Lightning flashed beneath Li Guanqi's feet as he actually teleported through the void!
A moment later, Li Guanqi slowly stepped out from the fissure.
The instant he emerged, he saw Lu Kangnian and Ye Feng, who had long been waiting nearby.
Seeing Ye Feng hesitate to speak, Li Guanqi instantly furrowed his brow; he knew something must have happened!
"Come, let's talk at the courtyard residence!"
Whoosh!
A powerful spatial force enveloped the two of them. In the blink of an eye, the scenery shifted before them, and they had already arrived atop the summit of Yuhu Peak!
Li Guanqi frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Speak. What on earth happened? Why are neither Wanshu nor Xiao Chen in the sect?"
Lu Kangnian signaled for Ye Feng to speak freely.
Ye Feng concealed nothing. He explained how, troubled by Xiao Chen's abrupt departure, he had ultimately rushed off to the Xiao clan alongside Meng Wanshu.
He recounted every event and detail to Li Guanqi, even telling him about what Meng Wanshu had encountered in the Heaven-Slaughtering Sea.
He also took out the scarlet mask and handed it to Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi's expression turned grim to the extreme. He had never imagined that during what was merely a seclusion for his Void Returning breakthrough, so many things could have happened in the span of just half a month!
Li Guanqi lightly tapped his fingers against the stone table before him. Each and every piece of information turned into separate fragments in his mind.
Fragments that seemed entirely unrelated were strung together by Li Guanqi, bit by bit.
"The Heaven-Slaughtering Sea... Xuan-Shang of the Sha organization striking... Long Hou's trump card exposed..."
"The appearance of the Abyss Demon... the people of Sha still lingering..."
"The Abyss Demon's emergence is definitely the Sha organization's doing behind the scenes, yet out of everywhere they specifically targeted the Xiao clan..."
Li Guanqi drew countless possibilities out of every event.
Suddenly!
Li Guanqi snapped his eyes open, pulled out Meng Jiangchu's jade slip, and asked in a deep voice, "Uncle Meng, did you leave the Shenbao Domain recently?!"
Before long, Meng Jiangchu's voice came through the jade slip: "That's right. Did nobody tell you?"
Ye Feng had not mentioned this just now, yet Li Guanqi had actually deduced it on his own!
Because Ye Feng had felt that Meng Jiangchu leaving the Shenbao Domain had nothing to do with the matter, he had not brought it up.
"I understand. By the way, Uncle Meng, how is Wanshu?"
"Don't worry. With me around, what could possibly happen? What about you? Have you finished with your Void Returning breakthrough?"
"Yes, that's good... Uncle Meng, I'll contact you again in a bit."
Setting down the jade slip, Ye Feng furrowed his brow and asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with Senior Meng leaving the Shenbao Domain?"
Beside them, Lu Kangnian was completely in the fog, having no idea what was going on. "What's what? What are you two talking about?"
Li Guanqi knitted his brows and closed his eyes slightly.
In his mind, he began tracing what he believed to be the most likely conclusion.
Tap! Tap!
With his fingers tapping against the tabletop, Li Guanqi laid out his deductions.
"The Sha organization has likely had their eyes on Wanshu for a long time. Furthermore, they probably didn't come to kill her, but to capture her!"
Ye Feng frowned deeply, lowering his head as he picked up where Li Guanqi left off: "Once they captured Sister-in-law, the greatest benefit would be using her to threaten Senior Meng! But... what would they want by threatening Senior Meng?"
Li Guanqi looked at Ye Feng with solemn eyes and said, "When Uncle Meng returned this time, was his cultivation still only in the Body Integration Realm?"
Ye Feng nodded heavily. Li Guanqi sneered, "If someone could hold the lifeline of a Mahayana realm cultivator, there's far too much they could do. Not to mention Uncle Meng is also the Domain Lord of the Shenbao Domain!"
Ye Feng suddenly seemed to realize something. Connecting it to the demonic nurturing within the Xiao clan...
He abruptly raised his head, his pupils quivering as he stared at Li Guanqi. Swallowing hard, he choked out, "Slaughter an entire domain!!"
