Chapter 534 - They're Both In Danger!

The storm roared in their ears, but the duo at its center paid it no mind. Lying on the ground, Meng Wanshu’s eyelashes trembled. She opened her eyes slowly and gazed at Li Guanqi with her ice-blue eyes, mesmerized for a moment before shyly looking away.

She gently lifted the light chiffon fabric of her dress. The air seemed to fall silent. Only their ragged breathing remained. The moment their eyes met, both their hearts calmed.

Looking at the gruesome wounds covering his body, Meng Wanshu pursed her lips, trying not to cry. But tears pooled in her eyes anyway, and Li Guanqi gently wiped them away.

“What are you crying for, silly girl?”

They gripped each other’s hands, sending warmth to each other. Their eyes met, brimming with a love that words could not capture. The mood grew more romantic as Li Guanqi gently swept her hair back and caressed her cheek. She looked down shyly, but there was also a hint of anticipation in her eyes. Slowly, she looked up and closed her eyes. The sound of her quickening heartbeat echoed in her chest.

Thump thump! Thump thump!

Their lips drew nearer, as if guided by an unstoppable force. A soft touch, then a kiss so tender it felt like their very souls were meeting. A shudder traveled through her entire body. She was fully immersed.

Time seemed to stop. Their breathing quickened, their bodies drew closer, and their hearts beat in tandem. Meng Wanshu’s body heated up, but perhaps it wasn’t from the fire seal.

With a soft moan, the eye of the storm became the storm itself.

***

Meanwhile, outside the storm, Li Changqing fought a grueling battle. His two opponents weren’t faring much better—they were covered in wounds, missing limbs, and looking extremely pale. Retreat was already on their minds. They had lost so many men, yet still hadn’t killed Meng Wanshu.

“

Hmph!

Let’s go!”

Their attacks intensified as they worked together to force Li Changqing back. They tossed out two black, fist-sized cube seals. The seals shone brightly, transforming into a cage that trapped Li Changqing.

The duo crushed a transporter scroll without hesitation and teleported away. Since they had triggered the ice poison in Meng Wanshu’s body, she was almost certainly going to die. Regular yang treasures would not be effective against such potent ice poison.

What they never could have guessed was that Li Guanqi could merge three heavenly flames.

Li Changqing broke the seal, but the enemy had already vanished. He coughed up blood mixed with bits of his internal organs. Despite his pale face, he did not stop to heal himself. Instead, he rushed out of the domain.

The terrifying force of the icy storm slammed into him, threatening to freeze the world itself. Looking at the hundred-zhang-wide storm, his expression darkened. He appeared next to Xiao Chen and Ye Feng in a flash. “Where’s Li Guanqi?”

Xiao Chen cried out in panic, “Inside! But we keep hearing groans from inside, like they’re in pain. I don’t know what’s going on in there.”

Next to him, Ye Feng’s face darkened. He did not dare say anything... He had set a golden boundary around the edge of the storm, keeping the sounds inside.

Unfortunately, Xiao Chen had been panicking ever since he heard sounds coming from the storm. He grabbed Li Changqing’s arm. “Elder Li, please go inside and check on them! Li Guanqi forced himself into the storm despite his serious injuries. And Wanshu... I don’t know how Wanshu is.

“The storm calmed soon after Li Guanqi entered, but... based on the sounds we heard, it’s like they’re enduring something painful.”

Li Changqing’s brow furrowed. Meng Wanshu naturally had a special physique. The ice qi in her body required constant suppression. He hadn’t expected the storm to be so strong either, and he couldn’t enter because of his injuries. Li Guanqi, who had the heavenly flames, was likely the only one among them who could.

If what Xiao Chen said about their pained groans was true, the storm was not as simple as it seemed. When he was about to break the storm open by force, Ye Feng quickly stopped him. “Senior! Senior, Senior, Senior...

Um...

I think Boss has already thought of a solution. Look, the storm has stopped strengthening. He must have found a way to suppress it already.”

Li Changqing frowned and thought about it. The storm had indeed stopped expanding, so it really did seem like Li Guanqi had found a solution. But then he saw Xiao Chen’s panicked expression again. “What about the sounds Xiao Chen mentioned?”

Peng Luo rushed to Ye Feng’s side with a perverted smirk on his face, but the moment he opened his mouth to speak, Ye Feng shoved his fingers down Peng Luo’s throat.

“That’s obviously

—mmph!”

Ye Feng smiled. “They should be fine. I’m sure they’ll come out soon.”

Peng Luo lay face down on the ground, dry heaving. He glared furiously at Ye Feng, who glared right back. Although Peng Luo muttered curses under his breath, he said nothing else.

Li Changqing gave Ye Feng a small nod, then gathered all the remaining people to clean up the battlefield and look for clues.

Xiao Chen continued to pester Li Changqing, asking him to clear a path through the storm and check on them.

“I can’t! Can’t you see that I’m hurt?” Li Changqing huffed. “Take your cloud boat up. We’ll have to take your boat back.”

Xiao Chen tossed his cloud boat out, still distracted. It was a fire-red vessel, four stories tall and fifty zhang long. On a normal day, he avoided using it because of its alarming spirit stone consumption, opting instead for a more basic spacecraft.

Ye Feng pulled Xiao Chen’s arm and started walking toward the cloud boat, comforting him. “In life, sometimes we’ve got to learn to let go... For example, we shouldn’t be stubborn about things that we have no hope of accomplishing... Yes... That’s right.”

Xiao Chen frowned. “Why are you talking about these things? Aren’t you worried about Li Guanqi? Both of them are in great danger right now. That storm could flare up at any moment! Why are you lecturing me about philosophy?”

Ye Feng looked up at the heavens. He no longer knew what to tell Xiao Chen. He turned back toward the storm and muttered, “Boss really is Boss.”

And just like that, they waited for almost four hours. The storm began to weaken, and two powerful auras erupted from within. These two auras skyrocketed in strength, spreading across all space.

Li Changqing turned green and cursed under his breath. “That little shit!”

Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu’s auras strengthened significantly. Soon, two explosions rang out, and rings of shockwaves spread across thousands of zhang.

Mid Illusory Refinement Realm.

Late Illusory Refinement Realm.