Chapter 2095: Just a Minor Immortal Artifact

Two people came to the town seeking help, completely unaware that, after they left, over a dozen who heard the news immediately left the town and rushed toward Cloud Foot Palace.

Not a single one of those over a dozen had cultivation below the Immortal Emperor Realm.

Although they had no powerful backing, they were all lone wandering cultivators.

This is also why, when Dao One Immortal Sect previously opened its doors to recruit disciples, they did not let their own juniors participate.

Otherwise, like those few family patriarchs, going to Dao One Immortal Sect to secure a ceremonial post and earn a living would certainly be no problem.

Alas, I am alone with no descendants; only when needed do I regret having too few.

During this time I had been constantly scheming about this; upon hearing the news, everyone's eyes lit up immediately—wasn't this a heaven‑sent opportunity?

Adding flowers to brocade cannot compare to sending charcoal in the snow, especially when this is a "life‑saving favor."

The over a dozen had no hesitation whatsoever and rushed straight to Cloud Foot Palace.

With their cultivation levels, traveling from the town to Cloud Foot Palace naturally would not take long.

The fastest among them reached Cloud Foot Palace in just half a Shíchén.

At that moment, inside the hall of Cloud Foot Palace, the middle‑aged man and his companions were discussing something when an elder suddenly came to report.

"Palace Master, Qinghe Laoguai has suddenly come calling, saying he wishes to see you."

"What does he want?"

Hearing this, the middle‑aged man seated in the chief seat furrowed his brows.

He had heard of Qinghe Laoguai before—a lone cultivator, yet his strength was indeed not to be underestimated.

Having been in the Immortal Emperor Realm for many years, even compared to himself he was not inferior, a renowned strong lone cultivator in the Immortal Realm.

Many immortal clans have honored him as an honored guest, but sadly, over all these years he has joined no faction, remaining solitary and unrestrained.

In fact, powers like this lone cultivator strongman are avoided by all major forces unless absolutely necessary, for they are reluctant to offend him lightly.

After all, he has no ties or burdens, not even a descendant, and can be said to have no weaknesses.

Yet any faction inevitably has a younger generation; once you become enemies, the other side may be unable to touch you, but killing your junior disciples would still be easy.

And if you try to capture him, that would be difficult.

After a moment of silence, the middle‑aged man finally spoke.

"Please let him in…… No, I'll go myself."

I had originally intended to say "let him come in," but after reconsidering, since Qinghe Laoguai is a fellow Immortal Emperor Realm expert, it would be better for me to appear in person.

As these words fell, a white‑haired elder in the hall laughed and said.

"I happen to have some acquaintance with Qinghe Laoguai; I'll go together with you, Dao brother."

"That's wonderful."

Immediately afterward, the group actually exited the hall together and saw Qinghe Laoguai outside.

Merely seeing him, the middle‑aged man and his companions all furrowed their brows—"Is this Qinghe Laoguai? He looks just like an old farmer."

Having rushed from the town to Cloud Foot Palace, Qinghe Laoguai hadn't even had time to change his clothes.

At this moment he wore straw sandals, his pant legs rolled up to the knees, his upper body clad in a short combat vest, and a straw hat on his head.

He looked exactly as if he had just come in from the field.

The middle‑aged man stared in surprise until the white‑haired elder who knew Qinghe Laoguai stepped forward and struck up a conversation, after which everyone confirmed his identity.

"Brother Qinghe, long time no see—how have you been?"

"Patriarch Wu, it's been a hundred years since we last parted, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, back when I invited Brother Qinghe to join my Wu family, Brother Qinghe still…………………"

"Those are old stories; today I've come on official business—let's catch up on the small talk later."

Qinghe Laoguai, anxious to save lives, found those people's excuses to be all over the place.

"Something about a baby being born at home, the spiritual tree not watered"—he wasn't stupid, and naturally knew that others were surely also on their way to Cloud Foot Palace at this moment.

He possessed a top‑grade immortal vessel, the fastest possible, so naturally he sought to seize this first‑move advantage as much as he could.

Before anyone else arrived, he would first rescue the youngster Ye, thereby earning the chief merit.

So he had no time to waste words with the Li family patriarch.

Seeing Qinghe Laoguai's solemn expression, the Li family patriarch's face darkened slightly; he glanced at the middle‑aged man—namely, the Cloud Foot Palace patriarch—without changing his tone.

That gaze clearly asked, "How has Cloud Foot Palace offended them? They've even come knocking on your door."

To this, the middle‑aged man was utterly bewildered.

Cloud Foot Palace had never heard of anyone connected to Qinghe Laoguai; moreover, Qinghe Laoguai made his name in the Qinghe River Basin, which is a hundred‑thousand‑eighty‑thousand li away from Cloud Foot Palace.

What grudge could there possibly be?

Unable to fathom it, the middle‑aged man still stepped forward, clasped his hands, and smiled.

"I don't know what brings you here, Dao brother Qinghe."

It's better to ask clearly; perhaps I'm overthinking.

The middle‑aged man didn't know what grudge existed between Cloud Foot Palace and Qinghe Laoguai; in response, Qinghe Laoguai returned the salute and said slowly.

"I heard you previously captured a batch of people and brought them back."

"Huh???"

As soon as those words were spoken, the middle‑aged man's brows tightened further; the first thing that came to mind was Ye Zhangqing and his gang.

He stared straight at Qinghe Laoguai; if this was the reason for his visit, there was nothing to negotiate.

The sect's treasury had been stolen; leaving aside the amount of loss, just speaking of the loss of face, Cloud Foot Palace could not possibly release the prisoners.

Although Qinghe Laoguai is also an Immortal Emperor Realm expert, he doesn't carry that much weight—after all, he's just one person.

"There is such a matter; Dao friend Qinghe, are you here for these people?"

The middle‑aged man's tone also turned cold; in response, Qinghe Laoguai paid no heed and simply nodded in acknowledgment.

Not bad, these people are my close friends; please, Dao brother, give me some face.

Hehe, Dao brother Qinghe spoke up; other matters are easy to discuss, but this one cannot be allowed—these Thieves' Sect people have stolen my sect's treasure vault; how could we just let them go? In that case, where would the face of my Cloud Foot Palace be?

What did they steal? I'll compensate.

Qinghe Laoguai also couldn't be bothered to argue; he just spoke directly.

In response, the middle-aged man gave a cold snort.

Three Fairy Artifacts, Dao brother Qinghe, are you also willing to bear the cost?

This remark was deliberately nonsense spoken by the middle-aged man; Xu Jie and the others never stole any Fairy Artifacts at all. After all, taking those would be unusable for the current crowd.

The consumption is too great; it's meaningless.

Saying that was just to make Qinghe Laoguai give up due to difficulty; unexpectedly, upon hearing those words, Qinghe Laoguai didn't even think and directly said.

It's just a few Fairy Artifacts; I'll compensate.

Huh???

Upon hearing that, the middle-aged man was stunned, and everyone else present was also stunned.

You're also going to compensate for three Fairy Artifacts? You should know these are three Fairy Artifacts, not just some ordinary magical implements.

In the Immortal Realm, Fairy Artifacts are not few, but they are accumulated over long years; even if you go to Weapon King Immortal City, you can at most refine one or two per year, and each one that appears is worth a fortune.