His End Drawing Near, Liao Qingming Forcibly Ascends!

In a stretch of the void ten thousand li from the Ethereal Immortal Domain, a golden pillar of light shooting toward the heavens caught Li Guanqi's attention. Ahead, a streak of blood-red light flashed through the void! The crisp chime of a bronze bell suddenly rang out! *Ding-ling!* Even though Li Guanqi was a full ten thousand zhang away from Hong Zhi, he could still clearly see a blood-red saber light erupt instantly in the pitch-black void! *Boom!!* The crimson glow spread like burning sunset clouds, dyeing half the void red. *Boom!!!* Terrifying pressure and saber qi swept across the expanse, severing the golden pillar of light in an instant! *Crash! Boom!!* An altar measuring over a hundred zhang across was hurled outward. Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. The altar had visibly been cobbled together from various materials. *Buzz!—* Clutching his arm, a short elderly man clad in robes shimmering with purple and gold shot out from within the saber light. The old man's grizzled hair was somewhat disheveled, but his gaze was exceedingly sharp. A half-step Tribulation Transcendence realm expert! The elder tore open the void with one hand, drawing forth an unadorned ancient longsword and gripping it firmly. His features looked rather kindly—his skin was slightly loose, with a round nose and somewhat thick lips. Yet at this moment, his eyes were filled with icy killing intent. Faint scorch marks from lightning still lingered on his cheek... Hong Zhi's figure materialized. Seeing the elder, she couldn't help but frown slightly. Her voice rang out, cold as ice. "Liao Jiming, are you tired of living?" A complex look flickered in the old man's eyes as he looked up at Hong Zhi. "Indeed... I, Liao Jiming, have long lived enough. "Dragging out my days until now, I can no longer survive the next Reincarnation Tribulation. "This old man... truly cannot get through it..." With that, Liao Jiming looked up at Hong Zhi, tears brimming in his eyes. Gathering the hem of his robe toward her, he bowed his head and slowly knelt down. "Can you spare me? "Just me alone. Let me go up..." The old man placed his sword beside him and kowtowed toward Hong Zhi—*thud, thud, thud*. Before long, blood splattered across the altar, staining a patch of the floor red. Hong Zhi frowned. She had seen such humble pleas far too many times. Yet... her intervention could only lead to two outcomes: either death, or returning with her to the Seventh Domain. Watching this scene, Li Guanqi felt deeply shaken. A mighty cultivator at the half-step Tribulation Transcendence realm was actually on his knees, kowtowing to Hong Zhi and begging for mercy. Hong Zhi shook her head, her gaze detached. "Either shatter the Immortal Ascension Platform yourself and come with me, or... die." Liao Jiming kept his head lowered, his fingers digging deep furrows into the ground. *Swish!* The old man snapped his head up, his fists clenched tight and his pupils trembling madly, as if locked in agonizing internal turmoil. A ruthless glint flashed in Liao Jiming's eyes as he glared up in fury. "Why must the Seventh Domain push so hard?! I have already yielded twice! Twice!!" The more he spoke, the more agitated he grew. The torn flesh on his forehead opened further, and blood ran down his cheek to cling to his beard before slowly dripping onto the Immortal Ascension Platform beneath his feet. "I gave up two chances to ascend! This is my final opportunity! "I beg of you... spare me." Hong Zhi closed her eyes, unwilling to offer any explanation. She had already reasoned with the old man twice; everything that needed to be said had been said... "Wait a little longer. "If your heart is set on ascending, I will have no choice but to slay you!" Liao Jiming threw his head back and laughed, his laughter steeped in helplessness and bitterness. "Wait a little longer? How much longer must I wait? "A thousand years? Three thousand years? "Or perhaps... another ten thousand years?!" *Boom!!!* A tremendously formidable pressure abruptly erupted from within the elder. His robes whipped loudly despite the absence of wind. Liao Jiming's cloudy eyes locked onto her with a dead stare. "Hong Zhi, you and I can be considered old acquaintances. You stopped me twice before, and I never struck back. "This time, I must ascend. "You should be able to sense that my end is near... "In the Human Spirit Realm today, there is no hope of breaking through to the Tribulation Transcendence realm—none at all! I..." Bloodshot veins covered Liao Jiming's eyes, his fingernails digging deep into the flesh of his palms. His expression was fraught with emotion, still steeped in turmoil, as he pleaded in a trembling voice: "I beg of you, just let me go up!!" A slight ripple stirred in Hong Zhi's eyes. Far away in the void interlayer, Li Guanqi's brows knitted slightly. The man was actually an old acquaintance of Hong Zhi's. If so... There was no way he didn't know just how terrifying Hong Zhi's strength was! Moreover, his words revealed far too much information, his tone dripping with helplessness and struggle. In truth, Li Guanqi could understand almost everything—save for what the old man was wrestling with so agonizingly. That part left him deeply puzzled. Still, he had no intention of alerting either of them. Continuing to conceal and restrain his aura, he stayed hidden within the void. Hong Zhi remained silent for a long time, then shook her head once more. "I cannot let you go up... "The cost is too great. The Human Spirit Realm cannot bear it." Hearing this, Liao Jiming roared in fury, "What does that have to do with me?! "What does the fate of the Human Spirit Realm have to do with me?!" At this moment, the elder looked like an enraged lion. "In my entire life, I have never committed an evil deed! All I ever wanted was to ascend and become an immortal! "Now that my end is near, the Seventh Domain blocks everyone from ascending time and time again!!" In his fury, the old man pointed his sword at Hong Zhi, stepping forward with a contorted face. "That is why I hate you! I despise the Seventh Domain to the bone! "By what right? By what right do you forbid us from ascending, suppressing eternity and creating the Human-Immortal Realm Barrier?! "By what right do you deny us ascension? "Hong Zhi, tell me, by what right?!" Hong Zhi stayed silent, keeping her mouth shut. She had invited Liao Jiming to join the Seventh Domain several times. Yet ever since she first stepped in to stop him, he had harbored deep resentment. *Buzz!—* A look of absolute resolve suddenly crossed Liao Jiming's eyes. "Since you still refuse to spare me... "Then let us settle this once and for all." With a wave of his hand, the void tore open, and figure after figure darted out. There were weather-beaten old women and cultivators in the prime of life—a full hundred or more people! All of them wore purple-and-gold robes; evidently, they were members of the Liao clan. Among them was an elderly woman at the mid Mahayana realm. Looking calm and impassive, she slowly stepped forward. "Senior Hong Zhi, today... one hundred and thirty-six members of the Liao family above the Soul Formation realm stand here only to hold Senior back for ten breaths. "For the Liao family, he must ascend. "If these one hundred and thirty-six lives of ours are not enough, there are eight hundred and seventy more sons and daughters of our Liao family." Another man, who bore a seventy-percent resemblance to Liao Jiming, had a look of resolute finality. "If Senior wishes to kill, then kill every last one of us in the Liao family." The rift in the void opened wider, revealing silhouettes enclosed and sealed within pillars of flaming light, standing like cocoons within a grand mansion's courtyard. Li Guanqi was shocked beyond measure by this sight! Meanwhile, the elder named Liao Jiming had brimming tears in his eyes, his gaze filled with unbearable heartache. At this point, Li Guanqi finally understood what the struggle and anguish in the old man's eyes had been about...