Red Lotus: Dao Fall!

Luo Gu's face was twisted in an ugly scowl. At this moment, the Eight-Eyed Ghost-Faced Spider was being battered black and blue by Jiuxiao, left without an inch of unbruised skin. Whether venom or spider silk, both were utterly futile against Jiuxiao's steel-and-iron body. Even the spiritual attack of its proud Eight-Eyed Ghost Eyes felt like nothing more than an itch to Jiuxiao. Beneath dragon might, all was reduced to illusion and ruin! Violent rumbles echoed incessantly as the Eight-Eyed Ghost-Faced Spider's massive body crashed like a cannonball, shattering several mountain peaks. Luo Gu's eyes flickered as thoughts of retreat crept into his mind, but he knew that as long as the curtain of heavenly fire remained, there was nowhere to run. At that thought, the old man took a deep breath, his gaze turning fierce and sharp. This was a fight to the death. Li Guanqi, by contrast, had grown far calmer in mind. With Gu Xici's clone dead, he could accept it even if Luo Gu managed to escape. Had he not schemed for so long just to flush him out? A faint smile appeared on Li Guanqi's face, though it was distinctly chilling. "Devouring Void, lend me your strength." The Flame Spirit turned in an instant, its form dissolving into a streak of fiery light that merged into Li Guanqi's body. In an instant, horrifying flames surged, coating Li Guanqi's body as though draping him in a suit of fiery armor. The resilience of this armor was more than ten times greater than the Spirit Incantation Thunder Armor! That was not all. Flames enveloped the Red Lotus sword, as if forming an extra carapace out of thin air over the blade. Devouring Void Sacred Sword, Devouring Void Sacred Armor! With sword and armor gracing his form, Li Guanqi felt powerful as never before. Only in this moment did he truly touch the terrifying depth of Devouring Void's source power. The surging flame power within his nascent soul felt as natural as an innate ability, completely devoid of lag or unfamiliarity. Flames that felt only comfortably warm to him were capable of incinerating all of creation! Not only that, Li Guanqi even felt an inexplicable influx of feedback power surging into him. "Could it be from those blood mosquitoes earlier?" "Well... you're quite impressive, aren't you?" The Devouring Void Flame Spirit grew slightly shy upon hearing the compliment. Flecks of starlight suddenly flickered around Li Guanqi, then abruptly plunged downward. Li Guanqi sneered. "Stardust Mayflies?" "I intentionally let these things enter my body earlier—did you really think the same trick would work on me twice?" Far away, the old man's expression soured. He had thought his concealed method would go unnoticed. After all, Li Guanqi had fallen for it once before. Yet now, clad in the sacred armor, Li Guanqi's perception of the outside world was infinitely keener. At this point, Li Guanqi had no intention of giving him another chance. After all, the situation for Ye Xuan and the others remained precarious; the longer things dragged out, the worse it would be. Beneath the sacred armor, those pure-white eyes suddenly narrowed. The next breath— *Boom! Crash!* An ear-splitting sonic boom rang out, yet Li Guanqi vanished entirely from Luo Gu's sight. The old man scanned about in a panic, yet still caught no trace of him. Right at that moment, the old man suddenly lurched sideways several zhang! A beam of sword light grazed past his back. Dark Concealment, the unique ability of the Demon King Physique, was practically impossible for the old man to detect. Concealed within the dark, Li Guanqi's eyes flickered. *Whoosh!* Shifting his position, he slashed out several more beams of sword light! The sword light was blisteringly swift and fierce! Li Guanqi's current sword speed was virtually unmatched among cultivators of the same realm. Even so, the old man spun and tumbled through midair, dodging several strikes by the skin of his teeth. At that point, Li Guanqi finally discovered his secret. If the old man had relied solely on divine sense to dodge, he would never have reacted in time. Instead, he had cleverly dispersed the remainder of his cultivated Stardust Mayflies throughout the space. The moment any gu insect perished, he sensed it instantly. Seeing this, Li Guanqi simply stopped concealing his form. Watching Li Guanqi step out of nothingness struck sheer terror into Luo Gu's soul. Upon seeing him appear, the old man threw himself backward hundreds of zhang in a flash, glaring vigilantly at Li Guanqi! Then, he produced two pitch-black gu bowls from his robes! Hovering by his shoulders, the bowls began pouring forth a dense swarm of gu insects! The pitch-black gu insects formed a literal sea of bugs, its roiling expanse enough to make one's scalp tingle with dread. These gu bugs varied in size and kind, among them no shortage of larger specimens. Li Guanqi frowned slightly, but the Flame Spirit spoke through a voice in his mind. "Master, may I handle this sea of insects?" Li Guanqi's eyes lit up. He glanced at the Flame Spirit and murmured softly, "Then I leave it to you." Standing at Li Guanqi's side, the Flame Spirit pursed its lips. Gazing at the boundless swarm of gu bugs, it slowly raised both hands. "Great Burning Heaven Waterfall!" This time, Li Guanqi clearly felt the aura of destruction and blistering heat within the flames. It turned out that when the Devouring Void Sacred Flame was not holding back to devour the opponent's strength, its raw destructive power was even greater! *Boom!