Immortal Elder Yu walked over and said softly, "If we are to part ways, this place happens to be fairly close to Qinzhou City. After we head over, we can make our ascent."
Meng Wanshu nodded slightly. The gaze she turned upon Li Guanqi held contentment, relief, and reluctance to part.
Standing on the deck by the gunwale with her hands clasped behind her back, the young woman turned. Strands of black hair drifted across her cheek, and sunlight bathed her profile—a sight that left Li Guanqi utterly entranced.
A radiant smile blossomed across her face like a flower, and she said softly, "Once I handle a few matters, I will come down to find you."
Li Guanqi nodded with a grin, stepped to her side, and chuckled softly. "All right, I'll be waiting for you. If any romantic rivals show up, save them for your husband. Once I come up, I'll deal with them one by one."
Meng Wanshu tapped Li Guanqi lightly on the chest, then stroked his cheek with her right hand, laughing gently. "Later, I'll find you a couple of Youth-Retaining Pills to take. You already have crow's feet at the corners of your eyes."
Li Guanqi gave a wry smile. Their eyes met, and closing their eyes, they shared a tender kiss.
After a long moment, a blush colored her cheeks, and she complained coyly, "There are so many people watching... What are you doing~"
Li Guanqi burst out laughing, then drew a deep breath and looked at her.
This time, his gaze was remarkably tender.
Without realizing it, Li Guanqi's state of mind had undergone a profound shift.
From having walked alone all his life, he finally truly realized that he was now a man with a wife.
It was a wondrous sensation, though Meng Wanshu had realized it far sooner than he had.
Ever since their grand wedding in the Human Spirit Realm, everyone had ascended separately, leaving them apart for a full year.
Though Li Guanqi had missed her deeply, he had not harbored much of a concrete sense or concept of being married.
But this time was different...
A virtuous wife at home who swung a warhammer to protect her husband.
The shock it had given Li Guanqi was no small matter.
It was an indescribable peace of mind and settled reassurance deep within.
When the moment came to part, Meng Wanshu stood beside Li Guanqi, clutching the corner of his robe with her head lowered, reluctant longing showing in her eyes.
A gentle smile appeared on Li Guanqi's face, his gaze tender.
Reaching out, he stroked her hair and said softly, "It's all right. We've already found each other now, so don't worry."
Meng Wanshu pouted slightly. Though she understood in her mind, she still could not shake the parting reluctance.
Li Guanqi drew her gently into his embrace, his palm caressing her back as he murmured softly, "Be good. Just come down to see me again after some time. I need to do my best to find all the others in the Ten Lands."
Meng Wanshu murmured an agreement with a faint nod. Li Guanqi then turned to Immortal Elder Yu and bowed deeply.
"I must trouble Elder Yu to look after Wanshu's safety on this journey. Some day, I'll seek out fine wine to bring when I pay my respects to Elder Yu."
Immortal Elder Yu stroked his beard and laughed heartily.
"You, ah, you! I'm not really looking forward to your wine. I only want to see what heights you will have reached when we meet again next time. All right, you will reunite in the future, so there is no need for sorrow."
Li Guanqi, Lin Jinting, and the horsetail whisk-bearing elder took to the air together.
Immortal Elder Yu waved his hand, tossing out a figure.
It was none other than a dazed and disoriented Ran Shiming.
Aboard the cloud boat, Meng Wanshu pressed her lips together, faint crystalline lightning glinting in her eyes as she waved toward Li Guanqi from afar.
Buzz!!
A brilliant aura engulfed the cloud boat as intense spatial fluctuations slowly rolled out.
Immediately afterward, a colossal void rift slowly opened.
Misty, shimmering light flickered endlessly within the rift, brimming with immense spatial power as a transmission passage gradually took shape.
"Until we meet again!"
Whoosh!
The massive cloud boat surged forward with sudden speed, vanishing into the rift in an instant.
The rift snapped shut, and peace returned to heaven and earth.
Li Guanqi gazed at the spot where the cloud boat had vanished, lost in thought for a long while.
Lin Jinting walked up beside him, patted his shoulder, and teased, "What, your wife has barely left and you're missing her already?"
Li Guanqi returned to his senses and chuckled. "Senior, please don't tease me."
With that, Li Guanqi turned to Venerable Zhanhe, cupped his hands, and smiled.
"Senior, this whole affair was sparked on my account, yet Senior came all this way out of loyalty to an old friend. That alone shows how deeply Senior values past bonds."
As he spoke, Li Guanqi produced a storage ring and slipped it across unobtrusively.
"A modest token of my respect, for Senior to buy some wine. If Senior has no urgent business, perhaps you could accompany us back to the Lin family to sit and rest for a spell."
Venerable Zhanhe swept his divine sense lightly inside—exactly thirty thousand second-grade immortal crystals!
While it was not a vast sum to him, to a Heavenly Immortal like Li Guanqi, it was already a massive fortune.
Venerable Zhanhe did not decline. That amount of immortal crystals was merely enough for him to buy a bit of fine wine.
Still...
"Good, good, good. This old man happens to have nothing pressing lately, so heading back to see the Lin family sounds quite pleasant."
Li Guanqi shot Lin Jinting a glance, and Lin Jinting caught on immediately!
"Indeed. As a boy, I often heard my grandfather speak of Senior, and I even met you twice back then. Though my grandfather has passed on, Senior could still visit us juniors more often, couldn't you?"
Lin Jinting, quick on the uptake, stepped up beside the old man, his voice filled with nostalgia.
Venerable Zhanhe understood full well what they were getting at and did not refuse.
"Sigh... Ever since your grandfather failed his breakthrough, I... haven't had much heart to travel around. I've mostly been in seclusion these past few centuries."
As the two conversed in low voices, Lin Shengwu discreetly gave Li Guanqi a thumbs-up.
Li Guanqi smiled, taking it in stride.
So long as Venerable Zhanhe was no fool, he could see that the Lin family had now established a connection with the Nine Tripods Heavenly Palace.
Once Lin Jinting returned to the Lin family, disciples from the Nine Tripods Heavenly Palace would likely arrive soon.
This had also been Li Guanqi's intention: fostering ties between the Lin family and the Nine Tripods Heavenly Palace would bring no small amount of benefit.
Rather than the Lin family becoming vassals to other sects and powers for future development, attaching themselves directly to the mighty Nine Tripods Heavenly Palace was far better!
A plum for a peach; for favors easily done, Li Guanqi was never stingy about repaying the Lin family.
Off to the side, Ran Shiming opened his mouth repeatedly without managing to utter a single word, pacing back and forth yet unable to squeeze into the conversation.
The main problem was that no one paid him the slightest attention, disregarding him completely.
"Th-Then I will take my leave first..."
Still, no one spoke. Ran Shiming could only give an awkward smile and fly off through the sky on his own.
Lin Shengwu scoffed at the man's departing back.
"Useless trash!"
The group hurried back toward Qinzhou City. Along the way, Lin Shengwu arranged various matters while Lin Jinting conversed with the old man.
Li Guanqi took the jade slip handed to him by Lin Shengwu, from which Lin Wujiu's excited, inquisitive voice immediately burst forth:
"Damn!! Old Li!! I heard all about it!! Heavens... Sister-in-law is too fierce!! Too incredible!! I worship her so damn much!! That hammer strike was so fucking satisfying!"
Li Guanqi's mouth twitched, having no idea how he had found out.
"By the way, is Qisha awake? Is Han Sijin still at the Lin family?"
Chapter 1710