By this time, Li Guanqi's brothers possessed strength that was frighteningly formidable.
Cultivating with eyes closed, Li Guanqi could not help curling his lips into a faint smile whenever he thought of this.
He felt that the companions at his side were in no way inferior to the Seven Generals!
Meng Wanshu's strength had also begun to radiate an overwhelmingly commanding pressure.
With the legacy power within her thoroughly liberated, Meng Wanshu's strength underwent changes with every passing moment.
Yet, while everyone was striving in silence, none knew that Sovereign Chen was currently perched atop a high mountain, drenched in blood.
The old man's gaze was solemn and cold, brimming with fierce menace!
"A-Chen, why were you so severely injured this time?"
Su Xuan's slightly grave voice echoed beside the elder's ears.
After all, Ling Tianchen was a genuine peak Ascension realm expert!
Without Su Xuan, he would be the strongest being in this heaven and earth, a figure on par with a Realm Lord of the Human Spirit Realm.
Even the Realm Lord of the Bingqi Realm, once not far from the Human Spirit Realm, was inferior to Ling Tianchen in strength!
The gray-haired elder poured strong liquor from a waterskin over his wounds.
A slight ripple finally crossed his expressionless face.
With a heavy expression, the elder spoke in a low voice:
"Old Su, this time... three True Immortals ambushed me."
Hearing this, Su Xuan in the Seventh Domain frowned slightly.
"True Immortals of what tier?"
"Since when was the Immortal Realm willing to pay such a steep price?"
As those words fell, Ling Tianchen slowly raised his head, narrowing his eyes.
"Three True Immortals, and at minimum, they were of the fourth tier!"
"Furthermore..."
The elder paused briefly before speaking slowly:
"After I killed one of the True Immortals, I seemed to sense the aura of a Golden Immortal!!"
"This battle... was rather bizarre."
Su Xuan's brow furrowed deeply, his voice grave.
"Explain in detail."
Ling Tianchen closed his eyes and pondered in silence for a while. Only after sorting through his thoughts did he speak in a heavy voice:
"This time... it felt as though someone set a trap for me!"
"Though their methods were exceptionally covert, fortunately I was vigilant enough."
"Only then did I avoid being trapped by the three True Immortals working in unison."
"The slightest misstep would have consigned me to eternal damnation."
"And... I have a feeling that if I had been trapped, the mastermind behind them would have definitely made a move!!"
Speaking up to this point, even the elder felt disbelief.
"Logically speaking, it shouldn't be so!"
"We have been entangled with the Immortal Realm for ten thousand years, yet they never once brought themselves to deploy cultivators of the True Immortal realm."
"Yet this time, three came all at once, and there might even be a Golden Immortal!"
By the end, Ling Tianchen's voice was brimming with incredulity.
Su Xuan sat on a chair in his study, turning his head toward the void outside the window as his fingers tapped lightly against the desk.
His eyes narrowed slightly, light flickering within them as he murmured softly,
"Heh, seems the people of the Immortal Realm are dead set on descending this time!"
Ling Tianchen's gaze immediately sharpened, his brow furrowing as he asked in a low voice,
"Old Su, how should we respond?"
Su Xuan's chest rose and fell slightly. He let out a long sigh, clasped his hands behind his back, and slowly stood up.
"Heh. Kill however many come!!"
"Until Guanqi enters the Ascension realm, the Immortal Realm can dream on about descending!"
Hearing this, Ling Tianchen nodded slightly and said in a heavy voice,
"After Guanqi breaks through to the Tribulation Transcendence realm, will the Four Kings take over directly?"
Su Xuan shook his head, transmitting his voice softly:
"The Four Kings cannot hold him back for long."
Pausing briefly, he then said heavily,
"Prepare to face the storm."
The elder said nothing more upon hearing this.
He clearly understood what Su Xuan meant, his eyes glinting with excitement.
Su Xuan's words had made it abundantly clear.
Su Xuan plainly intended for Li Guanqi to become the Human Spirit Immortal!!
Only then would Su Xuan be at ease letting Li Guanqi ascend.
And once that step was achieved, Su Xuan would completely throw open the Immortal Boundary Wall.
All living beings could ascend!
Ling Tianchen licked his parched lips, a sharp gleam surfacing in his eyes.
Enduring ten thousand years of torment—was that day finally about to arrive?
Though their conversation comprised only a few short sentences, it sealed the future destiny of the entire Human Spirit Realm.
