At that moment, Li Guanqi's heart felt as though it were being wrapped in warmth.
He saw the unwavering resolve in Meng Wanshu's eyes.
She was making her stance clear, laying bare the truth of her heart.
Li Guanqi's gaze softened instantly.
It seemed that... without him even realizing when it had started, the more he tried to shield the people around him, the more he ended up hurting them instead.
A gentle smile appeared on Li Guanqi's face as he said softly, "All right! In that case, we will put our wedding on the schedule!"
Meng Wanshu smiled. The aloof, icy air around her melted away considerably, replaced by an unspeakable joy. Her smile was as gentle as a spring breeze brushing across the skin.
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere around the table lightened noticeably.
At the very least, Li Guilan and Meng Jiangchu now knew that Li Guanqi hadn't been stalling their marriage for some other reason. Yet after Meng Jiangchu's explanation, Li Guilan had also come to understand Li Guanqi's misgivings.
With worry etched across her face, Li Guilan asked softly, "Then... will you two be in any danger? Should you wait a little longer?"
Meng Jiangchu was rather worried as well. After hearing about what had happened in the Third Domain, he finally understood just how terrifying the enemies they faced truly were.
As for the matter of ascension, now that Li Guanqi had revealed his greatest secret, he naturally hadn't concealed much else. As long as his cultivation realm continued to rise, the Human Spirit Realm's ascension would pose no great problem within a hundred years at most. It was precisely because of this that certain supreme figures hidden throughout heaven and earth were restraining themselves, holding back from making unnecessary moves.
Just as Li Guanqi was about to speak, Meng Wanshu beat him to it.
The gentle woman's voice rang clear and ethereal. "As long as your heart is willing, that is enough. There is no need to settle on an immediate date."
Meng Wanshu said this so as not to place too much pressure on Li Guanqi. Even though she hadn't sensed the stagnation of time throughout heaven and earth, she had picked up on the shift in his emotions. She hadn't known when Li Guanqi confronted Su Xuan, but she could sense that he seemed to be carrying heavier burdens on his mind.
Meng Jiangchu smoothed things over with a laugh. "Right, right, right! Now that everything is out in the open, there's no rush."
Li Guilan also nodded with a smile. The four of them sat in the small courtyard, talking and laughing together like a true family.
Afterward, Li Guanqi received word that the newest Heavenly King Pagoda was nearly completed.
Meng Wanshu did not leave, having been persuaded by Li Guilan to stay for a couple more days.
Upon hearing the news, Meng Jiangchu stood up and said softly, "Then Guanqi and I will head out. I took part in constructing the Heavenly King Pagoda as well. This is a monumental event for the entire Immortal Burial Realm."
Li Guilan waved her hand exasperatedly. "Go on, go on. Always so busy, the two of you."
Then, looking at Li Guanqi with a warm smile, she added, "Take care of yourself out there, do you hear me?"
Li Guanqi nodded repeatedly and promised with a smile.
The two of them soared through the air, streaking straight toward the center of the Four Heavenly King Towers.
This newly built Heavenly King Pagoda was not excessively tall, yet it radiated an imposing grandeur!
The nine-story structure was entirely silver-white. Furthermore, these nine tiers served a wide variety of functions rather than being purely devoted to cultivation. The upper levels were entirely made up of independent cultivation chambers.
However, the final arrays and finishing touches still required Li Guanqi's personal hand. After all, when it came to carving a time-dilation array and shaping space itself, there was likely hardly anyone left in the Human Spirit Realm capable of pulling it off. It required a cultivator to reach a certain profound level of comprehension regarding the laws of time and space.
The time-dilation array naturally required the sword spirit to act, while shaping the space called for Pengluo's strength.
Looking at such a majestic Heavenly King Pagoda, Li Guanqi was momentarily dazed.
Merely because of a single sentence from him, Su Xuan had spared no expense, pouring in massive amounts of resources, manpower, and material wealth to construct this Heavenly King Pagoda. While Su Xuan had concealed matters regarding Li Guanqi's background, he could hardly say the old man had ever treated him poorly.
