Quite Self-Aware

Lu Kangnian swung a punch almost purely on instinct!! *Bang!!* Pengluo was knocked flying right out of the spatial interlayer by the colossal force. "Ah!! What was that for?!" Pengluo was unharmed. Snapping back to his senses, Lu Kangnian hurriedly apologized. "Sorry, sorry! That was... purely a reflex." Pengluo gave a petulant huff, then spoke up. "Master, I didn't manage to grab them. That spell was pretty intriguing!" Li Guanqi gave a slight nod. For Pengluo to say such a thing was proof enough of how brilliant the opponent's methods were. Frowning as he looked at the little creature, Li Guanqi asked, "Are you preparing to break through?" Pengluo scratched its head a bit sheepishly. "The lightning jade marrow from before, plus the spiritual liquid Master gave me, and... *cough cough*... I drank too much of Ninth Brother's dragon blood." Li Guanqi thought for a moment, then murmured, "Have the sword spirit come up with a way for you to make your breakthrough in secret." "Do you need help?" Pengluo waved it off nonchalantly. "No need. Just a minor heavenly tribulation—a piece of cake." With that, Pengluo vanished into the void. Lu Kangnian could not help remarking, "That big radish... could we snap a piece off and plant another one?" The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth twitched. "Not really... though if you want to snap off a bit, that's fine." Lu Kangnian roared with laughter. With a wave of his hand, brilliant golden pillars of light suddenly flared to life within the pitch-black void! The dense forest of light pillars stood in orderly rows, presenting a magnificent sight! Gazing at the illusory silhouettes within the pillars of light, Li Guanqi felt a wave of emotion. Several God-Shooting Crossbows were already battered and broken, their bowstrings snapped or their bolts long gone. Of the more than three thousand light pillars, the vast majority were now empty. It seemed that across the sect's countless years of heritage, a tremendous amount of resources had indeed been consumed. After some thought, Li Guanqi retrieved a massive pile of dharma artifacts from his storage ring. In truth, he held numerous storage rings taken from Immortal Realm cultivators, but those could only be unsealed at the Immortal Burial Pavilion after returning to the Seventh Domain. When that time came, he would toss a few immortal artifacts or the like to the sect; seeing all these empty pillars simply felt unsettling. Seeing several hundred high-grade dharma artifacts laid before him, Lu Kangnian's eyes went wide. "Hahahaha! Good, good, good! Good lad!" "With these, I suddenly feel like we've got some real backbone." Li Guanqi gave a helpless smile. "The storage ring I had Elder Xi deliver to you was filled with inscribed talismans worth far more than this junk." Lu Kangnian laughed. "I've already handled everything you instructed." With that, the man lifted his robe, revealing dense clusters of inscribed talismans covering his body. Ordinarily, these inscribed talismans were kept concealed, completely undetectable to normal cultivators. Setting aside their idle banter, Li Guanqi released his divine sense to search for the so-called Ancient Spirit-Burning Ring. Yet after merely a single breath, Li Guanqi opened his eyes with a furrowed brow. "It's not here?" Lu Kangnian spread his hands. "Told you. I know every single item in here like the back of my hand." "There really isn't any Ancient Spirit-Burning Ring." Li Guanqi frowned and murmured, "That shouldn't be..." He then began walking past the pillars of light one by one. Ten, a hundred, a thousand... Suddenly!! Li Guanqi came to a halt before a square seal. Lu Kangnian pointed at the seal and said, "A spirit treasure-grade talisman seal. But that thing can only absorb a bit of an opponent's flame—it's practically useless." Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, closely examining the crimson seal. Its materials, array inscriptions, and abilities were entirely as Lu Kangnian had described. Yet... Li Guanqi raised his hand, lightning coiling around his palm, and reached straight through the seal's enchantment, ignoring it completely. Lu Kangnian's mouth twitched at the sight. Resting in Li Guanqi's hand, the palm-sized square seal felt warm. Sweeping his divine sense across it revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Just as Lu Kangnian was about to speak, silver radiance flared between Li Guanqi's brows!! Suddenly! A flash of lightning blazed in the depths of Li Guanqi's eyes, and he squeezed forcefully, crushing the entire square seal to pieces! "Hey! ...Forget it..." Lu Kangnian felt a pang of heartache, but the very next instant, he was struck dumb. Li Guanqi opened his hand. Amidst the pile of red stone fragments lay a fire-red ancient ring of archaic design!! *Gulp...* "It really was in there?" Li Guanqi fell into deep contemplation as he looked at the jagged half-ring. He could sense an inexplicable power churning within it. After a moment's hesitation, Li Guanqi slipped it onto his finger. *Buzz—!!!* Li Guanqi suddenly felt the primal energy in his body run wild, coursing frantically through him. Narrowing his eyes, he said in a chilling voice, "An immortal artifact!" *Sizzle!!* The skin of Li Guanqi's finger hissed as it scorched. The flesh on his left index finger was burned raw, yet Li Guanqi did not take the ring off. He carefully observed the changes in his primal energy. It felt as though his primal energy were being incinerated by an unseen, mysterious force. Slipping the ring off, he examined it closely. Upon the crimson ancient ring was an emblem shaped like a cluster of flames, flickering with spiritual radiance and exuding an enigmatic aura. However, there was only half of the ring. Precisely because it was only half, Li Guanqi murmured, "It seems that fellow's true objective really is this half-ring." Li Guanqi looked down at the ancient ring in his hand, then raised his hand and wrapped it inside a silver-white inscribed talisman. Immediately after, he sent a divine sense transmission to an elder within the Great Xia Sword Sect! "Senior Gu Lie, help me forge a replica of an ancient seal. I will transmit the detailed design and specifications to you." Having arranged that, Li Guanqi laid out his thoughts, his plan, and his deductions regarding Duan Xian in full. Lu Kangnian marveled as he listened; Li Guanqi had thoroughly analyzed Duan Xian's motives, methods, and potential schemes down to the finest detail. The two of them remained within this mysterious realm for a full two hours. Two hours later, Pengluo grumbled peevishly, "I was just about to go into secluded cultivation, and you kept calling for me..." It tossed the newly forged square seal to Li Guanqi and turned to leave. Li Guanqi smiled faintly. Using the talisman's power, he embedded the ancient ring into the seal and placed it back into its original position. Looking up, he exchanged a glance with Lu Kangnian. "Did you remember everything, Sect Master?" Lu Kangnian waved a broad hand. "Don't worry. How could I fail to remember a small matter like this?" Right at that moment, several peerless sword lights descended from the heavens!!! Li Guanqi sneered coldly. "Here already?" Before his words had fully faded, several bolts of lightning sword light erupted across the sky above the Great Xia Sword Sect!!! Crimson flame sword lights clashed head-on with lightning sword qi. *Boom! Boom! Boom!!* Deafening detonations rang out as flames and lightning tore across the sky in all directions. With one hand resting behind his back, Li Guanqi stood suspended above the Great Xia Sword Sect's sect-protecting grand formation. He raised his gaze toward the black-robed figure standing several hundred zhang away, his eyes narrowing slightly. The man was extremely short, barely reaching the height of an eleven- or twelve-year-old boy, resembling a dwarf. Beneath the black hood, his face was veiled in a swirl of flames, obscuring his features. Li Guanqi spoke impassively. "Duan Xian?" The black-robed man showed no surprise whatsoever that Li Guanqi knew his name. In a raspy, mocking voice, he said, "Heh... The favored son of heaven of the Great Xia Sword Sect... Li Guanqi!" Li Guanqi shrugged. "Why flatter me? Everyone knows that already." "You're quite perceptive." A vicious glint surfaced in Duan Xian's eyes, and his expression gradually darkened.