* Across the firmament, the curtain of heavenly fire came crashing down like a fiery waterfall! The scalding, blistering flames cascaded like churning magma unleashed from an erupting volcano. *Rumble!* A deafening roar resounded. Luo Gu's eyes hardened ruthlessly; with a wave of his hand, he pitted his myriad sea of insects against the heavenly fire! "Ten Thousand Insects Veiling the Mountain!" *Boom!* Countless venomous bugs surged forth to blot out the sky and sun, resembling a plague of locusts sweeping over the land. Terrifying poisonous miasma saturated the sky, turning every spiritual thing it touched pitch-black. *Rumble!* The rumbling in the distance gradually subsided as Jiuxiao's dragon claws violently tore off one of the Eight-Eyed Ghost-Faced Spider's legs! Stamping a foot down on the creature's head, the dragon lowered its snout and blasted a torrent of dragon breath into its underbelly! In an instant, lightning flashed in the distant mountain ravine, accompanied by the great demon's shrill, piercing shrieks. The moment the venomous bugs touched the sea of fire, they were burned to nothingness. Yet right then, an emerald-green venomous serpent ten feet long burst through the fiery barrier, shooting straight for Li Guanqi's face! "Emerald Bamboo Ring Snake! Bite him to death!" Madness glinted in the old man's eyes. From the gu bowls emerged a continuous stream of oversized gu creatures—snakes, rats, scorpions, and centipedes. No matter how much venom these gu creatures spat, it was entirely useless before the Devouring Void Sacred Flame. To say nothing of Devouring Void channeling thunderous power alongside the flame to suppress and purge all evil! Li Guanqi raised his sword and cleaved right along the edge of the serpent's gaping maw, slicing it cleanly in two. Li Guanqi shook his head. He had not expected a cultivator of the late Tribulation Transcendence realm nearing the peak to have combat methods so... one-dimensional... Luo Gu had exhausted his repertoire, yet before the Devouring Void Sacred Flame—ranked first among heavenly flames—and the Thunder Master of the Human Spirit Realm, his power was constrained at every turn, thoroughly countered in every way. All of his abilities revolved around gu insects and curses. Li Guanqi felt somewhat underwhelmed, even though the opponent had managed to endure Devouring Void's power for five breaths. He had to admit that gu cultivators were exceptionally troublesome; alas, Luo Gu had run into him. Otherwise, this boundless sea of insects would have been sufficient to obliterate any ordinary Tribulation Transcendence cultivator. Li Guanqi took a slow step forward, Devouring Void's fiery power erupting to its utmost peak at this moment. Li Guanqi felt stronger than ever before. While the Violent Spirit Pill's effects lingered, bolstered by Pengluo's power, Li Guanqi raised the sword held in his left hand. Thunder wings flapped, and a low murmur rose into the air. "Red Lotus: Dao Fall!" The Dao Fall strike—back then, combined with the sword spirit's power, it could slay an Ascended! *Boom!* Heaven and earth were torn asunder. Beneath this single strike, the entirety of Dijing Slope ceased to exist! The sword light cleaved the heavens, sundering the insect sea; against the surging assault of countless insects, the sword light did not falter for an instant. The old man watched in sheer terror. No matter how many dharma artifacts he threw out, all was in vain before this strike. A sword unleashed, the Great Dao fell. *Rumble!* The sky abruptly darkened, the deafening roar drowning out everything, tearing apart everything along the path of the sword light. The mountains of Dijing Slope numbered over one hundred and sixty. After this single sword, all were sheared in half, and the dozen closest mountains were reduced to flying ash! The old man's body turned to flying ash the instant it touched the sword light. Luo Gu: dead! The Luo Clan of the Misty Immortal Domain's nine great clans was thoroughly extinguished. In this battle, Li Guanqi had resolved the crisis single-handedly, breaking the impasse by slaying Gu Xici's clone. The Luo Clan's powerhouses were almost entirely wiped out. Terrifying residual flame and thunder power lingered in the firmament. Above the chasms and ravines gouged into the earth, they formed a shimmering barrier of lingering light! And here, later generations would change the name of Dijing Slope. To... Immortal Sword Abyss!