Nangong Xuandu's brow furrowed tightly. After a long silence, he asked in a heavy voice, "He broke through to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm? How could that be!"
Li Guanqi spoke slowly, recounting everything that had transpired at the Great Xia Sword Sect as well as the residual power lingering within Lu Kangnian.
Silence fell.
Nangong Xuandu clearly had not expected that man to break through ahead of him.
A moment later, Nangong Xuandu began recalling events of the past.
"Roughly... over thirty-seven hundred years ago, I went to prevent someone from ascending to the Immortal Realm.
"Just after I finished persuading the man of that era, that fellow suddenly lashed out. He wounded me and tried to force an ascension.
"After a fierce battle, he managed to escape.
"His mastery of evil blood arts was consummate.
"I will never forget his eyes—obsessive, hateful, and venomous!"
Recalling those events, Nangong Xuandu's voice still held a trace of lingering dread.
Li Guanqi listened intently, his brows knitted.
Suddenly realizing something, he asked in a low tone, "In that case, this man hasn't spent all these years purely in secluded cultivation in the shadows?"
Nangong Xuandu replied slowly, "I can't say for sure.
"Still, if you run into him, be careful. If things truly get out of hand, Long Hou can come assist you."
Li Guanqi declined the offer, stating plainly, "If there's free time, it would be better to help oversee the newly constructed Heavenly King Pagoda."
Nangong Xuandu added a few more details about Duan Xian as a person and their clash back then.
Putting away the jade slip, Li Guanqi wore a preoccupied look.
The thunder wings on his back unfurled and beat violently, propelling him at blazing speed toward the Great Xia Domain.
His eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze drifting as thoughts churned within him.
Li Guanqi placed himself in Duan Xian's position, trying to see things from his perspective.
If he were Duan Xian, several thousand years of accumulated hatred would have long dulled with the succession of sect masters and the passing of old faces.
Yet he had not sought vengeance back then, only to resurface now under these circumstances...
From what Nangong Xuandu described, the man was extraordinarily obsessive and stubborn.
If someone like that could lurk in the shadows waiting for a chance to break through, he surely would have left traces during the recent great clashes between the Seventh Domain and the Immortal Realm!
Li Guanqi did not believe such a stubborn man would refrain from making an attempt when the Immortal Ascension Platform's energy overflowed and the Human-Immortal Realm Barrier weakened!
"Check whether any stray fragments of the Immortal Ascension Platform scattered in the outer realms were overlooked.
"In addition, mobilize all our intelligence resources to investigate if anyone seized an opportunity to break through and then vanished back into hiding!"
Yu Hua's voice soon sounded by his ear. "Yes, Pavilion Master."
Having issued the orders, Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes and murmured, "For someone obsessed with ascension, there can only be two reasons...
"First, to threaten me; second, there must be something he cares about inside the Great Xia Sword Sect!"
By gathering information, analyzing the past grievances, and weighing Nangong Xuandu's words, Li Guanqi deduced that Duan Xian could only have these two objectives!
Yet even as Li Guanqi hurried back toward the Great Xia Sword Sect...
Deep within an uninhabited mountain range on the Qingyun Continent of the Great Xia Domain, hidden in the depths of a low-tier beast's den, lay a concealed domain space known to no one.
A black-robed man wiped the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth.
At his feet lay a corpse drained entirely of its blood and eviscerated of all internal organs.
The man was slightly short and hunched, yet his face was exceedingly handsome.
His features were sharp and chiseled, with sword-like brows, starry eyes, and fair skin.
That face alone would have been enough to charm countless young women, but his pupils gleamed a crimson red.
A head of fiery-red hair looked as though dyed in blood, matted into thick, sticky strands.
This man was none other than Duan Xian. Within his domain space lay dozens of massive blood pools.
Currently, within pools spanning several tens of zhang, disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect were bound and submerged.
A cold sneer curled on Duan Xian's lips as he limped toward the pools.
Terrifying crimson flames swirled around him, surging like fresh blood.
The immense pressure suffocated everyone present, leaving their faces deathly pale.
An elder belonging to Tianhuo Peak trembled uncontrollably.
Just as the man reached out to seize a young woman, the burly elder surged up and shoved her aside!
Duan Xian gripped the elder by the throat, sneering disdainfully.
"Since you're in such a rush, I'll send you on your way."
Before the elder could speak, a burst of formidable flames engulfed him instantly!
"Aaaaargh—!"
Piercing shrieks echoed above the domain space. The searing heat caused the blood pool to boil in an instant.
Fist-sized bubbles surfaced and burst continuously with wet popping sounds.
The Tianhuo Peak elder's face contorted in agony, turning the color of pig liver as his entire body scorched red-hot.
Blood leaked from his seven orifices, his internal blood seemingly evaporated by invisible flames!
A stream of bloody light flowed out from the man's orifices and into Duan Xian's mouth.
Closing his eyes, Duan Xian wore an expression of supreme bliss.
With a flick of his hand, he tore the man's soul directly from the body!
Duan Xian casually sifted through the man's memories, his eyes flickering with inscrutable thoughts.
When he finished, the elder's body crumbled completely to a pile of ash within the flames.
The disciples trapped in the blood pools were already drained of color from terror.
Yet what horrified them even more was that the blood within the pool began boring into their bodies!
The piercing agony felt as though their skin were being flayed alive.
Even so, everyone endured it, glaring at Duan Xian with eyes brimming with hatred and malice.
Seeing this, Duan Xian's lips curled into a cold, mocking laugh.
"You hate me? Hahahahaha..."
"Hate all you want! Curse your injustice!"
"In this world, strength reigns supreme. What does your resentment matter? You can change nothing..."
With that, Duan Xian turned to leave, having obtained the information he sought.
The black-robed man limped away, disappearing from their sight.
He had long investigated the current Great Xia Sword Sect, and over the years he had learned of the existence of Li Guanqi, Ye Feng, and the others.
He also knew Li Guanqi shared close ties with the Eight Generals, who treated him quite differently from ordinary cultivators.
The Seventh Domain—the place closest to the Immortal Realm.
Duan Xian looked down and stroked a ring on his finger; the jagged, ancient crimson ring emitted a faint, shimmering glow.
His head lowered, the man wore a venomous expression, his eyes flickering incessantly as he stared at the ring.
Looking back toward the disciples in the blood pools, the corners of his mouth tilted up slightly.
Meanwhile, Li Guanqi arrived back at the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Upon his return, he first relayed everything he had learned to Lu Kangnian.
Afterward, he followed Ling Daoyan toward the library pavilion on Tianzhu Peak.
Chapter 1322