It was finally time for them to make their escape.

Having been meditating continuously since this morning, Qinghe finally opened his eyes, some tiredness still lingering in them.

The last traces of the poison that bound his cultivation finally dispersed. His spiritual energy started moving again, sluggishly at first due to the spirit-suppressing material, but slowly started speeding up since his level of cultivation was above the capacity of the mid-grade material.

Qinghe immediately felt refreshed after having regained his spiritual circulation. He could feel his wounds beginning to rapidly heal and his tiredness vanis.h.i.+ng. The pangs of hunger that had been gnawing at his stomach also dissipated.

He could use his cultivation again.

Smiling, Qinghe spoke, "Senior Brother, please prepare. We're going to escape."

Chen Xiande's former dull and bored look immediately vanished. Anxiety and excitement were visible on his face. "But how are we going to get out."

Smirking, Qinghe enlightened him, "My cultivation has returned, so the easiest way would be to simply blast our way out. Using a simple plan of escape is for the best."

"Eh? Shouldn't these cells be made out of spirit-suppressing material? How can your cultivation return?" Chen Xiande asked, baffled.

Qinghe immediately entered lecture mode. "There are three grades of spirit-suppressing material: low-, mid-, and high-grade. Low-grade material can suppress up to third realm, mid-grade up to sixth realm, and high-grade up to ninth realm. You should know this, yes?"

Embarra.s.sedly, Chen Xiande shook his head. He hadn't been taught this much. He only knew that spirit-suppressing material existed and that it could render cultivation useless.

But Qinghe didn't scold or mock him. He simply nodded his head and continued, "That's alright, you know now. As the grade of the material increases, it becomes progressively more difficult to obtain. Low-grade is already costly as it is, with the price exponentially increasing for each successive grade. Now, as rich and influential as out captors seem to be, even they cannot find enough high-grade material to cover these many cells. That much high-grade material might not even exist in this world. But they are still prominent enough to furnish these cells with mid-grade material, which can only suppress up to sixth realm."

Gears turned in Student Chen's mind as he surmised, "So, you're saying that your cultivation is above sixth realm and so the moment the poison wore off, the spirit-suppressing material was unable to affect you?"

Beaming, Qinghe nodded.

"Wait," Chen Xiande realized something, "What level is your cultivation at then?"

"Eighth realm," Qinghe replied.

Chen Xiande had never felt more inadequate. He was Qinghe's senior brother, yet he was only in the third realm! That was a difference of five whole realms! No wonder the Elders though Qinghe was qualified to teach his senior brother. After understanding this, Chen Xiande felt crushed, but also let go of the last bit of resentment and reservations against his junior brother. He was completely inferior to him after all.

Realizing that his senior brother seemed to have gotten depressed because of his answer, Qinghe didn't know what to do. But then Chen Xiande's spirits bounced back up on their own.

"Junior Brother, then I'll be in your care! I will work hard to catch up to you!"

Qinghe happily nodded. Yes, that was the spirit!

"Alright, let me focus on blasting everything apart then. I'll need complete focus, so please make sure I'm not disturbed," Qinghe instructed him.

Chen Xiande nodded solemnly as he accepted the task.

Closing his eyes again, Qinghe quickly circulated his power while sharpening his mind. He'd need to push his precision control to its limits for this to work.

The first thing he did was to cast a barrier around theirs and the Elder's cells. The next step was to gather sufficient power.

Since he was almost bursting with the extra energy already, it didn't take long for him to acc.u.mulate enough power. The second before he released it, he spread his spiritual consciousness throughout the compound in a flood-like wave. Every person, every object, and every single detail was clearly visible in his mind.

Then he released the acc.u.mulated energy, sending it out in a powerful burst.

The air shook and split, the compressed shockwave of spiritual energy distorting the very s.p.a.ce it was blasting through due to its sheer unimaginable strength.

BOOM!

The whole base shook violently and instantly began to crumble.

Now!

In the fraction of a second it took everything to fall apart, Qinghe swiftly used threads of his spiritual force to adjust the positions of everyone and manipulate everything into place, from the people to the falling debris, so that not a single life would be lost, but also making sure that all these criminals would be held in place by the heavy chunks of falling wreckage.

Before any of the Black Fang members knew what happened, the building walls had already been crushed and the people within buried under the rubble. Not a single one could escape.

Without the energy from that fake heavenly sword, Qinghe would not have been able to reduce casualties to this extent. Most of the people in the base would have ended up dying or seriously injured.

