Strike!!

Zhenyue Mountain was the first to answer the call of the Great Xia Sword Sect! Deactivating their sect-protecting grand formation, every disciple took to the sky! Among them were even many youths riding their flying swords. Fear showed clearly in their eyes, and quite a few had turned deathly pale. Yet when they saw the horrors displayed on the light screens, raw compassion overcame rational fear! They could not simply stand by and watch... A resolute, upright young man shouted in a deep voice, "Saving lives comes first! If you encounter danger, call out to the disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect for aid!" The speaker was none other than Shen Qi of Zhenyue Mountain—the very one who had entered the secret realm years ago carrying a heavy shield alongside Li Guanqi. Shen Ye stood high in the sky, his face grim as his voice echoed via transmission: "Disciples of Zhenyue Mountain, hear my command: spare no effort in protecting the civilians during their evacuation!" As the Great Xia Sword Sect grew ever more formidable, Zhenyue Mountain, bound closely to them in friendship, had reaped tremendous benefits. After all, the Great Xia Sword Sect was more than willing to share its cultivation resources, allowing Zhenyue Mountain's disciples to advance with astonishing speed. Over the years, Shen Ye's strength had climbed to the middle Void Refining Realm, while Shen Qi had recently broken through to the Void Refining Realm. Upon the plaza of the Great Xia Sword Sect, teleportation arrays flashed continuously, ferrying disciples to distant lands. Ji Yuchuan barked, "Cloud Shadow Guards, hear my command! Execute any and all who bring chaos to this world!!" At his word, hundreds of black-robed cultivators shot forth from the Guanyun Domain Boundary! Not only that, but Qin Xian and the others stepped forward to volunteer for battle. With Wu Bing's authorization, the entire upper echelon of the Great Xia Sword Sect mobilized at once! Across the Six Domains, with the Qingyun Continent of the Great Xia Domain at its core, a surge of righteous indignation was ignited within countless upright sects. Beginning in the Northern Region of the Qingyun Continent, clan after clan and sect after sect deactivated their protective formations. Swarms of cultivators vaulted into the heavens, filling what had once been an intensely perilous sky with countless airborne figures! *Rumble, rumble, rumble!* Moments before this, within the domain barrier outside Linyan City... A resonant dragon's roar pierced the clouds! *Roar—!* Jiuxiao's aura surged with devastating ferocity, shooting straight toward the vault of heaven. Its massive body reared upright, carrying Li Guanqi on its head as it climbed higher and higher. Facing eight Mahayana cultivators, Li Guanqi showed not the slightest hint of fear. Nearly all of these men stood at the peak Mahayana realm. It was clear this had been premeditated; they were hell-bent on breaking through and ascending together. For a hundred li around Linyan City, the wind howled and clouds roiled. The dense, suffocating black clouds hung barely three hundred zhang above the ground. "Strike!" A chilling gleam flashed through Li Guanqi's eyes as the Red Lotus sword flared with a terrifying crimson luminescence! Almost simultaneously, the eight cultivators hurled all manner of magic treasures and spirit tools smashing toward him! Li Guanqi roared, "Pengluo!" Pengluo formed a hand seal, instantly tearing open a horizontal spatial rift a hundred zhang across! The pitch-black fissure opened like the ravenous maw of a colossal beast, swallowing every incoming magic treasure and spirit tool whole. Jiuxiao's massive draconic eyes flickered with frigid hostility as it unleashed a tempestuous breath of lightning! *Boom!