The Xuan Clan Is Finished

Spatial shift! When Li Guanqi saw the natural chasm stretching before him, he stood completely dumbfounded. Wasn't this transfer distance... a bit absurdly far? Li Guanqi turned to Meng Wanshu and asked gently, "Are you alright?" Meng Wanshu clutched her shoulder and shook her head, murmuring, "Xuan Zhèn... that man is ruthless." "Oh? Xuan Zhen is dead?" "Yes, he died by Xuan Zhèn's hand." Li Guanqi nodded quietly, choosing not to pry into what had transpired between them. Nangong Zhou tossed over a jade slip and said softly, "Little Friend Li, since all is well on this trip, I shall take my leave first." Upon hearing this, Gao Hua and An Xing also bid their farewells. Dugu Chongming handed the long saber back to Li Guanqi and burst into hearty laughter. "Hahaha! Little friend, I'm heading out as well. After vanishing for so many years, my grandfather must be worried sick. Since you and my grandfather know each other well, come visit whenever you have time. If you ever need a hand in the future, just say the word!" Li Guanqi cupped his hands with a smile. "There's plenty of time ahead. Until next time." The man smiled, departed from the chasm, and headed straight for home. Watching this, Meng Wanshu couldn't help but chuckle. "You're just as charming as ever." Hearing her tease, Li Guanqi felt secretly pleased, though somewhat sheepish. Gazing at the cool, aloof beauty before him, a fire stirred in his chest. In this state, Meng Wanshu seemed even more frosty than before, carrying an inexplicable distance that seemed to push people a thousand li away. Back in the domain boundary, Li Guanqi had happened to see Meng Wanshu just as she awoke after receiving the inheritance. That image lingered stubbornly in his thoughts; the moment he closed his eyes, it filled his mind. Soft curves... fair skin... a slender waist one could easily clasp... "What are you daydreaming about?" "*Cough, cough...*" "Nothing... nothing at all." Caught completely off guard, Li Guanqi blushed, awkwardly rubbing the wine gourd at his waist. A flicker of mischief danced in Meng Wanshu's eyes, yet her expression remained deadpan, maintaining her regal posture. The wound on her shoulder had already stopped bleeding. She stepped up behind Li Guanqi, pressing against his back. Her left arm wound around his waist, while her right slipped beneath his arm, lightly caressing his cheek and neck. The cold touch of her fingertips made the fine hairs on his skin stand on end. Her warm breath brushed past his ear. "You know you can~" Li Guanqi suddenly felt as if he had suffered "grievous injuries"—his blood surged, and his eyes flushed red. Without hesitation, he immediately went to "heal his wounds!" Pengluo had long since been tossed back into the sword coffin space by Li Guanqi. As for Jiuxiao... Only after asking did Li Guanqi learn that it would still take some time for Jiuxiao to awaken. The sky gradually dimmed, and a bright moon hung high. Along the shores of the Coast of the Eastern Sea, thunder suddenly cracked out of thin air, churning the wind and clouds! In an instant, torrential rain battered an area of a hundred li, and arcs of lightning danced wildly within the dense, dark storm clouds. The tempestuous lightning spiritual energy grew exceptionally active. The heavy rain lashed the sea, stirring endless ripples, and demonic beasts along the shore plunged fearfully into the ocean depths. A figure floated midair, spreading his arms wide to embrace the lightning. At the same time, a slender silhouette sat cross-legged atop a reef by the shore. An immensely formidable power coursed within Li Guanqi's body. Even as he circulated the third layer of his Divine Punishment cultivation method, refining it felt somewhat strenuous. Meng Wanshu's progress was astonishingly fast—so fast that he could scarcely believe it. A single inheritance had propelled her, having only just stepped into the Mahayana realm, through successive breakthroughs, fully stabilizing her cultivation at the mid-Mahayana realm. And through Meng Wanshu's strength, Li Guanqi had shattered his own bottleneck in one fell swoop, the unhindered force within him piercing through the barrier to lift him directly into the mid-Mahayana realm! With his eyes closed and arms spread wide, Li Guanqi absorbed the heaven-and-earth spiritual energy around him with everything he had, frantically refining the energy in his body. *Hmph! No wonder Xuan Lan harbored wicked designs!* *Dying just like that... was far too lenient on him...* Li Guanqi was not the only one; Meng Wanshu's cheeks were flushed crimson, her eyes filled with languid softness. Strands of fine hair clung to her brow with perspiration as she sat cross-legged, eyes shut in deep concentration as she hastened to refine the energy within her. Originally, her realm foundation had been quite shaky and superficial, but through this unexpected turn of events, it had completely stabilized. *Crash! Crash!* Surging waves beat against the shore in relentless succession. After an unknown time, the downpour finally showed signs of waning, and the rampaging spiritual energy gradually subsided into calm. The disturbance here was substantial, but fortunately, the location was remote and desolate, devoid of human presence. Otherwise, a commotion of this scale between the two of them would inevitably have invited needless trouble. A few more hours passed before Li Guanqi completely stabilized his cultivation realm, feeling invigorated and refreshed from head to toe. Turning around, he found that Meng Wanshu had awoken at some point and was gazing at him with a soft smile. Dressed in flowing ice-blue robes, her figure was slender and graceful, her bearing elegant and poised. Yet she never displayed that icy aloofness before Li Guanqi. Smiling at him, she asked softly, "Where did you go all these years after disappearing?" Li Guanqi paused in thought for a moment before briefly recounting everything he had experienced over the past few years. Meng Wanshu listened in silence, leaning her head against his shoulder before murmuring, "Now that our strength has grown so much, we can scour the Six Domains together to find Ye Feng!" The reason she had left Li Guanqi to wander and temper herself alone was because she knew that staying by his side would only drag him down. Had she been with him, he never would have chosen to venture into perilous forbidden lands like God Burial Valley. This was precisely why Li Guanqi constantly held her in his heart. She never demanded anything from him, nor did she ever pry into his affairs. She always considered everything from his perspective, understanding and embracing him fully. Li Guanqi wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered, "Wanshu, thank you." Suddenly, as if recalling something, his expression turned peculiar. "Uh... I think the Xuan clan might be finished..." Meng Wanshu's gaze rippled faintly before settling, showing no further reaction. In her eyes, whatever happened to the Xuan clan had nothing to do with her. Her own past few years had been anything but easy. Now that Li Guanqi was beside her, she could once again be a carefree young woman who didn't need to worry about a thing. Even before her own father, she had never felt such ease. Whenever Li Guanqi stood in front of her to shield her, she would naturally take a step back—even if, at that moment, she might have been stronger than he was. As her mother had once put it: *"Sometimes, you have to let a man stand up and take center stage. Only then will he feel tall and imposing in your heart."* In truth, Meng Wanshu had her own interpretation of that. It was... to be needed, and to be validated. At times, people needed validation from others to feel that what they did had value and meaning. Li Guanqi reached out, tore open the void, and said softly, "Let's go!" Meanwhile, within the Meng Clan Domain Boundary in the Shenbao Domain. *Clack.* Meng Jiangchu set down his teacup, unable to suppress the broad smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Good, good, good. As long as she's safe... that's all that matters."