At this moment, the sword spirit seemed to suddenly remember something.
A sharp gleam flashed in the depths of her eyes. Raising a jade finger, she lightly tapped the center of Li Guanqi's brow.
In an instant, Li Guanqi felt the blood throughout his entire body boil, and his body temperature soared rapidly!
Moreover, an unimaginably profound, silver-white mark surfaced between his brows, resembling a sword yet distinct from one.
Om!
Silver-white radiance flashed incessantly in Li Guanqi's eyes.
At this moment, he felt extraordinary changes occurring within his Ethereal Dao Body.
Right after, countless silver threads burst forth from Li Guanqi's body, shooting out wildly!
Li Guanqi's eyes went vacant, and a low murmur escaped his lips:
"Devour Spirit!"
Boom!
Endless lightning energy erupted in an instant, forming an enclosed spatial barrier in the void.
A mysterious power was forcefully extracted from Xun Tian's deceased body!
The silver threads bursting from Li Guanqi's body seemed like a bloodthirsty behemoth, opening a gaping maw to swallow the pitch-black mass of power whole!
In the blink of an eye, the silver-white threads retracted into Li Guanqi's body.
At this moment, Li Guanqi plunged into a deep slumber.
Deep in sleep, he felt only a blazing inferno burning furiously within his dantian.
He did everything in his power to suppress and devour this fire!
As the foreign power grew weaker and weaker, the aura within Li Guanqi began to surge crazily!
He even gained a far deeper understanding of the essence of lightning-attribute primal energy!
During this time, the sword spirit silently stood guard over Li Guanqi.
However, not long after Li Guanqi fell asleep, a spectral projection of spiritual light completely ignored the sealing barriers set by Li Guanqi and the sword spirit, manifesting right before them!
With his hands clasped behind his back, the old man narrowed his eyes at the sword spirit and asked in a calm tone,
"Isn't it a bit too hasty to expose his trump card at this stage?"
The sword spirit looked calmly at Su Xuan and said in a low voice,
"The Demon King Physique is above mortal physiques—ranking at least as a second-tier spiritual physique.
"If he weren't allowed to devour such a physique, it would be an utter waste of a heavenly gift."
Su Xuan sighed, shook his head, and looked up at the firmament.
"The Spirit-Devouring Dao Body..."
"Ah, well. It couldn't be hidden for much longer anyway. Better to let him increase his strength while he has the chance."
The sword spirit nodded slightly and said with a solemn expression,
"Time is running short. He would have to be told once he reaches the Immortal Realm anyway, so we might as well reap the benefits now!"
Hearing this, Su Xuan nodded without saying more.
Looking up at the blood-red barrier high in the sky, he murmured softly,
"Thank you for your hard work."
A bitter smile crossed the sword spirit's face upon hearing his words.
"Hardly..."
"You are the one who has borne the hardship."
At this point, her voice paused, and her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.
The gaze she directed at Su Xuan was laced with an inexplicable emotion...
After hesitating for a long time, she still spoke up and asked,
"Who exactly are you?"
Su Xuan looked back, a chill flashing through his eyes as he looked at the sword spirit.
"Who I am... you had better not dwell on it.
"All you need to know is that Li Guanqi... is my grandson.
"As for me... just a nobody."
Su Xuan departed, leaving the sword spirit lost in deep thought.
Yet even after scouring through all her memories, she still could not recall any figure named Su Xuan in the Immortal Realm!
Given what she knew of Su Xuan, a man endowed with such shrewdness, depth of mind, and formidable methods...
Even in the Immortal Realm, he would definitely never be an unknown nobody!
After pondering for a long time, she clutched her forehead in sudden pain and opened her eyes.
Her face was slightly pale, a bead of cold sweat forming on her forehead, while an inscrutable gleam flickered in her eyes.
With a sigh, she turned back to look at Li Guanqi, whose aura was surging intensely, and temporarily cast aside her obsession over Su Xuan's identity.
What she needed to do now was use every means at her disposal to push Li Guanqi's strength to the absolute limit!
And liberating the Spirit-Devouring Dao Body was the first step she had to take!
Fortunately... Su Xuan had not stopped her.
The sword spirit knew just how much pains Su Xuan had taken to conceal Li Guanqi's Spirit-Devouring Dao Body.
Eight years. Fearing that Li Guanqi's body could not withstand the power of the Great Sumeru Nine Palaces Immortal-Slaying Sigils,
Su Xuan had spent eight full years tempering Li Guanqi's physical body, concealing it in eight separate stages.
Yet the Ethereal Dao Body only enhanced Li Guanqi's comprehension.
How could that alone be worth eight years of painstaking vigil from Su Xuan?
For a figure who was the master of an entire realm, would the Great Sumeru Nine Palaces Immortal-Slaying Sigils drawn by his own hand merely seal the power of an Ethereal Dao Body?
It was simply because he feared Li Guanqi would expose the existence of the Spirit-Devouring Dao Body too early and be unable to protect himself.
And this time, the Demon King Physique Xun Tian possessed was considered a top-tier physique even in the Immortal Realm.
The sword spirit truly could not bear to see such a tremendous opportunity go to waste.
Besides, with Li Guanqi's current abilities and temperament, he was entirely capable of keeping the spirit-devouring power in check!
With his present strength, he could also suppress the aura of the Spirit-Devouring Dao Body.
What was more... she, the sword spirit, was here!
Her eyes gleaming, the sword spirit looked at Li Guanqi as he desperately refined the power of the Demon King Physique.
The Spirit-Devouring Dao Body could be called the most heaven-defying special physique in the Immortal Realm.
Its first characteristic was possessing supreme comprehension that ordinary people could never hope to match!
This advantage would fully reveal itself upon reaching the Immortal Realm.
Yet such an ability was merely what the Ethereal Dao Body already possessed.
What Li Guanqi possessed was the Spirit-Devouring Dao Body—something far more terrifying than the Ethereal Dao Body!
The Spirit-Devouring Dao Body possessed one additional ability beyond the Ethereal Dao Body...
And that was... it could devour the special physiques of others and make them his own!
Who knew how much time passed before Li Guanqi, his consciousness hazy, felt as though he had undergone a refinement guided by someone else manipulating his body.
Soon, he realized that everything earlier had been the sword spirit helping him.
With her assistance, he had finally learned how to control the power inside him...
Sensing the surging power within him, Li Guanqi found that the origin power of the Demon King Physique had been reduced to a flame merely the size of a thumb.
Taking a deep breath, he took charge of his body of his own accord, using the power of the Spirit-Devouring Dao Body to madly devour this final remnant of origin power.
Once Li Guanqi thoroughly devoured the origin of the Demon King Physique, a strange stream of text appeared in his mind.
He did not know whether those flashes of spiritual light were truly words. Though he clearly could not read them, he understood what every single one signified.
Once he finished digesting this information, he stood frozen where he was, his eyes wide with astonishment...
The sword spirit's voice softly sounded by his ear.
"What is it?"
Li Guanqi slowly opened his eyes, looked at the sword spirit, and whispered,
"You knew all along, didn't you?"
Looking into his eyes, she did not lie, giving a slight nod.
Then the corners of her lips curved up faintly, and she looked into Li Guanqi's eyes with an enigmatic gaze.
"The Demon King Physique—how does it feel?"
Only then did Li Guanqi recall everything from moments before. Experienced and knowledgeable as he was, he could not help but swallow hard, murmuring,
"Strong... It's absurdly strong!"
Chapter 1262