xiao Chen’s expression shifted, and he went quiet.

Li Guanqi smiled faintly. “Don’t think too much about it. I’ll figure something out for you.”

Xiao Chen didn’t know what Li Guanqi could possibly do to pull him away from the family, but he grinned anyway.

Li Guanqi took a deep breath and said in a low voice, “Alright then. Take me to Uncle’s grave so I can offer a stick of incense before I leave.”

Afterward, Li Guanqi stopped outside the domain boundary and looked at Song Yunshu and Tu Yongsi. “Let’s go.”

Song Yunshu nodded and drew a golden teleportation scroll from her storage ring, then crushed it. A light screen about a zhang wide flared into existence before them.

The three entered one after another. When the light screen faded, Xiao Chen stood alone at the entrance of the domain, his eyes flickering.

“Guanyun Pavilion...” he murmured. “Why does Boss want to build up this force...?”

Nearby, the void twisted, and a young man identical to Xiao Chen stepped out of the distortion. His clone.

After having the clone change into his clothes, Xiao Chen tore the sky open and disappeared.