Even the Revitalizing Pill is useless—what can Shangguan Sheng do?
Li Qingfeng gripped Shi Kaitian’s arm, applying a slight pressure.
"Master… Jiang Fan has returned. Do you… know... about it?"
At the mention of Jiang Fan, his voice seemed to grow a little stronger.
Shi Kaitian felt his chest twist in pain, his frail, aged body trembling uncontrollably.
His deeply wrinkled face, etched with the marks of time, was now covered in flowing tears.
"We know. We all know."
Li Qingfeng forced out a faint, apologetic smile:
"I’m sorry... Master… I misjudged…"
"I didn’t let him… join Heavenly Sword Peak…"
Li Qingfeng still blamed himself for this very matter.
Shi Kaitian’s face was streaked with tears, his heart wracked with overwhelming regret.
Back then, he had even struck Li Qingfeng over this issue.
With tears in his eyes, his voice trembled as he spoke:
"No, no, you’re the one who brought Jiang Fan into the Green Cloud Sect."
"You’re the one who found a peerless talent for the sect."
"The entire Green Cloud Sect is grateful to you."
"Even your master is proud of you!"
A faint smile appeared on Li Qingfeng’s face.
Liu Wuchen walked over, tears glistening and rolling from his eyes.
"Elder Li, actually, when I took Jiang Fan away back then, it wasn’t because I saw his potential."
"It was merely to honor a promise to my daughter."
"Just like you, I didn’t believe in him either."
So it turned out, Liu Wuchen was the same as him!
He wasn’t the only one who had been blind to Jiang Fan’s greatness.
Li Qingfeng’s heart was finally at peace.
"Even the Sect Master… misjudged him too..."
"Haha… Haha… Hahaha…"
He laughed aloud, releasing Shi Kaitian, his hands groping aimlessly.
Liu Wuchen, choked with tears, took his hand. "I’m here."
Li Qingfeng gripped his hand tightly, using his final breath to speak:
"Please… tell Jiang Fan…"
"To… take… good… good care of… Yining…"
"Who… among us… doesn’t make mistakes…"
His hand loosened, lifelessly falling.
It hung limply in the snow.
A generation’s elder.
Thus perished, amidst the vast expanse of white snow.
The members of the Green Cloud Sect let out heart-wrenching cries.
Tears shone in countless pairs of reddened eyes.
Nie Yunxi fell to her knees, her tears cascading like a torrential flood:
"Please wake up, wake up!"
"When you announced the truce between humans and demons, didn’t you say you’d celebrate our Heavenly Sword Peak juniors’ survival afterward?"
"You can’t go back on your word, Master~"
"If you leave, who will care for our juniors and disciples?"
Shi Kaitian’s frail body trembled incessantly.
Amidst the dim haze of his lifeless gray hair, several strands of stark white had appeared unbeknownst to all.
He cradled Li Qingfeng’s body tightly, his head tilted to the heavens as he wept soundlessly.
Until one of the female disciples, weeping bitterly, cried out:
"Why did this happen?"
"Elder Li didn’t fall during the Boundary Mountain Battle."
"Yet he perished after the truce!"
It truly is, isn’t it?
Because of the Giant Sect!!!
Shi Kaitian’s murky eyes suddenly burned with a murderous fury as vast as the sea!
He handed over Li Qingfeng’s body to Nie Yunxi.
Without a word, he stomped the ground and sped toward the direction of the Giant Sect!
Zhuang Yuanyin’s white hair bristled, his tearful eyes wide with unrelenting wrath.
This former Green Cloud Sect Master let out an enraged roar:
"You’ve gone too far!!!"
"Supreme Elders of the Green Cloud Sect, follow me!!!"
The ground trembled violently.
This man, whose days were numbered, ignited his very life force and charged toward the direction of the Giant Sect.
Huang Zhantian, Zheng Qiushuang, and other Supreme Elders, their eyes brimming with tears, turned their heads and followed in fierce pursuit.
Liu Wuchen, his eyes red, roared: "Elders of the Green Cloud Sect, follow me!!!"
All the elders, their eyes filled with tears, rushed out after him.
Including Feng Guchan.
Though he had once quarreled with Li Qingfeng.
It was always for the sake of acquiring more resources for Reincarnation Peak; it was for his own disciples.
Never had he entertained any intent to harm Li Qingfeng.
Now, as he looked down at Li Qingfeng’s lifeless body, his aged frame quivered, his eyes reddened.
In his eyes burned a deep and bitter hatred!
