A look of reminiscence flickered across Kong Yan's eyes as he counted on his fingers.
Having counted on his left hand and then his right, his hands trembled slightly as he muttered, "Seven years..."
The old man's eyes reddened, tears seemingly welling in his sockets. No one could fathom how he had endured those seven years.
Only after a long while did he realize that Li Guanqi was still beside him. He hurriedly raised his sleeve to wipe them, but couldn't bear to use his sect robe.
Instead, he merely wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand and murmured softly, "It's a cliché story..."
"The reason I left back then was that an old friend and I had discovered a rank-seven spirit herb!
"What made it rarest of all was that there was no guardian beast—or perhaps it was already dead.
"Just as the spirit herb matured, people from the Luo Clan suddenly arrived. My old friend made a desperate strike to buy me a chance to survive."
As the old man spoke, his voice grew choked, as though his friend's dying words were still echoing in his ears.
After a long silence, the old man finally continued, "After that... my friend died, the spirit herb was gone, and I was captured. That was all."
In just a few nonchalant sentences, Kong Yan summarized seven years of utter misery as a slave.
Li Guanqi said softly, "Elder Kong, would you like to return to the sect?"
Kong Yan's eyes lit up, a sharp gleam flashing in them as he looked at the youth before him, and then he nodded.
Li Guanqi smiled, then took out a teleportation scroll and a sect jade slip, speaking softly.
"Take the teleportation array back. Someone will receive you in the Great Xia Domain."
The elder took a deep breath, then said in a deep voice, "Alright! This old man... no longer has the heart to continue wandering the continent anyway. I might as well head back."
Li Guanqi left him several hundred spirit stones, after which the old man crushed the scroll to depart.
Cupping his hands in farewell with tears in his eyes, the elder said earnestly, "Take care. Don't be too aggressive. Always leave a margin of leeway."
Li Guanqi nodded with a smile and waved goodbye to the elder.
Silver light flashed. Once the elder had departed, Li Guanqi took out the Tianji jade pendant, but after some thought, he put it away.
Flashing before Luo Siyang, he immediately began soul searching without a word.
Soon, Li Guanqi's brows furrowed. In Luo Siyang's memories, he discovered that Kong Yan had not been captured by Luo Siyang.
His first meeting with Kong Yan had taken place in the Luo Clan's dungeon, and Luo Siyang knew nothing about how Kong Yan had been captured prior to that.
Not dwelling on the matter, Li Guanqi suddenly twitched the corner of his mouth.
A handsome young man clad in black robes hurriedly emerged from the void.
Qin Wushang stared blankly for a moment at Luo Siyang "basking in the sun," then clicked his tongue in wonder. "You went this easy on him?
"I thought you'd flay his skin and dry him like jerky."
His consciousness hazy, Luo Siyang forced his eyes wide open. Through his blurred vision, he managed to recognize Qin Wushang, and his mind was instantly shaken to its core!
Although the Luo Clan was considered an ancient aristocratic clan passed down to this day, compared to the Qin clan of Qin Imperial City, they were like toddlers.
Qin Wushang, the imperial scion of Qin Imperial City, was a terrifying figure who utterly crushed geniuses and prodigies of the same realm!
*How... how could he be with this guy?*
*And what does he mean by 'went this easy'?!*
Li Guanqi shrugged. His gaze tightened slightly as he looked at Qin Wushang, and he said softly, "Your progress is very fast."
Hearing this, the tall and straight Qin Wushang couldn't help his facial muscles twitching, and he scoffed.
"You're the damn one whose progress is fast, alright?!
"Haven't seen you in two years, and you're already late-stage Body Integration?
"Also, why do I feel like you're somewhat different from when I last saw you..."
Indeed, Li Guanqi was currently at the peak of the fourth tier of Spirit Comprehension!
Li Guanqi smiled and said nothing more.
The handsome Qin Wushang carried an inexplicable aura of devilish charm. Rubbing his chin with his slender fingers, he muttered,
"Let me guess... your Spirit Comprehension tier is definitely beyond peak tier two!
"No, tier two couldn't have this aura... Tier three?! Damn, you can't be serious!
"Didn't you just spend two years in secluded cultivation? How did you comprehend so fast?"
Li Guanqi reached out and covered his mouth. "Enough, stop guessing.
"Rushing over this fast, did you just come to watch the show?"
Qin Wushang flashed to the mountaintop, took out a white jade table from somewhere, and poured out wine.
"Aiya, how can you think of me like that?
"I came to drink with you! We haven't seen each other in ages, and you secluded yourself for over two years.
"These past two years, I've been cultivating and wandering the continent too—boring as hell."
Li Guanqi smiled, genuinely having no idea what went through the mind of someone like Qin Wushang every day.
The last time they met, Li Guanqi had still needed to look up slightly to the other's sword dao attainment.
Yet now...
Li Guanqi took a sip of wine and asked softly, "Don't you have any friends?"
It would have been fine if he hadn't asked, but the moment Qin Wushang heard that, he curled his lip.
"Nope. Every day I just keep my little sister company.
"As for everyone else... heh, they're not worth my time.
"Either they're fawning over me, or they've got a bit of skill and walk around with their noses in the air, thinking their shit doesn't stink.
"Boring."
Li Guanqi said nothing. Perhaps if he spent every day cooped up in the sect, he would have the same troubles.
Beneath Qin Wushang's seemingly aloof exterior, once one grew familiar with him, he lost all of that refined, taciturn air.
He was like someone who had held his tongue for too long; to Li Guanqi, he even seemed a bit of a chatterbox, just like Xiao Chen.
The two did not have to wait long. Just as they finished two jars of wine, the winds surged and clouds roiled between heaven and earth as a fierce saber qi shot violently out of the void!
Qin Wushang murmured excitedly, "He's here!"
*Whoosh!*
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, a glint of chill abruptly flashing deep within them.
A golden saber light, a full hundred zhang in size, swept through the air as if intending to shear flat the mountain where the two stood.
Under the terrifying aura radiating outwards, vast swathes of trees collapsed across the surrounding mountains along its path.
Qin Wushang stared with keen interest at the sword coffin on Li Guanqi's back. Rumors abounded regarding this object within the circle of exceptional geniuses and prodigies.
No one knew how many swords were inside Li Guanqi's sword coffin, nor did anyone know whether the longsword named Red Lotus that he always held in hand was the last one.
Yet many rumors claimed that Li Guanqi's sword was an Immortal Realm treasure sword imbued with divinity!
Yet just as Qin Wushang hoped to get a closer look at the Red Lotus sword, Li Guanqi suddenly drew out a three-foot-long withered branch...
With branch like a sword and thunder flashing, he thrust out a single "sword" strike!
*Boom!*
The golden saber light shattered in an instant. Qin Wushang shot to his feet, eyes narrowed as he stared fixedly at Li Guanqi's thrusting motion, muttering under his breath:
"Momentum of the restrained edge!
"What terrifying comprehension...
"In a mere two years, his current sword dao mastery has even faintly surpassed mine."
A figure clad in brocade robes slowly walked out from the massive rift.
Luo Changqing immediately spotted Luo Siyang suspended under the sky and baking in the sun. Sensing that his life was not in danger, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Turning his head, he saw Li Guanqi in white robes holding a tree branch, as well as the tall man with the devilish smile.
*Why is Qin Wushang here?*
Luo Changqing's brows furrowed slightly as he murmured to himself, looking at Qin Wushang.
Finally, his gaze fell upon Li Guanqi, his eyes involuntarily turning exceptionally grave.
*Is he Li Guanqi?*
*So strong...*
Chapter 1001