Gu Xici Slain!!

Even as Li Guanqi sat listening to Su Xuan expound upon the Dao, word of Su Xuan's true strength reached the Immortal Realm. Silence followed... Su Xuan's power had far exceeded all expectations. Suppressing Su Xuan without destroying the Human Spirit Realm would demand an astronomical price... It seemed even the Immortal Realm was weighing whether executing Su Xuan was truly necessary. If cultivators of that caliber acted to kill Su Xuan, the mere shockwaves of their clashes would suffice to obliterate the Human Spirit Realm. Yet Su Xuan appeared completely oblivious to all of this. His gaze remained serene, a faint smile on his lips as he discussed the Grand Dao with Li Guanqi. At times, Su Xuan would even use his own power to manifest the natural laws and condense world rules! This left Li Guanqi utterly awestruck. In Li Guanqi's eyes, Su Xuan at this moment seemed even more towering and majestic than the true spirit of the Heavenly Dao! Yet... Back when Li Guanqi had stood alongside Su Xuan above the saber chasm, deep in a silent, desolate expanse of the void... Hidden within a speck of Sumeru dust that had lain dormant for thousands of years was a mysterious spatial domain. This single speck of dust was concealed within the chaotic void, virtually impossible to find. Yet beside this utterly inconspicuous speck of dust stood a mysterious figure in black robes. The figure slowly raised a hand, and countless eerie runes of spiritual light began to spread. The lights were tiny as ants, glimmering with a scarlet glow that looked singularly uncanny. In barely the blink of an eye, the crimson runes formed a pattern like an Eight Trigrams array, locking the speck of dust dead center! Then the black-robed figure and the red runes vanished together! Inside the domain, spiritual energy was abundant, and over a dozen veins of violet-gold spiritual stone lay exposed upon the surface. A magnificent golden hall towered amidst the rolling mountains. Lush green vines climbed around the hall, which was covered in thick dust. Yet inside the grand hall, two figures sat cross-legged on the floor. The layer of dust around the center was exceedingly thin. Suddenly, the handsome, sinister youth beside the center shook off the coat of dust from his body! With a flick of his hand, a sword brimming with spiritual vitality flew from behind the ancient golden hall and soared straight into his grip! Gu Xici snapped awake from his cultivation, his back drenched in cold sweat, his sharp gaze sweeping the surroundings! "Who is it?! Come out!" A terrifying pressure erupted instantly, reducing the entire golden hall to ashes in that single breath. Gu Xici could only conceal his final clone. Amid the chaotic turbulence of the explosion, his face went pale as he hurled the clone into the void. Seizing the chance, he tore off a fragment of his soul and shoved it into the clone. Now, sword in hand, Gu Xici stood suspended in the void, tense as a poised leopard, facing a mortal threat! Just then, the space thirty feet before him rippled slightly. A figure stepped slowly out of the void! The black-robed person surveyed the surroundings before turning a gaze onto Gu Xici. The strength of Gu Xici's current vessel was merely at the peak of early Tribulation Transcendence realm. Yet he could not sense the slightest shred of the newcomer's aura! Which meant... The other party's power far surpassed his own! Gu Xici stared intently at the figure, unable to see the face beneath the hood. The sensation filled him with deep unease. "Who are you?" The black-robed figure said nothing, merely raising a finger to lightly point at Gu Xici. *Boom!* Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Xici swelled his dantian and instantly self-detonated! *Rumble!* Mountains shattered and the earth ruptured as the surrounding domain collapsed and began to plunge into the abyss. A terrifying beam of light pierced right through the explosion, instantly obliterating the remnant soul fleeing within the tempest of primal energy! The self-detonation of a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator could only be described as cataclysmic! For a hundred li around, mountains and earth were reduced to flying ash, wiped from existence in that single instant. Yet the black-robed figure stood rooted to the spot. Facing an explosion right before his eyes, his robes only whipped in the wind, with not the slightest sign of injury. A cold chuckle rang out. A somewhat withered palm reached forward. In an instant, the mountains reversed their fall, and the scattered fragments of the remnant soul were forcibly drawn back together by the black-robed figure! Within the contorted soul fragments, Gu Xici's expression turned to sheer terror. "Who on earth are you?! Ascension realm..." "None of the soul clones in the lower realms could possibly have reached the Ascension realm!" "Who are you?!" The black-robed figure ignored his howling. With a grasping motion of his left hand, bloody spiritual light flickered across the sky. A physical vessel was dragged straight out of the void by that inexorable force. Gu Xici panicked. He had never expected that the clone he tossed into the void would be dragged out as well! The intruder had clearly come fully prepared; it appeared his domain had been thoroughly exposed. Just as he opened his mouth to negotiate, the black-robed figure clamped a hand around the head of the remnant soul and squeezed violently. *Bang!* The remnant soul exploded. To his dying breath, Gu Xici never imagined the other party would strike with such decisive, merciless brutality. The black-robed figure shattered the final vessel, pulled out the remnant soul within, and leafed through its memories. A moment later, he drew a single wisp of soul thread from Gu Xici's remnant soul! Having secured the soul thread, the black-robed figure gave a satisfied nod. "Who am I?" "You aren't worthy of knowing." Looking back around, he raised his hand, and the collapse of the void drastically accelerated. In the blink of an eye, the entire domain was gone! Yet through all of this, not a single spatial ripple leaked into the outside world. Gu Xici's demise left behind not a single trace. The black-robed figure paused for a moment, then completely vanished into the void! Li Guanqi had no idea that a massive net aimed squarely at him was already quietly spreading. Immersed in their discussion of the Dao, Li Guanqi lost all track of time. In the blink of an eye, an entire month slipped by! When Li Guanqi emerged from his epiphany, he found the courtyard empty and deserted. Sensing outward, he realized Su Xuan had departed for the Sixth Domain at some unknown point. Li Guanqi smiled, stood up, dusted himself off, and flashed back to the White Jade Tower. The moment he returned, the others swarmed around him. Everyone spoke at once, clamoring to ask what had happened before. Not only were Ye Feng and the others present, but even Qin Wushang and his group were there. Helpless, Li Guanqi gave a brief summary. When the crowd heard that Li Guanqi had spent the entire time in that deathly silent void without even being able to cultivate primal energy, their expressions shifted. None of them had been cultivating for very long. Entering secluded cultivation was fine so long as one could circulate primal energy. After all, time lost all meaning while cultivating primal energy, and the process invigorated the spirit and washed away fatigue. But to sit in meditative austerity without being able to cultivate primal energy... Anyone else would have gone mad. Li Guanqi extended his divine sense and discovered that the Hall of Heroic Spirits was nearing completion. "Brat!! You promised you'd let me take control of the Devouring Void Sacred Flame!!" "If you don't come out soon, the Hall of Heroic Spirits will be finished without you! We're all just waiting on you!" Putting down the jade slip, Li Guanqi gave an awkward smile. "Well... you guys go ahead and chat. I need to step out for a bit." Turning to transmit a message to Meng Wanshu, the two shared a knowing smile before he took his leave.