After Zhou Zhi and the other took their leave, Li Guanqi tidied the house inside and out, feeling the fullness within his dantian.
He suddenly murmured to himself, "I'm really in the mood for some barbecue..."
However, after scouring his storage ring, all he found was an iron wok.
Looking at the iron wok in his hand, a teasing smile curved Li Guanqi's lips.
He took out a jade slip, coughed lightly twice, and spoke into it.
"Ye Feng, how are your injuries? Feeling any better?"
Soon, Ye Feng's slightly weak voice came through.
"Much better. Master got me a bunch of tonics—it's given me so much internal heat these past two days I feel like I'm burning up."
Li Guanqi pursed his lips and said softly, "Since you've got so much heat in you, how about coming over to my place for some barbecue or something?"
"Where? Your courtyard residence or Yuhu Peak? I'll be right over!"
Ye Feng's impatient, eager voice came through the jade slip.
The youth's eyes shifted slightly as he said in an airy tone, "Well, Lin Dong is here with me too. We've got plenty of fish and meat for barbecue, but we're craving roast chicken.
"Why don't you find a way to bring one?
"Mind you, Lin Dong said what he brought was spirit fish. It won't do if what you bring is too shabby."
Sitting on his bed, Ye Feng thumped his chest loudly at these words.
"Tsk, Lao Li, don't you worry! Tianjin Peak might not have spirit fowl, but Tianmu Peak does!"
Putting down the jade slip, Li Guanqi immediately sent a message to Zhong Lin.
"Old Zhong, I narrowly escaped death, and today Ye Feng insisted on hosting a gathering to eat roast meat here at my place on Yuhu Peak.
"He's bringing two spirit pullets, though, so just bring whatever you see fit.
"Oh right, I heard the cauldrons from Tianzhu Peak's Alchemy Pavilion make phenomenal hanging-furnace roasts..."
Soon, a reply came from Zhong Lin as well.
"Don't worry, what I bring definitely won't be inferior to Lao Ye's."
Li Guanqi lowered the jade slip and pondered what else was missing.
"Hey, Lin Dong... I've just recovered from my injuries, and Zhong Lin and Lao Ye both said they're bringing some things over to visit me."
Lin Dong's honest, good-natured voice came through: "Then I'll head over right away."
"Sheng'an, it's been a while. Ye Feng, Lin Dong, and the others are all coming over to Yuhu Peak for barbecue in a bit.
"None of them brought any wine, though. Could you bring some when you come?"
In a cultivation chamber in the outer sect, Li Sheng'an woke from his meditative state looking somewhat surprised.
He had heard about Li Guanqi's rapid realm breakthroughs in the inner sect.
He had thought he would never cross paths with these people again in his lifetime.
After hearing the message from the jade slip, Li Sheng'an grinned and answered frankly,
"Don't worry, isn't it just wine? I'll bring you all the best spirit wine!"
After setting down the jade slip, Li Guanqi smiled with immense satisfaction.
"Mm, isn't everything covered now?"
Suddenly!
A slightly childish voice drifted from behind Li Guanqi.
"Aha! Little Blind Guy, I'll have you know I heard everything!
"Playing them for fools with empty hands, huh~"
Li Guanqi froze. Turning around, he saw no one, so he darted to the edge of Yuhu Peak and looked down.
What met his eyes next left him between tears and laughter.
Dressed in her floral padded jacket, Yu Sui'an had one foot wedged in a tree branch jutting out from the cliff, dangling precariously.
Upon seeing Li Guanqi, she did not forget to tug down the hem of her jacket with both hands to keep her round little belly from showing.
Li Guanqi lightly raised a hand, and the Canglang sword traced a graceful arc, swiftly positioning itself beneath her.
Once the little girl landed, she clasped her hands behind her back and looked up at Li Guanqi with haughty swagger.
Raising her head and pointing a finger at him, she said, "Humph, humph, caught you red-handed!"
Li Guanqi pulled her over and gave her backside a few smacks.
"Ah! Ow! You're not allowed to hit me!"
Li Guanqi chuckled softly. "You little brat, you're only at the fourth level of Qi Refinement and you dare climb Yuhu Peak? What if you fell?"
Yu Sui'an paid no heed to his words at all, scampering far away in an instant.
Pointing at him, she demanded, "I don't care, I want to eat too!"
