I'll Give You Your Grandma!

Once the four of them stepped inside the room, Meng Wanshu stood at Li Guanqi's side, dipped into a graceful bow, and lowered her head to speak softly. "Junior Meng Wanshu greets both seniors." "I have heard my husband speak extensively of the two seniors. Wanshu is deeply grateful for the unwavering support of the seniors and the Lin family." Lin Jinting waved his hand, his tone sincere. "There is no need for such ceremony. Congxin is good friends with my son and has done great favors for our Lin family. "Faced with such circumstances, the Lin family naturally could not sit idly by. "Thankfully, everything has been resolved, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief. "Come now, why are we being so formal? Let's sit and talk." Meng Wanshu pressed her lips together in a slight smile and sat down beside Li Guanqi. The moment he sat, Lin Jinting took a sip of tea and chuckled with a touch of schadenfreude. "Ran Shiming's intestines must be green with regret right about now." No sooner had Lin Jinting spoken than Lin Shengwu let out a cold snort from the side. "Serves him right! A cowardly rat with an indecisive heart!" Li Guanqi listened to their exchange without interjecting. Seeing that the two men had finally put their worries to rest, Li Guanqi rose alongside Meng Wanshu and bowed solemnly toward them. "Junior thanks Uncle Lin for everything done on this journey. This tremendous kindness is engraved upon my heart." Lin Jinting hurriedly stood and sidestepped the bow, reaching out to support Li Guanqi back upright. "Bah, why dwell on that? The outcome was good, wasn't it!" The man's gaze grew slightly playful as he looked at Li Guanqi and said softly, "Besides... did you truly believe Uncle Lin's words were merely polite pleasantries said just to sound nice?" Li Guanqi was deeply moved by those words. Lin Jinting was a man who honored his word—a qualified leader and a proper elder. Every word he spoke to anyone was treated as a promise. And he was a man who kept every single one. What Li Guanqi had assumed to be mere polite talk, the man had backed up with concrete action, committing the entire Lin family to stand behind his declarations. To the point that, when Lin Jinting had realized the situation was slipping out of control, he had not hesitated in the slightest to play the Lin family's ultimate trump card, burning their bridges behind them. A favor owed by a Golden Immortal... No matter how one looked at it, Li Guanqi knew it had to be something extraordinarily precious. Lin Jinting had proven one thing through his actions: The Lin family was willing not only to share prosperity with Li Guanqi, but also to endure adversity by his side. Li Guanqi's gaze drifted for a fleeting moment. In Lin Jinting, he seemed to catch faint glimpses of Lu Kangnian, Qin Xian, and the others. After they chatted a while longer, Lin Jinting suddenly remembered something. "Oh no... Venerable Zhanhe doesn't know the latest news yet. He might still be at Xutian Palace!" Lin Shengwu was equally stunned, only now recalling that they had called upon a Golden Immortal helper... *** Meanwhile, above Xutian Palace. A white-browed elder of transcendent bearing, holding a horsetail whisk, stood suspended in the void. Between his brows lay a mix of gravity and perplexity... He looked down at the devastated ruins of Xutian Palace, its severed peaks collapsed to the ground, thoroughly bewildered. Before him stood Su Jinshan, his face grim and his eyes icy cold. "Is this never going to end?! Who are you now?" The elder knitted his brows, lifted his whisk slightly, and spoke in a calm voice. "This old man is Venerable Zhanhe. I have come today to request that Palace Master Su release the captives." Su Jinshan's patience had nearly reached its absolute breaking point. Taking a step forward, the ancient disk of a Golden Immortal manifested behind him as he roared, "Release your mother! Gone! They're all gone!! "There is no one in my palace!!! Get the hell away from here!!" Venerable Zhanhe's frown deepened. He flipped a jade slip into his palm, only to find no spiritual fluctuations coming from it. He became certain that Su Jinshan had detained the Lin family and was refusing to hand them over. "Palace Master Su, one should show mercy wherever possible. For this old man's sake, please release the members of the Lin family. "I share ancestral ties with the Lin family, so..." Before he could finish, two fierce rays of sword light tore through the void and arrived in an instant. The elder's expression remained calm. With a light sweep of his whisk, he shattered the two sword lights to pieces. Su Jinshan's furious roar battered his ears. "Show mercy wherever possible?!" "What a fine 'show mercy wherever possible'!! Why don't you show me some mercy?! I already said there is no one left in the palace!! Didn't you see the Nine Tripods Heavenly Palace earlier?! "Are you doing this on purpose?" "Purposely coming here, purposely demanding people, purposely trying to humiliate me, Su Jinshan!!" Su Jinshan had never felt so utterly humiliated in his entire life. Today, it seemed everyone wanted to come and trample Xutian Palace underfoot! "A mere Venerable dares to flaunt his might before my Xutian Palace?! "Do you truly think I, Su Jinshan, am an easy target?!" As soon as his voice fell, Xutian Palace's grand formation surged into place, and powerful experts took to the sky one after another! Su Jinshan stood shoulder to shoulder with Yang Qing. The crushing pressure of two Golden Immortals spread across the void, driving the atmosphere down to freezing point in an instant. Yet how could Venerable Zhanhe have known what had transpired earlier, or how pent-up Su Jinshan's grievances were? He only knew that the purpose of his journey had not yet been fulfilled. The elder flicked his whisk lightly, his face devoid of joy or sorrow. "I have no desire to make an enemy of Palace Master Su. Release the Lin family, and I shall depart at once." As he spoke, an ancient Golden Immortal disk manifested behind him as well! Immortal might surged vast and mighty, allowing him to withstand the pressure of both men entirely on his own. Su Jinshan gripped his sword and bellowed, "I'll give you your grandma!! "Kill him!!" Zhanhe sighed, stepping backward through the air for a hundred paces with a helpless expression. "Why must it come to this? Just give me the people... What meaning is there in fighting and slaughtering?" The more Su Jinshan heard, the more his fury blazed. "You bastard, you're looking for trouble on purpose, aren't you?!" With that roar, Su Jinshan and Yang Qing shot forward toward the elder in an instant. Yet at that very moment, the clouds across the horizon parted and tore open. A colossal cloud boat slowly emerged before everyone's eyes. Su Jinshan's face turned ash-white. His pupils contracted violently, and his mind went blank... "This... Could it be that they want to wipe out my Xutian Palace...?" "Quick! Raise the sect-protecting grand formation at once!!!" A thick barrier of formation light rose, and everyone frantically retreated back into the sect grounds. A long moment later, Su Jinshan watched as the cloud boat picked up the whisk-wielding elder, after which it turned and departed. Drenched in cold sweat, Su Jinshan slumped limply to the ground, as though all his spirit and energy had been drained clean. Even Yang Qing was in the same state; never in his life had the old man felt so thoroughly exhausted. Turning toward Su Jinshan, Yang Qing bowed slightly in apology. "Palace Master, this old man... must enter secluded cultivation today. I ask for Palace Master's understanding..." Hearing this, Su Jinshan simply waved a limp hand. "Go on..." *** Aboard the cloud boat, Zhanhe swallowed hard, bowing nervously in every direction with lingering dread. Only after Lin Jinting explained the situation did he finally understand what had happened. Raising his Daoist sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead, he forced an awkward laugh. "Ha... haha... As long as everyone is unharmed, that is all that matters. All is well."