"The only Xuanhuan Sacred Soul Pill you have, and you're putting it up for auction?!"
"An auction known across the entire Six Domains—there's no way you would give it to me."
Li Guanqi's voice remained calm and unruffled as he said slowly, "What if... I have more than one Xuanhuan Sacred Soul Pill in my hands?"
Shen Feng's pupils constricted violently!
"Jiang Qizhi and the other two, Gu Changsheng and his people... they never went to refine Tianji Pavilion's four-hundred-million-stone order?!"
"Could it be... you still have... Qilin Souls?!"
Li Guanqi smiled faintly and stated bluntly, "Help me, and I'll keep you alive.
"Refuse, and pretend I never approached you."
Shen Feng's eyes flickered wildly. After merely a breath of hesitation, he asked in a low voice, "How many do you have?"
Li Guanqi pondered for a moment before speaking. "First, tell me: how many people share your resolve?"
Shen Feng blurted out almost without thinking, "Everyone!
"We've had enough of our lives being held in someone else's hands.
"I would rather die in battle or be struck down by an enemy than go on living as a puppet who can't even choose his own death!"
Li Guanqi's eyes flickered; clearly, he was somewhat surprised by this answer.
Moreover, he could distinctly sense the helplessness and desperation in Shen Feng's voice.
As for whether Shen Feng was lying, it did not matter in the least. Whether they lived or died was their own concern.
If they had no desire to live, Li Guanqi had countless ways to make Gu Yong believe they had defected to his side.
All he would need to do was deliver the contents of today's conversation with Shen Feng straight to Gu Yong.
With the old man's inherently suspicious nature, it might not even require Li Guanqi to lift a finger—Gu Yong would undoubtedly purge the current Four Tower Masters himself.
Tianji Pavilion was never short on people, as past events had clearly proven.
Therefore, Li Guanqi had no fear of Shen Feng exposing this matter. He said softly, "I only need you all to do one thing for me.
"When the time comes, draw a clear line between yourselves and Tianji Pavilion, and I will give you the pills.
"The hold over your divine souls will never constrain you again."
Shen Feng asked coldly, "Why should I trust that you won't just eliminate us along the way?"
Li Guanqi replied calmly, "Killing you would take no more effort than turning my hand.
"I have no need to take such enormous risks just to get rid of you."
Shen Feng gritted his teeth, a struggle clearly visible in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he asked in a low voice, "When do you need us?"
"When the moment arrives, you will naturally know."
Shen Feng's brows knit tight as he pressed, "Then what about the pills?"
A strange, knowing smile touched the corners of Li Guanqi's lips as he chuckled softly. "Naturally, someone will deliver them to you."
And the person Li Guanqi referred to was Tu Kui!
He intended to have Shen Feng summon Tu Kui and bring along some 'crucial' intelligence.
Shen Feng frowned deeply. Everything Li Guanqi said felt shrouded in fog.
Even he had no inkling of what Li Guanqi was planning. This sensation of having every move dictated by another made him deeply uncomfortable.
Yet he had no alternative. If he wanted to break free of Gu Yong's shackles, he had no choice but to follow Li Guanqi's lead!
"Fine! I trust you!
"Tonight, I will contact everyone close to me to discuss this matter!
"However, you must give me a specific time."
Li Guanqi frowned. "Why?"
Leaning his back against the chamber door, icy killing intent swirled in Shen Feng's eyes.
"The moment anyone among those I approach disagrees with this plan, someone will die!
"Unless... every single one of us is of one mind, all of us involved will be exposed and face certain death.
"That is why you must give me a specific time!"
Li Guanqi's eyes flickered, realizing that Shen Feng had a point. He spoke in a deep voice: "The night before the Yunding Auction!
"By then, word is bound to reach you, so during these next two days, find a way to get Tu Kui over there.
"Oh, by the way—Tu Kui is already determined to rebel against you, so you must find a way to bring him over without exposing him."
Hearing this, Shen Feng's heart pounded wildly. He had never imagined the courier delivering the pills would be Tu Kui!
Moreover, he was certain that Tu Kui knew nothing of this yet.
Even if Shen Feng found a way to bring him to the Tianji Domain, Tu Kui likely wouldn't even realize he was carrying the pills!
Shen Feng's eyes shifted, and he suddenly ventured, "Perhaps... it won't be long before people appear outside the Tianji Domain?"
Li Guanqi's lips curled slightly. Without answering, he deliberately crushed the wisp of lightning in his grasp!
This act severed all connection between himself and Shen Feng, for he too feared exposing their communication prematurely.
Gu Yong... was far more formidable than anyone imagined.
Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, the eve of the Yunding Auction arrived!
The entire Feiyun City was teeming with noise and excitement. Many cultivators had come solely to watch the spectacle unfold.
Li Guanqi sat motionless in his study until dawn. The moment he opened his eyes, a flicker of lightning flashed deep within them!
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind swept past. The weather was foul today, suffused with the suffocating weight of an impending storm. A light drizzle had been falling over the city since before daybreak.
The ancient trees rustled in the gale.
The window shutters swayed violently in the gusts, clattering loudly against their frames.
Li Guanqi stood by the window, his gaze piercing into the distant horizon. A faint arc curled on his handsome face as he murmured with profound meaning, "The wind is rising."
As the words fell, Yu Hua and the members of Guanyun Pavilion—who had not closed their eyes for days and nights—seemed injected with pure adrenaline, their eyes bloodshot.
Yu Hua parted her delicate lips and spoke softly: "Proceed according to plan."
Hundreds of jade slips faintly flared with light!
Tang Wei, a hulking man, slumped into a chair from sheer exhaustion, only to suddenly shoot to his feet and bark, "Strike the moment the intelligence division gives the signal!!"
Xi Yunhuai watched the bustling crowd of Guanyun Pavilion, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.
An uproar ensued!
Whether by coincidence or design, tens of thousands of cultivators across the Six Domains began experiencing physical ailments.
After examinations by several high-ranking alchemists, it was discovered that every cultivator suffering from weakening vitality and withered meridians had consumed medicinal pills purchased from Tianji Pavilion!
At first, the matter drew little attention, but more and more people began displaying symptoms!
In just a few hours, the number of afflicted cultivators across the Six Domains surged past seventy to eighty thousand!
In an instant, Tianji Pavilion's shops in major cities throughout the Six Domains were mobbed so tightly that not a drop of water could trickle through. Deafening arguments erupted incessantly.
Many agitated cultivators even began smashing Tianji Pavilion's storefronts!
From the moment the incident began, Tianji Pavilion had offered no explanation, stubbornly insisting their pills were completely flawless.
Gu Yong sat in his study, his face dark as thunder. With a deafening crash, he slammed his hand down, shattering the desk before him into splinters!
"Useless trash!!"
Chapter 1054