"Why did you have to drag the Ran family into this! Did you go to Qingshuang behind my back?"
The moment he sat down, Ran Shiming glared furiously, demanding answers from Li Guanqi.
Before Li Guanqi could speak, Lin Shengwu fixed a cold, hostile gaze on Ran Shiming, letting out a frigid sneer. "Don't assume everyone is as contemptible as you. Kid Li isn't shameless enough to do something like that.
"If you're willing to help us find a solution, then sit down and talk properly.
"If not, pack your things and get the hell back to Yongjiang City!"
Lin Shengwu narrowed his eyes. His features already carried an innate ruthlessness, and under such sharp words, he showed no mercy whatsoever.
Ran Shiming glared at him, but in the end swallowed his retort, crossing his arms with a sullen snort.
Lin Jinting had not thought highly of Ran Shiming from the very beginning.
Although both were True Immortal clans, the Lin family's overall strength far surpassed the Ran family's.
Furthermore, the Lin family had dominated Qinzhou for thousands of years; their foundational heritage was simply not something the Ran family could compare to.
"Congxin, speak up. What are your thoughts?"
Li Guanqi shrugged and spread his hands. "No particular thoughts. Whatever ideas I had, I already shared with Uncle Lin on the road.
"Right now, all we need to consider is how to withdraw in one piece."
Lin Jinting nodded slightly. "There's no need to worry on that front. I brought a few items along. If Xutian Palace wants to keep us here, it won't be that easy."
With that, Lin Jinting turned toward Ran Shiming and spoke in a calm, measured voice. "Ran Shiming, you had better see the situation before you clearly.
"This time, kid Li and the Lin family are letting you tag along.
"To put it plainly, kid Li is only helping your Ran family clean up this mess out of respect for your daughter.
"If you still fail to grasp where you stand, I advise you to leave as soon as possible. My Lin family is fully capable of facing Xutian Palace alone!"
Ran Shiming's expression darkened, shifting through several shades of frustration. Li Guanqi, by contrast, merely sipped his tea with unbothered calm.
He turned his gaze toward the window, looking at the boundless, interlinked expanse of floating peaks in the distance, his eyes growing solemn.
Suddenly!
A terrifyingly immense aura shot out from Xutian Palace!
A black speck approached with astonishing speed, accompanied by thunderous rumbles echoing across the sky, drawing the startled gazes of countless cultivators in the city below.
Gradually, Li Guanqi could make out a middle-aged man clad in a black brocade robe, closing in fast.
The man's hair was impeccably groomed beneath a black crown. His skin was dark, his features sharp and straight, though a gruesome scar ran entirely across his cheek.
Yet what drew the most attention was the pair of enormous, ethereal wings unfurled behind his back!
Lin Jinting and the others rose to their feet abruptly. Staring out the window, Lin Jinting murmured, "His Nirvana spirit feathers have fully coalesced into wings, clear and distinct with every vein and marking visible. This man's cultivation is at least at the sixth tier of the True Immortal realm or higher!
"Let's go. Step forward to receive him!"
After speaking, Lin Jinting glanced back at Lin Ruhu, transmitting his voice in a grave tone: *"Ahu, head straight back to the clan and wait for us!"*
The broad-shouldered man frowned slightly, but he did not refuse. He nodded, then flickered away and vanished from the tavern.
*Hum!*
With a flap of the wings behind him, the man traversed thousands of yards in the blink of an eye, arriving directly above the tavern.
"Where are the masters of the Lin family and the Ran family?"
A low, resonant voice infused with robust immortal primal energy swept across the heavens. For a moment, numerous cultivators along the surrounding streets stopped in their tracks and hurriedly bowed in salute!
"Hiss... Isn't that Elder Luo Cheng, the Sixth Elder of Xutian Palace? What brings him into the city?"
"Something huge must have happened. Elder Luo oversees all of Xutian Palace's external affairs."
"Who are those people? Their Nirvana spirit feathers have manifested—they are True Immortal experts as well!"
"Lin family... Could it be the Lin family of Qinzhou?"
A buzz of commotion and hushed discussions rippled through the surroundings.
