The room was a vast space that had a round table with four chairs in the center. There were a total of eight people in the room:


    Lian Lin, the head of the Heavenly Sword Sect


    Liu Yang, the head of the Nine Pills Sect


    Feng Gu, the head of the Resting Eagle Sect


    Zhang Mei, the head of the Starry Stream Sect


    Xu Mei, the founder of the Heavenly Sword Sect


    Each sect leader, except for Lian Lin, was apanied by their main disciples, who had the highest chance of inheriting the status of sect leader. Xie Qing only knew Li Yun, and Lu Yin, and not the remaining boy. The sect leader Feng Gu disciple was a short man with a serious look, his aura was at the fifth stage of Core Formation.


    "Xu Mei, Sister Liu Yan. You''ve finally arrived!" the man nodded and smiled at them. This man was Feng Gu. He was a tall man with bright blue eyes and dark chestnut hair. His posture was straight, and his build was muscr. He emitted a crushing and imposing atmosphere, as if one were standing in front of a mountain.


    Even Lu Yin and Li Yun could barely breathe.


    "What a show-off! I won''t stand for anypetition!" thought Xie Qing, rolling his eyes and releasing his Qi, enveloping the dome for the two girls.


    "T-thank you..." Lu Yin breathed deeply and thanked him.


    "Phew... Thank you so much!" Li Yun smiled charmingly - her smile was innocent and very cute, and looking at the dimples formed by her smile, Xie Qing subconsciously wanted to pinch her.


    However, he did not do so, feeling Zhang Mei''s gaze on him. The young man smiled faintly at the corners of his mouth, then sent his thought with the Soul Mark:


    "Sect Leader Zhang seems unhappy. Can I help with anything?"


    "You would be helping me a lot if you removed this annoying mark!" Zhang Mei''s annoyed voice sounded, which was a bit unusual, considering her usually cold behavior.


    "I would be happy to, but I can''t. The mark is unyielding, so I have to leave it," Xie Qing said sadly and sighed: "Who would have thought that such a misfortune would happen to me..."


    "You..."


    Zhang Mei lost her voice, seeing the audacity of this guy. Fine, if he pretended that he couldn''t remove the mark, but why was he posing as a victim?!


    "Bastard! Just as arrogant as his Master! Two peas in a pod!" Zhang Mei snorted and cut off the connection.


    Xie Qing merely smiled and looked away. Of course, he could remove the mark at any time, but he found it amusing and decided to leave it. In any case, if he needed to ask Zhang Mei for something, this method was quite effective.


    To his great regret, it seemed that Zhang Mei could interrupt the connection.


    "By the way, I''ve only recently figured out how to open and close the connection normally. So..."


    The young man thought about something, and his face looked strange, Zhang Mei was puzzled as to why Xie Qing was looking at her as if she were something dangerous.


    ***


    "You say you''ve found a demon? That''s a serious matter; after all, they haven''t been around for so many years. A real danger worthy of attention," Feng Gu muttered, his face bing awkward when he felt the gaze of so many people on him: "What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"


    Zhang Mei snorted, and Liu Yan smiled kindly, but Xu Mei wouldn''t be Xu Mei if she hadn''tmented on this moment.


    "Because you screwed up big time. Because your thoughts are preupied with all sorts of nonsense, the devilish cultivators now have some path outside the continent," Xu Meimented, opening a bottle of wine and pouring herself a ss, then casually snorted: "That''s why everyone is looking at you like an idiot. You''re acting as if nothing happened."


    "Uh... your tongue... still so sharp."


    Feng Gu smiled awkwardly, but he understood that he was indeed to me here. Although the entire continent was sealed with a special formation, the devilish cultivators still found a loophole, and the me for thisy with him.


    That''s why he hasn''t been able to focus on cultivation for a month now. This issue has severely affected his reputation and the reputation of the sect. There were even mass riots among mortals who doubted that the righteous sect could protect them.


    Xie Qing genuinely sympathized with this man. If it were him, the continent would have long since be a wastnd.


    "It''s funny that cultivators at the peak of cultivation can''t use their power to its fullest... ording to Master, this is due to the Heavenly Restriction," Xie Qing remembered and narrowed his eyes: "Is the world protecting itself? Or is it rted to other beings? Could the Immortal World really exist?"


    However, these were just spections. But the problem of devilish cultivators was real, and Xie Qing didn''t quite understand how to deal with it.


    "I''m just an ordinary guy who knows how to kill and lie in bed with girls. I was barely stronger than a mortal a year ago," he thought and sighed: "How am I supposed to get involved in such things? Better just keep quiet."


