Kill Them and Be Done with It

Without prior knowledge of such methods, even Li Guanqi might have failed to notice anything amiss upon personal inspection. How could one detect something that was fundamentally formless? The man's soul turned ashen. He knew... the Meng clan was finished. Li Guanqi casually crushed their two souls, rose to his feet, and teleported away from the Meng clan's compound. From the outside, the Meng residence looked entirely undisturbed. As for the maidservants and attendants, Li Guanqi did not bother with them. The matter was of tremendous consequence—so severe that within the entire Meng clan, only those few had likely known anything about it. Tearing off his disguise, Li Guanqi spread his divine sense across the whole of Feiyun City and discovered Meng Zhiping's aura right inside Yunding Auction House. "That makes things much simpler..." Buzz! Li Guanqi released a sliver of his aura, and all of Feiyun City instantly felt as if faced with a terrifying enemy! Yet the defensive ward that surged upward crumbled to dust in a single breath. Bearing the sword coffin on his back, Li Guanqi had already arrived in the skies above Yunding Auction House. Between heaven and earth, clouds billowed and lightning churned. Countless bolts of lightning converged into a stairway of thunder, manifesting beneath Li Guanqi's feet. "Gulp... That is... the Yanluo Sword Venerable in the flesh!" "Has Lord Sword Venerable discovered how corrupt Feiyun City has become?" "Watch your words! Qianqiusui belongs to Guanyun Pavilion, after all. Who knows what is really going on!" At those words, many immediately shut their mouths. Even so, seeing Li Guanqi for the first time filled them with immense agitation and awe. This was a true colossus—a figure whom even the Domain Master of the Great Xia Domain dared not provoke lightly! Li Guanqi's face was as cold as frost. Two full breaths passed before Qianqiusui, clad in a golden gown, led her subordinates out to receive him. Seeing Qianqiusui's expression, cold and detached yet filled with deference, Li Guanqi frowned slightly. A sweep of his divine sense revealed nothing wrong inside her body. "Qianqiusui greets the Pavilion Master!" "Greetings, Pavilion Master!" Nearly all the upper echelon of Yunding Auction House had gathered, every one of them gazing at Li Guanqi in sheer terror. They assumed he had come to settle scores. Li Guanqi glanced at Qianqiusui with helpless exasperation and sighed inwardly. A cultivator of the Void Refining Realm had actually been schemed against by a mere Nascent Soul. Li Guanqi reached out and tore space apart, directly wrenching Meng Zhiping out from inside the auction house. The young man struggled frantically. Qianqiusui instantly grew tense; she even started to rise, looking ready to speak. Right at that moment, Li Guanqi's eyes turned frosty, and boundless flames swallowed the man whole! Countless cultivators throughout Feiyun City witnessed the spectacle. "No! Don't kill him!" A shrill cry broke from Qianqiusui's lips, yet it was useless. A terrifying force of thunder bound her firmly in place. Li Guanqi then produced an ancient flute from the man's storage ring. Images projected from a shadow-casting stone began playing in midair. Qianqiusui stood frozen in place, her eyes dazed and unfocused. With Meng Zhiping's soul extinguished, the effects of the Zhuyou art vanished instantly. Slumped upon the ground, Qianqiusui's gaze cleared. Her brows knitted tight, and her complexion drained of all color! Watching the scenes unfolding in the heavens, many cultivators erupted into furious commotion! "So it was the Meng clan pulling the strings all along! The Zhuyou art? What a horrifying technique!" "To think the mess in Feiyun City would draw Lord Sword Venerable into personally intervening." "Indeed. It seems Feiyun City went far too far this time. I only wonder how this will end." Her face pale as ash, Qianqiusui remained slumped on the ground as memories surged back like a tidal wave. She remembered everything that had transpired over these past few years. With a bitter smile, she found herself at a loss for words. Taking a deep breath, Qianqiusui prostrated herself upon the ground and spoke in a trembling voice, "Qianqiusui... fell victim to deception and committed grave mistakes. I beg the Pavilion Master for severe punishment!" Li Guanqi's expression was stern. He felt frustrated by her failure to live up to expectations, yet he merely said, "Rise." Qianqiusui did not get up. Li Guanqi sighed, turned toward the four directions, and cupped his hands. "I am Li Guanqi, Pavilion Master of Guanyun Pavilion." "In recent years, I neglected the pavilion's affairs, which led to such grave wrongdoing." "I promise that all taxes and tributes collected from Feiyun City over these past years will be refunded in full, along with additional compensation equal to thirty percent of the total amount." The entire city erupted into an uproar! The merchants and regular trading caravans in the city were particularly moved, some even weeping aloud. Yet monetary compensation alone could not fully quell the people's resentment. Li Guanqi said in a heavy voice, "As the head of Guanyun Pavilion's merchant division, Qianqiusui allowed such things to happen..." "Though she was deceived into creating this state of affairs..." "Effective today, Qianqiusui is stripped of all duties within Guanyun Pavilion!" Qianqiusui did not raise her head, expecting further punishment. Yet Li Guanqi said nothing more. That was where it ended. The city's cultivators and merchants broke into another commotion, startled that Li Guanqi had handed down such severe discipline. Yet only Qianqiusui understood just how lenient this punishment truly was. With reddened eyes, she pressed her lips tight and responded in a somber voice, "Qianqiusui accepts her punishment!" "I... failed the Pavilion Master's... trust." The hearts of the auction house's leadership quivered. They all knew of the bond between Qianqiusui and Li Guanqi. They had never imagined that even so, Li Guanqi would still strip her of her post. With those words spoken, Li Guanqi brought Qianqiusui directly into the interior of the auction house. Inside an enormous, opulent study. The moment she entered, Qianqiusui knelt upon the floor, guilt brimming in her eyes. Beneath Li Guanqi's feet lay a lush pelt from a rank-six great demon. He sat upon a chair crafted from a great demon's bone frame and stretched hide. The resplendent room was adorned everywhere with radiant gemstones, and the air was rich with the scent of fine sandalwood. Even the spirit fruit on the table was a rare delicacy seldom seen in the outside world. Li Guanqi stroked the furnishings and chuckled lightly. "I have never even enjoyed things like this myself. Quite luxurious." He looked down at Qianqiusui and said with a faint smile, "Get up. This affair turned out to be far simpler than I had imagined..." Saying so, Li Guanqi settled back into the soft chair, closing his eyes as he spoke softly. "I thought... he had targeted the people around me." Originally, he had planned to investigate the matter slowly, but it had not proved complicated at all. Gu Xici would disdain resorting to such crude tricks against him. Moreover, even if he were to make a move, Qianqiusui was hardly a suitable pawn. Seeing that Qianqiusui remained kneeling on the floor, full of guilt and showing no intention of standing, Li Guanqi had no choice but to say, "Resolve the issues with the merchants in the city and restore order to Feiyun City." "Also... once you finish dealing with this, step into the background." "It will be safer inside the Guanyun Domain Boundary. Help discover and nurture talented people there." Li Guanqi felt weary. Guarding against Gu Xici every single day kept his nerves taut. Therefore, once he realized how simple the matter was, he had decided to act directly and wipe out the Meng clan, settling it then and there. Qianqiusui looked up at the man with a complicated expression. "You don't blame me?" Leaning back in his chair with eyes closed, Li Guanqi murmured softly, "Who lives a life without making mistakes?" "Fortunately, it led to no tragedy or irreversible catastrophe." "Still... what must be punished must be punished, or else the public will not be appeased." Qianqiusui naturally understood these truths, and in her heart, she accepted them completely.