Zhou Zhi snapped his head up and roared into the open air, "I'll take the place of the second stone statue!!"
At these words, the surrounding Great Xia Sword Sect disciples were horrified and rushed to dissuade him.
"Senior Brother, you can't!"
"No, Senior Brother! You might die!!"
*Clack, clack, clack!!*
The deathly mechanical clatter rang in everyone's ears.
In the next instant, Zhou Zhi was violently hauled away. His limbs were impaled and locked fast, turning him into the second stone statue!
Even with his limbs skewered through, Zhou Zhi gritted his teeth and didn't utter a single sound.
Looking up at the dodging Li Guanqi, he roared, "Fight without holding back!! I'll be your backing!"
Looking back, Li Guanqi felt his heart tremble at the sight.
He had never expected this Eldest Senior Brother, with whom he shared little history, to do such a thing.
Li Guanqi exhaled a breath of stale air, then slowly closed his eyes and murmured softly, "Rest assured, Eldest Senior Brother. Since you believe in me so much... how could I... possibly... lose!!"
*Bang!!*
With a ferocious kick that sent Wei Kun flying dozens of zhang, Li Guanqi snatched up the pills and threw them into his mouth!
Chewing and swallowing them all down, he felt his dantian ignite as if stoked by raging flames, surging with scorching heat that flooded his entire body.
*Buzz!!*
Within Li Guanqi's spiritual terrace, a longsword bathed entirely in blood-red radiated an eerie, bewitching crimson light.
A wisp of that crimson light flowed down Li Guanqi's left hand and melted into the Canglang sword.
*Boom!!!*
An invisible shockwave suddenly blasted outward through the arena. Li Guanqi stood his ground, his white robes snapping violently in the wind.
A subtle change took place across the dark green blade of Canglang.
Ripples coursed over the blade, their flow shimmering like fine fish scales along the cutting edge.
In an instant, the surrounding barrier trembled faintly, stirring with endless ripples.
"Gale!"
This was the understanding that formed in Li Guanqi's mind regarding the power bestowed by the artifact soul.
"Gale... so this is the artifact soul's ability... bestowal."
At Li Guanqi's side, the illusory phantom of an azure wolf over a zhang tall suddenly manifested, howling toward the heavens!!
With his blood and vitality surging, the aura Li Guanqi exuded was comparable to the Foundation Establishment Great Circle!
In the distance, drool leaked from the corner of Wei Kun's mouth, his twisted expression cold as he grated out, "Is this your trump card?"
Li Guanqi's eyes were crystal clear. He whispered, "Enough... to kill you!"
*Boom!!!*
The floor of the Thousand Mechanism Formation Plate violently ruptured!
A blurred figure closed the distance to Wei Kun in the blink of an eye.
"So fast!!"
*Slash!!!*
Wei Kun raised his hand purely on instinct, but a dark green sword beam flashed before his eyes.
Immediately after, a chilling sensation swept across his chest and neck!!
*Spurt!!!*
The two black-robed men serving as stone statues died instantly!
Terrified, Wei Kun retreated frantically, shouting again and again, "Replenish!! Quickly, replenish!!"
Yet the moment he realized something was wrong and turned his head, he met a pair of bloodshot white eyes!!
*Boom!!*
A sword stroke tore from his neck all the way down to his ribs!
That glint of cyan had merely flashed across his vision for a fleeting instant!
Canglang now gleamed with freezing sharpness. Bestowed with the Gale attribute by the artifact soul, Li Guanqi's left-handed swordplay could now transcend his peak speed, achieving nine strikes in a single breath!
It might have seemed like a mere difference of two strikes, but those two strikes surpassed even the heroic sword cultivators in the Hundred Champions Illusion!
Within a few brief breaths, the situation on the field had turned completely one-sided.
Yet having swallowed three Scarlet Firmament Pills, Wei Kun possessed a strength that could not be taken lightly. Every counter-strike he mounted sent jarring impacts through Li Guanqi's grip until the webbing between his thumb and forefinger throbbed with agony.
*Bang!*
A heavy, powerful kick slammed square into Li Guanqi's chest.
