At this moment, Li Guanqi's primal energy fluctuated violently, his emotions churning.
Seeing this, the others held their tongues.
They all knew Gu Li had spoken the truth: Li Guanqi did not want Li Congxin to die.
Yet... from their perspective, they could never allow Li Congxin's existence to jeopardize Li Guanqi himself!
Li Guanqi looked at Li Song, who stood beside him with head bowed. He handed over a storage ring, along with his accompanying sword, Yanluo.
Resting a hand on his shoulder, Li Guanqi said softly, "Depart now. From this day forward, all the Six Domains under heaven are the realm you long for."
Li Congxin snapped his head up to look at Li Guanqi, tears welling in his eyes, his gaze flickering with complex emotions.
Li Guanqi smiled and said gently, "Go. In the future, you are to be a grand sword immortal whose name resounds across the world."
"Go."
Taking the Yanluo Sword and the storage ring, Li Congxin gave Li Guanqi a deep look, then grinned.
Turning away with easy grace, his back to Li Guanqi, he whispered, "We shall meet again beyond the Nine Heavens."
Through voice transmission, he murmured softly to Gu Li, "Brother, thank you."
Gu Li did not answer aloud, feeling only that this outcome was already the best possible.
He tossed over a storage ring of his own and said softly, "Don't get yourself killed. I still want to drink with you in the future."
Li Congxin laughed, his crimson robes billowing in the wind. Pulling out a jug of wine, he tilted his head back, gulped it down, and roared with hearty laughter:
"Braving wind and snow, I walked through the Gates of Hell;
Today, riding the gale, I breach ten thousand peaks!!"
"Hahahahaha!!!"
"My name is Li Congxin, but you can call me Li Song!!"
Watching the young man's receding figure with a smile, Li Guanqi stood shoulder to shoulder with Gu Li, a thousand thoughts swirling within him.
He said quietly, "Don't blame them. They don't understand Li Song."
Gu Li shrugged, which jarred his injuries and made him grimace in pain. "Hiss... that motherfucking hurts..."
"I don't blame them. I can tell they were genuinely worried about you."
"Besides... none of us were fighting for real. We were all holding back."
Li Guanqi smiled. "Come on, let's head inside before talking."
The two returned to the grand hall. Li Guanqi bowed respectfully and said, "I have caused all of you seniors to worry."
Meng Wanshu, however, turned her head away in anger, refusing to look at him.
Seeing this, Ye Feng and Cao Yan exchanged glances, both pretending they hadn't seen a thing.
Li Guanqi awkwardly pulled back his hands and reached for a cup of tea to take a sip.
Catching sight of this, Meng Wanshu froze the tea with a single glare, even cracking the teacup...
"Ahem, don't be angry. I know what I'm doing."
Meng Wanshu cast a frigid gaze at Li Guanqi and said in an icy tone, "You know what you're doing? What do you know?"
"Senior Gu was here this time, but what about in the future?"
"What if this happens again?"
"What if I'm not by your side?"
Her barrage of questions stirred an inevitable pang of guilt in Li Guanqi's heart. His personal desires had caused so much worry for everyone who cared about him.
Warmth flooded his chest. Wearing a smile, he reached for Meng Wanshu's hand once more.
Meng Wanshu jerked her hand away, and the chair beneath her slid three chi sideways out of nowhere...
Ye Feng felt his neck stiffen. He transmitted his voice, "Finished, finished, hahaha, Sister-in-law is truly furious this time."
Cao Yan did not dare utter a word, nor did he even dare look their way.
"Uh... looks like Boss is going to have to do a lot of coaxing this time."
Meng Jiangchu coughed twice and spoke up. "Guanqi, right now you understand your condition best."
"The pressing matter is to find a way to see if your divine soul can be repaired."
He turned to look at Gu Changsheng; clearly, he was not well-versed in such matters.
Arms crossed, brows tightly furrowed, Gu Changsheng was racking his brains for any potential solution.
The others dared not disturb Gu Changsheng, but at this moment, Gu Li spoke up.
"Father, don't bother thinking... Not a single pill formula in our family's collection records a way to repair the divine soul..."
