At this moment, Li Guanqi looked more like Long Hou than ever.
Formidable! Overbearing!
Bearing the weight of protecting the Human Spirit Realm, he would rather make enemies of everyone present than back down.
He stood before them all to tell them straight:
*I will block your ascension!*
At those words, dead silence fell over the crowd.
Li Guanqi remained where he stood, turning his head to look at the blood-drenched Song Yuan before speaking calmly to Ye Feng and the others.
"Kill every last one of them!!"
*Boom!*
While the rest were still dazed in stunned silence, Ye Feng and his companions shot forward like lightning!
Including Meng Wanshu, the six of them tore toward the enemy ranks like six sharp daggers.
Unyielding, invincible, unstoppable!
The golden bells on Hong Zhi's saber chimed violently, their shrill ringing piercing the heavens!
Her face was stern, cold glints flashing in her eyes as she rasped, "Kill!"
Yet neither she nor Li Guanqi moved.
Li Guanqi turned to face all the cultivators of the Immortal Burial Realm. To their surprise, he bent at the waist and bowed deeply to them.
"Seniors, your ascension... will come in time.
"However, you cannot set foot upon these Immortal Ascension Platforms.
"This junior is indebted to you all for guarding the peace of the Human Spirit Realm through millions of years that no one in the outside world ever knew.
"I also know full well how immense the temptation of these platforms is to all of you venerable elders.
"I, Guanqi, dare not make any reckless promises, but... today, forgive this junior, for I will not yield even an inch regarding these Immortal Ascension Platforms."
As the words fell, Li Guanqi slowly straightened his spine. His gaze sharpened, turning cold and fierce.
Hearing his words, many cultivators felt their eyes flicker with complicated glints.
Ascending to immortality.
It was right before their eyes, within reach of an outstretched hand.
They had cultivated the Dao for thousands of years, some for nearly ten millennia.
From the moment they stepped onto the path of cultivation, hadn't their ultimate goal been to ascend to the Immortal Realm?
Such a choice was agonizing to make.
Many bowed their heads, their expressions showing they were still unwilling to let it go.
At this time, neither the Four Kings nor Sovereign Chen had appeared.
Yet Li Guanqi could clearly sense the faint, intense tremors erupting from the domain above.
It seemed the battlefield in the Fifth Domain was likewise far from peaceful.
This time, formidable enemies capable of tearing through the Human-Immortal Realm Barrier had actually appeared.
Deep down, Li Guanqi was also terribly worried for Su Xuan.
However, none of that was something he could afford to brood over right now.
Resolving the crisis right in front of him was what mattered most.
At the same time, Li Guanqi had no idea what was transpiring in the Third Domain.
There, Tang Ru wore a ferocious expression, standing before all the Immortal Ascension Platforms as he snarled coldly, "Whoever wants to step onto these, walk over my corpse first!"
A long gash stretched across Tang Ru's forehead, blood gushing forth and blurring his vision.
Yet he stood firmly at the front.
"My eldest brother is Realm Lord Su Xuan's grandson! As long as my brother can ascend, the Realm Lord will never stop him!"
These words genuinely took effect. The expressions in many eyes shifted repeatedly.
Tang Ru pressed on.
"By the strictest count, it has been less than a year since we arrived in the Seventh Domain.
"Yet my brother's cultivation has already broken through from the mid Mahayana realm to the half-step Tribulation Transcendence realm! The Tribulation Transcendence realm is right around the corner!
"At this pace, my brother will ascend in a hundred years at most!
"What is a mere century? It passes in the blink of an eye! If you ascend right now... the Human Spirit Realm will surely be destroyed!!"
Gu Li's avatar stood behind Tang Ru, watching him with a complex gaze.
At this moment, Tang Ru had completely rewritten Gu Li's impression of him.
Gu Li had to admit that Tang Ru was remarkably clever.
He had analyzed the pros and cons with pinpoint accuracy, even using a concrete timeframe to stabilize everyone's hearts!
Gu Li's avatar took a slow step forward, displaying the storage rings on both hands. The message was unmistakable.
*Step forward, and die.*
Such scenes played out across both the Third and Fourth Domains.