* The berserk energy erupted in an instant. Terror flashed in the eyes of an elderly cultivator caught in the dragon breath's path. With a sweep of his hand, he summoned a round treasure mirror before him while simultaneously unleashing several sword slashes! The mirror ballooned with the wind, managing to swallow the entirety of Jiuxiao's breath attack. Yet a mere breath later, the mirror's surface was covered in spiderweb fractures. Jiuxiao swung its claws, leaving behind streaks of lightning that shattered the oncoming sword lights to pieces! Li Guanqi sensed that Jiuxiao's current aura was comparable to the peak of the middle Mahayana realm, just shy of late Mahayana. By now, several cultivators were already closing in to encircle and slaughter the dragon. Jiuxiao glared in fury. Whipping around, its dragon tail swept across the void! The sheer, terrifying physical force shattered space itself, sending several of the assailants flying hundreds of zhang away. Blood traced arcs through the sky. Li Guanqi had not anticipated that Jiuxiao's physical might had become so monstrous! Turning toward Qu Xingzhou with cold eyes, Li Guanqi blurred and vanished from where he stood! The power Li Guanqi now unleashed was roughly on par with theirs, radiating the aura of the peak Mahayana realm. In truth, he had only recently stepped into the late Mahayana realm. Yet his foundation was exceedingly solid, and his meridians had been reshaped by the immortal spiritual qi bestowed by the old master. *Boom!* A deluge of lightning descended, proving impossible to withstand even with their combined might! In an instant, everyone was dragged into his Sword Prison space. Thunder pools spread across the sky, leaving the foes hard-pressed to defend themselves. One against eight! Li Guanqi recalled Jiuxiao. With its current strength, it could not safely duel any one of them for long and ran a high risk of being gravely injured. In a clash of this magnitude, the slightest slip meant severe injury or death; Li Guanqi was unwilling to take that gamble. Reluctantly, Jiuxiao shifted its form and coiled around Li Guanqi's wrist. Immediately, Li Guanqi felt an extraordinarily terrifying power of lightning surge from Jiuxiao's body into his own! This power differed greatly from his native lightning, carrying a profound affinity for pure destruction. In an instant, the lightning enveloping Li Guanqi turned pitch-black. Wherever the black lightning drifted, the void was torn to shreds! Undaunted before the eight foes, Li Guanqi's figure blurred as he rocketed forward! *Thud!* A thunderous crash rang out. Before the eight could even register what was happening, an afterimage shot backward in their peripheral vision! The deafening boom was the sound of a man slamming against the barrier. As he struck the barrier, ripples cascaded through the light screen. Crisp cracking sounds followed as dense fractures webbed across the array surface behind him. "*Cough... hack...*" The man spewed a mouthful of blood. His chest had caved in, crimson soaking his tunic. He looked up in sheer horror, searching for Li Guanqi, only to find no trace of him. "There he is!" Dozens of attacks instantly rained down upon the patch of void where Li Guanqi stood. Amidst the flurry of blades and swords, Li Guanqi dodged and countered in rapid succession. Flickering continuously, he wove through the midst of the seven cultivators, his expression dead serious. Right then, the man who had been coughing up blood reached for a medicinal pill to swallow, only for a plump white hand to snatch it away. A massive warhammer came smashing straight between the man's legs! "*Awoooo—!*" The bloodcurdling shriek was spine-chilling to hear. Pengluo ducked back into the void, muttering, "Pills? Eat your own nuts instead!" "I'll kill you!" the man howled in fury, his crotch soaked in blood... A chaotic barrage of sword light slashed into the void, but Pengluo had long since slipped away. *Boom, boom, boom!* A sword wound cut deep to the bone marked Qu Xingzhou's cheek. His gaze was grim beyond measure. "This won't do... This bastard is far too strong! Hold him off while I find a way to summon the heavenly tribulation. Don't waste time tangling with him! We ascend today—no one can stop us!!" *Boom!* Eyes flashing, the remaining six went all out! Faced with such an airtight, relentless onslaught, even Li Guanqi began to feel the strain. Wounds gradually multiplied across his body. Watching Qu Xingzhou prepare to disengage from the battlefield, a cold glint flashed in Li Guanqi's eyes. "Mirror Flower, Water Moon!" *Hum!* Countless sword lights tore straight through him, and Li Guanqi's body shattered like a broken mirror. When he reappeared, he was already right behind Qu Xingzhou! "Sword Draw: Thunder Wrath!" Two terrifying sword techniques fused into one! Terrifying sword intent poured out unrestrained as the blade of Red Lotus erupted with an earth-shattering beam of sword light!