Poor Xiao Chen

Boom! A thunderous roar reverberated in all directions as Meng Wanshu's aura surged violently, breaking through into the late Void Refining Realm! She was already an utterly monstrous existence—it had to be remembered that she was only nineteen years old this year. Li Guanqi was barely older than her. At the same time, Li Guanqi's aura instantly broke through to the middle Void Refining Realm. Moreover, both their breakthroughs were rock-solid, showing not the slightest hint of having been forced. Within Meng Wanshu's body, the forces of yin and yang were now in perfect harmony! Li Guanqi possessed three heavenly flames and a sacred-grade lightning spiritual root, inherently granting him a pure yang constitution. On top of that, his vitality held the potent essence blood of a true dragon. This time... both of them had reaped immense benefits. The excess yang poison inside Li Guanqi had simply not yet reached its critical threshold. Had this hidden ailment not been resolved by serendipity, the day would have surely come when he suffered just as Meng Wanshu had. Yet Meng Wanshu had gained the most of all... After all, the root of the cold poison inside her had been completely eradicated, and this balance of yin and yang did nothing to diminish her innate frost power. Flushed with crimson cheeks, Meng Wanshu stood behind Li Guanqi, having already changed into fresh clothes. Naturally, the garments from before could no longer be worn. Still, she had carefully put that set away, for it was proof of her becoming a woman. Having completed her breakthrough, Meng Wanshu carried an even cooler, more transcendent air. Yet between her brows lingered a trace of womanly charm, her fair skin glowing with a faint rosiness. Li Changqing stared at Li Guanqi with an ashen face. Li Guanqi merely shrugged with complete nonchalance, even leaning in to plant a kiss on Meng Wanshu right before the elder's eyes. He stiffened his neck with a blatant look that said, *What are you going to do about it?* Li Changqing sighed helplessly. Though he felt like a prized cabbage tenderly tended in his garden had just been rooted up by a pig, he had to admit that under those dire circumstances, Li Guanqi's willingness to risk his life and force his way in had already proven his devotion and resolve. Besides, a middle Void Refining Realm cultivator at barely twenty years of age was an astonishing monster even across the entirety of the Six Domains. Without a word, the old man turned and stepped onto the cloud boat. To the side, no matter how oblivious Xiao Chen might have been, he understood what had just taken place. He stared blankly at the two in the distance... Ye Feng could hardly bear to watch from the side, yet he had no idea what words of comfort he could possibly offer. He parted his lips, but the words died in his throat... It was simply... too pitiful. Xiao Chen parted his lips and lowered his head, a crestfallen expression on his face as he murmured softly, "As long as... she's all right." He might not have noticed it himself, but his voice had grown hoarse at some point. Watching Xiao Chen turn away despondently, the crowd felt their hearts grow heavy with conflicting emotions. Li Guanqi stared intently at Xiao Chen's departing back, at a loss for words. Even he could not help feeling a twinge of guilt. Beside him, Meng Wanshu gently squeezed his palm, reassuring him with a glance not to worry. Everyone boarded the cloud boat, and the other cultivators steered the vessel toward the depths of the void. A crimson light barrier shielded them from the emptiness outside. Xiao Chen sat alone at the stern, drinking. Ye Feng plopped down beside him without a word, simply popping open a wine jar, clinking it against Xiao Chen's, and tipping his head back to gulp it down. Xiao Chen glanced at him, his expression remaining utterly flat, his spirits visibly in the gutter. As Li Guanqi's sworn brother, Ye Feng truly could not find any comforting words to say. Just then, the soft tap of footsteps sounded behind them. Meng Wanshu approached from behind, giving Ye Feng a meaningful look indicating that he could leave them alone. Though confused, Ye Feng got up and went to find Li Guanqi. "Tsk, Boss... this whole thing... is really something." "Even I can barely stand to look. Your method of saving her was way too heartbreaking for the guy." Li Guanqi snatched the wine jar from Ye Feng's hand, took a sip, and retorted in exasperation, "What choice did I have?" "That cold poison was overwhelmingly ferocious—there was no suppressing it at all." "I have a lightning spiritual root, Jiuxiao's true dragon essence blood in my veins, and the power of three heavenly flames." "There was literally no other way." Ye Feng pondered for a moment, realizing it made sense. Sitting cross-legged on a chair, he grumbled gloomily, "I just feel the poor guy had it too rough. Reason is reason, but it's still way too tragic for him." With that, he looked up at Li Guanqi and muttered under his breath, "If it were me, you'd be lucky if I didn't hack you to pieces." "The calmer he acts, the more uneasy I feel." Li Guanqi remained silent. Never mind Ye Feng—even he felt that he had acted somewhat scummy. Yet he swiftly tossed that thought to the back of his mind. So what if it seemed scummy? Was he supposed to step aside and let Xiao Chen handle the cold poison instead??? "By the way, will Sister-in-law talking to him actually work?" Just as Li Guanqi was about to reply, Li Changqing's deep voice sounded by his ear. "Boy, come over to my quarters." Li Guanqi stood up, took another swig of wine, and said, "Well, looks like I'm in for a lecture." He stepped out of the room and went straight to Li Changqing. The moment the old man laid eyes on him, he raised a fist without a word. Bang! Li Guanqi crossed his arms in front of his chest to block, yet the blow still slammed him hard against the wall. Every bone in his body felt as though it had shattered, making him grimace in pain. However, the old man had controlled his power with exquisite precision; it was merely meant to teach him a lesson. Li Guanqi grinned broadly. "Vented your anger?" He then scampered over to the elder, pulling a long-treasured jar of fine wine from his storage ring and shoving it into Li Changqing's hands. Massaging the old man's shoulders and pounding his back, he chuckled. "Look at you—your injuries haven't even healed yet. Getting angry harms your health." Li Changqing almost broke his stern facade at the sight. With a dark face, he demanded, "So what do you plan to do, boy? When do you intend to marry Wanshu?" Hearing this, Li Guanqi immediately thumped his chest. "Whenever Uncle Meng says so! I, Li Guanqi, am definitely not the kind of man to pull up my trousers and deny what I did." Li Changqing grew even more incensed at those words and snapped, "Hmph, I'd like to see you try. This time, you're coming back with us." Meanwhile, at the stern of the boat, Xiao Chen and Meng Wanshu stood side by side in silence. In the end, it was Meng Wanshu who broke the impasse. No one knew what was said between them, but Xiao Chen wept aloud before finally breaking into goofy laughter. A short while later, Xiao Chen barged into Li Changqing and Li Guanqi's room. Grinning foolishly, he pointed at Li Guanqi and declared, "Hahahaha! From now on, I'm going to be the godfather of your children!" Both Li Guanqi and the old man were stunned, having no clue what had gotten into the fellow. "Hahahaha, I've taken Wanshu as my sworn sister! From now on, you, Li Guanqi, have to call me Big Brother! Do you hear me?!" Hearing the hopelessly tangled seniority where everyone seemed to rank one another separately... Seeing Xiao Chen's smug, triumphant grin, the corners of Li Guanqi's mouth twitched faintly. Beside him, the old man's cheek twitched as well.