With that, the little girl tilted her head, wiggled her eyebrows, and said, "Grandpa Xu has two fish in his courtyard, right in the little pond outside the gate. They're super fat~
"Say... if we turn them into grilled fish, wouldn't that be delicious~"
As the little girl spoke, she swallowed her drool.
Li Guanqi secretly thought, 'She makes a good point...'
'When the others arrive, it won't look good if they see that I haven't prepared anything myself.'
With that, Li Guanqi brought the little girl onto his flying sword, and the two transformed into a streak of light, instantly flying toward Tianlei Peak.
Yet just as the two of them returned to Tianlei Peak,
Ye Feng crept stealthily onto the back mountain of Tianmu Peak.
The disciples responsible for raising the spirit fowl greeted Ye Feng one after another when they saw him.
"Senior Brother Ye, what brings you to Tianmu Peak? Are you looking for someone?"
Ye Feng had not expected disciples to be guarding the place. He laughed it off with a hollow chuckle.
Pretending to leave, he masked his face with a veil, watched for a long while, and seized a moment when the disciple was not paying attention.
In a flash, he snatched two pullets and bolted.
Standing by the window, the disciple watched this spectacle, utterly dumbfounded.
Turning to his fellow disciple beside him, he asked, "Um... does Senior Brother Ye think the two of us are complete idiots?"
The youth beside him shrugged helplessly. "Maybe that's just Senior Brother Ye's idea of fun..."
Meanwhile, the honest Lin Dong used contribution points at the back mountain of Tiantu Peak to buy plenty of beef, mutton, and the like.
As for Zhong Lin, the young master of Mount Yuyang also arrived at Tianzhu Peak.
Gazing at the towering Alchemy Pavilion before him, he hesitated for a long while before finally stepping inside.
Moments later...
"Which little bastard stole the alchemy cauldron?!"
"Don't let this old man catch you!!"
Heading down Tianzhu Peak, Zhong Lin could no longer keep his composure. He broke into a sprint, tossed out his flying sword, and soared into the sky!
Having just broken through to Foundation Establishment yesterday, Zhong Lin's sword flight was still a bit wobbly.
Everyone else was rushing toward Yuhu Peak.
At this moment, however, Li Guanqi and Yu Sui'an had already crept outside the courtyard residence of Second Elder Xu Zhengjie.
One big, one small, the two figures crept quietly against the wall, their target being the two azure spirit fish in the pond before the courtyard gate.
"Hey... is the second elder here?"
Yu Sui'an turned around, put a finger to her lips, and knitted her brows.
"Shh! Grandpa Xu should be basking in the sun on a chair in the backyard right now.
"Stop talking!"
Hearing this, Li Guanqi nodded repeatedly, and the two cautiously approached the courtyard gate.
As they drew near, Yu Sui'an's eyes sparkled when she spotted the big, fat fish that reached up to her chest.
Without a word, she rolled up her sleeves and jumped right in to grab one. Fortunately, the pond water only reached past her calves.
"Ahhh, I got it! I got it!!"
"The heat is on! Run!!"
Hugging the big fish, the little girl scrambled out with an effort, her little legs pumping furiously as she sprinted down the mountain.
Seeing this, Li Guanqi grabbed the other fish and ran as well, snatching the little girl by the collar along the way and hoisting her up.
The two stepped onto the flying sword and flew through the air toward Yuhu Peak.
Inside the courtyard residence.
Xu Zhengjie looked at the old man beside him with a darkened face.
"Old Li... coming straight to my pond to snatch fish—isn't that going a bit too far?"
Li Nanting gently rocked in the chair beneath him, a faint smile playing across his aged face.
"Hahaha, what's the big deal?
"Have Little Steamed Bun call you Grandpa Xu a few extra times later, and you'll be itching to pass on your entire life's cultivation to her.
"They're just two spirit fish. What's wrong with letting her have a bite?"
Xu Zhengjie tapped his pipe and muttered under his breath, "Fair enough.
"Still... having three little bastards crop up in the sect all at once is pretty amusing, hahahaha.
"One stealing chickens, one stealing a cauldron, and one coming straight to my home to steal fish."
Li Nanting opened his eyes, glanced at him, and chuckled. "What, Little Steamed Bun stealing fish doesn't count as stealing? She doesn't count as one of the little bastards?"
"Tch, how can Little Steamed Bun be the same? She's my precious granddaughter! What's wrong with her eating two fish?"
Xu Zhengjie puffed his beard and glared.
Chapter 104