Li Guanqi's aura had grown even more ethereal and otherworldly.
The image that countless cultivators had once held in their minds—of an immortal standing atop the pinnacle of heaven—could now be glimpsed in him.
Li Guanqi now gave off an impression of omnipotence, as if all laws under heaven were subservient to him... Every gesture and step seemed steeped in profound mystery.
Li Guanqi's current state was indeed just like that.
He found that even without deliberately cultivating or seeking enlightenment, his mind would still unconsciously split off a portion of its focus to comprehend heaven and earth.
Just like cultivating: even without secluding himself to calm his mind, his cultivation techniques continued to circulate swiftly and smoothly, as naturally as ever.
Only...
The power within Li Guanqi's body was rather peculiar now.
After all, half of his primal energy had been converted into immortal primal energy.
Yet the power in his body seemed governed by some underlying rule.
Whether it was Shiwu or himself, no matter how they cultivated and converted, they could not transform any of the remaining primal energy into immortal primal energy.
It was as though some cosmic rule was placing a restriction upon him.
Out of the total sum of primal energy in his body, only half could possibly be converted into immortal primal energy.
Li Guanqi frowned slightly, but he was in no hurry to seek out Su Xuan.
Looking at his sworn brothers, who sat with eyes closed and minds focused in deep cultivation, Li Guanqi waved his hand and transferred them into the Nirvana Pagoda.
At this moment, all the cultivators bowed respectfully toward Li Guanqi, yet not one dared to speak.
For none of them knew how they should address him now...
Li Guanqi smiled and cupped his hands in return, then withdrew into the Nirvana Pagoda within the White Jade Tower himself.
In the crowd, Xu Junlin and his companions watched Li Guanqi with mixed emotions.
The four of them exchanged glances, their eyes filled with helplessness and bitterness.
Qin Wushang sighed softly.
"Back when we were together, we even had to look back for him."
"How has he flown straight into the heavens in just a few short years?"
"Damn it... I can barely see his shadow even when craning my neck."
Xu Junlin shrugged and curled his lip, muttering, "If I brag to people in the future that I once pinned Li Guanqi down with a single spear strike so hard he nearly collapsed, wouldn't that give me a hell of a lot of face..."
Ye Mohan's mouth twitched.
"Then what should I say?"
"That Li Guanqi almost took my head off back then?"
Even Zhou Shiyu, usually a taciturn flask of few words, could not help but chime in, "Should I say that ten years ago Li Guanqi approached me and asked me to roll with him?"
"Or... should I say that there was almost a spot reserved for me in that White Jade Tower?"
Ye Mohan, Qin Wushang, and Xu Junlin looked at the doleful Zhou Shiyu and burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha! You're definitely the most miserable one."
"Heh heh, looking at it that way, your brag would make for the best conversation starter."
Ye Mohan glanced at Zhou Shiyu. "Well, you really didn't have the destiny for it."
Having said that, Ye Mohan shifted the topic, his brow furrowing slightly.
The handsome man's gaze unconsciously drifted toward Zhou Shiyu's chest.
"Lately... hasn't your cultivation speed been a bit too fast?"
At those words, the expressions of Xu Junlin and Qin Wushang grew solemn as well.
Zhou Shiyu's cultivation was already nearing the peak of the early Mahayana realm.
When he had first entered, he was still quite far from it.
How much time had even passed...
Even if the Realm of Celestial Spirits was abundant in spiritual energy and heavy with laws, an ordinary person could never progress at such a speed.
Although the Time Pagoda now existed in the Realm of Celestial Spirits, everyone had access to it, putting them on the same starting line.
Zhou Shiyu glanced around, his brows knitting slightly.
"If I told you I don't know what's going on... would you believe me?"
The others scoffed softly and looked away, but they guessed that Zhou Shiyu's drastic surge in cultivation speed was likely linked to the chains bound around his heart.
Even so, they were genuinely happy for him.
That fellow... was now truly one of their own.
"Hey, coming? Let's go grab a drink!"
Qin Wushang turned his head. A man beaming with smiles was waving at them.
"Big Brother Kong Ming, did you spend all your merit points on wine money?"
Kong Ming said nonchalantly, "My points aren't a lot, but they aren't negligible either."
"Can't exchange them for anything decent, but trading them for some wine... heh, just right."
The group chuckled, but ultimately declined the man's offer.
One after another, they soared into the air toward the Time Pagoda.
With no other choice, Kong Ming went and dragged Sun Changlin along instead.
If one were to ask what had been spared from destruction in the old Realm of Celestial Spirits...
There were actually only four places:
The White Jade Tower, the Heavenly King Pagodas, the Immortal Burial Pavilion, and the Renjianke Tavern.
The Immortal Burial Pavilion and the Heavenly King Pagodas were understandable, as both were vital to the entire Seventh Domain.
The White Jade Tower housed the Nirvana Pagoda, but the wine shop of Renjianke Tavern held a place in Li Guanqi's heart no lesser than that of the Heavenly King Pagodas.
Within the Nirvana Pagoda, Li Guanqi closed his eyes and focused his mind, sensing the changes in his body.
Even without drawing on the slightest resonance from his Spirit-Devouring Dao Physique, his perception of heaven and earth was exceptionally sharp.
Any spatial fluctuation or shift within a radius of a hundred li could not escape his senses.
With a mere thought, he could teleport and traverse instantaneously to any location within a hundred li.
As long as spiritual energy existed there—specifically lightning spiritual energy—he could go anywhere.
Beyond a hundred li, however... his speed would be slightly slower.
In addition, the cycle of mutual generation and overcoming among the five elements no longer applied to Li Guanqi.
The primal energy of any elemental root, even at the Master grade, could not suppress Li Guanqi in the slightest.
Before, the elemental properties of Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu's primal energies were evenly matched, but due to lightning's domineering nature, Li Guanqi held a decisive upper hand over Meng Wanshu.
Now, he feared no elemental counter from any cultivator with a Master-grade spiritual root.
Upon the foundation of laws, Li Guanqi had forged a path uniquely his own.
Unless someone else forged a parallel path beside his own, no one could contend with him!
And at this moment, Li Guanqi finally perceived something: far ahead and running beside his lightning path was none other than Su Xuan.
And that path belonged to the metal element.
At that realization, Li Guanqi could not help but sigh with emotion.
"It seems Grandfather planned this all the way back then, preparing to yield the way for me...
"Pity that I chose lightning instead of metal."
The more he learned, the deeper Li Guanqi's gratitude toward Su Xuan grew.
From the moment he came down the mountain from Fulong Village until he reached the Mahayana realm, he had not seen his grandfather even once, and Su Xuan's direct assistance to him could be described as negligible.
If there was any help, it was perhaps that Li Guanqi had occasionally invoked the prestige of the Seventh Domain's Realm Lord to back himself up.
But after arriving in the Seventh Domain, every step he took bore traces of Su Xuan's deliberate guidance.
That path... as long as Li Guanqi reached the Seventh Domain and stepped onto it, it would be smooth and unimpeded!
Li Guanqi's current power of laws was virtually irresistible to Tribulation Transcendence realm cultivators.
The power of laws that Tribulation Transcendence experts took so much pride in had next to no suppressive effect on him.
Chapter 1480