With the crisis resolved, the smile on Ye Tianying's face never once faded.
The First and Second Madames, who had not shown their faces from beginning to end during the turmoil, ended up becoming mere background figures throughout the banquet.
Li Guanqi also caught sight of Ye Feng's two older brothers. Though they had already entered the Qi Refinement realm, their family was in the spirit herb business, yet they were only at the fourth level of Qi Refinement.
It seemed their talent paled in comparison to Ye Feng's by no small margin.
However, as Li Guanqi observed them, there was only fawning subservience in their eyes. Though a trace of jealousy lingered, they dared not harbor any real designs. Born into a prominent clan, they knew how to gauge the situation and act with restraint.
Clearly, the present circumstances left no room whatsoever for them to harbor stray thoughts.
Throughout the family banquet, the only one standing by Ye Tianying's side was Su Xi.
The woman was dressed with exceptional elegance today, lightly powdered and gracefully composed.
She appeared incomparably better than the two heavily made-up primary wives.
Meanwhile, Ye Feng kept dragging Li Guanqi into drinking cup after cup. Growing slightly tipsy, Ye Feng could not help saying, "Guanqi... if not for you... I really wouldn't know what to do!"
"Today! I'm calling the shots!"
"I'll betroth my sister to you! From this day forth, you're my brother-in-law!"
As he spoke, he dragged Li Guanqi toward Ye Qing'er not far away.
Ye Feng spoke in a booming voice, so even though Ye Qing'er was not seated at the same table, she heard every word clearly.
The young girl's face flushed crimson. Gripping the hem of her clothes with both hands, she stood frozen, looking utterly flustered.
Yet she did not run off, merely standing there with blushing cheeks.
Li Guanqi hurriedly dragged Ye Feng away.
In the night, Qiongtai Mountain Villa was brightly illuminated everywhere, immersed in a joyful, serene atmosphere.
The two of them soared atop their flying swords onto a high mountain, looking down upon the entirety of Qiongtai Mountain Villa.
Atop the mountain peak, a cool breeze drifted past, sobering Ye Feng up quite a bit.
He simply placed the wine jar behind his head and laid back.
Gazing up at the star-studded sky, Ye Feng murmured, "Li Guanqi, do you know?"
"Ever since I was little, I felt like my father disliked me and neglected our family."
"Yet after what happened, I suddenly realized that I don't seem to understand him at all."
Li Guanqi had little to say on such matters.
Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't know how to console him.
After all...
Looking down upon the warm lights of the mortal world below, Li Guanqi said softly, "Your father was willing to empty his fortune to pay one million spirit stones. That alone is enough to show he does care about you all."
Ye Feng murmured, "Yeah... I thought he would choose to sacrifice Qing'er to preserve the entire Ye family."
Li Guanqi smiled, looked at him, and asked, "Has the resentment faded?"
The corners of Ye Feng's mouth curled slightly as he murmured, "A bit. We'll have to see how he behaves from now on."
With those words, after a long silence, Ye Feng whispered, "Thank you."
Early the next morning, everyone prepared to depart.
Before they set out, Ye Tianying prepared a cyan storage ring for Ye Feng.
Placing it into his hand, he said softly, "With Elder Tu as your master, your path of cultivation will be smooth and unobstructed from now on."
"Do not worry about things at home. Just focus all your mind and energy on cultivating."
"Inside the storage ring is a jade bottle. Give it to your friend later. He helped us so immensely; we cannot let him leave empty-handed."
Ye Feng nodded and murmured, "Dad... treat my mother well."
Afterward, Ye Feng took his leave of his parents, and Li Guanqi accompanied the rest as they hurried back to the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Upon returning to the Great Xia Sword Sect, they found the sect immersed in a bustling, cheerful atmosphere.
Li Nanting chuckled softly. "Thanks to the two of you, the sect obtained two trial secret realms."
"Right now, preparations are being made to arrange and position them properly. Later, the sect will select a batch of disciples to open them for a special session."
"It should be ready in about seven days."
Li Guanqi smiled and nodded, muttering inwardly, 'I made such a great contribution, so they surely won't charge me sect points, right?'
'If they charge a great hero like me points, they'd be acting like quite the unscrupulous merchants.'
