Xiao Chen's sudden address of "brother-in-law" made Ye Feng's heart shudder.
He could not help cursing under his breath, *I treat you like a brother, and you want to be my brother-in-law?! Shameless bastard—he's definitely playing dumb!*
Turning toward the tall, slender Ye Qing'er, Ye Feng warned, "Listen to me: stay far away from him. That punk is no good."
Standing nearby, Li Guanqi offered a faint smile, thoroughly amused.
To be fair, Xiao Chen was tall, handsome, and every bit the dashing young noble. His personality actually paired quite well with Ye Qing'er's. But such matters were for them to discover on their own, and Li Guanqi had no place meddling.
Seeing Xiao Chen thwarted, Ye Qing'er covered her mouth and giggled. Holding her chin high like a proud crane, she strode past him—yet her eyes could not resist stealing two more glances in his direction.
Li Guanqi gave the group a tour around the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Along the way, Ye Tianying continuously marveled at how profoundly the sect had changed.
Ye Feng brought the three of them straight to Tianjin Peak, where his private courtyard still stood. Upon receiving word of their arrival, Tu Kui flew over as well.
Even though Ye Feng's current cultivation surpassed everyone else's within the sect, Ye Tianying's generation still viewed Tu Kui, the Master of Tianjin Peak, as a figure of higher standing.
Tu Kui was startled when Ye Tianying bowed in greeting. He hastily reached out to support the older man, refusing to accept the gesture.
Ye Feng merely chuckled with easy nonchalance. "Master, please just receive it. You looked after me with such care over the past few years; your disciple holds it close to his heart with endless gratitude."
Watching the group converse in low voices, Li Guanqi sent a soft sound transmission: *Third Brother, come back to Tianlei Peak with me. There's a place to stay there.*
Cao Yan nodded, then glanced toward Xiao Chen in the distance. "Uh... what about him?"
Watching Xiao Chen eagerly trail behind Ye Feng and his family, Li Guanqi felt a slight headache coming on. "Let him be. He seems to be adapting just fine. I'll mention it to the Sect Master later and see what duties we can assign him."
Cao Yan smiled, clasping his hands behind his back. "I think he and Second Brother's sister make quite a pair."
The two took to the air and soon returned to Tianlei Peak.
Along the way, they crossed paths with many Tianlei Peak disciples flying through the sky. Each of them stopped in midair and bowed respectfully, their gazes filled with uncontainable excitement. These disciples had all grown up hearing the elder disciples recount tales of Li Guanqi's legend. Many had chosen the Great Xia Sword Sect precisely because of him.
Cao Yan could not help laughing. "Boss, your prestige in the sect is truly extraordinary."
Li Guanqi curled his lip. "Of course. The Sect Master is just short of erecting a statue of me and handing over the sect master's seat."
Yet before the words had completely left his mouth, Cao Yan pointed toward a wide stone platform halfway up Tianlei Peak and laughed. "I'm afraid your statue has already been standing for quite a while."
Li Guanqi looked up, and sure enough...
A towering statue carved entirely of white jade, standing fully a hundred feet tall, dominated the center of the square. It was sculpted in his likeness—specifically, capturing the raw, youthful look of his earlier days.
Li Guanqi felt a flush of embarrassment, and he quickly pulled Cao Yan along, hurrying toward his personal courtyard.
Upon entering the familiar courtyard, Li Guanqi felt his body instinctively relax. Crossing the small bridge before the door, the corners of his mouth curved up slightly. Even now, standing upon this stone bridge, he still recalled the scenes of his first arrival on Tianlei Peak. That dark-skinned senior sister named Gu Ran, believing he truly could not see, had wept out of sheer heartache for him.
Tragically... in the battle of Ziyang Palace, Senior Sister Gu Ran had also perished.
Leading Cao Yan through the rooms, Li Guanqi settled him into a guest room. "I won't bother finding you a separate residence; just stay here with me."
Looking at the fresh bedding, Cao Yan pursed his lips and nodded with his back turned to Li Guanqi.
"Haha, treat this like your own home. Do whatever you like."
Li Guanqi turned toward the door. "I'm heading out for a bit. Stay here and rest, or take a walk—whatever suits you."
Sensing that Li Guanqi had things weighing on his mind, Cao Yan nodded. "Don't worry about me. I'll just wander around."
A flash of light flared beneath Li Guanqi's feet, and he vanished from the courtyard.
When Li Guanqi reached the mountain's rear peak, he was momentarily taken aback.
Outside the Sect Cemetery stood the exact same bamboo grove he remembered.
It was as though nothing had ever changed.
*Buzz!*
The figure of an old man slowly materialized: Ling Daoyan, clad in his ragged white robe, dangling a wine gourd from his hand.
Standing beside Li Guanqi, Ling Daoyan murmured, "The sect has changed beyond recognition, but some things must never change. The Sect Master gave explicit orders: no one is permitted to disturb this place."
Li Guanqi said softly, "These are the true heroes of the Great Xia Sword Sect... What kind of damn hero am I?"
With that, Li Guanqi changed into a somber black robe and walked slowly inward.
Carrying a heavy heart, he remained alone inside the Sect Cemetery for a long, long time.
Left to his own devices, Cao Yan suddenly remembered the rich medicinal fragrance he had caught while flying earlier. Feeling the urge to refine pills prickling at his hands, he took a step forward and vanished from the courtyard.
Pill Peak.
Behind the seven main peaks rose another major peak, thick with exceptionally turbulent fire-attributed spiritual energy. It had been established by Sun Miao after he threw his lot in with the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Today, nearly all disciples in the sect had reached at least the Core Formation realm, and a vast portion of the credit belonged to the presence of Pill Peak. Currently, there were nearly fifty alchemists of varying ranks gathered there.
Yet at this very moment, Sun Miao was in a furious temper!
Disappointed beyond measure by his pupils' ineptitude, he slapped the alchemy furnace before him, rolling his eyes as he bellowed, "Is the Six-Revolution Li Fire Alchemy Method hard?! Is it hard?!
"How many times have I taught you? How many times?!
"How on earth do you manage to come up with a brand-new mistake every single time?!
"Aargh... you're going to infuriate me to death!"
Below, the gathered alchemists dared not breathe.
Back then, Li Guanqi had coaxed Sun Miao into staying with nothing more than the companion flame of the Purple Dragon Thunder Flame. High-grade alchemists like Sun Miao were remarkably simple-minded at heart. Believing he had gotten the better end of the bargain, Sun Miao had simply joined the Great Xia Sword Sect and established Pill Peak. He worked diligently to refine pills and instruct gifted disciples to become alchemists.
Over the past few years, every alchemist who emerged from the Great Xia Sword Sect had been fiercely sought after by outside factions. Yet these very same figures, so lofty and revered in the outside world, did not dare utter a squeak before Sun Miao.
Right at that moment, a young man's murmur drifted in from the doorway.
"This stuff isn't that hard, is it?"
Sun Miao, already seething with rage, snapped his head up. In the doorway stood a young man wearing disciple robes whom he had never seen before.
Assuming the youth was deliberately defying him, a furious Sun Miao pointed straight at Cao Yan. "Not that hard, you say? Come, come, come—then step up and demonstrate it for me! If you get it wrong, see if this old man doesn't knock every tooth out of your mouth for talking back!"
*Swish, swish, swish!*
The disciples below turned around in unison to look at Cao Yan.
Seeing this, Cao Yan shrugged helplessly and walked straight toward the alchemy furnace up front.
Chapter 573