Taking advantage of the lingering darkness before the morning sun could rise, Li Guanqi concealed his presence and sped away through the air.
As the sun crested the horizon, the thick mist that had shrouded Nether Spirit Valley for a millennium dissipated, revealing its true terrain.
Having left Nether Spirit Valley behind, Li Guanqi arrived atop a desolate, open mountain peak.
With a wave of his hand, he brought Han Feng, whose five senses had been sealed, out of the Sumeru Treasure Hall.
Lifting his hand, he revoked the power sealing the man's senses. Soon after, under the effect of the medicine, the man slowly came to.
The instant Han Feng saw Li Guanqi, he understood what had happened.
Awake now, Han Feng looked around in panic.
Li Guanqi took his hand and placed it gently against the man's own chest.
Nestled there against his breast was a candlestick.
At the sight, Han Feng's eyes reddened. He stared at Li Guanqi in disbelief, then carefully cradled the candlestick in both hands.
At the center of the candlestick, the faint, flickering soul of a woman floated quietly.
Free from Liu Xiong's control, she no longer had to endure the torment of soul-burning.
Gathering what little strength he had left, Han Feng carefully crushed the candlestick.
Wrapping that fragile soul—one that a mere gust of wind could blow away—in his immortal essence and divine sense, he guided it into his glabella.
Though nourishing a soul this way consumed a vast amount of a cultivator's energy and focus, it was the safest method.
Just like Li Guanqi's own choice...
Having done all this, the man finally let out a long breath of relief.
Though his entire body was covered in wounds, his green robes soaked with blood, his disheveled hair hanging loose in a haggard mess,
lying on the mountain peak, he burst into laughter.
"Ha... hahahaha!!!! Hahahahaha!!!"
Li Guanqi sat nearby. After a moment's thought, he turned his hand and offered a flagon of strong liquor.
Han Feng paused briefly, surprised, before sitting up, taking the flagon, and tilting his head back to gulp it down!!
The liquor burned like fire, yet it could not wash away the hardships and suffering the man had endured over so many years.
Once that flagon was drained, an entire jar of strong liquor was set before him.
Han Feng hoisted the wine jar and guzzled it down, gulp after gulp!!!
Spilled liquor soaked his lapels, diluting the mottled stains into bloody rivulets washing over his body.
"Ha... whew... whew..."
Setting down the jar, Han Feng wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
He rose to face Li Guanqi, fell to his knees with a thud, and struck his forehead against the ground!!
Bringing his cupped hands together, he held out a pitch-black stone in his palms.
"Fellow Daoist possesses a benevolent heart, willing to save me, Han, in my hour of peril.
"If Fellow Daoist has already obtained the Soul-Nourishing Nectar, I beg you to part with some. I, Han, am willing to trade this for it."
Li Guanqi's eyes lit up. He knew full well just how precious the stone in the man's hands was!
The Xutian Stone...
For Xutian Palace to put a bounty of fifty million on his head, the true value likely lay in this very Xutian Stone.
"You... are willing to trade this Xutian Stone?"
Li Guanqi remained calm inside, feeling no surge of greed or delight at the prospect.
Or rather, his question was born merely out of curiosity.
After hearing what Qisha had shared, he already felt deep sympathy for this man.
For a man of such profound devotion, parting with a single jade bottle from such a vast hoard of Soul-Nourishing Nectar was of no great consequence at all.
Han Feng knelt on the ground, tears welling in his fierce tiger eyes.
Puffs of dust on the earth stirred as he spoke, and he slowly lifted his head.
"You know this is the Xutian Stone? Then do you know who I am?"
Li Guanqi smiled faintly. Raising a hand, he donned the Rakshasa Ghost Mask and said softly,
"Of course. On the Qinzhou bounty board, I'm ranked second, and you are first."
Realizing what this meant, Han Feng gasped in surprise.
"You are the Ghost-Masked Sword Cultivator of Qinzhou!!"
"No wonder..."
Removing the mask, Li Guanqi said gently, "I learned a few things from a friend... including why you... go by the name Han Sijin."
Before his voice had even faded, sorrow that could not be concealed flooded the man's eyes. His throat bobbed, and he sat up straight, raising his head to the sky.
"You ask me... why I am willing to trade such a priceless Xutian Stone..."
Pausing briefly, his voice grew hoarse.
