Sensing this, Li Guanqi burned with anxiety. If this went on any longer, the toll of Lu Kangnian burning his life force would be virtually irreversible!
Without realizing it, Li Guanqi quickened his hands.
Just as he was on the verge of purging the blood fiend power from every disciple, Duan Xian's eyes flashed, and raging fires burst to life inside every single one of them!
Li Guanqi's face went instantly pale, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The primal energy within him depleted at a visible rate.
Had his reactions been even a fraction slower, every disciple would have perished on the spot that very instant!
Yet with his present power, he could only shield their internal organs; he had no opening to purge the hostile force completely!
Just as his desperation peaked, Lu Kangnian's furious roar suddenly rang in his ears.
"Don't worry about me! Save them!"
Yet this time, Li Guanqi did not listen.
Maintaining the energy protecting the disciples, he rose abruptly to his feet.
Gripping the half of the Ancient Spirit-Burning Ring in his hand, he bellowed, "The ring is yours! Release them!"
Knowing both men were at the end of their tether, Duan Xian sneered, "If I don't let them go, all of you will still die, and the ring will still be mine. Why should I release anyone?"
Cold light flared in Li Guanqi's eyes. He tapped a finger against the center of Lu Kangnian's brow.
The milky-white flame dissipated, and Lu Kangnian slumped weakly against Li Guanqi's body.
"Guanqi, what are you... Sigh!"
Li Guanqi paid Lu Kangnian no mind. Feeling the hostile power inside the disciples swelling ever stronger, a fierce glint crossed his eyes. His demonized physique grew burly and imposing, dragon scales surfacing across his skin.
He clenched his right hand into a fist, gripping the ring tightly in his palm.
Duan Xian scoffed, "Heh, an insect trying to shake a tree. You think someone like you can destroy an immortal artifact ri—"
Before he could finish, Li Guanqi slowly applied force with his right hand, endless blood threads coiling around the ancient ring in his palm.
*Crack!*
A crisp snap echoed out. Duan Xian instantly coalesced a blood-red clone right in front of Li Guanqi!
"No! Stop! I agree! I agree!"
Seeing the panic written across Duan Xian's face, Li Guanqi knew his gamble had paid off.
The man desperately needed this half of the ancient ring!
Li Guanqi opened his palm. Across the ancient ring ran a fracture as fine as a strand of hair.
Though it would not impede the ring's function, repairing it would demand no small price.
Duan Xian's chest heaved violently. He did not dare call the bluff...
Li Guanqi undoubtedly possessed the power to destroy the artifact.
Once he lost the Ancient Spirit-Burning Ring, the power within his own body would become entirely impossible to suppress.
Nothing but death would await him!
Duan Xian raised both hands, subduing the power within the disciples to its absolute minimum.
Eyes flickering toward Li Guanqi, he said in a low, heavy voice, "I'll release them. Give me the ring!"
Li Guanqi agreed without the slightest hesitation. "Fine! Deal!"
Li Guanqi willed the ancient ring to float toward the man, while Duan Xian steadily drew back his power.
Just as the ancient ring came within three feet of Duan Xian, all the power within the disciples had been fully retracted.
Suddenly!
With lightning speed, Duan Xian snatched at the ancient ring. At the exact same instant, the power inside every disciple erupted in a flash, surging even more violently than before!
Yet the moment he made his move, a crimson thread snapped onto the ancient ring. With a sharp tug from Li Guanqi, the ring flew right back into his grasp!
Around every disciple, a layer of lightning armor materialized.
Beneath the lightning armor lay a formidable suppressing power, which held firm against the opponent's vicious backlash!
A hundred zhang separated Li Guanqi and Duan Xian. Neither spoke. Cold sneers hung on their faces, their gazes chillingly resolute.
"Dog bastard."
"Little fox."
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. Pinching the ancient ring between two fingers, he slowly exerted force.
*Crack!*
Unable to endure Li Guanqi's strength, the ancient ring fractured, a piece the size of a mung bean chipping away.
"No! Don't destroy it!"
Watching Duan Xian's frantic distress and agonizing heartbreak, Li Guanqi said slowly, his face devoid of expression, "That is your punishment for breaking your word."
Then, right before Duan Xian's eyes, Li Guanqi drew back the crimson thread.
With a blank face and a voice empty of emotion, Li Guanqi said, "Your last chance. Refuse, and I destroy the ring.
"Every disciple here can die, but you should know what title I have earned on my path of cultivation.
"I will settle every bit of this debt on your head. Don't think you can threaten me with the lives of disciples. My patience is gone."
Duan Xian's eyes flickered. Only now did he abruptly recall Li Guanqi's title—the Yanluo Sword Venerable!
This youth was likewise a ruthless figure who had slaughtered countless souls.
He acted entirely by his own will; to him, killing one person or slaughtering a thousand made no difference whatsoever.
Duan Xian's heart ached fiercely at the sight of the chipped ring.
Fixing Li Guanqi with a deathly stare, he said chillingly, "Fine. I won't play tricks this time. But you must give me that fragment as well!"
Li Guanqi nodded. After a moment's hesitation, he still recalled the Spirit Absolution blood threads from the fragment.
Duan Xian's heart gave a sudden jolt; he had not expected Li Guanqi to have kept another hidden hand.
However...
Li Guanqi spoke again. "What? I've shown my sincerity, yet you're still holding back?"
As he spoke, Li Guanqi's gaze casually drifted past Lu Kangnian.
Duan Xian's pupils constricted. Hesitating for only a heartbeat, he drew back every trace of residual power left inside Lu Kangnian!
Feeling the hidden blood fiend power being siphoned out of his body, Lu Kangnian was filled with utter shock.
He had never imagined Duan Xian's hidden trap was not on the disciples, but on him!
What was worse, he had not sensed the residual blood fiend power within himself in the slightest.
Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, Duan Xian spoke once more.
"The inscribed talismans on me... shouldn't you take them off now?"
Li Guanqi froze slightly. He had not anticipated the man's senses would be so sharp to the fluctuations of talismans!
This fellow was also a top-tier talisman master!
Left with no other choice, Li Guanqi recalled the inscribed talismans placed upon Duan Xian outside the blood python.
Li Guanqi looked around.
Displaying tact, Duan Xian directly dismissed the blood python.
The beast dissolved back into a vast sea of blood that merged into Duan Xian's true body.
Watching this series of clashes left Lu Kangnian shaken to his core.
After all this, had he been the only fool here?
If he had faced Duan Xian alone, wouldn't the bastard have toyed with him like a dog?
As if by tacit agreement, both men raised their right hands at the same time.
Li Guanqi tossed the ring across, while Duan Xian drew back his power entirely!
The exchange appeared swift, yet felt agonizingly slow.
Every muscle in Li Guanqi's body was taut, his toes gripping the void, primed to strike at any instant.
His divine sense remained fixed on Duan Xian, watching for the slightest sign of betrayal.
Duan Xian stared back at Li Guanqi with equal tension, terrified that the youth might violently lash out without warning!
The atmosphere turned suffocatingly heavy beneath their shifting auras.
Between heaven and earth, two forces ground against each other in the sky!
Lightning surged within the dark clouds of the firmament, while the sea of blood roiled and boiled across the heavens.
The instant the ancient ring fell into Duan Xian's grasp, the power binding the disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect was simultaneously severed!
Chapter 1332