Oppressive Presence, an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist!

Yet what drew Li Guanqi's attention even more right now was the Great Sumeru Nine Palaces Immortal-Slaying Sigils upon his body! With a hum of his divine sense, he saw that the blood sigil on his back had shrunk by nearly an inch! Li Guanqi's expression shifted slightly. He had never expected his final seal to begin unraveling under circumstances like these. Yet this only made him all the more excited. In terms of comprehension, there was scarcely anyone in the younger generation who could rival him. Heaven-rank techniques barely required any time for him to grasp; after a single glance, he could essentially have them running on their own. Yet while cultivating Divine Punishment, he had remained in seclusion for over two years. Because of that, he had often wondered what he might become once the seal suppressing his Ethereal Dao Body was completely gone. At the thought, Li Guanqi could not help licking his lips. "Looks like I'll have plenty to keep me busy here in God Burial Valley." A faint smile curled the corners of his mouth. If he could obtain just one or two more Ancient God Beads, he was absolutely certain he could break through to the seventh rank of Spirit Comprehension! Once he reached the seventh rank, he would truly be standing just a single step away from the Mahayana realm. Li Guanqi carefully reined in his aura, ensuring that anyone passing by would detect nothing amiss. Moving cautiously, he shifted the boulder blocking the cave entrance. He swept the area with his senses and, detecting no other auras, breathed a sigh of relief before leaping out. Yet the moment he emerged in mid-dash— Suddenly! A streak of chilling light shot straight for Li Guanqi's eyes! An emaciated old man with turbid, glazed eyes was crouched flat against the ground, his saber sweeping up viciously toward Li Guanqi! Drawing his sword with his right hand, Li Guanqi thrust it across his chest in a fierce block. Clang! Boom! A terrifying, monstrous force slammed into him, sending Li Guanqi hurtling backward uncontrollably. His body crashed violently into the stone wall across the chasm. The solid rock exploded on impact, shattering into a crater dozens of zhang wide centered on his back. Li Guanqi felt as though he had slammed into an entire mountain. His internal organs were jolted out of place, and he spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with bits of mangled viscera. His left arm was bent at a grotesquely unnatural angle. Li Guanqi glared sharply, his gaze filled with bewilderment as he looked toward the old man slowly rising to his feet across the gap. He could not fathom how a scrawny, skin-and-bones frame could unleash such terrifying power. And what was more... The valley had only just endured the baptism of a terrifying Death Storm. Yet this man was still here! Which meant... Before the storm, he thought he had shaken everyone off, but someone had refused to believe he was gone and stayed behind all along, waiting like a hunter lying in ambush! The searing agony in his arm drained the color from Li Guanqi's face. Channeling his primal energy, he mended the arm in an instant, restoring it to its original shape, and dragged himself out from the deep crater. Behind him, loose stones tumbled into the chasm, sending back dull thuds after what felt like an eternity. Li Guanqi fixed his gaze on the old man, whose hair was combed immaculately neat, and muttered in a chilly voice, "An eighth-rank martial artist?" The old man glanced at Li Guanqi with a hint of surprise. He slowly lowered the slightly curved long saber in his hand to his side. Without uttering a word, the old man narrowed his eyes and regarded Li Guanqi with gravity, his gaze resolute without the slightest ripple of emotion. It was evident that the old man possessed absolute confidence in his own strength. Moreover, Li Guanqi noticed something remarkably peculiar: the old man displayed very few signs of ossification across his body. "Could it be... he hasn't been in here long either?" "No... impossible... He must have been here for a long time too." Thinking this through, Li Guanqi had no need to guess any further. If the old man showed few signs of ossification, it could only mean one thing: over the years, he had slain countless outsiders. Gazing at the terrifying aura radiating from the old man, Li Guanqi felt the genuine threat of death for the very first time since entering God Burial Valley. Every hair on his body stood on end as a suffocating, kill-or-be-killed tension expanded between them. The old man only reached his chin in height, with dark skin, high cheekbones, and a frame so withered he was practically skin and bones. He had an aquiline nose, triangular eyes, thin lips, and a small goatee; his hair was tied back casually with a dry twig. He exuded an exceptionally fierce, compact vitality, entirely free of the withered decadence that clung to the people Li Guanqi had encountered before. In Li Guanqi's perception, the old man's aura was comparable to the peak of the early Mahayana realm—perhaps even teetering on the edge of the mid Mahayana realm. Yet there was not a trace of primal energy inside him; he was an eighth-rank martial artist whose pure physical might had attained the pinnacle! The blade of the long saber in his hand was notched and chipped all over, clearly worn to this state through countless battles. The mist churned, and gusts of wind wailed past their ears. Sand and stones flew across the ground, and the space for a thousand zhang around them grew suffocatingly dense, pressured by the auras radiating from the two. Bang! A dull rumble echoed from deep within the chasm, sounding like the signal to begin. In unison, both vanished from their spots! Thud! As if deliberately testing himself, Li Guanqi let his vital blood surge and roar through his meridians. His body temperature spiked, and the essence blood throughout his body boiled as though catching fire! This was his first time clashing against a pure martial artist, and he wanted to see just how wide the gap was between himself and such a figure. His arms gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen. Amid surges of purple lightning, dragon scales emerged over his arms as he unleashed his full strength! "Dragon Transformation!" Buzz! The void above the chasm ruptured as the two, sharing an unspoken instinct, threw their punches at the exact same instant! Boom! The space spanning dozens of zhang around them crumpled like scrap cloth, twisted violently as though seized by an invisible colossal hand. In an instant, fine fractures tore through the void under the shockwaves of pure force! The cliff faces on both sides of the chasm trembled. The earth shook, dislodging countless boulders that tumbled downward amid swirling dust. The old man was forced back a full dozen paces, while Li Guanqi was blasted backward through the air, his arm hanging limp with the bones shattered into several pieces. Feeling the old man's primordial, beast-like brute force, Li Guanqi's face paled drastically. Any trace of underestimation vanished from his mind. In his caution, he immediately swallowed a healing pill, and his broken arm rapidly began to knit together. Even though he had not bolstered himself with any fist techniques and had struck with his right hand, he now understood that in a contest of pure physical power, he might hold his own against an early Mahayana cultivator who practiced the dual cultivation of spirit and martial paths, but... against a martial artist who tempered only the flesh, he fell far short. Even with Dragon Transformation active, his raw strength was still roughly thirty percent weaker than his opponent's! A cold glint flashed in Li Guanqi's eyes. As he retreated at breakneck speed, primal energy circulated through his entire body. Without a second thought, he raised his sword and slashed furiously behind him, while simultaneously cloaking himself in a suit of lightning armor. Thunder roared as dozens of lightning lances drove downward behind him! The old man, who had already materialized at his back, clearly had not expected Li Guanqi's blade to be so swift. He slammed his saber against the sword with vicious force. Sparks flew everywhere, and Li Guanqi actually saw a nick the size of a sesame seed appear on the blade of Bixiao! As monstrous force crashed into him, Li Guanqi spun in midair to diffuse the impact and raised his hand to slash three times in rapid succession! "Heaven Shattering Sword Art!"