''He seems friendly towards me, even though I've destroyed several buildings in Qing Ru Yi Red Palace,' Li Shen explained.
'I have to be careful. He must have hidden intentions behind this invitation,' Li Shen said.
Li Shen clapped his hands, then bowed his head towards Qing Fei, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, I have to refuse."
"Why?" asked Qing Fei, shocked.
"Right now, the Azure Pillar Sect is trying to rise again, I can't leave them. Besides, I'm not too strong and promising to join the Palace Elders," explained Li Shen.
Qing Fei was silent. There was a look of disappointment on his face after hearing Li Shen's refusal. In his opinion, Li Shen was a very promising mysterious cultivator for the Qing Yan Kingdom.
His terrifying strength could be the Qing Yan Kingdom's precious asset to become the strongest kingdom.
Even so, Qing Fei was not stupid. He was unwilling to force Li Shen as it would be bad for Qing Palace.
Today, he almost destroyed Qing Ru Yi's Red Palace, it wasn't impossible that he could also flatten Qing City in a single night.
"HAHA! Alright. I don't like forcing people either," Qing Fei explained.
"I've long been waiting for someone from Pillar Azure to come and show his power. Apparently, my wait paid off with satisfaction," Qing Fei said.
"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty. About the losses in Princess Qing Ru Yi's Red Palace..."
"You don't need to worry, Fellow Daoist. We have more than enough resources to rebuild Qing Ru Yi Palace," Qing Fei explained.
"However, I don't know how my daughter would respond if—"
"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY PALACE?!" a woman shouted.
Li Shen turned his head, as did Qing Fei. Both of them saw a woman dressed in a white-gold robe flying close to her Red Palace. Her skin was white, her hair was auburn brown with sharp eyes looking at the ruins in her palace.
Qing Ru Yi flew close to her Father while still standing on the magic sword. She was still at the Golden Core Formation stage, half steps towards Nascent Soul.
"What happened, Father?" asked Qing Ru Yi.
Qing Fei smiled. He said that he would tell Qing Ru Yi everything in detail.
"You may leave, Fellow Daoist," Qing Fei explained, allowing Li Shen to leave.
Li Shen nodded obediently, saying goodbye to him. He flew away, leaving the hill to float towards the city center, then flew away from Qing City.
Qing Fei raised her hand, bringing out a ball of energy at the fingertips. He directed the ball forward until it exploded right above the building ruins around the Red Palace.
Slowly, the reconstruction process started, returning Qing Ru Yi's Red Palace back to its original condition.
"What exactly happened? Who is he?" asked Qing Ru Yi.
"Yi'er. You should go to the Leader of the Qing Sect Alliance. I want you to bring my message to them," commanded Qing Fei.
"Leader of the Qing Sect Alliance?"
"Yes," Qing Fei explained.
Qing Ru Yi heard what Qing Fei said. How shocked she was to hear the message, something that was the first time he had done so far. Without thinking, Qing Ru Yi would go and deliver this message.
The woman said goodbye. She flew off accompanied by two Great Elders as her bodyguards, both of whom were at the Nascent Soul Peak stage.
"Able to release the power of the god's palm. As the ancestors expected, the Azure Pillar Sect will rise again," Qing Fei explained.
"If they rise and gain their glory again, I'm afraid that the Qing Yan Kingdom can't fight them equally," Qing Fei revealed.
"I must destroy them before they have the strength to destroy my kingdom!"
Elsewhere, Li Shen arrived at his sect. Ye Fa and Gu Mei saw Li Shen's arrival, both of them bent their heads in salute. Ye Fa asked about the fight's result.
"No one can defeat me," Li Shen explained, taking out two participation tokens as proof that Azure Pillar Sect had the right to participate in the Huang Valley Trials.
Ye Fa couldn't hide the happiness in her heart. She would gladly take the tokens and hand them directly to Xiao Bai and Hao Ziyue.
"Hand it over? Where are they?" asked Li Shen.
"About that... They're going to the Mist Forest to improve their abilities. They said they would be gone for three days," Ye Fa replied.
"Mist Forest?"
"Is there something?" asked Ye Fa, Li Shen shook his head.
"The monsters roaming Huang Valley are similar to the monsters in the Mist Forest. It's good for them because it will train their abilities and know the monsters' characteristics," said Li Shen.
Ye Fa breathed a sigh of relief. She thought Li Shen would be angry because she allowed Xiao Bai and Hao Ziyue to leave. Yet, Li Shen's response was beyond her expectation and it was quite a relief to her.
Li Shen told Ye Fa and Gu Mei to return to teaching the disciples, while he would return near Ruo Fei, helping his wife to recover again. Ye Fa and Gu Mei nodded submissively.
The man flew out of the sect's front yard to go to the Third Pavilion. He met Ruo Fei sitting on her knees while playing music through a lute instrument.
Every note she sounded was surrounded by beautiful sparkles of tiny blue light, the sound of the lute was also melodious and calming enough to soothe his heart.
Ruo Fei's eyes opened, seeing Li Shen returning home with a smile on his face. Ruo Fei smiled as well, getting up quickly and stepping over to Li Shen.
"I'm home," Li Shen greeted.
"I heard you went to fight against the Qing Palace Elders. Are you alright? What about your cultivation?" asked Ruo Fei, worried.
Li Shen shook his head, "I'm fine. I defeated them, even though I had to attract the Qing King's attention."
"King Qing?"
"That's right," explained Li Shen, turning his body and looking towards the sect's main building, "The Azure Pillar Sect's long history with the Qing Yan Kingdom cannot be underestimated. They must have started being wary of us."
"In that case, what should we do?" asked Ruo Fei.
"We have no other choice. We must stay alert for any possibilities."
Li Shen turned his head back, looking at Ruo Fei's face, "Even if they are helped by the heavens, I will stay here, protecting this place and you."
"That's my lifetime promise!"