Li Guanqi had not been particularly interested in that final piece of news.
He had assumed the man was about to reveal some earth-shattering secret.
After disposing of all the corpses, Li Guanqi changed into a black robe and left the area, carrying the severely wounded and unconscious Ye Feng.
Before long, people arrived at the battlefield.
The thick stench of blood hung heavy in the air, refusing to disperse for a long time. The fate of the others who had contested the Purple Sun Immortal Fruit with the one-eyed man remained unknown as well.
Soon, a piece of news that utterly stunned everyone spread like wildfire through Ping'an City!
Someone had discovered a Purple Sun Immortal Fruit within the Purgatory Mountain Range!
Yet nearly fifteen beast-hunting teams had been almost completely wiped out!
The few stragglers who made it back were left with lingering dread. They refused to utter a single word about what had happened inside, saying only that there had been two incredibly powerful figures.
For a time, the entire city was abuzz with speculation over the identities of those two mysterious experts.
Li Guanqi and Ye Feng became the prime topic of conversation over tea and meals.
Naturally, Li Guanqi knew nothing of this.
Inside a dark, damp cave, a flickering fire crackled softly.
Behind the flames, a figure lay on the ground with eyes tightly shut.
His face somewhat pale, Li Guanqi slowly lowered his hands and let out a soft sigh.
Ye Feng had been gravely injured this time, remaining unconscious for three full days.
Over these three days, Li Guanqi had administered numerous healing pills to him.
These medicinal pills had all been scavenged from the bodies of those cultivators. After all, having spent years roaming the Purgatory Mountain Range, they carried little wealth, but healing and life-preserving pills were something they never lacked.
Li Guanqi's prematurely aged face showed an extra touch of weariness.
Over the past few days, he had been constantly helping Ye Feng dredge and regulate his meridians.
Piled within the cave were the carcasses of several demon beasts, all slain by Li Guanqi over the last two days.
The number of demon beasts in this mountain range far exceeded his imagination; even an inconspicuous cave like this drew the attention of numerous beasts.
In these few days, Li Guanqi had also managed to stabilize his cultivation realm significantly.
Even so, he frowned slightly. He could clearly sense that his foundation was somewhat unstable, likely because his recent breakthroughs had happened too quickly.
Breaking through into the late Core Formation realm had been a natural progression, but forcing his way to the Great Perfection had been rushed.
Still, he did not regret it. Had he not forced the breakthrough under those circumstances, the two of them would have long been dead, their heads severed from their bodies.
"Looks like I'll need to spend some time polishing my realm."
With that, Li Guanqi slowly rose and began practicing his swordplay inside the cave.
He was still not proficient enough with the Seven Fiends Sword, and its killing power was far from its peak.
The Core Formation Great Perfection realm made him feel immensely powerful!
Within his dantian, the purple core radiated a shimmering glow, as though undergoing some enigmatic transformation.
He understood that this was a change every Core Formation cultivator yearned for—the sign of shattering the core to form a Nascent Soul.
However, he had no intention of crossing that chasm too hastily.
Just as he was contemplating his next cultivation steps, a series of pained groans suddenly reached his ears.
In an instant, Li Guanqi was at Ye Feng's side. He saw Ye Feng grimacing as he opened his eyes and slowly turned his head.
The moment Ye Feng saw Li Guanqi before him, a grin broke across his face. "I knew Boss could pull it off!"
"Ow, ow, ow... why the hell does it hurt so damn much..."
Seeing this, Li Guanqi finally breathed a sigh of relief. The fellow was awake at last.
"You're finally up. If you'd stayed out any longer, I was going to carry you out."
Ye Feng looked down at himself, wrapped from head to toe in cloth strips, and offered a wry smile.
"Boss, did you really have to wrap me up like this?"
Li Guanqi sat down beside him and said testily, "Twenty-eight sword cuts, seven through-and-through wounds, and seven or eight broken bones. It's a miracle you're even alive."
Ye Feng smacked his lips at that and muttered, "Good thing my fate is tough enough."
Seeing that he wasn't dwelling on it, Li Guanqi smiled faintly.
"All right, now that you're awake, hurry up and regulate your own meridians. Dredging your meridians over the past few days nearly wore me out."
Ye Feng stiffly tried to sit up, only to grimace in pain.
Seeing this, Li Guanqi quickly helped him up and propped him against the cave wall.
"Heh heh, that was damn thrilling, Boss."
"Did we manage to escape in the end?"
Li Guanqi shrugged and said calmly, "I killed them all."
Hearing that, Ye Feng's pupils shrank, and he asked in disbelief, "All of them?"
"Yeah."
"Tsk, tsk."
Ye Feng knew very well that with Li Guanqi's strength at that time, getting away would have been effortless.
Yet he had chosen to slaughter every last one of them, certainly in part to avenge Ye Feng.
The thought made Ye Feng feel as sweet inside as if he had drunk honey.
Li Guanqi casually took out over a hundred spirit stones and placed them beside him, then handed him a pill for regulating meridians.
"Stop grinning like an idiot. Hurry up, stabilize your realm, and sort out your meridians. Make sure you don't leave any hidden ailments."
Ye Feng nodded slightly, then awkwardly shifted his body into a cultivation posture, sitting cross-legged.
Before long, Ye Feng's breathing grew even, and wisps of dense spiritual energy turned into two streams of white mist that flowed into his nostrils.
Watching Ye Feng cultivate, Li Guanqi felt a swirl of complex emotions.
He had not expected that even in such a perilous crisis, Ye Feng's only thought had been to protect him, not letting him suffer the slightest harm.
Though Ye Feng rarely acted serious on ordinary days, he was completely dependable when it counted!
And compared to the first time Li Guanqi had met him, Ye Feng had changed immensely.
The Ye Feng back at the Scripture Depository had been like a carefree playboy with no worries about food or clothing, constantly looking to wager against others just to inject some amusement into his mundane life.
Now, however, Ye Feng possessed a far firmer resolve and had goals he genuinely wanted to pursue.
He had become more accountable, more responsible.
Li Guanqi smiled faintly, and Cao Yan's smiling face surfaced in his mind.
"I wonder how Old Cao is doing right now..."
In the quiet cave, only the crackle of burning flames could be heard.
Yet not long after Li Guanqi entered his meditative cultivation—
Suddenly!
Li Guanqi snapped his eyes open, instantly extinguishing the fire before him with a surge of power.
At the same time, he sent Ye Feng straight into the sword casket space!
With a wave of his hand, he stowed away all the burning charcoal and the carcasses of the demon beasts.
Immediately after, Li Guanqi flashed to the cave entrance!
Over a hundred li away, deep within the mountains, a multicolored pillar of light shot into the sky!
Wave after wave of immensely powerful shockwaves rippled outward in all directions!
Li Guanqi's eyes flickered as the words spoken by that man before his death suddenly came to mind:
*A valley in the mountains, a lake in the valley... Could this be what he was talking about?*
Chapter 253