Liang Yi raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, finding relief in conversing with a clever person—it took but a few sentences to clearly state his demands and the price to pay.

He had no intention of using this opportunity to extort the Senluo Wanxiang Sect, which would be unrealistic. Even if the item in question was contrived by someone from the Senluo Wanxiang Sect, it surely did not reflect the sect's intention. Anyone with a sane mind could see that.

Moreover, his purpose for coming here was to extend a friendly hand and form an alliance with the Senluo Wanxiang Sect. There was no better time to express goodwill than now.

"Pang, my fellow cultivator, you worry too much. You and I, both being cultivators of the Righteous Path and part of a Super Force, it is nothing but normal to assist each other. Even if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have kept the secret until your sect uncovers the truth," Liang Yi said, his gentle smile warming by three degrees as he fully exercised his Charm attribute.

However, it was odd that Pang Qingshi barely reacted to Liang Yi, only gently nodding after sensing Liang Yi's goodwill.

The fine words spoken by Liang Yi were all anticipated by Pang Qingshi; still, his firmness in saying them was somewhat appreciated by Pang.

Lu Shanxing stood by the side with a look of "You really are a good person" as he watched Liang Yi. Truly worthy of being a disciple of the Taoist Sect's Banished Immortal, such magnanimity was indeed remarkable.

Standing next to Su Youyi, Zhou Yuqing shrugged slightly:

This man's mouth.

"Nevertheless, you should first save your junior brother over there. From what I see, he seems nearly dead, meow," Old Master Orange said, extending a paw to point at Wang Fuxian lying on the ground, nearly beyond the cat's perception of life signs.

"With thanks from all of us here," Pang Qingshi said earnestly with a bow after receiving Liang Yi's affirmative response and hurriedly joined Lu Shanxing in treating Wang Fuxian. He was their only clue, and they couldn't allow it to perish.

"No wonder I found his aura a bit odd before," Su Youyi said thoughtfully, looking at Wang Fuxian on the ground and recalling the first time they met.

At that first encounter, as she had just undergone the Breakthrough, she vaguely sensed an odd fluctuation in Wang Fuxian's aura, as if he were on the verge of entering the Sixth Realm at any moment.

Normally, a cultivator in such a state would have already sought seclusion to break through, not wandering around carrying out sect missions. Even if the mission was to chase after members of the Devouring Spirit Sect, how could that compare to one's own Realm breakthrough?

But Su Youyi didn't think too much of it; perhaps Wang Fuxian had made a breakthrough while on the mission?

"That Six Spirit Seal Profound Pill he must have taken not long ago, putting him in a state where he could break through at any moment," Zhou Yuqing analyzed.

"Even the time may not have exceeded twenty-four hours since such a state is irrepressible after 24 hours."

"This can indeed serve as an important clue for judgment," Liang Yi murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

For cultivators, a single day is incredibly ephemeral, and it's fairly simple to ascertain what one could have done within 24 hours.

With that in mind, Liang Yi walked straight over to Pang Qingshi, who was temporarily sustaining Wang Fuxian's life.

"One day ago?" Pang Qingshi looked at Liang Yi somewhat surprised, not knowing why he would ask such a question.

Liang Yi did not keep anything from her and directly shared all the intelligence he had discovered with Pang Qingshi.

But as she listened, Pang Qingshi's expression grew darker, and even Wang Fuxian standing nearby started to look quite distressed.

"What's wrong?" With such an obvious change, Liang Yi could not help but inquire out of curiosity.

"We have been pursuing Zhao Youting for three days now, and it was just one day ago... that was when Wang Fuxian and I lost contact with Lu Shanxing," said Pang Qingshi with a soft sigh, recounting what happened the day before.

After hearing the details, Liang Yi and the others exchanged glances. They had thought that Pang Qingshi and Wang Fuxian separating from Lu Shanxing was to split up and search for Zhao Youting's trail, but it now seemed like there might be more to the story.

"Three days ago when we set out to kill Zhao Youting, it was actually just Pang Sister and me, but Brother Wang inexplicably received some intel and insisted on joining us," Lu Shanxing said with an exhausted look, slouching on the deck. Even though he was a robust man, he gave off a despondent air.

"At that time, I was sure Brother Wang had not shown any signs of breaking through to the Sixth Realm because when I asked why he wasn't in seclusion seeking breakthrough in the sect, he told me his opportunity for advancement was actually outside the sect."

"When we lost track of Lu Shanxing, I intended to search for him first, but we kept mysteriously encountering a large number of traces left by Zhao Youting, which greatly slowed down our pursuit," Pang Qingshi said, now with her cold demeanor restored, but a deep loathing flickered in her eyes as she glanced at Wang Fuxian.

Everyone present was no fool. Combining this with a series of subsequent events, an ominous notion arose in everyone's mind.

Liang Yi and Su Youyi exchanged a glance, finding the idea somewhat absurd, yet also thinking it strangely expected within the realm of possibility.

"I suspect that Wang Fuxian colluded with Zhao Youting, either Wang Fuxian was originally from the Devouring Spirit Sect, or the price for his action was the Six-Spirit Profound Elixir," Pang Qingshi stated emotionlessly, voicing the suspicions within everyone's hearts.

This matter had to be addressed by her, as the Chief of Senluo Wanxiang Sect; no one else present could do so.

Only when she verbalized the suspicion did it become an internal matter of Senluo Wanxiang Sect, and Pang Qingshi would be recognized as the individual who uncovered the hidden crisis within the sect.

In this way, the authority of Senluo Wanxiang Sect could be somewhat preserved.

But if Liang Yi or the others were to speak out, it would imply that everyone in Senluo Wanxiang Sect was incompetent. Always calculating the Heavenly Mechanism, yet failing to foresee their own sect members colluding with the Devouring Spirit Sect—how could they then claim legitimacy to compete with Complete Heaven Sect for the title of the Righteous Path?

Liang Yi looked down to catch Pang Qingshi's gaze, understanding the implications behind her eyes. However, he had never intended to expose this matter—why would he do something that harms others without benefiting himself and also draws enemies' ire?

So, in response to Pang Qingshi's look, he simply nodded briefly, as a form of acknowledgment.

Pang Qingshi felt a surge of silent irritation. She, who usually had everything going her way, was now facing a string of misfortunes, with nothing working out as planned.

To make matters worse, all the leverage kept passing to Liang Yi's hands. In this situation, how could Senluo Wanxiang Sect muster the confidence to refuse Liang Yi's proposal to form an alliance?

But then Pang Qingshi reconsidered; after all, Liang Yi was simply on good terms with some people from the Complete Heaven Sect, not a member of the sect himself. Maybe Senluo Wanxiang Sect didn't need to be so resistant after all?

With these thoughts, Pang Qingshi's mind cleared up quite a bit.

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