Secret!

Hearing this, Li Guanqi hastily expressed his gratitude. Although the old man made the Record of Immortal Induction sound common—something anyone who had stayed in the Immortal Realm for a while would know—to Li Guanqi, it was an act of profound kindness. After all, even if someone chose not to share it, one would have no right to complain. The old man had already risked danger to save and treat him without asking for anything in return. Li Guanqi stood up and bowed deeply. "Senior Sun, thank you." Sun Kui waved his hand with a chuckle and said gently, "Keep that room to tend to your injuries. There is no rush to leave until you are fully healed." Li Guanqi nodded slightly and said in a grave voice, "Then I will trouble you for a little while longer." The old man smiled and nodded. Li Guanqi took his leave and returned to his room. Looking around at the spartan furnishings, Li Guanqi felt no discomfort; if anything, his heart settled into a calm ease. Sitting cross-legged on the prayer mat, a flurry of thoughts surfaced in his mind. *Now things have finally settled down a bit, but I wonder how Shi Lin is doing...* Through the haze of his earlier stupor, he had been somewhat aware of Shi Lin charging out on his own. He had never imagined that a man he had met only once would truly throw caution to the wind and charge outside for his sake. Under those circumstances, had Shi Lin simply abandoned him, he could certainly have saved himself. Yet Shi Lin hadn't done that! Instead, he had used himself as bait to lure all the pursuers away. "Whew..." Li Guanqi sighed. Retrieving several immortal crystals from his storage ring, he held them in his palms and began absorbing the immortal spiritual energy within. *It seems I must find a way to gain a firm foothold in the Immortal Realm.* *Back when I had the Great Xia Sword Sect behind me, I never realized how easy I had it.* *Now, with no resources, no cultivation arts, and no backer, every step feels like an uphill struggle.* It was rare for Li Guanqi to feel this way. He had never lacked cultivation resources or techniques before. With the sword spirit and the Great Xia Sword Sect at his back, he had never needed to worry about such matters. Never could he have imagined that a day would come when he would have to ask for the most basic cultivation art from a rundown sect. Taking out the jade slip, Li Guanqi swept over it with his divine sense, engraving every detail into his memory. Setting the jade slip down, he frowned slightly. He was curious about the relationship between Sun Kui and that youth named Xiaowen. They clearly weren't related by blood, so why had they given him that strange impression? *Could Sun Kui harbor designs against that boy?!* *No, that can't be... The youth is only at the Nascent Soul realm, while Sun Kui is already a Mystic Immortal. The gains would never justify the cost.* Li Guanqi shook his head, pushing down the scattered thoughts. Right now, his top priority was recovering his cultivation and finding a way to break through to the Mystic Immortal realm. The immense power within him was like an ocean, but the breach in the dam holding it back was merely the size of a fist... The strength Su Xuan had left him was simply too staggering. One-third of a Golden Immortal realm cultivator's power... Mystic Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, True Immortal, Golden Immortal. That one-third alone was comparable to a True Immortal. Li Guanqi's gaze softened as he stared blankly into space, recalling once more the conversations he had shared with his grandfather. Each time he remembered, warmth and sorrow would tug at his heartstrings. Su Xuan had once said that everything he had could be left to him. Li Guanqi had never imagined Su Xuan would actually do it... And Ling Tianchen was the Dao protector Su Xuan had gained after ascending to the Immortal Realm. Who knew what perils they were facing now? And Ye Feng and the others... "I wonder how all of you are doing." Everything that had transpired at the Ascension Platform left Li Guanqi with lingering dread. He didn't know whether the others had stayed together after ascending. If they had been scattered as well, were they enduring the same plight as he was? At the thought of Chan Kongzi, his eyes dimmed. A bitter chill of grief welled up within him. The Immortal Realm they had yearned for across thousands of years... only for ascension to bring such an end... Li Guanqi let out a heavy sigh and turned to look out the door at the night sky, where the bright moon hung amidst sparse stars, his heart brimming with emotion. Restless and unsettled, Li Guanqi grabbed a jar of wine and walked out of the room. Before leaving, however, he affixed an inscribed talisman onto the prayer mat. As the inscribed talisman burned, it conjured an illusory duplicate identical to him, radiating the exact same aura. Under the veil of night, the Sanyuan Sect was deathly quiet. On the stone platform atop the peak, the disciples who had been meditating earlier were still sitting there. Li Guanqi did not disturb them; after all, he was merely an outsider. Drifting through the air, he arrived at the mountain's rear ridge. The scenery here was picturesque, blanketed with lush wild grass and thick ancient trees. A gentle breeze swept past, rustling softly through the forest. Perched atop the mountain, Li Guanqi sipped his wine, looking out at this misty, ethereal world of immortal qi with a hint of bewilderment... When he was still in the Youhuang Realm, his goal had been steadfast and clear: to ascend to the Immortal Realm. Yet now that he was truly here, far too many things were spinning beyond his control. Moreover, the Immortal Realm was countless times vaster than the Youhuang Realm. Without a single familiar soul by his side, he felt like a lone wanderer drifting between heaven and earth. A wry smile touched the corners of Li Guanqi's lips, and he shook his head. "Regardless... raising my strength comes first!" "To survive in a world where the strong prey on the weak, fists are everything!" Ever since he ascended, the sword spirit had fallen into a profound, mysterious slumber. No matter how many times he called out, the sword spirit gave no reply, as though suppressed by some unfathomably powerful force. Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. Having only the sword in his own hand to rely on actually brought him an inexplicable sense of grounded peace. He resolved to leave the Sanyuan Sect in two days. Today, he would be able to restore his cultivation to the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence realm; returning to the peak of the Ascension realm tomorrow should pose little difficulty. Not only did he have the power his grandfather had bestowed upon him, but he had already undergone the Immortal Realm's baptism in advance. The immortal primal energy within him regenerated at an astonishing speed, and grade-one immortal crystals were more than enough for his current needs. He had brought no small quantity of immortal crystals when leaving the Human Spirit Realm. Even among Mystic Immortals in the Immortal Realm, he would definitely be considered wealthy. And not just him—Ye Feng and the others carried plenty of immortal crystals as well. It was fortunate that Sun Kui and his people assumed Li Guanqi was a penniless cultivator. Otherwise, had they opened his storage ring, the sight would probably have scared them half to death! Li Guanqi alone carried no fewer than three million grade-one immortal crystals. After all, the number of foes he had slain back in the Seventh Domain was beyond count. Furthermore, Ye Feng and each of the others carried no less than a million immortal crystals each. That, too, had been Li Guanqi's own private arrangement for his companions. Just as his thoughts drifted, Li Guanqi suddenly reined in his aura, dropped from the tree branch, and vanished into the darkness! A stealthy figure crept past the door of Li Guanqi's room. Pausing briefly, the figure vanished from the spot! Li Guanqi's eyes narrowed as he muttered inwardly, *The young man who came to fetch me today? What is he doing here?* With that, Li Guanqi circulated the Demon King Physique, melting into the shadows without leaking a single trace of aura, and quietly slipped after him.