Everyone was startled. Gu Changsheng looked up at Gu Li and did not refute him.
For a time, the atmosphere in the hall grew somewhat oppressive.
Lu Kangnian forced a strained smile.
"Ha... haha... How could there be no way?"
"There must be one, definitely. Perhaps... we just haven't thought of it yet."
"Right, Senior Gu?"
Gu Changsheng's expression was grim, for everything Gu Li had said was the truth.
Years ago, when Gu Changsheng noticed Gu Li's mental strength was extraordinary, he had begun nurturing his talent for alchemy.
Though Gu Li was only interested in talisman crafting, he knew the family's treasured pill formulas like the back of his hand.
Gu Changsheng indeed could not think of any pill that could mend a divine soul...
Because in Li Guanqi's case, his divine soul suffered from a deficit in its very origin. To conjure substance from nothing was as difficult as ascending to heaven!
Just as everyone was at their wits' end, Li Guanqi appeared exceptionally calm.
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly. Looking at Gu Changsheng, he said, "Senior Gu, you must be quite fond of lost ancient pill formulas, right?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Changsheng's eyes lit up, fixing an intense gaze upon Li Guanqi!
Gripping the arms of his chair, he leaned forward, having clearly guessed something.
"You... don't tell me you have a pill formula that can repair the divine soul?"
"As far as I know, cultivators in ancient and primordial times did have pills that could resolve defects in the divine soul."
"However, the formula for the legendary Profound Origin Sacred Soul Pill has long vanished without a trace. Today, old fogies like us can only piece together scraps from ancient texts."
Li Guanqi had not expected Gu Changsheng to actually know of the Profound Origin Sacred Soul Pill. That was a formula the sword spirit had wracked her mind for a long time before remembering.
Yet this also served as a wake-up call for him: the sword spirit had taken a long time to recall it this time.
Had she failed to remember this formula, Li Guanqi's soul problem would have remained a grave crisis.
Li Guanqi said softly, "The formula—I have it."
Gu Changsheng shot up to his feet. Teleporting right in front of Li Guanqi, he grabbed his hands and said excitedly,
"Give it to me! Whatever the cost, I'll pay it! Anything my family owns is yours for the taking!"
"As long as the formula is genuine, I will do everything humanly possible to help you restore your origin spirit!"
Startled by the man's agitation, Li Guanqi hurriedly said, "It's yours, it's yours! Please don't be excited."
With that, everyone breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Meng Jiangchu, however, furrowed his brows as he looked at Li Guanqi, thinking to himself, *This kid harbors quite a few secrets. To think he even possesses a lost pill formula of this caliber!*
Gu Changsheng was already an almighty titan of the alchemy world, with countless pill formulas in his collection.
Yet he lacked a formula like the one Li Guanqi spoke of, while Li Guanqi could produce it on a whim.
Moreover...
Meng Jiangchu looked at Ye Feng, Gu Li, and the others. It seemed every fellow who was close with Li Guanqi had experienced a qualitative leap in strength.
Even Meng Jiangchu coveted Ye Feng's Sword Ruins; the blood upon those Sword Ruins was clearly extraordinary, very likely the blood of an immortal!
Which meant... Ye Feng's Sword Ruins was a relic of the Immortal Realm, and even in the Immortal Realm, its projected form would be no ordinary object.
Not to mention Gu Li: meeting him this time, he had already broken through to the middle stage of the Body Integration Realm, and his entire demeanor had undergone a world-shaking transformation.
That transformation was even more terrifying than his growth in sheer strength.
Just when everyone assumed Li Guanqi would produce an ancient, time-worn jade slip, Li Guanqi merely flicked a finger, sending a beam of spiritual light into Gu Changsheng's sea of consciousness.
The vast pharmacological structure and required materials within took even Gu Changsheng several full breaths to absorb.
No sooner had he regained his wits than Gu Changsheng sat down cross-legged right where he was and entered a state of comprehension!
Gu Li stared at Li Guanqi with his mouth agape, and the others' reactions were much the same.
Chapter 856