Without wasting a single breath, the Silverback Demonic Ape lunged at the Biying Xuan Serpent!
Looking back at the ape's massive silhouette, Shi Lin felt his heart leap into his throat.
Seeing the two great demons tangled in violent combat and hearing the terrifying roar of their clash reach his ears, Shi Lin buried his head and sprinted forward without looking back!
He had already sensed the auras of numerous people rapidly approaching.
Yet with two ranked great demons locked in a fight to the death, those pursuers would not dare draw near carelessly.
Shi Lin shifted into human form and fled frantically through the forest with Li Guanqi on his back.
Concealing his presence, he skirted past many great demons along the way.
He had no idea how much time had passed when his body began to sway. With a dull thud, he plummeted from midair, tumbling a great distance across the ground with Li Guanqi in tow.
Lying on the ground, Shi Lin took a long time to catch his breath before pulling out several spirit herbs and stuffing them into his mouth.
Looking around, he spotted a remarkably well-hidden cave several hundred zhang away.
Without time to think, he hoisted Li Guanqi onto his shoulder and dashed into the cave.
After laying Li Guanqi down, he darted back outside to erase all traces of their scent and aura.
Returning to the cave, Shi Lin slumped against the stone wall, gasping heavily for breath.
At the entrance, he laid down a beast-bone array plate to conceal the cave's existence.
Right then, several immortal crystals tumbled from Li Guanqi's robes.
Frowning, Shi Lin picked them up, scrutinized them, and muttered under his breath,
"What... are these?"
"Spirit stones? But I can't absorb them..."
Placing the immortal crystals back into Li Guanqi's robes, he chewed several healing spirit herbs to a pulp and applied the mash to Li Guanqi's wounds.
As he applied the herbs, Shi Lin studied Li Guanqi, his nostrils twitching slightly.
"How does he carry the aura of a true dragon...?
"Still, he really is a dependable fellow.
"Nothing like those hypocrites in the Immortal Realm!"
Shi Lin leaned back against the cold stone wall and exhaled a breath of stale air, feeling deeply moved.
If not for Li Guanqi, he would likely have died back at the Ascension Platform.
Even if he had survived, his end would have been utterly wretched.
The ground trembled. Shi Lin swallowed hard, his eyes sweeping warily toward the cave entrance.
Ranked great demons were all beasts that had survived the Mystic Immortal heavenly tribulation.
For demons of that caliber, killing him was as easy as lifting a finger.
Back in his own world, he had been the most powerful being between heaven and earth!
Who could have guessed that after ascending to the Immortal Realm, great demons stronger than him would be everywhere...
The stark contrast was difficult to swallow.
"Phew..."
Shi Lin shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Who would have thought that ascending to the Immortal Realm would make me feel like I'm embarking on cultivation all over again?"
Circulating his cultivation technique, he rapidly absorbed the medicinal potency of the spirit herbs.
Just then, Shi Lin's face suddenly changed. He held his breath, not daring to move a muscle!
A series of low shouts echoed from outside!
"Search over there again! They couldn't have gone far!"
"Heh heh, I heard we'll get a Xuantian Pill just for catching the two of them!"
"Tsk, Commander Zhao really stirred up a hornet's nest this time. If we don't bring them back before the chief commander and the others return... he'll have hell to pay."
"Enough! Stop running your mouths! If we fail to catch them, none of us will escape punishment!"
A Mystic Immortal!
Shi Lin's mouth went dry. Outside were at least seven or eight in the Ascension realm, and the leader was a Mystic Immortal!
Before Shi Lin could react, ripple-like rings of green light swept through the air.
Shi Lin's face drained of color!
The barrier generated by his beast-bone array plate rippled violently, showing signs of shattering.
Evidently, this was a specialized tracking method used in the Immortal Realm to seek out enemies.
Gritting his teeth, Shi Lin glanced back at the still-unconscious Li Guanqi, seemingly having made up his mind.
He hoisted Li Guanqi onto his shoulder and carried him into the deepest part of the cave.
A moment later, Shi Lin walked back to the cave entrance alone.
He cast a long, lingering look back into the depths.
"Brother Li, if I survive this day, we must drink until we are senseless when we meet again!
"I, Shi Lin, never owe any man a debt of gratitude. You fought desperately to protect me so I could tear open the barrier, so I will protect you once in kind!"
With those parting words, Shi Lin lunged out through the array barrier!
"He's over there!"
"Catch him!"
"Attack! Strike him down!"
Shi Lin transformed into a streak of blazing fire, fleeing for his life!
Deep inside the damp cave, two high-grade healing spirit plants lay beside Li Guanqi.
An unknown amount of time passed. The array plate at the cave entrance had long since shattered.
A somewhat youthful voice sounded near the cave entrance.
"Hey, Senior Brother! There are spirit plants in this cave!"
A youth in a plain white robe tugged at the elder beside him, pointing toward a patch overgrown with vines.
The gray-haired elder raised a brow.
"Xiaowen, you detected a fluctuation of spiritual energy?"
The youth nodded with a smile and tugged the old man toward the stone wall.
As they drew closer, the elder in coarse gray hemp also caught the faint fluctuation.
"Hmm?"
The elder reached out to hold the youth back. With a metallic chime, he drew a longsword, gazing warily into the depths of the cave.
"Xiaowen, step back!"
Approaching Li Guanqi step by step, the kindly elder found his breath as faint as gossamer, the power within his body sunken into an eerie stillness.
And in truth, that was precisely Li Guanqi's state.
The relentless succession of battles had actually shattered the seal on the power Su Xuan had left inside his sea of consciousness!
Throughout this time, Li Guanqi had been diligently sorting through the chaotic energies inside him.
The power Su Xuan had left behind was simply too vast.
As a result, his body had naturally fallen into a self-contained, dormant state.
He had no choice but to unravel and organize the power within him bit by bit, like reeling silk from a cocoon.
The youth clung to the elder's arm and peered at Li Guanqi.
He knitted his brows.
"A lower-realm cultivator?"
The elder said nothing, merely nodding slightly.
"Could the tremors in the Chiyu Mountain Range earlier have been connected to him?"
"No matter. Meeting him is fate, and all things are tied to karma. Let us take him back."
With that, the elder raised a hand, releasing a gentle strand of power to lift Li Guanqi aloft.
The elder and the youth departed the Chiyu Mountain Range with Li Guanqi.
After an unknown time, a gentle, foreign medicinal force entered Li Guanqi's body.
Gradually, sensation returned to his body, and under the nourishing effects of the medicine, he slowly woke.
Opening his eyes slowly, Li Guanqi looked up at the ceiling, feeling as if a lifetime had slipped by.
He estimated that he had been unconscious for at least seven days.
Seeing such unfamiliar surroundings, he instantly grew intensely vigilant!
He bolted upright just as a young man walked through the doorway.
The young man had handsome features, though he furrowed his brows slightly upon seeing Li Guanqi.
The corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk as he said softly,
"Heh, finally awake, are you? If you didn't wake up soon, we'd have had to go out and scour the wild for spirit herbs on your behalf."
Li Guanqi frowned slightly. The young man's tone was somewhat sarcastic and barbed, but Li Guanqi did not let his displeasure show.
The young man dressed simply and possessed an exceptional air, yet to Li Guanqi's eyes, his cultivation was merely at the Mahayana realm.
Li Guanqi got up and courteously cupped his fists.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist, for saving me. I will remember this kindness."
The young man sneered.
"It wasn't me who saved you; it was our Sect Master.
"I really don't understand why the Sect Master insisted on saving a burden like you...
"Now that you're awake, come along. I'll take you to see the Sect Master."
Chapter 1563