Li Guanqi neither confirmed nor denied it.
It was merely the worst-case scenario he could deduce.
Li Guanqi continued, "Looking at the two incidents, their purpose in attempting to assassinate Wanshu the first time was likely far from just that."
"Huh? There's more??"
Ye Feng felt as if his brain were splitting, scratching at his itchy scalp.
Lu Kangnian, eyes wide open, looked on with a completely innocent yet utterly bewildered expression.
Li Guanqi continued, "A Domain Lord's departure was known even to Aunt Li, so there were probably quite a few people within the Meng clan who knew as well. The other side clearly knew of Wanshu's special identity, yet they only dispatched a Body Integration Realm cultivator to strike. On one hand, they feared that a Mahayana realm cultivator would draw too much attention; on the other hand, they were likely testing whether Uncle Meng had truly left the Shenbao Domain."
Thinking to this point, Li Guanqi suddenly thought of an elder who had obtained the key to the Seventh Domain!
Gu Yong!
"Elder Gu, did you leave alongside Uncle Meng a while back?"
In his study, the elder's expression shifted slightly. "Indeed."
Putting down the jade slip, Li Guanqi took a deep breath, even more possibilities emerging in his mind.
He murmured under his breath, "What a killing of three birds with one stone! The failed assassination by a Body Integration cultivator tested that neither Uncle Meng nor Elder Gu was present, forced out the trump card gifted by Long Hou, and allowed them to seize the ensuing chaos to trigger the demonic nurturing scheme... Even if Uncle Meng rushed back, their objectives for this move were all met. Capturing Meng Wanshu would have been a massive bonus, but failing to capture her didn't hinder their subsequent plot in the slightest!"
The more Ye Feng listened, the more alarmed he grew. No wonder after Meng Wanshu sensed the female assassin from the Sha organization, the assassin hadn't immediately unleashed everything to obliterate the two of them! And upon Meng Jiangchu's return, the assassin's reaction had been so severe—she had clearly been utterly shocked!
From this, it was evident that they truly hadn't expected Meng Jiangchu to return so swiftly!
Without the slightest hesitation, Li Guanqi opened his eyes, filled with murderous intent as he took out his jade slip and Tianji jade pendant, speaking into them: "Uncle Meng, investigate the clan's upper echelon. There might be a mole."
"Elder Gu, I suggest you also investigate those who knew of your whereabouts."
Finally, Li Guanqi shared his deductions with the two of them. With their intellect, they understood what was happening the moment he pointed it out!
Yet Li Guanqi's brow remained tightly furrowed.
There was still one thing he couldn't figure out...
He looked up at Ye Feng and asked in a deep voice, "Later on, there was another Body Integration Realm assassin lurking in the shadows, who was ultimately forced out by you and Wanshu working together, right?"
Ye Feng nodded with a solemn look. "Back then, I was wondering how they dared come to the Xiao clan with only a half-step Body Integration fellow. Sister-in-law reminded me that they must have had a backup plan to guarantee nothing would go wrong! But what does that have to do with anything?"
Li Guanqi showed a thoughtful look and said softly, "It has everything to do with it... They clearly had the power to slaughter the entire Xiao clan, yet they killed in an unhurried, measured pace. Furthermore... why did the family they chose have to be the Xiao clan? Could it be... that the Xiao clan has something they covet?"
Li Guanqi also felt that many things remained unverified, so he simply took out a mysterious jade slip and spoke into it: "Grandpa, when Uncle Meng and Elder Gu went to the Seventh Domain, they were probably being watched."
Before long, Su Xuan's voice came from the jade slip. His voice was exceedingly calm: "Mm, I already guessed as much. The enemy this time... is very strong. Don't act rashly, kid. This old man can handle it on my own. Mm... by the way... come find me once you reach Mahayana. Before that, no matter what happens, don't even think about coming to find me."
Li Guanqi was taken aback. He hadn't expected his grandfather to tell him directly that he could go find him once he reached the Mahayana realm!
Still, he didn't dwell on it too much; the time he would spend in the Void Refining Realm would likely be far longer than he had previously anticipated.
Chapter 612