Battling Long Hou!

The Fourth Domain, the Realm of Wind and Thunder. Beyond the highest floating island, a golden Dao platform towering tens of thousands of feet had long since been erected high in the firmament. Upon the platform stood a golden throne. Clad in golden armor, Long Hou sat poised upon it, an imperial-gold spear planted upright to the throne's right side. With arms folded across his chest, Long Hou kept his eyes half-closed, his expression stern and commanding. The instant Li Guanqi’s aura manifested in the Fourth Domain, Long Hou’s eyes snapped open! At that moment, he was like a beast jolted awake, his fierce, tiger-like gaze locking dead onto Li Guanqi as the youth streaked through the air. That look was searingly sharp—the gaze of a hunter fixing upon its quarry. The members of the Seven Generals had all arrived to observe the duel. This time, however, Li Guanqi had not asked Ye Feng and the others to come. This was not a life-and-death clash against an enemy, merely a sparring match. Yet just because Li Guanqi had not asked did not mean the others would stay away. The moment Li Guanqi stepped onto the platform, light surged. Meng Wanshu, Ye Feng, and the rest all arrived! They came not only to witness such a rare, pinnacle-level duel, but also to cheer on their big brother. A clash between two mighty cultivators at the half-step Tribulation Transcendence realm was an invaluable learning experience for anyone. Ye Xuan came, Qin Xiao came, and Meng Jiangchu was there as well. Xu Junlin and Qin Wushang stood side by side, right beside Ye Feng and his companions. Watching Li Guanqi’s back, Qin Wushang murmured, "The speed at which his strength grows is terrifying." Xu Junlin gave a bitter smile at the remark. Once, he had still been able to hold an edge over Li Guanqi. Yet now... he feared he did not even possess the qualifications to raise a spear before him. In such a brief span, the chasm between them had grown wider and wider. Ever since Li Guanqi began challenging the Eight Generals, starting with his victory over Chan Kongzi in the very first bout, his strength had soared at a pace visible to the naked eye. Beneath the gaze of thousands, the two men seemed to drain all color from heaven and earth; everyone’s eyes were pinned on them, unable to look away. Having changed into fresh, pristine robes, Li Guanqi looked refined and poised, like an elegant young gentleman. Long Hou, on the other hand, was as domineering and majestic as ever. As the two stood upon the elevated platform, the mere collision of their auras sent waves of ripples cascading across the platform's protective barrier. The instant Long Hou gripped his spear in one hand, his entire demeanor transformed completely! The man slowly rose from the golden throne conjured of primal energy, his aura surging steadily with every inch he rose. A few scattered beams of light had previously filtered through the rift in the clouds, drifting lazily onto the floating island. Yet now... dark clouds swallowed the heavens, and the atmospheric flow of the entire Fourth Domain was drawn into the sway of these two men. Ten thousand bolts of lightning cascaded from above like a torrential downpour. Gales howled, and azure astral winds swirled through the void, dense enough to see with the naked eye. With a flick of his hand, Li Guanqi summoned the Red Lotus sword, cloaked in blood-colored radiance, whistling straight into his grip. *Boom!* An invisible force bloomed outwards. Petals unfolded at the hilt of the Red Lotus, and crimson brilliance rippled across the blade, blazing like a scarlet falling star. Long Hou fixed his deep gaze upon Li Guanqi and murmured with genuine emotion, "To think that in just over ten short years, you have grown to the point where even I must take you seriously." Li Guanqi did not speak, only looking at the man before him with a complex expression. Back then, it was this very man who had thrust forth a golden spear, reducing the entirety of Mingchuan to dust. The Nether King—an enemy that had seemed utterly insurmountable to Li Guanqi at the time—had seen both his soul and body perish under that single spear thrust. Long Hou had been equally arrogant back then, his eyes devoid of the slightest ripple from start to finish. Obliterating Mingchuan had been nothing more to him than handling an insignificant trifle. And it was that very spear thrust that had left an indelible mark deep within Li Guanqi's heart. Li Guanqi looked upon Long Hou, the man he had once revered so deeply. *Phew...