Lu Kangnian slowly opened his eyes, looking at Li Guanqi as he spoke in an apologetic voice.
"Guanqi... this wager, the Great Xia Sword Sect accepts it!!"
At this, Lu Kangnian's voice trembled.
If he could, he truly wished he could step onto the life-or-death arena himself!
Instead, as the master of the sect, he had no choice but to push his sect's disciples forward, their lives hanging in the balance.
This sense of powerlessness made him loathe the man he was today.
Li Guanqi smiled, turning to look at Ye Feng, Cao Yan, and Xiao Chen beside him.
Meeting his gaze, none of them showed the slightest hint of cowardice; their eyes were resolute as they looked back at him.
The three exchanged glances, the corners of their mouths turning upward, and slowly rose to their feet.
Standing before the three, Li Guanqi said in a deep voice, "Elder of the Great Xia Sword Sect, Li Guanqi, is willing to fight... for the sect!"
Ye Feng bowed with cupped hands and said, "Ye Feng of Tianjin Peak, Great Xia Sword Sect, is willing to fight for the sect!"
Cao Yan rubbed his nose, cupped his fists, and smiled. "No matter what, I count as half a member of Pill Peak. I am willing to fight for Great Xia!"
The three turned in unison to look at Xiao Chen. Handsome as a pretty boy, Xiao Chen could not help cursing under his breath.
"What are you all looking at me for?!"
Looking up at Lu Kangnian, a conflicted expression flitted across his face as he said, "At the very least, I'm a guest elder who has taught lectures here. I am willing to fight alongside my elder brother!!"
Xiao Chen spoke with utter sincerity. He did not feel much belonging toward the Great Xia Sword Sect; his willingness to fight was entirely because of Li Guanqi.
Still, if Xiao Chen ever wanted an official post in the Great Xia Sword Sect, Lu Kangnian would be more than delighted.
Lu Kangnian said in a solemn voice, "Good! From this moment on, all resources of the Great Xia Sword Sect are open to you!"
"And... remember this: you are fighting for the Great Xia Sword Sect."
"You may lose, but... you cannot die!"
"It is merely our foundation. If we lose, at worst we start over from scratch."
"Yet I view every single one of you as my own child. I do not want your lives cut short upon a mere arena."
"Your future lies above the nine heavens, ascending to the Immortal Realm!"
Lu Kangnian's words were brimming with sincerity. He spoke with immense solemnity, tears glistening in his eyes.
For he wanted Li Guanqi and the others to know that even if the Great Xia Sword Sect lost, they could afford to lose.
Yet he, Lu Kangnian, could not bear to lose a single one of them!!
As his voice fell, everyone looked at the young men with burning eyes, for they all understood just how perilous this struggle would be.
Yet they had no choice but to push these juniors forward...
As elders, how could they bear it?!
Li Nanting in particular shifted his gaze back and forth between Li Guanqi and Lu Kangnian, conflict in his eyes.
Beside him, Shen Lan was the same; she too treated Li Guanqi as her own junior.
There was an inexplicable charm about Li Guanqi; every elder who interacted with him grew deeply fond of him.
It was not merely because of his strength, but because Li Guanqi treated them with equal respect. Sincerity answered sincerity—who could remain unmoved?
Just like Meng Jiangchu and Li Guilan: if not for Li Guanqi's sincerity, how could the Shenbao Domain Lord ever have tolerated his daughter being with him?
Lu Kangnian frowned and said, "Five people... Wu Bing is currently only at the Soul Formation Realm, and among the others who returned to the sect, even if their Dao age meets the requirements, their strength falls short."
"Setting aside Lu Wuhen and Lu Tao from those young people who showed up today,"
"the younger generations from the other branch families are by no means weak!"
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly as he said softly, "Rest assured, Sect Master. I already have someone chosen."
Ye Feng frowned; he seemed to have guessed who it was. Li Guanqi had not been sparing with underhanded tricks lately.
