Although Li Xian said so, Shen Qing still felt a bit worried.
After all, the He family's influence spread across the entire Nine Desolation Continent. He Yu's father was the head of the He family. How could they not come to settle the score after he had scarred their son's face?
Seeing a hint of worry clouding Shen Qing's brows, Li Xian hesitated for a moment and tugged at Shen Qing's sleeve.
"Did I do something wrong?"
Shen Qing turned his head, about to tell Li Xian not to be so impulsive next time, but then saw Li Xian bowing his head slightly, looking aggrieved, like a dog that had done something wrong.
The fine strands of hair in front of Li Xian's forehead fell, and with the slight redness at the corners of his eyes, the sense of fragility was just right.
The words on the tip of Shen Qing's tongue took a detour and became, "I'm really grateful that you stood up for me, but you must always put your own safety first."
Li Xian had only done it to avenge him. It just didn't seem right to scold him.
Li Xian nodded obediently and then flashed a triumphant smile after Shen Qing turned around.
Sure enough, this was the way to handle Shen Qing.
Ever since he met Xian Shiyu, Li Xian had learned this trick from him.
Shen Qing was extremely susceptible to feeling soft-hearted towards the weak. As long as he showed a bit of weakness, Shen Qing wouldn't have the heart to scold him.
Although You Lang and Chu Lanqiu were busy with their own tasks, they still spared a bit of their attention on this side.
It wasn't that they were not focused. It was just that the way Shen Qing and Li Xian interacted always made them feel as if pink bubbles were floating all around. Coupled with Li Xian's coquettish tone, who could resist that?
Shen Qing met You Lang's slightly speechless look and shrugged helplessly.
Well, he had to spoil his fiancé, didn't he?
After learning what Li Xian had done to those four people, Shen Qing continued to prepare things with peace of mind.
Since the cave was not very big, Shen Qing and Li Xian would guard outside, while You Lang and Chu Lanqiu would stay inside to purify and hatch the demonic egg.
After everything was ready, You Lang was already on the verge of collapsing.
Drawing the formation not only required one's own blood but also the mixing of spiritual power between the fingers and drawing it together with the blood.
This demanded a high level of concentration and endurance from the person drawing the formation. If even a single stroke was drawn wrong, the entire formation would be ruined, and they would have to start all over again.
Shen Qing left some of his spiritual pills in the cave and then went outside with Li Xian.
After the barrier was opened, everyone took their positions.
Shen Qing also found a secluded place and took out his spiritual bone.
The spiritual bone transformed into a blue light dot, surrounded by black mist. This mist would sometimes grow thick and sometimes fade, but it never dispersed.
Li Xian had vaguely guessed that Shen Qing had a spiritual bone, but he didn't know the reason why half of Shen Qing's spiritual bone had been extracted.
Seeing Li Xian looking at him eagerly, Shen Qing felt that it was time to come clean. So he told Li Xian about how he had his half of his spiritual bone extracted by the True Man Heng Ling and given to Lin Yibai when he was a child.
As Li Xian listened, his face grew darker and darker.
It was clearly an act of forced seizure, yet the True Man Heng Ling had covered it up.
Lin Yibai even flaunted the benefits he had gained from the spiritual bone in front of the original owner, showing no sign of guilt in front of the victim.
What made Li Xian even angrier were Shen Qing's parents and Shen Chuyun.
Shen Chuyun had only managed to enter the Qingyun Sword Sect because of Shen Qing. Otherwise, with his talent, he would have only barely met the threshold for an inner - sect disciple. How could he have become a direct disciple and enjoyed those rare resources in the cultivation world?
Shen Qing's parents were even more biased towards sons over daughters. They had squeezed every bit of value out of Shen Qing.
They had not only ruined their daughter's future to pave the way for their son but also tried to marry Shen Qing off to an old man. If Shen Qing hadn't run away and endured unimaginable hardships to reach the Qingyun Sword Sect, he might never have met Shen Qing.
He almost lost such a wonderful fiancé!
"Why do you seem even angrier than me?"
Shen Qing looked at Li Xian with amusement and placed his hand on Li Xian's tightly clenched fist.
This time, Li Xian's eyes really turned red. He looked at Shen Qing with heartache. No wonder Shen Qing had tried so hard to please Pei Xuanjing and the others on Worry - Free Peak.
He feared that even the slightest bit of kindness they showed Shen Qing was a warmth that Shen Qing could hardly obtain at that time.
Looking at Shen Qing's smiling face, Li Xian couldn't help but pull Shen Qing into his arms.
Originally, the two of them were sitting on the rock, chatting face to face. Now the position had changed, with Shen Qing sitting on Li Xian's lap, and Li Xian encircling Shen Qing in his arms.
Shen Qing had always thought he was quite tall, but somehow, when he nestled in Li Xian's arms, he seemed a bit petite.
Li Xian hugged Shen Qing tightly and buried his head in the crook of Shen Qing's neck. His warm breath sprayed on Shen Qing's sensitive neck.
"Li Xian?!"
Shen Qing struggled awkwardly a couple of times. The successive intimate actions were too much for Shen Qing's heart to bear.
They had been chatting nicely. How did it turn into a hug?
"Don't move."
"Let me hug you."
"I feel sorry for you."
Li Xian said in a muffled voice. He really regretted that he hadn't shown some kindness to Shen Qing when they first met, causing Shen Qing to suffer so much.
When Shen Qing heard the words "feel sorry for", his nose twitched, and he almost shed tears.
He had never heard anyone say those words to him. It was as if he was born to suffer.
Shen Qing's stiff body gradually relaxed, and he slowly leaned his head on Li Xian's.
The two just nestled quietly in the warm sun.
Finally, because the sun was setting, the two reluctantly separated. But after this hug, their interactions became much more natural and intimate.
With the spiritual spring and the purification screen dew, the evil qi on the spiritual bone was easily removed.
But at this moment, Li Xian raised a question, "Why is the evil qi on the spiritual bone so tenacious? If it hadn't been in an environment filled with evil qi for a long time, it would never have had such an effect."
Only then did Shen Qing think of this problem. The spiritual bone had always been inside Lin Yibai's body. Logically speaking, before the Sea Coral City, apart from the Demon Lord Jizhong Ming, Lin Yibai had no contact with anything contaminated by evil qi.
But the spiritual bone seemed to have been soaked in evil qi for a long time, making it difficult for the spiritual spring to completely eradicate the evil qi.
If Lin Yibai was not the problem, then the problem might lie with the system.
What on earth was the origin of this system? Why was the evil qi so strong?
Just as Shen Qing was百思不得其解, Li Xian suddenly asked, "Do you know what evil qi is?"
Shen Qing instinctively replied, "Resentment, malice, death, desire... These things combine to form evil qi. There is no specific concept."
Li Xian nodded and then continued, "But the things in evil qi that are most likely to corrupt people's hearts are emotions like resentment and hatred."
"If Lin Yibai had been filled with resentment and hatred, it's possible for evil qi to be generated."
However, although this was said, Shen Qing still thought it was unlikely.
It would take an extremely powerful resentment and hatred to cause the evil qi on the spiritual bone to be so deep that it couldn't be easily removed.