Li Guanqi shook his head, lightning surging across his palm as he brought it slowly toward Song Yunshu's brow.
Blindfolded, the woman sensed the waves of destructive power approaching the space between her eyebrows and instantly panicked.
She shook her head desperately. Tears trickled from beneath the black cloth, dripping one after another as they rolled down her cheeks in unspeakable heartache.
*Boom!!*
Yu Hua frowned. "Pavilion Master, knocking her out won't stop this power either... Why not... kill her to end all future trouble!"
Using the power of lightning to carve out an isolated space apart from heaven and earth, Li Guanqi sealed the energy within roughly ten feet around Song Yunshu.
He sighed softly. "Gu Yong... gambled right."
Stepping out of the domain, Li Guanqi said in a chilly voice, "Phew... It is done.
"By now, Tianji Pavilion has thrown out almost all their evidence, and the public outcry is loud enough.
"It's time to deliver the fatal blow and put an end to all this!!"
At his words, Yu Hua and the others were thoroughly invigorated. Tang Wei stepped out from the void, eyes bloodshot as he said in a heavy voice, "I'm ready!!"
Li Guanqi turned to Shen Feng and his companions. "Take the stage for me right here in Feiyun City!
"Yu Hua, prepare several hundred projection stones and arrange them above Feiyun City.
"Uncle Tang, get ready to dump the stock and buy the dip."
Shen Feng and the others were shaken to the core. Only now did they realize what Li Guanqi's plan truly was.
The three exchanged glances, then soared into the sky above Feiyun City!
Hundreds of projection stones cast their figures high onto the vault of heaven, dense light screens dozens of yards wide blanketing the sky.
Nearly a million cultivators, drawn there earlier by the Yunding Auction, were now gathered in the city!
Spanning hundreds of li, Feiyun City was already packed to the brim. Everyone looked up toward the three figures standing tall against the firmament.
"Who are those people? Don't they know flight is forbidden in the city right now?"
"Uh... three Body Integration Realm mighty figures? Staging such a massive spectacle means something huge is happening!!"
The clamor of discussion was loud enough to overturn the heavens!
Shen Feng took a deep breath. He had actually donned the robes of the Master of the Purple Tower, and now he produced his invalidated Tianji jade pendant, speaking in a solemn, resounding voice.
"I am Shen Feng—the very man you have heard about, the dismissed Master of the Purple Tower of Tianji Pavilion.
"Beside me are Jia Kun, Master of the Red Tower.
"And Wei Song, Master of the Blue Tower."
*Hiss!!*
An immense uproar erupted!!
The revelation was transmitted outward in every direction, and everyone stared at the three men in sheer shock!
A sharp light flickered in the depths of Shen Feng's eyes as he said coldly, "The poisoned pills... were never the doing of Guanyun Pavilion!
"It occurred because Tianji Pavilion's own alchemists failed to notice lookalike spirit plants, and the combination produced pill toxins!
"Unwilling to admit their own blunder, Tianji Pavilion framed Guanyun Pavilion for the entire incident!"
As the words fell, the crowd broke into an uproar!
"No wonder the evidence Tianji Pavilion presented was always so vague about the toxins, never explaining them clearly!!"
"Hmph! So they were trying to frame Guanyun Pavilion all along!"
Public opinion reversed completely. Bolstered by the identities of three Tianji Pavilion tower masters, the news swept across the lands of the Six Domains in an instant!
Tang Wei made his move, dumping his stockpiled pills and spirit herbs worth ten billion on a massive scale, heedless of the cost!
The sell-off price was set at half the original market value—practically selling at a total loss!
With Yu Hua's coordinated efforts, every cultivator holding pills, spirit herbs, or merchandise from Tianji Pavilion flocked to demand refunds.
As all of this unfolded with lightning speed, it felt as though the very foundation of the pavilion was collapsing.
