Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman

After Zhou Zhi and Jiang Su left, Li Guanqi cleaned the inside and outside of his house, savoring the feeling of having a full dantian. Then, a craving struck him. I really want some grilled meat.

He rummaged through everything in his storage ring but came up with only an iron wok.

He grinned to himself, took out his jade slip, and coughed lightly. “Ye Feng, how are your injuries? Are you feeling better?”

Soon, Ye Feng’s weak voice came through the jade slip.

—I’m much better. Master has been feeding me a ton of medicinal herbs over the past two days. I’m gonna get sick if I take one more dose...

Li Guanqi pursed his lips. “Why don’t you come over? Let’s have some grilled meat.”

Ye Feng’s eyes lit up, clearly thrilled.

—Where? Your courtyard or Jade Teapot Peak? I’m coming!

Li Guanqi had an idea. “Lin Dong is here with me. We’ve got some delicious fish, but I really want to eat some chicken too. Can you bring us a chicken? Lin Dong said the fish he brought was a spirit fish, so you’d better not show up with something subpar.”

Ye Feng slapped his chest while rising from bed.—Tsk tsk! Don’t worry, Brother Li! Heavenly Metal Peak might not have spirit birds, but Heavenly Wood Peak sure does!”

Next, Li Guanqi contacted Zhong Lin. “Brother Zhong, Ye Feng insists on throwing a barbecue at Jade Teapot Peak after my near-death experience. He’s bringing two small spirit hens, so bring whatever you can. By the way, I heard grilling over one of the pill-refining cauldrons from Heavenly Pillar Peak’s Pill-Refining Pavilion really brings out the flavor.”

—Don’t worry. Whatever I bring will undoubtedly be as good as Brother Ye’s stuff.

Li Guanqi put down his jade slip, thought about what he needed, and contacted Lin Dong. “Lin Dong, my injuries have just healed, so Zhong Lin and Brother Ye said they’ll visit me and bring some food.”

—I’m coming over now.

Li Guanqi then reached out to his next target. “Sheng’an, it’s been a while! Ye Feng, Lin Dong, and the others are coming to Jade Teapot Peak for a barbecue. Wanna come? The only problem is that no one’s bringing wine. Mind bringing some with you?”

Li Sheng’an emerged from his cultivation state in the outer sect’s cultivation room with surprise. He had heard about Li Guanqi’s astonishing progress in cultivation and assumed their paths would never cross again. Upon hearing the message in his jade slip, he broke into a grin.

—Don’t worry! It’s just wine! I’ll bring you guys the best spirit wine there is!

After putting down his jade slip, Li Guanqi smiled with great satisfaction. Everything’s all set then!

Suddenly, Li Guanqi heard a childish voice behind him. “Oh! Guanqi! I heard everything! You’re lying to them!

Startled, Li Guanqi spun around but saw no one. He rushed to the edge of Jade Teapot Peak and peered down.

When he saw her, he did not know whether to cry or laugh. Yu Sui’an, dressed in her usual flower coat, was dangling from a branch, one foot stuck tight. Upon spotting Li Guanqi, she quickly tugged her coat down to keep her belly from showing.

Li Guanqi raised his hand, and the Emerald Wolf Sword soared out in a graceful arc, coming to hover beneath her. Once she’d landed safely, she put her hands on her hips and glared at him haughtily.

“Hmmph! Caught you red-handed!”

Li Guanqi pulled her over and spanked her bottom several times. “Ahh! Ouchie! Don’t hit me!”

Li Guanqi chuckled. “You little rascal! Climbing Jade Teapot Peak when you’re only at the fourth level of the Qi Refinement Realm? What if you had fallen down?”

But Yu Sui’an wasn’t listening. She ran far away from him, pointing and shouting, “I don’t care! I want to eat too!”

Then, she cocked her head and wriggled her eyebrows. She gulped and said, “Grandpa Xu has two fat fish in the pond outside his courtyard. If we could grill them, they’d be delicious...”

She’s not wrong, Li Guanqi thought. And if everyone else is bringing food, I shouldn’t show up empty-handed.

He scooped Yu Sui’an onto his sword, and they flew off toward Heavenly Lightning Peak in a flash of light.

Meanwhile, Ye Feng sneaked around in the land behind Heavenly Wood Peak. The disciples in charge of the spirit aviary waved at him warmly. “Senior Brother Ye! Fancy seeing you here on Heavenly Wood Peak! Are you looking for someone?”

Ye Feng had not expected disciples to be standing guard there, so he merely laughed awkwardly. After making an excuse to leave, he covered his face with a cloth and sneakily observed them. When the disciples were not looking, he dashed over, grabbed two small hens, and ran away.

One of the disciples stood frozen by the window, mouth agape. He turned to the other disciple standing guard. “Senior Brother Ye thinks we’re both idiots.”

The other disciple shrugged with exasperation. “Maybe this is what he likes to do for fun.”

Elsewhere, the honest Lin Dong purchased a large portion of beef and mutton from the back of Heavenly Earth Peak with contribution points.

As for Zhong Lin, the young master of Ouyang Mountain... He stood outside the towering Pill-Refining Pavilion on Heavenly Pillar Peak, hesitating. After some time, he steeled himself and stepped inside.

A few moments later...

“Which brat stole my pill-refining cauldron?! You’d better pray I don’t find you!”

Descending Heavenly Pillar Peak, Zhong Lin could no longer hold back his laughter. He made a mad dash, threw his sword out, and flew into the sky.

He had only achieved a breakthrough the day before, so he wobbled unsteadily as he flew.

The others were also rushing toward Jade Teapot Peak.

Meanwhile, Li Guanqi and Yu Sui’an had arrived outside Elder Xu Zhengjie’s courtyard. They crept low, backs pressed against the wall, eyes locked on the two azure-colored spirit fish swimming in the pond in front of the courtyard’s entrance.

“Eh? Is Second Elder there?”

Yu Sui’an put her finger to her lips and furrowed her brow. “Shh! Grandpa Xu is likely sunbathing on his chair in the backyard. Don’t speak again!”

Li Guanqi nodded hurriedly. They sneaked over to the courtyard’s entrance carefully. When they were close, Yu Sui’an’s eyes lit up at the sight of the fat fish. She rolled up her sleeves and entered the pond to catch one. Thankfully, the water only came up to her calves.

“Hahaha! I caught one! I caught one! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

She hugged the fish with all her strength and jumped out of the pond before running down the mountain. Li Guanqi grabbed the second fish and bolted, seizing Yu Sui’an by her collar and leaping onto his flying sword. Then, they shot off toward Jade Teapot Peak.

In the backyard, Xu Zhengjie looked at the old man beside him with a darkened expression. “Old Li... I think catching my fish in my pond is crossing a line.”

Li Nanting rocked gently in his chair, smiling through his wrinkles. “Hahaha, it’s no big deal. The moment Little Bao calls you Grandpa Xu, you’ll melt and give her your entire life’s work. It’s just two spirit fish. So what if she eats them?”

Xu Zhengjie shook his pipe and muttered, “You’re right. It’s quite something to suddenly have three troublemakers in our sect, hahaha! One stole chickens, one stole a cauldron, and one came to my house to steal fish!”

Li Nanting glanced at him and laughed. “Oh, so what Little Bao did wasn’t stealing? You didn’t count her as one of the troublemakers.”

“Tsk, she doesn’t count! She’s my granddaughter! There’s nothing wrong with eating fish!” Xu Zhengjie said, glaring at him.