Meng Jiangchu's face darkened, and he snapped testily, "Your sect already has a cross-domain teleportation array, and you still want another?! Am I supposed to set up a few more cross-domain arrays for you so the Great Xia Sword Sect can open a dock and charge tolls?"
Li Guanqi scratched his head, looking at Meng Jiangchu somewhat sheepishly. "Father-in-law truly thinks of everything. I hadn't even considered that."
The corner of Meng Jiangchu's mouth twitched. "Your skin is truly thick... What are your plans now?"
Li Guanqi tucked his hands into his sleeves like a frail old man, frowning slightly as he could not hold back a couple of soft coughs. Looking up at the concern evident in the man's eyes, he signaled that he was fine.
"I'm preparing to head back. With turmoil stirring across the Six Domains now, I won't feel at ease unless I go see for myself."
Meng Jiangchu nodded and said in a grave voice, "Very well. You should properly coordinate regarding the Six Ancient Sacred Sect. Only you can keep them in line. Furthermore... I advise you to offer appropriate help to the Great Xia Sword Sect's Spirit Fish Clan and assist them in raising their strength."
Li Guanqi nodded silently, taking the matter to heart. Since submitting, the Spirit Fish Clan had remained in a state of rest and recuperation. Yet Li Guanqi had kept a close watch through the trials the Great Xia Sword Sect had endured before. The Spirit Fish Clan had merely been recovering—they had never stood by as outsiders.
The man leaned forward slightly, looking at Li Guanqi with a solemn expression, advising him earnestly like an elder counseling his junior.
"I already know about the Great Xia Sword Sect summoning its past disciples and elders back to the fold. When numbers grow... all kinds of problems inevitably crop up. You must be mentally prepared."
Sitting in place with his hands in his sleeves, Li Guanqi chuckled with a calm voice. "Father-in-law, you haven't forgotten what my honorific title is, have you?"
Meng Jiangchu gave an inscrutable slight smile. "As long as you understand what I mean, that's enough. All right, get ready and hurry up and get lost."
Li Guanqi chuckled. "How could I do that? My mother called me to have chicken soup in a bit."
The man froze for a moment. Hearing Li Guanqi call her "mother" so naturally made the smirk on the youth's face look all the more punchable. Yet Li Guanqi noticed the man did not reprimand him, merely rising slowly. "It's about time. Let's head over together."
The grin on Li Guanqi's face slowly faded, leaving an indescribable sensation in his chest... He hadn't told him not to call her that...
Li Guanqi was dumbfounded at the sight of a cauldron even larger than an alchemy furnace. Inside, every manner of rare spirit grass and medicine had been used, making Meng Jiangchu's face twist with visceral heartache. Even so, he said nothing. This chicken soup was eaten from day into night, and from night into day...
Terrified that Li Guanqi remained frail, Li Guilan shoveled thumb-sized wolfberries into his mouth by the fistful. "Eat more of this Jade Clarity King Wolfberry. Excellent stuff. Usually, your Uncle Meng cuts them into pieces for himself!"
Knowing her good intentions, Li Guanqi could only grit his teeth and swallow them down. He ate until his entire body burned with unbearable heat, his face flushed crimson, and the qi and blood within him churned relentlessly. It felt as though he had limitless strength surging through him; that single meal had devoured at least three months of the Meng clan's revenue...
Yet the effects were immediate. His previously drained vital essence and blood had recovered to seventy percent. The rest would depend on quiet recuperation—and most importantly, he needed Jiuxiao's dragon blood!
In the end, having eaten his fill, Li Guanqi shot straight out of the domain boundary, ascending three thousand zhang straight into the clouds! The frigid air finally cooled him down slightly, and he suddenly missed Meng Wanshu.
Looking down below, Li Guanqi chuckled wryly. "Father-in-law, I'll be heading straight back. Thank you both for your care and concern!"
Leaving the Meng clan domain, Li Guanqi sent a voice transmission through his mind: "I'm heading back to the sect. Don't run around recklessly and get yourself caught."
Soon, Pengluo's exceedingly displeased voice rang in his ear. "Oh, then go on back first, Master. I'm going to the Luoxia Domain to check on that 'son' you found me!"
Li Guanqi felt an immediate wave of embarrassment upon hearing that. He hadn't known that Pengluo's body could not be used by spirit-creature kin...
Li Guanqi made several transfers through a few teleportation arrays, finally returning to the Great Xia Domain a few days later. The moment he stepped back into the Great Xia Domain, he felt his breathing become vastly smoother. Yet perhaps because he took too deep a breath, he broke into another fit of coughing.
Suddenly, Li Guanqi snapped his head toward the distance!
Immediately, lightning flickered beneath his feet, and his figure vanished in a teleportation.
At this moment, the cultivators across the vast plaza were still bustling along in a hurry. Around the teleportation array, the cultivators also began sensing a slightly unusual aura.
Suddenly, a Soul Formation Realm cultivator looked down at the rapidly flashing jade slip in his hand, his expression shifting. Looking up, he roared at the surrounding cultivators at rapid speed, "Everyone! An Abyss Demon has appeared a hundred li away, massacring a town!"
At his words, the hurried cultivators all changed color. But in the next instant...
Almost every cultivator on the plaza leaped into the air! Countless cultivators soared on flying swords, hurtling toward the distant town!
A figure cloaked entirely in black robes stood atop the highest rooftop, silently watching the tragedy below. Sensing people approaching, eyes flickered behind the red mask. "Time to leave..."
Gently waving the blood banner in hand, translucent souls from the dismembered corpses were instantly drawn inside.
A seven-foot Abyss Demon was still frantically butchering the innocent townsfolk. It slaughtered anyone in sight. Men and women, young and old, were plunged into utter despair, the scattering crowds long having lost their wits in panic.
Li Guanqi's figure appeared soundlessly in midair behind the black-robed person. He pressed a finger lightly down toward the Abyss Demon.
*Boom!* An invisible weight of pressure descended like a thunderclap! With the Abyss Demon as the epicenter, the ground across a hundred-zhang radius caved in ten zhang deep!
The black-robed person's expression shifted drastically. Whirling around, their body was instantly seized in a crushing grip by a massive hand formed of lightning!
The clearing reeked of dense blood, crimson liquid pooling into small streams across the earth. Gritting his teeth, Li Guanqi clasped his hands behind his back and let out a cold snort. Instantly, over a hundred lightning swords materialized in midair.
The lightning swords shot forth, piercing the black-robed figure until they resembled a hedgehog! A bloodcurdling scream rang out, and beneath the fallen mask lay an exquisitely beautiful woman. Her eyes were hollow and her head slumped powerlessly, blood pouring from her mouth as her internal organs were scorched to ash.
*Swoosh! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!* Space rippled slightly as numerous Nascent Soul and Soul Formation cultivators arrived on the scene. When they saw the youth with pure-white eyes, they all froze, stunned by the aura he radiated...
*Gulp!*
"Lou Yu of the Qingxuan Sect greets the Yanluo Sword Venerable!"
"Cao Yi of Tianchan City greets the Yanluo Sword Venerable!"
More and more people recognized Li Guanqi's identity, bowing respectfully in quick succession.
Chapter 723