"Giant Sect! I won’t let you get away with this!"
Nie Yunxi, tears streaming, gently laid down Li Qingfeng’s body.
Her gaze was filled with vengeance.
Her clenched fists shook violently, her nails digging deeply into her palms.
"Your disciple will avenge you!"
She unsheathed her sword and, her tears streaming, dashed in the direction of the Giant Sect.
The disciples of the Green Cloud Sect, their reddened eyes glistening, rose as one.
"Leave one person here to guard Elder Li’s body!"
"The rest, follow me!!!"
A commanding disciple, stern and resolute, wiped away his tears and bellowed.
Amidst the endless snow and ice.
The Supreme Elders, elders, and disciples of the Green Cloud Sect.
Like blazing flames of vengeance, surged ever onward toward the distance.
The Little Qilin’s large eyes glimmered with confusion.
"Master, what’s wrong with you?"
Ever since earlier, its master, who was in deep training, had suddenly become restless.
Now, he could no longer enter meditation.
Jiang Fan furrowed his brows:
"I just can’t seem to calm myself all of a sudden."
"Forget it. I’ve trained enough—forcing meditation would do more harm than good."
"Let’s go out and see what’s happening."
"I wonder if Elder Li managed to talk some sense into Xu Yining."
At the thought of Xu Yining, a wave of irritation washed over him.
Leaving the hidden space.
The moment he stood on the city wall.
He could see, in the farthest reaches of his sight, a crowd gathered by the riverbank.
"What’s going on over there?"
Jiang Fan frowned. "Why hasn’t everyone dispersed yet? Why are they all gathered there?"
He summoned the Little Qilin. "Let’s go take a look."
Amidst the clouds, a shadow appeared.
In an instant, it flashed to the edge of the crowd.
Noticing Jiang Fan’s arrival, the faces of those around him displayed a range of expressions, and they instinctively stepped aside.
Jiang Fan was puzzled.
Weaving through the path that had opened before him.
He finally saw what lay at the center of the crowd.
Xu Youran knelt before a mangled corpse, her tears falling silently.
Jiang Fan felt a deep sense of foreboding, as if his throat were being choked. He forced his voice out:
Xu Youran turned her tear-soaked face toward him.
"Jiang Fan, my master… is dead."
The one who had taken them from Lonely Boat City to the Green Cloud Sect?
The one who had shielded him time and time again?
This had to be a joke!
Jiang Fan approached slowly.
And saw that familiar, calm, and smiling face, now pale and lifeless.
His mind went blank instantly.
He stood motionless, as if turned to stone.
But tears, uncontrollable, rolled down his cheeks, streaming endlessly.
"No, it’s impossible. He had the Revitalizing Pill—how could he die?"
Jiang Fan slowly came back to himself.
But he could not accept the scene before him.
The man who not long ago had drawn his sword for him against Kong Yuanba.
Kneeling down before the icy body, Jiang Fan clutched Li Qingfeng’s broken form tightly.
Looking at that utterly devastated state, looking at that serene, smiling face.
The stark contrast wrenched his heart with unspeakable pain.
"Why did this happen?"
Xu Youran collapsed onto his shoulder, sobbing: "It was the Giant Sect."
"They kidnapped Xu Yining."
"Master sacrificed himself to protect Xu Yining and was killed by the Giant Sect."
She choked on her sobs. "They shattered his heart and crushed his throat."
"The Revitalizing Pill wouldn’t go down his throat."
"We had no choice but to watch helplessly as he passed away."
Jiang Fan said nothing.
The tears that streamed down his face gradually ceased.
His voice now carried an eerie raspiness.
"What were Elder Li’s final words?"
Xu Youran’s delicate figure shook violently, unable to stop trembling:
"At the end… Master regretted misjudging you and not taking you into the Heavenly Sword Peak."
"He blamed himself deeply."
Even at the moment of his death.
He was still dwelling on that single regret.
Jiang Fan felt as though his heart was being torn apart.
Clutching his chest, he slowly stood.
The tears had completely dried.
His expression was unnaturally calm.
The members of various sects surrounding him looked upon Jiang Fan in that moment.
And for some reason, a sense of foreboding gripped their hearts.
"Take care of Elder Li’s body."
Jiang Fan raised his head, his eyes fixed calmly in the direction of the Giant Sect.
Xu Youran, her eyes still glistening with tears, asked: "Where are you going?"
Jiang Fan’s voice was hauntingly calm.
So calm it struck fear into the hearts of those who heard it.
"To gather some burial offerings for Elder Li."