The two men drank their wine, their laughter hearty and bright.
Sitting opposite each other, they discussed the Dao, contemplating each other's shifting laws and raising questions.
Li Guanqi held nothing back, utilizing the power of his Spirit-Devouring Dao Physique to guide Wen Guyan into a state of sudden epiphany.
Once the man closed his eyes in cultivation, Li Guanqi quietly rose and departed.
When he returned to the White Jade Tower, no one had come back yet.
Curling his lip, Li Guanqi stood by the window and let out a long breath.
He tightened his fist slightly, feeling the explosive power coursing within him, and murmured, "Finally... I've reached the pinnacle of the Human Spirit Realm."
His voice was soft and laden with emotion, calm yet tinged with a dawning sense of wonder.
No one knew what he had endured to reach this point.
He had fought men, fought Heaven...
He had survived countless trials of the heart and trapped-heart dilemmas.
Every difficult choice had been accompanied by agonizing consequences.
There were so many people he had wanted to protect, yet in the end, he had failed to protect them.
Yu Sui'an... Li Nanting...
Even Li Shenzhi, whom he had once regarded as a friend.
Step by step, leaving bloody footprints, he had forged ahead.
The little blind boy who had once shivered in the bitter winter of Beiliang City had finally made it to this day.
Ever since coming to the Seventh Domain, the people he encountered in daily life no longer carried such intense hostility.
Before reaching the Seventh Domain, Li Guanqi had engaged in endless slaughter; it was no exaggeration to say that tens of thousands had died by his hand.
Blood was enough to dye a long river red.
Instances of slaying foes, slaughtering entire sects, and wiping out clans had been frequent.
Looking back on those years, he himself felt how heavy his murderous aura had been.
Yet on second thought, he shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Back then, if I hadn't killed, I would have been toyed to death."
"Only by killing could I carve out a path for myself, striking terror into the hearts of those with malicious designs!"
Li Guanqi gazed out the window with a dazed look, tilting his head to drink his wine.
When he had returned to Beiliang City and stood before the gates of Zhao Manor, he had said, "The light skiff has passed ten thousand mountains."
And now...
His thoughts drifted back to that rainy little courtyard—a cat, and a small child.
"When the wind came, I walked slowly; when the rain came, I walked along the edge; when thunder struck, I covered my ears and walked; when snow fell, I hugged my shoulders and walked."
"In short... little blind boy, I walked alone for so, so long."
Li Guanqi murmured, "Walked for so, so long..."
"And now, I've finally reached the last few steps of this road!!"
After a long silence, Li Guanqi whispered in a voice only he could hear, "Casting off the shackles of the past, only now do I know that today I am myself."
The Ascension realm was not merely a breakthrough in cultivation.
It also granted Li Guanqi an indescribable sense of security.
A strength and peace of mind that left him unafraid of any conspiracies or petty schemers lurking in the shadows.
Just as he was overwhelmed with emotion, Li Guanqi's expression suddenly shifted drastically, his brow furrowing tightly!
Whoosh!
Silver light flared around Li Guanqi, and with a flick of his hand, he shattered the void!
"Follow me!"
Before the words had faded, his silhouette broke through the void and vanished from midair.
Inside the Hall of Heroic Spirits, Ye Feng and the others broke out of seclusion instantly. Gu Li's expression shifted, and with a wave of his hand, six inscribed talismans hovered before him and burst into flames!
Buzz!
Enveloped in dazzling silver light, Meng Wanshu, Ye Feng, and the others teleported away along the void Li Guanqi had torn open!
In almost a single instant, Li Guanqi crossed tens of millions of li, appearing in the sky above the Great Xia Sword Sect!
Boom!
Heaven and earth trembled, and the wind and clouds roiled!
Violent pressure surged outward without restraint, instantly carving countless fine, pitch-black fissures across the void for a hundred li around.
Li Guanqi stepped on the void and looked down.
