The Passage of Time

Only after Li Guanqi had departed did the crowd of cultivators finally snap back to reality. The senior whose insights they had leeched off for two full years had actually left. One after another, the cultivators bowed respectfully toward the direction where Li Guanqi had vanished! No matter how one viewed it, they had incurred a debt of gratitude toward him. Yet just as everyone was sighing with regret, Li Guanqi suddenly returned with a furrowed brow. Stepping out from a tear in the void, Li Guanqi shot straight toward a spot three hundred zhang behind the summit. This exact spot had been a hundred zhang beyond the boundary of his lightning purgatory back then. Li Guanqi raised a hand to blast away the dust and rubble on the ground, uncovering a purple jade slip buried beneath. He started slightly, murmuring under his breath, "The Sect Master was here?" The reason he had turned back in the first place was that Lu Kangnian's jade slip had stopped sending any messages after the first year and a half. Sending a wisp of divine sense into the jade slip, Lu Kangnian's gentle voice drifted into his ears. "Knowing you are well brings great comfort to my heart." The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly. He replied softly, "Sect Master, I have emerged from seclusion." Buzz! The spatial ripples faded, but Li Guanqi waited for quite a while without receiving any reply. Still, he did not dwell on it. If something had truly gone wrong with the Great Xia Sword Sect, the people from Guanyun Pavilion would have found him long ago. With a single step, Li Guanqi vanished from the spot, soaring thousands of zhang into the sky and drawing a deep breath of the surrounding air. As the crisp, cold air rushed into his lungs, the peculiar invigorating sting made him feel as though he were truly alive again. Throughout the two years of seclusion, his consciousness had felt submerged in a state of chaos—lucid, yet barely aware of the outside world. Producing the Guanyun Jade Pendant, Li Guanqi felt a wave of emotion as he spoke through a voice transmission. "Elder Xi, I have emerged from seclusion." "Has there been any word of Ye Feng over the past two years?" This was a matter of grave concern to him, so it was the first thing he asked upon waking. Soon, the jade pendant flickered with a faint glow, and Xi Yunhuai's voice emerged from within. "Reporting to the Pavilion Master... There is... and yet there isn't..." Standing beneath the vault of heaven, Li Guanqi frowned and said in a chilled tone, "What do you mean?" Far away in the Guanyun Domain Boundary, Xi Yunhuai rose to his feet and sighed softly. "Over the past two years, clans and sects across the Six Domains have suffered bloody massacres! "Without exception, the lingering traces of power left behind across these four factions... belong to him... "What is more, the methods were brutal beyond measure. Not a single living soul was spared. "According to Guanyun Pavilion's investigation, people have gone missing from each of these four factions! "My deduction is that Ye Feng abducted someone from each of them—or perhaps his true target was that specific person from the start." As Li Guanqi listened, his expression grew increasingly grim and his brow knitted tight. He did not know whether anyone had vanished from the Duan Clan earlier, for he had found no such traces when he visited back then. "Phew..." "I understand." "Which four are they? Send me their locations and detailed information. I will go see for myself." Hum! Gentle spatial ripples traveled through, and Xi Yunhuai transmitted all the gathered information to Li Guanqi. "In the northwestern region of the Taiqing Domain, the Yao Clan." "In the southern region of the Daochan Domain, the Chi Clan." "In the Xuanmen Domain, the Sanqing Sword Sect and Guiyuan Hall." Li Guanqi frowned. "The ones slaughtered in the Xuanmen Domain were two sects?" "Yes. Furthermore, neither was particularly prominent; the strongest among their sect masters was merely at the peak Soul Formation Realm." Li Guanqi pondered for a moment, then said quietly, "Alright, I understand." With that, Li Guanqi was about to stow the jade pendant when Xi Yunhuai spoke again. "Pavilion Master, do you plan on returning to the sect anytime soon? "There are many matters demanding attention in the pavilion right now. It would be best if you returned to take charge." Li Guanqi thought it over before replying, "I likely will not return anytime soon. Handle the pavilion's affairs as you see fit. If you cannot decide on something, go consult with the Sect Master." Xi Yunhuai offered a bitter laugh. "Where am I supposed to find Lu Kangnian? He isn't even at the sect anymore." Li Guanqi was completely dumbfounded. Not only had two years slipped away during a single seclusion, but Lu Kangnian was not at the sect?! No wonder Lu Kangnian had not replied to his transmission. Li Guanqi asked in a heavy voice, "What happened? Did something occur in the sect?" Xi Yunhuai recounted steadily, "It isn't exactly a crisis... and yet it is quite significant... "In short, Sect Master Lu left the Great Xia Sword Sect a year and a half ago to roam the continent. No one knows where he is. "The acting sect master of the Great Xia Sword Sect is now Wu Bing. He has reached the middle Void Refining Realm. His cultivation progressed astonishingly fast—truly worthy of someone with a king-grade spiritual root. "Moreover... with Xuan Lin secretly assisting him at his side, no one dared to make reckless moves. Over the past year and more, Wu Bing has demonstrated quite a capable hand. "Those who attempted underhanded schemes were all purged. "Oh, right. Han Chengxian and Ji Hong are dead. "Xuan Lin killed Han Chengxian, and Ji Hong was slain by Wu Bing... "That is about the extent of it." Lowering the jade pendant, Li Guanqi could not help rubbing his brow, his head throbbing slightly. He had never imagined that the Sect Master, who cared more about the sect than anyone, would actually take up his sword and wander the world?! He knew Wu Bing's strength; advancing to his current realm was no small feat. With Xuan Lin and Tu Zhongqiu around, things were safe enough. He had not expected the deaths of Han Chengxian and Ji Hong, and it surprised him somewhat that Tantai Yiting had not been the one to act. A cold sneer tugged at his lips. "The old fox certainly knows how to bide his time." Li Guanqi said in a solemn voice, "I understand. Keep a close eye on the sect for me. "If anyone harbors treacherous intentions, kill them!" Xi Yunhuai nodded, then shared another piece of news that gave Li Guanqi a headache. "By the way, Guanyun Pavilion's influence has expanded rapidly over the past two years, and it has already begun to clash in competition with the Tianji Pavilion. "In fact, the merchant empire overseen by Qianqiusui has had frequent friction with Tianji Pavilion." Listening to Xi Yunhuai, Li Guanqi felt another headache coming on. He replied softly, "Alright, I understand. "Pass word to Qianqiusui to avoid conflict with Tianji Pavilion as much as possible for now. When I find time to visit the Daochan Domain, I will pay Tianji Pavilion a visit myself." Setting down the jade pendant, Li Guanqi let out a soft sigh, a fleeting trace of bewilderment surfacing in his eyes. It had been nearly twenty years since he first set foot upon the path of cultivation, yet throughout those twenty years, he had lived in constant haste and turmoil. Even when entering secluded cultivation, his longest session had lasted only a few months. He had never truly felt the weight of time passing. Now, this single seclusion had lasted two full years in the blink of an eye, and so many things had unfolded in the outside world all at once that he felt overwhelmed. It left him feeling distinctly unaccustomed to it all... Looking up, Li Guanqi sighed and murmured softly, "Is this the passage of time? "Is this what mighty cultivators mean when they say a century is but a snap of the fingers...?"