Meng Jiangchu's figure slowly emerged from the void. Terrified eyes peered through the fingers clamped over the man's face, staring up at Meng Jiangchu.
Meng Jiangchu gave a cold sneer and transmitted his voice softly: "The one who came is Qu Ming, Lord of the Blue Tower of Tianji Pavilion. How should we handle him?"
Li Guanqi replied softly, "Kill him."
Boom!
Flames erupted with a roar, and in an instant, a mighty expert of the Body Integration Realm was reduced to a handful of flying ash, dissipating between heaven and earth.
Holding the sect jade slip, Li Guanqi sneered, "Old man, try moving against the people by my side again next time.
"If you dare stretch out a hand, I will dare to chop it off!"
There was silence on the other end of the jade slip for a long moment before Gu Yong's chilling voice came slowly through.
"Oh... but... did you think I left no backup plan at the Meng clan?"
Li Guanqi's heart gave a violent jolt!
When he tried to contact Meng Jiangchu again, he found that he couldn't reach him no matter what.
At that moment, Meng Jiangchu's expression changed drastically as well, for he discovered that his connection to the Meng Clan Domain Boundary was growing fainter and fainter!
With an ugly expression, Li Guanqi murmured, "What a masterful scheme to lure the tiger away... All just to pin down a Mahayana realm cultivator?"
Outside the Meng Clan Domain Boundary at this moment, a hundred-zhang-tall grey banner emanated a terrifying spatial power!
With his hands clasped behind his back, Gu Yong murmured softly, "The Banner of Exile...
"Meng Jiangchu, if you don't return... I'm afraid you will never see the Meng clan again...
"Trapping you for seven days will be more than enough."
With that, the hunched old man slowly vanished into the void.
A faint murmur trailed behind: "Guo Feng, Jiang Qizhi, Han Yuan... where are you hiding, I wonder?"
Li Guanqi's expression shifted slightly, and he transmitted his voice in a heavy tone: "Find out for me what is happening with the Meng clan in Shenbao Domain right now."
Word arrived quickly, and Li Guanqi soon learned everything that had taken place at the Meng clan.
After a long time, Meng Jiangchu's jade slip lit up faintly: "No need to worry about me here, but... from now on, you'll have to rely on yourself."
Li Guanqi set down the jade slip, breathing a sigh of relief. As long as nothing happened to the Meng clan, it was fine.
Putting aside the jade slip, Li Guanqi felt his heart sink. Gu Yong truly played with staggering stakes!
The Lord of the Blue Tower—discarded and sent to die without a second thought!
All to rob Li Guanqi of Meng Jiangchu, his greatest trump card!
Gu Yong's decisive ruthlessness made Li Guanqi feel a sense of unfamiliarity for the first time.
Or rather...
Back when the two of them were not yet enemies, he naturally could not feel just how terrifying the old man was.
Yet once they stood on opposing sides, the man's schemes would only multiply.
Soon, a message from Yu Hua arrived as well, the woman's voice laced with grave solemnity.
"Pavilion Master, there hasn't been much upheaval inside Tianji Pavilion's Blue Tower...
"It seems..."
Li Guanqi frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "It seems what?"
Yu Hua's hand holding the jade pendant trembled faintly as she said in a quiet voice, "After the Lord of the Blue Tower died, it seems someone immediately succeeded him!"
Li Guanqi's grip tightened on the jade pendant, and he said coldly, "It appears Tianji Pavilion is far more formidable than we imagined!
"A Body Integration Realm powerhouse dies, and someone can step in to replace him instantly."
Yu Hua was deeply shaken by this as well. She had assumed that Li Guanqi springing a trap would surely deal Tianji Pavilion a heavy blow, or at the very least throw the Blue Tower into chaos.
She never expected that Tianji Pavilion wouldn't care in the slightest about such casualties, or that Gu Yong would pull off a diversion to play Li Guanqi for a fool.
Relying on Gu Yong's strength alone, he stood no chance against any Mahayana realm cultivator on Li Guanqi's side.
So Gu Yong had been clever: he would rather feign a strike and sacrifice a Body Integration Realm cultivator just to exile the Meng Clan Domain Boundary and keep Meng Jiangchu pinned down!
Seven days was plenty of time for this struggle to reach its curtain call.
Li Guanqi took a deep breath and transmitted his voice to Wu Bing, asking in a low tone, "Senior Brother Wu, is it convenient to talk right now?"
Wu Bing was currently frowning at Shen Lan and Tu Kui. Feeling Li Guanqi's transmission, his heart tightened at once.
