Judging from True Monarch Guanqi's Injuries, He Had Endured Horrific Battles in Life—Perhaps Even More Than Once; His Wounds Were Not Merely Superficial, but Grievous Even to His Soul, Like a Candle Flame Flickering in the Wind That Could Be Snuffed Out at Any Moment

And now, it had truly been snuffed out. "He's not dead. Fairy says True Monarch Guanqi imprinted his last faint wisp of consciousness into the Golden Cicada Slough, and as for right now, he's slipped into Tao Tingfeng's spiritual space." Inside Tao Tingfeng's spiritual space, a weak voice sounded: "Kid... to think... you actually knew the method of artifact binding." True Monarch Guanqi's original plan had been to have Tao Tingfeng safeguard the Golden Cicada Slough while he hid inside it to quietly recover. He never imagined that the kid would directly bind the Golden Cicada Slough with a drop of blood! He had been forced to enter Tao Tingfeng's spiritual space along with the Golden Cicada Slough. *Forget it. I suppose it really wasn't in my destiny to possess the Golden Cicada Slough.* Hearing this voice gave Tao Tingfeng a terrible fright. "Ah! Y-You're still alive?" True Monarch Guanqi spoke no more. His current condition was far too abysmal; he needed quiet rest. Flustered and not knowing what else to do, Tao Tingfeng could only return home. He drifted off to sleep amidst his panic, his mind filled with everything that had transpired at Mount Yan. After resting for a night, True Monarch Guanqi finally recovered slightly and was able to speak in complete sentences. "To think I'm still alive. Kid, where is this?" Hearing True Monarch Guanqi speak again, Tao Tingfeng was mentally prepared this time and didn't act overly panicked. "Replying to the True Monarch, this is Yanshan City in Quanzhou." "So it's Quanzhou." Although Tao Tingfeng could not see True Monarch Guanqi, he felt that the True Monarch must wear a pensive expression right now. "True Monarch, who exactly are you..." Tao Tingfeng searched his memory for the historical figures he had learned about, but none seemed to go by the name True Monarch Guanqi. Displeased that the boy hadn't heard of him, True Monarch Guanqi huffed, "What an ignorant junior. This seat is True Monarch Guanqi of Great Qian, a cultivator of the Body Integration stage, master of every one of the hundred arts of cultivation." Although he had already known True Monarch Guanqi was at the Body Integration stage, hearing him admit it still threw Tao Tingfeng into utter shock. Good heavens, Body Integration! The strongest person his clan uncle had ever met was only at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. Tao Tingfeng recalled another matter: "True Monarch, what exactly is this Golden Cicada Slough? Why haven't there been any changes after it entered my body?" True Monarch Guanqi gave a cold snort. "Ignorant brat. If not for fighting over this Golden Cicada Slough, I wouldn't have been hunted down and ended up in such a state. "This Golden Cicada Slough is a supreme treasure; it would remain effective even if I cultivated all the way to the Tribulation Transcendence stage. "It was seized from the hands of a cultivator from the Great Yu era. Originally, I had an agreement with two others who acted with me: they would lend a hand, I would give them benefits, and the item would belong to me. Who could have foreseen that those two would prove utterly faithless, reneging on our agreement out of greed to snatch the Golden Cicada Slough for themselves? "Yet those two dared lay hands on my prize—truly courting death." True Monarch Guanqi wore a cruel smile, even though his own predicament was hardly any better. "Enough, I still need to rest." True Monarch Guanqi had exhausted all his strength just to say this much. ... Temporarily borrowing Immortal Fairy's immortal sense, Lu Yang was able to observe Tao Tingfeng's spiritual space. It was the first time he had ever seen such a feeble Body Integration expert. In contrast, the one residing in his own spiritual space had been lively and brimming with vigor ever since her resurrection—she could even trade a couple of moves with Eldest Senior Sister.