Reprimanding the Brothers!

Li Guanqi moved the Nirvana Pagoda to the topmost floor of the White Jade Tower. The barrier they had set up together was formidable enough that even a late-stage Tribulation Transcendence realm expert would have to think twice before attempting to breach it. In particular, the power of the Devouring Void Sacred Flame—a fiery might capable of incinerating the void itself—was truly terrifying. The duel between Gu Li and Cao Yan ultimately ended with Cao Yan suffering a minor setback. Gu Li's talisman Dao was simply too strong, leaving Cao Yan virtually no opportunity to close the distance. Still, Gu Li had sustained some light injuries as well. Li Guanqi sat inside the White Jade Tower, looking at Gu Li's bruise-covered face, and pondered in silence for a good while. "While I'm away, go seek out a senior named Gu Lie." "Your future Dao... cannot rely solely on inscribed talismans!" Gu Li rubbed his cheeks and slapped over a dozen healing talismans onto himself. When he looked up at Li Guanqi, his eyes were filled with confusion. Not only Gu Li, but everyone else found it somewhat odd as well. The group sat inside the hall, lining both sides. Li Guanqi's eyes flickered with sharp brilliance as his gaze swept across the companions on either flank. "Second Brother needs little said; your current strength is well-balanced across all aspects, but you must also consider how to fuse and apply the Yinming Profound Flame alongside your Geng Metal power." "Furthermore, the unique properties of that flame have yet to be developed." "There is still plenty of room for growth." Ye Feng grew pensive upon hearing this; it seemed the power of that heavenly flame truly hadn't been put to much use in his hands. "Third Brother, the same goes for the Purple Cloud Thunder Flame. The flame possesses an overbearing might capable of intimidating and subduing evil." "You don't need to dwell on the lightning power within it; rather, you need to think about integrating its fiery might into your fist momentum." Li Guanqi's eyes gleamed. At his current height, he was stronger than any of them. Looking upon the others, he pointed out their shortcomings. "Third Brother, perhaps you've realized some issues yourself. Your fist momentum has already formed a Dao of its own." "However... when you face enemies who are difficult to close in on, it becomes frustrating." "No matter what weapons your opponent wields—sabers, spears, swords, or halberds—you must find a way to get close." "Therefore, you need all the more to enhance your advantage in speed. Only by being fast enough can you close the gap on your enemies!" Cao Yan's eyes shone brightly. Following Li Guanqi's analysis, he finally understood where his occasional sense of powerlessness stemmed from. "When you have free time, take a stroll through the Immortal Burial Pavilion and see if you can pick out a suitable movement technique manual." Cao Yan nodded slightly. When it came to Xiao Chen, Li Guanqi actually had the least to say. "Mm... Fourth Brother is doing well right now. Foolish though he may be at times, on the path of cultivation he actually knows what he lacks." Xiao Chen blinked in surprise. "That's it?" Li Guanqi retorted, somewhat exasperated: "Did you expect me to curse at you a couple of times before you felt satisfied?" The others burst into hearty laughter at those words. Li Guanqi then looked toward Gu Li and Tang Ru, his expression turning solemn. "Fifth Brother goes without saying. Your drawbacks are glaring right now: your abilities are slanted toward large-scale battlefields, and your self-preservation capability is relatively weak." "Going forward, you must still consider how you will fight and kill when facing enemies alone." Tang Ru nodded slightly, clearly having realized this as well. He couldn't stay by Li Guanqi and the others' side every single moment of his life. There would inevitably come a time when he had to stand alone against a foe. Everything Li Guanqi said carried profound weight. Finally, Li Guanqi turned his eyes to Gu Li. "Sixth Brother, your current combat ability relies far too heavily on inscribed talismans." "If... an enemy possesses some special method that instantly strips away the protection of your talismans and seals you, you will be cast into an irrecoverable abyss!" Gu Li shrugged, feeling that Li Guanqi was being an alarmist. After all, he still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. "Big Brother, you're worrying a bit too much—" *Boom!