He did not take out the jade slip in front of them, knowing that Li Guanqi reaching out to him at a time like this definitely meant something major had occurred!
Suddenly!
Wu Bing barked in a deep voice, "Enough!"
The moment he spoke, a vast, majestic pressure erupted, instantly suppressing the noisy arguments of the crowd.
"There is no need to send disciples out on patrol anymore. Our enemies are far stronger than we imagined.
"Patrolling serves no purpose, and your quarreling serves even less!"
Hearing this, everyone calmed down a bit.
After all, Tu Kui had lingered in the mid Soul Formation Realm for a long time; now that he had broken through, there was nothing they could say.
Seeing this, Shen Lan had no choice but to forcefully suppress the suspicions in his heart. The crowd dispersed one after another to attend to their respective duties.
Watching the sect-protecting grand formation rise, Wu Bing went alone to the Purple Spirit Grotto-Heaven!
Standing on the mountain peak, Wu Bing retrieved the jade slip and said in a grave voice, "No one is around me now. Speak."
Li Guanqi's voice came through the jade slip. As Wu Bing listened, his pupils contracted sharply, his knuckles turning pale from clutching the jade slip so tightly.
"Phew... Alright, I understand!"
Li Guanqi put down the jade slip and probed with his senses, finding that he was already not far from Feiyun City.
He suddenly felt that he couldn't pin too much hope on Shen Feng, but...
Li Guanqi had to wait—wait for an opportunity to turn Shen Feng into one of his own!
At that thought, Li Guanqi's eyes narrowed slightly, and a Qilin Jade Seal appeared in his hand!
Li Guanqi took a deep breath, took out a simple, ancient jade slip, and briefly explained his intent.
Then he placed the Qilin Jade Seal upon the Guanyun Jade Pendant. Immediately, a faint ripple of spatial energy enveloped it, and the Qilin Jade Seal vanished in an instant!
A low murmur sounded softly: "I hope it's in time..."
Whoosh!
When Li Guanqi arrived outside Feiyun City, he froze for a moment. The present Feiyun City had more than doubled in size compared to his last visit!
The bustling city held nearly a million people, with over a hundred thousand cultivators!
Such massive city scale caught Li Guanqi somewhat by surprise.
Yet in his daze, he did not know that Feiyun City's current scale was inextricably linked to the operations of Guanyun Pavilion.
The Yunding Auction House was now one of the top auction houses in the Six Domains, with branch locations scattered across all six.
Any city today could go without Baobao Pavilion, but none could go without the Yunding Auction House.
Looking at the massive eleven-story pavilion, its grand magnificence was even more opulent than the City Lord's Manor.
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly upward. This was his first time seeing Guanyun Pavilion's properties display such grandeur.
He rarely managed things day to day, never expecting Qianqiusui to have grown to the point where she could take charge of everything so independently.
Without drawing anyone's attention, Li Guanqi extended his divine sense slightly and quickly located Qianqiusui.
Whoosh!
Buzz!
Qianqiusui was sitting in her spacious study, swamped with work. Hundreds of jade slips floated before her in dense clusters, and the desk was covered in markups and notes.
Looking at the woman's slightly haggard face, Li Guanqi spoke softly:
"Run into some trouble?"
Hearing his voice, Qianqiusui turned around sharply toward the doorway. Seeing Li Guanqi in his white robes, the unease in her heart dissipated significantly for some inexplicable reason.
It was as though this man possessed a singular magic—just standing there was enough.
Qianqiusui said gravely, "Our people below accepted a massive batch of orders. I feel something isn't right!"
Li Guanqi frowned, taking the jade slip to look at it.
"Four hundred million top-grade spirit stones?"
"Most of what they ordered consists of pills and spirit herbs..."
Rubbing her temples, Qianqiusui said in a chilly voice, "This isn't a single order. It's what I discovered after aggregating and reviewing all the orders collected from every branch across the Six Domains!
"These orders typically list hundreds of different goods, with the specific pills and spirit herbs mixed in here and there.
"Only after compiling them did I realize the combined sum for these particular items was this staggering!"
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, already catching the scent of a conspiracy.
This feeling... was almost identical to the methods used to frame Ye Tianying back in the day.
Furthermore, this was an open trap. As long as Guanyun Pavilion took the orders, there was no way out!
"Have contracts already been signed below?"
Qianqiusui said somewhat helplessly, "Yes. If we fail to deliver on time, we must pay tenfold compensation!
"If we pool all of Guanyun Pavilion's current assets together... it's just about enough to cover it!"
Li Guanqi sneered, "Looks like they prepared for this long in advance..."
Chapter 1045