In the end, Qin Xian examined Li Guanqi's condition and found that he was not severely injured.
However, this draining of vitality was rather bizarre. In his judgment, if Li Guanqi failed to break through to the next realm within three years, he would very likely die of old age once his lifespan ran out!
After carrying the three of them away, Qin Xian discovered that the youth with the slightly large head possessed extraordinarily high latent talent!
For now, though, he could only wait until all three woke up before asking what had happened, and why this battle had turned so perilous.
Before long, Ye Feng, who had sustained the lightest injuries, woke from his coma.
The moment Ye Feng saw Qin Xian, tears streamed down his face. Weeping and sniffling, he wailed about why the elder had arrived so late.
With a darkened face, Qin Xian said, "After receiving the sect master's order, I bypassed everyone and rushed here at the greatest possible speed."
Ye Feng wiped his face, half-doubting. "Really?"
Seeing his pitiful display, Qin Xian cuffed him over the head and snapped in annoyance, "Could I possibly wish for you to die? What kind of nonsense is that?"
Clutching his head, Ye Feng nodded a bit sheepishly. "Fair point... Did my master say anything?"
"Nothing. He just told this old man to hurry up."
"Tch, I knew my master would be like that."
The old man glanced at him and sneered, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to pass your words on to Tu Kui."
"Aiya, Elder Qin, don't! ...Wasn't that just a sign of deep affection between master and disciple?"
"Humph! Speak. What happened here? And who is this kid with the big noggin?"
Ye Feng shifted slightly, which jostled his wounds and made him grimace in pain. "You mean Big Head? Hahaha, the boss and I picked him up. His talent is outrageously high! The quality of his spiritual root is... this!"
As he spoke, Ye Feng gave a stealthy thumbs-up like a thief.
A glint of sharpness flashed in Qin Xian's eyes. Noticing Ye Feng's glance toward Li Guanqi, he understood what was going on. He had never expected that someone casually picked up by the two would turn out to be a top-tier genius.
Ye Feng was not done yet; he continued, "Big Head is also an alchemist. He should be pretty good."
The old man paused for a moment. "How can it be a 'should'? Either he is, or he isn't."
Looking at the still-unconscious Cao Yan, Ye Feng shrugged. "We haven't seen him refine pills yet, but he's pretty amazing at drawing talismans and carving arrays. Though I can't make sense of it, those spirit talismans struck me as quite impressive."
Qin Xian swallowed, his eyes widening and his voice rising several pitches. "What? You're saying... he, he... isn't just an alchemist, but can also make talismans and carve arrays?!"
Ye Feng rubbed his chin, scratched his forehead, and recalled how Cao Yan had bled from his seven facial orifices while engraving an array in blood earlier. He muttered, "Probably... Anyway, Big Head is a good guy. But if not for the boss this time, both of us would have breathed our last right here! That Fang Yishan was actually a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator!!"
Hearing this, the old man's face instantly darkened, and he let out a cold snort.
"Hmph! Then this time, we will slaughter Changfeng Villa to warn the rest! The Great Xia Sword Sect's rising momentum cannot be stopped by anyone. It's time to teach those petty scoundrels a lesson!"
Ye Feng curled his lip and said, "You probably won't need to lift a finger, Senior. Right now, Changfeng Villa doesn't have a single Core Formation realm cultivator left."
Qin Xian looked surprised. "What? None left? Weren't there five Core Formation cultivators before?"
Ye Feng nodded, then looked at the unconscious Li Guanqi with admiration. "That's right, but they're all gone now. Boss used a scheme to turn Fang Yishan and his brother against each other, driving the brothers to slaughter one another. Suspicious and brutal by nature, Fang Yishan directly attacked and killed his brother, as well as his second uncle. In short, Changfeng Villa's Core Formation cultivators are completely wiped out."
Qin Xian was shocked once more.
He had originally thought it was already remarkable that the three had survived against a half-step Nascent Soul Fang Yishan.
He had never anticipated that Li Guanqi possessed such deep calculation and shrewdness!
Relying purely on strategy, without expending the slightest effort, he had caused them to slaughter each other while he reaped the spoils.
