Zhao Qian kowtowed as he pleaded desperately, "I... I'm from the Zhao Family's eldest branch, but I'm only a collateral descendant. Nobody values me! My father doesn't even have a say in the clan! Killing me won't do you three any good at all!"
"I swear! I won't breathe a single word of what happened today to anyone! If I break this oath, may Heaven strike me with lightning, destroy my martial foundation, and cast me into Avici Hell after I die!"
Watching Zhao Qian kneel and kowtow as frantically as someone pounding garlic, Elder Li of the Nine Rivers Sect immediately put on an expression of compassion for all living things.
He stepped forward and reached out to help Zhao Qian up, saying gently, "Young Master Zhao, what are you doing? Please, get up. The Nine Rivers Sect is a renowned and respectable sect, after all. How could we take lives so casually?"
At those words, Zhao Qian's face lit up with the wild joy of someone who had escaped death. He had never imagined he might still survive. Had he known, he would never have left home to train.
He had insisted on training in the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains to show his father how capable he was, never imagining he would encounter people this vicious.
"Thank you, senior! Thank you for sparing my life!"
"That's enough." Elder Li patted his shoulder, looking perfectly amiable. "Hand over your Storage Pouch, then head down the mountain. Remember, nothing happened today."
"Yes! Yes!"
As though granted a royal pardon, Zhao Qian hurriedly pulled a brocade pouch embroidered with gold thread from inside his robes and offered it with both hands.
Elder Li accepted the Storage Pouch and swept his divine sense through it. His smile deepened.
"Very good. You certainly