Brothers Reunited

Ye Feng clutched his severed arm, a complex light flickering in his eyes. He had severed this arm himself. As long as he refused to regenerate it, the demon spirit could never fully claim his mind; there would always be a flaw! And Xiantu Cliff was the Heavenly Demon Hall's largest branch, where he usually stayed. Over the years, Ye Feng had imagined the scene of his reunion with Li Guanqi countless times, never expecting it would come so abruptly. At the thought that Li Guanqi was now just beyond the barrier, Ye Feng's heart could not help but surge with turmoil. His emotions churned like a tempest, refusing to settle. Ye Feng took a deep breath. He did not know what he was hoping for, nor what Li Guanqi would feel upon seeing what he had become. Would it be the joy of reunion, or troubled hesitation? Or perhaps... after learning of the many things he had done, would Li Guanqi treat him as a demonic cultivator to be eliminated on sight? Just then, a man's voice slowly resonated beside Ye Feng's ear. It was Lu Tian! "Do not clash with the present Li Guanqi. Withdraw as best as you can." Ye Feng hastily bowed and saluted. "Yes, Hall Master." He knew Song Zhi'ang was absent, seemingly occupied with something critical. Li Si'ang was not here either... That boy... As the voice faded, Ye Feng raised his hand and formed a seal with his right fingers. "Activate the array!" "Everyone, enter the array and evacuate immediately!" His voice rang out beside everyone's ears like a booming bell. Zhuang Yan slowly stood, his voice thick with reluctance as he said in a low, heavy tone, "Mo Da! Did Third Brother die for nothing? Right now, only Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu are outside. With the strength of the six of us, keeping them here would be effortless!" *Buzz!* A bloodstained longsword appeared in Ye Feng's hand. He slowly turned his head toward Zhuang Yan, his gaze icy as he spoke without haste. "Are you... questioning me?" The temperature inside the great hall plummeted drastically. A hideous ghost mask covered nearly his entire face, leaving only his left eye clear and sane. The terrifying pressure brought the five remaining figures in the hall crashing to their knees, none daring to lift their heads. Zhuang Yan stiffened his neck, his face deathly pale. Then he too lowered his head, sighing in defeat. "Mo Er... wouldn't dare." *Bang!* A kick slammed into the young man's cheek, instantly shattering his jawbone and sending a mouthful of teeth flying. His body tumbled across the floor dozens of times. Ye Feng's voice was devoid of the slightest emotion. "I raised every one of you with my own hands. You all know the consequences of defying the Hall Master. Don't make me take action myself." Without anyone noticing when, Ye Feng was already squatting before Zhuang Yan. Reaching down, he hauled the blood-drenched youth up by the collar, tilted his head, and stared into his eyes, whispering, "Understood?" Terror filled Zhuang Yan's eyes as he nodded numbly, his voice trembling slightly. "U-Understood... I'm sorry, Mo Da... I shouldn't have questioned you..." *Bang!* Ye Feng seized Zhuang Yan by the head and slammed him violently into the floor, carving a deep crater into the stone until Zhuang Yan was battered bloody and battered beyond recognition. *Bang! Bang, bang, bang!* Of the Seven Heavenly Demon Scions, Mu Congyi was dead, and Zhuang Yan had just been beaten within an inch of his life, not daring to strike back. The remaining four knelt on the ground, trembling like leaves. Rather than their elder brother, Ye Feng was more like their master—an exceptionally harsh, merciless master. Ye Feng cast an overbearing glance over the figures behind him. He released his grip, a fistful of torn hair caught between his fingers. Wiping the blood from his hand onto Zhuang Yan's clothes, Ye Feng spoke with a placid expression. "Go prepare." *Rumble!* Heaven and earth shuddered. The pitch-black barrier shook violently, clearly on the verge of collapsing. Inside the Heavenly Demon Hall branch were over a hundred teleportation arrays of various sizes. Countless black-robed figures darted back and forth, relocating everything. In the blink of an eye, the hall was nearly empty. *Boom-crack!* Two sword beams—one purple, one blue—descended from the heavens! The overburdened barrier finally let out a crisp shatter. The two flashes of sword light illuminated the pitch-black Heavenly Demon Hall like blazing suns. *Rumble! Boom! Boom!* The sword light gouged two thousand-zhang chasms straight into the earth. Terrifying lightning dispersed the demonic qi, while frost power froze the remaining haze solid. Two silhouettes descended from the sky! The doors and windows of the immense ancient hall were completely shattered. Zhuang Yan struggled up from the ground, standing behind Ye Feng. Ye Feng slowly stepped out from the shadows of the hall. He slipped off his black robe, revealing a face deeply weathered by hardships. The half-ghost face he could not conceal, the crimson eye, the empty sleeve drifting in the wind... Ye Feng looked up at the man suspended in midair. A lump rose in his throat, and his eyes rimmed with red. He had thought he could face Li Guanqi with composure, yet seeing him now, he could not remain calm at all. His chapped lips trembled faintly, and a hoarse, choking sound rose from his throat as his eyes welled with tears. "Big Brother..." "Sister-in-law." He was deeply shaken inside; he had not expected Li Guanqi's cultivation to have already stepped into the mid Mahayana realm. How many years had it been since they parted?! And the woman beside him—though her temperament had changed drastically, the aura radiating from Meng Wanshu was even more profound and settled than Li Guanqi's. Immensely powerful! Yet he understood that Lu Tian would arrive soon. Even if all three of them were in the mid Mahayana realm, their current strength was still insufficient to stand against him. Right now... Either he left, or he had to make Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu leave. Only then would they have a chance. They had met, yet they could not acknowledge each other. Ye Feng raised his head to meet Li Guanqi's eyes. They held the calm of someone who had weathered countless trials, but far more than that, an overwhelming rush of emotion. Li Guanqi saw Ye Feng at first glance—the graying hair, the coalesced ghost face, the empty sleeve, and the pitch-black arm extending from the other. Clad in a black robe, Ye Feng seemed slightly shorter than before, perhaps because his back was slightly hunched. Li Guanqi's eyes instantly reddened. A surge of hot blood rushed straight to his head, sending goosebumps rippling across his entire body. They were finally reunited. Fortunately... it was not too late. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out at first. It felt as though something were lodged in his throat, impossible to voice and impossible to swallow. Without his realizing it, his fingernails had dug deep into the flesh of his palms, blood dripping through his fingers. Meng Wanshu naturally noticed the turmoil within Li Guanqi. Even she had never seen such violent ripples in his composure. It laid bare just how important Ye Feng was to him. One could even say that all the desperate, life-or-death efforts Li Guanqi had made over the years were for this very moment. Seeing this, Ye Feng felt an inexplicable impulse flare within him. To hell with enduring humiliation... to hell with the bigger picture... All he wanted right now was to acknowledge Li Guanqi and reunite as brothers. Yet he knew that if he did, everything he had sacrificed and built over these years would likely collapse in an instant. Tears shimmered in Ye Feng's eyes, but the fragile resolve guarding his heart was shattered entirely by a few words from Li Guanqi...