Li Guanqi's expression shifted slightly. Without the slightest hesitation, he shattered the fragment of the Soul Guiding Lamp within his sea of consciousness!
It contained a sliver of Lu Tian's aura. If Lu Tian opened his mind completely without defense, allowing Li Guanqi to destroy it...
Li Guanqi had not paid it much heed before, assuming Lu Tian would never permit him to do such a thing.
His terrifying divine sense ground down upon the fragment, and Lu Tian's body abruptly detonated!
Even then, Li Guanqi remained momentarily stunned.
He had never imagined that the shard of the Soul Guiding Lamp in his sea of consciousness would truly kill Lu Tian!
With this, Youming would no longer be able to merge their souls.
Blood and minced flesh splattered across Youming. His expression was numb, his eyes filled with regret.
He murmured softly, "Gather soul."
In an instant, the dispersed fragments of Lu Tian's soul were drawn together bit by bit into his palm.
Li Guanqi's face paled, and he roared immediately, "Strike together! Stop him from fusing the soul!"
In a flash, everyone shot forward simultaneously!
Youming smiled coldly, ignoring the shreds of flesh clinging to his face.
The moment he opened his mouth and swallowed the soul, his aura violently tore through the shackles of the Mahayana realm!
Boom!
The raging surge of power hurled everyone back over a thousand zhang.
Li Guanqi's blood surged in reverse, his face draining of color.
Sensing that terrifying aura, his heart sank little by little...
Bang!
The massive Immortal Ascension Platform was set down upon the void, and the blood array beneath his feet expanded to cover a hundred li in the blink of an eye!
Youming licked the blood from the corner of his lips as an unfathomably immense power permeated the heavens above his head!
Closing his eyes, Youming spread his arms wide and murmured with an inscrutable smile, "At last... this day has come...
"I have nearly forgotten how many years I waited for this."
Li Guanqi murmured with a dry voice, "The Tribulation Transcendence heavenly tribulation... and... the reception heavenly tribulation!"
Both tribulations were descending at once; Youming intended to slaughter everyone present!
Rumble!
The stone platform trembled faintly as a golden pillar of light ten zhang thick shot straight into the clouds!
Streams of mysterious presence descended from the firmament.
The faces of Li Guanqi and the others warped in shock.
"The aura of the Immortal Realm!"
"That platform... pierced the Human-Immortal Realm Barrier!"
Youming took a slow step forward, a terrifying pressure bursting from him that was several times mightier than Lu Tian's!
Li Guanqi and the others instantly pulled together, gripping their swords tightly as they stood on high alert.
A look of grave solemnity flickered in everyone's eyes. Such suppression was far beyond anything a Mahayana cultivator could possess.
Youming had completely broken through the shackles of the Mahayana realm, stepping into the Tribulation Transcendence realm!
A suffocating sense of mortal peril arose within them!
Li Guanqi swept a glance at those beside him, only to find that their expressions were as calm as ever, devoid of the slightest terror.
Yet Li Guanqi knew that courage alone was not enough.
Against a peak Mahayana cultivator, their combined might would have given them nothing to fear.
However...
The Tribulation Transcendence realm...
The chasm separating this realm from the Mahayana realm was like an insurmountable chasm, one that could never be bridged by sheer numbers.
Perhaps... only if all of them broke through to the late Mahayana realm would they stand a chance.
Moreover, matters had already escalated to this point.
The stone platform had pierced the Human-Immortal Realm Barrier. It was entirely possible that people from the upper realm might sense something through the passage.
All along, Youming had been searching for the sword spirit. There was no way Li Guanqi would put the cart before the horse and expose the sword spirit's existence now!
"Pengluo, Gu Li, get ready to run!
"Jiuxiao, if anything happens shortly, we'll tank a blow together!
"Wanshu, form an ice barrier in a moment to buy Gu Li and Pengluo some time."
Ye Feng, Cao Yan, and the others nodded slightly. If they relied solely on Jiuxiao and Li Guanqi, they would never withstand a single strike from the current Youming.
