The Seven Scions of the Human Spirit, Nothing More

Ye Feng stared at Li Guanqi in disbelief, his gaze cold and sharp as a blade. "Big Brother... are you saying this guy killed Gu Xici?!" "That shouldn't be possible..." Even Tang Ru, usually so steady and composed, could not help but frown. "By all reasoning, once someone like Gu Xici goes into hiding, he conceals himself to the absolute limit. Even if someone managed to track down his hiding place, would they really have the strength to kill him?!" Li Guanqi did not answer the companions behind him. His eyes remained locked onto the figure ahead, searching for the slightest telltale clue. Unfortunately, not a wisp of the man's aura leaked into the open. By this point, the void within a hundred li of the Great Xia Sword Sect had been completely sealed off. All the sect disciples had been led away into domain spaces by the elders. A clash of this level could easily annihilate the entire Great Xia Sword Sect at best. At worst, it could shatter all of Qingyun Continent. In the sky above the Great Xia Sword Sect, only the seven of Li Guanqi's group and Lu Kangnian remained. Lu Kangnian recognized that lingering here would only make him a liability. He offered a quick warning: "Be careful, all of you. He is terrifyingly strong!" His eyes flickered as he turned toward Li Guanqi's back, sending a grim voice transmission. *"He tore straight through the concealed domain space and snatched the Realm-Breaking Immortal Butterfly!"* Li Guanqi gave a slight nod to show he understood. After all, if the intruder hadn't seized the Realm-Breaking Immortal Butterfly, Li Guanqi would never have been able to rush back so quickly. With a flick of his hand, he tore open the domain space and sent Lu Kangnian inside. From start to finish, the figure opposite them remained completely composed. Even under the collective pressure radiating from Li Guanqi, Ye Feng, and the others, he did not show the faintest trace of panic. Such towering confidence could only spring from his own absolute power. Yet just as everyone's nerves were strung taut, Li Guanqi suddenly asked a bewildering question: "Old Man Lu?" Li Guanqi pushed out his spiritual sense, closely monitoring the other's mental fluctuations from the moment the words left his mouth. But a veil of mist seemed to envelop the man's body. Even with the strength of Li Guanqi's spiritual sense, he could not pierce it at all! A formidable power of laws resided within that mist, actively contesting Li Guanqi's spiritual sense. When Li Guanqi asked the question, the man's mind showed not a single ripple, as though he had merely heard something entirely unrelated to him. The man held the Realm-Breaking Immortal Butterfly in his palm, the creature gleaming like immortal crystal glaze. Yet within his heart, Li Guanqi was already treating him as Old Man Lu. Aside from him, virtually no one in all of the Human Spirit Realm possessed such terrifying strength. Li Guanqi licked his lips. As if sensing his resolve, the companions behind him stepped forward together in unison! Origin energy surged through their bodies, uncontainable as a raging tide. The worldly spiritual energy churned in unrest; the surrounding space fractured, and the mountain peaks crumbled, seemingly unable to bear the stifling pressure any longer. Yet even against such oppressive force, the black-robed man continued to regard them with breezy indifference. Battle intent flared within Li Guanqi's chest, and dragon scales rippled across his flesh in an instant! Rumble! Heavenly thunder roared as dazzling arcs of lightning wove into a web that spread beneath his feet. Boom! "Strike! Take him down!" Roaring at the top of his lungs, Li Guanqi took the lead, unsheathing his sword and rocketing toward the black-robed man! "Take him down!" Xiao Chen bellowed, flames of scorching Great Sky Haze Flame swirling around his body. The Blood God Spear instantly erupted with brilliant crimson light, mysterious glyphs flowing across the shaft with overbearing pressure. "Apocalypse: Nu Sha!" Boom! A terrifying sword intent detonated as sharp Geng Metal power cleaved heaven and earth, a streak of golden light trailing right behind Li Guanqi's charge. Ye Feng moved with frightening speed, crossing the distance almost instantaneously! Cao Yan, Xiao