Li Guanqi’s return put everyone’s mind at ease. Everything that had happened lately had worn them down, especially Lu Kangnian, who had stayed tense the entire time, never daring to let his guard down. He’d personally cut down two Yellow-tier members of the Sha organization, but its members were extremely vigilant. The moment the Daxia Sword Sect made any move, they vanished.

Lu Kangnian gestured to the empty seat at his lower right and smiled. “Since you’re back, sit down.”

Li Guanqi nodded with a smile, then walked up to Li Nanting. “Master, I’m back.”

Li Nanting stroked his beard, his eyes warm with pride. Once a green, untested boy. Now a giant, an influential figure wherever he goes.

Li Nanting smiled and nodded. “Alright, sit down.”

Li Guanqi bowed to the elders all around before taking his seat, and they smiled and nodded back in return. Lu Kangnian let out a long breath, suddenly feeling much lighter.

Li Guanqi paused to think, then drew some tea leaves from his storage ring, brewed them with the finest spirit spring water, and handed the cup to Lu Kangnian.

Lu Kangnian took it absently. One sip in, his eyes went wide. Every shred of fatigue washed out of him. The sluggishness that had plagued his cultivation vanished, and his vital force swelled powerfully.

He looked down to find Li Guanqi winking and nudging him. Lu Kangnian coughed softly, his fingers brushing against each other beneath his sleeve. Li Guanqi gave an unreadable nod, then produced a small pouch of tea leaves and held it up between them.

The two were acting subtly, yet hiding nothing. Naturally, every eye in the room was on those tea leaves, but no one spoke up to ask for any. They all knew full well how hard Lu Kangnian had been pushing himself lately.

Li Guanqi mulled it over, then spoke plainly. “Sect Master, I think we can start preparing for the recall! The Six Territories are in turmoil. An age of chaos is coming! It’s vital we draw our scattered forces back as quickly as possible. And what’s more...”

Li Guanqi looked up at the woman of refined bearing across from him, his voice turning solemn. “Some of our disciples out there aren’t having an easy time either!”

Tu Shan’s expression turned serious. After a moment, she said quietly, “But this matter cannot be rushed. The Daxia Sword Sect’s foundations run incredibly deep. If we really do recall disciples, elders, peak masters, and even former sect masters from every generation, friction would be inevitable. And quite a few of them are stronger than Kangnian.”

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and spoke with absolute confidence. “Whether they’re dragons or tigers out there, I don’t care. Anyone who wants to come back can fall in line!”

Tu Shan’s brow furrowed slightly. She knew Li Guanqi’s strength was formidable, but this was arrogance. “Do you have any idea how many people would be recalled? Among them... sect masters, disciplinarians, and peak masters from every generation. Many of them are even Combined Body Realm cultivators!”

Li Guanqi let out a cold laugh and looked up to meet Lu Kangnian’s worried gaze. Rising slowly to his feet, he spoke in a calm, even voice. “It doesn’t matter. Even if someone in the Mahayana Stage shows up, I can still make them behave if they refuse to listen.”

For the Combined Body Realm, as long as they weren’t too powerful, Ji Yuchuan alone would be enough. For the Mahayana Stage, he’d call his father-in-law. And if even that wasn’t enough, he’d bring in more people. As for anything below the Combined Body Realm, he hadn’t even given it a thought.

Li Guanqi’s thinking was simple. No matter how many people came back, no matter how powerful they were, no matter if they were former sect masters... he answered to one person and one person only, Lu Kangnian—the man who had once pointed every sword in the sect at the Purple Sun Pavilion, all for Li Guanqi.

Lu Kangnian sat in the seat of honor, his expression calm on the surface. Yet, without realizing it, his eyes had already reddened.

Holding his wine gourd, Ling Daoyan watched Li Guanqi tilt his head back and take a long swig of wine. A faint smile spread across Ling Daoyan’s face.

Qin Xian looked at Li Guanqi with unmistakable pride.

With a disciple like this in the sect, how could anyone not feel at ease?