The trust that the cultivators of the Six Domains held for Tianji Pavilion plummeted to rock bottom, and uninformed cultivators panicked, dumping their own goods in succession.
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly. He murmured softly, "Uncle Tang, you can slow down the dumping and begin buying up the stock.
"Elder Xi, Yu Hua, the two of you will jointly oversee Guanyun Shop.
"To spare the cultivators of the Six Domains from losses, issue an announcement: we will accept Tianji Pavilion merchandise. But depress the buying price appropriately."
Li Guanqi turned slowly. Using both hands, he gathered his loose hair and fastened it beneath a jade crown, a flicker of murderous resolve flashing through his eyes.
"This commercial war... Guanyun has won.
"Then next... Old Man Gu, isn't it time we faced each other?"
*Whoosh!!!!*
Li Guanqi brought Song Yunshu directly out from Shen Feng's domain, took a single step, and vanished from Feiyun City.
***
Tianji Domain.
A suffocating atmosphere permeated the realm.
The sounds of furniture being smashed echoed through the halls. With disheveled hair, Gu Yong stood amidst broken jade slips, debris scattered all across the ground.
His cloudy eyes were filled with disbelief. He could not fathom how he had walked step by step into the trap Li Guanqi had laid...
What had appeared to be open, upright moves were all bait prepared specifically for him.
Once credibility was lost, it could never be rebuilt.
Tianji Pavilion... had lost its authority and trust...
A frantic wave of selling off Tianji Pavilion goods swept the Six Domains. Fanned by Guanyun Pavilion's maneuvers, it was completely pointless for Tianji Pavilion to buy them back at low prices.
Once this storm passed, Guanyun Pavilion—having feasted to its heart's content—would see the value of its pills and herbs multiply as prices returned to normal.
Gu Yong slumped to the floor, muttering, "I... lost..."
With a flick of his wrist, a pitch-black scroll radiating misty chaotic qi appeared in his palm.
Across from it, the other Tianji Chart remained entwined with red threads. Looking closely at the two scrolls, one would realize that they were designed to fit perfectly together!
The old man smiled bitterly. "To think that in the end, I still failed to force Li Guanqi to undo this red-thread seal.
"The Dayan Tianji Chart... Can heavenly destiny truly not be peeked into?...
"Heh, was all of this predestined by fate?"
Just then, an unfathomable grand momentum of heaven and earth abruptly descended!!!
A young man's low shout rang across the firmament.
"Gu Yong!!"
*Boom!!!!*
Heaven and earth shattered. His momentum having reached its peak, Li Guanqi's aura rivaled a half-step Mahayana Realm cultivator at the fifth stage of spirit comprehension!
A sword stroke shattered the sky!!
As dazzling lightning spread, a thousand-yard rift was cleaved through the firmament!
Gu Yong looked up abruptly at the white-robed youth who had forcefully torn open the domain from the void. With a flicker in his eyes, he raised his sword and charged upward!!
Everyone inside the Tianji Domain watched this scene in utter horror.
They knew Li Guanqi had arrived...
As for how he had found the domain's location, none of them had any idea.
Gu Yong narrowed his eyes and asked coldly, "How did you track me down?"
Li Guanqi looked at the familiar yet strange old man before him, speaking in a calm voice.
"Shouldn't you know better than anyone how I found you?"
As he spoke, the void beside Li Guanqi cracked open, and Song Yunshu, sealed in lightning, suddenly appeared in midair.
A flicker of heartache crossed Gu Yong's eyes. He said softly, "You are just as I imagined you would be."
At those words, Li Guanqi slashed repeatedly with his lightning blade!!
Fierce arcs of lightning sword light shot forth, and the old man swung his sword to shatter them.
Suppressing his fury, Li Guanqi said in a chilling voice, "You are not as I imagined!
"The Gu Yong of the past would never have gambled his own granddaughter's life on my benevolence and malice!!
"Who... is really behind you?"
Chapter 1058