That simple, casual gesture from Li Guanqi left a lasting impression on everyone present.

The returning disciples and elders had felt uneasy at first. They had been away from the sect for decades or even centuries, only to return and find the place flourishing like never before, all thanks to Li Guanqi. They had worried that returning to the Daxia Sword Sect in its current state would amount to little more than adding a solitary stone to an unshakeable peak, and quite a few had even quietly regretted not joining the group that left. But once Lu Kangnian revealed the Daxia Sword Sect’s true reserves, they chose to stay.

Li Guanqi’s actions put every returnee at ease. He conveyed a clear message that, regardless of how much time had passed, the sect would always treat them fairly as long as their hearts remained with the sect.

Everyone bowed toward Li Guanqi. Shen Zhirong, in particular, was moved beyond words. Even at a glance, he could tell the sword technique Li Guanqi had given him was at least Heaven-tier—not Black-tier, not Earth-tier, but Heaven-tier. If people beyond the sect learned of that, it would spark a bloodbath.

Li Guanqi smiled and nodded at the crowd’s calls, then turned to look into the void.

Cao Yan and Xiao Chen appeared in front of him. The moment they saw him alone, their gazes swept in every direction, searching for Ye Feng. Unable to find him, they moved to Li Guanqi’s side, anxiety plain in their eyes.

“Big Brother, where’s Second Brother? How is he?”

Warmth stirred in Li Guanqi’s chest at the worry on their faces. He clapped a hand onto each of their shoulders and smiled. “Relax. Ye Feng’s fine. He just needs a bit more time to refine that thing.”

He glanced behind them, frowning. “What about you two? Why is it just the two of you?”

Looking a little sheepish, Cao Yan said, “After sealing the crack in that sect’s abyss, I didn’t have much to do. I was worried about Second Brother, so I came back first. Fourth Brother was the same. We ran into each other on the way back.”

Li Guanqi nodded at that, thinking it didn’t matter.

He was about to tell them to head to the Purple Spirit Paradise Realm and guard Ye Feng when he stiffened slightly. “All right, you two head to the Purple Spirit Paradise Realm and keep an eye on Ye Feng.”

Li Guanqi turned to Cao Yan. “Oh, and if the sect master needs help, give him a hand. Find Peng Luo later and get some essence for Ye Feng too.”

Xiao Chen was sharp enough to sense something off. He frowned. “Boss, did something happen to the people we brought out?”

Li Guanqi smacked him on the head with a laugh. “What are you thinking? Nothing like that. It’s just that the Guanyun Pavilion is looking for me.”

“All right, I’ll head over there.”

Only then did the two of them smile faintly. They turned and flew off toward the Purple Spirit Paradise Realm.

Once they were gone, Li Guanqi’s expression dropped. Lightning blazed beneath his feet. The void before him tore open, and he flashed through into the Guanyun Pavilion’s realm. The realm was being prepared for relocation into the Daxia Sword Sect.

Seeing Li Guanqi’s dark expression, Ji Yuchuan hurried over and bowed. “Xiao Chen’s team ran into a conflict with members of an ancient clan. They’ve... been detained. However, there are no casualties on our side for now.”

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, cold light glinting in them. He had repeatedly warned them to avoid conflict with the ancient clans. He hadn’t expected it to be unavoidable. “What’s the highest cultivation level among the people in Fourth Brother’s team?”

Ji Yuchuan answered without hesitation. “Peak Divine Transformation Realm. Xu Li, a former elder of Heavenly Wood Peak.”

“Which ancient clan did they run into? How strong are they?”

Li Guanqi’s voice was ice-cold. He had Lu Kangnian pass him Xu Li’s communication jade slip.

Ji Yuchuan handed over another jade slip. “From what I know, it’s the Lu clan. Our investigation shows their sphere of influence is enormous. They already have eight subordinate branches, all descended from the Lu family.”

Li Guanqi, who had little sense of scale for such matters, asked bluntly, “How does this Lu clan compare to the Sun clan from before?”

Ji Yuchuan answered with complete certainty. “The Sun clan’s entire sphere of influence is likely equivalent to just one of the Lu clan’s eight branches.”

Li Guanqi knitted his brows. A family force of that magnitude was truly formidable, and it was the first time he’d ever encountered one.

“Pavilion Master, there’s more... the Lu family almost certainly has Combined Body Realm cultivators. They may even have Mahayana Stage cultivators! Of the eight branches, the three I’ve managed to investigate already have Combined Body Realm cultivators.”

Li Guanqi frowned and murmured, “This is troublesome... A force on that scale is truly too powerful. But none of that matters. Anyone who dares detain people from my Daxia Sword Sect had better see whether they can afford the consequences first!”

Before the words had fully left his mouth, Li Guanqi vanished.

Sensing the lingering spatial fluctuations, Ji Yuchuan followed without hesitation. “Su You, Old Tang, I’m going with Pavilion Master Li. The Pavilion is in your hands.”

Li Guanqi looked at the map in his hand. Xiao Chen’s team had been detained while assisting the Qianlin Sect. They were in the Eastern Territory of the Azure Cloud Continent.

“Not too far, at least,” Li Guanqi murmured. He glanced back at Ji Yuchuan and frowned. “Why are you following me?”

Ji Yuchuan flashed forward, bowing with a smile. "Since you are going personally, the least I can do is accompany you and offer my support."

With that, Ji Yuchuan’s hand flashed, and he handed Li Guanqi a dazzling golden talisman.

Li Guanqi smiled faintly and slapped it onto his foot. Their speed surged severalfold at once.

He glanced at Ji Yuchuan with a hint of curiosity and held out a hand. “Give me some more.”

Ji Yuchuan laughed. Without hesitation, he handed Li Guanqi more than half the talisman runes he had. The sheer number of them made Li Guanqi click his tongue.

In less than thirty minutes, the two of them arrived in the airspace above the Qianlin Sect.

Buzz!

The moment Li Guanqi appeared, his eyes fixed on the grand and imposing sect plaza below.

Everyone from the Daxia Sword Sect was crouched on the ground, not one of them unscathed. Dozens of ancient clan disciples stood around them, each holding a set of golden inner armor, clearly no ordinary item. Apart from the Daxia Sword Sect disciples, several hundred cultivators in long azure robes had also been knocked to the ground.

Quite a few ancient clan cultivators were still ransacking everything inside the Qianlin Sect, looting like bandits collecting spoils of war.

An elder kneeled on the ground, desperately pleading with the intruders. Above him, over ten enormous beasts, each the size of a lion or tiger, were caged in midair. The stone tiles trembled beneath them.

One of the ancient clan disciples had drawn a dagger and begun skinning the demonic beasts while they were still alive.

Ji Yuchuan narrowed his eyes, his voice cold. “Those are tier-five demons. Dark Gold Spirit Lions. They’re descendants of an ancient great demon, the Scarlet Golden Earth Dragon.”