    Unfortunately... he had no experience in leading suchrge-scale wars. Moreover,ing up with a strategy, let alone a smart and effective one, was no easy task, and he had very little experience.


    "So, the best tactic is to keep quiet!"


    ...and you quickly gave up.


    However, the righteous path wouldn''t be the strongest if it made one panic. Countermeasures were quickly devised, which included the mass gathering of forces and the creation of formations.


    Moreover, devilish Qi was very noticeable, and Xu Mei had some things from the past that could detect them.


    Although the detection radius was limited, it could be said that they could be improved. In this matter, the Starry Stream Sect was the best.


    The meeting continued, and when the orders were formed, the conversation turned to a more rxed channel.


    "Xu Mei, I''ve heard a lot about your disciple. They say he''s the third in the generation of great swordsmen," Feng Gu changed the subject and looked at Xie Qing. The man met the indifferent eyes of the young man and raised his eyebrow: "Straight posture, indifference in the eyes reminds you of you in your youth.


    If I weren''t a cultivator at the level of Transcendence, I would have thought he was an ordinary mortal."


    Xie Qing raised his eyebrow, and the light began to return to his eyes. In fact, he had fallen asleep, but he could still hear their conversation. When he felt that he had be the center of attention, he nodded.


    "Pfft, as if! He currently has the best talent for the sword. In a few hundred years, he''ll be even better than that upstart Sword Empress!"


    Zhang Mei remained silent, but in her thoughts, she couldn''t help but roll her eyes, hearing such an unfriendly reference from Xu Mei to the great historical figure who was recognized as the strongest swordsman in history.


    Liu Yan, on the other hand, maintained her usual carefree appearance, smiling gently and even brewing tea at one point. Lu Yin, on the other hand, took out sweets from her spatial ring (although it''s unclear why she kept them there) and ced them on the table.


    "Are you on a pic or something?" Xie Qing and Xu Mei thought simultaneously.


    However, they did not voice it. Xie Qing did not want to be rude to a person whom even Xu Mei respected, and the Master simply did not want to miss out on the sweets.


    What strange people!


    ***


    "Li Yun, are you tired? Master and the others have been talking for two days, and you''ve been using your Qi all this time to help them," Xie Qing said and extended his hand: "Let me help you?"


    "Uh... I''m not tired, but thank you very much," the girl was touched by the kindness of the young man and extended her hand, cing it in the palm of the wolf. Xie Qing smiled casually, ignoring the intense gaze on his back.


    "Miss Lu Yin won''t join us?" the young man asked, noticing Li Yun''s difort.


    "Huh? No, Lu Yin is running a littlete; she needs to discuss the necessary materials for the pills," Li Yun answered and sighed: "I also have a lot of work to do. I need to work on improving the charm for detecting devilish Qi and creating signal tokens. In short, the workload will be heavy."


    "Huh? It seems I have the easiest task..." Xie Qing replied, wrinkling his nose: "I feel bad about it. It''s as if I''m a useless vase."


    Li Yun didn''t know how to react to this, but she wanted tofort him. So she pulled on the young man''s sleeve and said with an embarrassed face:


    "You''re also an important part of the n. Your strength deserves attention, and you need to respond quickly to signals, which is also not an easy task!"


    "Ooh... your words make my heart melt!" Xie Qing smiled.


    "Melt?" the girl blushed, seemingly misunderstanding him.


    Xie Qing merely shrugged. Although killing was fun on one hand, on the other, he didn''t want to ck off too much when even Xu Mei was actively participating in joint work.


    He thought for a moment, then tilted his head:


    "I have a small talent for alchemy. If I reinforce my knowledge and learn, I can help Miss Lu Yin. Miss Li Yun, does your sect have an elder who will allow me to take up some of his time? I want to study formations and charms, as well as basic knowledge of creating items."


    "Oh?"


    Li Yun was surprised and thoughtful. The Starry Stream Sect''s technologies were in formations, charms, studying techniques, and creating items. Their technique was very rare, and only disciples could study it.


    Therefore, Xie Qing hoped to learn a little, as it could help in the future. It''s just that he didn''t know who he could turn to for help.


    As for whether they would agree or not, he could simply ask Zhang Mei. It was unlikely that he would be refused.


    "Well... why not? Although the technique is spread only within the sect, I think the Master won''t refuse to let you study. After all, you are a talent and a disciple of the Sword Princess," Li Yun answered, poking her finger into her cheek and smiling innocently: "Besides, you''re a good person, so I trust you!"


    "Miss Li Yun, you''re so charming," Xie Qing suddenly said with a surprised face.


    "Huh?!"