* He had never imagined it would take over a decade just to stand before him. Yet what Li Guanqi did not know was that some people could spend their entire lives striving, only to stare hopelessly at this man's retreating back. Exhaling a breath of turbid air, Li Guanqi's gaze sharpened into steel. "Junior Li Guanqi requests your guidance, Senior Long Hou!" Long Hou looked at the young man before him, his eyes filled with mixed emotions. At this moment, how could his own heart not be churning with complex feelings? Years ago, when he first laid eyes on this young lad, he too had looked on with nothing but disdain. In his eyes back then, Li Guanqi had merely been a youth who happened to catch the Realm Lord's eye. He had even felt a twinge of resentment that Su Xuan would dispatch him for such a trivial matter. That resentment had been directed straight at Li Guanqi. Yet now... Long Hou glanced toward the firmament from the corner of his eye and murmured to himself, *Could making a mountain out of a molehill back then and having me appear have been for this very moment today?* With things as they stood, Long Hou finally understood a few things. Slowly leveling his golden spear, he narrowed his eyes. "I won't be holding back." Li Guanqi broke into a grin. "As it should be!" The moment the words fell, two deafening booms erupted in unison! *Boom! Boom! Clang!* There were no probing strikes, no reservations. Right from the start, both unleashed a terrifying might capable of overwhelming anyone newly ascended to the Tribulation Transcendence realm! *Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!* *Clang! Clang!* *Clang! Clang—Boom! Clang! Clang!* Afterimages flickered across the Dao platform amid bursts of blinding sparks; the collisions of sword and spear fell thick and fast as rain. The ringing clash of metal merged into a single unbroken crescendo. The residual shockwaves rippling from them were enough to obliterate any cultivator in the early Mahayana realm. From the very beginning, Li Guanqi circulated the fourth layer of Divine Punishment—the Void Liberation Realm! His formidable physical strength was normally enough to crush opponents of the same cultivation, yet he was astonished to discover that Long Hou's physical might was equally astonishing. The flesh beneath the golden armor was not a whit inferior to his own—in fact, it held a slight upper hand. Wielding his sword in his left hand, Li Guanqi struck faster and faster. Yet Long Hou had weathered a hundred battles and stood undefeated, possessing boundless experience against sword cultivators. Capitalizing on his spear's reach, he relentlessly squeezed Li Guanqi's room to evade. Still, Li Guanqi grew fiercer the longer he fought, his sword accelerating until even Long Hou could only catch hazy blurs. Long Hou began to feel the pressure as well. Li Guanqi's combat experience was far too vast. Even his battle instincts were not the slightest bit inferior to his own! Suddenly! Li Guanqi shifted his sword from a thrust to an upward flick, and the instant Long Hou pulled his spear back to parry, Li Guanqi snapped the flick into a slash! The two successive transitions occurred in a mere fraction of an instant—so fast that even Long Hou failed to react. *Skrrrt!* The sword raked across the golden armor, carving a deep furrow and coming within a hair's breadth of wounding Long Hou! The golden spear spun across Long Hou's palm, sliding back three feet before his hand locked onto the butt of the shaft! With a resolute expression, Long Hou gripped the shaft with his right hand, wielding the spear like a staff as he swung it down toward Li Guanqi's head with crushing force! This strike tore straight through the void, the immense wind pressure pinning Li Guanqi in place. Carrying a horrifying momentum capable of cleaving mountains and sundering rivers, it crashed down! Simultaneously, runes surged across the golden spear, glowing with mysterious golden patterns. "Apocalypse: Soaring Dragon!" "Overlord Mountain-Cleaving Spear!" *Rumble!* Radiant golden light blanketed the firmament, sending violent tremors across the Dao platform's barrier. Sword in hand, Li Guanqi's gaze narrowed. He stomped down hard against the void, his figure hurtling back dozens of yards in an instant. Yet he still could not escape the strike's devastating range. Almost on pure instinct, he instantly completed his Dragon Transformation and swung his sword upward in a ferocious counterstrike! "Red Lotus: Dark Moon Slash!" *BOOM!* A cataclysmic explosion resounded. Sword Qi surged, golden light shattered, and the raging tempest swallowed both their silhouettes whole.