Boom!
Drawing upon the formidable power of the Thunder Master, nearly everyone was dragged into the Sword Prison with irresistible force!
Close to two hundred descended immortals were trapped inside. Li Guanqi's body trembled violently as blood seeped from all seven facial orifices.
Pengluo instantly merged into his body. The moment purple runes spread across his face, Li Guanqi's aura surged straight to the half-step Tribulation Transcendence realm!
With a contorted, ferocious expression, Li Guanqi took a violent step forward and roared at the top of his lungs.
"Spell: Nine Dragon Transmutation!"
"Bloodlust: Ten Thousand Swords God Burial!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In an instant, thunder ran wild within the Sword Prison, cascading down like a torrential deluge. A closer look revealed that it was an endless barrage of lightning swords manifested from sword intent at the peak of the Sword Soul realm!
Every cultivator of the Immortal Burial Realm was utterly stunned by the spectacle.
"What are you standing around for? Strike down the enemy!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The boundless rain of lightning spiritual swords poured relentlessly from above, severely wounding many enemies in an instant and forcing the rest into a desperate struggle just to endure.
Li Guanqi squeezed out every last drop of his primal energy. The descent of lightning swords raged for nearly half an incense stick of time!
The moment Li Guanqi exhausted his final sliver of divine sense and primal energy, Cao Yan appeared before him.
Li Guanqi collapsed directly onto Cao Yan's back. A flash of silver light sparked, and the two vanished on the spot.
Before slipping into unconsciousness, Li Guanqi sensed only a brilliant flare of light overhead, accompanied by sky-shattering battle cries and deafening explosions ringing in his ears.
In this battle, the cultivators of the Immortal Burial Realm achieved a total victory, suffering only a dozen or so casualties.
The surviving immortals fled frantically back toward the Immortal Realm passage, leaving behind more than sixty cold corpses.
Yet this assault had been far more tragic and ferocious than any battle they had faced in the past.
It was also one of the rare clashes where both sides suffered heavy casualties.
The Immortal Burial Realm owed much of its survival to Li Guanqi's presence; had it not been for him, that man and woman alone would have inflicted catastrophic losses upon them.
Li Guanqi was not unconscious for long, waking after only half an incense stick of time.
The moment he came to, he rushed to Zhou Qingguo's side. But by then, all life had faded from Zhou Qingguo, leaving no hope of revival.
Li Guanqi watched in grim silence as Sun Changlin wordlessly gathered the man's corpse into his arms and walked toward the gate of light leading to the second layer.
With a solemn expression, Li Guanqi said in a deep voice, "Let's go. We'll accompany him together."
This battle had fundamentally shifted the mindsets of nearly everyone present.
In their expectations, the conflict between the two realms would have been relatively tame, with limited casualties.
After all, for Mahayana realm cultivators who wished to survive, there were countless life-preserving methods at their disposal.
Yet seeing two familiar faces die before their eyes in quick succession instantly shattered those assumptions.
Gathering the corpse of the elder whose skull had been pierced at the start of the battle into his arms, Li Guanqi stepped through the gate of light as well.
Hum!
The Second Domain, the Nether-Piercing Realm.
Following Sun Changlin, the group arrived before a colossal Sword Stele.
The towering Sword Stele was pitch-black throughout, yet upon sensing their arrival, it radiated a gentle white halo.
Rustling sounds whispered through the surrounding dark forest, stirred only by a passing breeze.
Before the Sword Stele lay a vast plaza, fronted by an elevated stone platform.
His eyes filled with sorrow, Sun Changlin laid Zhou Qingguo's corpse upon the platform.
He then placed Zhou Qingguo's identity jade slip beside him.
Hum!
A milky-white halo enveloped Zhou Qingguo. Slowly, his body dissolved into specks of starlight, merging into the Sword Stele.
His name then materialized upon its surface.
A brush condensed before Sun Changlin. The old man held it in a daze, at a loss for words for a long time.
After lingering in hesitation, he gripped his own wrist to steady his trembling hand.
With gentle strokes, he wrote a line of small characters: *"A magnificent life, with but one regret: never reaching immortality."*
As the brush finished, the characters turned into a streak of spiritual light and settled behind Zhou Qingguo's name.
From that moment on... that single line of text was likely the only trace Zhou Qingguo left behind in the mortal world.
The onlookers behind him watched with solemn expressions, each weighed down by a heavy heart.
Among them, Cao Yan and Xiao Chen felt the deepest sorrow, for they were the only two who had shared personal moments with him.
Yet the scenes of Zhou Qingguo laying down his life to save others continued to replay incessantly in their minds.
Sun Changlin stood where he was, wiped away his tears, pressed his lips tight, and slowly stepped back.
He gestured for Li Guanqi to place the next body on the platform.
The corpse of the elder whose skull had been pierced likewise dissolved into specks of spiritual light, dispersing and merging into the Sword Stele.
Soon after, the elder's name appeared upon the stone monument.
*"Qu Su. Dao Age: Two thousand six hundred years. Peak Middle Mahayana realm."*
A brush then gathered before Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi did not reach out to take it...
He did not know what right he had to take up the brush and write the story of this elder's life.
They had met for the very first time today. He had saved the man, yet had failed to truly save him...
That enemy arrow had been far too cunning and eerie, striking in total silence and eluding detection until it was too late.
Just as Li Guanqi hesitated, Sun Changlin sighed softly, stepped forward, and took the spiritual brush.
Pausing briefly as well, he set brush to stone.
*"Miser, brooding mute, eccentric old coot!"*
*"Left too soon to leave behind much of a name in the mortal world, yet fought the enemy with fierce valor!!"*
The old man's first words sounded like two stubborn old eccentrics venting petulant banter at one another.
Yet the final sentence carried Sun Changlin's heartfelt sorrow and deepest respect.
As the spiritual brush dissipated, Li Guanqi said in a heavy voice, "Change robes. Light the incense!"
Rustle!
Everyone donned black mourning robes, their faces grave.
Plumes of sandalwood smoke rose straight into the air as they all bowed in solemn respect.
By the time they straightened, more and more people had gathered before the Sword Stele.
Cold corpses were laid upon the stone platform one after another, each bearer struggling to hold back their grief.
Li Guanqi and his companions did not leave. Like the others, they waited until every fallen soul had transformed into an unfamiliar name upon the stone.
Hundreds of people, all clad in black robes, bowed toward the Sword Stele.
The somber, solemn atmosphere cast a stifling weight over the entire Second Domain.
When the group returned to the first layer, Li Guanqi and his companions felt as though a lifetime had passed.
The children in the settlement were still playing innocently, completely unaware of the brutal slaughter everyone had just endured.
Gazing at the curling smoke rising from the hearths of the first layer, Li Guanqi turned to look at the cultivators around him.
Smiles had returned to many of their faces, as though the grief from moments before had already been set aside.
In that moment, Li Guanqi and his companions were deeply moved!
It was as if, right then, they finally understood a sliver of what these seniors held in their hearts.
Protection...
It was not merely for the small hearth before their eyes, but for the greater realm beyond.
For the Six Domains beneath the heavens, for the Ethereal Immortal Domain, and for the Ancient and Hidden Clans!
Just then, Hong Zhi suddenly tore open the void, radiating intense killing intent, and sped away!
Sun Changlin cast a glance in her direction, then let out a sigh and shook his head.
"Elder Sun, where is Senior Hong Zhi going?"
Sun Changlin sighed, remarking wistfully,
"It's just someone struggling in their dying moments, that is all..."
"Immortal Burial, Immortal Burial... It isn't just those from above who cannot descend."
"We down here cannot ascend, either."
Chapter 1185