Chen, and the others were taken aback. "When did Second Brother break through to the Sword Po realm of sword intent?" "No idea..." "Who cares right now! Third Brother, Fourth Brother, flank and cover! Don't engage head-on!" Gu Li formed hand seals, melting into nothingness in an instant. Right after came the sharp cracks of shattering spirit tools, followed by inscribed talismans blazing with radiant light across the firmament! Tang Ru did not dare meet the enemy head-on; flickering in retreat, he swiftly wove hand seals. In an instant, a Yin-Yang Bagua Diagram rotated slowly into being, casting a strange, suppressive force across the void. Leading the charge, Li Guanqi pushed his movement technique to the limit, arriving before the black-robed man in the blink of an eye. With the enemy directly in front of him, the void beneath Li Guanqi's feet shattered, and amidst flashing thunder, he swept his blade upward in a vicious slash! The black-robed man flickered, abruptly retreating over a hundred zhang in a flash, and tapped a single finger against the void. Boom! Boundless, roaring flames surged forth, nearly engulfing the entire dome of heaven! Raging and blistering crimson, the inferno melted Tianjian Peak into churning magma that cascaded down into the rivers below. Boom! When his sword light shattered, Li Guanqi showed no surprise. His subsequent sword strikes and forms pressed forward in rapid succession. Boom! Boom! Boom! Sword lights crisscrossed the heavens in wild arrays, each strike infused with profound, miraculous insights into the sword Dao. The elder shifted continuously, afterimage after afterimage tearing apart. Yet at that moment, dozens of piercing golden sword beams suddenly detonated from the void! A massive wave of fist astral energy swept down toward the elder, while a crimson spear beam pierced the void, hurtling in from another flank! "She Shen!" At the spot where the black-robed man stood, the runic light of inscribed talismans flared. Nine talismans, each roughly a zhang wide, clamped down to suppress the entire hundred-zhang perimeter around him! "Great Celestial Talisman: Dragon-Trapping Heavenly Prison!" A terrifying frost storm swept in, and the melting Tianjian Peak was flash-frozen by the bone-chilling cold! "Ten Thousand Li of Frozen Wastes!" Several hundred li away, numerous cultivators gathered to watch. Such a massive disturbance had long since alerted everyone, sending subtle tremors running through all of Qingyun Continent; an upheaval on this scale could never escape notice. In the distance, Lord of Qingyun Zhao Xianglu stood with a grim, strained look upon his face. "What terrifying pressure! Could this be a Tribulation Transcendence realm powerhouse?!" Before Zhao Xianglu's words could even settle, a man's grave voice reached his ears. Clad in an ornate robe of dark gold, Zhou Yunqing wore an expression of utmost solemnity. "It's far more than the Tribulation Transcendence realm... I fear..." Catching sight of Zhou Yunqing, Zhao Xianglu hurriedly bowed in greeting. "Greetings, Domain Master!" Then he trailed off in shock, his eyes widening. "Domain Master, you said more than... Could it be... an Ascension realm grandmaster?!" Zhou Yunqing did not answer, only sighing softly as he murmured, "I only hope the aftershocks of this battle can be contained within Qingyun Continent and don't spill over into the rest of the Great Xia Domain..." Zhao Xianglu's expression shifted repeatedly. A cultivator of the Tribulation Transcendence realm already possessed enough power to split mountains and shatter lands—and by "lands," that meant an entire continent! If an Ascension realm cultivator truly fought with full force, destroying a continent was merely a mild consequence; engulfing an entire domain was entirely possible! Boom! Boom! Boom! A tremendous roar resounded, and Tianjian Peak along with all the surrounding peaks was completely erased in the shockwaves of the detonation! Ye Feng and the others were hurled back over six hundred zhang by the sheer concussive blast. Only Li Guanqi stood motionless where he was, his eyes locked onto the distant void as a bead of cold sweat formed on his brow. From the heart of the explosion, an aged voice slowly drifted out: "Heh. The Seven Scions of the Human Spirit... nothing more than this..."