The cultivators of the Immortal Realm also understood that once cultivators reached the tier of the Four Kings in the Fifth Domain, this kind of enticement was entirely useless.
Thus, their main focus fell upon the Fourth Domain.
The cultivators in the Fourth Domain were far higher in cultivation realm and had cultivated for an exceptionally long time.
For them, the temptation of ascension was lethal.
Behind Li Guanqi, the six companions had plunged into a bitter struggle.
Fortunately, with the assistance of Nangong Xuandu and the others, they were not completely surrounded.
Still, a dozen or so facing over a hundred foes was proving strenuous.
Without the slightest hesitation, Li Guanqi raised his hand, unleashing sword light like a torrential downpour.
In an instant, over a hundred Immortal Ascension Platforms were shattered into pieces!
Yet Song Yuan seemed to have anticipated this. His eyes showed not the slightest ripple of emotion, not even regret.
Seeing the fragments rain down through the void, the cultivators of the Seventh Domain felt a profound sense of loss.
Yet Li Guanqi knew he had to do this.
He had to extinguish their hopes of ascension with his own hands.
Only without the temptation of ascension dangling before them could they regain their reason.
Right at that moment...
Yushan's voice suddenly rang in Li Guanqi's ear, urgent and agitated.
"Watch out!! They're trying to tear open the seal of the Immortal Burial Realm to get outside!!"
Before his words even finished, several cultivators among the Immortal Realm's forces took positions in seven directions. Each drew a dazzling, radiant golden formation plate from their hands.
The formation plates blazed with blinding light, followed immediately by Song Yuan hurling a storage ring into their midst.
The storage ring shattered, and another hundred or so Immortal Ascension Platforms plunged into the array!
*Boom!*
A terrifyingly immense surge of power erupted in an instant!
The colossal force blasted Ye Feng, Meng Wanshu, Li Guanqi, and the others several thousand zhang backward!
The golden light condensed into a massive spear that shot straight toward the vault of heaven!
*Swoosh!*
This strike...
Li Guanqi stared blankly at the sight. The power of that spear was undeniably comparable to the full-strength blow of an Ascension realm expert!
*Boom!! Crash!! Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!*
The void of the heavens shattered like a mirror, giving birth to a surging storm of primal chaos.
Li Guanqi muttered, "The domain barrier... is broken."
Sweeping over a hundred Immortal Ascension Platforms along with it, the golden spear tore straight into the void!
Covered in blood and already gravely wounded, Song Yuan threw his head back and laughed maniacally.
"Hahahahaha! It worked!!
"Even if no one in the Immortal Burial Realm ascends, I don't believe the people outside can resist it!!
"Hahahahahahaha! The Human Spirit Realm is doomed!!"
The spear had not carried off every single platform; several were left behind on the Immortal Realm's side.
The corners of Song Yuan's mouth curled up as he taunted playfully, "If you want to leave, you still can! Once the people from our Immortal Realm descend, none of you will ever be able to walk away!"
Furious, Li Guanqi swung his sword with ferocious force!
Song Yuan's pupils shrank, and he instantly crushed a palm-sized straw doll!
*Hum!*
Watching the beam of sword light graze past him, Song Yuan felt a lingering chill of terror.
Li Guanqi's murderous intent toward him had reached its absolute peak.
Beside him, Hong Zhi's expression was grim to the extreme. Hesitating for a brief moment, she turned toward Li Guanqi, took a deep breath, and said in a heavy voice, "We... have to go deal with the outside!"
Hong Zhi spoke with utter resolve.
Yet her eyes subconsciously drifted toward the more than one hundred Immortal Realm cultivators.
Worry filled her gaze. She did not know whether Song Yuan still possessed more Immortal Ascension Platforms in reserve.
If he did, once they departed, there was no telling whether the cultivators behind them would betray them.
Yet Li Guanqi looked at Hong Zhi with an unshakeable gaze.
"Go.
"Leave the Fourth Domain to me."
When Li Guanqi said those words, his voice was exceptionally calm and resolute.
Still, Hong Zhi could not help but worry. Once they left, Li Guanqi and the original defenders would number only a dozen or so...
Facing enemies more than ten times their number...
Chapter 1299