Sun Miao Arrives!

Li Guanqi's face was as dark as stagnant water. He had never expected the enemy's methods to be so venomous. "Juexian Mountain!" Li Guanqi's whisper was bone-chilling, laced with towering murderous intent. With a flick of his wrist, he tore open a pitch-black rift in the void beside him. A moment later, Yu Sui'an—who had been sound asleep on Tianlei Peak—was pulled through. While the young girl remained fast asleep, Li Guanqi quietly sent a wisp of flame energy into her body. Beside him, the elderly man shook his head and said, "Rest easy. Sui'an has hardly taken any pills up to now." Li Nanting's face was also grim as he spoke softly. Just as the old man had said, there was virtually no trace of pill toxicity within Yu Sui'an. Only then did Li Guanqi breathe a slight sigh of relief. Afterward, he brought over several other disciples. His brows furrowed deeper and deeper, because without exception, every single disciple who had taken medicinal pills was afflicted with this poison. By a rough estimate, nearly seven hundred disciples across the sect carried this lethal toxin! Old Yu, the sect's only alchemist, was overwhelmed with self-blame. Most of the pills consumed by the sect's disciples had been refined by his own hands. He was even ready to take his own life to atone for it. Fortunately, the lethal poison was still dormant and had not yet fully erupted. Judging by the disciples with the deepest poisoning, however, the toxins were steadily gnawing away at the primal energy in their dantians to gather strength. Until the moment the poison completely erupted and devoured their dantians, there were likely only seven days left… Li Guanqi murmured coldly, "Seven days…" "If that's the case, the people of Juexian Mountain must already know what happened to the Illusory Spirit Sect and the Blood Blade Sect." "Hmph!" Li Guanqi snorted coldly as a plan gradually took shape in his mind. An icy murderous intent flickered in the depths of his eyes. In the end, everyone else took their leave, leaving only Li Guanqi and Lu Kangnian behind in the grand hall. The two spoke in secret for a long time. All disciples were sent back, but the sect elders repeatedly exhorted that no one was permitted to cultivate over the coming days. At the same time, all medicinal pills carried by the disciples were confiscated. For a time, panic spread among the disciples over these orders. Along the path, a disciple encountered Li Guanqi—one of the three youths who had previously been brought to the grand hall. "Elder Li… am… am I in some kind of trouble?" The youth kept his head lowered, his fists clenched tightly inside his sleeves. Seeing his unease, Li Guanqi offered a gentle smile. "You're fine." "No one will be in trouble. You have my word." With that, thunder flashed beneath Li Guanqi's feet, and he vanished on the spot. His words seemed to carry a mysterious power, offering the youth immense comfort. A long-absent smile broke across the boy's face, and he raised his head to call out to the friends beside him. "We're fine! Nothing will happen to us! Elder Li told us so himself!" Hearing this, the gathered boys and girls beamed with joy, spreading the word far and wide. All at once, the previously anxious disciples felt as though a weight had been lifted from their hearts. When Lu Kangnian learned of this, he couldn't help but smile wryly. "That brat's words carry far more weight than mine now." "He's a born sect master, though he probably wouldn't want the job… What a shame." Night fell, and the defensive formation of the Great Xia Sword Sect continued to shimmer with misty light. Within that barrier, over a dozen figures hovered in the sky above the sect grounds. No fewer than eleven Soul Formation Realm mighty figures were gathered here! *Buzz!* A faint ripple suddenly stirred across the formation barrier near the rear mountain, opening a gap in an instant. From the pitch-black rift, two elderly men slowly stepped forth. The white-robed elder with sword-like brows was none other than Gu Yan, who had ties of friendship with Li Guanqi. Yet the elder beside him startled everyone the moment he appeared! Dressed in a fiery red robe, this elder had a calm gaze, a somewhat plump build, and long eyebrows that drooped all the way to the corners of his mouth. With his hands clasped behind his back, his nose twitched slightly, and his brows furrowed as a sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. Then Sun Miao turned his gaze toward Li Guanqi; that blind youth had been looking toward him the entire time. And Sun Miao had long heard of this young man's great reputation. Meanwhile, the people of the Great Xia Sword Sect were thoroughly shocked, exchanging hushed voice transmissions. "Him! How could it be him?!" "*Gulp*… The foremost alchemist of the Azure Cloud Continent, the rank-five master alchemist Sun Miao!" "Wonderful! Since Grandmaster Sun has come in person, there won't be any problem!" Lu Kangnian led the crowd in bowing, stepping forward to speak first. "I am Lu Kangnian, Sect Master of the Great Xia Sword Sect. Greetings, Fellow Daoist Gu, Senior Sun." "We have truly troubled you two. Please, let us sit and speak inside first." The crowd parted to make way for the two. Gu Yan cupped his hands with a smile. Turning to Li Guanqi, he chuckled. "Little friend, it's been a long time." Li Guanqi hurriedly returned the courtesy with a smile. "Indeed, Old Gu. Why didn't Xiao Yi come along?" Gu Yan gave a wry laugh. "That mischievous brat is far too playful. Since serious business was at hand, I didn't bring him along." With that, he turned to the elder beside him and smiled. "See? This is the little friend I told you about. Doesn't he prove that heroes come from youth?" Sun Miao merely glanced at Li Guanqi and nodded without a trace of a smile. "Let's go. We'll talk inside the hall." Seeing his demeanor, Gu Yan said with slight awkwardness, "You really are… Fine, let us speak in the hall first." Li Guanqi smiled and led the two, flying toward Tianjian Peak. Yet he noticed that the stern, portly old man was scanning their surroundings with piercing eyes, extending a faint wisp of divine sense in all directions. As his divine sense spread, the elder's expression gradually darkened, his brows knitting tightly together. Li Guanqi's heart twitched, and he couldn't help thinking to himself, *Could this old man… have already figured out the problem?* Just as the thought crossed his mind, Sun Miao's voice suddenly rang in his ear. "Do you have a grudge against Juexian Mountain?" Beside them, Lu Kangnian's pupils contracted slightly, his sharp gaze sweeping over the old man's back. No one said anything more, and the group soon arrived at the sect's grand hall. At this moment, the disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect were all meditating in their respective quarters, though none of them were cultivating. Beneath the moonlit, star-strewn night sky, the grand hall was brightly illuminated. Everyone sat facing one another, while Li Guanqi sat beside Gu Yan, conversing with him in low tones. Sun Miao cut straight to the point. "To be blunt, unless you have something worth my effort, I have no desire to make an enemy of Juexian Mountain." As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall plummeted. They had all anticipated that hiring a top rank-five alchemist would come at great cost. Yet they hadn't expected him to be so brutally direct. Even Gu Yan, sitting beside him, looked somewhat embarrassed. "Old Sun! What are you doing?" Sun Miao turned to glance at the old man and spoke in a chilly voice. "These disciples of theirs have all been poisoned by Juexian Mountain's Immortal Severing Poison!" "What?! The Immortal Severing Poison?!"