*Crack, crack!*
Li Guanqi felt as if he had been struck head-on by a rampaging bull, and three of his ribs snapped.
His body flipped several times in midair. Reaching out, he forcefully snapped the bones back into place, swallowed the excruciating pain, and charged forward once more.
Zhou Zhi watched with mounting excitement as the black-robed figures inside the opposite barrier dwindled one by one, holding his breath without realizing it.
After another moment, Zhou Zhi roared in wild excitement, "Junior Brother!! He only has his last statue left!!!"
Everyone looked up and saw that the barrier across from them was completely empty.
Below, only a single statue remained.
Drenched in blood and bearing over a dozen sword wounds across his body, Li Guanqi's vision blurred for a split second, only for him to suddenly bare his teeth in a grin.
"Wei Kun, tell me, do you fear death?"
Wei Kun's chest heaved violently. His throat bobbed, and his gaze turned strangely calm.
"Fear it? Of course I do! I, Wei Kun, fear death more than anyone else in this damn world!"
"But rather than living out my life in a muddle, I'd rather die right here!!"
*Boom!!*
Wei Kun's left sleeve hung empty, his muscles torn in numerous places.
His chest bore several more sword wounds that pierced straight through from front to back.
All of these were the injuries Li Guanqi had carved into his flesh once there were no more black-robed men to take the blows for him.
Their eyes locked, and both understood that this would be their final clash.
The moment blood dripped from the tip of Li Guanqi's sword, they moved simultaneously!
*Thud! Bang!*
Wei Kun opened his mouth wide, his eyes savage as he roared, "Die!!!"
Li Guanqi whispered beneath his breath, "Rushing Thunder!!"
*Swish!!*
Yet halfway through drawing his sword, Li Guanqi's expression drastically shifted, and he whipped his head toward the side!
Fully aware that he was doomed, Wei Kun had suddenly twisted around and hurled his sword away with every ounce of strength in his body.
At the same time, Wei Kun drew a short sword barely a foot long from the hilt of his longsword, thrusting it straight toward Li Guanqi's chest!
Wei Kun's crimson eyes glared fixedly at Li Guanqi, the corner of his mouth curving into a bizarre smile.
It was as if he were asking Li Guanqi what his choice would be.
The hurled longsword tore through the air with a piercing shriek, shooting straight toward Zhou Zhi nearby!
"Watch out!!!"
"Eldest Senior Brother!!!"
"Despicable bastard!!!"
Seeing this, everyone shouted out in furious curses!
Li Guanqi's draw remained blisteringly swift, but his right hand shot out to snatch the short sword!
The short blade pierced through his palm, while Canglang flashed through the air.
Blood erupted from Wei Kun's neck.
Yet a sneer lingered on Wei Kun's face, his voice broken and intermittent as he murmured, "You... and I... are no... different..."
Meanwhile, the thrown sword was less than three feet from Zhou Zhi's brow.
Everyone inside the barrier felt their hearts leap into their throats!!
"No!!"
Upon the dais, the black-armored puppet slowly pressed the position-swapping jade plaque onto the spot where Zhou Zhi stood.
*Swish!*
The two instantly traded places, and the tip of Li Guanqi's sword struck right against the point of the incoming longsword!
*Bang!!*
The longsword shattered into countless fragments!!
Yet before Li Guanqi could catch his breath, every square of the massive Thousand Mechanism Formation Plate began rising and falling in continuous waves.
*Rumble!*
*Clack, clack, clack, clack!*
A palm-sized dais rose right before Li Guanqi.
Within a diamond-shaped red barrier lay a purple luminescence about the size of a chopstick, resting quietly inside like a caterpillar.
Even sealed within the barrier, that purple glow continued to spit fine crackles of lightning.
Suddenly!
The barrier vanished, and the tiny sparks erupted in an instant!
Scattered lightning arcs rampaged across an area of a hundred zhang. Without time to think, Li Guanqi grabbed the object and shoved it straight into his mouth!
Immediately after, the entire secret realm began trembling violently, and everyone knew this trial had reached its end.
Ignoring his wounds, Li Guanqi clutched his mouth and sat down cross-legged.
Chapter 100