As time passed, the time-dilation formation gradually took shape.
The sword spirit's expression relaxed slightly.
Without pausing the movements of her hands, the woman turned to Li Guanqi and said softly, "Aren't you going to ask me what Su Xuan and I talked about earlier?"
Li Guanqi was sitting cross-legged beside her. Hearing this, he felt no urge to pry.
He replied candidly in a calm voice, "No."
"Why?"
"There's no point. If I need to know, you will tell me of your own accord."
A faint smile appeared on the sword spirit's aloof face upon hearing his response.
A peculiar glint flickered in her curved eyes.
"Then I won't tell you. It wasn't anything important anyway."
Li Guanqi smiled. He hadn't expected the sword spirit to have such a playful side, even teasing him like this.
However, shifting the topic, the sword spirit spoke softly once more.
"From what I can tell, Su Xuan... holds no ill will toward you."
Li Guanqi sighed.
"I know. But... the person closest to me is hiding the most important thing from me. It's still hard for me to accept."
The sword spirit offered no excessive comfort. Instead, she remarked with a trace of surprise, "To tell you the truth, even I didn't realize your thoughts ran so deep. I never really noticed that you had never once returned to Beiliang City."
A clear hint of poignant wonder could be heard in her voice.
Li Guanqi remained silent, uttering not a word.
"Are you going back?"
Li Guanqi slowly looked up at the sword spirit, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice, "Yes... I'll go back. After so many years, it's time to see it for myself. To see if I can uncover anything."
The sword spirit could sense the shift in Li Guanqi's emotions, her voice softening into a murmur.
Clearly, he had once been somewhat afraid to confront this matter.
Yet now that his strength had reached this level, it was finally time to face it head-on.
Had Li Guanqi not already made up his mind, he would never have questioned Su Xuan to his face!
As time slipped by, the formation grew increasingly refined.
After an unknown amount of time, a strangely immense ripple suddenly surged through the entire Seventh Domain!
Concentric halos of silver-white light rippled outward in all directions like ripples across the surface of a lake.
*Buzz—!*
At that moment, the cultivators across the entire Realm of Celestial Spirits looked up in unison toward the town.
As the flames and thunder dispersed, the massive Heavenly King Pagoda gleamed entirely with a silver radiance.
The barrier faded, revealing Li Guanqi, whose face was slightly pale.
Meng Jiangchu flashed to his side and asked in a low voice, "Are you all right?"
Li Guanqi waved his hand and gave a gentle smile. "I did not fail my mission."
Cheers erupted from the crowd.
Five times the normal flow of time!
This pagoda was large enough to accommodate several hundred cultivators cultivating simultaneously.
Though it would consume an enormous amount of resources, time was far more precious to them.
Even if they had to pay a tremendous price, they were more than willing to trade it for time!
Li Guanqi had not integrated the power of the Devouring Void Sacred Flame into the formation.
Combining the flame with the array would have harnessed the sacred flame's power to refine and purify their primal energy. But Li Guanqi had no intention of doing so.
There were times when he needed to keep certain powers and methods hidden. Being a good person did not mean giving everything away unconditionally.
Meng Jiangchu laughed. "Would you like to name this pagoda?"
Li Guanqi looked back at the Heavenly King Pagoda, which was shimmering with spiritual light. After a moment of contemplation, he said softly, "Since this Heavenly King Pagoda is tied to time, let's call it... the Time Pagoda."
Meng Jiangchu nodded.
"The Time Pagoda—a fine name! Hahaha! Since you've named it, you should inscribe the horizontal plaque yourself!"
Li Guanqi smiled and did not refuse.
He soared into midair and came to a halt before the plaque, which measured nearly thirty feet across.
Standing a short distance away, Li Guanqi pressed his index and middle fingers together like a sword.
Raging primal energy mingled with the fiery might of the Devouring Void, while a surging torrent of sword intent swelled within him.
With a flourish of his hand, he swept his fingers through the air like a soaring dragon and dancing phoenix. Amid crisscrossing sword qi, three magnificent characters sprang to life!
*Time Pagoda!*
Every stroke was suffused with the surging sword intent of the Sword Po realm.
Meng Jiangchu's eyes flashed brilliantly, and he shouted praise three times in a row!
"Good! Good! Good!"
Just this plaque alone would likely become something countless cultivators would vie to contemplate.
Li Guanqi had woven his Sword Po realm sword intent directly into the brushwork.
Having finished, Li Guanqi felt a slight wave of exhaustion and said softly, "Father-in-law, I'll head back to the White Jade Tower first. If anything comes up, reach out to me."
Meng Jiangchu nodded, and then Li Guanqi's voice transmission sounded in his ear:
"I will not leave the flame behind in the Pill King Pagoda. Please ask them to understand. If anyone can't understand... let them come find me personally."
Meng Jiangchu smiled wryly. With Li Guanqi's current strength, who in their right mind would dare question him?
Clearly, Li Guanqi had no desire to leave the Devouring Void Sacred Flame's power in the Pill King Pagoda.
Meng Jiangchu didn't press the matter. It was Li Guanqi's choice to make. If he wanted to leave it, he could; if not... heh, no one could force him!
After leaving the Time Pagoda, Li Guanqi suddenly recalled Xiang Huaizhi's words.
On second thought, he decided he might as well visit the Fourth Domain.
Before that, however, he first went to the Immortal Burial Pavilion.
There, he used his merit points to exchange for a vast quantity of cultivation resources and purple gold crystals.
His point total was currently the highest in the entire Immortal Burial Pavilion, aside from the Four Kings and a few cultivators in the Fifth Domain.
The exchange went quickly. Stashing everything into his storage ring, Li Guanqi headed straight for the grand hall of the Fourth Domain.
Having received word in advance, the Eight Generals had already gathered inside the hall waiting for him.
On his way to the Fourth Domain, Li Guanqi suddenly asked the sword spirit through their mental link, "Sword spirit, who do you think is the chess player? And what could their goal be?"
The sword spirit was silent for a while before answering softly, "I do not know. As of now, it cannot even be confirmed whether your life is truly being manipulated. Even if someone is behind it, it cannot be Su Xuan. But... if such a chess player truly exists, they are someone neither of us can currently perceive. Their strength might even surpass that of your grandfather!"
Li Guanqi sighed. The sword spirit was right; for now, everything was merely his own conjecture.
There was no evidence to prove someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes.
All that was certain was that Su Xuan was keeping things from him, and the old man had mentioned more than once that he would understand once he ascended.
At first, he hadn't thought much about what that meant.
Now, it seemed that ascending to the Immortal Realm would bring many revelations.
Perhaps the questions and doubts in his heart would finally receive their answers then.
*Buzz—!*
Li Guanqi flew down to the main hall of the Eight Generals in the Fourth Domain.
Led by Long Hou, everyone rose to their feet to welcome Li Guanqi.
Seeing this, Li Guanqi felt somewhat overwhelmed by the honor and quickly said, "Seniors, you flatter me far too much by doing this!"
Chapter 1373