Mutual Devotion

"Marry me!!" "Senior Brother Li, if men are an option, just say the word—I'm available!!" Li Guanqi looked down with a smile at the clamoring crowd, letting them joke as they pleased. Watching the boys and girls below, fifteen or sixteen years old, a wave of emotion washed over him. Once, he had been just like them, of a similar age. Harboring boundless aspirations and hot-blooded passion, he had joined the sect and stepped into the cultivation world. At this moment, even Lu Kangnian seemed like a mere background figure among the crowd. Standing atop the high platform, Li Guanqi bowed to Lu Kangnian and the others one by one. "Tianlei Peak disciple Li Guanqi pays his respects to the Sect Master, Elder Qin, and Elder Ling." Indeed, not only was Qin Xian present, but even Ling Daoyan from Tianzhu Peak had come. All of them nodded at him with smiles on their faces. They thought extraordinarily highly of this most outstanding disciple of the Great Xia Sword Sect. Above all, it was Li Guanqi's character and temperament that they valued so deeply. Lu Kangnian raised a hand gently and said in a soft voice, "Pay no heed to us. Just say whatever you wish to say." Li Guanqi smiled at the words. After a moment of contemplation, he raised his hand, lifting all the disciples into the air. A powerful wave of spatial force buoyed everyone up steadily. Then he pressed his palm down lightly, and over a thousand lightning chairs suddenly coalesced in the sky! Purple arcs of lightning crackled and flashed across them, yet did not harm anyone in the slightest. As if sharing an unspoken understanding, the disciples stopped their clamor and grew much quieter. Even beneath the seven peak lords and the elders, a lightning throne floated into place. Yet after doing all this, Li Guanqi's expression remained completely composed, looking thoroughly at ease. This led more than a few to sigh secretly in their hearts, *It seems this brat truly has grown terrifyingly strong...* Cang Lu watched the display with sharp brilliance glinting in his eyes, silently taking his seat upon a lightning chair as well. He quietly felt the immense power within it, an enigmatic light in his eyes as untold thoughts crossed his mind. By now, Cang Lu had long since broken through to the Nascent Soul realm, reaching the mid Nascent Soul realm! Such a terrifying speed of breakthrough was exceptionally rare even across the entire Northern Region. Although the Great Xia Sword Sect was now rich in resources, breaking through so quickly had far more to do with his personal talent and relentless effort. Li Guanqi smiled faintly, and with a wave of his hand, a radiant burst of light flashed across the sky! In an instant, the spiritual energy above the entire plaza became extraordinarily dense! Three whole spiritual veins, each a hundred zhang in size, floated in the sky. Everyone stared at the sight in stunned disbelief, and even Ling Daoyan widened his eyes and arched his brows. Li Guanqi turned to Lu Kangnian, bowing with clasped hands. "These spiritual veins are too large for this disciple to carry around conveniently. It is better to leave them in the sect." Hearing this, the crowd burst into laughter, all knowing that Li Guanqi was gifting them to the sect. After all, who would complain about carrying three entire spiritual veins on them? Lu Kangnian roared with laughter. With a wave of his hand, he settled the three spiritual veins among the peaks that lacked them. Yet this was not all. With another flick of Li Guanqi's wrist, nearly a million mid-grade spirit stones poured forth! A dense expanse of spirit stones practically blanketed half the sky! Countless disciples gasped, their jaws dropping. Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined Li Guanqi would produce such a staggering quantity of spirit stones! Tu Kui and the other six peak lords could not help but swallow hard. "Damn, talk about lavish!!" "In all my years, I've never seen so many spirit stones..." "Just look at Old Li—his eye for disciples is truly second to none. It's enough to make a man die of envy!!" "Tsk, the disciples of Tianshui Peak and Tianlei Peak really ought to interact more often." The moment Shen Lan said this, dissatisfied grumbles immediately arose from those around her. "Li Guanqi has given so much to the sect—could whatever he left for Old Li possibly be lacking?" "As if everyone doesn't know about you and Old Li. Could you, as the prospective martial mother, possibly get the short end of the stick?" Shen Lan did not bother to argue. Crossing her arms, she gazed with a beaming smile at the figure bearing the sword casket on his back. She murmured softly to herself, *The young lad of the past has now grown into a mighty expert capable of standing on his own...