Noticing the look on everyone's faces, Li Guanqi spoke up to comfort them.
"No need to rush. You've already worked hard enough.
"At your age, anyone who could break through to the Soul Formation Realm would already be hailed as a genius..."
Yet the more Li Guanqi tried to reassure them, the more they felt they hadn't worked hard enough.
Ye Feng turned on his heel to leave, stating bluntly, "I'm heading out for a bit."
With those words, he flew straight toward the quarters of the Eight Generals in the Fourth Domain.
Cao Yan's eyes flickered, and he also turned to tread through the void and depart.
Xiao Chen thought it over for a second and followed suit.
Gu Li and Tang Ru exchanged a glance, their faces twitching.
"Sigh... I'm off to carry rocks."
Seeing that everyone had left, Tang Ru said with a look of utter despair, "Then I'll... go play chess..."
In an instant, the courtyard emptied.
Li Guanqi shrugged, looking awkwardly at Meng Wanshu's reproachful gaze. "Haha... ha... Everyone is quite hardworking."
Meng Wanshu led Li Guanqi back into the Nirvana Pagoda, removing his outer robe to dress his wounds.
Her movements were gentle, her delicate brows slightly furrowed. "Why push yourself so desperately?
"Whether among the younger generation or anyone else, you already have no rival."
Grimacing in pain, Li Guanqi spoke slowly. "If I stand in place and keep looking back...
"How am I supposed to move forward?"
Li Guanqi took a deep breath and sighed. "There are still people ahead of me. I cannot stop."
A lack of security stemmed entirely from his strength not being enough.
If he had Emperor Chen's strength, would Gu Xici have dared to come looking for him?
If he had Grandfather's strength, would anyone have dared to dig up his sister's ashes?
Those enemies were like venomous snakes lurking in dark corners.
The moment he let his guard down even slightly, they would strike a fatal blow!
That was why he couldn't stop.
He had to keep climbing the mountain, reach the summit, and surpass everyone!
Listening to Li Guanqi's words, Meng Wanshu fell silent for a long time, offering no further dissuasion.
At the same time, she resolved within herself to cultivate diligently and not fall too far behind him.
The cultivation resources in the Seventh Domain were completely incomparable to anything in the outside world.
Whether in the density of spiritual energy or the comprehension of the power of laws, it was far easier here than outside.
Meng Wanshu packed away the gauze and bandages, only for her wrist to be caught by a hand.
With a slight tug from Li Guanqi's large hand, she was pulled into his embrace.
Meng Wanshu's eyes fluttered in mild panic. One look at Li Guanqi told her exactly what was on his mind.
A blush crept over her pretty face, and she bit her lip, whispering softly, "What are you doing... don't. You're still injured."
Li Guanqi replied with utter solemnity, "The injuries don't matter.
"It's been a long time since I helped you control the cold poison in your body. I need to examine it thoroughly."
Meng Wanshu thumped his chest with a light fist, retorting in exasperation, "Cold poison... You've been using that excuse all the way from Void Refinement to the Tribulation Transcendence realm.
"At my current cultivation, what cold poison could possibly break through my suppression?
"Hmph, a man's mouth is full of lies."
Li Guanqi chuckled unabashedly, not feeling the least bit embarrassed.
Scooping her up in his arms, he carried her horizontally toward the second floor of the Nirvana Pagoda.
"No... let's go to your room. Aren't you afraid they'll come back..."
Li Guanqi solemnly rejected her suggestion.
"It's fine. They won't be back anytime soon.
"Besides...
"The Nirvana Pagoda has a fifteen-fold time dilation."
Meng Wanshu hadn't thought much of it at first.
Yet the moment she heard him mention the fifteen-fold time flow, her cheeks instantly burned a scalding crimson.
Her beautiful, autumn-water eyes shot him a glare.
Leaning close to his ear, she exhaled softly, "So what if it's fifteen times... can you handle it?"
Li Guanqi's expression hardened, and with a crisp *smack*, he swatted her.
