At that moment, Li Nanting was lecturing in the main hall of Tianlei Peak.
He had not noticed the disciples from other peaks slipping in among the crowd. After all, this was a common sight in the Great Xia Sword Sect; whenever an elder delivered an exceptional lecture, disciples from various peaks would flock to listen.
Li Nanting continued his explanation regarding the gap between the Core Formation and Nascent Soul realms and the practical applications of their respective powers.
Suddenly!
The five disciples who had entered last abruptly stood up.
Frowning with displeasure, Li Nanting said, "Class is still in session. Slipping in late was bad enough—what are you standing up for? Sit down at once!"
The other disciples in the hall frowned as well. They had been listening with rapt attention, so having these men stroll in late and now abruptly stand up rubbed everyone the wrong way.
"Hey, Meng Anlong, you guys hurry up and sit down!"
"If you're tired from patrol duty, go rest! If you're staying, just listen—why are you standing? Don't you know Peak Master Li only lectures once a month now?"
"Exactly! Sit down already!"
Murmurs broke out across the hall, and a few hot-tempered Tianlei Peak disciples were already rising to their feet.
Right then, however, Li Nanting noticed something amiss.
The five disciples' eyes were completely lifeless, as though they could not hear a single word being said.
As if realizing what was happening, Li Nanting's face drained of color. He shot to his feet, violent lightning primal energy bursting forth to envelop the entire hall in an instant.
At the same time, he roared at the top of his lungs, "Everyone, get out of here now!"
The burly disciple had just placed a hand on Meng Anlong's shoulder.
Gritting his teeth, Li Nanting channeled the power of space, wrapping all the disciples within it in an attempt to teleport them away.
Yet the moment he moved to displace them—
*Boom!*
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Five violent explosions detonated in rapid succession!
The five disciples' bodies swelled and detonated into pieces!
The destructive force of five Core Formation cultivators self-destructing instantly blew the entire hall to rubble, sending shattered timbers and masonry flying in all directions.
Over thirty disciples inside were hurled through the air!
Their seas of consciousness violently destabilized, their chests seized with agony, and their internal organs ruptured. They crashed to the ground, vomiting mouthfuls of blood.
"Peak Master!"
"W-what happened..."
"Are they... dead? A self-destruction?"
"Have they gone mad?"
*Rumble!*
The mountains and rivers trembled. Everyone across the Great Xia Sword Sect felt the sudden eruption of inexplicable power!
Gong Ze and the others sprang to their feet, vanishing on the spot!
When they arrived in the sky above Tianlei Peak, their brows furrowed at once.
A dense, choking blood mist completely enveloped the hall along the mountainside of Tianlei Peak!
The moment they converged, the clamor of the surrounding disciples made clear what had happened.
Without hesitation, several Void Refining Realm experts struck in unison!
Wu Bing's expression darkened. With a beckoning gesture, he drew the Tiantu Peak spirit treasure longsword into his hand and shot forward like an arrow.
Everyone knew what Li Nanting meant to the Great Xia Sword Sect and to Li Guanqi.
If anything happened to the old man, there was no telling how mad Li Guanqi would go.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
In an instant, winds howled and clouds roiled across the Great Xia Sword Sect as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth ran wild.
Nearly ten Void Refining grandmasters struck one after another, yet their attacks produced no effect against the barrier shrouded in blood mist!
Sword light intertwined and terrifying energy blossomed against the crimson barrier, yet it failed to budge it in the slightest.
Gong Ze's expression changed drastically. Gripping his sword, he said in a chilling voice, "Something is wrong... The power of this barrier far exceeds anything we can contest!
"Even a Body Integration Realm expert might not be able to shatter it! Quickly, contact Li Guanqi at once!"
*Rumble!*
A terrifying pillar of thunderous light soared into the sky, followed by several peerlessly sharp, terrifying sword lights bursting out from within the barrier!
Tianlei Peak was cleaved open beneath the three sword beams!
High in the heavens, all the sect elders froze for a moment, having clearly sensed Li Guanqi's aura within those three sword strikes.
"That's Li Guanqi's sword intent!"
"Indeed, and more than one strike! Could he be inside?"
While their thoughts raced, a figure with disheveled hair shot violently out from the blood mist barrier—it was Li Nanting!
Immediately following him, the fractured crimson barrier coalesced into thousands of razor-sharp spikes that shot straight toward his fleeing form!
"Save him!"
"Strike!"
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Several powerful auras surged in an instant!
Holding the Shenzha brush, Xi Yunhuai appeared before Li Nanting in a flash. Sweeping the formation brush through the air, he roared, "Great Luo Sky Protection!"
*Boom!*
A hundred-zhang golden formation screen materialized, standing between the spikes and the two men.
Gu Chuan, captain of the Cloud Shadow Guards, drew his sword and slashed hundreds of times in a heartbeat!
Gong Ze, Nangong Qianyan, and the others also rushed to Li Nanting's side, shielding him behind them.
Yet at that very moment, the blood spikes shattered the golden barrier upon impact, and Gu Chuan's sword beams were torn through by the crimson assault like dry twigs.
The faces of the two men drained of color. Xi Yunhuai roared, "Fall back! This isn't something we can withstand!"
*Squelch!*
The words had barely left his mouth when several crimson spikes silently pierced straight through his shoulder!
Like the proboscis of a mosquito, the blood spikes frenziedly drained the vital essence and blood from his body.
In just a single breath, Xi Yunhuai grew visibly emaciated, his cheeks hollowing out and his dark hair turning dry and yellow.
Summoning all his strength, Gu Chuan severed the spikes with a strike, seizing Xi Yunhuai and retreating frantically.
Terror seized the others behind them at the sight. They grabbed Li Nanting and pulled back in haste.
"Elder Li, what on earth is that?!"
Clutching his shoulder, Li Nanting spoke in a grim voice laced with lingering dread. "I don't know! Those five patrol disciples were acting strangely when they entered the hall, and then they suddenly blew themselves up and it turned into this!"
Right then, Wu Bing noticed an inscribed talisman burning furiously behind Li Nanting.
The burning talisman slowly traced an extraordinarily intricate silver array in midair.
Waves of intensely powerful spatial fluctuations radiated from within it.
Wu Bing's expression shifted. He quickly realized that this was a contingency Li Guanqi had left on the old man!
Even the three sword strikes from earlier had likely been prepared by Li Guanqi beforehand.
It seemed Li Guanqi had anticipated long ago that someone might target the people around him!
"Protect Elder Li! Li Guanqi will be back any second!"
Far away within the void of the Daochan Domain, Li Guanqi was entirely bathed in an eerie silver light.
His expression was dark as water and cold as frost, his eyes glinting with murderous intent.
In his hands, he relentlessly compressed and coalesced primal energy into a violet primal energy lightning sword, condensing it until it seemed almost physical.
*Hum!*
The instant the myriad blood spikes were about to engulf Li Nanting, Li Guanqi vanished into the void.
Immediately after, the sky across a ten-li radius of the Great Xia Sword Sect plunged into darkness, and a terrifying purple-black sword light flashed across the heavens!
All those who had been pierced by the blood spikes plummeted from the sky. In those few short breaths, nearly every single one of them had plunged by an entire minor realm!
Chapter 1016