Now that the matter was decided, Lu Kangnian immediately gave the order to designate the three thousand wondrous peaks of the rear mountains, including Yuhu Peak, as a forbidden zone!
During this period, no one was permitted near the rear mountains except for Li Guanqi and his companions!
And Li Guanqi was quietly seeing to a major matter of his own.
At the summit of Yuhu Peak, the void warped slightly.
Out of it stepped a drunken youth with white hair and black robes. Handsome, with sword-like brows and starry eyes, his gaze was deep yet hazy.
At his waist hung a pitch-black sword. His robes hung loosely open at the chest, revealing a torso covered in grotesque scars.
Ye Feng's mouth twitched as he stared at the youth before him, then turned his head back to look at Li Guanqi, who was sitting upright and pouring tea for them.
"Boss... this guy, he couldn't be your Void Spirit, could he?!"
With drunken, bleary eyes, the white-haired youth let out a wine hiccup, looking toward Ye Feng with a grin. "Brother, got any wine?"
"Hahaha, I am Li Congxin. Lend me some wine—put it on my tab."
With that, he produced a calligraphy brush, licked the tip with his tongue, and brazenly wrote a line of sweeping, flamboyant calligraphy right onto Ye Feng's robes:
'Today, Li Congxin borrows one jar of wine from Fellow Daoist, to be returned another day.'
Ye Feng's face twitched. He treasured this robe deeply, yet this fellow had actually licked the brush with spit and scribbled directly on his clothes!
Nearby, Cao Yan and Xiao Chen found the scene endlessly amusing.
Still, Ye Feng handed over a jar of spirit wine.
When Li Congxin saw the wine jar, his nose twitched. His eyes lit up as he took the jar and clapped Ye Feng on the shoulder with a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha! Generous, Fellow Daoist! From this day forth, you are a brother to me, Li Congxin!"
"Come, come, come—let us swear brotherhood right now!"
Before Ye Feng could even react, Li Congxin had already dropped to his knees with a thud.
His left hand gripped the neck of a chicken to bleed it, while his right hand made a cut to drip blood into the wine.
Yanking Ye Feng down, he began kowtowing. Through his daze, Ye Feng heard Li Congxin muttering something about his "eight-hundred-and-ninety-second brother."
Li Congxin snatched up the wine jar and sat down by the table. Cao Yan laughed and said, "Eldest Brother, this Void Spirit of yours is quite interesting. He's completely like an ordinary person."
"What's more, I can clearly feel... he isn't under your control! He is an independent individual!"
Li Guanqi said nothing. Li Congxin slapped open the mud seal and tipped his head back to drink.
Reaching up, he casually swept back the white hair over his forehead, tore a strip of wood from the table, and stuck it through his hair behind his head like a hairpin.
He glanced at Li Guanqi and murmured, "What? Thinking of integrating?"
Li Guanqi replied softly, "Just in case."
Li Congxin kept his head down, drinking his wine.
*Clang!*
Yanluo spun a blossom of sword light in his hand as he said softly, "Can we wait a little longer?"
"My sword Dao... I'm close to finding it..."
"Now that the Ancient Clans have entered the world, there are countless powerhouses. Give me time, and I will surely find my own sword Dao."
"When that time comes, if you want Body Integration, I won't have a single complaint!"
At this point, Li Congxin's voice paused. He abruptly raised his head, looking at the companions beside him with envy in his eyes, and said softly,
"Sometimes... I truly envy you 'people'..."
The moment those words left his mouth, a glint of chill flashed through Ye Feng's eyes!
Staring at Li Congxin's face, which bore a seventy percent resemblance to Li Guanqi's, Ye Feng said coldly,
"You must remember—you are only a Void Spirit!"
The warning in those words was unmistakable; Ye Feng was warning Li Congxin not to harbor excessive ambitions!
Li Congxin turned to look at Ye Feng and burst into laughter. "What? Are you afraid, or is 'I' afraid?"
Chapter 778