Sword Spirit: Kneel!

For the first time, the man chose to look squarely at Li Guanqi. As a Mystic Immortal, even if only of the lowest rank among immortals of the Immortal Realm, he had once been a favored child of heaven who ascended from among the three thousand Spirit Realms—a peerless powerhouse! Even as a Mystic Immortal, he remained an existence far transcending the Ascension Realm! Had he descended upon the Seventh Domain, the rules governing the two realms would have suppressed his might down to the Mahayana Realm. Yet now... He had shattered the boundary wall of ascension to force his way down, maintaining the cultivation and realm of a Mystic Immortal—preserving the full, undiluted power he possessed in the Immortal Realm! The man narrowed his eyes, peering at the blood-red phantom image in Li Guanqi's hand. He could not even clearly discern what was inside that hazy blur. Yet within that phantom image, he sensed an inexplicable, soul-shuddering dread! Even the old man guarding the Seventh Domain was someone he had not originally taken seriously. Descending to the lower realm with his full Immortal Realm strength intact, even peak Ascension Realm cultivators were no better than ants in his eyes! The workings of heaven seemed to sense the surging of their auras. In an instant, winds rose and clouds surged, as if the power of heaven and earth had converged entirely above their heads! The man's gesture of siphoning the Qingyun Continent's providence slightly faltered. His expression turned grim, his eyes narrowing to slits. Opening his left hand, an ornate longsword along with its scabbard materialized in his grip. In that moment, the man's demeanor underwent a total transformation, turning razor-sharp! Yet in Li Guanqi's perception, the man's aura was vast as an abyss; what he could sense was profoundly murky. "Peak Sword Soul Realm sword intent, is it...?" The surrounding air grew suffocatingly dense, as though all sound had vanished in this instant, leaving a terrifying silence. Their auras clashed in midair like biting winter gales, piercing to the bone. Li Guanqi and his adversary stood over a hundred zhang apart. Only Li Guanqi stood far below, while his foe stood... high above. The power within Li Guanqi's body was rapidly recovering. Perhaps also sensing the perilous situation, Pengluo desperately pushed its abilities to their absolute limit! Buzz! The spiritual energy across a hundred li went berserk, surging into Li Guanqi's body. Under the sword spirit's control, the cultivation method within Li Guanqi instantly broke through to the fourth layer! Divine Punishment, Fourth Layer: Void-Release Stage! Amplification... one hundred and fifty percent! That meant with the technique's augmentation, Li Guanqi could now unleash one and a half times his previous power! Sensing the surging might within him, Li Guanqi had the illusion that he could go toe-to-toe with a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator. Yet his opponent... was a Mystic Immortal who transcended Ascension, a true immortal! The man sneered in disdain. Tapping a finger against the void, he uttered softly: "Bind!" The moment the word fell, like an immortal decree, everything in the void within a hundred li froze in place. The wind ceased, the rain stopped, and even the clouds became motionless. Everything around them seemed to be sealed away, and spiritual energy no longer flowed toward Li Guanqi. The man slowly looked down at Li Guanqi, his gaze mocking as he murmured, "Look. This is a realm you could never touch, no matter how hard you strive. Whenever I wish, I can crush you like a bug." Having said that, the man glanced down at the city beneath Li Guanqi and frowned slightly. Straightening, he pressed a hand down toward the city below! "Annihilation: Plunge!" Instantly, the clouds churned across the firmament, and a flicker of horror flashed through Li Guanqi's eyes. His entire body was held fast in midair by an invisible force, unable to budge an inch! The primal energy in his body and his sea of consciousness felt completely imprisoned; though the energy still filled his meridians, it had come to an abrupt standstill. Li Guanqi's face flushed crimson from the strain as he fought desperately to regain control of his body. Yet right then, a massive fireball fully a hundred zhang across smashed through the clouds, hurtling down toward Linyan City below Li Guanqi! The mortals in the city lay prostrate on the ground, unable to move, their eyes filled with despair. In this moment, their only hope rested upon Li Guanqi. Yet they could also see that he was pinned in midair as well, incapable of moving in the slightest. "He... has done all he could..." Inside, Li Guanqi roared with all his might: *Move!* *Move, damn it!* From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Yun Chuxue in the alleyway... Her tear-glistening eyes were fixed on him with profound worry. Li Guanqi looked back at her with tender warmth, as if telling her not to worry. Buzz! Boom! In that moment, the spiritual sword manifested by the sword spirit unleashed an unparalleled, terrifying aura! Crimson light flared, crushing the enemy's binding art in an instant with overwhelming momentum! "Ahhh!" Li Guanqi let out a furious roar. Lightning flashed underfoot, and just before the colossal fireball crashed into the city, he threw himself directly in its path! Gripping the sword in his left hand, Li Guanqi unleashed every ounce of his power. His aura reached an unprecedented height—judging by presence alone, he was unmistakably comparable to a mighty cultivator of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm! Pouring everything he had into the assault, Li Guanqi drew his blade eleven times in half a breath! Eleven strikes of the Sword Draw Stance! Swift as a startled swan, crimson light blazed as thunder shrieked like calling birds and beasts! The colossal fireball, which had nearly eclipsed all of Linyan City, shattered in an instant into countless fragments that tumbled through the void. A ripple of emotion finally stirred in the man's eyes! Narrowing his eyes, his gaze gradually grew tinged with bewilderment and dread. "That phantom... possesses divinity?" Closing his eyes, his divine sense surged like a tidal wave, intending to envelop Li Guanqi. Buzz! The instant his divine sense brushed Li Guanqi's side, the man's entire body tensed violently, his breathing turning rapid and heavy. Before his eyes, as far as sight could reach, lay a mire of foul, clotted blood! The sky was torn apart by gashes of crimson radiance resembling gaping wounds, pouring down endless torrents of blood like waterfalls. Countless living souls wailed in the blood-soaked morass, converging and writhing in ceaseless torment! His pupils shrank to pinpricks, trembling wildly. Within the auras of those souls, he sensed terrifying pressures that made his very mind convulse with horror! In all his seven thousand years of cultivation and experience, he had never witnessed or conceived of anything like this illusion. Suddenly! The silhouette of a woman appeared not far away. High above, she sat upon a throne of crimson skulls. Just as he sought to look up and see her face clearly— an inexplicable, crushing pressure materialized out of nowhere! "Kneel!" *Thud!* His body fell completely beyond his control, slamming to his knees as his head smashed into the pool of blood! The foul, rotting fluid surged violently into his nostrils, and the suffocating pressure was so overwhelming that it struck sheer terror into his heart! Suddenly— At tremendous cost, the man broke free from the illusion and snapped his eyes open. His previously ruddy complexion turned deathly pale in an instant; with a muffled grunt, blood trickled from the corner of his lips. His body staggered back several paces entirely against his will, his chest heaving violently. Gasping for air, he panted heavily like a man who had narrowly escaped death! In that instant, as if realizing something, his trembling finger pointed toward Li Guanqi. "It's her! It's her! It must be her!" "I found it!" "Hahahahaha! Such an immense opportunity has actually fallen upon me, Jiang Bin!"