Ye Feng was still baffled. He had departed the sect alongside Li Guanqi, unaware that Li Guanqi had entrusted the cultivation method for the eleventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm to the sect.
Li Guanqi set down the jade slip, leaned against the cave wall, and fell into deep thought. Ye Feng and Cao Yan remained silent, not daring to disturb him.
After a while, Li Guanqi transmitted, “Master, leave this to me. I’ve got Ye Feng and one more friend here. I think the three of us will be enough. The Daxia Sword Sect’s announcement that it’s closing its gates for three years has already drawn plenty of attention. People are still speculating about the reason. If you send the elders out now, it’ll only raise more questions. And if someone digs deeper and uncovers the Great Wind Mountain Residence, things could get messy.”
Back in the main pavilion, Li Nanting and the other elders sat in silence, listening to Li Guanqi’s voice echo from the jade slip.
Lu Kangnian thought for a long time and said, “Li Guanqi... has done so much for our sect. What he said isn’t without reason. Many people are watching us closely outside the sect grounds. You all know this.
“Interrogate that disciple. Do whatever it takes, but do not kill him. Find out as much as you can about the Great Wind Mountain Residence’s strength and tell Li Guanqi. Also...”
Very soon, all the elders left the main pavilion except for Qin Xian, whom Lu Kangnian asked to stay.
Back in the cave, Ye Feng lamented, “Boss, are you still hiding stuff from me?”
Li Guanqi glanced at Ye Feng’s accusatory expression, then helplessly erected a vital force barrier around them. It shimmered faintly with purple lightning. “My grandfather gave me a cultivation technique, which I shared with the sect.”
Ye Feng’s eyes widened. “Is that cultivation technique the reason our sect is closing for three years?! How terrifying is this technique?!”
Li Guanqi shrugged. “It’s the cultivation technique for the eleventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm.”
“Huh? What? Eleventh level?” Ye Feng stared at Li Guanqi’s calm face in disbelief. Then he suddenly latched onto Li Guanqi’s leg and said, “Boss! Is there really an eleventh level?!”
Li Guanqi took the time to explain, and Ye Feng’s shock only deepened.
Suddenly, Cao Yan’s head snapped toward the cave entrance. Li Guanqi immediately retracted the vital force shield, and the three of them withdrew their auras.
Outside the cave, two whooshing sounds cut through the air. Thankfully, they had concealed both their auras and the cave’s entrance, so their presence went undetected.
Once the distant auras had moved away, the trio relaxed a little. Moments later, jade slips in both Li Guanqi and Ye Feng’s hands lit up. Ye Feng’s slip activated first, and Tu Kui’s voice echoed from it. “Be very careful.”
Then came Li Nanting’s voice from Li Guanqi’s slip. “We got that disciple to talk. The Great Wind Mountain Residence has five Golden Core Realm cultivators: two early-stage, two mid-stage, and one whose exact cultivation is unknown. He’s the clan lord, and he may be at the peak of the mid Golden Core Realm, or even at the late-stage.
“One of the early-stage cultivators is their ceremonial elder, surnamed Li. He’s in charge of protecting the lord of the residence, Fang Yishan, and his son, Fang Hao.” Li Nanting paused for a moment, then continued in an apologetic tone, saying, “Guanqi, too many people are watching us outside the sect grounds. This time, you’ll need to rely on yourself. Protect yourself above all else. Do you hear me?!”
Cao Yan glanced at Ye Feng, who looked like he was about to cry. “Don’t cry, Second Brother. I think your master just isn’t very good with words.” For original chapters go to novel※fire.net
Clearly, Cao Yan had only made it worse. His attempt at comfort had only highlighted the distance between Ye Feng and his master.
After replying to Li Nanting, Li Guanqi put the jade slip away and turned to the others. “We’ll find a way to get Senior Brother Zhao Yang out. Let’s come up with a plan.”
Ye Feng quickly composed himself, and Cao Yan listened with rapt attention.
“That guy we saw earlier was Fang Hao, young master of the Great Wind Mountain Residence,” Li Guanqi began.
“Assuming they don’t call for outside reinforcements, that leaves them with four Golden Core Realm cultivators. We don’t know how many Foundation Building Realm cultivators they have, but if they’ve got that many in the Golden Core Realm, they’ll have plenty more below. And we still don’t know the strength of his father, Fang Yishan. We should assume the worst: the late Golden Core Realm,” Li Guanqi said.
Ye Feng swallowed hard. Late Golden Core Realm. Two entire minor realms above their own. He had no chance of surviving against such a cultivator. Li Guanqi might be able to hold his own for a while, but even he wouldn’t be able to kill them.
At the Golden Core Realm, the differences between the early, mid, and late Golden Core Realm were huge. Li Guanqi understood this, so he turned toward Cao Yan and said solemnly, “Cao Yan, this is a sect matter. It’s best if you—”
Before Li Guanqi could finish, Cao Yan cut him off. “Brother Li, I want in. We’re brothers, aren’t we? What’s the point of drawing lines between us? Brothers face hardship together. Just give me a little time to break through to the Golden Core Realm, and then I’ll be able to help!”
Li Guanqi was stunned. He looked at Cao Yan for a long moment before finally nodding. “Alright! Then the three of us brothers will do this together! However... we will prioritize saving Zhao Yang. Killing the others is secondary!”
Li Guanqi continued, “Three days! Can you break through in three days?”
Cao Yan thought for a moment, then nodded firmly. “Yes.”
Li Guanqi turned to Ye Feng. “Your job is to guard him during these three days so he can focus on his breakthrough. We’ll travel five hundred li tonight to find a remote spot where he can enter closed-door cultivation.”
Ye Feng frowned. “What about you, Boss?”
A cold gleam flashed in Li Guanqi’s eyes. “Me? I’m going to gather every bit of information I can on the Great Wind Mountain Residence. I spotted some hidden projection stones at the port, so our faces are out there. I’ll need to get some skin masks for us.”
Under the cover of night, the three of them slipped out of the mountains, heading northward for hundreds of li before stopping. They dug a cave into the side of a mountain, and Li Guanqi handed Cao Yan a pouch containing a thousand low-grade spirit stones and ten mid-grade ones. “Need me to buy you a breakthrough pill?”
Cao Yan grinned. “If I needed a pill, wouldn’t that just embarrass you?”
Li Guanqi chuckled. He was still surprised that gentle-looking Cao Yan’s weapon of choice was a pair of vambraces. They were violent-looking things that clashed with his meekness.
With preparations in place, Li Guanqi gave Ye Feng a final nod, then left on his own.