Chapter 83: Li Xi and Yu Youwei

“Senior Brother Ning, this is Senior Brother Li. Junior Sister Yuan and I are on very good terms with him!”

So Junior Brother Xuan and Junior Sister Yuan are close with this Junior Brother Li?

Ning Changyuan’s expression cleared with understanding.

“My apologies, Junior Brother Li,” he said, cupping his fists respectfully. “This senior brother was presumptuous earlier. These are dire circumstances; I hope you can forgive the intrusion.”

Li Meng chuckled softly, stroking his white beard with a sage-like air.

“No trouble at all, no trouble!”

With a wave of his sleeve, Li Meng sent several top-grade Spirit Restoration Pills and Revival Pills flying through the air, landing gently in the hands of the five disciples.

“Fellow disciples, please focus on your meditation and recovery. I will stand guard for you.”

Top-grade pills?

The five disciples stared at the glowing medicinal pills in their palms. Without hesitation, they swallowed them. There was no time to stand on ceremony; they needed to recover their strength and leave the Qian Family Fortress before any more enemies arrived.

【+20 Favorability】 【+100 Sub-profession Experience】 【+30 Favorability】 【+150 Sub-profession Experience】

The system prompts flashed in Li Meng’s vision, drawing his gaze toward Li Xi and the other Qi Condensation female cultivator, Yu Youwei.

Meeting Li Meng’s look, Li Xi gave a slight, acknowledging nod before closing her eyes to meditate. She was reserved, her demeanor cool and elegant.

Yu Youwei, however, was different. She blinked her eyes coquettishly at him, a hint of blatant allure in her expression as she swallowed the pill.

A faint smile touched Li Meng’s lips. She was, after all, a disciple of the Joyous Union Sect. It would be strange if she weren’t at least somewhat seductive.

Turning, Li Meng looked toward the depths of the manor estate.

Should I go look for treasure? he mused internally. This was a cultivation family, after all. There has to be a treasury or vault of some kind.

Of course, it was also entirely possible the fleeing Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator had already looted it clean.

“Junior Brother Li, what about them…?” Ning Changyuan’s voice came from behind, his eyes indicating the group of Qian Family Fortress cultivators lying comatose on the ground.

Li Meng turned to face him, his expression solemn.

“I only had six Soul Return Pills.”

Soul Return Pills?

Ning Changyuan fell silent. He hadn’t detected any residual Pill Poison within himself, which meant the Soul Return Pills Junior Brother Li had given them were of exceptionally high quality.

To use such precious medicine on them… This was a significant debt of favor.

【+20 Favorability】 【+100 Sub-profession Experience】 【+30 Favorability】 【+150 Sub-profession Experience】

Li Meng glanced again at Li Xi and Yu Youwei. Women truly were emotional creatures; their favorability rose the fastest.

With another wave of his sleeve, a gust of wind swept the unconscious bodies of the Qian Family Fortress cultivators into the raging inferno nearby.

The six watching disciples witnessed this act without flinching. None felt Li Meng was in the wrong. Those cultivators were alive in body only; their souls were already gone. There was no distinction left between their current state and death.

Granting them a swift end was an act of mercy.

The six closed their eyes and resumed their meditation.

Li Meng swept his gaze over the group, a subtle smile playing on his lips. The Joyous Union Sect walked the line between righteous and unorthodox. Its disciples were hardly paragons of virtue. If they were, a figure as notoriously fearsome as the Yin-Yang Old Demon would never have arisen from their ranks.

Turning away, Li Meng formed a single-handed seal.

A talisman flew from his sleeve, emitting a golden spiritual light as it hovered, spinning before him.

“Is it over there?” he murmured.

In the next instant, he vanished without a trace, using an Earth Shrinking Talisman to travel toward the source of the spiritual power fluctuation he’d detected.

“Senior Brother Li?”

Yuan Baobao opened her eyes and glanced toward where Li Meng had been standing, only to find the spot empty.

Startled, she quickly scanned the courtyard. It was eerily quiet, save for the crackling flames consuming the Red Mulberry Tree.