On the contrary... Su Xuan had granted practically every request Li Guanqi made and had never meddled excessively in his affairs. Nearly every matter Li Guanqi encountered had been decided by his own will and judgment.
Yet he still did not know what had been spoken between the sword spirit and Su Xuan back then, or why the elder had recalled every shred of blade light from his body.
Had that been the sword spirit's wish, or had there been an inherent issue with that blade light all along?
Seeing Li Guanqi lost in thought, Meng Jiangchu did not disturb him.
After a brief moment, Li Guanqi took a deep breath and said softly, "Let's head over."
With that, the two flickered through the air and arrived at the grand entrance of the Heavenly King Pagoda.
The sheer scale of the architecture could only truly be appreciated standing before it. Towering a hundred zhang high and spanning dozens of zhang across, the pagoda was composed entirely of an exceptionally rare silver-white stone. Its hardness rivaled spirit-treasure-grade weapons, yet it was used here as mere foundation masonry. Moreover, the material possessed a remarkable affinity for arrays.
At present, quite a few cultivators had gathered around the Heavenly King Pagoda to watch. These were the cultivators who had helped build it, most of them top-tier experts from the four existing towers.
When they caught sight of Li Guanqi, they all cupped their hands in salute. After all, every single deed Li Guanqi had accomplished in the Seventh Domain over this recent period was more than enough to command their respect.
Li Guanqi returned the greeting with a slight bow toward all four directions, then turned to Meng Jiangchu and said softly, "I'll begin now."
Meng Jiangchu nodded, then turned to the surrounding cultivators and announced in a clear voice, "In that case, let us leave things to Guanqi. Set up a barrier all around to ensure no one disturbs him during this time."
As soon as his voice fell, a chorus of agreement rose from all sides.
"Haha, but of course! We'll be troubling the Sword Venerable, then."
"You're working hard, Young Friend Li! Once this Heavenly King Pagoda is established, it will be a momentous boon for the entire Seventh Domain."
"We'll all be benefiting from his grace as well, haha!"
The surrounding onlookers flew backward, joining forces to cast a remarkably heavy, resilient barrier around the Heavenly King Pagoda.
Li Guanqi took a deep breath and tapped the toe of his foot against the ground.
Boom!
Boundless, terrifying thunder instantly flooded the entire barrier, while surging purple-black flames blanketed the sky, blotting out the view from outside. Li Guanqi did not want others peering into the interior.
Stepping into the Heavenly King Pagoda, he headed straight for the blank array dais underground. There was no need for him to worry about the levels above; the true core lay in the array foundation beneath the tower.
The sword spirit's figure slowly condensed into form, while Pengluo wriggled out rather reluctantly.
Li Guanqi looked at the sword spirit with a smile. "Thank you for your trouble."
The sword spirit glanced at the colossal array dais crafted from Astral Stone. "It is merely a fivefold time dilation; it will not be too demanding."
Pengluo nodded in agreement. "Heh, there's quite a lot of Astral Stone here. That saves us a ton of effort."
With that, Pengluo actually dissolved straight into the center of the sword spirit's brow.
Across the sword spirit's stunningly breathtaking visage, faint, bewitching divine runes began to spread outward from between her eyebrows. Raising her hand, her jade fingers tapped gently against the void. Channeled under her control, the primal energy within Li Guanqi's body began to inscribe intricate, profoundly complex array runes!
One after another, mysterious runes shining with wondrous spiritual light materialized in midair, sketching out the embryonic form of a vast array.
It was a lengthy process, yet the sword spirit's movements were completely fluid and natural, as though performing a trivial task. The silver-white spiritual radiance pulsed with immensely powerful temporal and spatial forces, drifting around her like shimmering ribbons of flowing light. The spectacle lent her cold, peerless beauty an aura that was all the more otherworldly.
Chapter 1372