Thankfully, Qinghe had already covered the Elder's and their cells in a dense wind barrier to prevent injury. The area within the hemispherical s.h.i.+eld was the only whole part of the building standing.

With wide eyes, Chen Xiande looked around him in disbelieving shock.

He could see the sky and smell the fresh air. Warm and fading sunlight brushed over his skin. In the distance, birds chirped.

They had been inside a dingy underground cell only a moment ago!

But with the top of the building blasted off and collapsing, all that was left now of the underground cells was a large pit with cracked floors and crumbling walls.

Having expended most of his power at once, Qinghe felt weak. Sharp pinp.r.i.c.ks danced over his skin and his eyelids drooped in exhaustion. The wound in his stomach had been torn open again. But they were finally out and had also captured several important personnel of the Black Fang criminal organization. So it was mission accomplished.

Chen Xiande suddenly made a surprised, choking sound.

Still slumped over in a sitting position, Qinghe was wondering if whatever had startled his senior brother was worth opening his eyes for when he heard a familiar voice speaking coldly.

"Feng Qinghe, what the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l are you doing?"

Eyes snapping open, Qinghe immediately looked up.

Wei Xiang stood calmly at the edge of the pit and atop a cracked wall, his eyes sparking with exasperated fury.

Qinghe gulped. Was he angry at him? Why?

In a weak voice, Qinghe presented a peace offering, "I caught some criminals for you. Why don't you take a look at them?"

Wei Xiang's eyes darkened, thunderclouds descending over his face.

Qinghe's robes were still shredded and the ragged edges bloodstained, adding to that the obvious bruises and other wounds, along with his clear exhaustion indicating that he'd pushed past his limits, how could Wei Xiang not get angry? His beloved was up to his same old self-sacrificing tricks again! Why did he always end up hurting himself more than his enemies?!

From the side, Chen Xiande shook his head. His mighty junior brother was such a fool. Now that he'd regained his cultivation, it would be better to get out from between this couple.

Chen Xiande thus made a sensible tactical retreat.

Following his lead, the silver-haired woman also took out a very rare teleportation talisman and injected it with her newly regained spiritual energy before vanis.h.i.+ng.

Qinghe felt abandoned.

Two heads poked past the edge of the wall, looking down into the underground cell. "Senior Brother, you're hurt?" Fei Jin asked worriedly.

Qinghe only then realized how he looked. He winced guiltily at the unnecessary worry he must be causing them.

Wei Xiang's voice was ice-cold as he suddenly questioned, "Qinghe…which one of them tortured you?"

The twins' eyes suddenly glinted with a ferocious light as Fei Jin asked in an eerily quiet voice, "Torture? Senior Brother, you were tortured?"

Pinned under those three pairs of piercing eyes, Qinghe felt like a helpless chunk of meat on the chopping block. Their gazes were sharp enough to cut him to pieces, and burning with enough intensity to cook him alive!

But still, Qinghe dared not lie. In his nervousness, he babbled, "Well, yes. But it wasn't more than I could handle, and see, all my injuries are almost healed already. I already took several healing pills and had a good night's rest. Plus, my cultivation's already returned, so all my wounds have almost closed…" Seeing Wei Xiang's expression grow darker and darker, Qinghe trailed off.

"So," Wei Xiang repeated, "you took several pills, had a good night's rest, and had your cultivation return. And for you to still have bruises and a visible hole in your stomach after all that, just how severe must your wounds have been in the beginning I wonder?"

Qinghe froze. Oh, c.r.a.p!

As someone who often undertook investigations, of course Wei Xiang could grasp this point.

"Qinghe," Wei Xiang spoke in a frighteningly soft voice. "Come here."

Wincing, Qinghe leapt up to where Wei Xiang and the twins were. For the first time in a long while, Qinghe was dreading a scolding. It brought back nostalgic memories from his early days when he'd newly joined the sect and had often been summoned to be 'advised' in this way by the stricter Elders. He never thought he'd get to relive those moments once more. And you know what? Qinghe would've been absolutely fine if he never had to go through those nerve-wracking experiences ever again!

The second Qinghe landed, the impact tore open his stomach injury further and caused his broken ribs to puncture his lungs. Paling, Qinghe almost collapsed at the sudden wash of pain as he heaved blood.

Wei Xiang hurriedly supported him, his anger turning to worry.

With a hand placed weakly on his chest, Qinghe kept shaking as violent coughs shuddered through him, each bringing with it a mouthful of blood.

