Cang Lu had not been cultivating for very long. His childhood had been reasonably happy, but around the age of six or seven, his family had fallen upon hard times.
The subsequent events flickered past in a blur, revealing nothing amiss within his memories.
Furthermore, after examining his memories, Li Guanqi found nothing suspicious about their meeting; everything had truly been a coincidence.
With a flick of his sleeve, he guided Cang Lu's soul back into place, then sat to the side and took two sips of liquor.
Watching Cang Lu suspended in midair, Li Guanqi's eyes flickered slightly.
With a flick of his finger, an infinitesimally faint spark of lightning slipped into Cang Lu's sea of consciousness.
Having done all this, Li Guanqi shrugged and cursed under his breath, “What an awkward mess this is...”
“What am I supposed to say when he wakes up?”
Sipping his liquor, Li Guanqi felt rather gloomily conflicted.
After a long while, Cang Lu climbed up from the ground, his head splitting with pain.
Suppressing the fury smoldering in the depths of his eyes, he spoke in a frigid tone.
“Are you satisfied now? Did you find the answer you were looking for?”
Li Guanqi felt a bit embarrassed, but he nonetheless held out a vial of medicinal pills that would help stabilize Cang Lu's spirit and grant a considerable boost to his cultivation.
“I only wanted to ensure the sect wouldn't be plunged into any potential disaster.”
“I have one final question.”
Cang Lu took the vial of pills, drew a deep breath, and said in a heavy voice, “Ask!”
Li Guanqi's eyes showed not the slightest ripple of emotion. His pure white irises were clearly unfocused, yet they sent a chilling dread coursing through Cang Lu.
It was as if standing here, every single one of his secrets had been laid bare to the young man before him.
Li Guanqi's voice slowly sounded beside his ears.
“Tell me, why did you give up cultivating the zither to pursue the sword instead?”
Cang Lu exhaled in relief; he had thought it would be some intricate, thorny inquiry.
Looking at Li Guanqi with an impassive expression, he murmured, “A zither cultivator's killing power is too modest. I was born with six fingers on my hand, giving me an exceptionally steady grip on a sword, so I simply switched to becoming a sword cultivator.”
Li Guanqi gave a slight nod. Cang Lu's explanation was indeed sensible.
After all, as one's cultivation realm advanced, a zither cultivator's sonic attacks did tend to lag behind in lethal force.
Rising to his feet, Li Guanqi said gently, “Don't blame me. I would have done the same to anyone else in your shoes.”
Cang Lu remained silent.
“All right, there's nothing else. You may return.”
Cang Lu nodded, not forgetting to bow respectfully before taking his leave.
After Cang Lu departed, Li Guanqi watched his retreating back for a long while.
In the end, he let out a helpless sigh and shook his head.
“Could it be that I'm being too sensitive...?”
Li Guanqi still kept Cang Lu's matter in mind. In any case, he would not be leaving anytime soon, so he could simply observe him a while longer.
Yet before he could return to Yuhu Peak, a voice transmission from his master, Li Nanting, reached his ears: “Guanqi, what was that you said about keeping an eye on Cang Lu?”
Li Guanqi set down the jade slip, paused in thought for a moment, and said softly, “It's nothing, Master. I might just be being overly cautious.”
“In any case... the things I left you, it's best you keep them on your person at all times.”
Li Nanting's voice carried through the jade slip: “Understood. Use your own judgment. Whatever you decide, your master will back you up.”
Li Guanqi could hear the concern in his master's voice.
The feeling brought immense peace to his heart.
At this thought, he was suddenly reminded of Fulong Village, where he had lived for so many years.
“Tsk. When I have time in the future, I really should go back for a visit. I miss those folks from the village.”
“So many years have passed; I wonder how Wanshu is doing.”
“That girl really would make the perfect wife to bring home... I just wonder if Uncle Meng would agree...”
Clasping his hands behind his back, he gazed up at the sky and let out a long sigh, a keen yearning for home welling up within him.
A flash of light gleamed beneath his feet, and he arrived atop Yuhu Peak just as the morning light was breaking.
Li Guanqi's face looked slightly pale. That terrifying divine sense counterattack from earlier had been no trivial matter.
With his sea of consciousness injured, he could only nurse it back to health slowly.