"Ah!
"What are you doing!"
Li Guanqi snorted coldly. "Can't handle it? In a bit, I'll show you whether I can handle it or not."
"Ah... I meant your injuries..."
The Nirvana Pagoda trembled faintly, then fell silent.
***
In the Fourth Domain, outside the Hall of the Eight Generals.
Long Hou was so angry that he laughed, the corners of his mouth twitching.
"So all of you came to challenge me, is that it?"
Xiao Chen hid behind Cao Yan, muttering in a low voice, "Third Brother... will this work...?
"When Long Hou gets angry, it's pretty terrifying. He doesn't know how to pull his punches."
Chan Kongzi, Xiang Huaizhi, and the others stood to the side, looking on as if watching a show.
"Heh, we've all been turned into whetstones now."
Just as Xiang Huaizhi was about to speak, Nangong Xuandu suddenly appeared beside them, leaning against a pillar with a scoff.
"You don't even have the qualifications to be a whetstone anymore."
Hearing that, Chan Kongzi felt his temper flare, but then Nangong Xuandu's languid sigh drifted into his ear.
"Of course, neither do I."
Chan Kongzi choked back the retort in his throat.
In the end, he gave Nangong Xuandu a thumbs-up.
"I'll grant you... that was sincere."
Xiang Huaizhi narrowed his eyes slightly and remarked with a soft sigh, "The progress of these little fellows is truly astonishing.
"Just a few years ago they were learning under us, and now they've already walked ahead of us."
The others remained silent, their gazes drifting slightly.
Long Hou didn't waste any breath. Beckoning with one hand—
*Clang!*
A golden spear streaked from the rear mountain and landed in his grip.
Long Hou pointed at Xiao Chen, who was hiding behind Cao Yan.
"Come on, you little bastard. I'll start the beating with you."
Xiao Chen's expression stiffened. With mincing steps, looking as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly, he shuffled forward.
"Master... do the beatings have to start with me too...?"
Long Hou scoffed, casually tossing out a dao platform as he said in a deep voice, "Cut the crap. Let me see how strong you are now!"
*Whoosh!*
Long Hou stepped onto the dao platform and slowly stripped off his golden armor, revealing shoulder-length, neatly cropped hair.
A pair of tiger eyes gleamed sharply, and a formidable pressure erupted from the man's body.
Peak Middle Tribulation Transcendence!
Xiao Chen licked his lips. A spark of battle intent seemed to ignite within his eyes, devoid of any fear.
*Whoosh!*
He flashed onto the golden dao platform, spinning his Blood God Spear and plunging it into the ground.
Tucking the hem of his robe into his waistband, he pulled his loose hair back behind his head.
"Master, these past few years... I haven't slacked off."
Long Hou scolded him gruffly, "Whether you slacked off or not, we'll find out in a moment."
With that, Long Hou began slowly suppressing his cultivation down to mid-Initial Tribulation Transcendence, matching Xiao Chen's level.
Xiao Chen shrugged and couldn't help but speak up.
"How about... you stick to your original realm?"
Long Hou narrowed his eyes, a sudden chill flashing deep within his gaze.
"You're getting... pretty cocky now, aren't you?!"
Wielding the spear in one hand across a distance of a hundred zhang, he swung it down violently!
*BOOM!*
Xiao Chen shifted dozens of zhang in a flash. Swallowing hard, he looked with lingering dread at the deep trench gouged open beside him.
He looked up at the man in the distance. The short hair danced wildly in the wind, and the gaze was as razor-sharp as a blade.
Sweeping an eagle-sharp glare across the youths, Long Hou spoke in a chilling voice.
"Are you all... getting a bit ahead of yourselves?"
Chan Kongzi shrugged.
"Well then, Big Brother is truly angry this time. They're in for it."
Xiang Huaizhi glanced at the two figures on the dao platform and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Shouldn't you say Xiao Chen is in for it?
"Isn't that kid about to be beaten to tears by Big Brother...?"
Chapter 1451