“Junior Sister, focus on your meditation! Recover your strength!” Xuan Hao’s voice sounded from behind her.

“Oh!” Yuan Baobao replied meekly, reluctantly closing her eyes again.

Qian Family Fortress, Treasury Vault.

“This is just pathetic,” Li Meng muttered.

He stood beside a wooden shelf, surveying the so-called “treasure trove” with utter disappointment.

While the shelves held many items, they were all worthless trinkets—mundane antiques faintly touched by spiritual energy. The spiritual fluctuations he’d sensed came from the materials themselves; they were crafted from spiritual wood that was several decades old at best.

After scanning the entire vault and finding nothing worth taking, Li Meng couldn’t help but wonder. Was this vault already cleaned out by that demonic cultivator?

With a sigh of resignation, he prepared to leave empty-handed.

“Hmm? There’s more?”

He noticed his Spirit-Guiding Talisman glowing once more. His eyes lit up.

Flash.

In the next moment, he vanished again.

Qian Family Fortress, Spirit Herb Garden.

“And here I thought it was some treasure. It’s just spirit herbs,” Li Meng said flatly.

He looked at the garden filled with various spiritual plants without any joy. While there were many types of herbs, their age was only a few decades at most. Not a single century-old spirit plant was in sight.

“Heh, might as well take them all back,” he chuckled to himself. “Moon Gaze Peak is plenty big; perfect for starting a private Spirit Herb Garden.”

Grinning now, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

Striding into the herb beds, he began uprooting plants one by one. Wherever he passed, he left nothing behind—scouring the land clean until not a single blade remained.

It took him over two hours to thoroughly strip the garden bare.

“Time to head back,” he said with satisfaction, patting his storage pouch.

The variety from the Qian family’s garden was actually quite rich—over thirty different types of spirit plants. In terms of diversity alone, it wasn’t inferior to the sect’s own Spirit Herb Garden.

Taking out another Earth Shrinking Talisman, he vanished from the spot.

Back in the courtyard with the burning Red Mulberry Tree, Li Meng materialized right beside Yuan Baobao.

His sudden appearance gave her a tremendous fright. Upon recognizing him, she let out a relieved breath.

“Senior, where did you go?” she asked, moving closer to him. She almost instinctively reached out to cling to his arm but quickly remembered their audience.

She settled for blinking up at him meaningfully instead.

Li Meng chuckled and stroked his beard. He glanced at the six others who had recovered somewhat.

“Just took a look around the vicinity. Let’s go; we should leave this place first.”

Li Xi and Ning Changyuan nodded in agreement. The Qian Family Fortress was no more; this location had become a place of trouble best avoided.

“Let’s return to the sect,” Li Xi stated firmly.

She and Ning Changyuan took to the air first, utilizing wind-propelled flight techniques. The rest followed suit shortly after.

The seven figures shot into the sky on their flying swords and vanished into the moonlit night in the blink of an eye.

Below them, the ruins of the Qian Family Fortress receded into the darkness.

Glancing back during his flight, Li Meng watched it fade.

A cultivation family had just vanished into obscurity, and no one would particularly care about its demise. Even if word reached the Joyous Union Sect, they wouldn’t seek accountability from the Ghost Spirit Sect over this.

The situation within the Thousand Peaks Mountain Range had always been delicate; the rise and fall of cultivation families here was simply commonplace.

“Senior Brother… how did you come to be here?”

Yuan Baobao maneuvered her flying sword closer, her beautiful eyes gazing curiously at her greatly changed senior brother.

Li Meng chuckled softly, stroking his beard once more.

“This senior brother knows a little about divination techniques. Lately, I felt restless, and my calculations indicated you, Junior Sister, were facing a calamity.”

He turned to her, his gaze warm. “That is why I left our mountain gate specifically to find you.”

Senior Brother knows divination?

He came specifically for me?

A faint blush colored Yuan Baobao’s cheeks.

“Senior Brother… you’re not lying to me, are you?”

Li Meng looked at her with an amused, knowing smile.

“When has this senior brother ever lied?”

Yuan Baobao’s face grew even redder.

It was true—Senior Brother Li never lied.

He really did come looking for her specifically.