During this recent period, his strength and cultivation realm had completely stabilized at the early Soul Formation Realm.
The resources required to reach the pinnacle were staggering.
Fortunately, he could now be considered thoroughly wealthy, so ordinary cultivation posed no problem at all.
Standing atop the peak, Li Guanqi gazed with an unreadable expression toward the rising sun in the distance, murmuring softly to himself, “The sword spirit has been slumbering for nearly a month now. She's been out for quite a while this time.”
*Hum!*
Suddenly, an exquisite spatial ripple stirred in the air before Li Guanqi.
Lu Kangnian's voice sounded beside his ears.
“Guanqi, people from the Spirit Fish Clan have arrived.”
Li Guanqi's brows knit instantly upon hearing this. A cold sneer touched the corner of his lips, and he muttered under his breath, “Hah! So they only decided to come after seeing the Great Xia Sword Sect weather the storm with the Mo Family?”
“The old fox...”
A flash of light gleamed beneath his feet, and Li Guanqi vanished in a teleportation step. When he reappeared, he was already standing inside the grand hall of the Great Xia Sword Sect.
At this moment, the masters of the seven peaks stood below the dais. None of them had any idea about the sudden visit from the Spirit Fish Clan.
Only Li Nanting knew a little, though not the full picture.
Lu Kangnian looked toward Li Guanqi and chuckled softly. “Is it all handled?”
Li Guanqi gave a slight nod and cupped his hands. “Yes. For now, I haven't found any issues.”
A sharp glint flashed across Lu Kangnian's eyes.
He caught the touch of caution in Li Guanqi's words. He had not said the matter was completely resolved, only that he hadn't found any issues *for now*.
In other words, he still had no way to confirm whether Cang Lu posed a threat.
With that in mind, Lu Kangnian gave Qin Xian an almost imperceptible nod. Qin Xian's eyelids twitched faintly in understanding.
Qin Xian stepped forward to the front of the hall at just the right moment, bowing as he announced, “Patriarch Yu Bo of the Spirit Fish Clan, a demon cultivator at the Soul Formation Realm, leads eighty-seven members of the Spirit Fish Clan requesting an audience outside our domain.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, astonishment gripped the hall.
A look of bewilderment flashed across everyone's eyes. None of them understood why these demon cultivators had come to the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Li Guanqi gave a brief recounting of everything that had occurred before, and only then did the crowd come to their senses.
So the Spirit Fish Clan had actually come to seek refuge with the Great Xia Sword Sect!
Lu Kangnian remained impassive, inquiring mildly, “Eighty-seven members—what are their cultivation levels?”
Qin Xian answered truthfully, “Three demon cultivators at the Soul Formation Realm, fifteen at the Nascent Soul realm, over forty at the Core Formation realm, and the rest are at Foundation Establishment.”
*Hiss!*
A collective gasp rose through the hall. Such a force was an undeniable power anywhere in the Northern Region.
One had to remember that the sect masters of neighboring sects were merely at the Nascent Soul realm.
In other words... the strength of this Spirit Fish Clan was sufficient to sweep through most factions in the Northern Region!
Even if the Qingyun Continent's overall strength was modest within the Great Xia Domain, a force like this could undeniably be considered a regional hegemon within the Northern Region of the Qingyun Continent.
At that moment, quite a few people whispered excitedly amongst themselves.
“If these members of the Spirit Fish Clan pledge allegiance to our sect, wouldn't our sect boast a full ten Soul Formation cultivators?!”
“Indeed! With three more Soul Formation experts, our Great Xia Sword Sect will be fully poised to become the foremost sect of the Northern Region!”
“Since they have already arrived outside our gates, shouldn't we display the magnanimity of a major sect and go out to welcome them?”
“That's right, otherwise wouldn't they think we're slighting them?”
Yet before Lu Kangnian could speak, Li Guanqi whipped his head around!
His sharp gaze swept across the hall, his eyes slightly narrowed as an authoritative voice rang out, brooking no dissent!
“Welcome them?”
“Heh. They are the ones begging us for help!”
“Just send any random disciple to receive them.”
“They want to seek refuge under our banner? That will depend on whether we even agree!”
As he spoke, Li Guanqi stood as straight and unyielding as a mountain pine, hands clasped behind his back, an overwhelming aura of confidence radiating from every fiber of his being!
Chapter 390