Ye Feng followed Li Guanqi directly, flying on his sword to Tianlei Peak.
Li Guanqi snapped testily, "Are you a leech or something? We're already back, why aren't you heading to your own peak?"
Ye Feng hugged Li Guanqi's arm and rubbed his head against his shoulder.
Putting on a coquettish expression, he said in a delicate, affected voice, "Gege~ how can you be so heartless? We've only just returned, and you're already turning your back on me?"
"Blech..."
Bang!
Li Guanqi flung him off and kicked him away, nearly knocking him off his flying sword.
Looking at Ye Feng with utter revulsion, he barked, "Get lost, get lost, get lost! Don't disgust me!"
"If you really have a fondness for men, I'll find a few brawny ones for you later!"
Ye Feng stared at Li Guanqi with a resentful gaze. Mimicking a courtesan from the Drunken Flower Pavilion, he pinched his fingers in an orchid gesture, turned his head, and pouted, "Hmph, smelly men are all the same~"
"And here I was planning to give you the thousand-year white jade marrow my dad gave me for you~"
Bickering and fooling around, the two arrived back at the courtyard on Tianlei Peak.
The moment they stepped through the door, Yu Sui'an stared at them and muttered, "Li Guanqi, why did you beat him up?"
Li Guanqi replied with a dark expression, "He was asking for it."
Behind him, the blond-haired Ye Feng, sporting a bruised eye, made a couple of funny faces at Yu Sui'an.
Then he tossed the jade bottle to Li Guanqi, saying, "Drink it sooner rather than later. This stuff is exceptionally effective for boosting cultivation."
Li Guanqi caught it and asked softly, "You don't want it?"
Ye Feng turned around with a swagger and waved his hand. "Your Lord Ye has even better stuff from Master."
Whoosh!
Ye Feng flew off on his sword. Yu Sui'an clambered up Li Guanqi's back in a few nimble motions and chirped, "Fly, fly, fly! Take me flying for a couple of laps!"
"I was bored to death here without you back."
Only then did Li Guanqi suddenly realize. "You're at the second level of Qi Refinement?!"
The little girl didn't think much of it at all, blabbering casually, "I don't know what happened either. Anyway, that day I was running along the road, and all of a sudden I felt tiny green specks of light around me, so I grabbed them and stuffed them in my mouth."
"And then... I reached Qi Refinement."
Li Guanqi was somewhat shocked inwardly. He hadn't expected this little girl's cultivation talent to be so astonishing—she wasn't even seven years old yet!
He grumbled to himself, 'What does she mean, she reached Qi Refinement just running along...?'
Li Guanqi took Yu Sui'an flying for a while. After coaxing her to sleep, he glanced around the rear courtyard.
Then, he departed Tianlei Peak alone on his sword.
In the sky above Tianjian Peak, several elders flew through the air carrying enormous boulders, transporting them across continuously.
Li Guanqi then turned around and headed straight for the rear of the sword sect.
The rear mountain of the Great Xia Sword Sect was also known as Thousand Peaks Mountain.
Here stood pillar-like peaks in dense clusters, totaling well over a thousand by a rough count.
Many disciples of the sect would also choose an isolated peak as their secluded cultivation retreat after achieving Foundation Establishment.
Before long, Li Guanqi spotted a mountain rising more than five hundred zhang high.
Through the clouds, Li Guanqi saw that the summit was remarkably flat, with a naturally formed pool of water.
Whoosh!
Li Guanqi descended slowly onto the peak. Taking out his jade slip, he discovered that this high mountain, named Yuhu Peak, had no disciple markings on it.
He simply marked it as his own mountain for cultivation.
The flat summit spanned over a hundred zhang across, with a pond roughly ten zhang wide sitting at the peak's edge.
Mist swirled around the mountaintop from time to time, and the cries of birds occasionally drifted to his ears.
Standing on the summit, Li Guanqi was thoroughly pleased with the place. He murmured under his breath, "Tomorrow I'll hire someone to come engrave a spirit-gathering array."
"Later, I'll build a small wooden cabin. Then I can practice swordsmanship, hone martial skills, and enter secluded cultivation here in the future."
Chapter 81