The Great Xia Sword Sect was in utter chaos. The spirit swords left behind by Li Guanqi and the others had all detonated!
Tianjian Peak lay ruined; the sect square and the main hall were reduced to rubble and broken walls, while residual shockwaves continued to ripple outward.
Li Guanqi's face darkened, a terrifying pressure and palpable killing intent radiating from his entire body.
He clenched his empty hand.
"Seal!"
Buzz!
A supreme burst of spatial power erupted instantly.
The shattered boulders of Tianjian Peak's main peak froze in place, an invisible spatial force locking down heaven and earth!
Swish! Swish!
The sound of rushing air rang out. A one-armed Lu Kangnian appeared, drained of color, his hair disheveled and his appearance thoroughly battered.
"Guanqi? Be careful! There's a formidable enemy!"
Lu Kangnian darted backward at full speed. He had never expected that the moment trouble arose, Li Guanqi would already be back!
Li Guanqi raised a hand to shield the man behind him, saying softly, "Sect Master, leave the rest to me."
As soon as he spoke, Lu Kangnian looked at him with an anxious expression. But before he could say a word...
Six silver fissures lit up abruptly behind Li Guanqi!
Buzz!
Surging auras capable of making heaven and earth tremble burst forth!
Sword qi swept across all directions, and sword intent pierced straight into the clouds.
The pressure of six Tribulation Transcendence realm cultivators erupted in unison!
High in the firmament, six handsome young men in fluttering robes and an aloof woman in an ice-blue dress arrived side by side!
Li Guanqi stood in the center, clad in white.
Three to his left, three to his right—seven in total!
Heaven and earth shook violently, rivers churned, and the earth groaned.
At this moment, Li Guanqi made no attempt to conceal his Ascension realm pressure!
Boom!
Within three hundred li, every cultivator flying through the air plummeted downward!
Great demons fell to their knees, shivering in terror.
In this instant, Li Guanqi was the undisputed king at the center of heaven and earth!
Lu Kangnian swallowed hard. When Li Guanqi had told him that Ye Feng and the others had broken through to the Tribulation Transcendence realm, he had hardly dared to believe it.
Yet seeing this scene now filled him with such excitement that he wanted to roar at the heavens!
These were the backing of his Great Xia Sword Sect!
He wanted to ask everyone across the Six Domains: was this backing formidable enough?!
Qin Xian and the others were equally thrilled!
An Eight Trigrams Yin-Yang diagram manifested across the sky, and a boundless expanse of inscribed talismans formed a cage of talismans!
Xiao Chen gripped the Blood God Spear, his gaze keen as an eagle's.
The temperature plummeted, and snowflakes drifted down.
Heavenly fire suddenly surged skyward, three heavenly fires coalescing into a fiery barrier that enveloped heaven and earth for a hundred li around!
Screeech!
A resonant sword cry rang through the clouds.
A splash of crimson flared into existence.
Li Guanqi gripped Red Lotus, pointing the blade toward the hollow of the shattered Tianjian Peak below.
His eyes narrowed slightly, his voice chillingly cold as he spoke slowly.
"Well... even now, are you still not planning to show yourself?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a black-robed figure walked out slowly.
Shrouded entirely in black, the person slowly looked up at Li Guanqi.
That single movement made Ye Feng immediately draw his sword and step forward!
Boom!
The terrifying sword intent of the Sword Po realm pierced straight into the heavens. Ye Feng glared fixedly at the black-robed figure below!
"Ascension... definitely someone in the Ascension realm!"
"Who is he?"
Li Guanqi's brow knitted. Within his perception, he caught a strange, inexplicable aura...
In utter disbelief, he whispered in a frigid tone, "You're not Gu Xici..."
"Did you kill Gu Xici?"
At those words, Ye Feng and the others clearly noticed the black-robed figure stiffen, visibly caught off guard.
Chapter 1489