Qin Xian looked at Li Guanqi on the ground and smiled faintly, murmuring in his heart, "It seems this little fellow has been living quite well in the sect. Otherwise, with his disposition and scheming, if he ever harbored ulterior motives, he would have turned the sect upside down long ago."
At this moment, Cao Yan slowly regained consciousness. A splitting headache assaulted him, and the moment he woke, he began pounding frantically on his head.
Qin Xian slowly stood, handed him a small vial of spiritual liquid, and said softly, "Drink it. Your sea of consciousness is slightly damaged. If it isn't restored quickly, it might leave behind a lingering ailment."
Cao Yan looked up and saw the black-robed elder, sensing an overwhelmingly powerful pressure radiating from him.
Yet he could feel that the old man bore not the slightest malice, but was genuinely concerned for him.
Without hesitation, Cao Yan accepted the jade vial, rose, and bowed. "Junior Cao Yan thanks Senior."
With that, he drank the spiritual liquid in one gulp, sat cross-legged on the ground, and entered a state of cultivation within a few breaths.
Seeing this, Qin Xian nodded repeatedly, while Ye Feng stared at the old man with a deeply resentful gaze.
Noticing Ye Feng's eyes, the old man looked slightly embarrassed and gave two light coughs to cover it up.
Before long, Li Guanqi also groggily came to. Upon waking, he felt a pain as though his head were about to explode.
His sea of consciousness and golden core were completely empty.
Turning his head, he happened to see Qin Xian's arrival. But just as he was about to speak, he noticed the changes in his own body.
Looking at his wrinkle-covered hands, Li Guanqi gave a wry, bitter smile and murmured inwardly,
"This price... really is far from ordinary..."
"Five hundred years of lifespan, and now I have barely three years left to live..."
"It seems I can't rely on the sword spirit's methods as my final trump card in the future."
Although he thought this, Li Guanqi had never treated the sword spirit as a backer or a secret weapon.
From the very beginning, he had focused only on enhancing his own strength and power.
As for the sword spirit, he merely sent a bit of primal energy her way now and then during cultivation.
Ever since he was young, Su Xuan had taught him that no matter the circumstance, true strength lay within oneself.
Relying on external things was never a long-term solution; if one day those external things were gone, one would be left with nothing.
Thus, Li Guanqi had always regarded the sword spirit as a teacher or a guide in his cultivation.
Li Guanqi looked around; they were actually in a cave.
Leaning against the stone wall, he turned toward Ye Feng and Cao Yan, grinned, and gave Ye Feng a thumbs-up.
The elder opened his mouth to say something to Li Guanqi, but Li Guanqi interrupted him, "Elder Qin, please think it through. Cao Yan's background might be a bit complicated; bringing him into the sect might not be a good thing."
The old man fell silent for a long moment, locking eyes with Li Guanqi, before finally letting out a soft sigh. "All right, I'll listen to you, kid. When you return in the future, you can bring him by to take a look around the sect."
Li Guanqi smiled and nodded. When the elder inquired about his health, Li Guanqi merely brushed it off.
In the end, seeing that none of them were in immediate danger, Qin Xian prepared to return to the sect to report.
The old man took out a pair of faintly shimmering wings, handed them to Li Guanqi, and chuckled softly. "Fine lad, to think you'd come across such a flight-type spirit tool. I've repaired it for you."
Taking the Wind Thunder Wings, Li Guanqi clutched his chest, putting on a pitiful act.
"Ouch... Elder Qin... my chest hurts so badly, and we don't have money to buy pills. Big Head's sea of consciousness hasn't fully recovered yet, and we can't even afford an alchemy furnace! Since leaving the sect, the two of us have been like motherless children, eating one meal and starving the next. With empty pockets, we've suffered all kinds of cold stares. Cao Yan couldn't even bring himself to buy a talisman brush."
Cao Yan, who had already woken up, was taken aback upon hearing this. He was about to tell Li Guanqi that he had already bought one, but before he could speak, Ye Feng shoved a hand right into his mouth, muffling him.
In the end, Qin Xian looked with a darkened face at his ten bare fingers—both of his storage rings had been yanked off.
"Damn it, I'll have to make the sect master reimburse me for this when I get back."
Stepping into the spatial rift, a playful smile curved the corner of the old man's mouth.
"They were meant for them in the first place anyway. This time, let them be properly grateful."
Chapter 222