Li Guanqi and the others flashed into the midair.
Li Guanqi stood just behind Lin Jinting and Lin Shengwu.
Behind the two Lin family men, two-foot-long golden wings gently fanned open.
Those ethereal wings were dreamlike and elusive, shifting with soft luminescence, intricate and mysterious patterns faintly pulsing along their spans.
Not only that, but within the ethereal wings rested plumes that seemed almost indistinguishable from real feathers.
Li Guanqi realized that these Nirvana spirit feathers were likely the external manifestation of a True Immortal's cultivation realm.
Lin Jinting, Ran Shiming, and the others offered their formal greetings.
"Lin Jinting, Master of the Qinzhou Lin family, greets Elder Luo."
"Ran Shiming, Master of the Yongjiang Ran family, greets Elder Luo."
Li Guanqi and Lin Shengwu bowed together in salute, keeping their heads lowered.
Luo Cheng gave a slight nod, looking at the two clan heads with a stern, unfriendly expression. After a brief silence, he finally said, "Rise. Follow me into the palace before we discuss further."
The group slowly straightened up. Li Guanqi's face was faintly pale; he had clearly felt the elder's gaze linger on him for an instant!
As the party flew through the air, Li Guanqi gently nudged Lin Shengwu.
Their eyes met, and Lin Shengwu instantly understood what Li Guanqi intended.
His golden wings parted slightly, discreetly shielding and masking Li Guanqi's aura.
Ran Shiming was filled with apprehension, while Luo Cheng's eyes flickered with his own thoughts; neither looked back.
Behind Li Guanqi, a faint glimmer of white light flashed and vanished without a trace.
Only after this was done did Li Guanqi let out a quiet breath of relief.
***
Pengluo plunged into the void, sprinting wildly. Before it could travel for long, the powerful forces of space violently tossed it out.
Clutching a stone in its arms, Pengluo slid on its backside across the dirt for a distance before shaking its head.
"Where the heck did that throw me?"
Fortunately, the distance was not too great. When Pengluo looked back, it could still faintly make out the silhouette of Linluan City.
"Running forty li should be enough, right?"
After a second thought, Pengluo took off running again with the stone in its grip, only feeling safe once it had bolted nearly three hundred li away.
Hiding inside a fissure along a mountain cliff, Pengluo pulled out an inscribed talisman and spoke into it. "Master, I'm hidden!"
With that, Pengluo set the inscribed talisman aside, gathered some dried grass to cover its head, and felt drowsiness wash over it.
Yet without hesitation, Pengluo gave itself two crisp slaps across the face—*smack, smack!*
Even though the surging power within its body made it terribly sleepy, Pengluo understood the gravity of the situation. It knew Li Guanqi's current circumstances were far from optimistic, and this was no time to slack off.
Cradling the stone, Pengluo grew bored. It poked a finger into the hole on the stone and twirled it around its hand.
Yet it had barely spun it once before the stone tumbled to the ground.
Pengluo stared dumbly at its vanished fingertip, frowning slightly.
Looking down at the milky-white spirit liquid pooling in the hollow center of the stone, its head filled with massive confusion.
It picked up the stone, drank the liquid, and its eyes lit up.
A mischievous thought suddenly popped into its head.
A moment later, the big white radish was holding a severed piece of its own arm, stuffing it into the stone...
It had only played for a brief moment when it suddenly shoved aside the weeds, poked its head out of the rock crevice, and looked up into the heavens.
"What was that dazzling flash just now?
"This feeling..."
Yet an instant later, it tossed the sensation to the back of its mind and returned to playing with the stone.
***
High above the Nine Heavens, a magnificent, colossal cloud boat lay concealed among the clouds, entirely invisible to cultivators below.
"Saintess, we have not yet arrived at the Zhongtian Lands. Are you certain you wish to descend here?"
"This... seems to be a place called Ziyun Pass."
An old man narrowed his eyes, a precious seal beside him glimmering incessantly with the ethereal radiance of a vast starry sky.
As for this old man's cultivation realm... he alone possessed enough might to suppress the Ten Lands!
Chapter 1693