* Tu Kui pursed his lips, his gaze complicated as he looked at Li Guanqi. He knew Ye Feng had left alongside Li Guanqi, yet he had not heard any news of Ye Feng for a very long time. Now Li Guanqi had returned, but he had returned alone. *Once this is over, I'll have to corner this kid and interrogate him properly about where he took my disciple!* Once the sky full of spirit stones was swept into a storage ring and handed over to Lu Kangnian, the Sect Master said in a low voice, "Brat, that's enough! Keep some for yourself!" Li Guanqi chuckled and sent back a quiet voice transmission. "Rest easy, Sect Master. You don't need to worry about my cultivation resources." "I've just killed too many people. I can't use it all—there's simply no way I could ever use it all up~" Lu Kangnian choked on his own breath at those words. Giving up on scolding him, he said bluntly, "Then hurry up and bring out whatever good stuff you have! The sect is poor..." Toward the end, even Lu Kangnian felt a little embarrassed. Nowadays, the Great Xia Sword Sect was far from poor; it was just that its foundation remained rather shallow. Li Guanqi smiled faintly. With a sweep of his sleeve, radiant clouds filled the heavens! A dense array of jade slips, along with all manner of dharma artifacts and spirit tools, appeared! There were even a few magic treasures that Li Guanqi had no personal use for. And those jade slips floating in midair were cultivation methods, one after another! Lu Kangnian's eyes snapped wide with brilliance! The breadth of a sect's collection of cultivation methods determined its versatility and ultimate upper limit. And these items were the truest, most solid foundation a sect could ask for! Seeing this, Lu Kangnian couldn't help muttering under his breath, "Just how many people did you brat kill?" Li Guanqi scratched his head in mild embarrassment. Glancing sideways at the stunned, silent crowd of disciples, he sent a sheepish voice transmission. "Not that many, really..." Lu Kangnian glared at him. "How many is 'not that many'?" Feeling a bit guilty, Li Guanqi whispered, "A good several hundred Nascent Souls, maybe..." Before Lu Kangnian could blow his top, Li Guanqi hurriedly added, "I had no choice! The Mo Family sent too many—I could barely kill them fast enough..." Lu Kangnian fell silent for a long while. Looking at the dense flock of jade slips and dharma artifacts in the sky, the corners of his mouth stretched so wide they practically reached behind his ears. *Gulp...* The sound of people swallowing their saliva echoed continuously. In Li Guanqi's storage rings, there were still heaps of miscellaneous medicinal pills, talismans, scrolls, and more... He simply bundled everything into storage rings and handed them all over to Lu Kangnian. Lu Kangnian solemnly accepted every single ring. Immediately after, the disciples watched in absolute shock as, led by Lu Kangnian, the figures stood up. Disciplinary Law Enforcer Qin Xian, Supreme Elder Ling Daoyan, as well as the seven peak lords and elders—all rose to their feet! Even Li Nanting was among them, for he was now the lord of Tianlei Peak. Leading everyone, Lu Kangnian stepped forward to stand before Li Guanqi and solemnly clasped his hands in a deep bow! "The sect expresses its gratitude for Guanqi's bounty!" "These things are of immense importance to the sect, yet they are equally vital to you." "That you would bestow all of this upon the sect... is righteousness itself! The sect will remember everything you have done!" "Salute!" *Swish!* The entire assembly bowed in unison. Li Guanqi hastily dodged aside to avoid receiving the bow, lowering his body and saying in a deep voice, "This disciple dares not accept such a bow! Nor can I possibly accept it!" The crowd straightened up and looked at Li Guanqi, some not understanding why he refused. Li Guanqi's eyes were slightly red, his chest heaving gently as he drew a deep breath. Turning his head toward the back mountain of Tianjian Peak, he spoke in a low, resonant voice. "Everything this disciple has today is thanks to the sect standing firmly behind me and protecting me with all its might in the past!" "If the sect had not risked everything to protect me back then, I, Li Guanqi, would not be standing here today—or at the very least, I would never have reached this height so quickly." "The sect shielded me, and this disciple shall engrave that into his heart for the rest of his life!" "A mere handful of resources is hardly worth mentioning." All the disciples watched the scene with flushed faces and pounding hearts. This mutual devotion between disciple and sect only deepened their conviction that they had chosen the right home!