It had been five years since Li Xian last left the secret realm. Holding Shen Qing's warm hand, he finally felt a sense of reality.
Shen Qing had truly woken up.
"Slow down. There are steps ahead. If you still feel unwell, I'll carry you."
"Aren't you cold? How about putting on a cloak?"
"Right. Senior White Dragon once said that your body would still be a bit weak when you recovered. You must take these pills every day to ensure your well - being. The pills are a bit bitter, so I've made some candied fruits for you to eat with them."
"Shen Qing... and..."
Shen Qing rubbed her forehead and covered Li Xian's chattering mouth with her hand. "Li Xian, how come I never noticed you were so talkative before?"
"Have you been pent - up for too many years?"
Li Xian stopped in surprise. Then he recalled what Xiao Jinglan had told him about the plots in the romance novels.
In those novels, when the male and female leads met again after many years apart, most of the time they already had new lovers by their sides. He didn't want Shen Qing to think that he had fallen in love with someone else.
Moreover, after a long separation, the feelings between the leads in the novels often faded. Would Shen Qing... also have faded feelings for him?
At this thought, a long - lost sense of panic welled up in Li Xian's heart.
Why did Shen Qing look so helpless? Had he done something wrong?
No! He would never let the plot in the novels happen to him!
So Li Xian imitated the image of the loyal puppy in the novels. He lowered his head slightly, looking aggrieved. Then he raised his eyes, with a glimmer of moisture in them, looking at Shen Qing pitifully.
Shen Qing's hand trembled, and she quickly took half a step back.
"Li Xian... What's wrong with you? Could it be that during my five - year coma, the outside world has changed beyond recognition? Has something happened to someone? Master, or the Dark Wolf, or Chaoyang and the others?"
Li Xian pouted. "No..."
Shen Qing was even more puzzled. "Then why are you acting like this...?"
Li Xian simply decided to go all out. He gritted his teeth and said aggrievedly, "I'm just worried about you."
Shen Qing was greatly shocked.
I?
"Wait! Have you been possessed?"
After a flurry of chaos, Li Xian finally returned to his former self, and only then did Shen Qing feel relieved.
The Longyuan Secret Realm was located in the dense forest outside the Qingyun Sword Sect. Now the Qingyun Sword Sect had returned to its former appearance.
Tens of thousands of years of vicissitudes of history had finally been replaced by a brand - new look with the disappearance of the old sect.
Standing in front of the brand - new mountain gate, Shen Qing looked at the unfamiliar gate - keeping disciples and couldn't help sighing. "I've only been away for five years, but why do I feel like everything has changed?"
Li Xian didn't feel much of a difference. He had watched through the Glass Mirror as the Qingyun Sword Sect was gradually established. Even though he hadn't left the secret realm for five years, he knew what the outside world was like.
He had thought that the gate - keeping disciples wouldn't recognize Shen Qing, and she would have to explain herself at length.
But unexpectedly, as soon as the disciples saw Shen Qing, a look of surprise flashed across their faces. Then they bowed respectfully to Shen Qing and said loudly, "Welcome back, Senior Sister Shen!"
Shen Qing was flattered. She hadn't expected that there were still junior brothers and sisters who could recognize her.
After passing through the mountain gate, Shen Qing wanted to go and pay respects to Real Man Honghua first, but the gate - keeping disciples told her that Real Man Honghua and Yu Xuzi had been staying in the Demon Realm for a long time and hadn't returned yet.
Shen Qing had no choice but to give up.
Then she thought about going to the Law Enforcement Hall to look for Qi Nian and Hong Chaoyang, but the disciples told her that the two had gone to the Five - Element Dao and the Beast - Taming Sect respectively.
Ling Zhou and Elder Yaoyue had gone traveling hand in hand. Real Man Hongdie and other elders were reclaiming land in the back mountain to expand the territory of the Qingyun Sword Sect.
"Alas, I finally came back, but they're all not in the sect."
Li Xian smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. We have plenty of time. We're bound to see them."
"You're right."
The two were about to stroll around for a while longer, but when they turned around, Shen Qing saw an old man with white hair and a hunched back.
The old man was leaning on a walking stick. When he saw Shen Qing, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Shen Qing... Is that you, Shen Qing? You're awake?!"
The old man's voice was hoarse and filled with excitement.
Shen Qing looked at the old man's wrinkled face and gray beard and couldn't figure out who he was.
After all, in the world of immortality cultivation, even those like Yu Xuzi who didn't deliberately maintain their appearance didn't have such a vicissitudinous face as this old man.
Shen Qing smiled and was about to step forward to help the old man up, but Li Xian tugged at her sleeve.
"Real Man Hengling, why did you come out instead of staying in your cottage? If you accidentally fall, it'll be hard to recover."
Shen Qing quickly withdrew her hand, and her pupils constricted.
This octogenarian in front of her was actually Real Man Hengling!
"What happened..."
Shen Qing was completely at a loss. She only remembered that during the great battle, although Real Man Hengling had exhausted his spiritual power and his hair had turned a bit gray, he hadn't reached this stage of near - death.
Could it be that something else had happened that she didn't know about?
Li Xian knew Shen Qing's confusion and whispered an explanation in her ear.
It turned out that after Shen Qing fell into a coma, no one knew what had happened, so rumors spread that Shen Qing had exhausted her vitality to seal the Demon God after extracting the dragon bone.
The rumors spread from person to person, and finally it was said that Shen Qing was on the verge of death after extracting the dragon bone.