The clans of the Six Domains, the Ethereal Immortal Domain, the ancient hidden clans...
None of them yet knew that the path to ascension they had yearned for across ten thousand years now rested entirely upon a single young man.
***
On an otherwise ordinary and peaceful day, an aged, fierce shout suddenly resounded through the heavens!
"Prepare for battle!!!"
The sound pierced through several domain layers, reaching straight to the First Domain, the Realm of Immortal Spirits.
Li Guanqi and the others were jolted awake within the Nirvana Pagoda.
Li Guanqi snatched up the sword coffin, strapping it onto his back, and the group stepped out of the White Jade Tower.
The six sworn brothers plus Meng Wanshu made seven in all.
Seven streaks of flowing light shot straight into the clouds. Across the Immortal Burial Realm, orderly movement arose amidst the chaos as cultivators continuously vaulted into the air, transforming into streaks of light!
In the Second Domain, the realm was deserted; every cultivator headed straight for the Third Domain!!
Li Guanqi and his companions were among them, though Li Guanqi kept his brows knitted tight the entire way.
Suddenly!
Li Guanqi and Tang Ru spoke almost simultaneously.
"Something's wrong!"
"It's not right!"
The others' gazes immediately converged upon the two.
Li Guanqi said in a heavy voice, "There are noticeably far more cultivators this time than before!!"
"The entire First Domain is practically empty!"
Just then, however, a streak of light brushed past them.
Ye Feng's mind shook; his gaze caught sight of a sword-wielding woman passing through the light barrier of the Third Domain and vanishing.
Li Guanqi took a deep breath, looked up at the firmament, and spoke solemnly:
"Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, you two possess the power to turn the tides of battle. Stay in the Third Domain!"
"The rest of you, come with me to the Fourth Domain!!"
The Fourth Domain—a battlefield of the Eight Generals tier!
At minimum, the cultivators there were of the late Mahayana realm, and many were at peak Mahayana or even half-step Tribulation Transcendence!
Tang Ru did not refuse, but Gu Li took a stride forward.
"No, I'm going to the Fourth Domain too!"
Li Guanqi was about to say something when Gu Li's form suddenly wavered, splitting into two!!
And the duplicate Gu Li was virtually identical to the original in both aura and appearance!
Gu Li explained, "This avatar can last for an entire month!"
"I'll leave behind enough storage rings filled with inscribed talismans for the avatar to aid the Third Domain's battlefield!"
"I am going with all of you!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Li Guanqi nodded and said gravely:
"Fine!"
With that, Li Guanqi looked deeply at Tang Ru, transmitting his voice with gravity:
"Above all, keep yourself safe! Do not act rashly under any circumstances."
Tang Ru nodded with a solemn gaze.
Then, the group shot straight toward the Fourth Domain!!
Six streaks of flowing light were exceptionally conspicuous amidst this void.
Whenever cultivators caught sight of the six, they cupped their fists in salute one after another.
The Fourth Domain's battlefield was boundlessly more perilous than where they stood.
Yet Li Guanqi and his companions chose not to shrink back. Instead, they pressed forward against adversity, voluntarily stepping into the Fourth Domain's battlefield!!
*Buzz—!*
The light gate shone with brilliant radiance, and their figures vanished.
When Li Guanqi and the others emerged in the Fourth Domain, they were surprised to find that, including the Seven Generals, there were barely over forty cultivators in total across the entire Fourth Domain.
Only after their six arrivals did the cultivators in the Fourth Domain reach forty-eight.
Li Guanqi saw no sign of Long Hou, not expecting that Long Hou would be brewing a breakthrough into the Tribulation Transcendence realm at this very moment!!
Brows knitted tight, Li Guanqi muttered with a trace of unease in his heart,
"Undergoing a tribulation right now... this really isn't good timing!"
Hong Zhi and the others stood alongside Li Guanqi, their auras vast and surging!!
Before Li Guanqi and his companions could even get acquainted with those beside them, waves of terrifying pressure came crashing down!!
Meanwhile, as soon as Ye Feng entered the Fourth Domain, he caught sight of a woman stepping into the Fifth Domain!!!
Ye Feng's eyes flickered as he murmured in astonishment,
"Is she... a Tribulation Transcendence powerhouse?"
Indeed, the woman who had cut straight through four domains from the First Domain was none other than Li Qingchan, the proprietress of the wine shop!!
Guardian of the Realm of Immortal Spirits.
Chapter 1290