So after Li Guanqi said those words, quite a few people assumed he was just desperately trying to save face.
However, Li Guanqi could not care less about what they thought.
Even Zhao Beichen upon the stage curled his lips into an enigmatic smile.
Glancing up at the record stele, he murmured softly, "Sixth place... Heh, tomorrow's opponents won't be easy.
"Li Guanqi, why are you so confident that you'll definitely stand before me?"
Clang!
Sheathing his longsword, Zhao Beichen turned with a calm expression and walked off the arena stage.
He was completely oblivious to the near-murderous glare of Lingxiao Pavilion's elder.
For Zhao Beichen had struck with vicious cruelty; upon examining her, the white-browed elder had discovered that Ji Linglan's spirit ruins were completely shattered!
In other words, by the end of this battle, Zhao Beichen had virtually crippled Ji Linglan's cultivation talent.
Even if she could achieve some modest success in the future, once her spirit ruins were shattered, there was no longer any possibility of recovery!
The elder stared fixedly at Zhao Beichen's retreating back and rasped chillingly, "How despicable!"
Zhao Beichen smiled faintly and flashed away from the arena.
On the way back, Li Guanqi looked down at the little girl in his arms and asked gently, "What's wrong? Was that guy's aura too overwhelming and frightened you?"
Yu Sui'an rested her head on his shoulder, wrapped both arms around his neck, and shook her head.
Her trembling body finally relaxed.
Li Guanqi smiled faintly, assuming she was just being proud and didn't want to admit it.
After all, Zhao Beichen had just defeated Ji Linglan and had not curbed his aura in the slightest; it would have been entirely understandable if the little girl had been terrified.
After returning to their residence, Li Guanqi was called into Qin Xian's room.
With a solemn expression, the elder said in a low voice, "No matter who your opponent is tomorrow, you must not let your guard down.
"If it proves impossible, you know what to do."
Li Guanqi picked at his ear and said, "Elder Qin, you've said this countless times. If I hear it any more, I'll have calluses on my ears."
The elder snapped testily, "Isn't it only because I'm worried about you that I've said it so many times?!"
Hearing this, Li Guanqi shrugged. His gaze turning solemn, he looked at the elder and said softly, "Starting tomorrow, I plan to stop hiding my strength."
At those words, the elder's brows furrowed.
"Haven't you always wanted to keep it hidden to deal with Zhao Beichen?
"Why the sudden change of mind?"
The youth smiled faintly. "Who said I'm going all out against tomorrow's opponents?
"I just don't want to play sick anymore. Whichever sect we face tomorrow, it makes no difference to me.
"Once tomorrow's Purgatory Challenge succeeds, our sect's points will inevitably surpass Ziyang Palace's!
"When that happens, according to the rules of the Purgatory Challenge, I'll have to fight the sect originally ranked first."
Hearing this, the elder understood his point. Continuing to pretend to be sick no longer served any purpose.
As long as he won tomorrow, a clash with Ziyang Palace would become unavoidable.
The elder pondered for a long time, then finally sighed softly and looked at the resolute youth.
"Have it your way. As long as you've thought it through."
The youth smiled faintly and left the room.
Early the next morning.
The summit of Mount Tianyu was bustling with a seething crowd, the clamor incessant.
The organizers had even brought out nearly five hundred war drums made of green ox hide.
At this point, the Hundred Sects Tournament was drawing to a close. Though all the sect disciples had performed exceptionally and the battles had been spectacular, the eyes of every spectator were focused on just two people!
One was Li Guanqi, the blind youth who had initiated the Purgatory Trial.
The other was Zhao Beichen of Ziyang Palace, a peerless monster unseen in thousands of years.
Without question, these two had become the focal point of this Hundred Sects Tournament.
One fought for his sect, not hesitating to trigger the brutally arduous Purgatory Challenge.
The other was a hidden disciple kept secret by Ziyang Palace, intended to take the Hundred Sects Tournament by storm!
Everyone yearned to see the battle between these two, as if it were destined!
The shifting points were also clear to everyone.
If Li Guanqi succeeded in his challenge again today, a showdown between him and Zhao Beichen would undoubtedly unfold.
It would ultimately become a clash for first place in the Hundred Sects Tournament!
If Li Guanqi led Great Xia Sword Sect to take first place, the lavish rewards would be enough to completely transform the sect's fortunes.
To become a top sect across the entire Northern Region within a hundred years would not be an exaggeration in the slightest!
Resources were the foundation for any sect to nurture disciples.
Thus, many had arrived at Mount Tianyu early to wait, and quite a few had simply never left yesterday.
When the white-robed youth appeared in the sky, a thunderous cheer erupted from the surrounding crowd.
The members of Great Xia Sword Sect held their heads high and chests out, standing with straight spines.
Yet they knew that all of this was brought to them by the youth bearing the sword casket before them.
Gao Qiwen had been nowhere to be seen lately because his inner knot had been resolved, and he had to hurry back to prepare for his breakthrough into the Nascent Soul realm.
Li Guanqi paid no heed to the cheers and headed straight up onto the arena stage.
By now, quite a few people also noticed something unusual: Li Guanqi's complexion seemed exceptionally restored.
Gone was the sickly, languid look of the previous two days; his spirits were incomparably improved.
Seeing this, a sharp glint flashed in Ge Qing's eyes as well.
As though understanding something, the elder surveyed the youth with a smile and could not help but murmur softly, "The little fellow is quite shrewd.
"But why choose this moment to stop hiding? Is he so confident in himself that it's no longer necessary?"
Suppressing these stray thoughts, the elder looked out at the sects prepared on all sides and called out in a deep voice, "Begin the draw!"
As the characters on the record stele settled, the crowd could not help but gasp in unison.
"Sixiang Sect!"
The sect most likely to rival Ziyang Palace in this Hundred Sects Tournament!
Their overall strength was even greater than Lingxiao Pavilion's, and their disciples were each one-in-ten-thousand favored sons of heaven!
Yet the disciples of Sixiang Sect were not as thrilled as one might imagine.
After all, Li Guanqi's strength was plain for all to see.
Li Guanqi stood on the stage holding his sword in one hand, quietly waiting for Sixiang Sect's disciples to step up.
Finally, the leading elder of Sixiang Sect said in a low voice, "Go. Sooner or later, you'd have to face him!"
His disciple nodded slightly, then flashed onto the stage in an instant.
The burly young man nodded solemnly to Li Guanqi, then drew an extraordinarily broad, heavy sword!
Li Guanqi's eyes lit up; he hadn't expected to encounter someone wielding a heavy sword this time!
Yet in the battle that followed, Li Guanqi once again demonstrated to everyone what an overwhelming crush of absolute strength looked like!
That flowing, seamless sword momentum and his tricky, uncanny strikes allowed everyone to witness a different Li Guanqi.
Moreover, after consecutively fighting seven opponents, Li Guanqi still appeared to have plenty of strength left in reserve.
In the end, Li Guanqi easily cut down ten late Foundation Establishment cultivators of Sixiang Sect, directly lifting Great Xia Sword Sect's points to first place!
Chapter 146