* Before his words had even finished, three frigid glints flashed through the air in an instant. The floor and ceiling of the White Jade Tower were split open with long fissures by the burst of sword qi. The chair beneath Gu Li instantly shattered into splinters, and his entire body was locked within a three-foot domain seal! Layer upon layer of thunder seals mingled with the power of flame, binding and sealing Gu Li's soul and sea of consciousness in the span of a single breath! Li Guanqi's gaze was cold; he did not want a single one of them to become complacent and arrogant! Slowly rising from his seat, he walked step by step toward the sealed Gu Li. Three swords forming a domain. Although this was Li Guanqi's unique technique, that did not rule out the possibility that others might possess something similar. Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Gu Li's forehead and trickled down. In this instant, all the talismans on his person had become useless decorations. With his sea of consciousness bound and his divine sense immobilized, he was no different from a cripple. A profound sense of powerlessness washed over his entire being... Yet when the others saw the barrier, their eyes narrowed, their expressions turning somewhat grim. Gu Li shifted his gaze slightly and saw a cold-faced Li Guanqi standing before him. Right then, Li Guanqi turned to look at Tang Ru at his side and said: "Shatter this barrier." Tang Ru sighed, stood up, and casually waved out a beam of golden light. The ripple of that attack was merely at the early Mahayana realm! *Bang!* The sealing barrier shattered on impact. Gu Li slumped onto the ground, looking up at Li Guanqi in dazed bewilderment. Li Guanqi spoke with a darkened face: "If your physical body had reached the level of a Mahayana realm martial artist, you could have smashed this seal open with a single punch!" Li Guanqi's voice rose, seething with anger at his brother's failure to live up to expectations! None of the others spoke. The reason their expressions had turned grim earlier was precisely because the sealing power of the barrier Li Guanqi had laid down was not strong at all. Yet a seal they could casually break had pinned Gu Li down completely. Li Guanqi slowly crouched down, his voice chillingly cold as he poked Gu Li hard between the brows with a finger. "You! The moment your sea of consciousness is sealed, you're utterly useless!" Gu Li's expression was unsightly in the extreme, his face pale, yet he did not argue back. Because everything Li Guanqi said was the absolute truth... The talisman arts he took the greatest pride in were rendered completely useless once his sea of consciousness was sealed. He would have no means to fight back, left entirely at the mercy of others. Gu Li lowered his head and spoke with heartfelt sincerity: "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so smug and arrogant." Li Guanqi slowly stood up and said in an icy tone: "You were even able to invent something like the Fortified Inspection Talisman—how could methods to seal the sea of consciousness be few in comparison?" With that, Li Guanqi's sharp gaze swept over everyone present. His voice dropped to a frigid tone: "The enemy will know you better than you know yourselves." "That is why every single one of us must confront our own weaknesses directly!" "Only when we mend our own flaws can we catch our foes off guard when facing their carefully laid ambushes in the future." Hearing this, everyone's expressions turned solemn. Li Guanqi had given them a lesson through concrete action. Li Guanqi sighed inwardly. *Things have gone too smoothly for them over these past few years, so much so that they failed to realize their minds were getting carried away.* Perhaps from start to finish, only Ye Feng had remained thoroughly clear-headed. Li Guanqi stood and said softly, "Alright. I'm preparing to leave for a while. Cultivate well on your own." With those parting words, Li Guanqi vanished in a flash, sending a voice transmission to Meng Wanshu: "Wanshu, for this outing, I'll be going alone." "Can't I come back with you?" "This time... I intend to make a trip back to Beiliang City!" "Beiliang City?! Oh, alright! Be careful." Putting away the jade slip, Li Guanqi took a deep breath and looked up at the pitch-black void, his eyes full of complex emotions. *Buzz!* A rift tore open, and Li Guanqi stepped inside with the sword coffin on his back.