Winning Over Cao Yan!

Under the moonlight, the youth's face appeared particularly pale, yet his smile was genuinely heartfelt and carefree. Just then, Ye Feng returned, his arms heaped full of storage bags. An irrepressible ecstasy was written across his face. "Boss! Look, I looted all of this! Yu Kai even had a storage ring on him!!" Struggling to sit up, Cao Yan widened his eyes in disbelief and blurted, "You even killed Yu Kai, the leader of the Dark Blood Alliance?!" "Then we have to get out of here, fast!!" "Besides him, the Dark Blood Alliance still has five Core Formation experts!!" Ye Feng took half a step backward, pointed at Cao Yan, and said, "Hey, Big Head, let me tell you—no glaring at people like that from now on, it's damn creepy!" With that, he began counting on his fingers before plopping down beside Li Guanqi, looking somewhat puzzled. "Boss, counting Yu Kai, that makes six in total. Didn't we kill all of them?" Upon hearing this, Cao Yan dropped to his knees before them with a thud, tears spilling uncontrollably from his eyes. "I, Cao Yan, kowtow to thank my two benefactors for saving my life!" Both Ye Feng and Li Guanqi were startled by his sudden gesture. The two hurriedly helped him up. Feeling a bit embarrassed, Ye Feng used his sleeve to wipe the blood from Cao Yan's forehead, grumbling as he wiped, "You big-headed bastard, dropping down to kowtow without a word—you're going to crack that skull wide open... "What's the big deal, anyway? I didn't even kowtow that hard to my own father." Cao Yan cracked a grin at those words. At that moment, Li Guanqi asked with some doubt, "If my senses don't deceive me... you're... at late Foundation Establishment?" As the words fell, Cao Yan's eyes grew dim, but he nodded truthfully. He spoke in a low, dejected voice. "That's right. I reached late Foundation Establishment when I was only ten years old." Hearing this, Ye Feng's eyes went even wider than Cao Yan's had moments ago, and he cried out in shock, "Ten years old?! Late Foundation Establishment?!" Cao Yan glanced at him, and Li Guanqi signaled for Ye Feng to keep quiet. "That's right... Unfortunately, an upheaval later struck my clan... and I ended up looking like this. "I can't cultivate or absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth at all. My head grows bigger by the day, while my cultivation has steadily plummeted under constant weakening." Li Guanqi sighed inwardly. It seemed this was something no outsider could fix; every family had its own skeleton in the closet. The only reason he had stepped in to save Cao Yan was that the sight of him being thrown out of the back door had struck a chord within him. That scene... was far too similar to when his sister had been thrown out of the Li Manor's back door back then! Back then, he had lacked the power to save his sister, and even his grandfather had been helpless to reverse the situation. Yet now, he had the power to save Cao Yan! He refused to let the past tragedy repeat itself. Though Cao Yan was hideous and strange in appearance, he was kindhearted at core—and his brutal beating had likely come from warning the two of them. Yet just as Li Guanqi was about to ask Cao Yan where he planned to go from here, the slumbering sword spirit suddenly uttered a soft exclamation of surprise within his mind! Right after, she manifested directly from the sword coffin. Aside from Li Guanqi, however, no one else could see her. The strikingly beautiful sword spirit wore her usual aloof expression, something Li Guanqi had long grown accustomed to. Even so, he never grew tired of looking at her breathtaking visage. The sword spirit leaned forward to look Cao Yan over, clicking her tongue in wonder. "To think you'd actually run into something like this." Frowning slightly, Li Guanqi asked in his mind, "What do you mean?" With long, graceful strides, the sword spirit walked slowly toward Li Guanqi and glanced at Ye Feng beside him. Her vermilion lips parted slightly to reveal pearly teeth as she murmured, "I'll give you two choices." Li Guanqi shrugged. He never liked hearing the sword spirit tell him to make a choice. "Let's hear it." The sword spirit leaned down and pointed at Cao Yan. "This fellow's talent is far superior to that fool beside you, and he will prove to be a tremendous help to you in the future!" "Go on." "However... someone has placed an extremely vicious scheme upon him." At that point, the sword spirit straightened up slowly. Li Guanqi suddenly felt the fair, dazzling view before his eyes vanish, feeling quite regretful about it. Following that, a wisp of spiritual light shot from the sword spirit's hand and entered his eyes. He suddenly noticed that on the burned patch between Cao Yan's eyebrows, there was a spiritual sigil flickering with blue flames!! The sword spirit continued, "You can wield the sword of the spirit ruins to sever the restriction on his spiritual terrace. "Yet by doing so, you will also take on his karma, and this karma is exceptionally heavy for you! "In the future, you might even lose your life because of it! "How you choose is up to you." Hearing this, Li Guanqi felt torn for a moment, but he did not doubt the sword spirit's words in the slightest. When it came to experience and breadth of knowledge, he felt that among everyone he knew, perhaps only his grandfather could compare to her. Since the sword spirit put it that way, she had to have her reasons. Li Guanqi pondered for a long time, then rose to his feet, interrupting the casual chatter between Ye Feng and Cao Yan. His eyes locked onto Cao Yan, studying him intently for a long while. Cao Yan did not look away, meeting Li Guanqi's gaze head-on. He could sense that the other had something to say to him. Toward Li Guanqi and Ye Feng, Cao Yan felt boundless gratitude. Calling these saviors his second parents would hardly be an exaggeration. After a long silence, Li Guanqi looked at Ye Feng and sent a voice transmission: *I want to take him in as my follower. Do you agree?* Ye Feng clearly had not expected Li Guanqi to consult his opinion on such a matter! The sensation of being valued sent a warm current flowing through Ye Feng's heart. With his boisterous personality, Ye Feng had never cared about such formalities anyway. Getting an extra junior follower was something he was more than happy about. Besides, his impression of Cao Yan was quite good. At the very least, the fellow was kind enough to risk terrible danger just to warn them that the pills were inedible. Seeing Ye Feng nod, Li Guanqi took a deep breath, stood tall, and said in a low, steady voice, "Cao Yan, my name is Li Guanqi, and this is my brother, Ye Feng. "Today, if I break the restriction within your body, are you willing to follow me—and call each other brothers!" Sitting on the ground, Cao Yan felt his pupils quiver when he heard the final words. A moment later, he made up his mind and struggled to climb to his feet! Ye Feng moved to help him up, but Cao Yan raised a hand to stop him, spending a tremendous amount of effort just to stand on his own. Though his facial features were warped, Ye Feng felt that the present Cao Yan was incomparably solemn! Fixing his uneven eyes on Li Guanqi, Cao Yan pressed a hand to his chest and said in a deep voice, "To tell you the truth, my background is quite complicated... "Calling me a brother might not be a good thing for you." Li Guanqi smiled freely. He truly had not misjudged this person. Cao Yan had taken the initiative to voice his own concerns. Yet before uttering those words, Li Guanqi had already made up his mind. "Just tell me whether you are willing or not. As for the rest, I've already prepared myself!" Taking a deep breath, Cao Yan bowed deeply and declared in a resonant voice, "I, Cao Yan, swear upon the honor of my ancestors! "From this day forth, I am willing to follow you! "I will do everything in my power to assist you!!" His voice rang with ironclad resolve, moving even Ye Feng beside them!