"Though my wife is mortal, to me she is priceless!
"This Xutian Stone, I gladly present to you, Fellow Daoist."
Li Guanqi opened his palm and gently pushed the man's rough hands back.
At the same time, Li Guanqi extended a hand holding a jade bottle filled to the brim with Soul-Nourishing Nectar.
From Li Guanqi's own glabella radiated the faint wisp of a soul's aura.
Han Feng's eyes widened, his mouth falling open slightly.
Because he, too, sensed that incredibly faint aura!!
Moreover, the fluctuations of that soul clearly belonged to someone who had not yet attained immortality!!
"You... you... you actually ascended to the Immortal Realm carrying a remnant soul?!
"You're a cultivator from the Spirit Realm!!
"Heavens, wouldn't you have faced far greater tribulation when you ascended?!"
Li Guanqi slowly opened his eyes, met the man's gaze, and said softly,
"Because he is also very important to me.
"Were it you, even knowing ascension would be fraught with peril, wouldn't you have made the exact same choice?"
Han Feng's expression turned solemn. He slowly gave a thumbs-up and praised from the bottom of his heart,
"You have guts."
With that, Han Feng cupped his hands and received the jade bottle.
After putting it away, he still held out the Xutian Stone.
Before Li Guanqi could voice a refusal, Han Feng spoke:
"Fellow Daoist Li, please, you must take it.
"I, Han Feng... possess only ordinary talent.
"All these years, relying on the special power of the Xutian Stone, I managed to rise smoothly and cultivate to where I am today.
"Now, I have obtained the final immortal treasure I require. I will find a way to reforge my beloved's physical body, and from then on, I will step away from the cultivation world..."
Li Guanqi's brow furrowed slightly. He had not expected a proud man capable of stirring up an entire province's storms to say something like this.
Yet on second thought, he could understand.
Perhaps having been through so much, the man had seen past worldly ambitions.
He no longer wished to endure the trials and tribulations of the cultivation world.
All Han Feng wanted now was to revive his beloved as quickly as possible, find a secluded place to live, have children, and spend his life in peaceful happiness as a family.
The look in the man's eyes was infinitely tender, filled with a longing he had harbored day and night for so long.
Left with no choice, Li Guanqi accepted the Xutian Stone and exchanged jade slips with him.
"Very well. If you ever have need of me in the future, don't hesitate to reach out."
"Hahaha, deal!!"
"Got any more liquor?"
Han Feng asked Li Guanqi for more drink, and Li Guanqi naturally did not refuse.
From the man's demeanor, he could see Han Feng was completely relieved, his gaze tinged with a dazed disbelief.
"Right, are you lacking any immortal herbs or the like?
"I've been gathering them for all these years, and I happen to have spares of quite a few."
Li Guanqi's eyes lit up at that. He hurriedly named several spirit herbs—and to his astonishment, the man actually had them!!!
With that, Li Guanqi had gathered every single material needed to reconstruct Li Nanting's body!
At this moment, Li Guanqi felt the exact same sense of immense relief that Han Feng felt.
Sitting on the mountain peak and drinking wine, they shared a smile, touched by an inexplicable kindred spirit.
Between these two men separated by who knew how many years, there bloomed the passionate brotherhood of young wanderers of the martial world.
Just as Li Guanqi had put down the heavy burden in his heart, a transmission shattered his newfound peace.
Lin Wujiu's hurried, frantic voice rang out from the jade slip!!
"Old Li!! Assassins from Xutian Palace are hunting down Qisha!! Where are you?"
Li Guanqi snapped to his feet, chilling murderous intent flashing in the depths of his eyes.
Gripping the jade slip, he narrowed his eyes.
"Tell me: did Qisha defect from Xutian Palace?"
Lin Wujiu was speeding through the air, flanked by three fourth-realm Heavenly Immortals dispatched by the Lin family to accompany him.
The three elders glanced at Lin Wujiu. The white-robed young man's face was grim. After hesitating for a long moment, he replied:
"Yes! And he only escaped after killing his own master!"
Clutching the jade slip, Li Guanqi slowly closed his eyes. It seemed his suspicion was correct...
No wonder Liu Xiong had looked at him with that strange, unreadable expression.
Piecing together everything that had happened before, it really was just as he had guessed.
Chapter 1683