Without a second thought, Li Guanqi tore open the void and hurled everyone inside.
With that done, he was entirely freed of worries.
The instant Duan Xian obtained the ancient ring, he slipped it onto his finger.
The crimson rings merged, blazing fire mending the crack. Even the severed fragment gradually melded into the whole.
Duan Xian laughed maniacally.
"Hahahahaha! I finally have it!"
Roar!
A terrifying dragon roar imbued with pure draconic might abruptly thundered forth.
The earth-shattering sound was an innate divine ability of the dragon race.
The immense power instantly stunned Duan Xian, violently shaking his sea of consciousness and causing cracks to rupture across it. The horrific shockwave of the sonic roar burst his eardrums on the spot.
Deafened, his mind turned into a murky haze.
Dazed and disoriented, he turned his head, just in time to catch out of the corner of his eye a colossal dragon looking down at him with lowered brow. Cold, golden vertical pupils flickered with chilling murderous intent.
Just as the boundless blood sea was about to submerge Jiuxiao, a silvery-white light enveloped the dragon. Duan Xian even caught a trace of mockery in the dragon's eyes!
Jiuxiao's figure vanished in a flash.
Li Guanqi appeared in Jiuxiao's place, the dragon coiled around his wrist with its presence concealed.
Clutching Red Lotus, Li Guanqi raised his hand and slashed out several strikes, instantly sealing Duan Xian's retreat routes!
Boundless lightning power surged forth, and the power of his domain enveloped a radius of a hundred li. Then the void shifted and churned, transforming into an endless lightning purgatory.
Duan Xian retreated violently, yet he still failed to dodge Li Guanqi's blade!
The sword light was too swift, and Li Guanqi was faster still.
Spreading his lightning wings, Li Guanqi shot forward and struck with a single slash!
Duan Xian's left hand was severed cleanly at the wrist!
"No!"
Watching his severed hand fly through the air, Duan Xian forcibly halted his momentum and shot forward. At the same time, the blood from his severed stump turned into threads, tugging the hand back toward him.
It was a chilling sight, making Li Guanqi frown slightly. Having fought countless foes, this was the first time he had seen such a trick!
Still... such a paltry trick was hardly enough to impress him!
"Four-Direction Heaven-Reaching Pillars!"
Only this time, the spirit incantation was miniaturized—three-foot lightning pillars crossed into an X shape, instantly pinning the hand in place!
Flapping the lightning wings behind him, Li Guanqi's figure flashed forward to arrive before the sealing lightning pillars first. Reaching out, he instantly obliterated the severed hand and slipped the fully restored ancient ring onto his own finger.
The moment the intact ancient ring slid onto his hand, an understanding bloomed in Li Guanqi's heart.
"The Ancient Spirit-Burning Ring... naturally carries these properties?
"Suppresses and stabilizes primal energy within the body, burns spirit, amplifies affinity with fire-attribute laws...
"Truly a rare immortal artifact treasure!
"No wonder Duan Xian wanted it so desperately."
Coming back to his senses, Duan Xian's expression warped the instant he saw the Ancient Spirit-Burning Ring resting on Li Guanqi's hand. Gripping his sword, he lunged at Li Guanqi!
"Give that ring back to me!"
Terrifying pressure flooded the void as the boundless blood sea surged without end, momentarily even suppressing the lightning purgatory. Li Guanqi curled his lip and sneered.
"It seems you truly have no idea of the gap between our strengths..."
Before Duan Xian could grasp what Li Guanqi meant, his vision blurred, and Li Guanqi vanished entirely from his divine sense.
Bang!
His facial features caved in as a broad, icy dragon claw slammed directly into his face!
Blood sprayed. The strike packed tremendous force, bending Duan Xian's torso backward while his legs remained planted where they stood.
Swoosh!
The man hurtled backward, compressing the air with a piercing sonic shriek. Dizzy and disoriented, the enormous impact shook his sea of consciousness. Before he could recover, the hairs all over his body stood on end as a chill rushed straight to the crown of his head!
Several arcs of sword light followed immediately. With a wave of his hand, Duan Xian coalesced a blood shield before him.
The sword lights sliced through the blood shield like dry rot.
Flickering in and out like a mirage, Duan Xian retreated repeatedly, his gaze toward Li Guanqi filled with lingering dread.
The bones of his cheek were shattered, and blood blurred his sight. The boundless sea of blood churned around him, keeping him on high alert for Li Guanqi's next strike. Yet as he scanned the void, Li Guanqi had already vanished once more.
A faint, terrifying sword intent permeated the void.
Crisscrossing invisible sword qi sliced through the void and the sea of blood alike.
Duan Xian's pupils constricted. "Sword... Sword Po realm sword intent?!"
"How is this possible..."
Sweat drenched his palm, his grip tightening around his hilt as his throat went dry.
Standing alone upon the firmament with sword in hand, Li Guanqi looked down at the man and sneered. "You are clever, truly clever.
"But... the opponents I've faced were far better at manipulating human nature than you.
"You know what? A vital element in any game of wits is information."
Li Guanqi looked down from above and gave a chilly sneer.
"Pity. You know nothing of what I did in the Seventh Domain."
Boom!
Li Guanqi slowly opened his palm, and a burst of black flame engulfed Duan Xian!
"Aaargh! What flame is this?!"
His heavenly flame flared violently as the Blood-Burning Flame covered the sky, yet it remained powerless to suppress this force. Meanwhile, Duan Xian's consciousness was dragged into a terrifying illusion.
Li Guanqi whispered softly, "Demon King Physique: Heart Demon Control!"
As the words fell, the sword in Duan Xian's grip slipped and plummeted through the void. He stood frozen in place, a dull, vacant expression on his face.
In the illusion, he became once more that wretched figure, living like a stray dog, staring at the grass on the ground.
His limbs were paralyzed; he could only crawl forward with all his might.
Anyone he met on the street shrank back in disgust, and some even threw dog excrement at him.
Yet he had no power to resist. He knew not how much time passed. He tried to deny it, to tell himself it was an illusion.
Yet his five senses told him that everything here was real.
Touch, smell, sight...
This time, he received no pity from heaven, no fortuitous encounters... no chance to cultivate anew.
He lived like a dog for three years.
He was just like the commoners of the mortal streets he so looked down upon—worse, even.
His former mighty strength, his life of commanding wind and clouds, felt like nothing more than a dream.
In a dark alley drenched in pouring rain, mud mixed with foul stench.
There he lay, unable to move, as hunger and cold steadily eroded his awareness.
His sallow, emaciated dwarf's body could hold on no longer.
His consciousness drifted. Then, in the final moment before death, he felt a sudden chill across his neck.
A thin red line bloomed across his filth-encrusted throat.
As his consciousness shattered, looking upon his dwarfish frame, Duan Xian suddenly had a faint epiphany.
He...
was actually no different from the mortals he had once treated like weeds and ants...
With a sweep of his blade, Li Guanqi severed the man's head. He had not expected someone with such deep obsessions to have such feeble resistance against Heart Demon Control.
A dignified mighty cultivator of the mid Tribulation Transcendence Realm...
had fallen into an illusion for several breaths of time.
Chapter 1333