I Can't Keep Pretending!!

Head bowed, Li Qingchan's pupils contracted sharply, making her appear thoroughly shaken by Gu Xici's aura. Gu Xici merely glanced down at her, not giving it much thought. He chuckled softly and said, "From the moment you first met me until now... I suppose you never had any idea how strong I truly am, did you?" Li Qingchan played along with utter naturalness. "Gu Zun's might reaches the heavens. It is not something this humble woman could ever dare presume to fathom." Gu Xici was quite pleased with her answer. He loved this feeling of having everything under his absolute control. It gave him an inexplicable sense of peace. Lightly tapping his toe against the ground, Gu Xici shot forward like a cannonball, completely ignoring the formation barrier Li Qingchan had erected with her array flags. Passing through the dense layer of magma, his eyes instantly fell upon the Devouring Void Sacred Flame hovering midair! The moment Devouring Void laid eyes on Gu Xici, its expression shifted slightly. Its previous lazy demeanor vanished at once; its arms lowered slightly, and its defined muscles tensed as though confronting a great enemy. It was only natural. Devouring Void's current condition was not even half of its peak. Judging by aura alone, it was merely equivalent to a mid Tribulation Transcendence realm cultivator. Yet as an emperor among heavenly flames naturally nurtured within chaos, its strength could not be measured by aura alone. Even so, facing an Ascension realm monster on par with Emperor Chen, no amount of heaven-defying means would be enough... Gu Xici stared greedily at the Devouring Void Sacred Flame, brushing past it in a mere instant. In his mind, the flame was already in the palm of his hand. All he needed to do now was prevent Su Xuan and Ling Tianchen from interfering. Just then, Gu Xici's brow furrowed slightly. Calculating by time, Li Guanqi should have emerged long ago after diving into the sea of magma to retrieve Ye Feng's remains... Why hadn't he seen him? Though thoughts raced through his mind, the movements of his hands did not pause for an instant. A terrifying might erupted in a flash, like the wrath of heaven itself! A dazzling purple-gold spiritual light burst into pillars, surging energy rolling up and down as it instantly inundated both the void above and the ground below. That horrifying power brought all the actively erupting volcanoes to a dead halt. The churning magma seemed to freeze in place; heaven and earth fell silent, and the void trembled. The sky altered its colors, and violent winds suddenly rose. The man's robes whipped loudly in midair, the stray hairs across his forehead stirred by the breeze, his gaze sharp as a blade. *Boom!* Raising his hands, the man spread them wide—one facing up, the other facing down. The evil ghost from his folding fan suddenly bounded out! A hundred zhang tall, the evil ghost had a blue face, jutting fangs, and the build of an ape, covered from head to toe in stiff, bristling fur. Its eyes flickered with an eerie duo of purple and gold, and it crouched in midair in an upholding posture. An eerie power pervaded the void, spreading until it enveloped the entirety of the vast Third Domain. *Roar!* Along with the strange behemoth's roar, bizarre glowing spiritual runes flickered across its back. Standing atop the evil ghost monster's head, Gu Xici traced a circle with both hands and softly chanted, "Boundary: Evil Ghost Sealing Gate!" This sight happened to be caught by Li Guanqi as he bounded out of the magma, his eyes flickering with light. Forcing down the dread in his heart, he pulled his gaze away, gripping his sword even tighter with his right hand. His throat bobbed, and he pressed his lips together as if wanting to say something, but all that remained was a venomous, hate-filled stare that seemed ready to devour someone alive. In his arms, Ye Feng's life force was fading away... Yet it was this seemingly ordinary sight that made Gu Xici frown slightly. A gut instinct, a sixth sense, was telling him that something about the entire situation felt off. In fact, it was proceeding a bit too smoothly. Now, reinforced by the barrier, he was confident that even if Su Xuan arrived in person, he would have ample time to settle everything! Yet for some reason, that inner instinct sent a chill down his spine, making all the hairs on his body stand on end! Gu Xici whipped around instantly to look at Li Qingchan behind him! Nothing seemed wrong... The double soul contract within Li Qingchan's body was crystal clear to his senses. Ye Feng's aura had no flaw either. His soul aura was identical; the one who had died was indeed Ye Feng, and even the half-step Tribulation Transcendence realm aura matched. Li Guanqi went without saying. Unless it was his true body, the Red Lotus sword, merged with a fragment of the sword spirit's true form, could never be in his grasp! Furthermore, Li Guanqi's power and aura showed no discrepancy whatsoever, his lightning energy surging just as fiercely. Gu Xici had already considered whether they might use that fellow Gu Li to set a trap. But as things stood, every single person's soul aura was completely authentic. Then... where on earth had things gone wrong? Standing in place, Gu Xici felt cold sweat seep from his forehead. His eyes narrowed slightly as his gaze darted back and forth across the others. The reason the Devouring Void Sacred Flame was in no hurry was that it already knew its fate. Its emergence this time meant it was destined to be absorbed or taken away by someone. It did not care who; that was its destiny. Against someone like Su Xuan, it was a fate without the power to resist... Yet this fellow before it struck it as exceedingly interesting. It simply withdrew ten thousand zhang, adopting the posture of a complete spectator. Just as Gu Xici's mind was muddled like paste without a single clue, the head-bowing, downcast Li Qingchan suddenly exploded into action! The figure of the sword spirit abruptly materialized behind Li Qingchan! The Red Lotus sword shifted in an instant, its brilliant scarlet light nearly eclipsing the halos of the arrays above and below. That dazzling crimson radiance flooded the void as a chilling, soul-freezing wave of monstrous killing intent swept outward in a flash! At this moment, the sword spirit's eyes were sharper than ever before. Parting her fine teeth, her icy, haughty voice rang out slowly: "Watch this sword carefully..." "Dao Fall!" The very instant the sword spirit spoke, just as her body completely melded into Li Qingchan, an eerie blend of red and black flashed across Li Qingchan's form! A palm-sized inscribed talisman on her back was burning furiously! The flesh and skin of her face disintegrated, drifting away like the ash of burning flames. The face revealed beneath belonged to none other than Li Guanqi, fully manifesting the Demon King Physique, his face covered in dragon scales and crowned with dragon horns! His surging aura breached the mid Tribulation Transcendence realm in the blink of an eye! With a thunderous crash, tens of thousands of lightning bolts erupted into a boundless sea of thunder, sweeping out in all directions. Meanwhile, the 'Li Guanqi' in the distance, who had been cradling 'Ye Feng's' corpse, leaped up and bolted! His aura plummeted crazily, all the way down until it fell to the half-step Body Integration realm. His long black hair also transformed into a mane of snow-white hair. Li Song tossed Ye Feng's origin clone straight into the magma and took to his heels, yelling as he ran, "I can't take it anymore, Brother! I can't keep pretending!! It's too terrifying!! Way, way too terrifying!!" At the same time, Pengluo inside Li Congxin instantly merged into Li Guanqi's body. Li Guanqi surrendered his soul intent and total control of his physical body entirely to the sword spirit. With his rise in cultivation, the sword spirit no longer had to forcefully drain his lifespan as the price of fusing to face powerful foes. Only, at this very moment... As the sword spirit unleashed the strike, he felt all the primal energy within his nascent soul and the lightning pearl vanish in a single instant.