Yet right at that moment, Youming wore a mocking smile. With a wave of his hand, a bloody light spread through the surrounding void!
Space was instantly sealed into a specialized barrier.
Ten thousand li away, Meng Jiangchu and the others darkened their expressions, saying coldly, "Their auras... have vanished!"
Hum!
Space rippled violently, and Long Hou and the others appeared right after.
"Youming's aura... has vanished..."
The moment the words fell, Hong Zhi swept a piercing gaze across the surroundings and said in a heavy voice, "He must have used a formation to shift the void away!
"A commotion as massive as the Immortal Ascension Platform cannot be concealed easily. It's just that we don't know where they are right now."
Within the blood-red domain, everyone stood on high alert, staring at Youming with utmost vigilance.
Youming sneered. "You don't truly believe you can stand against me, do you?
"I am not as foolish as Lu Tian, Li Guanqi.
"Foolish enough... to not unleash the power of the Heavenly Demon Physique to slaughter you from the very start!"
As the words fell, Li Guanqi discovered to his horror that wisps of demonic flames were actually bleeding out from Youming's body!
Immediately after, an aura identical to the Heavenly Demon Physique emanated from within Youming!
In an instant, billowing demonic qi blotted out the sky, and Youming slashed several sword strikes toward them with a wave of his hand!
Simultaneously, the bloody radiance beneath everyone's feet flared brilliantly.
Like a quagmire, the blood-red light pinned them firmly in place, leaving them unable to move.
Gu Li's expression shifted. With a flick of his wrist, dozens of position-swapping inscribed talismans on everyone's bodies ignited simultaneously!
Swish, swish, swish!
Their figures shifted rapidly, breaking free from the blood-red array's restraint through this very trick.
Li Guanqi stepped atop Jiuxiao and soared upward, followed by Meng Wanshu, Ye Feng, and the others charging forward together!
Boom!
Li Guanqi's long hair fluttered without wind, his robe whipping loudly.
"Red Lotus: World's End!"
"Dark Moon!"
"Sword Draw Stance: Thunder Wrath!"
Three strikes slashed out in rapid succession, nearly draining Li Guanqi's dantian of its primal energy.
Meng Wanshu also unleashed the legacy swordsmanship of the Ice Qi Realm Lord, seventeen sword strikes bursting forth almost in a single seamless line.
"Seventeen Swords of Ice Qi!"
This was already the simplest set of sword techniques Meng Wanshu could comprehend; pressed for time, she had had little opportunity to assimilate the legacy's contents.
Fist astral energy and spear radiance followed close behind. The strength the group displayed was utterly terrifying.
Had anyone been present, they might have mistaken this for the Eight Generals of the Seventh Domain taking the field.
Such dreadful power was enough to chill even a peak Mahayana cultivator to the bone!
Yet before Youming, who had shattered his shackles, their attacks were like pebbles hurled by children, lacking any real bite.
Fast as lightning, the mighty blood-colored sword light arrived before them in the span of a single breath.
The dazzling flurry of attacks was forcibly torn to shreds the very moment it touched the sword light!
Seeing his sword light shattered in an instant, Li Guanqi's blood roiled violently, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Seeing that everyone was about to be laid bare beneath the incoming sword light, Li Guanqi gritted his teeth and formed hand seals. As his seals shifted, ripples of profound spatial fluctuation spread outward.
"Mirror Flower, Water Moon!"
Blood leaked from Li Guanqi's nose, his eyes crimson with strain.
The horrifying blood-colored sword light threatened to tear the domain apart, making heaven and earth tremble.
Flashing through midair, the blood-colored sword light instantly cleaved the bodies of Jiuxiao, Li Guanqi, and the front rank into pieces!
Yet Youming frowned.
Though their bodies had been shredded by the sword light, he had noticed a subtle anomaly.
Hum!
A burst of peculiar spatial fluctuation transmitted through the air.
Their figures instantly materialized a thousand zhang away, while the bodies shattered moments before burst apart like a broken mirror.
Li Guanqi's face was as pale as paper. He crouched halfway to the ground and vomited a large mouthful of blood.
Chapter 1145