Lu Kangnian was already an Illusory Refinement Realm cultivator, more than enough to intimidate the others. On top of that, Tu Zhongqiu and Nangong Qianyan had quietly made their stance clear to Li Guanqi the night before. They had no interest in fighting for fame or power, nor did they intend to monopolize the sect’s resources. All they wanted was for the sect to provide whatever cultivation resources it could spare.

For such a basic request, Li Guanqi had no reason to refuse. He even hinted that if they were willing to contribute to the sect’s development, he certainly wouldn’t treat them unfairly. With those two backing him, Lu Kangnian’s grip on the situation would be far easier to maintain.

What’s more, Gong Ze was close with Qin Xian and had been tireless in guiding Qin Xian’s cultivation. Seeing the Daxia Sword Sect’s new prosperity, Gong Ze was genuinely pleased.

However, Li Guanqi trusted none of them. He trusted only himself. So... every last one of them was under his surveillance.

Ye Feng’s aura was noticeably more formidable than before. With his golden hair tied up, he looked at Li Guanqi. “Boss, you killed three of the Mei-tier assassins?”

Cao Yan and Xiao Chen looked over too.

Li Guanqi frowned slightly and looked at Ye Feng. “How do you know about the assassins?”

Ye Feng lifted his shirt, revealing several hideous scars around his waist. “While passing through the Taiqing Territory, I ran into two Chi-tier assassins. Damn, those bastards were strong... I ended up taking a bit of a beating.”

Cao Yan frowned. “Second Brother, you ran into them too?”

Before Ye Feng could answer, Xiao Chen cut in, startled. “Third Brother, you ran into them too? I... I ran into them on my way here as well.”

Li Guanqi paused as countless thoughts flashed through his mind. Then he let out a cold laugh. “Looks like all of us were targets.”

Ye Feng shrugged. “Probably. Anyway, while I was crossing the Taiqing Territory, I killed quite a few Abyssal Demons. My Ghost Arm has grown quite a bit thanks to them.”

They were all well aware of the situation with the Sha organization, so they quickly changed the subject.

Soon, the group arrived at the back mountain of the Daxia Sword Sect. The place still sat within the sect’s original territory, but outside the territory world. Many former disciples had wanted to claim isolated peaks as personal cultivation grounds, but Lu Kangnian had already issued a strict order forbidding any disciple from occupying them. As things stood now, only a small wooden hut remained at the summit of Jade Teapot Peak.

The mountain before Li Guanqi looked utterly ordinary, and that itself caught him off guard. Even after repeatedly scanning it with his divine consciousness, he found nothing unusual.

He took out the cyan jade slip and tossed it toward the mountain. As his vital force poured into it, the slip pulsed with unprecedented intensity. Cyan ripples spread outward in waves, and an ancient, distant aura emerged slowly from the mountain itself.

A spatial rift roughly a zhang wide opened before them, twisting and warping as light flickered across its surface, as if offering fleeting glimpses of a strange, otherworldly realm beyond.

Li Guanqi smiled faintly at the dense spirit qi within the rift. “Let’s go, brothers. Time to head in and cultivate.”

Xiao Chen rubbed his hands together. He hadn’t expected this trip back to net him a secret realm to cultivate in.

Lightning surged across Nine Heavens, and the dragon transformed into a streak of light that coiled around Li Guanqi’s wrist.

Peng Luo’s eyes brightened as he studied the warped space.

Li Guanqi turned to him and asked curiously, “Can’t you sense the hidden space here?”

Peng Luo shook his head. “There’s a mysterious connection between the Three Thousand Strange Peaks. The space conceals itself completely. Without special means, there’s no way to open it. Even I can’t do it.”

Buzz!

The group vanished into the rift, which closed behind them.

Li Guanqi felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, then a warm current seemed to envelop his entire body. He activated his heart’s eye, and his divine consciousness rolled out in all directions like a tide.

Roar!

A massive blue-striped lizard in golden armor lunged at them. The beast stretched over ten zhang in length, its body covered in golden scales etched with mysterious blue patterns. As it charged forward, its terrifying aura bore down on them like a mountain.

None of them moved. It was merely a fifth-tier demon beast.

Nine Heavens manifested its true form and slammed a huge dragon claw down, pinning the lizard to the ground. The earth rumbled. The lizard hissed in terror. Cold light flashed in Nine Heavens’s dragon eyes. It snatched the lizard up and shoved it into its mouth.

Crunch!

Only then did everyone clearly see their surroundings. The Purple Spirit Paradise Realm stretched out as a mountain range spanning a thousand li. Towering ancient trees rose dozens of zhang high. Dense branches blocked out the sky, and mist filled the valleys. The spirit qi was incredibly rich.

Li Guanqi took a deep breath, and the spirit qi flowed into him like two streams of white mist.

Cao Yan swept his hand through the air and sighed, “The spirit qi here is so pure! And there are countless spirit beasts here. With no natural predators to keep them in check, they’ve probably multiplied unchecked for years. And with spirit qi this dense, this place must have nurtured countless rare treasures.”

Li Guanqi smiled faintly. A quick scan with his divine consciousness soon turned up a good spot a hundred li away: a naturally formed limestone cave with white jade marrow pillars hanging from the ceiling, and beneath them, a stone pool roughly three zhang wide.

“Let’s go, brothers. I’ve found a good place,” Li Guanqi said.

He turned to Nine Heavens and Peng Luo with a smile. “You two try not to wreck this place too badly, alright?”

Peng Luo had already crouched down, ready to spring into action with the purple-skinned ginseng in one hand. He didn’t even glance back. “Got it, got it.”

Nine Heavens spat out a few white bones and bared its teeth.

Li Guanqi didn’t bother with the two of them. He trusted them to know their limits.

Along the way, Ye Feng lowered his voice with some concern. “Boss, if we just leave like this, aren’t you worried those old guys might stir up trouble?”

Li Guanqi looked at him and smiled. “Do you think they’d dare?” 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Cao Yan tilted his head and thought for a moment. “Probably not. Unless they’re tired of living.”

Xiao Chen flickered like the wind and vanished, laughing loudly. “I’m going to pick a good spot first. Going ahead!”

Li Guanqi and Ye Feng exchanged a glance, the corners of their mouths curling into faint, knowing smiles.

A short while later, Xiao Chen was crouched in a corner with two black eyes, muttering curses under his breath. Even his clothes were torn to shreds.

Meanwhile, the other three were soaking naked in the thousand-year jade marrow liquid, chatting and laughing as if nothing had happened.

“How much longer are you gonna keep cursing us for? Come over already,” Li Guanqi said.