Wei Xiang hurriedly retrieved pill after pill and pushed it through Qinghe's gasping mouth. The pills Wei Xiang had were of very high quality, and on top of that, Qinghe's cultivation had thankfully returned, so the pills' effects were also greatly increased, causing his coughing fit to finally subside. Drained, Qinghe slumped into Wei Xiang without the slightest strength remaining in his limbs.

The front of his tattered white clothes was now drenched in a waterfall of blood. Qinghe's complexion was paler than paper, with glaring purple bruises under his eyes due to blood loss. He looked weaker than ever and on the verge of death.

Seeing their precious, beloved senior brother like this, the twins' eyes were clouded with bottomless murderous rage.

They tore through the wreckage, digging up the immobilized members of the Black Fang and started tormenting them.

"Don't kill them," Wei Xiang coldly instructed as he began carefully removing the shackles on his lover, and the twins surprisingly listened. They didn't want Qinghe's efforts in capturing these goons to be wasted, and more importantly, they didn't want these people who'd hurt Qinghe to die so easily either.

Screams and cries of fear and pain rang out constantly, the chaotic cacophony an accompaniment to the twins' seemingly unquenchable fury.

"…Xiang, I'm sorry," Qinghe whispered faintly. Wei Xiang looked down at his beloved's miserable state. But Qinghe kept repeating in his cracking voice, "…I'm so sorry…very sorry, okay? So please…don't be mad anymore…I'm sorry…I'm really sorry…"

Wei Xiang's heart felt like it was bursting with pain. He sighed and comfortingly patted his distressed lover. "It's okay, I won't be mad anymore. But we will discuss your reckless behavior in detail later, understood?"

Qinghe sighed in relief and nodded. A discussion was something he could handle.

Knowing that it would be best if Qinghe was brought back to the sect as quickly as possible to rest, Wei Xiang called the twins back. With dissatisfied frowns and anger still written large on their faces, the twins reluctantly returned.

"I know you're not satisfied yet, but your senior brother needs to lie down and heal now more than anything. Rest a.s.sured that once their case is processed, I will punish them to the greatest extent of law possible for what they did to him."

Vicious murderous intent flashed in the twins' eyes as they asked, "Can we watch?"

Knowing what they meant, Wei Xiang agreed easily, "Yes, I'll bring you later to watch."

Qinghe, who was now free of his restraints and completely supported by Wei Xiang, cluelessly asked, "Watch what?"

Two half-blooded beasts and a full-blooded beast answered in unison, "Their punishment."

Qinghe gulped at the bloodthirst saturating their voices. Though they said punishment, it was easy enough to guess it would simply be Wei Xiang taking out his displeasure on them.

Wei Xiang called for his frivolous second brother to come pick up the criminals and used the shadows to transport himself, Qinghe, and the twins to Qinghe's room in the sect.

Carefully, Wei Xiang laid Qinghe down on the bed.

"The sheets are going to get dirty, I should at least change," Qinghe suggested.

Without exchanging a word between them, Wei Xiang started stripping Qinghe while the twins went to fetch a basin of warm water and fresh clothes. After placing the basin and clothes beside the bed, the twins turned to Wei Xiang and said solemnly, "Brother Xiang, we will leave disciplining Senior Brother to you."

Leaving behind a gaping Qinghe, they promptly departed.

It seemed Wei Xiang and the twins had become so much closer during his short period of absence, Qinghe reflected.

Wordlessly, Wei Xiang finished undressing Qinghe and began to wipe him down with a soaked washcloth. Qinghe knew he was too weak to do it himself, so he obediently let him. After Wei Xiang dressed Qinghe up in a fresh robe, afraid he'd begin scolding him again, Qinghe preemptively struck by asking, "Why did you come find me anyway?"

Wei Xiang answered, "It seems that after you left, those twin brats returned and looked for you. When they asked around, they found what happened and were panicking. I finished work early and came here to surprise you, only to find those two on the verge of tears. I took them with me and went searching for more information. The more I heard, the more worried I got. I used your scent and other clues to trace the route you took and made it there, only to find all clues vanish. Neither of us three could see past the invisibility of that place or find a way to break it. I was planning on calling for help when you blasted the entire building and its protections apart. Since we were concerned about your safety, we hurriedly looked around and finally managed to find you."

Qinghe drowned in guilt once more. Well, he had at least managed to divert his lover's attention…

"Qinghe, you caused quite a bit of trouble this time. Tell me, how should I punish you?"

…or maybe not.