All along the way, Li Guanqi quietly observed Ye Xuan.
Yet he failed to detect anything out of the ordinary.
He breathed a faint sigh of relief, though his brow involuntarily furrowed slightly.
For reasons he could not fathom, he felt as if something had been somewhat off about himself lately...
Yet if pressed to pinpoint what was wrong, he could not put it into words.
Nothing seemed to have changed or gone amiss.
And yet, his sixth sense insisted that something was wrong!
Suddenly, Li Guanqi unleashed the Demon King Physique!
In the space of a single breath, his figure expanded into a tall, burly silhouette, covered from head to toe in dragon scales and flickering divine sigils.
A wisp of nearly imperceptible black qi rose from Li Guanqi's back, but he failed to notice it.
Beside him, Ye Xuan instantly drew his longsword, warily scanning their surroundings as he asked in a solemn, heavy voice, "Enemies?"
Returning to his normal form, Li Guanqi explained, "No enemies. I was merely testing something."
Seeing this, Ye Xuan finally sheathed his longsword, his expression softening slightly.
"Is Dijing Slope truly where the Soul-Devouring Nether Butterfly resides?"
Li Guanqi shook his head.
"I cannot say for certain either. I can only say that Dijing Slope is the most likely location."
"Once we arrive, we will still have to search."
"Even so, we must carefully conceal our tracks and make sure not to alert the enemy prematurely."
Ye Xuan nodded heavily, a flicker of worry flashing across his eyes.
The two resumed their journey, Li Guanqi's gaze flickering with contemplation.
He had already completely refined the Demon King Physique when breaking through to the mid Tribulation Transcendence Realm.
Yet during that brief release just now, he had felt a faint, barely perceptible sluggishness!
He did not know whether it was because the Spirit-Devouring Dao Physique had devoured the Demon King Physique, or because he had not truly refined it to absolute completion...
Could the fusion of two extraordinary physiques carry such an adverse side effect?
"Sister Sword Spirit, why do I still feel a slight sluggishness when channeling the Demon King Physique?"
The sword spirit awoke from her cultivation, her delicate brows knitting slightly.
"Sluggishness?"
"Logically speaking, once your Spirit-Devouring Dao Physique completely refined the Demon King Physique, the Demon King Physique's abilities became nothing more than a subsidiary branch of your Spirit-Devouring Dao Physique."
"Even so, its abilities should be entirely your own by now. Why would there be any sluggishness?"
Pondering for a moment, the sword spirit's eyes glinted. She trusted that Li Guanqi's senses would never deceive him.
"Try it once more so I can observe."
Li Guanqi nodded faintly, then gave Ye Xuan a heads-up so the man would not take alarm.
The sword spirit's silhouette gradually coalesced behind him, her beautiful eyes gleaming with a faint crimson shimmer.
Li Guanqi inhaled deeply and demonized once again!
Boom!
A formidable aura immediately rolled outward, but this time that sluggish sensation was nowhere to be found.
Just like before, the transformation finished in the blink of an eye.
Frowning deeply, Li Guanqi muttered under his breath, "It's gone..."
The sword spirit spoke up as well. "I didn't spot anything wrong. Are you certain you felt a sluggishness?"
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, replying with unwavering certainty through his divine sense, "I have absolute confidence in my own perception. I couldn't be mistaken."
Over the next few moments, Li Guanqi tried several more times, but found nothing abnormal.
The earlier sluggishness seemed like a mere illusion, never surfacing again.
The sword spirit frowned, pondering for a long while before speaking slowly.
"It could be that your Spirit-Devouring Dao Physique has only just refined and swallowed the Demon King Physique, so you are not yet fully accustomed to it."
A trace of worry crossed Li Guanqi's eyes. He moistened his lips, but merely nodded in response.
Glancing toward Ye Xuan, he signaled with a slight nod, and the two sped toward Dijing Slope.
After her projection dispersed, the sword spirit returned to the sword coffin space. This time, however, she did not immediately resume her cultivation.
Reaching into the void, she hauled out the sleeping Pengluo.
"Go fuse with Guanqi and see if there are any abnormalities in the qi circulating within him."
Still bleary-eyed, Pengluo slapped himself across the face to force himself awake.
"Understood! Mission guaranteed!"
With those words, Pengluo fought off his drowsiness and squeezed out, immediately latching onto Li Guanqi's head to initiate the fusion.
Enigmatic purple patterns rippled out from Li Guanqi's glabella, and in an instant, Li Guanqi's aura was forcibly elevated to the late Tribulation Transcendence Realm!
"Master, transform and let's have a look."
Li Guanqi gave a slight nod and underwent demonization once more.
A holy, silvery-white radiance enveloped Li Guanqi. A moment later, the divine sigils receded, and Pengluo retreated back into the sword coffin space.
"Uh... I didn't sense anything at all. Nothing's changed. What is it? What happened?"
The sword spirit frowned at his response and casually flung Pengluo far away with a sweep of her palm, finally silencing the clamor.
Leaning against the stone wall, she murmured with a furrowed brow, "Sluggishness... that shouldn't be..."
"Given the supreme might of the Spirit-Devouring Dao Physique, what constitution in this world can it not devour?"
"Why would a mere Demon King Physique produce any sluggishness?"
Her brows drew tight, and she gently tapped her forehead with a jade-like finger. After a lengthy silence, she slowly opened her eyes and called out softly, "Shiwu."
Li Guanqi's dantian and origin spirit trembled slightly, and the flame spirit's physical form materialized inside the sword coffin space!
This was the first time Shiwu had ever stood so close to the sword spirit.
The terrifying, suffocating pressure forced him to lower his head instinctively, his peripheral vision catching sight of Pengluo squatting on a rock watching the show.
The flame spirit dropped to one knee to show his reverence toward the sword spirit.
With a gentle flick of her hand, the sword spirit lifted him up and said softly, "You are no longer a spirit wandering between heaven and earth. There is no need for such formalities between us."
The flame spirit's eyes flickered. Rising to his feet, he nodded slightly, his expression softening considerably.
Yet the sword spirit noticed that his demeanor remained remarkably downcast.
Recalling past events, she naturally realized why.
The flame spirit and Li Guanqi were bound by a symbiotic contract; if either died, neither would survive.
Yet Li Guanqi's previous actions had clearly wounded the flame spirit's feelings.
In the sword spirit's eyes, that move had indeed gone a bit too far...
Suddenly!
The sword spirit snapped upright!
Her gaze turned razor-sharp, yet remained unfocused. The pressure that erupted in that instant caused chaotic licks of flame to spill continuously from the flame spirit's body.
That mere stray wisp of leaking pressure nearly shattered the flame spirit's humanoid form!
Gradually, the sword spirit reined in her agitation and sent a single sentence via voice transmission to the flame spirit.
Upon hearing it, the flame spirit's pupils contracted violently. Taking a deep breath, he straightened his back and nodded heavily.
The sword spirit then transmitted a quiet message to Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi was taken aback for an instant, but he too nodded.
Immediately afterward, a surge of formidable flame power enveloped Li Guanqi's entire origin spirit!
In just a fraction of a second, beads of cold sweat broke out across Li Guanqi's forehead, only to be shaken away by his aura, leaving him looking as composed as ever on the outside.
And it was not merely his origin spirit. Threads of fire seeped into every conceivable crevice, completely flooding the flesh, blood, and meridians throughout his entire body!
Chapter 1401