After Real Man Hengling heard this, he actually forcefully extracted his own spiritual bone, muttering that he wanted to atone for his sins and give his spiritual bone to Shen Qing.
But Shen Qing was soaking in the Tianchuan River, and the dragon bone would grow back soon. She didn't need Real Man Hengling's spiritual bone.
Real Man Honghua tried to persuade him, but Real Man Hengling was obstinate. He refused to believe that Shen Qing was fine and insisted on giving his spiritual bone to her.
In the end, the spiritual bone evolved into light spots and disappeared because it had been out of the body for too long.
Without the spiritual bone, Real Man Hengling lost all his cultivation. His Golden Core was shattered, and his Dao foundation was damaged. From then on, he could no longer practice.
Real Man Hengling also refused Real Man Honghua's suggestion to extend his life and insisted on waiting for death.
Extract the spiritual bone and wait for death...
Hearing this, Shen Qing curled her lips into a sneer. She slowly walked up to Real Man Hengling, bent down, and asked in a deep voice, "You've remembered what happened before, haven't you?"
"Did it hurt when you extracted your spiritual bone?"
"You saved the people of the sect. I should thank you, but..."
"You killed Shen Qing of the previous life. I'll never forgive you."
"Real Man Hengling, our debt will only be truly settled when you die."
After saying that, Shen Qing straightened up and didn't look back at him again. She walked away hand in hand with Li Xian.
Real Man Hengling collapsed to the ground and cried out, "Shen Qing! It's my fault. Extracting the spiritual bone... It really hurt..."
"It really... hurt so much..."
Shen Qing took a deep breath. As the sound behind her gradually faded away, her tightened hand relaxed.
Li Xian turned his head and gently patted Shen Qing's back to help her calm down.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
After hesitating for a moment, Shen Qing still asked, "How about the others?"
Li Xian knew that Shen Qing was referring to Pei Xuanjing and the others.
He was about to speak about their situations when he saw a handyman disciple sweeping the floor in front of them.
Li Xian immediately fell silent and lifted his chin, motioning for Shen Qing to look.
Shen Qing followed Li Xian's gaze and found that the handyman disciple sweeping the floor was actually Shen Chuyun.
Hearing the noise, Shen Chuyun looked up and saw Shen Qing. The broom in his hand immediately fell to the ground. He wanted to flee in a hurry, but he sprained his foot when going down the steps and rolled down directly.
"Shen Chuyun couldn't bear the shock, and his Dao heart was shattered. He almost fell into the Demon Path. Later, he was rescued, but now he can only be a handyman disciple."
Li Xian whispered the explanation. As he told Shen Chuyun's experience, there was no trace of sympathy in his eyes. Instead, a sneer appeared on his face.
Wasn't it his just deserts to end up like this?
During the great battle, he had cowered in the secret realm. Finally, when he was forced out of the secret realm and saw Shen Qing fighting against the Demon God, he was so frightened that he developed a demonic obstacle.
How ridiculous.
"Sis... Senior Sister Shen... You're back."
Shen Chuyun got up awkwardly, his eyes filled with eagerness, longing for Shen Qing to say another word to him.
But Shen Qing just held her head high and walked past Shen Chuyun without looking back.
An insignificant person wasn't worth her stopping.
Seeing that Shen Qing didn't react at all, Li Xian continued, "He Yu used to follow Real Man Honghua. When he saw the ice shards falling from Han Ze, he wanted to use a magic treasure to block the attack for you, but unexpectedly the magic treasure was shattered. He was injured on his face by the explosion of the ice shards. The ice shards were full of demonic energy, and the demonic energy eroded into his bones. Now his face is disfigured, and the He family has taken him back. He hasn't come out since."
"I heard that the position of the young master of the He family will be taken over by that Miss He from the Qingyin Valley. The He family seems to be planning to abandon him."
"Nan Zhijin's natal sword was broken, and he suffered a backlash. Real Man Honghua gave him a chance to go to the Sword Tomb, but unexpectedly, none of the swords in the Sword Tomb recognized him. A sword cultivator without a sword is really ironic."
Shen Qing nodded. It was indeed so.
But after waiting for a while, there was still one person that Li Xian hadn't mentioned.
"What about Pei Xuanjing?"
Li Xian's eyes dimmed. "Pei Xuanjing has fallen into the Demon Path..."
Fallen into the Demon Path?
"How did this happen?"
"Pei Xuanjing took the pills from Han Ze, and demonic energy was born in his body. Master wanted to remove the demonic energy for him out of consideration for him being Real Man Hengling's disciple. Then he heard that something had happened to you."
"No one knows what he was thinking. After hearing that the heroic spirits of the Dragon Clan were once sealed in the Demon Realm, he wanted to go to the Demon Realm to look for the heroic spirits of the Dragon Clan to see if there was a solution. He voluntarily fell into the Demon Path."
Who needed his unnecessary actions?
Looking back, Li Xian thought that the people on Wangyou Peak were really all kinds of strange.
They refused to listen to others' advice and insisted on doing things their own way. No wonder Shen Qing refused to look back.
Real Man Honghua and Yu Xuzi had said many times that Shen Qing was fine, but they just wouldn't listen.
This self - indulgent sacrifice was simply unnecessary.
Shen Qing shook her head and walked down the steps step by step. The sun was gradually rising, and the dawn was breaking. Everything represented new life.
But there were always some people who stubbornly buried themselves in the past. Shen Qing couldn't and didn't want to care.
Shen Qing turned her head and tightly held Li Xian's hand. "Li Xian, let's go back and visit Master."
Li Xian nodded with a smile. "Yes, my lady."