Faint clamor from the lively celebrations within the sect could still be heard, but Qin Wushang's single sentence seemed to screen out all sound from around them.
Everyone fell silent and turned to look at Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi took a sip of wine, frowned, and looked toward Cao Yan and the others, unable to resist asking, "You traveled with Senior Long Hou and the rest. Did you never go to the Seventh Domain?"
Cao Yan gave a wry smile and shook his head, exchanging glances with Gu Li, Xiao Chen, and the others. "Eldest Brother, we were each taken away separately. None of us went to the Seventh Domain."
Li Guanqi's brow furrowed. He had not expected that not even Cao Yan and the others had set foot in the Seventh Domain.
His gaze shifted toward Xu Junlin and Qin Wushang.
Xu Junlin rolled his eyes as he sipped his wine. "What are you looking at us for? We're only reserves for the Eight Generals. We don't have the clearance to go to the Seventh Domain."
Yet having said that, Xu Junlin suddenly frowned and turned to Qin Wushang. "Wait, you haven't been?"
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Qin Wushang shrugged. "I have."
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone perked up; even Li Guanqi leaned in a little closer.
Yet Qin Wushang followed with a helpless spread of his hands. "I've only been to the periphery of the Seventh Domain. I never actually stepped inside..."
Li Guanqi smiled. "Since you've been to the periphery, you can still tell us what the Seventh Domain is all about."
Hearing this, Qin Wushang sat up straight. With a wave of his hand, he erected a formidable boundary around them, blocking out all outside sight and sound.
In an instant, heaven and earth turned silent.
Looking at the barrier, which had shifted the local space into its own miniature domain, Li Guanqi's expression turned solemn.
It seemed matters concerning the Seventh Domain had been taboo all along!
Qin Wushang took a deep breath and set down his wine jar, even channeling primal energy to disperse all intoxication from his body.
A heavy solemnity settled over his handsome face. With a slight furrow of his brow, his deep, magnetic voice slowly resonated:
"Back then, I merely accompanied Senior Nangong to the periphery of the Seventh Domain!"
"The Seventh Domain..."
"...does not exist anywhere in this world!!"
Those words stunned everyone into silence. Staring in disbelief, they could not snap out of it for a long while!
Li Guanqi asked in a heavy voice, "What do you mean?"
Qin Wushang replied solemnly, "Exactly what it sounds like!"
"The Seventh Domain... does not belong to any corner of the Human Spirit Realm!"
"It... stands above the Human Spirit Realm, yet beneath the Immortal Realm."
Silence filled the barrier domain once his voice fell.
Needless to say, everyone seated here possessed astonishing strength—each of them an elite among the Mahayana realm, virtually invincible within their stage.
Even Xu Junlin, once an unmatched pride of heaven, had to admit that every single one of Li Guanqi's brothers possessed the strength of an Eight Generals reserve!
Hence, this revelation was not entirely beyond their comprehension.
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes and murmured softly, "Above the Human Spirit, beneath the Immortal Realm..."
After moving past their initial astonishment, everyone suddenly found it made sense.
It seemed only such a Seventh Domain could truly live up to its name.
"Go on," Li Guanqi said.
Qin Wushang shook his head with a wry chuckle, then looked up at everyone with burning eyes and spoke solemnly. "Do you know?"
"That was the first time I ever felt the aura of the Immortal Realm with crystal clarity..."
"A bizarre realm of chaos, starry skies revolving, where formidable laws of the world manifested clearly like distinct threads."
"Those powers of law... even to me, felt like instant death upon the slightest touch!"
"The entire void was steeped in a mysterious and immense aura, and I saw the mighty Human-Immortal Realm Barrier with my own eyes."
"That place... is like an interstitial layer between the Human Spirit Realm and the Immortal Realm!"
As his words faded, everyone lapsed into deep thought, each imagining the sights of the Seventh Domain in their mind's eye.
Gathering his thoughts, Qin Wushang shrugged.
"To tell the truth, every cultivator within the Seventh Domain is overwhelmingly powerful."
"That's all I know. After all, I never actually set foot inside."
"Moreover, the method to enter the Seventh Domain is different from what we normally expect."
"A specific medallion is required."
At this point, all eyes turned to Li Guanqi.
After all, in their eyes, Li Guanqi's true background was undoubtedly intertwined with the Seventh Domain.
Li Guanqi shrugged. Feeling their piercing gazes trying to see through him, he still gave nothing away. "What are you looking at me for? I haven't been either."
"Tch, are we asking whether you've been there? You know what we mean..." Qin Wushang was the first to speak, staring intently at Li Guanqi.
Yet Li Guanqi simply ignored the stare as if he had not noticed it at all.
"We can talk about the Seventh Domain later. Right now, let's drink!"
"Raise your cups, everyone—to celebrate Ye the Second's safe return!"
With those words, everyone raised their cups with smiles and drank heartily!
Three rounds of wine later, Li Guanqi noticed a veiled sadness lingering deep within Ye Feng's eyes.
Carrying a flagon of wine, Li Guanqi walked over to the edge of Yuhu Peak and sat down beside him, asking softly, "What's on your mind?"
Ye Feng glanced at Li Guanqi beside him, pressed his lips together, and looked down to fiddle with the wine jar in his hands.
Casting a complicated gaze into the distance, he murmured, "Where was Song Kangning buried?"
Li Guanqi frowned slightly and answered quietly, "Seventy li north, within the borders of the Great Xia Sword Sect."
Hearing this, Ye Feng nodded, his voice slightly hoarse. "Then I'll make a trip there tomorrow..."
Li Guanqi immediately understood his intentions. Ye Feng wanted to bury Song Zhi'ang beside Song Kangning's grave.
Li Guanqi turned to look into the distance, saying nothing more.
As for Song Zhi'ang...
He felt no sympathy. For everything she had done, killing her a hundred times over would not have been enough.
Ye Feng said softly, "Eldest Brother, let me tell you what happened with us over all these years..."
Li Guanqi glanced at him and did not refuse. "All right."
Half an hour later.
Li Guanqi and Ye Feng both fell silent, drinking quietly together.
Having heard everything Ye Feng recounted, Li Guanqi's emotions were deeply tangled.
"Right and wrong, good and evil."
"Who can truly tell them apart...?"
Song Zhi'ang had long known Lu Tian's true identity, confirming through the aura on the soul-guiding lamp that he and Youming were the same person.
Yet she had not dared to tell Ye Feng directly. That was why, under those circumstances, she had sealed the secret onto the blade of Ye Feng's sword.
Protected by the immortal's blood, even Lu Tian could not detect it...
None of that could erase the wrongs Song Zhi'ang had committed in the past, yet at this moment... Li Guanqi felt she had atoned for them.
Were there regrets? Remorse?
Probably...
Li Guanqi slowly rose, patted Ye Feng's shoulder, and said softly, "I'll go with you tomorrow."
Ye Feng nodded, then suddenly asked, "Then... what about Li Si'ang...?"
A sudden gleam of coldness flashed through Li Guanqi's eyes. He asked softly, "Does that child also have an innate demonic physique?"
"Can you spare his life?"
Li Guanqi took a deep look at Ye Feng, turning away without uttering a word.
Silence, perhaps, was already the answer.
Chapter 1151