Lu Kangnian drew a deep breath, raised a hand, and boomed, “Pass down my orders! From this day forward, all three thousand peaks of the sect will begin construction and expansion! The Daxia Sword Sect’s territory will expand outward by a hundred li. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!”

The Daxia Sword Sect now possessed its own realm, a domain spanning a hundred li in every direction. Yet the Daxia Sword Sect had not abandoned the territory it held in the outside world.

Every clan and power settled within a hundred li was given three days to move. These clans and powers had all been relying on the Daxia Sword Sect for survival, or... leveraging its influence. With the Daxia Sword Sect issuing such a forceful command, they didn’t dare refuse.

“Make the necessary preparations. In seven days, gather all our sect members for the great return!” Lu Kangnian shouted.

The meeting concluded, and Lu Kangnian asked Li Guanqi to stay behind.

Li Guanqi sat in Lu Kangnian’s study and stretched lazily as he looked around with a smile. “It’s good to be home. Nothing’s changed.”

Lu Kangnian smiled. “I’ve settled all the people from Prosperity Village with the Spiritfish Clan. They seem to be getting along well.”

Li Guanqi was deeply moved. Lu Kangnian had taken Prosperity Village seriously, even though it was a small matter. He passed the tea leaves to Lu Kangnian with a smile. “I set some aside for my master. He’ll need proper nourishment if he’s going to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm.”

Lu Kangnian laughed. “And so you should. At least you’ve got some conscience, you little brat.”

“I’ve established a faction.”

“Oh, you formed a faction...” Then Lu Kangnian’s voice shot up without warning. “Hm? What?!”

Li Guanqi dug a finger into his ear.

Lu Kangnian grabbed him by the shoulder. “What faction?! What do you mean?! Are you leaving the sect?!”

Nearly shaken senseless, Li Guanqi quickly explained.

Then Lu Kangnian replied, “An intelligence organization? The Six Gates Holy Sect... Uh... Ahem, so their Dao Comprehension Platform... we can use it for free, right?”

The corner of Li Guanqi’s mouth twitched. His attitude sure changed fast.

“It’ll be free. But if the two sides want to work together, we’ll need to show some sincerity. We have to bring something real to the table.”

Lu Kangnian leaned back in his chair, fingers drumming the desk as he mulled it over and muttered to himself, “What though... the Zen Clarity Glass Array? The Marrow-Cleansing Immortal Pool? The Purple Spirit Paradise Realm?...”

Li Guanqi sat beside him, utterly perplexed and brimming with unanswered questions. “Wait, wait, wait! Old Lu... what on earth are all these things?”

“The Zen Clarity Glass Array suppresses inner demons,” Lu Kangnian said. “The Marrow-Cleansing Immortal Pool hasn’t been opened in three thousand years... It’s probably about full by now. The Purple Spirit Paradise Realm has been left to develop for over two thousand years, so the spirit herbs and spirit creatures inside should be close to full maturity by now. Oh, right. All of these are sealed within the Three Thousand Strange Peaks. I forgot you wouldn’t know about them.”

Li Guanqi’s jaw dropped, his mouth opening wide enough to swallow an egg whole. “Gulp... don’t tell me every single one of the Three Thousand Strange Peaks has something inside!”

Lu Kangnian looked at him as if he were a fool and nodded. “That’s right. And then there are the Eight Hundred Waters.” 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Li Guanqi suddenly had the urge to snatch the tea leaves back from Lu Kangnian.

Lu Kangnian looked at Li Guanqi with an unreadable expression and laughed. “You didn’t really think our sect would be poor after producing so many cultivators who ascended to the Immortal World, did you?”

“Alright, alright, stop scolding me. Just pretend I never asked,” Li Guanqi said, a little aggrieved. He continued, “Hahahaha. Since we’re doing this, let’s do it big! Cards on the table, no more pretending. Since our foundations are this deep, give me some spirit stones.”

“Are you running out of spirit stones for cultivation? Fine, how many?” Lu Kangnian replied.

“One million high-grade spirit stones.”

“Get out. Forget I said anything.”