Ye Feng's Departure

Before long, Ye Feng had mostly recovered from his injuries. Under the potent medicinal effects of the pill, his cultivation realm had also completely stabilized. *Hum!* A wisp of white smoke escaped Ye Feng's mouth. A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes! Yet no look of joy appeared on his face. Seeing him like this, Li Guanqi gently gestured to him. "Come, sit." After a moment's hesitation, Ye Feng flickered over and sat beside him. The moonlight was splendid tonight, the sky luminous with few stars—a clear sign that tomorrow would bring another fine day. Li Guanqi took out a jug of wine and offered it to Ye Feng, who accepted it naturally. *Clink.* The wine jugs struck each other with a crisp sound. *Gulp, gulp.* Without turning to look at Ye Feng, Li Guanqi spoke softly. "Do you have something on your mind?" Ye Feng kept his head lowered, his long golden hair concealing most of his face. He gave a low "mm" in response. Li Guanqi chuckled and punched him lightly on the shoulder, adopting an easy tone. "If you've got something to say, spit it out. Don't bottle it up until you suffocate yourself." "Hahaha." Ye Feng could not help laughing. Then, looking up at Li Guanqi with firm resolve, he said in all seriousness, "Boss, I want to travel and temper myself on my own!" Perhaps having already anticipated this, Li Guanqi asked softly, "Do you feel like you're a burden to me?" Ye Feng let out a long sigh. Now that he had made up his mind to say it, he had no intention of holding back. He threw his head back and downed a mouthful of strong liquor, which burned like liquid fire as it slid down his throat. Emboldened by the wine, Ye Feng nodded. "Yeah. That's exactly how it feels—a burden." "I feel like I can never help with anything. Once... twice..." "Sometimes, I even wonder if things wouldn't be much easier for you without me, Boss." "After all, with your wits and shrewdness, you would never put yourself in harm's way in the first place." Li Guanqi suddenly kicked him, sending him sprawling. Ye Feng looked back at him in bewilderment. Li Guanqi stood up, pointed at him, and scolded, "If not for you earlier, my fucking bones would've been turned to dust by now! "You're not a burden, Ye Feng! Neither is Cao Yan! "Both of you are brothers I chose and acknowledged! Even if you were burdens, I would bear them willingly!" Li Guanqi's chest heaved violently, his voice inadvertently turning harsh. Lying on the ground, Ye Feng was not angry in the least. Instead, he grinned from ear to ear. Scrambling back up, he grabbed Li Guanqi's arm and said, "Hehe, I knew you wouldn't look down on me, Boss." Releasing his grip, Ye Feng continued softly, "Boss, you know..." "Back then, I thought too highly of myself. With decent talent, it was hard not to feel superior and look down on others." "On top of that, I was lazy and hated cultivating." Here, Ye Feng paused slightly and turned to Li Guanqi. "Until I met you, Boss." "That day in the Scripture Pavilion, watching you walk away, I finally realized that 'there is always someone better and a heaven beyond the heavens' was never an empty proverb." "I admired you. I looked up to you." "And facts proved that my judgment was spot-on." "Then came Cao Yan, a freak whose talent was just as terrifying. He sparked my competitive streak, and I threw myself into cultivation like mad." Li Guanqi listened quietly to Ye Feng's rambling. He had witnessed everything Ye Feng had done. Especially after Cao Yan joined them, Ye Feng had worked countless times harder than before. Ye Feng took another sip of wine and continued, "Big Head gave me a sense of crisis." "He progresses so fast, even though he's constantly building a foundation to break out with explosive momentum." "I'm scared." "I'm scared that one day I won't be able to keep up with you two anymore, and that we'll drift further and further apart." By this point, Ye Feng's head hung very low. In the presence of the two of them, Ye Feng—the proud possessor of a king-grade spiritual root—felt profoundly inferior. Indeed, right now, he exuded pure inadequacy. Yet in the very next instant, Ye Feng looked up, baring his teeth in a wide grin. "So... I've decided to strike out on my own!" "You're not going to stop me, are you, Boss?" A trace of conflict surfaced in Li Guanqi's heart. When he had first brought Ye Feng out of the sect, his wish had been to weather trials alongside his brother and see the vast world together. Yet now that Ye Feng wanted to leave, Li Guanqi completely understood where he was coming from. If things continued like this, the gap between them would only grow wider. Up to now, the enemies they had faced were formidable! So formidable that Ye Feng felt like dead weight, believing he had only dragged Li Guanqi down. Just like with Fang Yishan, or when Cao Yan was being hunted. If not for Li Guanqi, Ye Feng would have died long ago. After a long silence, Li Guanqi locked eyes with Ye Feng and said, "Care to make a bet?" Ye Feng's eyes lit up at once. Ever since following Li Guanqi, he had barely had any chance to gamble. "What are we betting on?" The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth curved upward. Looking at Ye Feng with absolute seriousness, he said, "I bet that the next time you see me, your sword will roar across the nine heavens, a hidden dragon soaring from the abyss!" "I bet that the next time you see me, your name will shake Great Xia and echo across the four seas!" As Li Guanqi spoke each word with quiet conviction, Ye Feng's eyes grew brighter and brighter, as though ablaze with light! Ye Feng threw his head back in laughter, clinking his jug against Li Guanqi's as he declared in a deep voice, "You're on!" "And the stakes will be my dignity as your kid brother!" Li Guanqi raised his jug, looking at him with a smile. "This time, I hope I lose." Under the moonlit sky, Li Guanqi gave Ye Feng more than half of his resources, along with a generous share of healing and life-preserving pills. The two talked through the night until daybreak. *Chirp! Squawk!* From the boundless mountain range came the constant hum of insects and the roars of beasts. Primal energy surged through Ye Feng's body, instantly dispelling the lingering alcoholic vapor. He stood up, looked at Li Guanqi, and said, "Boss, parting this time, there's no telling how many years it will be before we meet again." "Still... the world is vast, and paths always cross again; our time will come." "You have my jade slip. If you ever need me, just say the word, no matter where I am." "The moment you say you need me, I'll come rushing right back!" On Ye Feng's face, Li Guanqi saw a solemnity he had never witnessed before. Li Guanqi grinned and pulled him into a fierce embrace, thumping him hard on the back. "I believe in you, just as you believe in me!" "You will definitely make it!" Ye Feng departed without lingering, for he, too, possessed the heart of the strong. Only, his drive stemmed from a desire never to fall too far behind Li Guanqi and Cao Yan. He refused to spend his entire life being seen by others as nothing more than Li Guanqi's baggage. He wanted to become a brother who could hold up his own piece of the sky alongside Li Guanqi! Watching Ye Feng's receding figure, Li Guanqi felt deeply moved. Gazing toward the endless expanse of the Purgatory Mountain Range, he murmured softly, "In that case, I can't afford to lag behind either..." "Purgatory Mountain Range... here I come! This is where I break through to the Nascent Soul realm!"